Teacher Mao’s opinion?
Teacher Mao probably wouldn’t have any particular opinion – he usually let her decide such things.
The summer semester was indeed short, with course options ranging from 3-8 weeks depending on student preference. Even with the school’s schedule adjustments, it wouldn’t affect future courses.
That meant about two months at most.
Whether British, German or from other countries, all major firms operated internationally and maintained offices in major cities – New York being one of them. Xia Xiaolan’s internship would likely be confined to New York.
But would the “Dark Lord” Professor McCarthy be willing to help arrange her internship placement if she consulted him?
Or should she just accept the school’s arrangement and grudgingly go to Foster or P&W?
While showing Liu Fen and Grandmother Yu around Cornell University, they happened to meet Daisy, who had just rushed back to Ithaca after finishing her cross-state tour.
Daisy killed the engine and jumped out:
“Xia! I’m here!”
The American girl charged over like a young calf. Liu Fen, supporting Grandmother Yu, instinctively stepped back while Min Xiaoju moved to shield them.
“Hi, Daisy, finished your cross-state trip? Let me introduce you – this is my mother and grandmother. My mother doesn’t speak English, but my grandmother can communicate freely. This is our friend Min.”
With classmates, there was no need for detailed explanations, so Xia Xiaolan simply introduced her grandmother directly.
Daisy cheerfully greeted Liu Fen and Yu: “Welcome to America! Xia is amazing! Cornell is great too – you’ll love it here!”
She hugged Liu Fen and Grandmother Yu.
She didn’t dare hug Min Xiaoju, who looked quite serious, and being just a friend, Daisy couldn’t be too familiar.
Grandmother Yu translated for Liu Fen. When Liu Fen heard this was Xiaolan’s close classmate, she quickly took out the small gift she had prepared.
“Chinese silk products, hope you like them!”
Liu Fen could say this phrase – she’d practiced it with foreign customers at Xiushui Street.
It was a colorful striped handkerchief. Daisy was delighted with the gift and chatted about various things before getting to the main point:
“Xia, did you get the notice? We’re going to participate in designing Wilson Hotel’s new Washington location! I thought Wilson Hotel was in trouble and wouldn’t start the new project so quickly! You know, interning at a major firm… this year feels like a dream, such a beautiful dream – don’t wake me up!”
“Wilson Hotel must have overcome their crisis. I came to school about this actually – I hope we can go to the same firm.”
Harold couldn’t be incompetent if he was managing the Wilson family’s business.
More than a month had passed, and even the hottest news would gradually cool down. There were injuries but no deaths in the shooting, and the injured had recovered – who would keep dwelling on it?
With Harold working behind the scenes, and TV stations and newspapers no longer pursuing the story, people forgot about the news.
Of course, Wilson Hotel’s security breach would still affect some clients’ impressions, and it might take a long time to eliminate the impact.
But that wasn’t Xia Xiaolan’s concern. As long as Wilson Hotel’s Washington project proceeded as planned, she could get valuable internship experience.
“I hope we can go to the same firm too. The school will probably arrange it by competition teams, right?”
Thinking about being separated from Xia Xiaolan made Daisy feel insecure.
With Xia Xiaolan around, she, Richard, and Lyle all had someone to rely on.
Being assigned to the same firm as that annoying Heidi would ruin her mood!
Thinking of Heidi, Daisy couldn’t help but laugh:
“This time, Heidi must apologize to us. Richard, Lyle, and I all got As, and you got an A+. I heard that in Professor McCarthy’s ‘Structural Elements class, only you and Ning Xue got A+s. Even Jonathan only got an A, and Heidi did even worse – just a B!”
Ning Xue completed “The Cliff Library” alone, so her A+ was well-deserved.
Jonathan getting an A wasn’t surprising either. Although he split with Ning Xue at the crucial moment and only got third place with “Sky Forest Garden,” he wasn’t the main contributor to that project and couldn’t overcome the senior students’ dominance.
What surprised Xia Xiaolan was Heidi. Though perhaps not the strongest student, Heidi could usually manage an A in group work and was part of the “Sky Forest Garden” design team. Xia Xiaolan had expected at least a B+, if not an A.
Daisy had been keeping tabs on Heidi:
“You were absent the week before exams, so you didn’t know – Heidi and Jonathan officially broke up. The breakup affected her exam performance. She didn’t get As in other classes either, not just Professor McCarthy’s.”
Conversely, Jonathan wasn’t much affected – except for not getting an A+ in “Structural Elements,” he performed normally in other exams.
Daisy disliked Heidi but couldn’t help pausing here: “So in relationships, women are affected the most!”
Xia Xiaolan shook her head – what did this have to do with gender?
Regardless of gender, people needed to know what they wanted. If Jonathan could perform normally without being affected, why couldn’t Heidi? Those who let emotions defeat them will always be losers-
That said, now that they’d broken up, could Jonathan still get Heidi to apologize?
Daisy snorted:
“Unless Heidi wants everyone to look down on her, apologizing has nothing to do with their breakup!”
Having met Daisy, Xia Xiaolan needed to go to the office with her, so she had to let Liu Fen and Grandmother Yu tour the school by themselves.
“Go quickly, this is important business. We won’t get lost in the school!”
Liu Fen urged her to go, and Grandmother Yu didn’t mind. She was still processing how Xia Xiaolan had directly introduced her as “grandmother” to her classmate, dropping the surname entirely.
…
Xia Xiaolan and Daisy went to Professor McCarthy’s office together.
This was her second visit.
Originally, Professor Lipton was supposed to handle this, but after his unfortunate injury from the stray bullet, he rightfully took leave, and Professor McCarthy took over.
On their second visit to Professor McCarthy’s office, they weren’t the first to arrive. Before them, Ning Xue, Jonathan, and others who placed in the top three had already arrived, having heard the school’s announcement about firm internships and rushing over to choose firms.
Any firm would be good, but wouldn’t it be better to choose one they liked?
McCarthy was getting a headache from these students.
“What do you think this is – Foster, P&W… German GMP? You think a bunch of undergraduates get to decide?”
The first C·W Design Competition had limited influence. The winners got internships because firms wanted the Wilson Hotel project, and the C·W competition happened to be co-organized by Cornell’s School of Architecture and Wilson Hotel – that’s why these students had this opportunity. Did these students think they’d won the Pritzker Architecture Prize?
Thinking they could go wherever they wanted!
Professor McCarthy rapped on the desk:
“I’m not assigning you – you’ll draw lots to decide.”