Lychee Candy

[Laid-back slacker and overachiever / bickering lovers / everyday research life]

_

After graduating from college, Tang Nian worked herself to the bone in the internet industry. She earned 4,500 yuan a month, and her life was more bitter than coffee. Meanwhile, her ex-boyfriend went all the way through a master's and PhD, helping build a beautiful new China.

Later, Tang Nian couldn't keep grinding away. Faced with the choice between working and striving for more, she chose graduate school. With a slacker's mindset, she deliberately picked an easygoing senior professor as her advisor. At her first research group meeting after getting in, a handsome, elegant, impeccably dressed man sat beside the genial old professor.

The professor beamed as he introduced him. "This is my student, Chen Zhili. He specializes in natural language processing. He's young, but very capable. He'll be guiding you in your research from now on."

The man lifted his eyes languidly, tugged at the corner of his mouth, and gave her a meaningful smile.

Tang Nian cursed inwardly: Shift!

It's not scary when your ex is doing better than you. What's scary is when he becomes your boss.

_

When she joined the lab, a kind senior student warned her that her new boss was a researcher recruited from MIT. He was decisive, said very little, and she should watch what she said.

Tang Nian agreed repeatedly. She planned to act meekly and treat her excellent ex as if he were "dead."

One day, she was slacking off in the lab and accidentally sent a message to the wrong group chat: [Are pecs hard or soft?]

She jumped in alarm and frantically tried to unsend it, but accidentally hit delete instead.

Tang Nian: ...I'm done fighting it. In my next life, I'll wish to be a monkey on Mount Emei.

Just when she thought she was finished, another message popped up in the group.

czl: [Want to know?]

czl: [Come over]

Tang Nian: ??

Onlookers: You can find that out without paying?

_

Later, the company's AI product, SugarBot, went viral online. The chief engineer's stunning looks went viral right along with it. Photos of the man speaking at a cutting-edge technology summit spread across the internet, with people calling him the ultimate crush for sapiosexuals.

After the event, he gave an interview. The host asked, "You achieved several academic milestones while developing SugarBot. Which one are you most proud of?"

Chen Zhili: "The acknowledgments in my wife's thesis."

Host: ?

Chen Zhili: "Yes, I'm married."

Host: Who asked you that!

#Rekindled romance / bickering research couple / goofy, sweet romance

#The research group is a university-industry collaboration. The male lead is a corporate researcher and the group's PI (academic lead), not a university professor. He doesn't teach!!!

--------------Coming soon 2: After My Fanfic About a Top-Tier Star Backfired---------

After dating countless men, You Yun decided that Zhao Zhiyu, the campus heartthrob from her college days, was still the one who best suited her taste. Unfortunately, he'd become a top-tier star, the dream of hundreds of millions of girls. He was no longer someone she could set her sights on, but that didn't stop her imagination.

You Yun wrote a novel starring him, and it unexpectedly became a huge hit.

The comments were full of, "Aaaah, the chemistry is incredible!" and "More, please! We're starving over here!"

You Men Da Xia v: Coming right up. I'm making meat stew tonight.

Then Weibo introduced a profile visitor feature. She joined the trend and bought a membership so she could see which unlucky person had embarrassed themselves that day.

[Zhao Zhiyu visited your profile repeatedly yesterday]

[Zhao Zhiyu visited your profile repeatedly the day before]

You Yun: ??

Great. It's me :)

-

You Yun has been an actress for five years, but she's so obscure that no one can find anything about her. The best opportunity she's ever gotten was appearing in a top-tier star's music video.

Wearing a simple dress, she looked fresh and lovely, her smile with lowered eyes captivating everyone.

Later, paparazzi photographed the two of them entering and leaving the same apartment complex, sparking rumors that they were living together and setting off a storm. That night, his manager showed up at her home with a check. "Here's fifty million yuan. Please..."

You Yun accepted it obediently. "I know the drill. I'll clarify right away..."

The manager: "Pretend to be a couple with Zhao Zhiyu."

"..."

Has the entertainment industry gone crazy?

And so You Yun pretended to be a couple with him by day and churned out ten thousand words a night. She made a little money off him and lived quite comfortably, until someone dug up her secret identity.

#You Yun is suspected to be fan-site writer "You Men Da Xia"

#The right way to win over the male lead

#Zhao Zhiyu gets passed around in fanfiction

That night, the male lead of her novel opened her story and looked at her with an amused smile. "Why don't we try them one by one?"

You Yun: "...No, thank you!"

#Obscure actress and ridiculously handsome top-tier star

#Secret crush / dating contract / entertainment industry / both leads have bizarre thought processes but it's sweet

#Screenshotted on 2023.10.28. I keep changing the blurb, but the jokes stay the same

Theme: Research changes your destiny