Fifteen hours?

What could be accomplished in fifteen hours?

But Professor Wen wasn’t joking.

The “Structural Elements” in Xia Xiaolan’s hands was Professor McCarthy’s work. This was common in America – textbooks were expensive, and royalties were high, so many leading professors gladly published their course content as textbooks. When teaching, why would they choose others’ works over their own?

Professor McCarthy’s “Structural Elements” had been tested through teaching. Used as a textbook in Cornell’s architecture program, many other American universities’ architecture departments also chose this version… 395 pages, and Professor Wen wanted Xia Xiaolan to preview it in 15 hours!

Xia Xiaolan had a lot to catch up on – others had been in class for a month already.

Opening “Structural Elements” made her dizzy. Though she considered her English quite good, the textbook contained numerous technical terms she’d never encountered in China.

The professional books she could borrow from Huaqing’s library hadn’t yet included English originals!

Seeing her pale face, Hu Ying made her coffee, criticizing Professor Wen for frightening Xia Xiaolan with his harsh words.

Professor Wen grumbled from his wheelchair:

“That’s McCarthy! The colleague you dislike most – I wasn’t lying!”

Hu Ying recalled McCarthy’s single house visit and couldn’t help showing distaste.

“…He’s difficult.”

If he was hard to get along with colleagues, what warmth could students expect?

Xia Xiaolan grew increasingly desperate.

Initially, she could ask Professor Wen questions. Though he didn’t teach this course, he was still an architecture professor who knew the technical vocabulary. He helped her preview.

This was probably the advantage of living with a professor. Xia Xiaolan was grateful for Teacher Mao’s wise decision.

But Professor Wen was just recovering from illness. After helping for just over an hour, he was fatigued.

Xia Xiaolan wasn’t emotionally tone-deaf – how could she let Professor Wen stay up with her?

She quickly urged him to rest and asked Hu Ying to brew a large pot of coffee as she battled on alone.

Non-native English speakers faced a particular challenge – reading English textbooks required first translating the content to Chinese mentally, then understanding it. Xia Xiaolan’s English was always good, usually minimizing this process. She could think fluently while reading newspapers or magazines, but with technical textbooks, she frequently stumbled.

Sleep was out of the question tonight.

She managed perhaps half an hour of rest after going through the first few chapters of “Structural Elements.”

The next day she walked as if floating. Hu Ying thought even cycling would be difficult for her and insisted on driving her to school.

They had no choice but to leave Professor Wen’s home alone.

Seeing Xia Xiaolan’s constant yawning, Hu Ying sympathized:

“Poor dear, this is daily life at Cornell.”

American universities seemed more liberal than Chinese ones – student life could be exciting, and schools didn’t regulate dating or dormitory living… But everyone had similar energy levels. There was no reason white people should be smarter or more energetic than Asians. To have an exciting life while maintaining A grades, how could one avoid staying up late?

To stand out among excellent peers meant working harder than others.

Hu Ying told Xia Xiaolan this was normal. Xia Xiaolan patted her face awake and headed to class with her books.

The semicircular lecture hall was huge, easily seating two to three hundred, though only twenty or thirty were present. Xia Xiaolan arrived late – Ning Xue and others were already there.

Students sat in small groups, trying to confirm their homework’s completion before Professor McCarthy arrived.

Ning Xue’s group had various models displayed – presumably Professor McCarthy’s previous assignment.

Empty-handed and knowing no one, Xia Xiaolan found a random seat.

Though beautiful enough to be warmly welcomed by Hotel Administration students yesterday, entering this classroom felt oppressive. Everyone suffered under Professor McCarthy’s high-pressure rule. These architecture classmates, meeting her for the first time, had no interest in her beauty.

A pretty Asian face… hah, even looking twice felt criminal, immediately conjuring Professor McCarthy’s face!

Xia Xiaolan rarely experienced such cold treatment.

Seeing her alone, Ning Xue perhaps recalled her first days, and spoke to her today despite yesterday’s indifference:

“Did you preview?”

Ning Xue pointed at the textbook.

Xia Xiaolan looked ashen, “Fifteen hours – was it enough?”

Ning Xue shook her head, “It takes at least a week to thoroughly read ‘Structural Elements,’ but you just arrived in America, so there wasn’t time… Good luck.”

Ning Xue’s words made Xia Xiaolan more nervous.

Footsteps approached. The lecture hall fell silent as the short white professor entered.

While he could halve students’ hair volume in one semester, his curly hair remained thick. Immaculately dressed in a suit, and carrying a briefcase, his most prominent feature was his hooked nose.

“We have an extra person today.”

Professor McCarthy placed his briefcase on the podium. “What’s happening this year? So many students from China. New student, introduce yourself!”

Xia Xiaolan maintained a smile while quickly introducing herself.

Names could be casual, but her alma mater’s reputation couldn’t be compromised.

“Hua-Tsing University,” Xia Xiaolan pronounced precisely.

McCarthy pointed at Ning Xue, seemingly unable to recall her name, “Same school.”

Speaking of Ning Xue, McCarthy walked directly to her, beginning to check homework.

Even Ning Xue, Huaqing Architecture Department’s standout who published papers as an undergraduate, wasn’t memorable enough for Professor McCarthy.

Xia Xiaolan felt no schadenfreude – it only proved how terrifying Professor McCarthy truly was.

She thought this was harsh but soon witnessed worse.

In McCarthy’s eyes, “compromise” didn’t exist. Assignments were either acceptable or unacceptable. He found faults in acceptable ones and pushed unacceptable ones to the floor, not bothering with feedback… Multiple students in the classroom had tears in their eyes.

Except for her and Ning Xue, these were confident American students, yet they couldn’t handle this pressure.

Ning Xue’s group’s work, though criticized heavily, at least wasn’t pushed to the floor.

Xia Xiaolan had no time to pity others’ wounded pride – McCarthy’s madness would soon descend upon her. This class was Xia Xiaolan’s nightmare. The entire session, McCarthy kept calling on her, the new exchange student, to answer questions-

Since her rebirth, Xia Xiaolan had conquered all challenges, but this was the first time she’d been left stammering, hung out to dry!