Lin Zhixia’s words hit Lin Zeqiu like a thunderbolt from a clear sky.

The five words “open relationship” were like a sharp knife stabbing into Lin Zeqiu’s eyes.

Open relationship!

How could there be something so vulgar and dissolute in the world!

It was simply unheard of! Shocking!

Lin Zeqiu had just finished his shower. He covered his forehead with a towel, calmed down for a few seconds, then his fingers furiously pounded the keyboard.

His roommate was named Zhan Rui.

Zhan Rui had handsome features and a clever mind, but unfortunately, he was born with a stutter. He stared at the computer screen and stammered, “Y-y-your sister…”

Lin Zeqiu didn’t turn around. He sternly warned, “This is a family matter, don’t talk about it outside.”

Zhan Rui hurriedly agreed, “I-I-I won’t…”

Another roommate called out loudly, “What’s wrong with Brother Qiu’s sister?”

Water droplets trickled down his hair strands, falling onto his well-defined collarbone. Lin Zeqiu wiped his neck and sighed, “Nothing, just go to sleep. I have some family business to deal with.”

All three roommates had met Lin Zhixia before. They knew that Lin Zeqiu had a beautiful and intelligent sister. They could joke with Lin Zeqiu, but they couldn’t tease his sister. Anyone who dared to make jokes about her would face only one outcome: death.

Since this matter involved Lin Zhixia, the roommates all pretended to be deaf and mute.

The quiet environment was conducive to thinking. Lin Zeqiu wrote eight hundred words without restraint, mercilessly criticizing “open relationships” and sternly warning Lin Zhixia to stay away from that garbage senior student. If the senior dared to speak inappropriately to her or get physical, Lin Zeqiu would make him pay the price.

After typing the last word, Lin Zeqiu’s mind gradually cleared. He reread the message his sister had sent him. He noticed that his sister had said, “We’ve discussed love before…”

Had he and Lin Zhixia discussed love before?

He carefully recalled that there was indeed one time when Lin Zhixia asked him if he believed in love. Honestly, he didn’t believe in the ethereal concept of “love” at all. He only believed in his own hands and feet. He wanted to earn money through labor, remain single his whole life, and provide a good life for his family.

Lin Zeqiu thought randomly for a long time, but Lin Zhixia still hadn’t replied to him. He called her, but her phone was turned off.

This didn’t stump Lin Zeqiu either.

When Lin Zeqiu had visited Lin Zhixia before, he happened to meet her roommate, Deng Shasha. Lin Zeqiu had gotten Deng Shasha’s phone number in case Lin Zhixia encountered some emergency at school and couldn’t answer his calls.

Now, the opportunity had come. Lin Zeqiu very politely sent a text message to Deng Shasha: “Hello Deng Shasha, I’m Lin Zhixia’s brother, Lin Zeqiu. I’m wondering if Lin Zhixia is in the dormitory? I’ll be waiting for her at the school gate at seven o’clock tomorrow morning.”

Deng Shasha was lying in bed, eating potato chips.

Her phone vibrated twice, and Deng Shasha called out twice, “Summer Goddess! Summer Goddess! Your brother is looking for you!”

Lin Zhixia emerged from under the covers. “My brother is looking for me?”

Deng Shasha, with potato chips in her mouth, said unclearly, “Your brother is asking if you’re in the dorm. He says he’ll be waiting for you at the school gate at seven tomorrow morning.”

Lin Zhixia became flustered, “Oh no.”

“Are you afraid of your brother?” Deng Shasha asked curiously, “Your brother is quite handsome, doesn’t talk much, not annoying.”

Lin Zhixia lay flat on the bed, tucking her blanket tightly around her. Her bed sheets and quilt cover were pure cotton, with a light white background printed with several pink strawberries. Lying in this world woven with strawberries, she hugged a small penguin and said seriously, “You haven’t seen my brother when he talks a lot. Tomorrow morning, you can come with me to the school gate.”

Deng Shasha imagined Lin Zeqiu chattering away. She pinched the potato chip bag and dreamily said, “Summer Goddess, I wish to meet a handsome guy of the same caliber as your brother.”

Lin Zhixia modestly said, “No, my brother isn’t the most handsome.”

“Your brother’s level of handsomeness is just right,” Deng Shasha sighed, “If a man were more handsome, I couldn’t handle it. When I’m with him, I’d easily become a fawning admirer, lose myself. That’s not good.”

