Chapter 878: Fireplace
The day after Christmas, it started to snow in Jin Ling City.
The snow made Lu Zhou think back to when he was in Princeton, of the fireplace in his old house. Whenever it used to snow in New Jersey, he would study in the living room instead. His back would be against the sofa, and he would sit on the ground while facing the fireplace.
Even though he was far from the age of being nostalgic…
When he saw the snow falling outside the window, he couldn’t help but miss his old life.
He was sitting in the living room. He grabbed a dumpling, dipped it in vinegar, then stuffed it in his mouth. He looked at the white pine trees outside his window and suddenly said, “I want to install a fireplace here.”
w.a.n.g Peng looked around the living room and asked, “Is it not warm enough?”
Lu Zhou looked at him with a strange expression and said, “It’s not cold, I just want one.”
w.a.n.g Peng paused for a second and said, “Okay then… Do you need me to do anything?”
Lu Zhou said, “No, unless you know how to lay bricks.”
Lu Zhou was joking. He didn’t expect w.a.n.g Peng to take it seriously. w.a.n.g Peng contemplated it for a while and answered, “The General Staff Department has people in that expertise.”
Lu Zhou: “Are you a genie?”
Why do you have everything?
w.a.n.g Peng: “…?”
In the end, Lu Zhou didn’t ask the People’s Liberation Army General Staff Department to build a fireplace for him. Instead, he contacted the design company that originally constructed the Jinling Inst.i.tute for Advanced Study.
After all, using state resources for his little fireplace was a little overkill.
Lu Zhou didn’t like two things, one was to ask others for help, and the second was to overreact over small matters.
Other than being handsome and smart, he didn’t think he was better than others in any way. He didn’t need special treatment.
Instead, he would feel more comfortable if other people treated him normally.
That was one of the reasons he was still single.
The construction company took Lu Zhou’s phone call very seriously.
Even though compared to nine-figure projects, a small fireplace was a drop in the ocean, the construction company still had the highest level of professionalism. The next day, they sent a team of designers to Lu Zhou’s home. By night time, they sent the design drawings and asking price to Lu Zhou.
Some were Victorian style, others were modern minimalistic style, and there were even some that were of the cla.s.sic retro red brick style. There were a total of 15 designs, all of which were made according to Lu Zhuo’s living room layout. Each design even included a set of handmade wool rugs.
Lu Zhou looked at the price and began to wonder if the company was even making money on this project.
The asking price was 5,000 yuan, including the carpet. Lu Zhou couldn’t help but want to increase the price.
“Are you sure about the price?”
The sales lady put on a professional smile and politely replied to Lu Zhou, “It’s fine, don’t worry, you’re an important client for our company. Giving our clients the best price has always been the company’s leading philosophy.”
Lu Zhou was baffled. He looked at the design plans and pinched his eyebrows as he said, “My math might be wrong here… But why does this come with a rug that is worth four times the asking price?”
The sales lady smiled and said, “This is our VIP discount.”
Lu Zhou: “…”
Discount my a**!
Lu Zhou wasn’t going to stop them from saving him money. He hesitated for a bit and chose his favorite design.
“We’ll go with this one then.”
The sales lady circled the design Lu Zhou wanted and asked politely, “Okay then, we’ll install it for you as soon as possible. What time is convenient for you?”
“Anytime is fine, preferably the afternoon…” Lu Zhou looked at w.a.n.g Peng, who was standing next to the sofa. He then asked, “Are you free this afternoon?”
w.a.n.g Peng gave the same answer he always gave him.
“I am available 24 hours a day.”
Lu Zhou nodded and looked at the saleslady.
“We’ll do two to six every afternoon… How long will it take?”
The saleslady gave him a glamorous smile.
“Three days at the latest.”
Actually, Lu Zhou didn’t have to wait for three days. The fireplace was installed on the night of the second day.
