Tian Hongtao and the others greeted Zhao Min with smiles, though there was a hint of awkwardness on their faces.
“Wow, Zhipeng, your lab feels so confusing!” Zhao Min exclaimed as she looked around the lab, finding everything new and intriguing.
“What’s confusing about it?” Zhang Zhipeng asked with a smile.
Zhao Min explained, “You’ve got equipment for chemistry experiments, physics experiments, and even mechanical engineering, but there’s nothing here that represents your own aviation engineering department. Haha!”
Zhang Zhipeng chuckled, “This lab is meant to be a comprehensive one.”
“The goal is to develop the first domestically-produced CPU.”
Zhang Zhipeng then briefly introduced the current state of the lab.
After listening, Zhao Min nodded and said, “It sounds like you’re doing the work of our computer science department.”
“So, can I join this lab?”
“When I don’t have classes, I can come by and help out, and at the same time, it’ll be a good opportunity for me to train myself. Plus, I won’t ask for a penny of compensation from you. Haha!”
Fang Qingping, grinning, interjected, “Teacher Zhao, I suspect you have an ulterior motive for wanting to join our lab.”
Zhao Min shot him a look and said, “Fang Qingping, you’re always so talkative.”
“You all are allowed to be ambitious, but I can’t pursue progress? I have research tasks too! It’s not unreasonable for me to ask Zhipeng to guide me, is it?”
Fang Qingping quickly raised his hands in surrender, “Teacher, I was wrong.”
“Brother Zhipeng will definitely agree to you joining his lab. That way, he’ll have the pleasure of working alongside you.”
“Right, Brother Zhipeng?”
Zhang Zhipeng, still smiling, said, “You can say whatever you want, I’m thick-skinned.”
“Teacher Zhao, you’re welcome to join my lab. I’ll ask Professor Zheng Jingzhi to sign a written request for assistance and submit it to your computer science department. That way, you can officially come here to help with the experiments.”
Zhao Min was delighted and responded enthusiastically, “Great, great!”
“This will guarantee my research achievements for this year. Haha!”
Just as they were joking around, Zheng Jingzhi happened to walk into the lab.
Zhang Zhipeng took the opportunity to mention Zhao Min’s request. With a half-smile, Zheng Jingzhi glanced at Zhang Zhipeng but didn’t say much. Instead, he waved his hand and said, “This is easy to arrange! I’ll write a letter now to transfer you to my avionics systems research group. Zhao, you can take it to Director Wang Zhongxue in your department. He’ll definitely approve your participation in our research activities during your free time.”
Computer science is indeed a popular field now, but at Northwestern Polytechnical University, its importance isn’t that high—it’s still just a supporting department.
So, Zheng Jingzhi wrote the letter to officially second Zhao Min to assist with the research and even had Tian Hongtao bring the departmental seal to make it all formal.
After completing the formalities, he handed the letter to Zhao Min with a smile and said, “From now on, you’re officially an adjunct member of our aviation engineering department.”
Zhao Min carefully took the letter, thanked him with a smile, and then folded it neatly and put it into her bag.
Zheng Jingzhi, smiling, said to Zhang Zhipeng, “Xiao Zhang, if you can really develop a CPU that works well, you’ll be doing a great service for our country!”
“Work hard, but don’t rush.”
“My expectations for you are getting higher and higher. Even the principal is closely watching your lab now!”
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Zhang Zhipeng quickly assured him, “Professor Zheng, you and the principal can rest assured! I’m confident that within ten days to half a month, we’ll definitely see results!”
Zheng Jingzhi nodded with a smile, “Good, good!”
“Well, I’ll treat you all to lunch. What would you like to eat? Let me know!”
It was clear that Zheng Jingzhi was in a very good mood.
Tian Hongtao quickly said, “Professor, Zhao Min and Zhipeng want to have a meal together alone, so we shouldn’t be the third wheel.”
Zheng Jingzhi slapped his forehead and laughed, “Haha! Look at me, I must be getting old and forgetful.”
“Alright, Zhipeng, you and Zhao Min go enjoy your time together, and I’ll take the others out for lunch.”
