Lin Tang
Is studying in Germany stressful?
"The four years you study in Germany will be the most unforgettable seven years of your life."
Lin Tang stared at the trending internet meme for a minute, then snapped her Huawei folding phone shut.
Under the consultation post, netizens from various IPs were laughing out loud, but the real German IP, looking at that seemingly nonsensical reply, just wanted to cry.
With a blank expression, she asked herself for the 365th time why she couldn't accept studying in Germany, and even more so why she chose to study medicine.
Studying in Germany is indeed inexpensive, and German taxes are well-paid; the educational benefits are undeniable. The problem is, with such an insane workload and a failure rate exceeding 30%, isn't that a bit excessive?
Today, as soon as school started, I received the course schedules from all the professors. Wow, school just started and summer vacation is already over.
Is this what the third year of medical school is like?
She leaned back against the edge of the table behind her, her limbs hanging limply, her dead fish eyes staring blankly as she looked up and sighed lightly, "Ah, I want to die."
Sitting next to her, He Zou, who was working on her semester plan on her laptop, glanced at her sideways and laughed, saying, "You say things like this every time school starts, and you always get high marks in your coursework. Those 30% of students would probably want to kill you if they heard that, right?"
Lin Tang pointed to the top of his head: "Hit me? Melodia, can you see the health bar on my head that's practically empty? If anyone touches me now, I'll kill them."
He Zou glanced at the dark clouds looming over her head and tried to comfort her: "What was that saying you taught me again? 'Fragile but hard to kill.' You started with only a sliver of health, yet you've held on for so long. Isn't that a talent? Don't be careless, just go for it!"
"Is it because it's still very cold in Heidelberg that your jokes are frozen in time?"
"Sigh, it seems so. Tangtang, your comment was so lame."
"Tsk."
Lin Tang glanced at her densely packed schedule on her screen again, and saw that she was still adding items, as if she wanted to make the schedule precise down to the minute. She was a true master of time management.
"I really want to fight you high-energy people..." She sighed, having been caught up in it again. After getting up and tidying up the materials scattered on the table, she shifted her body and rested her chin on Hezai's shoulder, asking weakly, "Are you still not done? Let's go to the cafeteria. My head hurts and I'm hungry."
He Zou chuckled and typed quickly, saying, "1 minute."
He Zou said it would take one minute, so it would definitely be over within one minute. Lin Tang propped his head up and waited for her, watching her adjust the schedule, but the more he looked, the more something seemed off—
"Woke up at 5:30...emmmm"
"Laboratory core working block".
“Shared time with Kunimitsu…? Kunimitsu? A name?” Lin Tang read out the arrangement on the schedule word by word, slowly turning his head to look at his friend’s smiling profile. “Hey Melodia, did you forget to tell me something?”
He Zou typed the last character, clicked save, then turned to meet Lin Tang's narrowed gaze, took her hand, and solemnly said, "Report! I'm in love."
"In love?" Lin Tang grabbed her arm, raised his hand in a split second, and slapped her on the back, gritting his teeth as he cursed, "In love! In love! Who told me back then that we'd hold hands and dedicate ourselves to medicine together, and go to receive the Lasker Award together?!"
"Yes, it's me, it's me."
"Who told me that dating is less important than reading a few of the latest neurosurgery journal articles?"
"Hmm...it's me again."
Lin Tang stopped what she was doing, crossed her arms, and looked at her: "Then how did this man suddenly appear?"
He Zou shyly clutched her heart: "...Ahem, perhaps you've heard of 'love at first sight'?"
"Get out!"
"Don't be angry, don't be angry. I'll treat you to lunch. Today the cafeteria has... uh, pickled herring and minced meat with vinaigrette."
"Hmm? I reasonably suspect you're plotting revenge."
"That's true."
He Zou looked at the cafeteria lunch menu on his phone and chuckled awkwardly, feeling a little breathless.
Lin Tang took it and looked at it, then his vision went black again.
She still doesn't know how raw meat salad with vinaigrette ended up on the menu... If Germany is a culinary desert, then German university cafeterias are culinary hell.
Japan does have quite a few raw food dishes...
