Klaus was a busy surgeon who couldn’t make time to accommodate Xia Xiaolan.

Xia Xiaolan had to make the trip to New York.

Professor Wen also promised to inquire about this technology. As a Cornell professor who had lived in America for decades, Professor Wen’s connections weren’t something Xia Xiaolan, a newcomer, could match or surpass just with money.

Because she needed Professor Wen’s help, Xia Xiaolan told him about hiring a detective to find Xu Zhongyi’s family.

When Hu Ying learned that she had no family relation to her client Grandmother Yu, she thought Xia Xiaolan was very righteous.

Xia Xiaolan remained modest, “I received payment from Grandmother Yu, so it’s not completely free help. I must do my best.”

That was the logic.

But having taken payment first, a craftier person could have easily deceived a lonely old lady in China. Xia Xiaolan could have claimed she found nothing, or simply sent back news of death – the lonely old lady couldn’t do anything if she didn’t believe it.

Ultimately, it was because Xia Xiaolan was someone who kept her promises.

How much could a house in China be worth? If Xia Xiaolan continued searching like this, the money spent on finding people might exceed the value of the property Grandmother Yu gifted!

For this reason alone, Hu Ying asked Professor Wen to help earnestly.

In helping Xia Xiaolan, they neither expected nor needed any return – they simply liked her.

Xia Xiaolan was hard not to like. Living at the Wen residence, she brought Professor Wen and Hu Ying much joy. Sweet-tongued and considerate, it didn’t matter that she couldn’t cook – Hu Ying was retired anyway and just needed to prepare meals for one more person.

Professor Wen could hardly dislike Xia Xiaolan either. His daughter Wen Manni hadn’t studied architecture, and his son-in-law Klaus was a doctor. Having an architecture student, an old friend of Mao Kangshan’s disciple, around daily was delightful – especially since Xia Xiaolan showed talent in the field. Professor Wen couldn’t be happier.

Pity she wasn’t his student.

Another pity is that Xia Xiaolan would only stay at Cornell for a year.

After two months at the Wen residence, Xia Xiaolan’s status had risen quickly.

Initially, she was just the charge of Professor Wen’s old friend, invited to stay because of Mao Kangshan’s reputation.

Now, they treated her almost like their own junior relative.

Xia Xiaolan didn’t know about the Wen couple’s psychological shift, but she could feel herself becoming more relaxed and casual living there. Before leaving for New York, she even asked if they wanted a ride to visit Wen Manni.

Professor Wen shook his head:

“Heh, she’d be working overtime anyway. Go have fun with your classmate, don’t worry about us two.”

Before leaving, Xia Xiaolan emphasized to Hu Ying: “Wait for me to return before going grocery shopping!”

On this trip to New York, Xia Xiaolan and Ning Xue were quite in sync.

Neither brought cake or barbecue – normal people would naturally resist parties they were “required” to attend.

There was none of the excitement from their first student party.

The two empty-handed people looked at each other, and Ning Xue said calmly: “I heard we can give cash instead of bringing things, any amount based on personal circumstances. I’m planning to give 5 dollars.”

Giving 5 dollars meant treating it as just a meal – typical of Ning Xue’s character, keeping everything clear and owing nothing to anyone.

Xia Xiaolan considered her appetite – surely she wouldn’t eat more than Ning Xue?

“Then I’ll also give 5 dollars. Let’s go, get in the car!”

$50, $500, or even more wouldn’t burden Xia Xiaolan, but why should she spend that money?

Already being targeted as “rich and naive,” Xia Xiaolan refused to spend money treating a group of students to food and drinks. She’d follow Ning Xue’s standard – if anyone had opinions about that, even better – she could confront them directly.

In the car, Xia Xiaolan muttered:

“Something’s not right. They’re requiring students from New York state to attend, welcoming some important figure – for such an influential person, why are we paying for the welcome party? I think we could save that 5 dollars too.”

Ning Xue thought about it seriously.

“You’re right.”

If she wasn’t required to attend this party, she wouldn’t be riding in Xia Xiaolan’s car and wouldn’t need to split the gas money.

Ning Xue wasn’t short on money, but these extra expenses were indeed caused by the party invitation.

The cause-and-effect relationship was clear. By Ning Xue’s logic, she shouldn’t even need to give the 5-dollar “contribution”… Xia Xiaolan was happy with this – so what if it was Qihang’s boss? A boss should be frugal when needed, besides, she was attending as a student, not as Qihang’s boss!

The two saved even their 5-dollar contributions as they drove to New York.

The address was the same as last time – seems Li Yong and Xiang Li were involved again.

…

While Xia Xiaolan and Ning Xue were still on the road, the welcome party in New York had already begun.

Times had changed – now the most attention-grabbing central figure wasn’t Xiang Li. Even Li Yong willingly yielded, gladly letting today’s protagonist take the spotlight.

Xia Xiaolan and Ning Xue joked about welcoming a princess – while not exactly right, it wasn’t far off-

The party venue was brightly lit, and in the living room, a young woman sat on a leather sofa, listening to Han Jin speak.

Han Jin was from Beijing and studied at New York University, so she could converse with the “princess.”

As for others, female students felt complicated emotions, while male students felt somewhat inferior.

They all wanted to know the “princess’s” identity, but even the well-connected Senior Li hadn’t confirmed her real identity, so how could they introduce her to others?

Perhaps people wouldn’t believe it even if told – showing such enthusiasm without confirming identity?

Li Yong had received word from the embassy to look after this female student’s needs while studying in New York.

If this wasn’t having connections, what was it?

Considering the student’s surname, Li Yong had a bold guess, hence the specially prepared welcome party for the ‘princess,’ hoping to help her adjust to student life in New York quickly.

Li Yong was smart, and others weren’t stupid either.

These days, those who could get state-sponsored study spots were either super academic achievers or well-connected second generation.

Though they hadn’t met the “princess” before, they could guess!

No one had seen her in person, and no one would ask directly, but they all believed this Song Minglan must be from that Song family – which Song family? Naturally, the one whose descendants never entered official positions, rarely associated with others, yet couldn’t be ignored.

With Old Song as an anchor, even if Song Minglan wasn’t a princess, others would respect her like one.

Han Jin, with her dual status as a fellow Beijing native and classmate, sat beside Song Minglan, extremely excited.

While others could only guess, Han Jin was certain Song Minglan was the Song family’s daughter, the very low-profile “Third Miss Song.”

“Little Han, what are you thinking about?”

Song Minglan suddenly asked, and Han Jin smiled shyly, “Senior Minglan, you’re so beautiful, I forgot to speak while looking at you.”