Professor Tan nodded. MIT's mathematics program wasn't the best, but Xue Jiao had always been decisive in her choices, just like when she chose Tsinghua over Peking University or Fudan years ago.
He simply asked, "Have you decided on a supervisor?"
Xue Jiao hesitated briefly before answering truthfully, "Academician Xi recommended a professor from Stanford, Jas, and suggested I apply there. But actually, I have another idea in mind... a professor at MIT. However, that person has never taken students before, and I'm not sure if my application would succeed."
Never taken students?
This surprised Professor Tan. With a puzzled look, he asked, "Who is it?"
"Nard."
Professor Tan instinctively frowned. He knew of this person—a notorious "madman." Once a genius who became an MIT professor at thirty, but after that age, he reportedly abandoned mathematical research to obsess over astrology. For over twenty years, he'd remained that way.
"Conrad has stopped doing research..."
"No," Xue Jiao said firmly. "He's still researching—just hasn't published results yet."
She had stumbled upon news about Conrad on foreign websites. His twenty-plus years of studying astrology were actually about mathematics. The constellation chart Cheng Mingze had given her, which had hung by her bed all these years and accompanied her through hardships—Miguel's "Mathematical Constellations."
Xue Jiao tentatively called it that, unsure how Conrad referred to it.
Her certainty surprised Professor Tan, but since this was Xue Jiao's decision, he didn't try to dissuade her. A teacher guides; they don't dictate.
"Have you thought this through?"
"Yes. I want to apply first." She couldn't forget that chart—it was the first thing that sparked her interest in mathematics when she stepped into that world.
Life was like this; sometimes you just wanted to be a little willful.
Conrad wasn't a "madman," just an "obsessive." Xue Jiao truly wanted to meet him.
Just like back then, when she was determined to study under Professor Tan.
She could be stubborn like that sometimes, and she didn't want to give up that stubbornness.
Professor Tan didn't try to persuade her otherwise. After several years, he understood this student's temperament.
"Alright. By the way, what's your research topic?"
"Geometric analysis of celestial bodies."
Professor Tan froze, then raised his voice involuntarily, "Are you really going to study constellations with Conrad?"
Xue Jiao nodded earnestly.
Professor Tan: "..."
——
Xue Jiao was practically chased out by Professor Tan. Usually maintaining a teacher's dignified demeanor, he'd grown comfortable enough with her to drop pretenses.
Like just now—so shocked that he outright kicked her out.
Xue Jiao wasn't angry, leaving Teacher Tan's office with a cheeky grin.
But remembering she still hadn't told Lin Zhihua, her mood sank again.
She didn't really want to go abroad either, but it was the best choice—studying under Professor Conrad for two years was her new aspiration.
The time she could spend with Lin Zhihua was already limited, and now she'd be away for two years. Would he be so angry he'd ignore her?
Xue Jiao walked slowly with her head down, tangled in thought.
Only when she reached the school gate did she remember she hadn't messaged Lin Zhihua yet.
After sending the message, she sat on a bench inside campus to wait, planning to go out after he arrived.
The weather was still hot, but the new semester's military training would begin in a couple of days.The bench was under the shade of trees, with the afternoon sun obscured by the woods. In the distance, a fiery red sunset was descending.
Xue Jiao's gaze wandered aimlessly. The path ahead was filled with students coming and going—both freshmen and upperclassmen.
She didn’t recognize any of them, so she couldn’t tell which grade they were in.
Her thoughts drifted further. Her project hadn’t officially started yet, but she still planned to work on it alone this time, without forming a team.
After talking with Academician Xi, he believed this project was a major undertaking that required assembling a team.
But that wasn’t the case. Over the past few years, Xue Jiao had frequently studied that diagram, researched extensively, and even done some preliminary calculations.
She already had a solid understanding of celestial geometry problems. The remaining challenge was how to establish an analytical framework…
After careful consideration, Xue Jiao concluded she could handle this project on her own, so she decided against forming a team.
Speaking of teams, Xue Jiao recalled the time she worked with Zhang Han and the others on the "Flying Car Theory" project.
Zhang Han had gone abroad to pursue her Ph.D. Shortly after she left, Yang Zhan followed—same university, though one was studying for a doctorate, the other a master’s.
After chasing each other for two years, they finally got together.
Zheng Jiakun also went abroad this year, studying for his master’s at Stanford—the very school Academician Xi had been recommending to Xue Jiao.
But she was more inclined to choose Professor Conrad at MIT.
Chu Sheng was also busy. The last time Xue Jiao sent him a message, he didn’t reply until a day later.
After completing the Flying Car Theory, he formed another team, gathering students passionate about flying cars to continue exploring physics.
Thinking about these hardworking people, Xue Jiao couldn’t help but smile.
Each of them was outstanding, and they were all striving to become even better.
