It seemed the job of gathering research materials for Vincent had now landed on Natalie’s shoulders.

“That’s actually a good thing,” Josie thought.

In her previous life, Vincent had used the study materials she prepared for him to review for the postgraduate exams. Then, he ended up ranking at the top of his class that year.

David’s team had both graduate and undergraduate students. Vincent was able to stay with his group. Three years later, with an outstanding internship evaluation from David, Vincent started job hunting. Coming from a rural background, Vincent wanted to stay in Aloville. Even with David’s recommendation, it wasn’t easy. Josie remembered it was Natalie who pulled some strings for him and paved the way. She even helped set him up with the daughter of the director of the country’s top research institute. That girl was a real character, and she ended up having a huge impact on Vincent’s life.

‘I wonder if Vincent will end up taking the same path this time,’ Josie thought.

Seeing Josie lost in thought, Zoey couldn’t help but pinch her cheek. “You’re pretty likable too, you know!”

“Hey, why are you copying Claire’s habits now?” Josie teased, reaching over to tickle Zoey’s armpit. The two girls giggled as they walked into the cafeteria. After breakfast, Josie and Zoey made their way into the lab together. The moment they stepped inside, they spotted a guy sitting in one of the office chairs. He might have been a stranger to Josie, but Zoey knew exactly who he was. After all, their photos always popped up together on the campus forum.

“Colby Clem?” Zoey stepped forward politely to greet him.

Colby stood up. “Hey, I’m Colby Clem. Sean brought me in to help out, so I guess we’ll be seeing each other a lot from now on. I hope we can get along!” Colby flashed them a cheerful smile and gave a slight bow.

“Hi, I’m Josie Pearson.” Josie wasn’t much of a people person, especially around guys she didn’t know. She just nodded politely and went over to tidy up the books on the shelf.

Colby smiled at Zoey. “Zoey, are you here to help out too?”

Zoey smiled politely. “Yeah, Josie’s got a whole new field to learn and a competition coming up. I thought I’d drop by and see if there’s anything I can help with.” Zoey had only ever seen Colby online or from far away on stage. This was the first time she had seen him up close like this. She couldn’t help but think, ‘No wonder he gets voted campus heartthrob every single year. He really is ridiculously handsome!’ He was so handsome it actually made Zoey feel a little insecure–like she didn’t even deserve to stand near him. She kept her distance, afraid she might somehow offend this gorgeous guy just by getting too close.

Colby smiled gently. “Alright, let’s get started. I’ve actually organized some materials they’ll need for the competition. Zoey, would you mind helping me check if any of these will come in handy?”

“Sure!” Zoey didn’t think much of it and leaned over to check out the materials on his computer. By the time Josie finished organizing the materials and turned around, she saw that Zoey and Colby were already chatting and laughing together. They looked like they’d known each other forever. Josie blinked, unable to shake the feeling that something was off. It was almost as if she were intruding on someone else’s scene. Feeling a bit out of place, Josie quietly slipped into the inner room. She’d never met Colby before, but that name was no stranger to her in her previous life.

‘Who would’ve thought he and Sean were actually friends?’ she mused.

As soon as Josie stepped into the inner room, she realized Claire and Sean had been there the whole time. One of them was busy typing something on the computer, while the other was fiddling with a piece of equipment.

“Josie, perfect timing! Come take a look at this. Does my innovation project proposal look okay?” Claire waved her over, beckoning to her. Claire’s paper was already pretty long, making it seem like she’d been working on it forever. However, it hadn’t been that long since she first pitched this innovative project. With all the drama that had gone down in the Reedshaw family lately, the fact that Claire managed to finish so fast just proved how insanely professional and self-disciplined she really was. Josie glanced at the paper, then at the device Sean was fiddling with. “So the machine you’re setting up is the nano-acupuncture device?”