Orion Crest, Series_2

Chapter 16: The most beautiful snowfall

　　Later that evening, after dinner, Orion went to Carnegie Lake and jogged along the lakeside path as usual. In a relaxed mood, he couldn't help but speed up his pace as he ran. It was as if only the cold wind blowing in his face could calm his emotions.

　　However, although the system's potion had improved his metabolic function, it had not turned him into a sportsman. After less than five minutes of sprinting around the path, Orion stopped panting at a bench on the side of the road and sat down slowly, gripping the armrests.

　　Sweat seeped out from his chest and back, sticking to his close-fitting clothes, gradually chilled by the cold chilly wind. The cold feeling made Orion shiver, but it still couldn't quench the passion in his heart.

　　At this time, Morina, who was also jogging along the lakeside, noticed Orion, who was sitting on the bench and gasping for breath, and gradually slowed down her pace, stopping beside the bench.

　　"...... Are you irritated by something?" Glancing at him suspiciously, Molina looked at him in a teasing tone and asked.

　　"No, I feel so good right now." Propping his hands on his knees and gasping for breath, Orion grinned, indicating that he was very well now.

　　Giving him a look as if he were a lunatic, Molina, however, said nothing more and sat down at the other end of the bench. Fishing out a bottle of mineral water from her sports belt, she elegantly unscrewed the cap and brought it close to her lips to take a sip, then glanced sideways at the panting Orion and said in a casual tone.

　　"It's Christmas soon, what are you going to do for it?"

　　"Just at Princeton, my students suggested a party and ......" Orion couldn't think of anything better to arrange, "and then go home and rest."

　　Looking at Orion with a speechless face, Molina sighed, "That sounds pretty pathetic for a Christmas like that ...... Don't you have any plans to find a girlfriend to spend the holidays with?"

　　"Maths is already hard enough to serve, creatures like girlfriends, I'll think about it one day when I'm free." Speaking in an emotional tone, Orion suddenly realised and slanted a glance at Molina, "I'd almost forgotten, aren't you also single?"

　　"I'm different, I'm a celibate, relationships are a liability to me." Flicking her blonde hair, which was dampened by sweat at the ends, the pale blue eyes were stamped with indifference, "Besides, it's probably like you said, maths is already hard enough to serve."

　　As soon as Orion heard this, he laughed.

　　"But I haven't seen you serve maths much better."

　　Since they first met, he had gone from undergraduate to professor, while she was still struggling with her own supervisor on the Hardy critical line of the Riemann Conjecture, so much so that she hadn't even written a PhD thesis. Orion wasn't gloating, of course, but instead had advised her quite a few times out of the goodness of his heart to choose a relatively easy target to start with.

　　Molina froze, and after coming back to her senses, glared at him in annoyance. She had intended to retort, but realised that she was unable to do so at all.

　　"You wait ...... for next year's August IMO conference, I will make you retract that!" With these words, she stood up and ran away indignantly.

　　"I'll be waiting for your good news." Shouting at the back figure that faded into the path by the lake, Orion smiled and shook his head.

　　"Now let's see who's really irritated? "

　　But then again, if a little stimulation can produce results, it's also not bad. Wiping a handful of sweat from his forehead, Orion, who had regained his strength, continued running along the lakeside path in a relaxed mood......