329: I'll wait for you to come back.

It wasn't appropriate to always have Xinxin post on Moments. Lin You still felt bad for his tool-man. Besides, if a guy always posted about other guys on Moments, it would seem a bit too strange... Lin You and Xinxin's relationship before was pure brotherly... No, father-son love!

If he sent the photos to the group chat of four, Du Zhaoyu was in the group anyway and would see that Lin You came to Eastern University to find Xinxin.

However, sending photos directly seemed a bit odd. To make it more reasonable, Lin You could only pull out Su Wenwen, who had long since surrendered, for 'oppression'.

Lin You did this for Xinxin's sake, but was 'stabbed in the back' by his good brother.

Lin You felt wronged, but Lin You didn't say anything!

"After you scored 690 in grade 12, Wenwen gave up on competing with you. Why are you still chasing after her to 'kill' her even in college?"

"Oh, Su Wenwen hasn't even accepted you yet, and you're already siding with her."

Xinxin was silent for a moment, then after a few seconds, he looked up at the sky at a 45-degree angle. "Tell me, why must love exist in this world? Love is too hard, unrequited love is too bitter, not sweet at all. You, tell me... does Su Wenwen really have no feelings for me at all?"

Is love really that hard?

Lin You tilted his head, looking at the melancholic Xinxin. Even in another timeline, Lin You, without the system, had only lost confidence due to repeated failures. If he were just a bit braver, he could embrace love at any time.

But for ordinary people, love is sometimes simple, yet sometimes incredibly difficult.

What you desperately pursue, you ultimately cannot obtain; what is within reach, you have no desire to pick.

The right person is the one you want, and coincidentally, the one you can have.

For ordinary people, this is immense luck.

Finally, Lin You could only hook an arm over Xinxin's shoulder and console him: "Just do good deeds, don't ask about the future."

Xinxin's brewing emotions instantly collapsed, and he said testily, "Are you treating me like QQ Zone? Sending me off with such an old saying."

"The you today she ignores, the you tomorrow she can't afford!"

"I'm not Jack Ma!"

"Thirty years... east, thirty years... west, don't... be poor!"

"We've known each other for a while, who's Xiao Yan? I'm really not familiar!"

After chatting with Xinxin for a while, Lin You considered it a relaxation... Two days later.

The list of National Scholarship winners was out.

As expected, Lin You's team of three won the National First Prize!

Teacher Hu Xian was also in the four-person group chat for the competition team. Lin You immediately saw the messages from You Xinyue and Wang Chun.

You Xinyue: "We got national first prize!!!"

Wang Chun: "Awesome!!!! (Voice breaking)"

Lin You smiled and sent a 'calm down' emoji.

Lin You did not underestimate the heroes of the world. With the help of the system, for a long time in high school, there were many true geniuses who could rival him, even with the title enhancements.

But even so, Lin You believed that the paper he had written with all his effort during the competition, even if it didn't win the Higher Education Press Cup, would at least earn him a chance to compete for it.

The four-person group chat was lively for a few minutes, but Teacher Hu Xian didn't appear and didn't reply to the three people's @ messages of thanks.

Gradually, the three of them guessed something, and the group chat returned to silence.

You Xinyue and Wang Chun might have been somewhat expectant and nervous, but Lin You was unaffected and went to the Library as usual.

Today was Monday. On Sunday, Lin You had gone to Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics to see Xiao Yi, and also chatted with Sister Wen Chun about work.

Sister Wen Chun was the manager of Nandu City's first store. After the New Year, when Lin Meimei came to Nandu City to open a branch, Sister Wen Chun would definitely be entrusted with important responsibilities by Lin You. In another timeline, Sister Wen Chun was like a sister-in-law, and now in Lin You's eyes, she was also family.

Under Lin You's instructions, Sister Wen Chun could first scout locations for branch stores in Nandu City during the two months before the New Year.

