What a unique way to apologize.

And what an equally unique confrontational scene.

Matthew Carlton was quite surprised to witness such a situation when he just came to Professor McCarthy’s office to draw lots.

Heidi’s abilities were insufficient – she had been holding the team back during the C.W. competition.

However, this exchange student was equally assertive, unlike typical Chinese international students who tend to be more accommodating.

Someone like her wouldn’t be content playing a supporting role to highlight others… which made things rather troublesome.

Xia Xiao Lan actually stated that Heidi had no right to judge since she hadn’t received an A+—while this was factual, expressing it so directly was excessive! Unable to counter, Heidi quickly departed from Professor McCarthy’s office.

Jonathan considered this for a moment before following after her.

Though they couldn’t be romantically involved, friendship remained possible. Given Heidi’s temperament, she must be deeply hurt at this moment. Jonathan didn’t want to see Heidi completely demoralized – securing an internship at Foster was a valuable opportunity. He needed to persuade her to maintain composure and channel her focus into this internship. Although their placements were determined by lottery, this internship represented another form of competition – which firm would secure the Wilson Hotel project, and how would the ten interns distinguish themselves throughout this process? Not only was the School of Architecture watching, but their performances would influence their post-graduation prospects!

He needed to tell Heidi that losing before didn’t matter—the two-month internship at the firm marked a fresh start. Regardless of previous rankings, in the firms’ eyes, they were all equal to Cornell University architecture undergraduates, starting from the same point.

Daisy and her two companions were still bewildered.

Heidi had apologized, right in front of Professor McCarthy.

Though she stirred up more antagonism after apologizing, it was still an apology nonetheless.

Their elation barely lasted a moment before Professor McCarthy suddenly snorted:

“You’ve won your bet, why aren’t you leaving already?”

“Professor-“

“I need to prepare for class now. Please, all of you, leave.”

The Dark Lord was indeed cold, interrupting Xia Xiao Lan mid-sentence, clearly unwilling to engage in conversation.

Could he maintain his silence forever? She still had to take his other courses. The Dark Lord was being quite childish.

Upon leaving the office, Daisy wailed:

“Xia, I don’t want to be separated from you! We’re a team!”

“Of course, we’re a team, it’s just that I’ll be at GMP while you and Lyle will be at Foster, and Richard will be at P&W. No matter where the four of us are, we can’t slack off! We’re a team and be the best group in the School of Architecture!”

Xia Xiao Lan hugged Daisy and patted her back.

Lyle stood straighter at her words:

“Xia’s right, as long as we work hard, we can accomplish anything. These internship opportunities at major firms originally belonged only to top students like Jonathan, but now, we’re starting from the same point as him! Our simulation scenario became reality, the Electronic Plaza is being built – what’s impossible now?”

The simulation scenario Lyle mentioned was Xia Xiao Lan’s encouragement during their Electronic Plaza-design when she had them pretend they were designing for real clients. At that time, Lyle had imagined himself working at a major firm… Was it all just fantasy? No, they were designing the Electronic Plaza for clients, and now he was going to work at Foster!

Even if it was just for two months.

God, Lyle loved this internship opportunity!

After chatting with the three for a while, Xia Xiao Lan found Liu Fen and her two companions on campus.

“Xiao Lan, how did it go?”

“Everything’s fine. The professor had us draw lots to decide our internship placements. A senior student and I will be going to the GMP firm in Germany – though we’ll be at their New York office, not Germany.”

Xia Xiao Lan was in high spirits, making Liu Fen extremely proud.

Liu Fen didn’t feel that studying was holding back their business opportunities – the two weren’t mutually exclusive. The more knowledge gained, the sharper the mind, which would benefit their business.

Moreover, Xiao Lan was happy and enjoying herself in this environment, which delighted Liu Fen immensely!

Grandmother Yu massaged her legs, “Xiao Lan will be interning for two months, there’s no point in us staying in America. We’ve seen everything we wanted to see, let’s pack up and head back in the next couple of days.”

“But…”

Grandmother Yu interrupted Liu Fen’s words, “We’ve done what we came to do. Man proposes and God disposes. Results might not be immediate – I’ve waited 20 years, I can wait longer!”

As long as one lives, there’s hope.

If searching for her son would harm Liu Fen and her daughter, Grandmother Yu wouldn’t allow that to happen.

Though the thought of giving up surely pained her heart, when Xia Xiao Lan had previously introduced her as “Grandmother” to her classmates, it had made Grandmother Yu’s decision more resolute and swift!

Xia Xiao Lan began booking their return tickets.

From San Francisco to New York, New York to Ithaca, then back to New York – with such frequent location changes, Min Xiao Ju finally discovered someone was tracking and monitoring them:

“Their actions were very discreet. Who would suspect homeless people? They’re everywhere, lounging lazily by the roadside.”

Xia Xiao Lan pondered, “Don’t you find it strange? The ones monitoring us are homeless people, and previously it was also a homeless person who told us about Rat Strong’s identity. This seems both coincidental and contradictory!”

That homeless person who ran away after getting just 100 dollars couldn’t have been from the San Francisco gang – what gang would sabotage itself?

This matter was very peculiar.

Even more strange was when Xia Xiao Lan was seeing Liu Fen and Grandmother Yu off at the airport, a Black child suddenly appeared from nowhere and bumped into Liu Fen. Liu Fen was fine, but the Black child fell to the ground. When Liu Fen instinctively reached out to help the child up, their hands touched, and something was placed in her palm.

It felt like folded paper.

Liu Fen had seen the outdoor movie “The Feather Letter” and immediately became excited.

Just as she came to her senses, airport security arrived, and the Black child slipped away through the airport terminal like an eel, quickly disappearing.

“Mom, are you alright?”

Liu Fen shook her head, “Xiao Lan, I need to use the restroom.”

Hadn’t she just gone ten minutes ago?

Grandmother Yu looked at her strangely, “Come on, I’ll go with you.”

What was Afen being so mysterious about?

Xia Xiao Lan naturally had no objections – many people weren’t comfortable using airplane bathrooms and got nervous before flights. She asked Min Xiao Ju to go along while she stayed behind to handle the luggage check-in.

Her daughter hadn’t caught her meaning, and Liu Fen couldn’t explain in public, making her quite anxious.

She could only go to the restroom with Grandmother Yu. In the stall, she opened her palm and whispered:

“The child gave this to me.”

Grandmother Yu’s heart pounded, her hands trembling as she unfolded the paper. Black characters on white paper, the handwriting both familiar and strange –

“Return to China!”

Return to China?

Who was telling her to return to China?

With tears welling up in her dry eyes, Grandmother Yu could hardly believe it – she had probably received her first family letter since 1968.