Zhang Zhipeng blushed and said, “What ‘time together’ during lunch?! It’s rare that Professor Zheng treats us, so I can’t miss out! After we eat, I’ll take Zhao Min for a walk nearby. We can’t ignore the group, right?”
Zhao Min smiled and said, “Exactly! We’re a team now. Let’s eat together.”
“Well then, since I’m the new member, how about I treat you all to lunch today? Let’s go to Lao Ma’s place for some paomo.”
Zheng Jingzhi waved his hand and said, "How can that be?"
"Wouldn't that make me, an old guy, bullying a young girl?"
Zheng Jingzhi looked at Zhang Zhipeng and said, "Xiao Zhang, you decide. Will the two of you go eat alone, or will we all go together? Let's not beat around the bush; let's be straightforward."
Zhang Zhipeng smiled and said, "Mr. Zheng, when we go out to eat, don't we always go to Old Ma's place?"
"Let's go together. We can't split into two groups, right?"
The group locked the lab door and headed out of the school gate to eat paomo.
At this time, a bowl of paomo cost 2 yuan, and the bowl was almost as large as a small basin.
Actually, considering the current salary levels, 2 yuan for a bowl of lamb paomo wasn't exactly cheap.
In 1990, the national average annual wage was just over 2,100 yuan, averaging about 170 yuan per month.
This meant that a significant portion of the population earned less than 100 yuan a month.
During the meal, Zhang Zhipeng and Zhao Min were specially arranged to sit together.
As a time traveler, Zhang Zhipeng was initially shocked the first time he had lamb paomo after just arriving here—the bowl was bigger than his head! Could he really finish it?
Surprisingly, he did finish it that time.
And he even wanted more after he was done.
Today was Zhang Zhipeng's first time eating with Zhao Min. They had just started their relationship and were still unfamiliar with each other. With so many people at the table, it wasn't convenient to say anything to get closer, so they didn't talk much.
He just focused on breaking the bread and eating.
While they were eating, Zhao Min picked up a large piece of meat with her chopsticks and placed it in Zhang Zhipeng's bowl.
"Help me with some of this, will you?" Zhao Min said with a smile.
Zhang Zhipeng smiled and said, "There's only so much good stuff in a bowl of lamb paomo, why not eat it yourself? I think you're a bit too thin."
Zhao Min replied, "Thin? I'm already 100 jin. That's quite heavy—I've even got a bit of a belly now."
Zhang Zhipeng thought to himself that it seemed the aesthetic of 'thin is beautiful' had already started taking root by this time. But really, it had only been about ten years since people could regularly have enough to eat.
He said, "You're about 1.65 meters tall, right?"
Zhao Min said with a giggle, "You're spot on! I'm exactly 1.65 meters!"
Without further ado, Zhang Zhipeng returned the piece of lamb she had just given him and said, "At that height, you'd need to be at least 120 jin to be at a healthy weight. I'll have to make sure you eat more meat from now on."
After all, a slightly plump figure looks better on a woman. Being too skinny not only feels bad to the touch but also doesn't look very appealing.
Zhao Min playfully shook her head and said with a smile, "Alright, now I feel better. Actually, in my family, my parents both have a tendency to gain weight, so I won’t have to worry about becoming overweight in the future. Hehe!"
Fang Qingping, sitting nearby, laughed and said, "It's just a piece of meat, and you two are fussing over it like this. Enough already."
"If you can't finish it, just give it to me."
Tian Hongtao also laughed and said, "Eating with you guys is really tough for me—all this showing off of your affection over a single piece of meat."
Zheng Jingzhi chuckled and said, "Xiao Zhao, you'll need to help out our Aeronautical Engineering department more in the future. We're all monks here, and if your department has any good single ladies, send them our way, haha!"
Zheng Jingzhi wasn't exaggerating. The Aeronautical Engineering department was indeed male-dominated, with very few females.
Although the Computer Science department was also a STEM field, it still had a better ratio of female students compared to Aeronautical Engineering.
Of course, the department with the most female students was the Humanities departments like Foreign Languages.
Zhao Min smiled demurely and said, "Since Mr. Zheng has spoken, I'll definitely do my best. Even if our Director Wang scolds me for working against our department's interests, I'll still try to matchmake a few couples."