Ethan and the others originally wanted to follow and see who Andrew's mysterious 'girlfriend' was.
However, because there were too many people, they couldn't keep up at all. In the blink of an eye, Andrew had disappeared from sight.
At this time, Andrew had arrived at the Third Cafeteria. There were relatively fewer people here, and the environment was better and quieter, which is why he decided to meet Marc here.
"Professor, I made an appointment with Marc this morning to discuss building an AI assistant, so we will eat together later."
Andrew informed Professor Scarlett in advance to prevent her from being unhappy later if she didn't know.
"Mm, you two chat, I won't interrupt."
Although Professor Scarlett didn't express any objection verbally, she was still somewhat dissatisfied inwardly.
She came to wait for Andrew to have lunch to build a good relationship, since she understood the two needed to spend more time together, preferably alone.
Although she had acted completely unconcerned at the time, having an outsider join them for lunch now made her a little unhappy.
The two ordered their respective lunches. Professor Scarlett ordered a bowl of clear broth noodles, and they went to sit at the agreed-upon spot with Andrew.
When Marc saw Professor Scarlett, he was surprised again, then quickly moved next to Andrew and asked in a low voice:
"Didn't you say it was just the two of us? Why is Professor Scarlett here too?"
"Uh... A last-minute change."
Andrew gave a casual explanation. As Marc was about to ask more, Professor Scarlett, sitting opposite them, spoke expressionlessly and coldly, "I won't interfere with your discussion."
Upon hearing this, Marc quickly smiled apologetically and explained, "That, that, Professor Scarlett, I didn't mean to dislike you."
"I know."
Professor Scarlett replied coldly again, and Marc immediately fell silent.
Although he was a senior, because he was in the Computer Science department, he had only heard that Professor Scarlett was aloof and difficult to approach.
Now that he had met her in person, he deeply understood why.
He was just more curious about the relationship between Andrew and her.
Just as Andrew was about to discuss website page optimization with him, Marc lowered his voice further and asked quietly, "What exactly is your relationship with Professor Scarlett? If it's just a student-teacher, how could she accompany you all the time?"
"Uh..."
Andrew knew Marc didn't believe him, but the problem was that he wasn't lying this time. His relationship with Professor Scarlett was indeed that of a student and teacher. What else could it be?
"Could it be that you two are...?"
Before Andrew could say anything, Professor Scarlett spoke first, "Cousins."
"Ah???"
Andrew and Marc almost exclaimed at the same time, looking over in confusion.
Professor Scarlett didn't answer further, just stopped eating her noodles and glanced slightly toward Andrew.
The next moment, Andrew quickly snapped back to reality and nodded repeatedly in agreement, "Ah, yes, yes! We are like cousins. I am Professor Scarlett's older cousin."
"???"
"Ptooey, ptooey, Professor Scarlett is my older cousin."
Andrew was almost incoherent and quickly corrected himself.
Marc was still somewhat skeptical.
At this moment, Professor Scarlett spoke again: "Not many people know that we are cousins, and we don't want too many people to know, so don't find it strange."
"Oh, I definitely won't speak carelessly."
Marc repeatedly assured her and dared not ask any more questions, continuing to discuss the AI assistant issue with Andrew.
Professor Scarlett's ears were too sharp; no matter how quietly he lowered his voice, she could still hear.
"Your AI design needs to be simpler. Don't add so many flashy, useless features."
Andrew looked at the long list of abilities Marc had added and couldn't help but criticize.
But Marc didn't want to remove them. "This is what makes it feel high-end. It'll attract people."
"This won't attract many users," Andrew replied. "Attraction comes from promotion elsewhere. This is a personal AI. You need to let people understand its purpose at a glance. Focus on the core features, chat, assistance, daily tasks, and make them stand out."
Andrew continued arguing with Marc, and in the end, he used his authority as the boss to settle the matter.
"I'm the boss. Listen to me for now. When the AI grows bigger and needs upgrades later, your ideas will be useful."
"Fine."
After lunch, Marc returned alone to adjust the AI system. Andrew and Professor Scarlett walked toward the office building together.
"I didn't expect you to understand AI design this well."
Although Professor Scarlett hadn't spoken earlier, she had felt that Andrew's words made sense.
A simpler system was better; its purpose should be clear at a glance.
"Actually, I've been fooled by too many complicated apps and AIs before. That's how I learned."
Back then, whenever Andrew tried using an app or AI assistant, he would get lost in unnecessary features, wasting time just to find what he needed.
When he got home that evening, Andrew rested for a while and then went to the kitchen.
"Why aren't you asking me what to eat tonight?"
Professor Scarlett suddenly asked Andrew. Before, Andrew would always ask her what she wanted to eat before cooking dinner, but tonight he just started preparing to cook.
"What did you plan to make?"
"I'm making you millet oatmeal. Didn't the doctor say you should drink more oatmeal these few days?"
Upon hearing this, Professor Scarlett frowned: "Millet oatmeal again? I've eaten it for several meals already."
Although the millet oatmeal Andrew cooked tasted good, eating it constantly would get tiresome. Moreover, Professor Scarlett liked to eat delicious food and wanted Andrew to cook something else for her.
"Eat oatmeal one more time tonight, and I'll cook dinner tomorrow."
Andrew was also following the doctor's advice.
Professor Scarlett pursed her lips upon hearing this and remained silent, clearly very reluctant.
"How about I make broccoli and chicken oatmeal? Just to change the flavor?"
"I hate broccoli."
Professor Scarlett really disliked the taste of broccoli; she felt it was something people forced themselves to eat rather than enjoy.
"Professor, when it's baked with chicken and cheese, the broccoli taste isn't strong at all. It's actually really delicious."
"..."
Professor Scarlett didn't reply and simply returned to the study.
Andrew took it as silent agreement and began preparing the dish.
But when the steaming hot oatmeal was placed on the table, Professor Scarlett looked at the broccoli mixed inside, her beautiful dark eyebrows knitting tightly together.
"Professor, what's wrong? Is it too hot?"
"There's broccoli. I don't want to eat it."
"It really isn't bad, just try a bite."
Andrew tried to persuade her. Seeing she was still unmoved, he added, "If you really don't like it, I'll make you a grilled cheese sandwich instead."
At this moment, Andrew felt like he was coaxing a little girl to eat.
But Professor Scarlett still didn't speak; she really didn't want to eat broccoli.
Just as she was about to refuse and directly ask Andrew to cook a sandwich for her, she looked up and saw a few glistening beads of sweat on Andrew's forehead.
"I have a cold, and this Little Fellow is helping me cook oatmeal despite the heat, yet I'm being so picky. Isn't that too much?"
Professor Scarlett immediately retracted her original thought and picked up the spoon.
No matter how bad the broccoli tasted, this was oatmeal Andrew had painstakingly cooked for her; she had to eat it.
Professor Scarlett picked up the spoon, frowned, and took a bite, mentally preparing herself to accept the taste of broccoli that she found so unbearable.
However, as her small mouth moved, she gradually realized that it didn't taste bad at all; in fact, it was quite appetizing.
This broccoli and lean chicken oatmeal didn't seem so awful after all.