Chapter 579 - 594: Apology

An Ning smiled warmly at Zhao Xin.

"I’ve always just been myself, but thank you."

Zhao Xin smiled a little sheepishly and took two steps back. "First time comforting someone. My technique is a bit rusty."

An Ning knew Zhao Xin was joking to cover her embarrassment, so she played along. "It is a little. You’ll get better with more practice."

The two of them shared a laugh, and neither mentioned what had just happened again.

An Ning texted with Jiang Xia for a while longer, telling him she was going to bed since she had more on her schedule tomorrow.

Jiang Xia replied with a "Good night." An Ning put her phone away and went to sleep. The moment she lay down in bed, it occurred to her that Jiang Xia was in a different time zone.

’What time is it over there for him?’

Before An Ning could figure it out, she fell asleep.

The next morning, Zhao Xin woke An Ning up. Still groggy, she changed her clothes and went downstairs for breakfast.

Probably because of An Ning’s feat the previous night, they were the center of attention at breakfast. But every time they made eye contact, people would quickly pretend to be talking or chatting.

"Their acting is on par with mine."

An Ning grumbled as she sat down and quietly finished her breakfast. Afterward, however, she stared at her empty plate, already missing home on the very first day.

She really couldn’t understand what was so good about the bread. And the leafy greens drizzled with some salad dressing, accompanied by a few slices of bacon or ham... The taste wasn’t bad, but the portions were a bit small, and the options were even more limited.

Still not full, An Ning ordered another breakfast. The server tried hard to control their expression, but An Ning saw right through it.

"Martial artists have big appetites."

That one sentence sent the server scurrying away, returning with a special-order breakfast for An Ning.

After filling their stomachs, the group went upstairs to change into more formal attire before heading down for the meeting.

Today was the first day of the mathematics conference, and the hotel’s conference hall had been prepared especially for them.

This time, aside from actual mathematicians and the media, there were no capitalists present.

A mathematics conference, to put it bluntly, was just a group of mathematicians researching and solving problems, like a bunch of students doing homework.

The only difference was that their problems were incredibly difficult. It often led to intellectual clashes and bursts of inspiration, making the conference seem exceptionally brilliant and successful to insiders, but a lullaby to outsiders.

Yu the Elder was in his element among the crowd and gained a great deal from it.

One should never look down on anyone—and that included An Ning herself.

The many titans she had met during her years in the research lab had personally proven this point to her.

After the morning session of the conference ended, a group of attendees, reluctant to part ways, headed to the restaurant together. An Ning and the other assistants walked in their own group, following silently.

But it was obvious that the assistants had their own circle. Although they were assistants to the big names, they were all researchers or had published papers in international journals themselves.

Everyone’s name was well-known within their circle. Even if they hadn’t met in person, they had definitely read each other’s papers.

Only An Ning’s and Zhao Xin’s names were unfamiliar. Combined with An Ning’s unexpected display of force the previous night, many assumed the two were personal assistants, while some even had dirtier thoughts.

After all, Yu the Elder’s only two assistants were young women.

An Ning and Zhao Xin were isolated.

The other assistants gathered in a clique, their postures arrogant, discussing lofty topics. On average, a specialized mathematical term would pop up in their conversation every other second.

Zhao Xin genuinely didn’t understand much of it. Before she came, she had only crammed some basic mathematical knowledge so she wouldn’t be completely lost. She could memorize large amounts of information in a short time—that was her specialty.

But the content of their conversation still left her completely baffled.

"Pay them no mind. They’re just a bunch of peacocks showing off their feathers."

An Ning, who understood everything, paid them no attention at all.

But sometimes, the more you ignore people, the more audacious they become.

The group of brilliant assistants switched to another language mid-conversation, observing An Ning’s expression as they did so.

To play along, An Ning put on a troubled look. Once the group was certain she didn’t understand their "gossip language," they began their shameless attacks.

"Her figure is actually really good."

"Yu is so old. Does he even have the energy? With two beauties like that, can he still perform?"

"Hahahahaha, he’s old but vigorous."

An Ning hadn’t expected such filth from them.

She thought they would only attack her academically, not that their character was so rotten.

Standing aside and listening to their continued gossip and slander, An Ning grabbed a bottle of water and walked toward the assistants.

"Hehe, she’s coming over!"

"I thought she couldn’t understand?"

"Does she look angry?"

The group started to get scared, switching languages to greet An Ning.

An Ning placed the bottle of water on the table and said in their perfectly fluent "gossip language," "Are you going to do it yourselves, or should we put on a show together?"

’Oh my god—she actually understood!’

This was the only thought in all the assistants’ minds.

"Oh, by the way, the parameters in the paper you just mentioned are wrong..."

"And your paper just repeats the results of a predecessor. If you don’t believe me, you can check. It’s in an article by Kristoff from Country E, starting from the third line on page eighty-seven."

"Your data has a misplaced decimal point right from the start, so the result you got..."

An Ning pointed out a flaw in every single one of them. After her tirade, the group of assistants was utterly silent.

"I’m sorry. I apologize for my ignorance."

The first person apologized, followed by a second, and a third. Likely due to peer pressure, every single one of them apologized to An Ning.

Unfortunately, An Ning didn’t accept.

"Do you understand the true meaning of an apology? Let me tell you. It only counts as an apology when you feel just as bad as I do."

"But right now, you’re just waiting for my forgiveness. If I don’t forgive you, I become the bad guy. That’s not an apology. That’s emotional blackmail."

"Finally, you forgot about my colleague. She was a party to this as well."

Having said her piece, An Ning turned and left, leaving the group of men wanting to get angry but not daring to, wanting to apologize but unable to bring themselves to do it sincerely.

An Ning and Zhao Xin had a very happy lunch.

In the afternoon, the two of them still stuck together, but the assistant team on the other side had quieted down, not daring to say another word.

The conference went on for two days. The schedule for the third day was a visit to a local university, where Yu the Elder was also set to give a lecture to the students.

At seven in the morning, three buses departed smoothly, led by a car in front and escorted by a police car from behind.

Twenty minutes into the drive, Zhao Xin gripped An Ning’s arm. An Ning tilted her head and saw Zhao Xin mouth a single word: "Hijacking."

’Hijacking?’

An Ning’s spiritual power shot out instantly, blanketing the bus ahead of them, the one carrying Yu the Elder and the temporary translator, Xu Cheng.