Grandmother Yu did play favorites.

Not only did she personally make steamed buns for Xia Xiaolan, but she was also very concerned about Xia Xiaolan’s visit to America.

While Grandmother Yu couldn’t help much with Tang Youru’s treatment, which Xia Xiaolan had already arranged, the old lady was concerned about the AIA Rising Star Architect selection. Xia Xiaolan had been shortlisted this year for her Commercial Capital Museum design… but who knew that the shameless Raymond Dawson would interfere again, pushing his daughter to compete against Xia Xiaolan?

“Something must be done.”

Xia Xiaolan swallowed her mouthful of bun, “Frank said I still have a good chance of winning. AIA stirred up a hornet’s nest last time, so they won’t treat my work carelessly this time. Besides, because of last time’s incident, Raymond Dawson’s reputation within AIA isn’t very good.”

AIA wasn’t entirely harmonious internally. As Vice Chairman, Raymond faced opposition within AIA as well.

This opposition stemmed from Xia Xiaolan’s case last year. Raymond had done wrong, yet AIA had to clean up his mess, naturally causing some to resent him!

So this year, when Raymond got Heidi shortlisted for the Rising Star Architect selection, there was still internal opposition.

According to Frank, many would vote against her.

The judges didn’t even need to question whether Heidi’s shortlisted work had ghostwriters; they could simply not vote for her to avoid risks.

In comparison, the Commercial Capital Museum was designed under the joint supervision of two journals and the AIA committee. It absolutely couldn’t be linked to plagiarism or ghostwriting. Voting for Xia Xiaolan was the safer choice, avoiding any potential scandals—this was perhaps the blessing in disguise from last year’s lawsuit.

Weighing various advantages and disadvantages, Xia Xiaolan estimated that she and Heidi each had about a 50% chance of winning.

But she didn’t want to worry Grandmother Yu, so while eating the buns, she displayed complete confidence.

Grandmother Yu was also preparing to return to China for the museum’s opening ceremony.

As for the old lady straightening out that stubborn mule Tina, that was inevitable!

Xia Xiaolan wasn’t surprised at all.

With Tina’s limited experience, she couldn’t resist for long before surrendering. Now, while eating buns, Tina kept stealing glances at her. Xia Xiaolan could sense the young girl’s envy and jealousy, probably because she hadn’t tasted Grandmother Yu’s homemade buns before.

This shows she cared about Grandmother Yu and was competing for affection… Xia Xiaolan didn’t expose this, held back her laughter, and completely ignored Tina’s petty jealousy.

It was good that she felt jealous. Even with blood relations, there was no law requiring Grandmother Yu to shower Tina with endless affection.

Feelings were mutual.

If Tina wanted Grandmother Yu to like her more, she needed to invest more emotion in herself. Xia Xiaolan felt her presence served as a catalyst!

Xia Xiaolan came to America for Tang Youru’s treatment.

Grandmother Yu sighed when she heard about this matter.

But she told Xia Xiaolan this was a good thing:

“A couple who hasn’t experienced major events together, no matter how good their relationship seems, it’s superficial. Now it’s different.”

Ji Ya and Tang Hong’en were living examples. Without Tang Hong’en’s past hardships, they probably would have just continued being family. Only when external circumstances change can you see whether a couple can support each other moving forward.

It was good that Tang Hong’en’s family matter came to light. Previously, Tang Hong’en had always been the one looking after Xia Xiaolan and her mother, but in finding Tang Youru and her subsequent care, Liu Fen and Xia Xiaolan contributed greatly… Grandmother Yu thought this current situation was quite good. In the family, not only was Tang Hong’en giving, but Liu Fen and her daughter were giving back substantially. The couple wasn’t one strong and one weak, but mutually supportive, inseparable.

Grandmother Yu didn’t need to explain these thoughts to Xia Xiaolan in detail.

Xia Xiaolan hadn’t thought that much about it.

She knew better than anyone how Old Tang treated her and her mother.

They were all family now, and Xia Xiaolan was very willing to do things for Old Tang.

Xia Xiaolan also met Ning Xue in New York.

Ning Xue and Jonathan completed their required credits this summer, just waiting for their graduation certificates.

They were no longer in Ithaca but interning in New York. Ning Xue had earned her way into GMP Architects on her merit, while Jonathan entered P&W. Though this couple chose different firms, their relationship remained solid.

Ning Xue remained unchanged, showing no anxiety that Xia Xiaolan had advanced further than her. She had a very clear understanding of her own goals and what she wanted.

She had always been a pure-hearted person.

Although Xia Xiaolan had surpassed her through a different path, Ning Xue still believed her way wasn’t wrong.

For Ning Xue, climbing higher in her beloved field of architecture was happiness enough. She didn’t like doing business, nor did she care about how much money she could use. Her happiness came from her purity of purpose!

Last month when Zhen Wenxiu came to America to visit her and found her daughter renting a tiny apartment, she was very distressed and wanted to give Ning Xue money to improve her living conditions, but Ning Xue refused.

Ning Xue believed that with her current income, being able to rent such an apartment was already quite good.

Of course, if Ning Xue and Jonathan shared an apartment, splitting the rent, they could afford a better place… but this was something Zhen Wenxiu couldn’t accept!

“Xia Xiaolan, I have to thank you for this. If you hadn’t performed so well at GMP, they wouldn’t give Chinese students so many opportunities.”

Ning Xue said this while treating Xia Xiaolan to coffee.

She found it relatively easy to stand out at GMP, without too many restrictions and knew this was because Xia Xiaolan had laid a good foundation during her time there.

Xia Xiaolan shook her head, “Even without me, with your ability, you would have been discovered by Mr. Kissinger at most two months later.”

Ning Xue had an incredibly solid professional foundation, high intelligence, and strong comprehension, and her pure-hearted nature gave her work spirit… It would have been unfair if someone like her couldn’t succeed in the architectural circle.

Ning Xue knew why Xia Xiaolan had come to America.

Regarding the AIA Rising Star Architect selection, Ning Xue had her thoughts. She didn’t want to compete with Xia Xiaolan this year, and besides, she didn’t have enough substantial work, so she was thinking of waiting a couple of years—

She hadn’t expected Heidi to be so eager.

They had been classmates, even in the same group. Didn’t Ning Xue know Heidi’s real level?

Ning Xue wouldn’t say Heidi’s work was entirely ghostwritten by Raymond Dawson, but to complete such a design, Raymond must have helped tremendously!

This was extremely unfair to Xia Xiaolan.

Even someone as pure-hearted as Ning Xue was angry about this, while Xia Xiaolan seemed quite calm.

A few days later, this year’s AIA Rising Star Architect election results were announced. After various considerations, they reached a result that made industry insiders both laugh and cry—Xia Xiaolan and Heidi Dawson were jointly awarded the second AIA Rising Star Architect Award!

Even Xia Xiaolan herself hadn’t expected such a bizarre move.