Chapter 23-Part 1 : My enemy kissed me

By the end of August, Lin Huaixu’s internship concluded.

PhiloLex paid him his internship salary, and the IT head even gave him a large bonus.

He packed his belongings from the rented apartment, handed the keys to the landlord, and moved back to school.

Before he left, his secondary bedroom roommate asked him, “You’re not coming back, are you?”

Lin Huaixu smiled, noncommittally.

This Qinglan Cup final proceeded very smoothly.

Lin Huaixu was responsible for algorithm implementation and data processing, Tong An’yu for statistics and graph theory, and Yuan Qing for data collection and propagation analysis.

Yuan Qing had put in a great effort this time, so she was particularly anxious about the final results.

Finally, on September 7th, the results were out: they won first prize, receiving the team gold medal.

Yuan Qing, across the ocean, excitedly leaped off the screen, even knocking her camera askew.

Kong Jiashu immediately prepared to perform a belly dance for everyone: “Thank you, big bosses, for looking out for me! I, Kong, have nothing to repay you with, so I’ll dance to entertain you all!”

Feng Junda disdainfully said, “Is this repayment or revenge? It’s hideous.”

Lin Huaixu bit on a cigarette, slowly taking a drag; the tension in his body relaxed, and a long-lost smile appeared in his eyes.

The next day, Tong An’yu was suddenly added to a group chat called — 923 Secret Project.

Tong An’yu: “?”

Yuan Qing: “Why did you add her?”

Kong Jiashu: “Oh, come on, we’re all family; let’s discuss it together.”

Yuan Qing: “……”

Tong An’yu: “What is it?”

Kong Jiashu: “Don’t you know? 923 is Xu-ge’s birthday! We’re trying to figure out what to get him for a birthday present.”

‘Ah? Birthday!’

‘Lin Huaixu’s birthday!’

‘She had been pursuing him for so long, and she actually forgot to ask for his birthday!’

Feng Junda: “Celebrating a birthday so solemnly? Are we going to charter a cruise ship on the Huangpu River or something?”

Yuan Qing: “The thought counts; a cruise ship and such aren’t important.”

Feng Junda: “No money, so what kind of surprise can you pull off?”

Kong Jiashu: “Sigh, back when Xu-ge celebrated his birthday, we either chartered a cruise for a night tour or went on vacation to a private island, and we could drink Auntie Ming’s homemade ice wine. Now, no cruise, no private island, not even Auntie Ming’s wine.”

Feng Junda sneered, “So without money, celebrating a fart.”

Yuan Qing: “Don’t we have prize money from the competition? Why don’t we all contribute…”

Feng Junda: “Why should we? We barely earned that much by begging.”

Yuan Qing: “That was earned by Ah Xu.”

Feng Junda: “Only he put in effort? Did no one else? Yuan Qing, sister, you should have a bottom line when you stick up for him.”

Tong An’yu didn’t want to watch the group chat argument anymore.

She set it to mute and then privately asked Kong Jiashu, “What if I can pay to charter a cruise ship? Would he be happy?”

Kong Jiashu: “Eh, Tong-jie, that wouldn’t be good. Xu-ge definitely wouldn’t agree, and we really can’t afford such luxury consumption now.”

He sent a sad face emoji.

Tong An’yu thought, ‘He’s right. Spending over a hundred thousand in one night—what would that make Lin Huaixu’s nine thousand earned over a whole summer vacation?’

Tong An’yu: “Then do you know what he likes? When I met him, he was already wearing hundred-yuan Uniqlo clothes and eating jianbing guozi.”

‘She couldn’t exactly bring back jianbing guozi this time, could she?’

Kong Jiashu: “Xu-ge used to like sports, like swimming, mountain biking, skiing and stuff. I used to give him ski poles and snowboards, and he really liked them. But he hasn’t touched any of those in years, so I don’t know if he still likes them.”

Tong An’yu remembered that he didn’t even want to admit he could ride a bicycle that one time…

Kong Jiashu: “Oh, he also likes cybersecurity. He’s a very famous white-hat hacker on some website abroad, super awesome. But we don’t understand that stuff, and there’s nothing we can give him for it.”

Tong An’yu didn’t understand cybersecurity either, so she skipped it.

Kong Jiashu: “Besides that… um… there’s Auntie Ming’s homemade ice wine. Auntie Ming used to do cross-stitch, flower arranging, and wine making when she had nothing to do. Her craftsmanship was excellent, and we used to drink it all the time. But… we haven’t had it since then. Xu-ge probably hasn’t had it since he returned to China.”

‘Since he returned to China…’

Tong An’yu: “He never went back after returning to China?”

