After Zhou Ziang arrived at Cornell University, he learned from his mentor that only seniors facing graduation or graduate students enrolled in Cornell research institutes could engage in various types of gene variant experiments. This meant that if he wanted to find the type of mutated spiritual power he could absorb, he could only do so through continuous study. The university employed a credit system for academic progression, and after spending the first month adapting to the environment, Zhou Ziang meticulously designed a plex course schedule for the following two months. He had to constantly press his time to obtain a replenishment of spiritual power before the energy in the Gold Grade Space ran out, and even more so, to make a breakthrough in it.
Peering down through the patterned window glass, Zhou Ziang saw a group of Chinese students on the grass below the library. Today was Chinese New Year’s Eve, and the overseas students, feeling especially homesick, disregarded the cold winter weather and gathered together with food and beer to keep vigil through the night.
A Chinese student from Shanghai looked up and spotted Zhou Ziang. After a moment’s hesitation, he still raised the beer bottle in his hand and gestured an invitation to Zhou Ziang.
He was also Zhou Ziang’s roommate, and their relationship was neither particularly good nor bad. In his eyes, Zhou Ziang was a very cool yet diligent student. Like all students who went abroad to study at the end of the 1990s, most of them came from wealthy families and had certain aspirations, yet few were seen burying their heads in their studies as Zhou Ziang did, dedicating seventeen out of the twenty-four hours of the day to learning.
"Ang, e down and share a bottle," the Shanghai student shouted again toward the window. Zhou Ziang smiled and decided to put his studies aside for the night. He closed his textbook, rearranged the chair to its original position, and walked downstairs.
As he passed by the entrance, a blonde American girl rushed in hurriedly and bumped into him. The girl frowned displeasedly, and by her ear was a faint "Sorry." Zhou Ziang spoke and walked away, without gazing intently at the beautiful face of the American student like the others.
The girl straightened her clothes and noticed that a course schedule lay on the ground, which she picked up. After inspecting the crammed schedule, surprise flickered in her eyes.
Most faces on the lawn were yellow-skinned, interspersed with three or four white and black international students who admired Eastern culture.
Among the crowd of students in their early twenties, Zhou Ziang looked somewhat youthful. But once he started talking, the youthful aura, like the setting sun at the horizon, slowly dissipated.
Everyone was stunned upon learning that Zhou Ziang was only seventeen years old and had been admitted on a full scholarship. In those days, studying abroad was a matter of great pride, and being exceptionally accepted by a foreign university was even more remarkable.
"You young folks really make others envious. Studying in the library even during the New Year’s festival, you’re so dedicated," mented Yao Feng, a Hong Kong student in his late twenties, who was the oldest among the group of students. Yao Feng was pursuing graduate studies at Cornell, and he often took care of new junior classmates, which is why the other students affectionately called him Brother Yao. Yao Feng had done his undergraduate studies in bioengineering at Hong Kong Chinese University. After working for a year post-graduation, he then came to Cornell for graduate studies. Unlike undergraduate degrees, graduate studies involved substantial research ponents, and over the years, Yao Feng worked part-time in his advisor Dr. Shangsai’s research lab while pursuing his degree.
"Brother Yao, it’s not quite right for you to say so. Everyone knows you haven’t gone home for three years straight, spending all your holidays helping out in the lab. You should have no problem getting your green card this year, right?" quipped one of the students, having had a few beers and feeling chatty.
The mention of a green card drew over a dozen pairs of eyes to Yao Feng; they all knew his family was not well-off and that he hadn’t gone home for years not just to save on travel costs but also to strive for performance, hoping to secure a researcher position at Dr. Shangsel’s lab. With steady employment, Yao Feng could obtain a U.S. green card.
Yao Feng looked around at all the students; seeing those radiant and carefree faces, he felt a pang of sorrow in his heart. "Hopefully. The lab recently got a new project, which another graduate student from Taiwan, Zheng Hao, and I are responsible for. If it’s successful, the chances of staying at the lab are quite high. But, that guy is spending the evening with his new girlfriend and didn’t show up. Let’s not talk about such dispiriting things. I brought some dumplings; the most famous dumplings from Northeast Auntie in Chinatown. Let’s all have some to satisfy our cravings."
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