Just as Deng Shasha expected, this year's final exam was not easy.
After finishing her last exam, Deng Shasha was almost dead. She walked back to her dorm with a shaky step, collapsed on the bed, and lamented, "I couldn't understand a few questions on the Mathematical Analysis paper. How did you do?"
Lin Zhixia had just bought a bottle of strawberry yogurt from the supermarket. She took a sip of the yogurt and turned her head to look at Feng Yuan.
In order not to hurt Deng Shasha's fragile heart, Feng Yuan lied sincerely: "Mathematical Analysis is so difficult!"
Lin Zhixia immediately agreed: "It's so difficult!"
Deng Shasha questioned, "Xia Shen, you said it's difficult, so I'm doomed, right?"
Lin Zhixia looked at her hesitantly, wanting to say something.
"Mathematical Analysis" seems to be a very scary course, even Lin Zhixia can't describe it in words.
Deng Shasha felt like she was in an ice cellar. Her hopes were dashed, and she felt betrayed by mathematics. Her heart was filled with bitterness, sadness, sorrow, and helplessness—just like Wang Baochuan who had waited in the cold kiln for eighteen years only to find that Xue Pinggui had married another woman.
Deng Shasha was devastated and said to herself, "I have been studying mathematics every day for more than a month... What if I fail Mathematical Analysis?"
Lin Zhixia comforted her: "You won't fail. I've helped you review. I guarantee you'll pass!"
Feng Yuan said casually: "Don't think too much."
Only Yuan Wei took out a copy of the "Working Procedures for Undergraduate Students to Retake the Course" and handed it to Deng Shasha solemnly. Deng Shasha read it through with tears in her eyes and was mentally prepared to retake the course.
When the test results came out, Deng Shasha and Yuan Wei were both a little surprised. Their final scores were much better than they expected, and Deng Shasha didn't have to retake Mathematical Analysis.
Deng Shasha took out her phone, opened the address book, found "Lin Zhixia", and changed her note to "Xia Shen". If Lin Zhixia wasn't so low-key, Deng Shasha would have wanted to worship her.
A few days later, the name "Xia Shen" spread in the QQ group of the major. Lin Zhixia and several other top students all got full marks in all subjects. For them, their average score was the full score of the college exam.
Lin Zhixia still held back. She believed that the subjects taught in the first year of college were relatively basic, and that any exam questions could not fully demonstrate a person's mathematical research skills. She encouraged Deng Shasha to look at the two things of "being able to do scientific research" and "being able to solve problems" from different perspectives.
Lin Zhixia and her three roommates are studying in the Department of Information Science of the School of Mathematics. This major aims to cultivate talents in the cross-application of mathematics and computer science.
Deng Shasha made it clear that sooner or later she would give up mathematical theory and turn to computer and software engineering. She believed that no matter how difficult programming was, it was not as difficult as "Mathematical Analysis" and no matter how annoying the code was, it was not as annoying as "Analytical Geometry".
Lin Zhixia did not comment, but encouraged Deng Shasha to move forward and stick to her own choice.
Lin Zhixia was very modest in front of her classmates, but as soon as she saw her mother, she couldn't wait to say, "Mom, Mom, I did very well in the final exam."
Winter vacation was approaching, and Lin Zhixia's mother came to Beijing to pick her up. The mother and daughter bought two sleeper train tickets, took a suitcase, and set off on the road back to the provincial capital.
Lin Zhixia was very happy. She could finally go home.
She boarded the train happily, pulled the little penguin out of her schoolbag, and sat on the lower bunk of the carriage holding the little penguin.
The wheels of the train moved along the rails, and the collision between the wheels and the rails produced a rhythmic "clang clang" sound. The strong aroma of instant noodles filled the entire carriage, just like the lingering "clang" sound of the train.
It was almost noon, and a flight attendant came with a dining cart to sell boxed lunches. The lunches cost 20 yuan each and came with white rice and a few side dishes, both meat and vegetables, and were steaming hot.
Lin Zhixia looked at the dining car quietly, and her mother said, "Have one."
The flight attendant asked, "Just one serving?"
Mom handed over a 20-yuan note and said to Lin Zhixia, "Mom is not hungry, Xia Xia, eat first."
Lin Zhixia tilted her head. She also took out a 20 yuan note and called the flight attendant: "Hello, please give me another lunch box, thank you."
My mother tucked her hair around her ears and said in a hoarse voice, "Xia Xia, don't spend money carelessly. There's too much rice and not enough vegetables. You can't finish it all by yourself."
"Then I don't want you to eat my leftovers either." Lin Zhixia said directly. She easily saw through her mother's thoughts and felt a little embarrassed.
The price of a lunch box is 20 yuan, and my mother can only afford to buy one. My mother wants Lin Zhixia to finish eating first, and then she can eat the remaining rice - with vegetable oil and soup, she will probably be able to fill her stomach.
After the train attendant walked away, Lin Zhixia couldn't help but whispered, "Why? Why does mom have to save money like this? I gave almost all the scholarships I earned to my family. I only kept less than 10,000 yuan for myself. I will continue to make money. My senior can make 156,000 yuan a year. I won't be worse than him. You wait for me for another two years, until I am older, sell patents, and make academic achievements..."
