Jiang Yubai offered no response, not even the sound of his breathing breaking the silence. His fingers encircled her wrist, gradually tightening like thorns winding around a rose.
Lin Zhixia shrank back half an inch. "You're so strong—you're hurting me."
Jiang Yubai immediately released her. His offending right hand, with nowhere to rest, carelessly struck the piano keys, producing a momentary discordance. The tangled notes shattered the quiet atmosphere, and he finally spoke: "What piece would you like to hear?"
"Please play 'Eternal Moment'," Lin Zhixia specified.
But Jiang Yubai said, "I haven't memorized the score."
Lin Zhixia hummed a short segment for him, adding, "It goes like this."
Jiang Yubai pressed the keys and smoothly played a few phrases. Lin Zhixia exclaimed delightedly, "Yes, yes! Have you found the feeling?"
The curtains stirred in the gentle breeze, light and shadow wavering across the keys as beautiful music flowed like water from his fingertips. She immersed herself in his performance, every beat resonating with her heartstrings.
She seemed to perceive subtle, ineffable emotions. Gradually leaning closer, she said, "You play with such feeling—I can tell. I understand your music."
The piano notes faded away.
Jiang Yubai asked obliquely, "What did you perceive?"
"You love this piece!" Lin Zhixia declared with certainty.
Jiang Yubai felt somewhat defeated. Fortunately, since age nine he had cultivated a tenacious spirit of "persisting through repeated failures."
He began playing "Scenes from Childhood." This piece was composed by the German musician Schumann, who deeply loved his wife Clara—they were childhood sweethearts. Thus, Schumann created "Scenes from Childhood" to celebrate their beautiful memories together.
After listening to a few measures, Lin Zhixia clapped vigorously. "Absolutely wonderful! You could collaborate with your uncle and record a classical music album."
Jiang Yubai immediately abandoned his plan to express himself through music. With hidden achievements and humility, he closed the piano lid and gracefully invited her: "May I have this dance with you?"
Lin Zhixia grasped his hand without hesitation. "Let's practice quickly."
She pulled Jiang Yubai to the center of the music hall.
It was currently May, late spring transitioning to summer with relatively high temperatures. Lin Zhixia wore a long-sleeved dress whose single layer of thin fabric clung to her shoulders. When Jiang Yubai raised his arm to hold her, it felt as if their skin was touching.
Her body warmth penetrated the dress, reaching directly into his palm. He withdrew his hand, slipping it into his jacket pocket while taking two steps backward. "Give me a moment to prepare."
Lin Zhixia asked skeptically, "You need preparation for this?"
Jiang Yubai found a suitable excuse: "The speakers aren't on." He pressed the remote control button, and melodious music emerged from the speakers.
Lin Zhixia stood still, suddenly playful. When he approached her again, she actually darted away. At first he didn't understand what game she was playing—until she glanced back at him with laughter in her eyes. He immediately strode toward her with long steps, catching her effortlessly.
Jiang Yubai's right arm encircled her waist, fitting as precisely as interlocking gears. Lowering his head, he caught the fresh scent of her perfume. His left hand unconsciously lifted a strand of her hair—the dark, soft locks smoother than the finest silk he had ever seen.Lin Zhixia believed he intended to practice waltz with her.
She proactively tightened her grip on his left hand: "Alright, let's dance."
Jiang Yubai wasn't very skilled at dancing. Having rehearsed with Lin Zhixia once a week for over a month, his anticipation leaned less toward the graduation ball and more toward the opportunity to be alone with her.
Lin Zhixia, however, took it seriously. Following the rhythm of the music and adapting to Jiang Yubai's pace, their coordination grew increasingly seamless. Lin Zhixia sincerely praised, "You learn things so quickly."
"You learn even faster," Jiang Yubai stated truthfully.
Lin Zhixia smiled, pleased by the compliment: "Over the past month, I've come to see you every week, spending at least half a day with you. Only one-tenth of that time was used for dance practice... The rest of the time, we chatted, played with cats, and solved math problems."
Jiang Yubai stepped forward, forcing Lin Zhixia to retreat until her back met a wall. He leaned in closer: "I thought you enjoyed those activities."
Lin Zhixia suddenly felt the urge to flee again. Forcing herself not to meet his gaze, the frantic beating of her heart echoed in her mind, completely drowning out the soothing music in her ears. She clearly understood that the source of these wondrous feelings lay entirely with Jiang Yubai. She decided to test her hypothesis using a "scientific experiment" approach.
Releasing Jiang Yubai's hand, she placed hers on his shoulders and leaned into his embrace like a koala clinging to a tree trunk. He remained motionless, allowing her to cling to him. Taking a deep breath, she said lightly, "Today, I want to play a game with you."
"What game?" Jiang Yubai asked patiently.
Lin Zhixia set the scene: "Let's play 'Cinderella.' You're the prince, and I'm Cinderella's sister."
Having read countless romantic classics from various eras and cultures, Lin Zhixia could practically recite them by heart. Long ago, she had noticed a pattern—no matter how intelligent or perceptive a protagonist might be, their first experience with love inevitably involved jealousy and pettiness. By choosing to play Cinderella's sister, she aimed to test her own mindset through this opportunity.
But Jiang Yubai didn't cooperate: "Why are you Cinderella's sister?"