Near eleven o’clock, the dormitory lights went out. The dim night colors infiltrated the narrow space, and the room was pitch black. Lin Zhixia lay on her side in bed, secretly thinking about whether she had lost herself when she was with Jiang Yubai. Her consciousness became confused in the darkness. She gradually fell asleep.

Early the next morning, Deng Shasha woke Lin Zhixia.

Lin Zhixia rubbed her eyes and got up groggily to wash up. She put on her sweater and coat, and suddenly found Deng Shasha grooming herself in the mirror, with Feng Yuan doing her hair.

Deng Shasha directed, “Brush it higher, make it look more energetic.”

Feng Yuan, holding her hair with one hand and showing a bit of just-woken irritation, impatiently asked, “Do you want a rocket-style ponytail?”

Deng Shasha asked loudly, “Summer Goddess, what type of girl does your brother like?”

How would Lin Zhixia know her brother’s preferences for the opposite sex? From what she’d seen, her brother kept at least a three-meter distance from girls. Beyond three meters, he made no distinction between males and females. She could only say, “No need to prepare specially, just be yourself.”

“Got it!” Deng Shasha snapped her fingers, “Brother likes pure and natural girls, I’ll do a nude makeup look.”

*

The cold spring wind of March blew coldly in the early morning.

Deng Shasha and Lin Zhixia arrived at the school gate at nearly seven o’clock. Lin Zeqiu was already there. He had brought breakfast for Lin Zhixia. The breakfast included a cup of warm soy milk and an egg roll wrap with a sausage inside.

Lin Zeqiu unwrapped the roll from the paper bag, and Lin Zhixia held onto him as she took a bite of the pancake. He was practically feeding her, and asked, “Does it taste good?”

“It’s delicious, thank you, brother,” Lin Zhixia answered vaguely.

Deng Shasha was moved by this scene of brotherly love and sisterly respect, and whispered, “Your brother is so good, hard to find even with a lantern. I can already imagine how he’ll take care of children at home in the future.”

“Brother is quite virtuous,” Lin Zhixia quietly replied.

After they whispered for a moment, Lin Zeqiu stuffed the roll and soy milk into Lin Zhixia’s hands, his expression solemn as he said, “Did you see the QQ message I sent you last night? How many times have I told you, you’re not an adult yet, the people around you are all adults, you need to be wary of men with bad intentions. Where did that senior of yours come from? Has he bullied you? Why haven’t I heard you mention him before? I have lunch with you every Sunday because I’m afraid you’ll encounter that kind of man at school. You’re timid, young, easy to bully, afraid to fight back… I can’t possibly date, I don’t talk to girls… You can only date after you turn eighteen…”

Lin Zeqiu rambled on for more than ten minutes.

He was rigid, old-fashioned, feudal, and nagging.

His image in Deng Shasha’s mind gradually crumbled.

After twenty minutes, Lin Zeqiu finally finished speaking. He took a long breath and even greeted Deng Shasha. Deng Shasha smiled and nodded at him, and the three parted ways outside the school gate.

The wind was strong, the day was cold, the temperature was low, and the clouds were white.

Deng Shasha walked against the wind, her carefully styled hair becoming a bird’s nest. She tightly held the collar of her coat, walking slowly forward. Lin Zhixia asked her, “Do you want to be my sister-in-law?”

“No, no,” Deng Shasha declined, “Your brother…”

“Is he not good?” Lin Zhixia asked again.

“No, no, no,” Deng Shasha humbly said, “It’s not that he’s not good, it’s that I’m not worthy.”

Lin Zhixia was about to speak but held back.

Deng Shasha changed the subject, “How is Senior Tan Qianche lately?”

“Absolutely not,” Lin Zhixia insisted, “He’s absolutely not okay.”

“Why?” Deng Shasha asked, puzzled, “Is Tan Qianche like you, skipped grades too quickly and still not an adult?”

Lin Zhixia’s originally clear eyes became somewhat dark, “No. Tan Qianche is very flirtatious, far beyond your imagination. Stay away from him.”

The advice given by Lin Zhixia scared Deng Shasha.

Deng Shasha was not the type to become more determined after setbacks. Since starting university, she had become an honest person who would just lie down when encountering difficulties. She couldn’t handle the two handsome guys she liked, so she simply gave up on her simple wish of “I want to date in college” and honestly carried her backpack to the library to study. Looking on the bright side, although she couldn’t get a handsome guy, she spent her time studying, and studying wouldn’t let her down. Studying was the best life partner.

Deng Shasha sat in the library, tears of emotion welling up in the corners of her eyes.

