Jiang Yubai’s words touched Lin Zhixia’s heart deeply.

She eagerly told him, “Next January, I’ll be giving a presentation at an academic seminar to introduce the content and research direction of my first paper.”

Jiang Yubai concealed his surprise and nodded in tacit agreement. He asked, “When will the seminar be held?”

Lin Zhixia said, “January 10, 2009, at ten in the morning.”

January 10, 2009, happened to be the second day after Jiang Yubai’s final exams ended. He could return to the provincial capital on January 9th and go to the university town the next day to attend Lin Zhixia’s first academic presentation.

Jiang Yubai and Lin Zhixia agreed to meet on January 10, 2009.

Before ending their QQ video chat, Jiang Yubai typed a message: “One day, you will achieve your dreams.”

Lin Zhixia’s mood became wonderfully pleasant. She immediately opened PowerPoint and began creating slides for her academic presentation.

Joy flowed like a sweet, clear stream through her heart, filling her with patience. After completing the PowerPoint, she also wrote a Word version of her speech, revising it several times before sending the final version to Professor Shen.

Lin Zhixia attached great importance to her first presentation. She wanted to exchange ideas with more scholars and hear more professional opinions.

On Saturday morning, Lin Zhixia excitedly stopped her mother and brother. She had them sit in the living room and announced with slight pride, “Next January, I’ll be participating in a university seminar and giving an academic report. Can you help me rehearse? If my pace or voice doesn’t sound good, please tell me so I can improve.”

Her mother hesitated, and Lin Zhixia immediately pleaded, “Mom, Mom, please?”

Lin Zhixia’s skill at sweet-talking was unparalleled. Her mother couldn’t refuse and had to agree.

Lin Zequiu didn’t speak. His back was ramrod straight, without the slightest tendency to relax. He sat awkwardly with his legs pressed together, then restlessly propped his feet on the crossbar under the coffee table.

Lin Zhixia began on her own: “Hello everyone, I’m Lin Zhixia from Professor Shen Zhaohua’s team. My research focuses on the analysis of mixing parameterization when applying the Ocean General Circulation Model to the Bohai Sea, Yellow Sea, and East China Sea. The Bohai Sea, Yellow Sea, and East China Sea are all maritime regions of our country. I believe everyone here can understand the internal wave mixing parameterization method, deep-sea mixing dynamics produced by the breaking of oceanic internal waves…”

“Are the people attending your report all professors? Are there any undergraduate students?” her brother suddenly asked.

Lin Zhixia answered honestly, “A seminar is an open exchange meeting, of course, undergraduate students can attend.”

Lin Zequiu said impatiently, “You must explain those professional terms, like that… wave parameterization method, otherwise no one will understand what you’re talking about.”

“Really?” Lin Zhixia questioned, “Do I need to explain every professional term?”

Lin Zequiu stood up from his seat and walked toward his bedroom: “Whatever you want. I’m going to study now, I haven’t finished my homework.”

“Brother, brother…” Lin Zhixia clutched the hem of his shirt.

He didn’t turn around and coldly said, “Let go.”

Lin Zhixia negotiated with him: “Listen to me for ten more minutes.”

“I don’t want to listen,” Lin Zequiu stubbornly refused.

Lin Zhixia persisted undiscouraged: “Brother, if you help me rehearse, I’ll help you with your homework.”

This trade was very fair, and Lin Zequiu’s resolve wavered slightly.

Lin Zhixia pressed on: “Brother, the competition in your class is so intense, isn’t the homework super difficult? I saw two math test papers on your desk that you haven’t even started… don’t worry, Teacher Lin can tutor you.”

“Teacher Lin?” her brother snorted mockingly.

Lin Zhixia conceded: “Alright, I’m not Teacher Lin, I’m Little Teacher Lin.”

“Little Teacher Lin?” Her brother mercilessly left Lin Zhixia behind and strode into his room.

Lin Zhixia turned to look at her mother, who was busy in the kitchen. The aroma of braised crucian carp filled the living room, with faint hints of sweet and sour ribs.

Lin Zhixia took a deep breath, both anticipating today’s lunch and walking into her brother’s room. She stepped forward gently, quietly standing behind her brother.

Her brother had been pondering for several minutes but still couldn’t solve a multiple-choice problem. Lin Zhixia enlightened him with one sentence: “Connect points a and c, substitute into the relationship given in the problem, and the answer is c.”

Lin Zequiu was startled by her.

