Lin Zhixia frowned. "No, clothes shouldn't be tossed around. They need to be hung on hangers."
Jiang Yubai picked up Lin Zhixia's down jacket and casually pulled open a wardrobe door. He stepped inside the wardrobe.
Curious, Lin Zhixia followed him and discovered the legendary "walk-in closet"—a space larger than her entire dorm room.
Before her stood a floor-to-ceiling window with dark gray silk curtains drawn to either side. Built-in cabinets made of solid wood were embedded in the walls on both sides, displaying various clothes, shoes, and hats behind sturdy, thickened glass panels.
In the center of the room sat a circular sofa. Lin Zhixia settled on it and found a remote control. She politely asked, "Jiang Yubai, can I play with your remote?"
Jiang Yubai responded, "Of course, feel free to play with it however you like."
He took out a hanger, hung up the down jacket, fastened its buttons, and then placed it inside the wardrobe.
The thought that Lin Zhixia's clothing was temporarily stored in his closet made Jiang Yubai drift into a momentary daze. He wanted to say something to her but couldn't voice his true feelings outright. He always expressed himself indirectly—a process that was long and torturous, yet he cherished it without expecting anything in return.
Outside the window, the scattered clouds dispersed, and the sky gradually brightened.
A cool breeze lifted the gray curtains, and oval-shaped patches of light rolled across the floor. Lin Zhixia chased after them with great interest. She also pressed the remote control in her hand, causing a display stand inside the glass case to rotate slowly, revealing row after row of sunglasses and watches. She exclaimed in amazement, "How magical!" Then she added, "Jiang Yubai, I've never seen you wear sunglasses before. I want to see."
Jiang Yubai stood beside her. "You pick one for me."
Lin Zhixia randomly selected a pair of sunglasses.
Jiang Yubai, standing at 186 centimeters, was twenty centimeters taller than Lin Zhixia. Yet, he bent down in front of her. She carefully placed the sunglasses' temples over his ears, her soft fingertips lightly brushing against the tips of his ears. The lenses shielded his unreserved gaze, but her hands felt both ticklish and numb, as if petrified, hovering motionless in mid-air.
At this moment, he actually smiled at her.
His smile was silent, like a spring breeze nurturing rain, moistening everything without a sound. Her heart felt irrigated into fertile soil, and a faint, ambiguous tension grew wildly in the air.
Jiang Yubai clearly sensed the shift in atmosphere.
In that enclosed space, he even felt the urge to wrap his arm around her waist—he had held her like that at their high school prom, and both his palm and his mind remembered it vividly. But she trusted and relied on him completely; he shouldn't take advantage of their friendship to get too close.
The more he liked her, the more restrained he became; the more infatuated he was, the more rational he forced himself to be. This contradictory path was one he had chosen for himself—a dead end.
He watched her silently and intently.
Lin Zhixia was no better off than he was. Uncharacteristically at a loss for words, she suddenly remembered her original purpose: "What about your undergraduate photos? I came here to see those."
She took two steps back and dashed out of the walk-in closet.
*In the southeast corner of the bedroom stood a desk with both a desktop computer and a laptop. Jiang Yubai opened the laptop and entered his password while Lin Zhixia wandered behind him.
She noticed a beautifully bound archive box on the bookshelf, its cover adorned with a strawberry as red as flame. Almost unconsciously, she picked up the box and discovered it contained several printed manuscripts—her own works that she had published online.
Belatedly, she lifted her head and surveyed the room's furnishings once more.
There were only two paintings in the entire room: one depicting a summer forest, the other a vast starry sky. She wondered whether this was mere coincidence or Jiang Yubai's deliberate design.
She desperately wanted to ask him directly: Do you like me?
Jiang Yubai suddenly called her name: "Lin Zhixia, come here."
Lin Zhixia noticed that Jiang Yubai wasn't calling her "Xia Xia" anymore, nor was he using his playful "Lin Lin Lin Lin Zhixia," and he hadn't referred to her as "Captain Lin Zhixia" for over half a year, nor had he called himself her "best friend."
Troubled by her own speculations and hesitation, she responded somewhat petulantly: "I'm not coming over."
With immense patience, Jiang Yubai asked: "Don't you want to see the photos?"
After hesitating for a few seconds, Lin Zhixia ultimately ran to him. Standing by his side, she pressed her right index finger on the keyboard, flipping through photo after photo. She quickly became cheerful and exclaimed: "This one is really well taken, the composition is so artistic."