Lost in thought, she didn’t notice two boys approaching, nudging each other.
"Senior, do you know her?"
"She looks familiar, but I haven’t seen her around in sophomore year. Is she in your batch?" The older boy hesitated—he really hadn’t seen her on campus before. Someone this pretty would’ve left an impression…
"Senior… she’s so pretty…"
"I’m not blind… if you want to talk to her, just go!"
"Ah? Wouldn’t that be awkward?"
"What’s there to fear? You’re in college now! Go for it!" The sophomore tried to sound composed, egging on the freshman while discreetly straightening his clothes, his face tense.
The freshman was bold. He took two steps forward and sat down beside Xue Jiao.
"Hi, classmate! Are you from our school?"
Xue Jiao snapped out of her thoughts and turned. Beside her sat a bespectacled boy with a youthful face, clearly still young.
Behind him stood a boy with a baby face, flashing her a cute smile complete with little fangs.
She replied politely, "Yes…"
"I’m a freshman in the math department. This is my roommate, a sophomore in math. And you, miss?" The young bespectacled boy grinned.
Xue Jiao was surprised to meet juniors here. She smiled faintly. "I’m also in the math department."
"What a coincidence! So we’re classmates?" His eyes lit up.
Xue Jiao shook her head. Just then, her phone vibrated slightly.
Her face brightened—Lin Zhihua was here!
She stood up and replied, "I have something to do, junior. I’ll be going now."
With that, she walked away.
Junior???
The bespectacled boy and the baby-faced one exchanged glances, utterly bewildered."Is this our senior? Senior, you've never seen such a beautiful senior before?!"
The baby-faced boy rubbed his chin, genuinely looking like he was trying to recall something familiar.
After a moment, his pupils constricted as if remembering something. With a shocked expression, he pulled out his phone and opened the official website.
"Senior, why aren't you saying anything?"
Just as the bespectacled boy finished asking, he saw his senior clutching his phone, jumping on the spot with a mix of excitement and anguish—
"Ahhhhhhhh! I just fucking saw Goddess Gu! And I even went up to chat with her!!! We talked!!!!"
The bespectacled boy looked utterly confused. After the baby-faced one calmed down, he directly opened Baidu Encyclopedia's page for "Gu Xue Jiao" to show him.
A moment later, he fell into an existential crisis.
After another pause, he muttered: "Senior... is our Tsinghua alum really this amazing?"
He began doubting his own life choices, feeling like a complete loser.
From that day onward, the legend of "Goddess Gu" started circulating among the freshmen at Tsinghua.
Of course, Xue Jiao knew nothing about this.
She rode home in Lin Zhihua's car, and the two prepared to cook dinner together—though her main role was just assisting.
"Jiao Jiao, does this mean you won't be as busy in your fourth year?" Lin Zhihua's eyes brightened slightly.
Xue Jiao nodded: "Mhm, when I don't need to be on campus, I can go to the company with you."
She felt a pang of guilt, because after this year, she might be leaving to study abroad.
Lin Zhihua smiled: "Finally won't leave me alone in an empty house anymore."
He lingered on the last few words, his tone teasing and intimate.
Xue Jiao glared at him, though her cheeks flushed slightly.
As Lin Zhihua drove the car into the garage, Xue Jiao opened her mouth, wanting to bring up her possible plans to study abroad.
But the first thing he did after parking was unbuckle his seatbelt, turn, and half-cover her body, lightly biting the lips she'd just parted to speak.
She responded softly, and Lin Zhihua paused before intensifying his assault.
After a long moment, Xue Jiao pushed him away, panting, and pulled his hand out from under her clothes.
"Let's go, time to cook."
Lin Zhihua licked his upper lip, savoring the memory.
Blushing and flustered, Xue Jiao pushed the car door open, having completely forgotten what she'd meant to say.
After that, she tried several times to bring it up, but Lin Zhihua always unconsciously interrupted her.
Xue Jiao thought it over and decided not to press the matter.
She wanted to study under Professor Conrad, but there was no guarantee he'd accept her. She'd tell Lin Zhihua later—one more day of delay wouldn't hurt...
That delay stretched all the way until February, when Xue Jiao completed the first draft of her thesis.
This draft was rushed, but the IT application deadline was approaching, so she had to finish it quickly and send it along with an email to Professor Conrad.
Xue Jiao took a deep breath, turned, and submitted all her application materials along with recommendation letters from Academician Xi and others.
She'd deliberately contacted Professor Conrad first to ensure he'd recognize her name, explaining in her letter why she wanted to study under him and her determination. Otherwise, she feared even if her application passed, he might not take her on.
After submitting everything, Xue Jiao grew anxious—not just about the application, but also... she still hadn't told Lin Zhihua.
