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Lin Huaixu had already accepted the official announcement.
In fact, he had lost hope for the scholarship as soon as he offended the advisor and the class committee.
The current result merely confirmed his suspicions.
This was the first lesson his new environment had taught him.
Lin Huaixu put down his phone and opened Bugcrowd, searching for bug bounty tasks posted by companies.
This was a global community of security researchers that ranked researchers from all over the world each year based on the number, quality, and acceptance rate of their vulnerability submissions.
Lin Huaixu became interested in network security in middle school and registered as a white-hat hacker in high school.
He had participated in many competitions over the years and had left his name on many leaderboards.
The only difference was that before, he could play around and climb the ranks for fun, but now he had to be concerned with the amount of prize money.
Just then, he suddenly received a call from his advisor, who informed him that he had been awarded the freshman scholarship and needed to provide his bank card number for the payment.
“Me?” Lin Huaixu frowned.
He remembered that he wasn’t on the official list.
“Xiao Lin, what good luck,” the advisor said with a half-smile before hanging up.
“Waiting for your card number.”
Lin Huaixu contacted his course instructor and only then learned that, for some unknown reason, Dean Ji Ruocheng had suddenly taken an interest in the freshman scholarship.
After an investigation, he had rejected the official list.
The school of science pulled out all the applications and had the teachers from the student affairs office re-examine them and issue a new list.
Lin Huaixu’s name was prominently on it.
In fact, Tong An’yu had not mentioned Lin Huaixu’s name to Ji Ruocheng.
She wasn’t trying to engage in favoritism, she just wanted fairness.
Only after the School of Science investigated did they discover that the list had been influenced by personal connections.
The proportion of class committee members who were in frequent contact with the advisor and had won awards was quite high.
As a result, all the schools began to conduct self-inspections, and the management of scholarships became strict again.
Lin Huaixu looked at the money deposited into his bank card and let out a light chuckle.
Halfway through the first semester, Jiang Xiaoying returned to the dormitory at ten o’clock at night after class.
She put down her bag, twisted open a bottle of Perrier for herself, and said, “I’m not going to take ‘Introduction to the Frontiers of Physics’ anymore.”
“Why?”
“Why?”
“Why?”
Three necks turned from their desks to look at her, each asking once.
Jiang Xiaoying: “Because I’m not going to pursue Lin Huaixu anymore.”
“You were pursuing Lin Huaixu?”
“When?”
“How did we not know?”
“…”
Jiang Xiaoying: “Otherwise, why would I drop the high-credit, easy-to-learn art course to choose this exhausting and thankless one?”
Sun Han said meaningfully, “Oh, so you used to like him.”
No wonder, for a while now, Jiang Xiaoying would randomly pop out with some news about Lin Huaixu, but most of it was nitpicking, like a girlfriend.
“Why aren’t you pursuing him anymore? Isn’t he pretty good?” Zhu Yan was still very grateful to Lin Huaixu for his help that night.
Jiang Xiaoying drank half a bottle of water and placed the glass bottle lightly on the table, “I heard from people in his class that he also applied for financial aid, but because his family used to own a company and his mother is still abroad, it wasn’t approved.”
Sun Han: “His family owned a company?”
“No wonder he could study abroad in California back then.”
Jiang Xiaoying emphasized, “Used to.”
“It’s bankrupt now, otherwise his financial support wouldn’t have been cut off.”
“Then his family’s company wasn’t a limited liability company.”
“Otherwise, even if the company went bankrupt, it would be the company’s debt that couldn’t be repaid, but his personal assets wouldn’t be affected,” Tong An’yu had some second-hand knowledge about starting a company.
But it was precisely this misunderstanding that prevented her from connecting the Lin family’s bankruptcy with the Si family.
Jiang Xiaoying shrugged, “I don’t know then.”
“First of all, he never even looked at me properly.”
“Second, I don’t want to lower my quality of life.”
Sun Han: “Actually, he’s only been down on his luck for a little over a year.”
“And it’s just a relationship, you don’t have to think so much about it, right?”
“I spend tens of thousands on my idols every year.”
Zhu Yan sighed, “That’s true.”
“It’s only been a year.”
“A year ago, he was a rich second-generation student studying in North America.”
Jiang Xiaoying smiled softly and raised the bottle of Perrier, “You don’t have to think so much about a relationship?”
“But a single glass of my water costs more than ten yuan.”
Tong An’yu’s gaze fell on the round, green bottle of water.
Jiang Xiaoying smiled very gently, but she still couldn’t decipher Jiang Xiaoying’s true emotions.
Sun Han smirked, “Are you only saying that because he’s ignoring you?”
“It’s pretty much the same as every time I’m about to leave a fandom.”
“I am not.”
She met Lin Huaixu again two weeks later, during the coldest time in Jing City.
The Qinghua Cafeteria had hired a new Sichuanese chef, and the spicy chicken and blood curd were so authentic that they quickly became a hit throughout the school, attracting students to line up and try them.
After the initial wave of popularity passed, the four of them in Tong An’yu’s dormitory finally came to taste the chef’s skills.