Jiang Yubai seemed to have prepared these photos specifically for her. He took pictures on his way to class, while doing homework at his desk... After viewing them for just a few minutes, Lin Zhixia could vividly imagine his daily life.
She said: "Even when you're far away from me, I don't feel separated from you."
He countered: "Do you still remember the binary stars?"
"Of course," Lin Zhixia repeated her words from years past, "different orbits, same center."
After she spoke, the room grew even quieter.
Lin Zhixia added: "I feel like I'm growing up together with you. No one understands me better than you do."
Jiang Yubai subtly guided her: "As we experience more, people change, but our orbits must remain constant..."
"I understand," Lin Zhixia nodded, "I'll frequently share my life experiences with you, and you must share yours with me too."
Whenever Lin Zhixia finished writing a diary or essay, she would give the notebook to Jiang Yubai. She knew he would keep them safe, but she didn't realize he would reread them repeatedly. Their exchanges gradually fostered a resonance between their souls, like an eternal and stable Binary Star System. From the moment they met, she no longer felt lonely.
Jiang Yubai was in high spirits too. His tone became light and cheerful, as if mimicking her speech: "Okay, okay."
Lin Zhixia placed a hand on his shoulder: "Is imitating me fun?"
He laughed: "If it weren't fun, I wouldn't do it."
Lin Zhixia moved to his other side and changed the subject: "Next year we can go to school together. You'll be an undergraduate, and I'll be a PhD student. Please call me Dr. Lin."
Jiang Yubai accepted all her whims: "Dr. Lin."
Lin Zhixia said happily: "We'll be in the same college, so we can participate in college activities together. I'll also apply to be a teaching assistant. It would be even better if I could teach you."
"You really want to be my teacher that much?" Jiang Yubai asked her."Yes," Lin Zhixia admitted generously, "being your teacher is very interesting. If it weren't interesting, I wouldn't do it."
Jiang Yubai closed his laptop: "The sophomore courses are difficult. I'll be waiting for you to teach me."
Lin Zhixia excitedly slapped the desk: "Wait for me one year!" Then she added: "But I won't be an adult yet when I go abroad next year. According to regulations, I need to find a local guardian."
Jiang Yubai immediately volunteered: "Can I help you find one? My dad has many friends."
"Okay, thank you," Lin Zhixia agreed.
They chatted for a while longer, then Jiang Yubai turned on the TV, connected to the internet, and invited Lin Zhixia to play a level-based game with him.
Lin Zhixia had never played large-scale games before - she had only played Spider Solitaire and 3D Pinball on the computer. Since Jiang Yubai had made a sincere request, how could Lin Zhixia refuse? She grabbed the game controller, stared at the huge screen, and exclaimed: "So many ferocious monsters!"
This was a game called "Monster Castle."
Jiang Yubai had personally designed "Monster Castle."
The game only had two characters - the female player Xiao Lin, and the male player Xiao Jiang.
The plot of "Monster Castle" was full of twists and turns, with one of the most important scenes being where Xiao Lin would be pushed off a cliff by monsters, and Xiao Jiang would have to lasso her with a rope, rescue the beauty in distress, and fight alongside her.
Jiang Yubai had designed this scene because he had considered the famous "suspension bridge effect" - which refers to how when someone encounters danger, they become very nervous and are likely to develop feelings for the person who saves them.
Jiang Yubai had planned this meticulously. Lin Zhixia had never played large-scale games before, nor had she ever held a game controller. She would probably be nervous and anxious, shrinking close to him and saying things like "The monsters are so scary, they frightened me, Jiang Yubai, please save me quickly!"
However, reality ran completely counter to his expectations.
Though Lin Zhixia looked pure and beautiful, her gameplay was fierce and ruthless. When encountering monsters, she killed them without hesitation, with extremely quick reactions. The screen was littered with monster corpses as she laughed heartily: "This is so fun! The monsters are so stupid, they're making me laugh!"
Jiang Yubai's hands stiffened slightly for a moment.
He casually guided "Xiao Jiang" through a tropical rainforest when suddenly over a hundred giant monsters burst out from the dense foliage. "Xiao Jiang" reacted a beat too slow, and his gun was out of bullets. With nowhere to escape, he could only run forward.
Ahead of him was a steep cliff.