Lu Zhou politely declined the offer from the saleslady to install floor heating pipes for free. After Lu Zhou paid the 5,000 yuan fee, he bid farewell to the construction people. He then immediately ignited the smokeless charcoal he bought and made a fire in his fireplace.
Lu Zhou sat on his new wool rug, leaning against his sofa. He listened to the fire crackling and felt the warm fire on his body. He yawned and felt sleepy.
“So nice…”
He stretched his back and was about to fall asleep. However, his phone suddenly rang.
When Lu Zhou saw the caller ID, he immediately picked up the phone.
The other end of the phone spoke first.
“Sweetheart, how are you?”
“I’m doing good, Mom, not as busy as last year,” Lu Zhou said with a relaxed smile on his face. He paused for half a second before asking, “How are you and Dad doing?”
Fang Mei’s face lit up the second she heard the word “Mom”. She had a hearty smile on her face as she spoke.
“Don’t worry about us, we’re doing good. Your dad is retiring in a few years, so he doesn’t have to do much at work these days. All he does is drink tea and read the news. If it weren’t for me making him exercise, I couldn’t even imagine what he would be like. I just called to see how you’re doing, I didn’t interrupt your work, right?”
Lu Zhou smiled and said, “Of course not, you’re more important than work.”
Fang Mei said, “Don’t say that, your career is growing, don’t focus on me and Dad. We don’t need you to worry about us. But I just hope you don’t burn out, health is always the most important… Oh yeah, are you busy after New Year’s Day? If you are, your dad and I can come to look after you.”
Lu Zhou didn’t want to give them more trouble, so he said, “No no, it’s fine, I’m good! I’m not busy this time of the year, so I’ll go back home instead.”
Fang Mei sighed and said, “You’re such a good kid, just too polite.”
Lu Zhou was perplexed.
“Mom, what are you talking about… I’m not being polite, I just haven’t been home in so long, and I miss you guys. Anyway, don’t come to Jinling, I’ll drive back home this year.”
Even though his research was important, it wasn’t as important as his family.
Not to mention that the Riemann hypothesis wasn’t something he could solve overnight. He had just finished solving the Quasi Riemann hypothesis, so he needed some time to chill out and relax his mind.
Of course, more importantly, his parents were getting old. Lu Zhou wanted to spend as much time with them as possible.
Also, everything at the lunar orbit project was going according to plan, so he, as the chief consultant, didn’t have to do anything.
If the plan needed to be changed or something unexpected happened, he would obviously stop his scientific research and go fulfill his duties.
Fang Mei could tell that Lu Zhou really did have time to go back home this year. She finally relaxed and smiled.
She obviously wanted her son to come home. Even though her son had a big mansion in Jinling, she had lived in Jiangling her entire life. Jiangling was her roots, and all of their family friends were in Jiangling.
This was why they never agreed to move to Jinling, even with Lu Zhou asking many times.
“Good good, I’ll make you some dumplings, don’t think about work all day… Sigh, I used to tell you to study hard so that you would have a good future. Your dad and I never thought it would be like this. We just hope you’re not in a laboratory all day eating takeout. Go out sometimes, meet some new people.”
Lu Zhou coughed and said, “I’m trying to change, also don’t believe everything you see on doc.u.mentaries. Whether it’s mathematics or physics research, everyone has to meet new people.”
The stereotype of the loner scholar didn’t exist anymore.
Even Lu Zhou couldn’t cut all outside contact with the world and lock himself in a room. He needed at least arXiv and some other theses databases.
Fang Mei: “Anyway, I just hope you’re happy. Your dad and I just want a grandson. That’s all we want.”
Lu Zhou said, “Um… We’ll talk about that later, there definitely will be one.”
Fang Mei didn’t seem to believe Lu Zhou, but she still smiled and spoke as if she was comforting herself.
“I hope so…”
Lu Zhou: “…”
Even though Lu Zhou knew his mom wasn’t trying to give him pressure, he still felt like his heart was just stabbed…