Chapter 88 Everyone Has Changed
Lin Yao had slipped out of class for over an hour. Lin Yushan only had time today, Saturday, so she went along. She'd entered the classroom that morning to take attendance and had her fingerprints taken. She was also required to take them after class in the afternoon. Failure to do so would count as an absence, affecting her credits. She explained the situation to Lin Yushan and left the drone company club first. Lin Yuxun chased her to the elevator. "Why are you suddenly going away to study?" "Not really, not now. Maybe next year. There are several spots in each class each year. I considered this before I applied." She pressed the elevator button. "You're not working?" "I'm on a team. It's just a one-semester exchange, so it won't hurt me to take a six-month break." "I'll take you home," he said, blocking the closing elevator door. She saw Lin Yushan still at the club. "No, I'm in a hurry. A taxi would be faster." Lin Yushan had been waiting for him to return, wanting to ask a question. Seeing him return with a sullen look on his face, she asked directly, "What's your relationship?" "We've been introduced. We're friends," he said irritably. Lin Yushan shook her head and reached for her coat and bag. "She doesn't want to be your long-term tool, and you're not part of her life plan." Lin Yuxun fumed. "Who treated her like a tool?" "You pay her, and she does things for you—she's a tool." Lin Yushan rolled her eyes at him. "If you want a relationship, do it properly. If you need to find someone to do something for you, just find someone to do it for you. Mixing them up won't end well. You should learn from my mistakes." Lin Yao hurried back to the classroom. Less than five minutes before class ended, she slipped in through the back door and sat in the last row. The class she'd skipped was one of her two majors this semester, "Data, Models, and Decisions." The professor, a young woman named Jiang, glanced at her. She pulled out her phone, ready to send a message, wanting to ask Fang Qin, who sat in front of her, if he'd called her name. Before she could send a single word, a friend request arrived on WeChat, bringing her thoughts to a halt. After class, everyone lined up to have their fingerprints taken. With no one taking attendance, the professor's student assistant grabbed the attendance machine and was about to leave when Fang Qin stopped her. "Please wait a moment, there's someone else." Fang Qin ran to the back row and tapped the table in front of her. "Lin Yao! Take your fingerprints!" After going to the cafeteria with Fang Qin for lunch and returning to the classroom, her friend request wasn't approved. Lin Yuxun messaged her, booking her a room at the on-campus hotel, saying she was tired from running around that morning and asking her to take a break at noon, but she didn't go. He was upset. Knowing her elective class had ended, he planned to chat with her that evening. He messaged her again, saying he had a place booked and wanted to have dinner together. He would pick her up after class. She replied, agreeing. The next class, which she continued in the afternoon, focused on applied systems...
Lin Yao had slipped out of class for over an hour. Lin Yushan only had time today, Saturday, so she went along with it.
She had her fingerprints taken for attendance when she entered the classroom in the morning, and was also required to have her fingerprints taken after class in the afternoon. If she failed to do so, it would be considered an absence, which would affect her credits. She explained the situation to Lin Yushan and left the drone company club first.
Lin Yuxun chased her to the elevator hall.
"Why do you suddenly want to go out and study?"
"It's not too sudden, and I'm not going now. Maybe next year. There are several places in each class every year. I considered this before I applied." She pressed the elevator button.
"You don't work?"
"There's a team here. It's only a one-semester exchange, so it won't affect me if I stop for half a year."
"I'll take you home." He blocked the elevator door that was about to close with his hand.
She saw Lin Yushan was still in the club and said, "No, I'm in a hurry. It will be faster to take a taxi."
Lin Yushan waited for him to come back specifically to ask him some questions.
Seeing him come back with a gloomy face, she asked directly, "What is your relationship?"
"Introductions have been made, friend." He fretted.
Lin Yushan shook her head and went to get her coat and bag. "She doesn't want to be your tool for a long time. Besides, you are not part of her life plan."
Lin Yuxun got angry, "Who treated her as a tool?"
"You give her money, and she does things for you. She's just a tool." Lin Yushan rolled her eyes at him. "If you want to date someone, do it properly. If you want to find someone to do something for you, just find someone to do it for you. If you mix them up, there's no way anything good will happen. You should learn from my mistakes."
