Chapter 406
Chapter 406:
Erica, finding him approachable and friendly, followed him inside. Her eyes wandered curiously around the lab, which seemed unusually quiet.
“Corbett, if you don’t mind me asking, how many graduate students are in Professor Hoffman’s group p>
Corbett mustered an awkward smile, his cheeks tinged with embarrassment as he hesitated to speak.
In the entire school—scratch that—the entire college, their lab was the runt of the litter, barely scraping by. To top it off, Corbett was its sole graduate student, left to hold down the fort on his own.
And that was the sad truth of it.
Feeling the silence stretch too long, Corbett hesitantly raised a finger.
Erica’s eyes followed the gesture, a flicker of curiosity lighting her face. “Um, ten people? That’s not too shabby,” she remarked. “So, it’s just you here today? I was hoping to meet the whole team p>
Corbett’s hand shot up in a frantic wave as he realized Erica had gotten the wrong idea.
For a fleeting moment, he toyed with the thought of letting her believe it. If she joined the lab under that impression, by the time she found out the truth, it’d be too late to back out. But the thought left a sour taste in his mouth. That wouldn’t sit right with him.
If Erica discovered the real situation later, she’d probably regret it—and worse, she might even hold it against him.
Considering they might end up working side by side, it wasn’t worth fooling her just to enjoy a brief moment of satisfaction. Clearing his throat, Corbett confessed, “Actually… it’s just me. I’m the entire team p>
“J-just you?” Erica stammered, her lips twitching as if she’d bitten into something sour. The image she’d built up of this lab as something prestigious came crashing down.
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Suddenly, it made sense why no one else had signed up.
Seeing Erica’s deflated expression, Corbett scrambled to salvage the situation. “Wait, don’t underestimate Professor Hoffman! He’s kind of a big deal. A few years back, tons of colleges were vying for him, but our president, Mr. Wilson, somehow convinced him to stay and teach at our college p>
Erica’s eyes narrowed with intrigue. If Corbett wasn’t bluffing, then Professor Hoffman might actually be someone worth learning from.
Nearby, Yelena, who had been quietly observing, couldn’t help but smirk.
Oh, that part was true, all right.
She knew Hugh all too well.
The man was a master of persuasion—wielding everything from heartfelt pleas to melodramatic outbursts just to get what he wanted.
But to the untrained eye, he carried himself with such polished seriousness that they’d never suspect a thing.
Corbett, oblivious to Yelena’s musings, pressed on with conviction. “And he’s not just any professor—he’s the youngest full professor at our college p>
“Wow,” Erica murmured, her skepticism beginning to thaw. “A full professor? That’s impressive p>
Becoming a university professor wasn’t a walk in the park—it required navigating a labyrinth of qualifications: an exceptional educational background, years of work experience, groundbreaking teaching and research contributions, and accolades from prestigious projects.
According to Corbett, Professor Hoffman was still quite young, which meant his achievements in research must have been nothing short of extraordinary for him to become a full professor at his age.
This only deepened Erica’s curiosity.
Feeling a swell of pride, Corbett leaned closer to Erica and said, “He has published fifteen papers in the world’s top-tier academic journals. Yeah, you heard me right! Fifteen!” For someone in academia, that was no small feat—it was the kind of record that turned heads on a national scale.