It had been a year away.

Huaqing University couldn’t have changed much just because Xia Xiaolan was absent for a year.

But her return still made the Department Head happy!

Well, during her year as an exchange student at Cornell, Xia Xiaolan performed quite well!

“Your transcript has been sent over from Cornell. Xiaolan, do you know how Cornell evaluated you?”

The Department Head’s question put Xia Xiaolan in a difficult position.

She knew the evaluation wouldn’t be low, but it felt awkward to praise herself.

“Department Head, just tell me directly, stop teasing!”

“You’re good at everything, just a bit too eager. You need to be more steady in the future.”

This wasn’t criticism, but care.

At least the Department Head said this with a constant smile.

Young students weren’t expected to be as steady as pine trees yet – they should have vigor and drive, like the morning sun!

The Department Head picked up several faxes, which turned out to be from several Cornell Architecture professors.

Words like “talented” and “excellent” appeared frequently.

Professor McCarthy, in particular, was especially generous with praise for Xia Xiaolan, acknowledging Huaqing’s Architecture Department – the Department Head’s joy might not just be about Xia Xiaolan’s recognition, but that her year at Cornell had proven Huaqing Architecture Department’s teaching quality to a foreign university.

Cornell University wasn’t ranked first overall in America.

However, its undergraduate architecture program was among the top in the US.

The Department Head believed Huaqing’s Architecture Department was strong, but that was a self-assessment behind closed doors – no one had yet made an international comparison of their actual level.

How could the Department Head not be happy with such direct recognition from Cornell’s Architecture professors?

The Department Head was quite moved that Professor McCarthy mentioned in his letter how he had tried to keep Xia Xiaolan at Cornell to complete her studies, but she had refused! McCarthy was disappointed by her choice and worried that she, in her youthful ignorance, would waste her talent by insisting on returning to China – McCarthy’s direct praise and transparent analysis of his mindset simply added weight to Xia Xiaolan’s credibility.

He hoped Huaqing’s Architecture Department would value Xia Xiaolan more, not letting this talented student fade into obscurity!

Xia Xiaolan understood McCarthy’s intention, so she remained silent.

No matter how demanding the “Great Demon King” was, he always maintained the broad-mindedness of a professional expert.

The Great Demon King didn’t care about students’ skin color, nationality, or how they entered Cornell. He only saw another excellent seedling choosing architecture, and though this seedling wouldn’t grow under his guidance, it would eventually take root in the field of architecture, becoming one who would push the field’s development forward.

In Chinese terms, Xia Xiaolan was a screw in the architecture field.

Countless screws built the mothership of an industry, and for the mothership to move forward, all parts needed to work together!

Xia Xiaolan admired the Great Demon King’s broad-mindedness and appreciated his high regard.

The Department Head’s feelings were even more complex.

He was very happy that Xia Xiaolan decisively chose to return home, not being tempted by America’s glamorous world.

Yet he worried about holding back her future.

If she had stayed in America, at Cornell, finished her undergraduate degree, and pursued a master’s, given how much the Architecture faculty liked her, both her studies and career would have been very smooth – ah, but young Xia’s ideological consciousness was indeed high.

“You don’t need to take the final exam, but I’ll give you an assignment – write up your experiences studying at Cornell, like the specific differences in teaching methods. Can you do that?”

There were hardware differences – Huaqing’s Architecture Department certainly didn’t have Cornell’s abundant funding!

But in terms of software, the Department Head believed they could learn and reference more.

This wasn’t shameful – it was learning from others to surpass them.

Oh my, that came out wrong – it was mutual learning and exchange, ahem.

This wasn’t a difficult task, and Xia Xiaolan readily agreed.

Outside the department office, several familiar figures were waiting.

Xia Xiaolan waved: “Comrades, I, Hu Hansan, have returned!”

Those waiting outside were naturally her roommates from 307: Yang Yonghong, Zhou Limin, Su Jing, Chen Yiyi, and Lü Yan.

Of the eight people in their dorm room, these five were closer to Xia Xiaolan, and upon hearing she was back to report in, they came to intercept her.

“Little Six is still the same, who calls themselves a villain, haha!”

“Come on, back to the dorm! We’ve kept your bed for you.”

Surrounded and embraced by several young college women, Xia Xiaolan felt like she was at a life-peak moment.

“I’ll follow your lead, let’s talk more at the dorm!”

After a year apart, Xia Xiaolan had many things to tell her roommates, and conversely, they had many questions to ask.

Her bed hadn’t been taken over, and even the sheets were clean, clearly maintained, and cleaned by her roommates. Though Xia Xiaolan didn’t need to take final exams, she could choose to stay at school tonight and have late-night talks with her roommates.

Dorm 307 remained lively until lights-out time.

After all, Xia Xiaolan had returned from being an exchange student at Cornell, and everyone was curious about her experiences in America.

Some from Dorm 305 also asked about Ning Xue, and Xia Xiaolan responded gracefully:

“A study god is a study god anywhere – Ning Xue was there less than a semester before the professors fell in love with her!”

More people wanted to hear Xia Xiaolan talk about the situation in America.

Xia Xiaolan was quite open about it – whether or not people were planning to study abroad, the more she could share, the better prepared those who wanted to go would be. Studying abroad definitely helped personal development, but America wasn’t paradise – whether one could achieve a better life through studying abroad still depended on individual effort.

The exchange students who left the deepest impression on Xia Xiaolan:

Xiang Li and Li Yong were one type of case.

These two had their glamorous period, actively expanding their connections and becoming central figures in New York’s Chinese student social circle.

But their glory didn’t last – they ultimately failed.

This was related to annoying Song Minglan, but also to their own lack of substance. Xiang Li wanted shortcuts, and Li Yong wanted shortcuts, but neither focused on their studies. If Xiang Li had performed excellently at school, she could have found work and established herself in America through her own abilities, eventually getting citizenship! If Li Yong had been dedicated to his studies, he wouldn’t have been reported for thesis fraud… These two were completely negative examples.

Positive examples included Xu Jing and Ma Hai.

What did financial struggles matter? They learned their stuff – if they didn’t have real skills, why would Xia Xiaolan bother investing in them?

Qi Wei was another positive example.

Someone who could only start at language school – did they give up?

No!

They completely conquered the language barrier, and now had found a way to intern at a law firm, with the next step being law school applications.

Xia Xiaolan removed herself from the stories, used pseudonyms, and simply used these few people as examples, leaving her listeners deep in thought.