Two days later, Friday morning. As soon as Raj arrived at work, he approached Paige with a slightly hesitant expression. "Paige, I have a personal question for you."
"What's the problem?" Paige looked up from her desk, a hint of wariness crossing her face.
"It's like this—you're a woman, so if you were going on a first date with someone, what kind of gift would you want him to give you?" Raj asked, seeking advice. He wanted to buy a small gift for Lalita to add a thoughtful touch to tonight's blind date.
"I really can't help you with this question. I've never actually been on a date." Paige shook her head after considering it for a moment.
Raj was taken aback, clearly surprised. A woman as beautiful and intelligent as Paige surely had suitors lining up, yet she claimed to have never dated anyone. If she wasn't lying—and he had no reason to think she was—there must be more to the story.
"Okay, no worries. Thanks anyway." Raj nodded, then turned to search online for suggestions. However, the Internet offered all kinds of conflicting advice with no real consensus. Raj scrolled through various forums and gift guides for a long time but couldn't make up his mind.
While he was still worrying over his decision, his eyes suddenly lit up with inspiration. He smiled and turned back to Paige. "Paige, can you help me go to the bookstore to buy a book?"
"Of course," Paige nodded agreeably.
"It's a book of fairy tales—it tells the story of the Indian princess Panchali leading the monkeys to freedom." Raj explained with a slight smile.
"A fairy tale book?!" Paige was noticeably surprised. She had assumed that whatever Raj wanted her to buy would be an information book or research text related to their scientific projects. A fairy tale was genuinely unexpected. "Is this... for the date?"
"Everyone has their own secrets, right?" Raj laughed, neither confirming nor denying.
Hearing this diplomatic response, Paige nodded in agreement, respecting his privacy.
At noon, Paige returned with the fairy tale book "Princess Panchali" in hand.
"Thank you for your help," Raj said appreciatively. After lunch, he settled in to read it thoroughly.
"Princess Panchali" was actually quite short—only about forty pages—clearly written for children in first and second grades. The reason Raj had chosen this particular book was inspired by something he'd remembered about effective conversation starters. The story was charming and culturally relevant, perfect for breaking the ice with Lalita.
Paige noticed him reading the fairy tale book with unexpected seriousness and couldn't help feeling curious about his intentions.
After reading it twice to commit the story to memory, Raj kept the book of "Princess Panchali" nearby, then set it aside to begin drafting his paper: "Thermochemical Evolution of Comet Nuclei and Kuiper Belt Objects."
Over the past two days, Paige had diligently helped him collect all the required research materials and references. With these resources at his disposal, the thesis would flow much more naturally.
Raj worked on writing the thesis while simultaneously explaining concepts and exchanging ideas with Paige. This was precisely why so many graduate students scrambled to apply for assistant positions with top scholars—when working closely with distinguished academics, they could receive hands-on mentorship and learn cutting-edge knowledge directly from experts in the field.
Of course, not all academics were so generous with their assistants. Many scholars simply used their assistants as glorified secretaries, delegating trivial administrative tasks while never actually sharing knowledge, accepting input, or patiently answering questions.
Sheldon Cooper was a prime example of this. In one instance, he had hired a talented assistant named Alex, only to ask her to fetch his meals, purchase gifts, organize his childhood memorabilia, and even listen to detailed accounts of his dreams—menial and demeaning tasks that had nothing to do with actual research. She hadn't been permitted to participate in any meaningful scientific work. Unsurprisingly, Alex had resigned after only a few months.
Raj was naturally not as selfish or oblivious as Sheldon. He genuinely wanted to share his knowledge with Paige and help develop her skills. Despite his various personal shortcomings—his complicated relationship with his parents, occasional vanity, periodic self-doubt, and questionable romantic decisions—his scientific knowledge was undeniably top-tier. He was a true astrophysics expert with deep understanding across multiple specializations.
Sheldon had mocked Leonard's work, education, and intelligence many times over the years, and had regularly belittled Howard's engineering degree. But he rarely directed such criticism toward Raj's scientific abilities. In fact, when the two had collaborated on projects, Raj had occasionally caught and corrected Sheldon's mistakes—no small feat.
Now inhabiting this life, Raj retained all of that expertise and had plenty of valuable knowledge to share with an eager student like Paige.
For her part, Paige felt genuinely honored to participate in Raj's new research project so soon after joining as his assistant. At this moment, she was learning and engaging simultaneously, like a sponge absorbing water, soaking up knowledge from an vast ocean of information.
They worked steadily until four o'clock in the afternoon. After glancing at his watch, Raj smiled at Paige. "Okay, let's finish here for today. I have something I need to do this evening."
Paige had been fully immersed in the fascinating research, and hearing Raj's words brought a flash of disappointment across her face.
"Raj, do you have time tomorrow or the day after tomorrow? I'd really like to continue learning from you," she asked hopefully.
Knowledge was wealth, and it wasn't easily obtained—especially in the American academic system. First, tuition fees were absurdly expensive. Even someone like Leonard, who had graduated over a decade ago, still made monthly loan payments. Second, top experts and scholars generally preferred conducting research over teaching. For example, Sheldon exclusively wanted to focus on his scientific work. Even when the university offered him promotions and salary increases to teach more classes, he consistently refused.
Therefore, in American academia, it was remarkably difficult to receive direct mentorship from distinguished scholars. That's why Paige wanted to cherish this opportunity and learn from Raj as much as possible while she had access to him.
"Well, if I have time tomorrow or the day after tomorrow, I'll definitely call you," Raj considered thoughtfully, then added, "In the meantime, you should visit the library and borrow some foundational texts—books like 'Time, Space and Everything,' 'The Structure of the Universe: The Meaning of Space, Time and Reality,' and 'The Lightness of Being: The Unity of Ether and Force.' If you encounter anything you don't understand, please don't hesitate to ask me about it when we meet next."
"Okay, thank you so much," Paige nodded gratefully. It was genuinely rare to encounter someone as willing as Raj to teach and patiently answer questions.
"You're very welcome," Raj waved his hand and smiled warmly.
His willingness to help Paige so extensively stemmed from several motivations. Partly, it was simply his personality—both he and the original Rajesh were fundamentally kind people who helped others when they could. Additionally, Paige was an attractive woman, and the age-old truth remained that beauty often received preferential treatment. If Paige had been less pleasant to look at, she might not have even been selected as his assistant in the first place, if he was being honest with himself.
But the main reason was that Raj hoped to build a strong working relationship with her, ensuring that future collaboration would be productive and enjoyable for both of them. A good rapport made everything easier.
After leaving campus, Raj stopped first at an upscale gift shop and asked the clerk to wrap the book "Princess Panchali" in elegant paper with a tasteful ribbon. Then he drove back to his apartment, where he showered carefully, styled his hair, and changed into a smart casual outfit—nice jeans and a button-down shirt that struck the right balance between effort and ease.
When the time felt right, he drove to Sakura Sushi, a well-regarded Japanese restaurant on St. Granville Avenue. He arrived early, confirmed his reservation, sent a brief text message to Lalita confirming the location, and settled into the waiting area with a magazine.
At 6:05 PM, Raj was casually flipping through the latest issue of People magazine. Interestingly, this issue contained a feature article about him, related to the TO1700D planet discovery. The exoplanet remained a hot topic in both scientific circles and popular media, and Caltech's public relations department was eagerly capitalizing on the publicity to generate donations and enhance the school's prestige.
"Hi, are you Rajesh?"
At that moment, a young woman's voice interrupted his reading, her tone tentative but friendly.
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