“What are you doing?” Lin Zequiu reacted as if facing a great enemy.

Lin Zhixia lowered her head, her hair hiding her cheeks: “Brother, why aren’t you willing to listen to me describe my paper’s content? I’ll be going to university in Beijing next September… we don’t have much time together left.”

At these words, Lin Zequiu turned pale: “You’re going to university in Beijing next year? Why haven’t you mentioned this at home?”

“I was afraid Mom and Dad would worry about me,” Lin Zhixia explained. “Mom always says I’m too young, and she’s afraid I’ll be bullied outside.”

Lin Zequiu’s feelings were complex. He didn’t believe Lin Zhixia could take care of herself. He gripped her wrist tightly: “University next year… you’ll only be fourteen next year.”

Lin Zhixia’s wrist was slender, her skin as white as jade. Lin Zequiu wasn’t careful and used a bit too much force, reddening her skin, which frightened him into quickly letting go. Girls were truly too fragile compared to his toughness.

But Lin Zhixia said, “I’ve grown up. I can go to school in Beijing by myself.”

Lin Zequiu fell silent. After a while, he murmured, “I’ll help you rehearse.”

“Great, great!” Lin Zhixia instantly became happy.

Lin Zhixia rehearsed twice, becoming increasingly energetic. When she spoke about the LLOR-YAA second-order turbulent mixing scheme, her eyes shone brightly, and her speaking pace became very fast without her noticing. Lin Zequiu reminded her: “Lin Zhixia, don’t get too excited. Don’t get excited when you’re on stage, keep to your initial pace.”

Lin Zhixia remembered her brother’s advice.

*

On January 10, 2009, Lin Zhixia woke up very early.

She tied her hair in a ponytail, changed into a dark-colored outfit, and found a pair of black leather shoes.

Lin Zhixia was surprised to discover that a kind person had polished her shoes in advance. She immediately ran to her mother: “Mom, Mom, thank you for polishing my shoes.”

But her mother said, “Your brother did that last night.”

“Brother?” Lin Zhixia murmured.

Her mother said while simmering porridge, “Yes, Xiaxia, your brother knew you were going to the university for a meeting today, so last night… around ten o’clock, he polished those shoes spotlessly clean.”

Lin Zhixia rushed into Lin Zequiu’s room.

It was 6:20 in the morning, the sun was just rising, the sky was barely light, and Lin Zequiu was still lying in bed.

The winter break had just begun, and Lin Zequiu wanted to sleep in. Unexpectedly, his door was suddenly burst open, and Lin Zhixia crouched by his bed, exclaiming with surprise: “Brother isn’t up yet? You usually wake up at six.”

Lin Zequiu slapped his face: “Lin Zhixia, are you crazy? Coming to find me early in the morning without knocking?”

“Thank you, brother!” Lin Zhixia stated her purpose. “Those leather shoes…”

Lin Zequiu rolled to the other side of the bed: “No need for thanks, it’s not the first time I’ve helped you wash clothes or polish shoes. If you have any conscience, let me sleep a bit longer.”

“Mm-hmm!” Lin Zhixia agreed. She ran out of his bedroom, carefully closing his door behind her.

After breakfast, Lin Zhixia got ready, said goodbye to her parents, and set off on her journey to the university town.

She had arranged to meet Jiang Yubai at 7:30.

At 7:20 in the morning, Lin Zhixia walked out of the subway station and saw Jiang Yubai in the distance—he had arrived even earlier than she had.

Not having seen each other for three months, he seemed to have grown taller again. His figure was more straight and upright, like a vigorously growing poplar tree, standing quietly in her field of vision.

Lin Zhixia’s steps were light. She ran in a straight line to Jiang Yubai’s side.

“Jiang Yubai,” she called softly.

Jiang Yubai responded: “Lin Zhixia.”

Lin Zhixia circled him twice.

Jiang Yubai and Lin Zhixia didn’t enter the campus. They walked out of the south gate of the school and wandered around.

Outside the south gate was a street of food stalls, where many students were queuing for breakfast. The steaming heat from fried rice noodles, xiaolongbao, pan-fried dumplings, and beef vermicelli soup turned into white mist, merging with the cold wind of deep winter January. The aroma of delicious food was strong and intense, spreading far.

Before leaving home, Lin Zhixia had been too excited and only had a bowl of porridge. Now, looking at the pan-fried dumplings in a student’s hand, she showed an envious expression.

Seeing her expression, Jiang Yubai asked, “What would you like to eat?”

