Time rolled on to early September. Professor John's Thruster Recovery project had reached "crunch time."
On one hand, the project was on the verge of producing results. On the other, the deadline for this year's Nobel Prize submission was just days away.
It's worth noting that over the past week or so, Mike's three-person group had taken on an increasingly heavy workload due to their insane efficiency.
"Hey everyone! Break time~"
Meemaw Connie waltzed into the lab, bursting with energy and carrying a stack of pizzas and coffee.
Because of her relationship with Professor John and Mike's group, Meemaw Connie had the privilege of entering the lab whenever she pleased.
Consequently, she'd often swing by with food and drinks to share with the researchers.
With her bright and bubbly personality, she had easily won over most of the people in the lab.
This time was no different. Amidst a cheerful atmosphere, the pizza Meemaw Connie brought became lunch, distributed into the hands of every researcher.
Afterward, she carried a special lunch over to Professor John, who was still burying his head in his work.
"John, take a breather. Look what I brought you."
Meemaw Connie smiled, revealing a fresh flower from behind her back like she was presenting a treasure.
Here, we have to mention Meemaw Connie's motive for taking such good care of the research staff.
She was trying to share some of the pressure on Professor John, hoping to deepen their relationship in the process.
Yes, Meemaw Connie is a woman of action. She was trying to integrate herself into Professor John's life.
However, Professor John, currently at a critical juncture of compiling data, completely failed to vibe with Meemaw Connie's romance.
Interrupted mid-thought, his expression turned a bit sour.
"Connie, come with me for a second. I have something to say to you."
The two of them walked into the small office next door, one after the other.
Meemaw Connie, oblivious to Professor John's foul mood, hummed a little tune as she set the special lunch on the table.
A pizza, a bottle of red wine, and a beautiful flower.
"Alright, what did you want to say?"
Finished setting up, Meemaw Connie sat across from Professor John with a look of anticipation.
She thought her sincerity over this period had finally moved Professor John, and she was smiling, waiting for him to actively "confess his love."
After all, a confession needs a sense of ritual, and it's always perfect if the gentleman initiates it.
You could say Meemaw Connie's mind was currently filled with romantic fantasies.
"Connie, I know what you've been doing lately comes from a good place, but you've become a nuisance to our team's efficiency."
Professor John voiced the trouble in his heart.
Single-mindedly focused on research, he felt that Meemaw Connie's frequent visits to the lab had seriously disrupted his team's progress.
After all, every time Meemaw Connie came, she brought "gifts" that distracted the researchers.
"So, what exactly are you saying?"
Realizing the atmosphere was off, Meemaw Connie's smile slowly faded.
"I just want to remind you, please don't just wander into the lab in the future. It disturbs our team's research progress..."
Professor John organized his thoughts and said, "So, if possible, it would be best if you didn't appear at the University of Texas until this research project is over."
"You think I'm annoying?"
Hearing accusations instead of the sweet nothings she expected, Meemaw Connie's face turned grim.
"I didn't say that. I just think we both need some personal space, try not to disturb each other's lives..."
Professor John, completely unaware of the gravity of the situation, continued to ramble on, preaching his logic.
But this was understandable. Having been single for most of his life, he really wasn't suited for the overly intimate life of a couple.
You have to remember, Professor John's past life consisted of going wherever he wanted and doing whatever he wanted, all by himself.
He even had the experience of traveling the world alone.
"Let's break up!"
Meemaw Connie, who had been silent for a while, suddenly spoke up, interrupting Professor John's speech.
For this twilight romance, Meemaw Connie had poured in a lot of heart and soul.
Now, it was a classic case of "the greater the hope, the greater the disappointment."
Just as Mike had said before, the free-spirited Meemaw Connie and the academic elite Professor John were not on the same path at all.
Professor John, with his dull personality, found it hard to appreciate the little romantic nuances of Meemaw Connie's life.
Similarly, Meemaw Connie, who wasn't highly educated, couldn't make heads or tails of Professor John's weird scientific data.
The two differed greatly from personality to education. Living together for a long time, it would be hard to find common topics.
