On the morning Jiang Yubai left for his business trip, Lin Zhixia gave him a letter as usual, each one containing a love poem. The love poems that Lin Zhixia composed in ten seconds, Jiang Yubai would read over and over again, at least eight times. He tucked the envelope into the inner pocket of his briefcase, treating it like a precious item. When his secretary offered to carry his briefcase, he firmly refused.

“This bag, I’ll carry it myself,” he said.

The secretary nodded and handed him a prepared document for him to work on during the flight. Since many people were traveling together this time, they were taking a private jet with excellent network connectivity. Jiang Yubai even held a video conference—the first generation of products from “PTSIC Quantum Technology Laboratory” was about to be launched, and the heads of various departments were on high alert.

At nine in the morning, everyone in the meeting appeared energetic and spirited.

PTSIC’s first-generation products included a quantum security encryption system and a quantum cloud computing platform.

Previously, Lin Zhixia had thrown down the gauntlet, inviting all internet users to verify the quality of their products. Though she said this, those willing to experience the “quantum computing” company’s services were mostly university students in related majors or industry professionals. According to statistics on the official website, a total of twenty-four thousand users had signed up for the “PTSIC Product Verification Activity,” including some foreign users who didn’t know how to use it.

For this “PTSIC Product Verification Activity,” Lin Zhixia had written a marketing plan overnight.

Lin Zhixia was determined to compete with Chai Yang and seize his prestigious title of “Leading 90s Entrepreneur.”

—

With the PTSIC company’s new products about to launch, Lin Zhixia’s students had also caught wind of it.

During Thursday morning’s “Quantum Bits and Computing” class, as Lin Zhixia was lecturing about “The Mathematical Foundation of Quantum Programming,” a student named Cui Yiming suddenly raised his hand and asked: “Professor Lin, which mathematical theories does your company’s quantum computing platform use in its underlying framework protocol? Will they be on the final exam?”

As soon as he spoke, many classmates showed subtle expressions on their faces.

Lin Zhixia put down her chalk and patiently explained the mathematical theories. Most students in the class became increasingly anxious, but Lin Zhixia reassured them: “Don’t worry, these concepts are quite complex; they won’t appear on the midterm or final exams.”

Cui Yiming sighed.

What was there to sigh about?

Xu Lingbo, who was sitting in on the class, couldn’t understand.

Cui Yiming glanced at him sideways and mocked: “Professor Lin has surrendered to you all.”

At first, Xu Lingbo didn’t understand what he meant. He just felt that Cui Yiming, as a junior student, wasn’t showing much respect to him, a senior graduate student, without a hint of humility.

But there was nothing he could do about it.

Cui Yiming was exceptionally gifted, hardworking, and a genius among geniuses.

He looked down on Xu Lingbo, and Xu Lingbo couldn’t do anything about it.

Xu Lingbo carefully considered his wording.

After a few seconds, Xu Lingbo suddenly realized and angrily replied: “How Professor Lin wants to set her exams is her business. If Professor Lin wants to give you addition and subtraction problems within 100, you can’t control that either. Let me be frank, Cui Yiming, if you don’t like how Professor Lin teaches, why don’t you become a professor yourself? Give students the hardest exam papers so everyone fails. Can you do that?”

Cui Yiming’s fingertips stiffened.

Xu Lingbo noticed his small gesture and couldn’t help but sneer: “Huh, you’re about twenty years old, right? When our Professor Lin was your age, she had already finished her doctorate and received a postdoctoral position at MIT. What about you? You’re still sitting in the same classroom with us, listening to Professor Lin’s lectures. What gives you the right to look down on other students?”

Cui Yiming remained silent.

Xu Lingbo thought his junior had finally realized his mistake.

He pressed on: “Listen to me, don’t look down on others. Quit Tan Qianche’s group and join our research group…”

Cui Yiming stared straight ahead without blinking. Xu Lingbo followed his gaze and saw a slide from Lin Zhixia’s PowerPoint presentation, which clearly stated: “The midterm and final exams for ‘Quantum Bits and Computing’ will follow the high school entrance exam outline requirements, including sixty percent basic questions, ten percent challenging questions, and ten percent difficult questions. Students who can independently complete and understand the weekly assignments will not score below 70 points on the final exam, can achieve 80 points, and can even aim for 90 points.”

Students in the classroom began whispering among themselves.

Lin Zhixia stepped down from the podium.

She stood in an aisle and sincerely said, “I’ve adjusted the difficulty of the regular assignments. You can see the changes when you log into the school’s teaching system. Everyone knows that the dropout rate for our course is very high, and it was almost canceled by the Academic Affairs Office…”

As soon as the word “canceled” was mentioned, several male students in the front rows laughed.

Lin Zhixia returned their laughter with a smile.

Their faces turned red, and they lowered their eyes, shyly holding their textbooks.

Lin Zhixia continued in a light tone: “I don’t want to dampen your enthusiasm at all, nor do I want to lower your course average grades. After graduation, you’ll need to apply for graduate programs, take entrance exams, go abroad, and find jobs… Undergraduate grades are quite important. I hope the average score for ‘Quantum Bits and Computing’ exceeds 70, or even reaches 80, but of course, this requires effort from both of us.”

The various whispers in the classroom gradually subsided.

Lin Zhixia turned and walked back to the podium.

