Xue Jiao looked confused: “Senior, what do you mean?”

Xu Jing straightened up and looked at her deeply.

“I had prejudice against you before. I’m very sorry. I thought that since you’re so beautiful, you might not be focused on academics. Now, I apologize for my prejudice. I’m sorry.”

Xue Jiao scratched her head: “Senior… it’s fine… why apologize for something like this? You’ve been nice to me.”

Xu Jing was stunned and then looked up at her.

Xue Jiao’s gaze was both serious and bewildered as if she didn’t understand Xu Jing’s behavior.

Indeed, if you met someone on the street, and they thought that because you’re beautiful, you couldn’t possibly be focused on academics—

But later they discover you’re an academic, they wouldn’t come up to apologize. Because they only thought it to themselves, they wouldn’t specifically apologize for it. If they didn’t express it, no one would even know.

Xu Jing found it somewhat amusing. She had been fretting over this and that complexity, but Gu Xue Jiao had never even considered her.

Yes, never considered her.

The person before her wasn’t arrogant; on the contrary, she was very detached.

Her world could only see what she liked. What she didn’t like, she didn’t care about or pay attention to.

Xu Jing suddenly felt a bit ironic. She had regarded Xue Jiao as an enemy, but Xue Jiao hadn’t even seen her as a rival.

She… wasn’t qualified enough.

While she was still immersed in comparisons, contrasts, and anger, Gu Xue Jiao had silently reached a height she couldn’t touch.

In the future, the gap between them will only grow wider.

Xu Jing’s smile was strange, as if she was crying, yet also laughing.

“Hahahahaha…”

“Senior?” Xue Jiao was puzzled.

Xu Jing looked at her and took a deep breath: “Gu Xue Jiao, keep it up.”

After speaking, she turned and left, stumbling away.

She seemed to understand where she had gone wrong. On the path of progress, one’s gaze should never be fixed solely on others—

The only person you should be watching is yourself.

Born ordinary, pride gradually develops.

Some people are born with indomitable pride, standing at the pinnacle of the world.

Others can only sway with the wind.

Xu Jing thought that Gu Xue Jiao was truly beautiful.

A beauty worthy of applause!

Xue Jiao looked at her retreating figure in confusion, scratched her head, then turned away.

To Xue Jiao, Xu Jing was just someone slightly more familiar than a stranger.

Xue Jiao went downstairs. Outside, it had started to snow. Even though Xue Jiao was wearing a thick down jacket, she couldn’t help but shiver.

“Jiaojiao—”

Xue Jiao looked up and smiled.

“Jiajia, why haven’t you left yet? Aren’t you cold?”

Mai Jiajia handed her a cup of hot milk tea, then spoke indistinctly while drinking her own: “I wanted to buy some milk tea, then thought of you, so I bought a cup for you too.”

Xue Jiao took a sip, feeling warm from her mouth to her heart. “You should hurry back to the dormitory.”

“Aren’t you going back to the dormitory today?”

“No, Uncle Xing is waiting for me at the school gate,” Xue Jiao said while drinking her milk tea.

Snowflakes floated down onto Xue Jiao. She pulled her hood up to cover her face.

This was the first complete winter she had spent in Beijing, and she still couldn’t quite adapt to the severe cold of the northern winter.

Every day when she walked out of the house, she felt like half her life was blown away by the wind.

Mai Jiajia straddled her scooter: “Get on, I’ll take you to the school gate.”

“No, you should hurry back!”

“It would take you over twenty minutes to walk there. You’d be frozen into a silly dumpling. Quickly get on!” As she spoke, Mai Jiajia handed her the milk tea and pulled the hood over her head.

Xue Jiao couldn’t help but smile, her eyes warm as she climbed onto the scooter.

While putting on her gloves, Mai Jiajia asked: “You gave the results of your Fermat proof to Professor Tan?”

“Yes!”

“That’s so amazing. If I had known you were busy proving Fermat’s Last Theorem this semester, I would have served you three meals a day! My Goddess!”

Xue Jiao patted her on the shoulder: “Stop teasing.”

Mai Jiajia started the scooter: “Who’s teasing you? Goddess, you’re truly a goddess in my heart. Goddess, if you were a man, I’d have a boyfriend.”

“You can still be my girlfriend now.”

“Oh my goodness!! The cold Goddess Gu is making such jokes! I should have recorded this! Say it again, goddess!”

“Hahaha, good words aren’t said twice!”

“Goddess, I’ll tell you some good news.”

“Oh?”

“They took attendance today, so you don’t have any regular grades for Ideological and Moral Cultivation this semester. If you can’t score at least eighty on the exam, you might fail.”

“…You could have not told me that.”

“Hahahahaha!! I must tell you! I can’t have a boyfriend who fails a course! Goddess Gu, good luck! Hahaha!”

…

Professor Tan was examining Xue Jiao’s notebook, so she didn’t focus on that anymore, dedicating all her attention to exams.

Toward the end of this semester, her studies had indeed been somewhat lacking, but in the first half of the semester, she had been very diligent. She didn’t expect to get full marks in every subject, but failing a course would be truly embarrassing.

So, Xue Jiao found herself in final exam review mode, even more intense than her college entrance exam preparation.

To avoid failing, the final exam period is probably when most college students work the hardest.

To put it in a sentence—

Carefree for most of the year, back to college entrance exam mode in one night.

Fortunately, the pace was tight, and all exams were finished in a little over a week.

After finishing her exams, Xue Jiao hugged each of her roommates and then went to find Professor Tan with her backpack.

Having made arrangements in advance, Professor Tan was sitting in his office at this time, waiting for her arrival.

“Hello, Professor Tan.” Xue Jiao greeted obediently.

