Chapter 191: Bad Intentions

“At least I think if she doesn’t have the time and energy to do all three things at once, it will affect her performance. From what I can see, Tan Mo is doing really well just dividing her time between her major and Professor Guo’s research team. It proves that she can do both together,” Shen Jingyi slowly explained. “But if she were to join us and got tired from doing all three things together, which one would she prioritize? She might focus on our research first because she just joined us, so she’ll have to sacrifice her time with her studies or Professor Guo’s research. Or, she might think that since she just joined us, she won’t have to put much attention here at first.

Shen Jingyi paused and closed her eyes, trying to hide her intentions before continuing, “Either way, isn’t it bad if she can’t focus on the things she is doing? She will basically be wasting the team’s resources and time. It’s pretty unfair for those who are completely focused on the research. Of course, I’m not implying that Tan Mo would do that to us. It’s just that no matter which side she chooses, it will never be fair.”

Professor Zhao turned to glance at Shen Jingyi, and it made her anxious for a second before she quickly calmed herself down.

She knew that what she’d said made sense, and there was nothing for her to be nervous about.

Professor Zhao diverted his gaze as he laughed to himself.

After living for more than half a century, the professor could immediately tell what Shen Jingyi was trying to imply.

All he could do was blame himself for not spotting that side of her when he recruited her.

“So, you are against Tan Mo joining my research team?” Professor Zhao questioned her.

“N…no, of course not!” Shen Jingyi quickly shook her head. “I would be honored for such a talented person as Tan Mo to join us. I’m just worried she would choose to focus on other things than this.”

Professor Zhao had already learned about Tan Mo’s exceptional memory from Professor Guo. The only thing that they didn’t know was that she actually had a photographic memory.

Yet, just from how well Tan Mo could remember things, Professor Guo had concluded that Tan Mo had enough energy to join Professor Zhao’s research team as well.

Naturally, Professor Zhao had thought of the problem that Shen Jingyi had just raised.

Yet, rather than worrying Tan Mo would favor her studies or Professor Guo’s research, he was more worried that Tan Mo could wear herself out, that she would sacrifice her rest so that she could do all of these things.

For a growing girl like Tan Mo, that was the worst possible thing that could happen to her.

That was why Professor Zhao had gone to ask Professor Guo for his opinion.

Professor Zhao didn’t give Tan Mo the questions until Professor Guo had a.s.sured him that it would not be a problem for the 15-year-old girl.

The two professors were rivals in that they had both been trying to get Tan Mo onto their research teams, but since Professor Guo was sure that Tan Mo could handle the workload, he decided that it was fine for Professor Zhao to have her as well.

He believed that the decision would benefit Tan Mo a lot.

“I see.” Professor Zhao smiled. “Why don’t we ask Tan Mo herself?”

Just as Shen Jingyi was wondering when the professor would invite Tan Mo over, he turned to the door and said, “Tan Mo, come on in.”

Shen Jingyi could not hide her surprised expression when she heard that.

Not only her, but everyone else was shocked as well.

None of them had actually thought that Tan Mo was already waiting outside the room.

Other than Wu Xiaoye, none of them had actually met Tan Mo before. Thus they were all curious about what the most famous student at Beijing University looked like.

As for Shen Jingyi, other than being surprised that Tan Mo was waiting outside, she was also worried that the young lady might have overheard what she had just said.

However, she quickly regained her composure as she knew that there was nothing wrong with what she had just said.

Shen Jingyi was sure that everyone could understand what she was trying to imply and wasn’t worried that Tan Mo would, since she was still only 15 years old.

Her worries were immediately relieved when she thought about that.

The door was then pushed open, and in came a pure, pale-skinned girl.

She was so gorgeous that everyone could not help but hold their breaths.

Even though Tan Mo was still only 15 years old, her beauty could captivate anyone.

They couldn’t even imagine what she would look like once she reached adulthood.

Not only that, her beauty wasn’t of the type that would make people feel pressured that she was out of their league. Instead, her beauty felt more like that where people would want to be friends with her.

The moment they laid eyes on her, it was as if they were watching a calm stream inside a Zen garden. That was the best way to describe her beauty: calm but also warm like a hot spring at the same time.

“Xiaoye.” Tan Mo greeted Wu Xiaoye with a smile before greeting everyone else. “Good morning, seniors. My name is Tan Mo.”

Being greeted separately by Tan Mo made Wu Xiaoye feel special and happy. He was glad that he had treated her well in the past, and it was worth it since she remembered who he was and treated him differently than how she treated the rest of the research team.

“You heard it, right?” Professor Zhao turned to address Tan Mo. “Jingyi said she’s worried that you might not have the energy and time to join our group.”

“I did.” Tan Mo nodded. “Um…which one is Jingyi?”

Professor Zhao pointed at Shen Jingyi. “The woman at the back.”

Tan Mo nodded again.

She wanted to remember the faces of those who bore bad intentions toward her.

There was no way she didn’t understand the meaning behind Shen Jingyi’s words. She could understand the implications right away.

“Tan Mo, what I meant is that if you have the spare time and energy and give the same amount of attention to this research team, we are more than happy to welcome you to the team.” Shen Jingyi smiled.

Tan Mo nodded, but she did not reply to her senior but turned to Professor Zhao instead. “Professor Zhao, does that mean if I don’t have the energy and time, I don’t need to be part of this research team?”

The rest of the students’ jaws dropped when she said that.

It sounded as if Tan Mo wasn’t keen on joining them.

When they tried to join the team, they had had to compete with a lot of other students just to land their spots, and Tan Mo was actually invited to join them instead of going through the same gruesome compet.i.tion as they had.

Wu Xiaoye was suddenly having déjà vu.

It reminded him of when Tan Mo went to Professor Zhao’s cla.s.s, and the students voted not to let Tan Mo join them. When the results came out, Tan Mo was visibly happy.

It was as if she got the chance to skip cla.s.s.

Wu Xiaoye could tell that things were about to go south. He knew he had to find a way to warn Professor Zhao.

However, Professor Zhao was much slyer than Wu Xiaoye thought. He had already thought of a way to counter this.

“Don’t you dare say something like you aren’t going to join because you don’t have the time or energy,” Professor Zhao scoffed. “I’ve already asked Professor Guo, and he told me that you have more than enough in your tank to join us. He even a.s.sured me that you would do well here also.”

All the students were shocked to hear how highly Professor Guo viewed Tan Mo, to the point where he was this confident in her ability.