The male students in the first row still gazed at her back—the boys sitting in these positions were Lin Zhixia’s number one fans. They had privately formed a “Quantum Study Group” to narrow the distance between themselves and Lin Zhixia by studying “quantum computing” knowledge.

Lin Zhixia made eye contact with them again.

She said, “I know that in our class, many students are very interested in quantum computing and want to contribute to the development of this field.”

Those male students looked at each other and lowered their heads in embarrassment.

Lin Zhixia concluded: “Your future has infinite possibilities, and this course just provides you with one perspective. Spending time researching quantum computing is quite enjoyable… Technological advancement can benefit all of humanity, and our generation is all witnesses to this.”

As her voice paused, a burst of warm applause erupted from below.

Xu Lingbo took the lead and said, “Luckily, you all didn’t drop the course. From what Professor Lin is saying, everyone can score above 70!”

Some students in the back rows shouted the slogan “Everyone can score above 70!” while others sent text messages to friends who had previously dropped the course, briefly describing Lin Zhixia’s reform policy. “Quantum Bits and Computing” once again became a highly popular course among undergraduates.

“How to re-select ‘Quantum Bits and Computing'” briefly became the hottest topic on the school’s BBS forum.

Unfortunately, the Academic Affairs Office did not allow students to select courses again, so Lin Zhixia’s class size did not expand further.

—

Lin Zhixia browsed the school’s BBS forum and even took screenshots of the posts to send to Jiang Yubai, waiting for him to praise her successful reform.

Lin Zhixia didn’t wait long before Jiang Yubai replied: “The course, assignments, and exams have become simpler, the students are happier, but are you happier?”

This question made Lin Zhixia sink into deep thought.

Everyone was discussing how those measures were very friendly to undergraduates, but from Lin Zhixia’s perspective, she had indeed lost some of the joy of teaching. However, if Jiang Yubai hadn’t mentioned it, Lin Zhixia wouldn’t have thought in that direction.

After a few seconds of careful consideration, she resolutely decided: “Next semester, I won’t teach this course anymore.”

“Is Professor Lin sure?”

“I prefer teaching graduate students.”

Jiang Yubai said, “See it through to the end.”

Lin Zhixia immediately replied: “Alright!”

Jiang Yubai added: “I’ll be back the day after tomorrow.”

“So soon?” Lin Zhixia said in surprise, “I feel like you’ve barely been gone a few days.”

While Jiang Yubai was experiencing each day abroad as if it were a year, Lin Zhixia felt his business trip had been short. He turned his phone over and over again, until its case was warmed by his palm. Finally, he asked indirectly: “When are you going to pick them up?”

Lin Zhixia saw through his thoughts. She cleverly skipped the topic of “going to the airport to pick up Tang Tingting and Luo Ying” and directly said: “Send me your flight number. I’ll go to the airport to pick you up the day after tomorrow. In my heart, you’re always the most important.”

That was exactly what Jiang Yubai wanted to hear.

It was eight o’clock in the morning, London time. Jiang Yubai sat on his bed, opened two letters in succession, silently reading the love letters Lin Zhixia had written for him, feeling secure and reassured. He got up to shower, ate breakfast, changed into a formal suit, and headed out for meetings with his employees.

—

During the two days before Jiang Yubai’s return to China, work was particularly busy. By comparison, Lin Zhixia was much more relaxed. She took time to go to the airport and pick up Tang Tingting and Luo Ying, who happened to be on the same flight.

Upon seeing them, Lin Zhixia was extremely happy. She stood at the terminal exit, waving to them from afar. Senior Luo Ying was rather reserved, walking at a measured pace, while Tang Tingting rushed over like a rocket: “Xiaxia, my goodness! Xiaxia! You’re getting more beautiful! It’s been so long since we’ve seen each other!”

Duan Qiyan stood to the side, somewhat speechless.

The cruel reality was laid bare before Duan Qiyan’s eyes.

Tang Tingting’s mouth was full of praise for Lin Zhixia, without mentioning Duan Qiyan once.

Today, Duan Qiyan was wearing all black, and since his skin was already a bit dark, he didn’t stand out in the crowd like Lin Zhixia did. Tang Tingting caught sight of Lin Zhixia, finished talking to her, and only then noticed Duan Qiyan’s presence.

She slapped Duan Qiyan’s shoulder firmly like meeting a brother: “You’ve gotten thinner!”

Duan Qiyan took out a bouquet of roses from behind his back.

Tang Tingting accepted the bouquet, exclaiming in surprise: “You’ve learned to give flowers?”

Duan Qiyan put his hands in his pockets: “I’m not stupid.”

Lin Zhixia chimed in supportively: “That’s right, Duan Qiyan is very smart!”

Duan Qiyan’s lips pressed into a thin line. He bent his elbow, hoping that Tang Tingting would take his arm, but unexpectedly, Tang Tingting darted in front of Luo Ying and called out: “Xiaxia, I was chatting with Senior on the plane. Senior said that she often thought about you while abroad, frequently reading the papers you published and the technical blogs you wrote…”

Lin Zhixia smiled even more sweetly: “Senior, do you also like my research direction?”

Luo Ying and Lin Zhixia stood together, causing many heads to turn. She brushed her hair back, her finger touching the moon-and-star-shaped silver earrings, and softly replied: “Yes, I just realized I like it.”