*

After finishing the loving breakfast sent by her brother, Lin Zhixia headed straight to the venue for the “North American Academic Exchange Meeting.”

Several professors and students from North America had all arrived, and Senior Wei Ruoxing’s seat was in the fourth row. She wore a light-colored suit dress, her neck slender, graceful like a swan, noble and attractive.

When Lin Zhixia passed by her, she called out, “Lin Zhixia?”

Lin Zhixia turned her head. “Senior?”

The auditorium was spacious, the lights dim. Lin Zhixia stood on the steps covered with a red carpet and casually grabbed a chair. Wei Ruoxing said softly, “Sit next to me, let’s talk about the quantum programming language you mentioned last night.”

Lin Zhixia glanced around and saw that the students in their quantum computing group were quite scattered. Only the senior students who needed to speak on stage would sit in the second or third row.

“Okay, I’m coming!” Lin Zhixia happily moved closer to Senior Wei Ruoxing.

The senior complimented her, “You’re using strawberry top notes for your perfume? It smells better than my tuberose and jasmine.”

Lin Zhixia explained, “I don’t have perfume. I use strawberry-scented shampoo, shower gel, facial cleanser… I often eat strawberries.”

The senior smiled and said, “The little genius’s little hobby?”

“Not so little, not so little,” Lin Zhixia said, “I’m about to become an adult.”

The senior folded her hands and placed them on her legs. “Yes, you’re growing up. I’m ten years older than you, but I always feel you’re still very young.”

Lin Zhixia generously praised, “Senior is forever eighteen, forever young and beautiful.” She paused, then said, “Actually, I think humans share a… one-dimensional time reference system, age is a time scalar of when a person came into this world…”

Wei Ruoxing listened to Lin Zhixia speak but was somewhat distracted. She glanced sideways toward the front but couldn’t find Tan Qianche. She bit her lip, her teeth marks slightly whitening, and heard Lin Zhixia say, “So, people are equal to each other. If I have children in the future, I want to communicate with them with an equal attitude. When my parents grow old, I want to maintain respect, not feel impatient because of their age and slowness. Our souls exist in the same dimensional space…”

“Good girl, smart and kind-hearted,” Wei Ruoxing commented.

Wei Ruoxing stopped looking for Tan Qianche.

She raised her chin, focusing on the content of the exchange meeting.

After about an hour, the professors had each delivered their speeches, and the exchange meeting became the students’ stage.

The host announced in fluent English, loudly inviting student Tan Qianche to come on stage to present his latest research results in quantum bit circuits. The background PowerPoint was ready, reporters had set up their cameras, and Teacher Gu Likai hurriedly appeared in the first row. He held his phone, looking displeased, and leaned down to say something to another student, who kept shaking his head.

The Chinese students in the front rows began to whisper.

Yang Shuwen walked from the first row, with heavy steps, standing at the third row, just diagonally in front of Lin Zhixia. Lin Zhixia patted Yang Shuwen’s shoulder and asked, “Senior, has something happened to Tan Qianche?”

Yang Shuwen sighed deeply, “Tan Qianche stood in the wind for half the night yesterday, and when he returned to the dorm, he started coughing. The sound was so loud, as if his lungs were being coughed through. Our entire men’s dormitory building could hear it. This morning, Tan Qianche took fever-reducing and cough medicine, and even told Teacher Gu that he could attend the exchange meeting… Alas, he couldn’t make it. His fever shot up to 39 degrees, and he was taken to the hospital. Isn’t this trouble? He was guaranteeing just an hour ago that he would arrive on time, even begging Teacher Gu to allow him to perform. Teacher Gu didn’t remove his PowerPoint. He’s the independent author of this paper, others don’t know what he’s doing. In the doctoral field, everyone is busy with their direction, who has time to sort out someone else’s work?”

Lin Zhixia made a surprising statement, “I have time.”

Yang Shuwen doubted he heard correctly, “You?”

Lin Zhixia frankly admitted, “I’ve read all of Tan Qianche’s papers. I spent a month studying him, I’m familiar with all his experimental methods and ideas.”

Yang Shuwen was astonished and repeatedly urged, “Go on stage quickly, quickly save our team.”

Lin Zhixia suddenly stood up from her seat. Wei Ruoxing hurriedly reminded her, “This is an English report meeting, all English presentations and Q&A. The professors from your college and our school are all here. You haven’t prepared a script, don’t force yourself, Lin Zhixia.”

“Don’t worry, Senior,” Lin Zhixia said confidently, “I’ve been learning English since I was three years old.”