"Break up?"
Suddenly hearing the words "break up," Professor John's first reaction was a strange sense of relief.
Then, out of politeness, he asked, "Why?"
For Professor John, love was a seasoning or a luxury item—nice to have, but optional.
Right now, focused entirely on his research project, he was more inclined to choose the latter to avoid disturbances.
Meemaw Connie, who took in every subtle change in his expression, was even more disappointed.
"No reason. We're done."
In this relationship, Meemaw Connie, who chose to give more, was truly tired at this moment.
Moreover, being clingy wasn't Meemaw Connie's style.
So, after announcing the breakup, she stood up decisively and walked out of the room.
Behind her, watching Meemaw Connie leave, Professor John's first reaction wasn't to chase after her, but to celebrate having more time for research.
It was precisely this moment of hesitation that caused him to completely lose the chance to win Meemaw Connie back.
However, you have to give to get. Professor John's actions weren't entirely bad.
In the following period, without Meemaw Connie's "disturbances" in the lab, the research progress indeed sped up significantly.
This was exactly the result Professor John wanted.
---
Meanwhile, Mia, who had returned to Genovia, began to be forced by Queen Renaldi to attend various events after getting familiar with local life for a few days.
Just like the American entertainment tabloids, the rumors about Mia in the Genovia tabloids were thoroughly extinguished by Queen Renaldi upon her return.
However, before this, the girl's terrible image had already spread throughout the kingdom.
As the future princess of the kingdom, or even the future queen, Mia could be said to hold the lifeline of the kingdom's future.
So, her current topic popularity and attention in Genovia were extremely high.
The yearning for a better life made the people of Genovia hope that Mia would be a qualified heir.
Therefore, to prevent the people from being too disappointed, Queen Renaldi arranged various public events for the girl, trying to let Mia turn around her image within Genovia.
From a macro perspective, this was more like a political PR stunt.
To let Mia showcase herself in all aspects, Queen Renaldi specially arranged performances for the girl such as equestrianism, archery, and piano playing.
These were all skills a qualified princess needed to master.
At the same time, to achieve a promotional effect, the Queen specially invited the country's top reporters to follow and film Mia's series of "show" activities.
This was to disseminate the "excellent" side of the girl to the people through the media.
It's just that Queen Renaldi didn't expect those kingdom radicals would dare to sabotage Mia's performance activities.
Mia, who was already unskilled in certain skills a princess needed to master, had her horse secretly swapped for an untamed wild horse during the equestrian performance.
And in activities like archery and piano performance, the props the girl used were also tampered with more or less.
Nearly falling off the horse, playing the piano out of tune, unable to draw the bow for archery...
Mia made a series of jokes in her own show activities.
Now it was great. The girl's already bad image in Genovia had added another item—good-for-nothing.
"I'm sorry, Grandma. I seem to have messed everything up..."
Having been back for only half a month, Mia's face had become very haggard.
To be precise, she was mentally and physically exhausted.
And the current situation was completely different from the "pampered" princess life the girl had imagined.
"It's not your fault, I didn't consider it carefully..."
Queen Renaldi didn't blame the girl.
Then she thought for a long time before continuing: "If you still are willing to trust me, I will rearrange your promotional direction next."
"Of course I trust you."
Half a month's time allowed Mia to understand more of Queen Renaldi's "greatness," and also know her difficulties in Genovia.
The naturally kind-hearted girl, whether out of sympathy for her grandmother or wanting to help share some pressure. In short, she was very willing to do something for Genovia now.
"Mia, I want you to know that the Kingdom of Genovia actually doesn't need a Disney-style princess. What the kingdom needs now is a princess with commitment and a sense of responsibility..."
Queen Renaldi seemed to have a new training plan and continued: "For the next activities, you just need to act as your true self."
If we're talking about the biggest shining point on Mia, that would probably be kindness.
Based on this advantage, Queen Renaldi arranged a series of pro-people activities for the girl next.
Let Mia go among the people:
Go to the breeding farms to visit the farmers, go to the fields to visit the farmers, go to the orchards to visit the fruit farmers, etc.