Massachusetts Institute of Technology is located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA.
There are many cities with the same name in the United States and the United Kingdom, and "Cambridge" is one of them. Lin Zhixia came from one Cambridge to another Cambridge, which she found quite interesting. However, the rent in Cambridge, USA is also very expensive. After paying the rent, Lin Zhixia felt very distressed.
Lin Zhixia's residence is only two kilometers away from the school. The room is a studio (single apartment) with its own bathroom, desk, wardrobe and single bed.
On the first day of arriving at the apartment, Lin Zhixia showed her new room to her family via WeChat video. Her brother was the first to say, "This place is too small and the layout is unreasonable. The stove is opposite the bed. How do you cook at home?"
Lin Zhixia asked back: "Why can't I cook? This is called an open kitchen."
But my brother said, "You light the fire to cook, and the smell of oil smoke fills the whole house."
Lin Zhixia frowned slightly.
Dad immediately said: "Qiuqiu, don't talk about your sister. Your sister is working hard abroad alone. Alas, she is always reluctant to spend money..."
Lin Zhixia argued: "This type of house is considered very good. If I really wanted to save money, I wouldn't look for a house near the school."
Lin Zeqiu reminded her again: "You should eat well and sleep well. If you don't have enough money, tell me. Don't live a stingy life."
Lin Zhixia whispered, "I'm not stingy."
Lin Zeqiu sat on the worn-out sofa at home, with his parents sitting on his left and right. He pursed his lips and said after a moment, "I'm also making money, don't be too tired."
In June this year, Lin Zeqiu graduated from college. Due to the high cost of living in Beijing, Lin Zeqiu did not stay in Beijing. He returned to the provincial capital and participated in the 2014 autumn recruitment for fresh graduates. He successfully became an algorithm engineer for an Internet company in the provincial capital. He often works overtime and earns more than 10,000 yuan after tax every month, and there is still room for greater growth in the future.
Lin Zeqiu believes that their family's life will get better and better.
After Lin Zhixia finished her call with her family, she sent a video chat request to Jiang Yubai. It was around nine o'clock in the evening Beijing time, and Jiang Yubai had just finished his shower. He was wearing a thin nightgown, sitting on the bed in the bedroom, and answered Lin Zhixia's call.
Jiang Yubai's collar was half exposed, his skin was firm and strong, and he had a healthy sheen, but he seemed to be unaware of it. Lin Zhixia opened her eyes wide, her gaze swept over his chest and abdominal muscles, and he began to button his shirt calmly.
Lin Zhixia quickly stopped him: "Don't button your shirt."
Jiang Yubai still buttoned up all the buttons.
Lin Zhixia fell on her single bed: "You used to show me."
Jiang Yubai said, "Looking at the phone is meaningless. When we meet..." He guided her in a low voice, "You can study me as you like."
Lin Zhixia suddenly realized: "Are you trying to hook me?"
Jiang Yubai firmly denied it. He also said that he wanted to go to the United States to visit Lin Zhixia at the end of this month.
Lin Zhixia rolled over on the bed: "But I'm so busy."
Long before leaving for the United States, Lin Zhixia had set a plan for herself, with various tasks to complete every month. She only planned to stay at MIT for one year, during which she would do her best to observe, learn, and innovate. In addition to physics and computers, she was also very interested in brain neuroscience - MIT has several research groups dedicated to exploring the relationship between the human brain and artificial intelligence, and Lin Zhixia really wanted to get to know the students and teachers in these groups.
Therefore, Lin Zhixia politely declined Jiang Yubai's visit.
Jiang Yubai was silent for a few seconds. He pulled up the quilt to cover his face, and his tone remained calm: "Okay, see you next October."
"Why are you covering your face?" Lin Zhixia asked in surprise.
Lin Zhixia suddenly remembered that when Jiang Yubai was a child, he would cover his head with a hat when he had nothing to say. This action expressed his helplessness and embarrassment. Lin Zhixia quickly made amends: "I'm free on Christmas! Come to see me on Christmas."