"Xiao Jiang" couldn't stop in time and fell straight off the cliff.
Jiang Yubai almost threw his controller.
Lin Zhixia immediately comforted him: "Don't be afraid, it's okay. I'll save you. I won't let them bully you. I'll definitely get revenge for you."
In the blink of an eye, she pulled a rope from her backpack, threw it out, and accurately lassoed "Xiao Jiang," while her left hand continued to operate a machine gun, spinning around to mow down a group of charging monsters. Her movements were concise and fluid without the slightest hesitation. Not only did she rescue "Xiao Jiang," she also shoved a loaded gun into his hands.
Jiang Yubai's chest felt slightly warm.
The "suspension bridge effect" had manifested in Jiang Yubai.
Lin Zhixia and Jiang Yubai stayed in the bedroom for several hours. At noon, they had lunch together in the dining room.The table was laden with Western delicacies like honey-glazed ham, oyster soup, and pan-seared steak, yet Lin Zhixia still craved rice. The chef had specially steamed Northeastern rice for her, so she mixed it with oyster soup, pairing it with steak, ham, and broccoli, savoring every bite.
"So delicious," Lin Zhixia praised endlessly.
Jiang Yubai whispered, "When you start your Ph.D. next year, you can come to my house for meals."
"Will there be white rice every day?" she asked him.
Jiang Yubai promised her, "You can order dishes—shrimp dumplings, braised pork ribs, spicy stir-fry pot... As long as you can name it, my family’s chef will make it."
Lin Zhixia pondered for a moment before asking, "Do you charge for meals? About how much would it cost?"
Meal fees?
What man would charge a woman he’s pursuing for food?
Jiang Yubai smiled mysteriously: "Employees in a company have a probation period. Come to my house for meals a few more times, and after the probation, we’ll talk about money."
Jiang Yubai’s reasoning made sense, so Lin Zhixia agreed, "That works."
After finishing one bowl of rice, she was already full.
Jiang Yubai took her for a stroll in the garden and gave her a water cup printed with strawberry patterns, saying it was his New Year’s gift. Since the cup wasn’t an expensive item, Lin Zhixia happily accepted it and genuinely liked it. That afternoon, she returned to school contentedly, clutching the cup.
Meanwhile, Jiang Yubai briefly wrote in his private diary: One cup, one lifetime.
After the Christmas holiday ended, Jiang Yubai went abroad again.
He had already made many friends, with a wide social circle. Since his father was an alumnus, he also leveraged that connection to meet several figures from the older generation. His grandfather had accumulated substantial capital in Southeast Asia, so Jiang Yubai paid particular attention to nurturing relationships there. Of course, more matters awaited his return to China to complete.
He didn’t plan to pursue a master’s degree.
After graduating with his bachelor’s, he would return directly to China.
As Jiang Yubai’s plans grew clearer, Lin Zhixia steadily progressed with her graduation project. After over two years of hard work, she had nearly completed her credits; as long as she performed normally in her project, she would graduate smoothly.
Though Lin Zhixia had spent over two years in the Quantum Laboratory, her graduation project had nothing to do with quantum physics.
She worked on an artificial intelligence project, blending mathematics and computer science, focusing on "deep learning video classification algorithms"—here, she took a shortcut. She had already written this algorithm long ago and even implemented it in the "Lin Jiang" robot. She simply organized her previous work, wrote the paper, and, under her advisor’s guidance, improved the overall framework—unexpectedly, the revisions grew increasingly complex. In the two months before graduation, she became extremely busy again. By the time she finally submitted her paper and completed her defense, it was June 2012.
Lin Zhixia’s three roommates and the seniors in the Quantum Laboratory weren’t mentally prepared to see her leave.
Deng Shasha reacted most intensely.
Sitting in the dorm room, Deng Shasha looked as if struck by lightning, stunned and motionless: "God of Study, if you leave, what will I do? Take me with you."
Yuan Wei suddenly interjected, "You’d have to get into Cambridge first."Deng Shasha sniffled: "Cambridge isn't the top choice for geniuses either. They usually go to Harvard, MIT, or Stanford."
Lin Zhixia explained: "That professor is quite suitable for me. During the summer vacation of my freshman year, I visited their Laboratory."
Deng Shasha lay flat on the bed: "God of Study, I'll miss you. Before final exams, I'll miss you so much it'll bring me to tears."
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