Xia Xiaolan seemed dispirited all day. Yang Yonghong wondered what that elder had said to her in the morning. Despite their all-night chat session, they weren’t close yet.

Lu Yan was young and didn’t pry – or perhaps because of her youth, she didn’t care about such complexities and hadn’t even noticed Xia Xiaolan’s low spirits.

All day, Room 307’s residents familiarized themselves with the campus – learning where to eat, how to get to their dorm, where the library was, the location of the assembly hall, and their future classrooms. There were no scheduled classes today, as the school wanted new students to get acquainted with Huaqing. The campus was large with many buildings; a bicycle would be ideal for getting around.

“I visited the lotus pond – where Mr. Zhu wrote ‘Moonlight over the Lotus Pond’!” Zhou Limin’s announcement resonated with several others. Who hadn’t memorized “Moonlight over the Lotus Pond” from their Chinese textbook?

“Over the winding lotus pond, stretching as far as the eye can see are leaves spread like fields…” Zhou Limin swayed her head. Though the lotus flowers had withered by September, it didn’t diminish her awe. Seeing the pond made her Huaqing experience more real. The scene from their textbook was right there – she stood where Mr. Zhu once stood. Almost every corner of Huaqing held traces of famous figures.

Would Huaqing bear her name – “Zhou Limin” – decades later?

No one mocked Zhou Limin’s words. Even Yang Yonghong felt excited – who said they couldn’t leave their mark at Huaqing? Every major could produce experts and masters if they worked hard enough.

Su Jing propped her chin, “I’ll design a classic landmark building!”

Several people rolled their eyes – besides those assigned to architecture, who wouldn’t want to design classic buildings?

“Xiaolan, what about you?”

Xia Xiaolan snapped back to attention, “Sorry, I was thinking. What were you discussing?”

“You’ve been distracted since returning from the cafeteria. Limin just talked about leaving her mark at Huaqing, and Su Jing wants to design a classic landmark. What about you? Why did you choose architecture?”

Xia Xiaolan wanted to say she feared being swindled by design institutes and unreliable architects in her future real estate ventures – what if they proposed some “big pants” shaped design, trying to convince her it was fashionable and high-end? How would she reject it?

The knowledge she’d gain could be thrown back at design institutes. Just saying “I’m from Huaqing’s Architecture Class of ’84” would probably outrank 80% of architects.

As for management, she’d been an executive for several years – enough experience for the next decade. She was here to study an unfamiliar field – no one would fool her about design, budgets, or costs in the future. Ultimately, it was about making money!

That reason seemed too mercenary; she feared her roommates’ contempt.

“I just want to design a unique house for myself.”

“We get state-assigned housing – why design our own? Oh, I get it, you want to design work unit dormitories!” Su Jing dismissed the idea, seeing nothing special about such standard buildings.

Xia Xiaolan thought, you naive child, the state won’t assign housing forever. Beijing’s housing prices will make even Huaqing graduates struggle. But with university enrollment still limited, Huaqing graduates were valuable – every work unit would provide housing.

Just buy the welfare housing during the housing reform, and even if things go poorly later, sky-high prices won’t drive you crazy.

Beijing locals like Su Jing had even less to worry about – with demolition compensation and assigned housing, they’d own multiple properties in prime locations.

Xia Xiaolan’s distraction stemmed from her morning conversation with Guan Hui’e.

“It’s 6:30, hurry! Opening ceremony at West Field!”

They couldn’t be late. Teacher Dai said better early than late – school leaders would attend. The architecture department couldn’t be tardy!

Before Xia Xiaolan could organize her thoughts, Su Jing pushed her to run.

“Stools! Bring stools! Why run so fast!” Yang Yonghong shouted.

West Field had no seating. The opening ceremony would last at least two hours – would new students just stand?

This wasn’t high school anymore. Making students stand for two hours seemed needlessly harsh.

Teacher Dai told them to bring stools. Everyone from the dorm carried them down. Rooms 307 and 305 met – all architecture students had to greet each other. A girl from 305 was particularly excited:

“Ning Xue from our room will speak as this year’s new student representative at the opening ceremony! She’s amazing…”

Su Jing nodded vigorously: “She is incredible!”

Though Lu Yan was from Beijing, she wasn’t from Su Jing’s high school. “You mean Ning Xue?!”

The three huddled together whispering, ignoring their confused out-of-town classmates. Yang Yonghong nudged Xia Xiaolan: “Do you know this Ning Xue they’re talking about? Pretty impressive to speak for all new students!”

Though everyone seemed good-natured, all Huaqing students were top achievers. Suddenly learning that a classmate from next door would represent all new students at the opening ceremony sparked interest.

Yang Yonghong wasn’t petty – she just wondered how Ning Xue had earned this honor over everyone else! All architecture students were curious about the selection criteria, as Teacher Dai hadn’t mentioned it last night – except for the three Beijing girls.

Su Jing finally remembered her roommates, explaining while walking: “Ning Xue is amazing – she’s this year’s national college entrance exam champion! She won National Outstanding Student awards every year in high school… Why did she choose Huaqing’s architecture department with such great scores? Her family’s an architectural dynasty!”

Ning Yanfan.

The name suddenly struck Xia Xiaolan. A master architect of China who lived to a great age. When internet users later researched his architectural achievements, they went viral, making him widely known.

Famous enough that even an outsider like Xia Xiaolan knew of him.

Sure enough, Su Jing proudly mentioned Ning Yanfan’s name.

Zhou Limin gaped: “Master Ning’s granddaughter? No wonder…”

Su Jing grew annoyed, “Ning Xue wasn’t chosen just because she’s Ning Yanfan’s granddaughter! She has deep family learning, and solid architectural foundations, and even joined architectural design competitions in high school… Never mind, you’ll see her brilliance yourselves soon!”

These words sparked even Xia Xiaolan’s interest.