According to Lin Zhixia's experience when she was studying in the UK, every Christmas, all the students and teachers in the experimental building would run away, and even the most diligent students would be nowhere to be found. The entire campus would be deserted, peaceful, empty and lonely... Lin Zhixia could also give herself a holiday and take some time to go out and play with Jiang Yubai.
As soon as Lin Zhixia finished speaking, Jiang Yubai pulled open the quilt.
The phone screen showed his face again.
"You are so beautiful." Lin Zhixia exclaimed for the ten thousandth time.
"Not bad." Jiang Yubai was very modest. He was very concerned about another question: "How is your place?"
Lin Zhixia turned the camera and took clear pictures of every corner of the room. Jiang Yubai hesitated to speak. He thought about it for a while before telling Lin Zhixia very subtly that he wanted to provide her with some housing subsidies.
Lin Zhixia decisively refused. She was a little surprised: "Why do you think the same as my brother..."
"What did your brother say?" Jiang Yubai asked her.
Lin Zhixia relayed her brother's words: "He said that when I cook at home, the smell of oil smoke will spread everywhere." After a pause, she continued: "This house is in good condition. You don't have to worry about me. I will adapt quickly. I have to go to the laboratory in the afternoon. I will take a rest first. We can talk again when we are free."
Jiang Yubai held the phone, his thumb gently resting on the screen. The video call had stopped long ago, and he was still missing Lin Zhixia. She was more independent than he expected. In the past, whenever she was in an unfamiliar environment, she always needed his encouragement and support. He remembered that Lin Zhixia would call him before participating in the National Olympic Games, and would chat with him when staying in the hotel. He used the story of "The Big Bang brought eternal night" to coax her to no longer be afraid of the dark... Thinking of this, Jiang Yubai put down the phone.
Jiang Yubai leaned against the headboard and began to think about "Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs Theory".
"Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs Theory" is also known as "Maslow's Pyramid". It explains human survival needs and is used to explain human behavioral motivations.
The "Maslow Pyramid" has five layers. The bottom layer represents a "physiological need", including food, clothing, housing, transportation and sex life - this is the most basic and common pursuit of life. Going up, the fourth layer is a sense of security, the third layer is a sense of belonging, the second layer is a sense of respect, and the highest layer is "self-realization".
"Self-realization" means fully developing one's own talents and ultimately realizing one's personal ideals.
Jiang Yubai deeply analyzed his relationship with Lin Zhixia.
At this moment, he realized that even if he tried his best, he could only provide Lin Zhixia with the satisfaction of the second to fifth levels of the "Maslow's Pyramid". As for the highest level of "self-realization", it must be Lin Zhixia's path alone.
Jiang Yubai once told Lin Zhixia that he and Lin Zhixia would carry out different missions separately, but they would eventually meet on the same planet. Now it seems that Lin Zhixia's description is more accurate - she had said long ago that she and Jiang Yubai were a binary star system, born with different orbits, but they would always maintain the same center.
Just as Jiang Yubai predicted, the MIT research group brought Lin Zhixia new thoughts and experiences, and she was completely immersed in the world of scientific research.
Their laboratory has the world's most advanced equipment. In addition to working in her group, Lin Zhixia often participates in interdisciplinary cross-disciplinary discussions. She occasionally goes to the "brain and cognitive science" laboratory building to communicate with professors and doctoral students there. She has never described her peculiar memory to anyone because she is not sure whether she will be used as a research subject.
Lin Zhixia's life is busy and fulfilling.
She seemed to have forgotten Jiang Yubai again.
Fortunately, Jiang Yubai has gotten used to it. He is also very busy with his own work.
His father gave him two investment companies, injected hundreds of millions of yuan, and equipped him with a secretary and assistant. When his father's friends trained their successors, they basically let their children start from the grassroots level. Since Jiang Yubai had been interning in his own company since he was sixteen, his father skipped the grassroots training stage and directly let him start the investment business.
In addition, Jiang Yubai's mother also gave up some of the management rights of the industries under her name.
Jiang Yubai holds a morning meeting at the company from Monday to Friday. After the meeting, there is still a pile of documents waiting for him to deal with.