Xue Jiao became increasingly restless. Around this time, Lin Zhihua grew busier, and though she tried several times to talk to him, his schedule kept pushing the conversation back.
Meanwhile, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA, at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology...Conrad angrily shouted at the student beside him, "Idiot! I told you to watch it, what were you doing?! Do you know how important this is to me?! Fool!"
The fair-skinned student hung his head low, remaining silent.
"How could our university admit someone as stupid as you? What's worse is you're both foolish and irresponsible! Do you realize—"
"Professor!" The student suddenly looked up.
Conrad was taken aback, staring at the mocking expression on the student's face.
The student threw what he was holding onto the ground and sneered, "Professor Conrad, twenty-some years—you've been doing this for over twenty years. If there were going to be results, you'd have had them by now. You, the former genius, have long since lost your edge. Do you think I wanted to be assigned to you? If I hadn't offended Marr, I would never have been stuck with you! You call me stupid? No, Professor, I think you're the real fool here!"
"You—"
"I've had enough. Deduct my grades if you want—I don't want to spend another day here. Staying with you is a complete waste of time! The entire mathematics community knows Professor Conrad is washed up..."
With that, the student walked away, leaving Conrad gasping in anger.
Conrad clutched his chest, taking a long time to recover.
Then he slumped onto the floor. How many was this now? Barely over twenty days? Even these freshmen had started mocking him.
To him, this student was truly stupid. He didn’t expect them to understand what he’d been working on all these years, but at the very least, they should show some diligence. Yet this student was both clueless and lazy!
All he’d asked was for the student to monitor the computer and export the data immediately when it finished. Instead, the student sat there playing games, and by the time he checked an hour later, the data was ruined.
Conrad didn’t actually want anyone bothering him, but recently, after over twenty years of research, he’d finally seen a glimmer of hope. Anxious to speed things up, he’d asked the department to assign him an assistant.
Who would’ve thought they’d send him a clueless sophomore instead of someone competent?
Conrad was furious, but helpless. After twenty years, even the university had given up on him.
The computer beeped, and the disheveled Conrad immediately stood up and hurried over.
To hell with these idiots!
He’d worked alone for over twenty years—he could keep going!
Soon, Conrad was redoing the ruined data.
"Beep-beep—" The sound of an email notification.
Conrad irritably moved to close it—what fool was contacting him now?
Just as he was about to, his eyes caught the subject line—
"Milgarth, Star Chart."
Conrad froze, frowning as he opened it.
After reading the contents, he stood up, pacing restlessly around the room.
Round and round he went, his frown deepening.
In April, Xue Jiao received her IT offer, along with a message from Professor Conrad—
"Hurry up and get here."
Xue Jiao: "..."
For some reason, she had a feeling her master's journey might be... different from what she’d imagined.
But right now, the biggest challenge was how to tell Lin Zhihua she was going abroad.
Xue Jiao rubbed her temples, feeling the stress.
That evening, she first told Cheng Shuo and the others. The three were stunned at first, then smiled.They were reluctant to part with her, but this was a good opportunity for Xue Jiao, and there was no reason to stop her.
"Congratulations, Jiao Jiao! Our Jiao Jiao is truly amazing!" Cheng Shuo said cheerfully.
Li Sitong was even happier: "Jiao Jiao is wonderful!"
Now when she went out for spa days with the other ladies, she'd have another thing to boast about.
Everyone was happy for her, but after the initial joy, they began asking when she would go abroad and giving her all sorts of advice. The happiness soon turned into worry.
They talked late into the night until Cheng Shuo suddenly asked: "Does Lin Zhihua know yet?"
Xue Jiao fell silent.
"You haven't told him?!" Cheng Shuo's voice rose in surprise.
Xue Jiao nodded: "I don't know how to bring it up. I feel like I've wronged him."
Several times she had gathered the courage to tell him, only to be interrupted each time. Filled with guilt, she kept putting it off day after day until now.
Cheng Shuo was silent for a moment before saying: "This is something you should tell him in person..."
Xue Jiao bit her lower lip, then stood up after a pause: "I'm going to his place."
With that, she ran out.
Cheng Mingze was stunned and instinctively stood up: "It's so late, and she's running off to Lin Zhihua's place..."
Li Sitong pulled him back, winking and smiling: "Those two have been committed to each other for a long time now. They'll be husband and wife sooner or later. Jiao Jiao isn't a child anymore—if she wants to stay at Lin Zhihua's place, let her."
Cheng Mingze said nothing more and sat back down.
Cheng Shuo didn't comment either. If one year wasn't enough to judge a person's character, then two, three, or four years certainly were. There was nothing left to question.
Lin Zhihua... was indeed the right person to spend Xue Jiao's life with.
The Cheng family exchanged a few more words before everyone washed up and went to bed. Meanwhile, Xue Jiao knocked on Lin Zhihua's door.
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