Lin Yao rushed back to the classroom. Less than five minutes before the get out of class ended, he slipped in through the back door and sat in the last row.
The class I skipped was one of the two major courses this semester, "Data, Models and Decisions". The professor was a young female professor named Jiang. I glanced at her.
She took out her cell phone to send a message, wanting to ask Fang Qin, who was sitting in front of her, if he had called her name.
Before she could send a single word, a friend request message on WeChat brought her thoughts to a standstill.
After class, everyone lined up to have their fingerprints taken.
No one was recording, so the professor's student assistant took the attendance machine and was about to leave when Fang Qin stopped him. "Wait a moment, please. There's someone else."
Fang Qin ran to the back row and patted the table in front of her, "Lin Yao! Take your fingerprints!"
After going to the cafeteria to eat with Fang Qin and returning to the classroom, her friend request was not approved.
Lin Yuxun sent her a message and booked a room for her in the hotel on campus. He said that she was tired from running back and forth in the morning and asked her to take a rest at noon, but she didn't go.
He was stimulated. Knowing that her elective course had ended, he planned to have a good chat with her in the evening. He sent her a message saying that he had booked a place to eat in the evening and would pick her up after class. She replied and said yes.
The course continued in the afternoon and focused on learning how to use statistics, algorithms and other tools to extract information from data and build models for application in actual business scenarios. Lin Yao believed that her talent pool analysis could be applied and was very interested and listened attentively.
Professor Jiang also gave an excellent lecture. An hour before the end of the afternoon get out of class, she was discussing model applications. She said, "A friend of mine came to visit me from Hong Kong today. He's a professor in the field of artificial intelligence. We chatted over lunch, and I suddenly decided to invite him to share with us how AI technology can serve business decision-making. He was willing to discuss this with us. AI tools are essentially advanced applications of data-based decision-making models. This is a rare opportunity, and students will be able to discuss this with him later."
She was operating the computer while speaking, and the screen showed her internet search path. "Let me introduce..."
Lin Yao didn't hear a single word of what was introduced.
The search path on the screen was exactly the same as the one she had used to secretly observe people. The face she finally landed on was enlarged and exposed on the projection screen. Her body stiffened.
After the teacher introduced them, people entered the classroom.
When the tall and straight male professor came in, the mature men and women in the classroom were open to his youth and handsomeness, and they all exclaimed in admiration at his presence.
"Welcome Professor Pei Yifeng."
After Professor Jiang finished the introduction, he sat in the first row and left the podium to him.
He stood beside the podium with a smile on his face. He was wearing a dark blue mid-length windbreaker, a black turtleneck sweater, and his hair was styled up in a flamboyant style. His handsome face still had the youthfulness she remembered.
Perhaps because he had looked at the list in advance, he knew that there was a high probability that the person he was looking for was among them, and he was also afraid that they had the same name. After interacting with people in a humorous way for a while, he became eager to confirm, and his eyes swept from the front row to the back row, to the middle, until he looked at her. His eyes fixed on her, and he smiled at her with pursed lips.
"You can provide some historical sales, policies, competitor data, etc., and divide the groups into groups to do AI decision-making simulations..." He first threw out the business scenarios familiar to MBA students, and used "business pain points" to connect AI technology, with his eyes fixed on her half of the time.
Her mind went back to the past.
The last time Datou and Heipi both said they didn't know he went back was after she took the college entrance examination, when they met at the ferry.
Apart from what they said at the time, all she remembered was a rough outline. It was probably a few days after the score check, or he had come directly from Beijing during the holiday, or it was probably a few days of heavy rain, and the water level of the Yangtze River had risen, otherwise why would the river surface be so turbid...
He was holding something like a stuffed animal and a bouquet of flowers. In her current mood, she couldn't see the doll or the flowers; the wind from the ferry was burning her.
He advised her to cheer up and that she could take the postgraduate entrance examination in the future as there would be plenty of opportunities. She said that he came to laugh at her and that she would never take the postgraduate entrance examination and would never compete with him again. She said that he was a shadow in her life and made her disgusted and asked him to disappear. These were all the angry words that Tang Ruifen said after she slapped her in the face before they met. After that, she ran away along the river.