“Pan-fried dumplings,” Lin Zhixia said honestly.

Jiang Yubai found the dumpling shop and joined a long queue. He stood quietly in line, with Lin Zhixia beside him. She measured his height thoughtfully: “Are you 1.8 meters now?”

“Yes,” he said.

She asked again, “What’s your ideal height?”

He answered candidly, “1.88 meters, I’m still 8 centimeters short.”

Lin Zhixia revealed, “I want to grow to 1.7 meters.”

An undergraduate student behind Jiang Yubai suddenly said, “You won’t grow after eighteen, give up hope.”

Lin Zhixia turned to stare at him, and only then did the undergraduate student notice—the girl before him looked very young, seemingly not yet eighteen. She declared, “I’m thirteen and a half now, I’ll continue to grow taller.”

Jiang Yubai snapped his fingers, attracting Lin Zhixia’s attention. Indeed, she no longer paid attention to that undergraduate. Like a little cat following the source of a sound, she curiously stared at Jiang Yubai’s left hand.

Jiang Yubai’s fingers were long, his wrist muscles firm, blue veins slightly visible on the back of his hand, creating a perfect combination of strength and form. His uncle, Jiang Shaoqi, had been ranked by the media as having the “World’s Most Beautiful Male Hands” several years ago. Jiang Yubai had inherited the same genes. But he was completely unaware of this, never feeling that his hands had anything unusual about them.

Lin Zhixia’s mind wandered momentarily, and she asked casually, “How are your preparations for the North American Economics Challenge going?”

The queue was moving forward quickly.

Jiang Yubai looked at the shop window while answering Lin Zhixia’s question: “I’ll first pass three written tests, then participate in the team competition with my teammates.”

Lin Zhixia asked again, “Do you get along well with your teammates?”

“It’s okay,” Jiang Yubai said briefly.

Lin Zhixia confided in him: “In December the year before last, I competed in Moscow… you know, that time, I didn’t even get a bronze award. I argued with my teammates during the competition. I usually get along well with them.”

Jiang Yubai analyzed: “At the competition, you were all tense, highly alert, under great psychological pressure. Programming competitions are collaborative projects. Once someone makes a mistake, it’s easy for misunderstandings to arise within the team, with teammates blaming each other.”

“Yes!” Lin Zhixia nodded repeatedly, “One person makes a mistake, and then the rhythm gets disrupted.”

A few days ago, there had been a heavy snowfall, and a branch had broken off a large tree by the roadside. That branch lay on the ground in front of the pan-fried dumpling shop.

Lin Zhixia accidentally stepped on the branch, making a “crack” sound. She stepped back and continued asking, “Jiang Yubai, if you were in our team, what would you do?”

Jiang Yubai had brought fifty yuan in change—the smallest denomination of bills he had on him. He ordered meat-filled pan-fried dumplings and red bean soy milk.

The freshly baked savory dumplings were packed in a food-grade paper bag. Lin Zhixia held the bag, feeling warm inside.

Jiang Yubai and Lin Zhixia returned to the university campus. They sat on a bench, keeping some distance between them. Lin Zhixia happily ate her dumplings while Jiang Yubai held her soy milk for her. When Lin Zhixia wanted to drink some soy milk, she would come over and quietly take a small sip.

Jiang Yubai was like her drink holder.

At this point, Jiang Yubai began to impart his team-building techniques.

He told Lin Zhixia, “If I were in your team, I would discuss with teammates in advance and preset various scenarios, mainly covering three aspects. First, if we have disagreements, do we follow the majority opinion or the captain’s decision? Second, everyone should have specific responsibilities; we can’t have two people doing the same thing simultaneously. Third, what’s our contingency plan if a team member makes a mistake…”

Lin Zhixia was inspired by his advice and sighed, “I understand now.”

She held the paper bag in her left hand and opened it with her right hand to take out a dumpling. Amidst the aroma of food, Lin Zhixia contemplated: “Actually, I always believed I could carry the team alone. Before teamwork, I didn’t consider things thoroughly.”

But Jiang Yubai said, “You indeed can carry the team.”

He raised the cup of soy milk, holding it level with his chest.

Lin Zhixia moved closer to him and took another sip of soy milk from the cup. He handed her a napkin, and she wiped her mouth, saying optimistically, “It’s okay, I’ll have experience for my next team formation.”

Jiang Yubai agreed: “That’s right.”

Lin Zhixia smiled brightly: “Thank you, Teacher Jiang.”