Flash Marriage With Mr. Sheffield: Go Away, Cheap Man!-Chapter 211: She’s Not Currency—Not Everyone Has to Like Her
Early the next morning, after having breakfast, Clara went to the laboratory.
When she arrived, it was just past seven, still quite early. Clara changed her clothes and walked to the lab bench to start working.
Around nine o’clock, the others in the lab arrived one after another.
Hayden changed his clothes and came over to Clara, looked at her work, and said, "You’re already halfway through your experiment? So fast, what time did you get here?"
"Just after seven." Clara’s hands didn’t stop moving, her eyes remained focused on the lab equipment, while she recorded relevant data.
Upon arriving, Ryan saw how serious Clara looked and couldn’t help but roll his eyes.
Just an undergrad, what could she possibly know? Who’s she trying to impress with this act?
Hayden glanced at the experimental data Clara had recorded and the steps she’d calculated, his eyes flashing with surprise and admiration.
"Your experimental data is correct, and the steps are right too. I didn’t expect you to be so efficient. You made so much progress in under two hours; that’s impressive. Keep it up."
These words were sincere, not just pleasantries.
Clara’s experimental task today was what Hayden had assigned her before leaving the afternoon before his day off.
He originally thought that Clara would need at least two days to complete an experiment of this difficulty.
Yesterday was a day off, and the lab was locked.
So today was Clara’s first day starting this experimental task.
And she managed to do half of it in just two hours?
And that was done independently, without any help or guidance.
Vivian overheard Hayden’s words and turned to whisper to Amanda, "She came early just to show off for Hayden. I think she’s here not to do experiments but to catch a man."
Amanda agreed in a whisper, "Hayden got hooked so easily. I don’t believe what he just said was genuine praise. It’s obvious he said it to win over Clara. I don’t buy that an undergrad like Clara can be so efficient."
"Definitely," Vivian said, "I thought Hayden was reliable, but it turns out he can be swayed so easily."
...
Clara worked through the morning and then realized that everyone else had left their lab benches; they must have gone for lunch and a break.
She glanced at the time—it was half-past twelve.
With an hour and a half remaining for rest, she planned to grab a quick bite outside and return to continue her experiment.
Just as Clara stepped out the door, she saw Hayden coming towards her with a takeout bag.
"I just went downstairs to eat and brought you something too." Hayden handed over the packed meal to Clara. "I saw you were so focused on your experiment earlier; I didn’t want to interrupt."
Clara accepted the kind gesture openly, took the meal from Hayden, and thanked him politely, "Thank you."
Clara took the food to the break room to eat.
When she opened WhatsApp, she saw several unread messages.
Silas Sheffield: [Want to go out for lunch together?]
This was sent at around ten in the morning.
When she didn’t respond, he sent another message at eleven.
[Are you really busy? Should I order lunch for you and have it delivered to the lab?]
At eleven thirty, he sent one last message.
[You’re so focused—I won’t disturb you. You handle it, I worry a delivery might disrupt your experiment.]
Clara replied: [Just finished, I was too busy to check my phone this morning. There are many restaurants downstairs from the lab, no need to deliver; I can go downstairs and buy something myself.]
After a while, Silas replied with an "Okay."
Clara took twenty minutes to finish her meal and made herself a cup of coffee to refresh.
The experiment was almost complete; she just needed to wrap it up later.
Today, there’s plenty of free time left, so she could ask Hayden to assign her more experimental tasks.
After finishing her coffee, Clara walked into the lab and saw Vivian, Ryan, and Amanda gathered together discussing something.
She intended to say hello but noticed that as soon as she approached, the group quickly dispersed and returned to their respective lab benches.
Clara paused for a moment and slightly furrowed her brow.
It seemed the three weren’t fond of her and were likely gossiping about her.
But it’s okay; her purpose here was to conduct experiments and learn, not to form cliques.
Clara was open-minded about it; she wasn’t out to please everyone like money.
It’s best just to go with the flow.
Clara didn’t take it to heart, heading to her bench to get back into her experiment.
Once Clara finished her current experiment, she asked Hayden to assign her more tasks.
...
For several days in a row, Clara practically lived in the lab.
When busy, she spent at least ten hours a day conducting experiments.
These days, only Hayden would talk to her. None of the other lab members liked her, and no one else initiated a conversation with her.
Clara didn’t mind, as she focused on her experiments when in the lab. Once done, she would head home, following a steady routine.
This afternoon, just as Clara entered the lab, she heard an anguished cry: "Aaaah! Why is it still wrong? Where did I go wrong? I’ve recalculated this ten times, and it’s still not right."
Ryan stared in frustration at the data on his screen.
He had worked diligently on this experiment for many days, only for the data not to align on the last day.
Usually, minor discrepancies in results are normal, typically into the fourth decimal place.
But the numbers Ryan calculated were all over the place, with such large discrepancies that it was hard to believe they came from the same experiment.
"I’m at a loss." Ryan slumped into his chair, looking defeated, "Where did I go wrong? I’m going crazy, aaah..."
Ryan turned to Vivian for help, "Vivian, can you check where my data is wrong?"
Vivian walked over and started reviewing Ryan’s experimental data while calculating in a notebook.
"It seems like something’s incorrect here, but I’m not entirely sure; the data is too messy and prone to errors. Could you go over this part again, and here as well?"
Ryan’s groaning grew louder.
"I’ve calculated it ten times already, with ten different answers. If I calculate it one more time, I’m sure I’ll have an eleventh answer."
At this moment, Hayden walked over.
Ryan, seeing him as a savior, grabbed Hayden’s hand, "Hayden, can you check where I went wrong with my experimental data? I’ve calculated it ten times, and it’s still incorrect."
Hayden picked up Ryan’s logbook and began flipping through it, his brow furrowing deeper the more he looked. 𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖
Ryan’s experimental data required extremely complex formulas to calculate accurately.
The data was complicated and abundant, easily leading to errors if not careful.
After carefully reviewing it, Hayden frowned and said, "Sorry, I can’t see where the problem is either. Maybe you should try recalculating once more?"
