“Why shouldn’t I go?”

Ning Xue added, “When you’re in trouble in a foreign land, only your fellow countrymen can help you.”

There was nothing wrong with that statement.

However, Xia Xiaolan had always thought Ning Xue would completely ignore such social interactions.

Seeing this ice queen becoming sociable was naturally surprising.

“I have something Saturday morning, but if everything goes smoothly, we can leave at noon. For this party, do we need to prepare anything?”

Ning Xue knew more than Xia Xiaolan, probably because she had maintained contact with the Chinese student community here.

“The party expenses are all covered by the senior students. Newcomers don’t need to bring anything, though you can bring some food if you want – a pizza, some barbecue, a bottle of wine, or even just some fruit.”

Making it too complicated wouldn’t be welcoming newcomers – it would be burdening them financially.

Everyone knows the financial situation of current international students!

If Ning Xue was attending, the gathering probably wouldn’t have anything questionable. Xia Xiaolan agreed to leave together with her.

They set a meeting time.

When Professor Wen and Hu Ying learned that Xia Xiaolan was going to New York for an international student gathering, they didn’t object.

For a young woman in her early twenties, expecting her not to socialize with peers, not attend parties, and just stay home reading books – was that good?

In America, that would be considered antisocial!

Only young people who were unpopular and friendless lived that way.

“Meeting more people is good. Your Professor Mao and I also met at a friend’s gathering back then, though we didn’t call them parties yet.”

Professor Wen was quite supportive.

Similar cultural backgrounds and study abroad experiences made it easy to meet like-minded friends.

When Xia Xiaolan mentioned buying food from stores to bring, Hu Ying objected:

“For these parties, it’s better to bring something homemade, like baked cakes.”

Xia Xiaolan was truly hopeless at cooking and could only learn from Hu Ying.

She just helped Hu Ying with basic tasks but already found it very troublesome. When Zhou Cheng called, she complained:

“Why do I have to bake cakes for strangers? If I’m going to bake, it should be for you, for my mom…”

Zhou Cheng laughed upon hearing this:

“Then practice first, and when you return to China, I’ll try your cooking – I’m just joking, don’t take it seriously. Learn if you want to, treat it as a mental break, but don’t burn yourself. It doesn’t matter whether you learn to bake cakes or not.”

Professional matters should be left to professionals.

Xia Xiaolan’s profession was building houses, why must she learn to bake cakes?

If everyone became omnipotent, how could society develop? Wouldn’t that return us to a self-sufficient feudal society?

Zhou Cheng didn’t object to Xia Xiaolan attending the student gathering.

Everyone needs to make friends. If he was afraid of someone stealing Xia Xiaolan away, he wouldn’t have supported her studying abroad for a year.

Xia Xiaolan was always surrounded by excellent people. Zhou Cheng’s task wasn’t to chase away flies but to make himself more excellent. He had just one request – he hoped Xia Xiaolan would share her experiences at the party with him when she returned.

He seemed very interested in what these students who went from China to America were like.

Xia Xiaolan readily agreed.

“Don’t worry, I was just in New York last week, and this time Ning Xue will be with me.”

Before she mastered baking cakes, the private detective Wen Manni recommended had arrived in Ithaca.

The private detective Wen Manni introduced was a fat man.

He looked harmless, stuffing food into his mouth when meeting Xia Xiaolan – a donut covered in thick chocolate sauce and drenched in maple syrup. Since coming here, the only thing Xia Xiaolan couldn’t get used to was the sweets.

American sweets were sickeningly sweet. Xia Xiaolan suspected Americans were particularly insensitive to sweetness – she couldn’t accept the desserts they found delicious.

This private detective, in Xia Xiaolan’s view, was another severe sweet tooth.

“Do I not look like a private detective?”

After finishing his donut, he spoke somewhat unclearly: “What kind of detective did you expect, like Sherlock Holmes?”

Xia Xiaolan nodded. It didn’t need to be as classic as Holmes, but wearing a trench coat and being lean and fit seemed like necessary qualifications. She had been brainwashed by modern media.

Why would someone tall and handsome choose to become a private detective?

“What should I call you?”

“Jim. Sorry to destroy your fantasy about private detectives, but I’m the best in this field. You won’t find a better private detective in New York. Let’s talk business – tell me everything about the person you’re looking for, the more detailed the better!”

Being fat or thin had no impact on being a detective.

Wouldn’t a tall, thin person sneaking around in a trench coat attract more attention?

People tend not to pay attention to fat people. Fat men like Jim were everywhere in America; his presence anywhere would seem normal!

Xia Xiaolan gave Jim the materials. If conventional methods didn’t work, she wanted to check if the antiques Xu Zhongyi took back to China from Grandmother Yu were now circulating in certain collector’s markets.

This was the key point for Jim to investigate.

After hearing all the details, Jim didn’t comment on the difficulty but told Xia Xiaolan two things: “First, you need to be mentally prepared. A Chinese person who came to America with substantial valuables and hasn’t contacted family for 20 years likely met with misfortune! But I’m New York’s best detective – even if he’s deceased, I’ll find his death record and whether he has family living in America. Second, hiring me is very expensive, but I can give you a 20% discount for Connie’s sake.”

“Jim, you can tell me a price, and I’ll see if I can accept it.”

Xia Xiaolan was mentally prepared for the expense.

Like vermin finding their way, Xia Xiaolan running to San Francisco like a headless fly to search wouldn’t work.

“Ten thousand dollars. You can pay me two thousand first – that’s for my investigation expenses in San Francisco. If I find the person, you’ll pay the remainder!”

“What if you don’t find him?”

“That’s impossible… but if I don’t find him, I’ll only keep the two thousand dollars for my efforts, and you won’t need to pay the rest!”

So that two thousand dollars, Jim wouldn’t refund no matter what.

Xia Xiaolan nodded, “Mr. Jim, I admire your confidence, and I hope I can pay you the balance soon.”

This Jim dared to quote high.

Ten thousand dollars?

Most Americans would struggle to produce such a large sum in cash.

This amount could cover a year’s tuition and living expenses for an American college student… if ordinary families could easily produce this money, there wouldn’t be so many people needing loans for education!

But if this ten thousand dollars could help Grandmother Yu find her son, Xia Xiaolan felt it would be worth every penny.