“Hahaha, you’re here. Sit, sit quickly.” Professor Tan pointed to the seat in front of him, and Xue Jiao sat down obediently.

Professor Tan slapped his hand on the table: “Gu Xue Jiao!”

“Present!” Xue Jiao instinctively sat up straight and shouted.

Professor Tan was stunned for a moment, then laughed: “Hahaha, Student Gu Xue Jiao, it seems the military training at the beginning of the semester was quite effective.”

Xue Jiao shifted a bit, revealing an embarrassed smile.

“Gu Xue Jiao, I must tell you, your proof already has a very mature approach and methodology, but I’ve circled a few places and added some annotations. You should pay attention to these when writing your paper.” Professor Tan opened the notebook and explained her point by point.

His head leaned over a bit, and Xue Jiao noticed that his hair was completely white.

The wrinkles on his forehead were visible, and even with glasses, he had to get quite close to see clearly. The age spots were obvious.

Indeed, Professor Tan was already sixty…

She felt a bit melancholy but still nodded obediently in agreement.

“Also, you haven’t written many papers before. You must pay attention to the format. I’ve found many papers of the same type for you to look at. Take note of the format. Regarding the structure of the paper, first, make a draft, then send it to me. I’ll revise it for you, and then you can continue. It’s your first time writing a paper, so don’t rush, take it slowly.” Professor Tan said with a smile.

Xue Jiao’s expression was touched: “Professor, thank you.”

Professor Tan looked at her and revealed a gratified smile: “Gu Xue Jiao, what I said back then wasn’t wrong. You do have talent, and you work hard. The right direction of effort plus talent—I believe your achievements in mathematics will surpass mine. When I was eighteen, I couldn’t prove Fermat.”

“Professor Tan, your achievements are evident to all.” Xue Jiao’s gaze was serious.

Professor Tan blinked, speaking with a sense of melancholy: “It’s good, really good. The pace of life is too fast now, young people are impetuous. Those who focus on realizing their dreams are too few. Those who calm down and pursue academics are even fewer. We old folks don’t even dare to die. If we die, our field will lack successors. What then? What about future mathematical research?”

“Professor…” Xue Jiao opened her mouth, looking at him with concern.

Professor Tan waved his hand and smiled: “But I’m still fortunate. I waited for Zheng Jiakun, and now I’ve found you. This field has fresh blood like you, never to wither. Gu Xue Jiao, are you willing to continue working for mathematics, to keep going?”

“I am willing.” Xue Jiao sat up straight, more serious than ever.

This was her wish and dream. Even without knowing what the future held, she would persist in walking this path.

Professor Tan smiled: “So doing something for you makes me happy, and I’m willing to do it.”

As he spoke, he pushed Xue Jiao’s notebook and a USB drive toward her.

Xue Jiao stared at him blankly. After a moment, she smiled with tears in her eyes: “Yes, Professor, I will work hard.”

“Good, good, good!” Professor Tan nodded, very affectionately. “Go home now.”

“Alright, goodbye, Professor. Please… take care of yourself.” Xue Jiao stood up and bowed deeply.

Professor Tan nodded, smiling as he watched her leave.

Xue Jiao hugged the notebook, her emotions unable to settle for a long time. She walked slowly, taking her time to reach the school gate.

“Student Gu Xue Jiao!” A voice sounded from behind.

Xue Jiao turned around and saw someone she found extremely unbelievable.

“Lin Yinyin?”

Lin Yinyin ran over in a few steps. It was clear she had been waiting for a while.

“I… have something to tell you.”

“What?” Xue Jiao frowned slightly.

“I want to see my third uncle.”

Xue Jiao was completely confused: “Your third uncle?”

“Yes, can you help me arrange a meeting?”

Lin Yinyin’s voice carried urgency and uncertainty. She had never imagined that her family’s company was really on the verge of collapse.

If her family truly went bankrupt, could she still be the high and mighty young lady of the Lin family?!

Even though her family firmly disagreed, she was determined to find Lin Zhihua and beg him to save their family for the sake of kinship!

“Why are you looking for me to meet your third uncle?” Xue Jiao’s brows furrowed tightly.

“I couldn’t see him at the company, so I came to find you. Gu Xue Jiao, I already know about your relationship with my third uncle. You… might be my third aunt, right?” Lin Yinyin’s gaze was complex.

Calling a girl younger than herself “third aunt” made her feel awkward and uncomfortable.

But her uncle had chosen this person, and she didn’t dare to resist.

“What on earth are you babbling about?” Xue Jiao frowned, then continued walking while holding her things.

Did Lin Yinyin have something wrong with her brain?

“My third uncle is Lin Zhihua!!”

Xue Jiao’s footsteps paused. Lin Yinyin was Lin Zhihua’s niece?!

She was somewhat surprised, then realized that it had been over a week since she had seen Lin Zhihua. Last Friday evening, she had an exam, so they hadn’t eaten together.

Thinking of Lin Zhihua, for some reason, Xue Jiao felt like she wanted to see him.

“Find him yourself. I don’t have the authority to arrange a meeting for you.” Xue Jiao said, continuing to walk with her things.

Since Lin Yinyin was Lin Zhihua’s niece, she should go see him herself.

If she couldn’t see him, it was because Lin Zhihua didn’t want to see her. How could she bring someone Lin Zhihua didn’t want to see?

Additionally… among Lin Zhihua’s relatives, it seemed that except for his deceased grandmother, no one had his best interests at heart.

Xue Jiao continued walking.

From behind, Lin Yinyin shouted: “How can you not have the authority! My third uncle likes you so much! Gu Xue Jiao! Please help me!”

Xue Jiao’s footsteps halted. After a moment, she turned around—

“What did you just say?”