Kong Jiashu: “He had to prepare for the gaokao, he was extremely busy, and traveling back and forth was too expensive; he couldn’t afford it.”

Actually, at that time, he wasn’t completely without money, but the surplus went to Yuan Qing for her studies abroad, and it also involved Auntie Ming being afraid to return and Uncle Lin forcing her to come back.

Lin Huaixu naturally couldn’t easily go see his mother.

Of course, Kong Jiashu didn’t tell Tong An’yu these secrets; after all, they were the Lin family’s private matters.

‘Never went back…’

‘So he hasn’t had it in two years either?’

Tong An’yu suddenly had a bold idea.

“Kong Jiashu, do you know where Auntie Ming is now?”

Kong Jiashu: “Xu-ge won’t tell us, afraid Uncle Lin will find out. What kind of apartment is she living in? What’s wrong?”

‘Thinking about it now, Xu-ge’s insistence on having Auntie Ming accompany him to study was…’

‘He had quietly mused to himself.’

‘Only Lin Huaixu knew the truth.’

‘This really is difficult to handle.’

Lin Huaixu transferred to the Computer Science department this semester, as a sophomore.

The advantage was that he could meet many alumni in the same department, easily joining some part-time projects to alleviate living pressures.

The disadvantage was that he needed to make up more credits, forcing him to cut down on rest time, living a more tiring life than his freshman year, similar to preparing for the gaokao that year.

The only difference was that back then he only had ibuprofen, but now, besides ibuprofen, he also had a lively little fish.

Except this little fish was quite chatty tonight.

She had a mosquito bite on her arm and had been scratching it all evening.

As she scratched, she started asking him, “Little Lin, when I went to San Francisco this time, I thought Stanford was pretty good, and I want to get my PhD there.”

Lin Huaixu glanced at her; given that she was asking a serious question, he didn’t mind the “Little Lin” address.

“For a PhD, you choose an advisor, not a school.”

Tong An’yu thought, ‘Of course I know that.’

“Oh, then you haven’t thought about going back to see your familiar professors these past two years?”

Lin Huaixu leaned back in his chair, assuming she wanted him to help her contact Stanford professors to secure a spot early, as PhD applications had already begun.

“The professors I know don’t specialize in microelectronics and semiconductors. Besides, I only studied for two years. I suggest you ask a T University professor for recommendations; there’s a good chance of getting a full scholarship.”

Tong An’yu nodded like a pecking chicken: “Yes, yes, I’m already in contact with them.”

Lin Huaixu looked away, continuing to read the thick textbook in front of him.

Tong An’yu then said, “If I really do apply there, do you have any recommendations for places to live? I heard the student dorms are too small.”

Lin Huaixu looked up again, scrutinizing her, and said playfully, “Weren’t you going to live in a detached villa?”

Tong An’yu: “……An apartment is fine too. I’m not picky now.”

Lin Huaixu: “Woodleigh Residence, Fremont Ardenwood are both good. There are many Chinese residents, and it’s convenient for shopping. You probably don’t have to worry about rent either.”

Tong An’yu leaned forward eagerly, saying, “Kong Jiashu said your mom is also there, so then we can look out for each other?”

Lin Huaixu paused slightly, the hand holding the book pages unconsciously tightening.

After a moment of silence, he said, “She’s not there anymore. The apartment was too expensive.”

Tong An’yu slowly straightened up: “Then… where did she move to?”

Lin Huaixu frowned: “Why are you asking this?”

Tong An’yu’s mind worked quickly: “Didn’t you say it’s not safe there? But safe places in the city are very expensive. Are you comfortable with her being alone in an unsafe neighborhood?”

Lin Huaixu felt he was being too sensitive.

Tong An’yu had no connection to Lin De, and it was impossible for her to reveal his mother’s whereabouts to Lin De; she was simply naturally chatty.

“She doesn’t live in the city anymore. She works on a nearby farm.”

Tong An’yu’s head drooped.

There were countless farms near San Francisco; where was she supposed to find her?

“Farms are pretty nice! We even went to that pumpkin farm this time. It had a haunted house, tour carts, a straw maze, and all sorts of stuff—super lively!”

Lin Huaixu chuckled softly: “She’s not at that kind of commercial farm.”

‘Good, the scope has narrowed further.’

“Does she grow pumpkins too? Then from early September until Halloween, it must be busy. That’s what I heard from the pumpkin farm.”

Lin Huaixu: “No, she grows olives.”

“Oh.”

Tong An’yu didn’t dare to ask any further.

She felt she already had enough information.

Near San Francisco, non-commercial small farm, grows olives, not pumpkins, accepts Chinese employees.