Now it was October, and the secretary sent the analysis report of the first three quarters, the fixed asset investment report of the branch, and the interim results report of the new product development... Jiang Yubai spent the whole morning reading them. He singled out the branch with loss-making industries. At this time, the secretary called him again on the internal line, saying that Jiang Shaoqi had appeared in the company and wanted to have lunch with Mr. Jiang.
Mr. Jiang
My uncle actually called Jiang Yubai "Mr. Jiang".
Jiang Yubai thought that his uncle had some official business to discuss with him.
Unexpectedly, after entering the room, my uncle said happily: "I drove past your building and thought of you working here, so I came to see you. Where are you having lunch? You are dressed in a suit and tie, with a table full of documents. You really are worthy of being my eldest brother's son."
One of Jiang Yubai's secretaries poured a cup of Longjing tea for his uncle.
The central air-conditioning maintained a constant room temperature, the aroma of tea filled the air, and my uncle sat down on a black leather sofa.
After the secretary left the office and everything was completely quiet, the uncle took a sip of tea and then revealed, "I heard that a good friend of your mother wants to introduce her daughter to you. The girl will come to your house tonight. Your father doesn't support it, and your mother hasn't expressed her opinion, but the girl... is quite popular with your grandparents, just like your aunt. Jessica and I were introduced by our families, and so were your father and mother. They probably think that being well-matched is the most important thing. I'm not in a position to say more, so you should pay attention."
"Are you here today for this matter?" Jiang Yubai asked again.
Uncle sighed: "What else? I don't have that much free time."
Jiang Yubai said politely: "Thank you for the reminder."
The uncle looked dissatisfied: "Why are you still being so polite to your uncle?" He put down the teacup in his hand and asked, "How do you get along with Lin Zhixia?"
Jiang Yubai said honestly: "She has been quite busy recently."
"How busy are they?" Uncle was puzzled. "Busy than you?"
Jiang Yubai said with a hint of resentment: "Much busier than me."
Uncle heard the hidden meaning in his words: "Lin Zhixia doesn't contact you normally?"
Jiang Yubai leaned back in his chair: "In the past month, I have called four times."
"Once a week." Uncle shook his head and sighed.
Jiang Yubai didn't know that Jiang Shaoqi had a very good impression of Lin Zhixia and had already regarded Lin Zhixia as his future niece-in-law.
Although Jiang Shaoqi had no experience in love—he had only been in love once—he was trying hard to help his nephew think of a solution: "What does Lin Zhixia like?"
"I like to eat strawberries," Jiang Yubai described truthfully, "and I have almost no requirements for material things."
"Oh?" Jiang Shaoqi was a little surprised.
Jiang Yubai tapped the table with his fingertips and whispered to himself, "She has no flaws."
Jiang Shaoqi thought for a moment and gave his nephew some advice: "Xiao Jiang, finish the work on hand, take a leave at the end of the year, and go to the United States to find her."
Jiang Yubai also planned to do so. In order to maintain stable performance and get a holiday at the end of the year, Jiang Yubai worked hard for more than two months. Jiang Yubai's mother's friend wanted to introduce her daughter to him, but she could never find an opportunity. Jiang Yubai did not stay at home on weekends, and the office was his new home. He also often went on business trips, and his whereabouts were elusive and unpredictable.
By mid-December, the fourth quarter performance of a branch company that Jiang Yubai was following showed an upward trend. Jiang Yubai took the fourth quarter operating report on the plane. The plane departed from the provincial capital and went directly to Boston, USA - Christmas was coming soon, and Lin Zhixia and Jiang Yubai agreed to meet during the holiday.
Jiang Yubai was working in the first class cabin of the plane when Lin Zhixia sent him a message: "When are you landing?"
Jiang Yubai replied: "6pm, Boston Airport."
Lin Zhixia said happily: "Then I'll pick you up. Where will you stay, a hotel?"
Jiang Yubai sent her an address: "The hotel next to your home." Then he asked: "Can you... not go home tonight?"
Lin Zhixia said frankly: "Do you want to sleep with me? Sure, we have slept together many times."