Mark answered decisively, "Sure, go ahead with your experiment."

Jessica skipped toward the lab but turned back for a lighthearted reminder, "Bro, don't get so caught up in your dates that you forget my meal." Mark couldn't help but laugh, "I won't."

Only after their exchange ended did Shirley glance at her watch. "Let's just eat at the campus café. That way, you can easily pick up something for her."

"Are you upset?"

"No, I've got stuff to do later anyway."

"Alright then."

The two headed to the campus café, and Shirley barely spoke throughout the meal. Noticing Mark was busy replying to messages and chuckling at his phone, she put down her fork and knife. "Who are you texting?"

up a glass jar in the lab. The mentor is going to have a field day. It's the

to eat. She pulled out her phone and

and remember

it with-especially since senior year was so hectic for everyone-she sat opposite Mark, watching him laugh at his phone, feeling as though she was suffocating. She knew making a scene would only lead to her father threatening to send Abner

sip of water. "I'm going to head out. You go back

is in a couple of weeks. I'll be throwing a small party and

nodded, watching his retreating figure, feeling as though they were drifting

diligent, coming home late every night, fully committed to his studies. Such a well-behaved kid, Shirley couldn't bear the thought of sending him away, increasingly

actively seeking help from teachers whenever he encountered difficulties. His teachers praised him to Shirley over the phone, their voices

about starting a "school hunk" contest on the campus forum. Hearing this while staring at a page full of French vocabulary, Shirley couldn't help but smile. She was preparing to attend Mark's birthday dinner that evening, too busy

had picked out herself. Mark's family had rented several private rooms at a fancy venue, and the place was bustling with people from their lab. Shirley didn't know most of them.

were an

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