He Zou smiled and said, "Don't look at me, I can't eat either."
Lin Tang sighed, "Let's go, we don't have much time. Let's just eat something and make do, as long as we can survive."
Yes, that's how German students are; they eat so they can stay alive and avoid failing their exams.
Therefore, Lin Tang couldn't understand why a young lady like He Zou, with such talent, would have to suffer like this.
There are very few international students in the medical program at Heidelberg University, and even fewer with Asian features. To exaggerate a bit, in Lin Tang's year, there were only two of them, she and He Zou, so the two naturally had interactions.
Just like Hezou said, when she first met Hezou, her health bar was practically nonexistent. Due to her poor language skills, she initially struggled to adapt to the heavy workload and immense pressure in her life, all of which left her feeling overwhelmed.
Two months into the semester, she faced two choices: return to China or switch to a less demanding major to earn some part-time work time.
But she was unwilling to give up, as she was only one step away from the direction she most wanted to study.
It was at this moment that Yagyu Kazuna started talking to her.
Lin Tang felt that the phrase "the chosen one of heaven," which sounded very Mary Sue-ish, could perfectly describe Yagyu Kazusa.
Despite being an international student herself, she mastered fluent German as soon as she enrolled. Her cheerful personality allowed her to integrate seamlessly into the group of new students. Professors praised her classroom answers and grades, and she was even seen walking out of the library a minute before closing time.
In comparison, it's hard not to feel a little jealous.
But human nature is strange. When you are slightly better than others, they will inevitably be jealous of you; when you are slightly worse than others, they will inevitably look down on you. But when you are far better than others, so much so that they can only admire you.
In Lin Tang's eyes, Yagyu Kazusa was someone she could only look up to, whether in terms of talent or hard work.
But it was Yagyu and Kanade who spoke to her, and the other person looked at her pleadingly in slow German:
"Lin Tang, would you mind cooking with me? I can't stand German food anymore. I've heard that Chinese students studying abroad are all great cooks. Could you please save me from this predicament? Please, please!"
This person definitely didn't look like someone who had ever been in the kitchen, while Lin Tang thought his cooking skills were pretty good, and this would also be a good opportunity to practice his spoken language, so the two of them became cooking partners.
All the ingredients were prepared in advance by Kanade in her rented apartment; all she had to do was show off her cooking skills.
This not only saved her stomach but also greatly reduced her financial burden. The other person would frequently treat her to various meals under the guise of gratitude. Even better, Kanade had perfect notes for all the lessons she couldn't understand due to language barriers!
In short, she unknowingly made it through the first semester by mooching meals and notes from others.
In the second semester, she received a full tuition waiver for the medical school and, with her excellent grades, applied for the DADD scholarship, the highest-paying scholarship in Germany, which greatly reduced her financial burden.
It was around that time that she discovered this young lady was actually quite a good cook, and didn't need her to save her. So, what started as a meal together, where she was in charge of cooking, later turned into a rotating cooking arrangement.
Some things are better left unsaid.
After saying all that, what Lin Tang really wants to say is, which bastard stole her little angel away?!
She poked at the oddly shaped, unappetizing sausage on her plate and forced a bright, twisted smile.
"His name is Tezuka Kunimitsu," Kazusa explained.
Lin Tang frowned: "A classmate from the same school? How come I've never seen you two talk before? Or did you meet him after returning to China? That means in just over a month, you've already put him on your precious schedule? You've encountered a top-tier enchantress?"
After her friend's barrage of complaints stopped, He Zou tilted her head and looked at her: "Tangtang, don't you watch tennis matches?"
"I don't have time for that, and I have absolutely no interest in sports." Lin Tang looked at He Zou with confusion, wondering why she brought up tennis.
Even though tennis is the most popular sport right now, it's still a sport, and it's completely irrelevant to her.
And—"What does this have to do with you explaining your relationship?"
"Because he's a professional tennis player~"
"A professional tennis player?"
"Yeah, he's currently ranked fifth in the world and first in Japan. He's an incredibly strong player."