There were two lunch boxes on the table, but no one picked up their chopsticks. Mom sighed and said, "Xia Xia, the money you gave me is saved for you. The money you earn is yours, and no one can take it away, not even your brother. You are still young, and mom has to plan for you. Which city do you want to go to in the future, where do you want to buy a house, and what if you stay in Beijing, how much is the cost of living in Beijing?"
The housing prices in Beijing are much more expensive than those in provincial capitals.
Lin Zhixia had never considered the issue of settling down and building a family.
She thought for a moment and said without shame: "I will definitely become a professor in the future. When I become a professor, I can live in the staff dormitory arranged by the school. The money I earn... can be used for many purposes. I want to travel around the world with my best friend."
"Xia Xia, you need to have a family," her mother said to her again, "and you need to get married..."
Lin Zhixia interrupted: "No, these are not the necessary paths in life. For me, scientific research is the necessary path."
Mom unpacked a pair of bamboo chopsticks and said, "Eat quickly, the food is getting cold. Mom shouldn't tell you this, Xia Xia is still young."
Lin Zhixia lifted the lid of her lunch box with a sense of ceremony, and all the negative emotions were swept away. She slowly savored today's lunch, and was still thinking about her money-making plan. She had excellent performance in school this semester, and she must have a considerable scholarship. She also had a paper related to quantum computing that was being revised repeatedly. If she could publish this paper this year, she would get another extra reward.
In short, Lin Zhixia will not be short of money.
She is full of confidence.
The train arrived in the provincial capital early the next morning.
Lin Zeqiu and his father came to the train station to pick people up.
The family of four reunited after being separated for half a year. Dad's eyes were slightly red. He kept saying that Lin Zhixia had become thinner. Was it because the food in the cafeteria was not good? Did she often go hungry in college
Lin Zhixia listed a series of dishes. She analyzed them in detail: "There are many kinds of dishes in our university cafeteria. I like Hainanese chicken rice and three-color fish rice. Our dormitory has dinner parties outside every month."
"How do your roommates treat you?" This is the question that Lin Zeqiu cares about most.
"That's great," Lin Zhixia said, "They will take care of me."
Lin Zeqiu held Lin Zhixia's schoolbag in his left hand and carried Lin Zhixia's suitcase in his right hand. He was a mobile luggage rack, and he didn't let his parents and sister carry anything heavy. On the way home, Lin Zeqiu was silent and far from the enthusiasm that Lin Zhixia had imagined.
Lin Zhixia couldn't guess what Lin Zeqiu was thinking.
Lin Zeqiu is a senior high school student. He has turned eighteen and has officially entered the adult world. He and Lin Zhixia have not seen each other for more than four months - since Lin Zhixia was born, she has never been separated from Lin Zeqiu for such a long time.
When Lin Zhixia was at home, Lin Zeqiu often found her annoying.
Lin Zhixia suspected that during the four months she went to Beijing to attend university, Lin Zeqiu would miss her at first, but later, he was happy to be free and relaxed, without worries, and didn't have to help her with housework. When Lin Zhixia came home, Lin Zeqiu's good days were over, so he was not very willing to talk to her.
That doesn’t matter, Lin Zhixia thought, she understood her brother’s territorial awareness.
After entering the house, Lin Zhixia jumped into her bedroom like a little rabbit. Her room was tidy, and the sheets, quilt covers, and pillowcases were all washed last night and dried this morning. They were her favorite pink strawberry pure cotton style.
Everything in the bedroom was intact, even their positions had not changed.
"Brother, have you helped me clean up my room?" Lin Zhixia asked.
Lin Zeqiu stood at the door of her bedroom and still didn't answer. After a full minute, Lin Zeqiu said, "It's like a dream. You're home."
Lin Zhixia jumped in front of him and said, "Brother, have you dreamed of me?"
"I've dreamed about this many times," Lin Zeqiu said impatiently, "You caught me writing a test paper in my dream."
Lin Zhixia boasted, "I'm so responsible that I urge you to study even in my dreams."
"That's not a good thing." Lin Zeqiu commented coldly.
"How is it not a good thing?" Lin Zhixia argued with him, "Have you heard of the Hawthorne effect? When a person receives extra attention, he will unconsciously work harder and his grades will improve."
Lin Zeqiu hadn't argued with his sister for a long time. He missed every quarrel between the siblings since childhood. Although he couldn't remember the content of the quarrel, he remembered what Lin Zhixia looked like when she was a child. She was like a snow-white glutinous rice ball, small and looked obedient and soft.
Lin Zeqiu stood by the door, his arm pressed against the door frame. He looked at Lin Zhixia and said to himself, "You've grown taller."
"I am 1.63 meters tall now." Lin Zhixia said proudly. She took the initiative to ask him: "How tall is my brother?"
Lin Zeqiu replied expressionlessly: "1.87 meters."
Lin Zhixia clapped: "Brother is so tall."
Lin Zeqiu patted her head and said, "Okay, I'm going to study. You can take a nap. We'll have shrimp dumplings and strawberries for lunch. Dad will make beef sliced noodles tomorrow. The beef has been bought..."
"That's great," Lin Zhixia thought. "By the way, brother, I have to attend my friend's uncle's wedding the day after tomorrow. I can't eat at home the day after tomorrow. If they give out red eggs and brown sugar buns at their wedding, I'll bring some back for you."