Due to the high cost, these two dishes were relatively expensive, costing about two hundred yuan for four people, but it was still much more affordable than eating out.
While they were waiting for their food with their number ticket, a small commotion occurred at the opposite window.
“Classmate, are you going to pay or not?”
“The people behind you are waiting in line.”
“I don’t want the steamed fish anymore, I’ll just have the stir-fried bean sprouts.”
The reply was crisp and very hoarse, accompanied by a few coughs, which attracted Tong An’yu’s attention.
Lin Huaixu was wearing a beige sweater, washed clean, but the collar was slightly loose and had lost its elasticity, revealing a little of his collarbone.
This sweater was clearly not pure wool, the quality was not very solid, and it wasn’t very warm.
He was wearing a pair of ordinary cargo pants, thick and loose, which were neither good nor bad, and certainly had no style to speak of.
His left hand, holding the meal card, was pale and slender, and the small mole at the base of his ring finger was still clearly visible.
The cafeteria lady looked at him again and changed the number on the card reader from twenty to five yuan.
Beep!
The student card tapped against the sensor, showing a balance of four yuan and fifty cents.
Lin Huaixu calmly took a portion of stir-fried bean sprouts and a bowl of rice, completely unfazed by the prying eyes around him.
At the same time, a large pot of spicy chicken and blood curd was brought to Tong An’yu’s table.
The chili peppers were stir-fried until fragrant, the chicken was fried until crispy, and the broth was oily and appetizing.
Jiang Xiaoying glanced at Lin Huaixu, then curled her lips in a smile, for reasons unknown.
But Tong An’yu didn’t notice Jiang Xiaoying’s micro-expression.
Even if she had, it would have been useless; she couldn’t understand it.
She put down her chopsticks, her gaze seemingly stuck to Lin Huaixu, a sweet intoxication brewing in her eyes, “Since none of you are going to pursue him, then I will.”
Jiang Xiaoying’s face suddenly changed, “Are you crazy?”
“He can’t even afford steamed fish.”
Sun Han and Zhu Yan tacitly lowered their heads, wishing they could disappear on the spot.
“It’s okay, I don’t drink ten-yuan Perrier.”
“And he’s a feast for the eyes, who cares about steamed fish,” Tong An’yu’s words flowed smoothly.
Lin Huaixu’s action of picking up food clearly paused.
He narrowed his eyes, but didn’t even turn his head to look at her.
He wasn’t interested in someone so young.
After finishing the last bite of bean sprouts, he picked up his tray with the vegetable soup, pretending not to know he was the one being talked about, and coolly walked past her.
But Tong An’yu turned her head and said, “See, he didn’t refuse.”
The three of them, Sun Han, Zhu Yan, and Jiang Xiaoying, covered their faces in despair.
The weather in Jing City turned cold in an instant, so suddenly that people didn’t have time to adapt.
Many students caught a cold during this period, and a small line formed at the school hospital’s pharmacy.
Tong An’yu had always been strong and healthy since she was a child, perfectly avoiding every flu season, so she had never been to the school hospital in her two years of university.
She hadn’t expected Lin Huaixu’s body to be so weak that he would be one of the first to catch it.
But it was understandable.
His sweater, though plain and good-looking, was really too thin and didn’t block the wind at all.
To this day, Tong An’yu finally realized belatedly that Lin Huaixu was really hard up for money.
The freshman ball he didn’t have time to attend, the four hundred yuan class fee he was unwilling to waste, the caramel latte he couldn’t bear to drink, and the fifteen-yuan pan-fried steamed cod.
And comparing that to Stanford, where the tuition alone was tens of thousands of dollars a year, it really felt like a world apart.
Tong An’yu didn’t think she could handle such a blow, but Lin Huaixu seemed to be adapting well.
Lin Huaixu’s cold expression didn’t deter her.
After all, because of her sensory dullness, she couldn’t understand it at all.
Her crush was feeling unwell, which was a good opportunity to make a move, she thought.
Thanks to the good foundation Jiang Xiaoying had laid, she now knew that “Introduction to the Frontiers of Physics” was held twice a week, and the one on Thursday at six-thirty in the evening was one she happened to be free for.
The next day, Thursday, Tong An’yu specially ordered some loquat throat lozenges online, which were specifically for treating sore and inflamed throats.
She planned to pretend to casually give the throat lozenges to Lin Huaixu during class, leaving a considerate and thoughtful impression on him.
At five-thirty in the afternoon, the package happened to be delivered to the east gate, which was closest to the technology building.
Tong An’yu didn’t even eat dinner and hurriedly rode her bike to pick up the package.
Outside the east gate was a road that ran alongside T University’s wall.
There were no shops on either side of the road, only a lonely bus stop sign.
Very few students chose to enter or exit from here, and there were even fewer people at dusk.
Just as Tong An’yu received the package, she suddenly spotted that familiar slender back behind the bus stop sign.
The snow on the ground had just melted.
He was wearing a half-length down jacket, and his coughs fell intermittently to the ground, his voice seemingly even hoarser.