Lin Tang glanced at the five fingers that the person opposite her blinked twice at her, reasonably suspecting that the other person was showing off. Holding onto the stereotype that "athletes are all simple-minded and physically strong," she expressionlessly took out her phone and searched in Chinese: hand, mound, country, light.
A moment later, she snapped her Huawei folding phone shut again and uttered two words in a cold voice: "Eat."
After saying that, she silently moved all the untouched sausages from her plate to the plate opposite hers.
He Zou stopped her: "Tangtang, aren't you going to eat?"
Lin Tang looked at her and said quietly, "I'm full. I can't finish it, so I can't waste it."
As the two hesitated over who should have the sausage, a voice came from the side—
“Melodia”.
"Kunimitsu?" Kanade looked up, surprised to see her boyfriend suddenly appear. "What are you doing here?"
The philosophy department and the medical department are quite far apart, so he should eat in the cafeteria, which is closer to the philosophy department.
Tezuka walked up to her and looked down at her. "Professor Antberg asked me to come. I just happened to be heading to the lab." After saying that, he turned his gaze to Lin Tang and greeted her politely, "Hello, Lin Tang."
Lin Tang raised an eyebrow, somewhat surprised that he called her by name. He must have mentioned her to him before. Thinking of this, she felt much better and nodded slightly: "Hello."
After greeting her, she suddenly realized that Tezuka might have overheard her and Kanade's earlier banter. The old saying was right: you really shouldn't talk about people behind their backs; it's all bad karma.
Tezuka paid no attention to her thoughts. His gaze fell on the untouched pickled herring on Kanade's plate, and he smiled inexplicably.
Seeing this, Kazusa sighed: "You know, there aren't many choices on the menu today..."
"Then we won't eat it." From their first meeting, Tezuka knew she didn't like pickled herring. He gently placed the paper bag he was carrying in front of her and said in a low voice, "There are two lunches in here."
He Zou stared blankly at the logo printed on the paper bag. It was a well-known light meal restaurant in Heidelberg, near the philosophy department.
How did he know everything, and even prepare two copies...?
He Zou reached out and shook his hand, looking up at him: "Thank you, Guoguang."
Tezuka stroked the hair at the back of her neck: "Then you and Lintang can continue your meal. I'll go to the professor's place first. See you tonight."
After saying that, he nodded slightly to Lin Tang again, then turned and left.
After he walked away, Lin Tang took the sandwich that had been delivered to him out of nowhere, looked at his friend across from him who was smiling at him, and felt that he was likely to be fed dog food (a Chinese slang term for witnessing public displays of affection) in the future...
She asked with a blank expression, "Aren't athletes very busy? Doesn't Tezuka have a competition schedule?"
"We just finished the competition and are still in the rest period." He Zou thought about her boyfriend's schedule, "The Sunshine Double Tournament is about to start, and he will fly to North America next week to start training."
Although Lin Tang didn't know what the Sunshine Double Competition was, he was relieved. Fortunately, it wouldn't be shown off in front of her too often.
After taking a bite of her sandwich, she suddenly remembered something: "By the way, Melodia, what is the 'core work block of the lab' on your schedule?"
When this was mentioned, He Zou's eyes lit up: "Professor Antberg has allowed me to work as an assistant in his lab this semester, so I can spend at least 24 hours a week in the lab from now on."
Lin Tang jumped up with a start, looking at his friend in surprise: "Really?!"
He Zoucan smiled and nodded: "Yes, really!"
If Lin Tang hadn't been holding food, she really would have liked to pat her head. She couldn't help but praise, "How can our Melodia be so amazing!"
Entering Professor Antberg's laboratory as a third-year student is a significant achievement in the German medical community: it signifies an exceptional resume; it means that the doors of the top academic circles have been opened to her; and it further means that cutting-edge medical resources will be tilted towards her, giving her the confidence to support the first two points.
Lin Tang looked at He Zou, who was quickly finishing her sandwich with her head down. So that's why her lunch time was compressed to less than 10 minutes on her schedule afterward.
She suddenly realized that when she and Zou said they would go to receive the Lasker Award together... they were serious.
Lin Tang sped up her cooking, feeling that familiar sense of excitement returning.
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