Chen Qing felt quite embarrassed.

The last thing he wanted was to ruin his image in front of Xia Xiaolan.

But in this foreign land, with no one else to confide in, running into Xia Xiaolan on the streets of New York made him unable to hold back his troubles.

Now he had done it – Xia Xiaolan must think of him as someone who only sought wealth and status.

Chen Qing’s face turned pale. He knew Xia Xiaolan wasn’t wrong to think that way. After getting together with Han Jin, he had indeed taken shortcuts.

Without Han Jin’s family’s influence, this government-sponsored study-abroad opportunity wouldn’t have fallen into his lap… People wanting to study abroad with government funding could form a long line, and even with Chen Qing’s top academic performance, without any background, he wouldn’t have been able to go abroad.

But his reason for going abroad was to be closer to someone.

Now that such an unseemly side of him had been seen, wouldn’t that just push him further away from her?

Bitterness filled Chen Qing’s mouth:

“I understand. Thank you, Xiaolan, for putting up with me on the way to America.”

Xia Xiaolan was right – he was still indecisive even now, and Han Jin wasn’t made of wood; she could surely sense it.

No wonder Han Jin kept holding onto Xiaolan.

If he couldn’t maintain a good relationship with Han Jin now, he wouldn’t be able to focus on his studies. If he achieved nothing at New York University’s Business School, what could he, a farmer’s son, use to compete with those privileged elites?

Seeing him sway unsteadily, appearing deeply affected, Xia Xiaolan felt some pity for him:

“Are you alright? America isn’t like home – take care of yourself!”

Xia Xiaolan wasn’t wealthy enough to help others everywhere. Chen Qing was on a government scholarship that covered his tuition, accommodation, and living expenses – he would only have some personal expenses outside the scope of funding.

If you have money, spend more; if not, spend less. However other international student lived, Chen Qing could do the same.

If he didn’t have enough money in America, it should be supplemented by the Chen family, or Chen Qing should find ways to increase income and reduce expenses.

Who was Xia Xiaolan?

If she showed kindness today, tomorrow his girlfriend Han Jin might come knocking at her door pointing fingers – and she would deserve it!

Xia Xiaolan browsed through some shops and bought herself some clothes. At university, everyone dressed simply. Danny’s group paid great attention to image management, but architecture students were very casual – jeans and plaid shirts were practically uniform, with a jacket thrown over the top that came off once inside the classroom!

Xia Xiaolan bought clothes following this style – casual, comfortable, and effortless.

Since she was living at the Wen residence, she also picked out some things for Professor Wen and Hu Ying.

Not knowing what Wen Manni liked, she bought two small potted plants.

She shopped until six-thirty, then took a taxi to the law firm, arriving just before seven.

Wen Manni was still working.

After another half hour, Wen Manni finally left her office:

“Sorry, did you wait long? Haven’t had dinner yet, right? Let me take you to a restaurant.”

She had already worked shorter overtime hours today.

Xia Xiaolan lifted the bags in her hands, “I bought some food.”

Then there was no need to go to a restaurant.

“Darling, you’re so thoughtful!”

Wen Manni was softer after work than during office hours. Xia Xiaolan stored her things downstairs, and Wen Manni joked about whether she had emptied the stores, then was delighted to see the potted plants Xia Xiaolan had bought.

The gifts weren’t expensive, so the recipient wouldn’t feel burdened. Wen Manni was happy because Xia Xiaolan was learning quickly – this gesture showed she was starting to integrate into American life, no longer using Chinese social customs:

“This is exactly how you should be!”

Wen Manni and her husband Klaus didn’t live in the suburbs. Although suburban houses could be bigger, they would need to spend considerable time commuting, and for Wen Manni, spending too much time on the road wasn’t worth it.

She lived in Queens, and Wall Street and A&G Law Firm were both in Manhattan, not requiring much driving time.

Wen Manni’s home was a high-rise apartment. As New York’s lights began to twinkle, her home appeared very minimalist. Perhaps because there were no children, traces of life were faint… Home? It felt more like a hotel where you just sleep and leave.

The potted plants Xia Xiaolan brought were placed in a cabinet by Wen Manni.

An abstract painting hung above the cabinet. Xia Xiaolan couldn’t make sense of it even after staring at it for a while.

“Looks like I need to cultivate my aesthetic taste.”

Even though it was only 1986, the aesthetics of the elite wouldn’t change much in the next twenty or thirty years. Wen Manni’s home extensively used the three basic colors of black, white, and gray in its decoration, with furniture following a minimalist style – completely embracing the cold minimalism trend. She put the pizza Xia Xiaolan bought into the microwave and poured her a glass of wine:

“My mother hoped I could talk with you. She’s worried that suddenly being in America might be difficult to adjust to and that you might be led astray by people here. But I think you’re a Chinese girl with good self-control, and won’t foolishly get involved with bad things. The only thing I want to discuss with you is: don’t accept drinks from others at parties, don’t smoke cigarettes offered by others… If you don’t want to wake up the next day with a stranger lying beside you, you’d better be vigilant!”

Even if you accidentally encounter spiked drinks or cigarettes, one or two times won’t lead to addiction.

Wen Manni was more concerned about Xia Xiaolan’s safety, especially given how beautiful she was, with looks that could make men want to take advantage of her!

In China, relationships between men and women should still be quite conservative. Wen Manni didn’t want to deal with consoling a suicidal young girl after a while.

Although she could help Xia Xiaolan with legal cases for free, such non-consensual, confused sexual encounters were harmful not just to Chinese girls, but even to American girls with open views about sex!

Even the most open-minded girls deserve the right to choose their sexual partners while clear-minded!

In China, even Liu Fen had never discussed such topics with Xia Xiaolan.

Chinese people were shy about discussing sex.

In America, having met Xia Xiaolan only twice, Wen Manni could talk about this so openly. She didn’t find it difficult – if she avoided the topic, would she wait until Xia Xiaolan was hurt to speak up?

Why not talk about something that could be prevented in advance?

Xia Xiaolan knew Wen Manni meant well, and thought about her academic pressure:

“I don’t think I’ll have many chances to attend parties, but I’ll remember what you said!”

The architecture major’s group of bookworms, what parties would they throw?

That time would be better spent thinking about how to survive more comfortably under the great demon king.

What’s more fun, parties or the scary demon king?

No matter how you look at it, the scales tipped towards the demon king!

Xia Xiaolan hadn’t expected that after making such firm promises to Wen Manni when she returned to Ithaca from New York, she would immediately receive a party invitation on Tuesday afternoon – and it was semi-official. Following tradition, the Chinese students who had come to America earlier would welcome Xia Xiaolan’s group of newcomers.

All Chinese international students in New York State will attend this party.

The location was naturally in New York, scheduled for Saturday night.

Talk about perfect timing – Xia Xiaolan had scheduled her road test for Saturday morning!

What surprised Xia Xiaolan even more was that Ning Xue came to ask her when she was leaving.

Xia Xiaolan couldn’t help but blurt out:

“You’re going too?!”