Wasn’t this a god-sent opportunity?
Tong An’yu was overjoyed.
She tore open the package in a few quick moves, hid the throat lozenges in her palm, tidied her bangs, and was about to go forward and pretend to run into him.
Who would have thought that the bus would arrive just then, and the doors would open.
Tong An’yu was extremely anxious and was about to spring into action.
However, when the doors opened, Lin Huaixu didn’t move.
Instead, a man in a long black down jacket got off.
The man was of medium height and had very sharp features, but the wrinkles on his face were deep, and a few white hairs stuck out from the top of his head, giving him an overworked appearance.
In his brows and eyes, he actually resembled Lin Huaixu a little.
He stood in front of Lin Huaixu, half a meter away, and though he was half a head shorter, he carried himself like an emperor.
Then he asked rudely, “Where’s your mother?”
“She’s not answering my calls now.”
“When is she coming back?”
Tong An’yu stopped in her tracks just in time and didn’t continue forward.
Lin Huaixu’s expression didn’t change much, but the down jacket without a hood really couldn’t keep out the cold.
His ears and the side of his face quickly turned red, like unwaxed, not-so-precious apples.
“She’s not coming back.”
“What do you mean she’s not coming back?”
“Didn’t you say she was over there dealing with the property and tuition refund?”
“Not coming back means not coming back.”
The man’s face was extremely ugly, the muscles in his cheekbones twitching uncontrollably, making his originally steady face look ferocious.
“You two, mother and son, planned this all along, didn’t you!”
“You gave her all the money I gave you, didn’t you!”
“I came back to help you, she’s not coming back, that’s it,” Lin Huaixu still didn’t react to his roars, as if he was already used to it.
“You b*stard, you both have to come back!”
“You gave the money to that good-for-nothing, letting her enjoy life alone abroad?”
Only at this moment did Lin Huaixu’s expression turn completely gloomy and cold, like a sky that hadn’t seen the sun for a long time.
“She’s my mother.”
“Show some respect.”
“I’m your father!”
An out-of-control slap landed on Lin Huaixu’s face.
His head turned to the side, his eyes closing slightly and then snapping open.
A heat that rivaled the cold spread across his skin, and his face turned into that of a sun-damaged, unevenly colored, inferior apple.
Sweat oozed from Tong An’yu’s palm.
She clenched her fist tightly in her cotton jacket, stubbornly refusing to close her eyes.
She didn’t want to see other people’s embarrassment, it was just that she had only seen such violent and conflicting scenes in literary works and social news before.
Her parents would have a goodnight kiss every night before bed.
When her mother was busy with work at the hospital and didn’t have time to accompany her and her brother, if a relative came over and complained, her father would get angry and kick them out, unconditionally defending her mother.
So she and her brother never felt like they were missing anything growing up.
On the contrary, this family atmosphere gave her an incomparable sense of security.
She suddenly realized that everyone in this world has their own climate.
Some have spring all year round, while others are frozen for thousands of miles.
It was so completely different.
When the man raised his hand again, Lin Huaixu had already firmly grasped his forearm.
The protruding bones on the back of his hand almost broke through his skin, oozing a cold, bloody aura.
“If you want my help, don’t look for her.”
“I’m saying this for the last time.”
The two of them were deadlocked for ten seconds.
During this time, Lin Huaixu didn’t cough once.
Ice crystals hung from his eyelashes, he no longer exhaled mist, and the veins on his neck were like tightly stretched strings, ready to snap at any moment.
He was fighting against his body’s instincts, or perhaps against some kind of stubborn pressure.
Tong An’yu didn’t know what Lin Huaixu was thinking in those short ten seconds.
She couldn’t see anything.
But the man seemed to have finally realized that Lin Huaixu was gradually slipping out of his control.
His temples bulged and then flattened, and then he reluctantly lowered his hand.
When the next bus arrived, he got on without looking back, and the bulging wallet tucked under his arm was never opened and left behind from beginning to end.
Only after the man left did Lin Huaixu allow himself to cough freely.
He coughed very hard, his once straight back now hunched over, as if he was about to cough up his tonsils.
Tong An’yu quickly ran towards him.
She was afraid that Lin Huaixu would cough until his brain lacked oxygen and faint here.
With such a frail body, could his ancestor be named Lin Daiyu?
Lin Huaixu seemed to have been aware of her presence all along.
He wasn’t shocked, he didn’t even lift his eyelids.
A man’s violence is a very aggressive thing.
Even if it has a clear target, it will make bystanders feel timid.
From fear to resistance, it was a very long road, and he had walked it for twenty-one years.
Lin Huaixu’s throat was throbbing with pain.
He wanted to speak but couldn’t stop coughing.
Large clouds of white mist floated out, and dark blue veins climbed up his originally wheat-colored skin.
“If you’re scared… cough… stay away from me—”
Before he could finish, Tong An’yu swiftly stuffed the throat lozenges into his arms and whispered, “What’s there to be afraid of?”
“Hurry up and have one, Lin Daiyu.”
“No… Lin Huaixu.”
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