"I want to experience the sister's joys and sorrows," Lin Zhixia lied. "Please show affection for Cinderella herself."
The new game proved too challenging.
Jiang Yubai refused outright: "I have no experience in that area. You should change the plot."
Lin Zhixia asked blankly, "Change it to what?"
Jiang Yubai suggested offhandedly, "Sleeping Beauty?"
Lin Zhixia blushed crimson: "You, you, you..."
Only then did Jiang Yubai remember that Sleeping Beauty ended with the prince kissing the princess awake. He instantly lost his ability to speak, took a diagonal step away, turned around, and stood back-to-back with Lin Zhixia against the wall.
The pressure Jiang Yubai had created vanished completely, and Lin Zhixia's mood lightened with relief.
Amused, she immersed herself in the role of Cinderella's sister and improvised a line: "I am Cinderella's sister. Tonight, I attended the ball and saw the prince at the palace..."
Jiang Yubai said coldly, "I won't be the prince. I'll be a guard."
"Why?" Lin Zhixia retorted. "You're someone who owns a crown."
Jiang Yubai looked only at her: "You should remember—my crown was a gift from you."Lin Zhixia crossed her arms, tightly clutching her sleeves. There was no need to verify whether she would feel jealous for him—in that fleeting moment, she clearly understood her own feelings in her daze… It turned out she had only realized it today—probably because her relationship with Jiang Yubai had always remained within the bounds of "best friends."
After sorting out her thoughts, she walked toward the main entrance of the concert hall.
Jiang Yubai quickly called out to her, "What's wrong?"
Lin Zhixia replied, "I want to go back to school!"
Jiang Yubai asked again, "Do you have something urgent?"
"Yes," Lin Zhixia explained to him, "It's like this: my memory function is different from normal people's. My brain stores a lot of things that I can't forget. Every once in a while, when I want to systematically summarize something, I need to find a quiet environment and think silently, like a monk in meditation."
Jiang Yubai was well-read in various types of genius biographies. He knew that geniuses always needed space alone. He escorted Lin Zhixia back to her university and, as he did every time they parted, watched her figure disappear beyond the school gate.
Lin Zhixia returned to her dorm room, pulled out her strawberry pillow, hugged it, and lay down on her bed. Her roommate jokingly called her the "Strawberry spirit in the human world," but she remained calm, her soul sinking into the ocean of memories. Every single moment of the past clearly surfaced before her eyes. While analyzing her own thoughts, she murmured to herself, "So that's how it is. I understand now..."
Deng Shasha was sitting on the upper bunk eating fried chicken. She asked, "God of Study, what are you talking about?"
Lin Zhixia said lightly, "I understand myself better now. I previously misunderstood Kant's philosophical theory—sensory objects are not merely phenomena..."
Deng Shasha couldn't help but admire her.
However, Deng Shasha didn't understand a word she said.
Deng Shasha decided not to ask further. If she could understand Lin Zhixia, wouldn't that make them the same kind of person? Then wouldn't her university average be above 95? How could that be possible?
Deng Shasha became particularly quiet, not making a single sound while eating her fried chicken.
Lin Zhixia picked up her laptop and bid her farewell, "I'm going to find my senior to write code. Goodbye."
Deng Shasha waved, "Goodbye! Come back early, don't stay up late."
Though Deng Shasha's earnest advice still echoed in her ears, Lin Zhixia had no choice but to stay up late that night. They had made the source code public on GitHub, and as a result, the software's backend suffered attacks from anonymous hackers—this was particularly common on GitHub, where hackers often practiced on software projects. Lin Zhixia's carefully crafted backend server unfortunately became one of their small targets.
Lacking project experience and not having considered everything thoroughly, Lin Zhixia left vulnerabilities that the hackers found and launched repeated attacks. Her backend collapsed in an instant. She was momentarily stunned, and Luo Ying tried to comfort her: "Don't worry, we'll find the teaching assistant tomorrow, or graduate students from the Computer and Software College..."
But Lin Zhixia said, "No, I can handle this."
Her hands flew across the keyboard, a blazing flame of revenge burning in her heart.That night, she stayed in the library with Luo Ying until two in the morning. The next day, Lin Zhixia rose early again, tirelessly repairing her backend system without any signs of fatigue. Once she immersed herself completely in her work, no one could stop her.
After two full days of effort, the program was successfully salvaged. Lin Zhixia took a brief rest before spending another month optimizing the software structure, seeking advice from experienced senior students everywhere. Finally, she traced the source of the hacker who had attacked her and sent a command-line message composed of Chinese pinyin: "Ni re dao wo le! Ni de heike jishu ye jiu zheyang le!" (You've messed with me! Your hacking skills are just so-so!)
After completing these tasks, Lin Zhixia finally breathed a sigh of relief.
In early June, as the main presenter in the defense for the "Software Engineering" course, Lin Zhixia performed excellently. Their group's software demonstration amazed all the students and earned continuous praise from the teacher.
Technical staff from several Beijing internet companies were invited to attend the final defense of this course. After discussing among themselves for a while and asking Lin Zhixia several questions, which she answered methodically, they expressed their desire to purchase the copyright of Lin Zhixia's software work.
Lin Zhixia never expected that the first group to make an offer would come from an internet company!
Without hesitation, she asked: "How much can you offer me?"
The other party replied with a smile: "Starting from five figures."
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