She thought he knew she was just saying that in anger, and she always fantasized that he would come to her one day.
Last time we met, now we are looking for each other. But everything has changed.
Everyone has changed, including her. When she thinks about these things, Lin Yuxun appears in her mind.
She asked Fang Qin to put away the chair and let her go. Under his gaze, she left the classroom and wanted to take a breath.
She sat alone on the sofa in the lobby on the first floor of the teaching building for a while, feeling much calmer. As class was about to end, Lin Yuxun sent another message. He must have arrived at the parking lot. He told her it was drizzling outside and asked if she had an umbrella so he could pick her up in the classroom. She told him to just wait for her.
When she entered the classroom again, the class was over. Pei Yifeng was surrounded by a bunch of people adding each other on WeChat. He found her among the crowd.
She should say hello anyway. She returned to her seat, packed up her computer, and waited quietly for him.
He broke away from the classmate he wanted to communicate with, put away his phone, said something to Professor Jiang, and walked towards her.
"Yaoyao." He called softly and stood beside her.
"Brother Xiaofeng." She turned around and smiled appropriately.
"Professor Jiang is my schoolmate, and we're good friends." He explained why he was in class. He turned around and glanced at the podium, but no one was there. He raised his voice a little, "Want to have dinner together tonight?"
"I have an appointment with my boyfriend. Sorry. I'll treat you to dinner next time I have the chance." Her voice became louder.
He put his hands in his pockets and glanced at her cell phone on the table. The screen lit up and a call came in. He was speechless for a moment.
"How is Aunt Lan Jing?" She changed the subject to ease the atmosphere.
He lowered his head slightly, "She...is gone."
There was a silence.
He raised his eyes to look at her again. She had her hands covering her face, her back turned, and her body shaking uncontrollably with sobs.
Her feelings towards Chen Lanjing are quite complicated.
"Don't be sad...Yaoyao." He stepped forward and gently placed his hand on her shoulder to comfort her.
After two or three minutes, she took out some tissues from her bag, wiped herself dry, and turned around. "When did it happen?"
"I just finished dealing with it last week." His eyes were red. "I came here specifically to see you. Give me some time in the evening. I want to talk to you."
She knew what losing Chen Lanjing meant to him: his only remaining, deepest family bond was gone.
The phone rang again.
She was torn between two things. She picked up her phone and answered it, her voice apologetic. "I'm sorry, I have something urgent to do and can't go."
"What's up?"
"I'll tell you later, go back first."
Her voice sounded strange because of crying just now, and she hung up without waiting for any response from the other end.
The two of them walked out of the teaching building. The drizzle continued. She took out an umbrella from her bag, and when she saw that he didn't have one, she leaned towards him.
He took it and held it for her. It was a small umbrella, and she kept a little distance from him, so that the umbrella was almost entirely over her head.
The parking lot attendants had calculated the end of class and had already driven their cars out to wait nearby. Parking was not allowed here, and he had been chased away by security several times. He heard something strange about her voice on the phone, and he didn't see her come out, but he didn't give up. It wasn't until they approached under the umbrella and he saw who was next to her that he understood, shocked, and anxious.
He had a strong urge to get out of the car and stop the person, but he leaned over the steering wheel and forced himself to calm down.
In the taxi, they spent almost the entire ride talking about Chen Lanjing. Lin Yao asked what kind of food he wanted and whether she could treat him to Cantonese cuisine. He said he missed Chen Lanjing and the taste of the food they used to eat together, and asked if it would be convenient for him to go to her house and have a bowl of the same noodles that Chen Lanjing had cooked.
She couldn't refuse and brought him along.
After entering the house, she said politely, "Brother Xiaofeng, please sit on the sofa for a while."
He looked around the house, which had no trace of a man, took off his windbreaker, and followed her into the kitchen.
"I'm sorry for making you work so hard. I'll help you."
"No need, go sit down." She opened the refrigerator door and took out some things.
He just stood by and watched her.
She looked back at him, and seeing that he didn't go out, she felt uncomfortable, "Why didn't my sister-in-law come with you?"
She reminded him that he should have boundaries.
"We broke up." He said calmly.
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