The Library was still crowded on Monday. With less than a month until the postgraduate entrance exam, although they were all in the Library, Lin You had only occasionally chatted with Qu Qinghuan recently, without disturbing her too much.

Lin You found a corner by himself and enthusiastically continued his upgrade task for the [Mathematics] title.

After an unknown amount of time, Lin You felt his phone vibrating continuously in the backpack hanging on his chair. He quickly pulled out his phone and saw that the call was from Teacher Hu Xian.

Lin You walked towards the corridor outside the study room. After reaching the corridor, he answered the phone. On the other end was Teacher Hu Xian's slightly anxious voice.

"Lin You, where are you?"

"Teacher Hu, I'm at the Library."

"Are you busy?"

"Not really, I'm studying."

Teacher Hu Xian seemed to take a deep breath on the other end of the phone, then said with forced calmness: "Your competition paper has been selected by the national organizing committee of the event, and you need to go to Beidu City to participate in an expert interview and defense. The location is Beidu University, and the time is three days from now. At noon two days from now, I'll take you all to depart together. I just sent a message in the group, but saw you didn't reply, so I called you. Remember to send me your ID card number, and I'll buy tickets for the high-speed rail for everyone."

"Okay, Teacher Hu."

Lin You wasn't too surprised. Because of Teacher Hu Xian, Lin You had known about the Higher Education Press Cup for a long time and had given his all to the competition.

With the system, if he participated in a competition and didn't aim for the highest award, wouldn't that be letting down system daddy's favoritism?

As he walked back to the study room, Lin You suddenly realized something was amiss. Three days later... wasn't that the semi-finals of Eastern University's Campus Singer Competition?

Lin You had already decided on the song with Xie Xingmeng and had privately discussed it with Xinxin. He planned to create a sense of ritual for Xie Xingmeng at Eastern University.

Thinking of this, Lin You exited the study room, went to the corridor, and called Teacher Hu Xian back.

"Hello, Lin You, do you have any other questions?"

"Um, Teacher Hu, for the expert interview and defense, what's the specific time three days from now, and how long will it last?"

"The specific time is nine in the morning three days from now. There shouldn't be many teams participating in the interview, so it should all be over around twelve noon."

"Are there any other official activities after the interview and defense?"

"No, but if you want to have some fun, I can take you around Beidu City."

That's good... Lin You breathed a sigh of relief.

After another brief chat, he hung up the phone. Lin You returned to his seat in the study room, checking high-speed rail and flight tickets between the two cities, and slowly formed a plan in his mind.

He opened the group chat, clicked on the notification Teacher Hu Xian had just sent in the competition team's four-person group, screenshotted it, and sent it to Xie Xingmeng.

Lin You: "Screenshot.jpg"

Lin You: "Little Mengmeng... I might not be able to participate in the semi-finals with you. The semi-finals of the Singer Competition clash with my expert interview in Beidu City for the Higher Education Press Cup award. I just called the team leader, and after the teacher asked the event officials, the reply was that we have to stay at Beidu University until at least 5 PM."

The semi-finals of Eastern University's Singer Competition started at 7 PM.

If it were according to the lie Lin You made up, two hours would definitely not be enough to rush back from Beidu City to Nandu City.

Not long after, Xie Xingmeng's reply came.

Little Mengmeng: "!!!"

Little Mengmeng: "I just looked up this Higher Education Press Cup award! Youyou, you're amazing!!! Your competition must be more important! How can my competition compare to yours?!"

Lin You looked at the reply on his phone, the corners of his mouth unconsciously curling up. He recalled the experience from another timeline, where he gradually emerged from the shadows with Xie Xingmeng's encouragement.

Actually... it can compare.

Xingmeng, your competition is even more important than mine.

Perhaps this Higher Education Press Cup carried Teacher Hu Xian's regret and You Xinyue and Wang Chun's expectations.

But there are degrees of closeness between people. How could Lin You abandon his promise to Xie Xingmeng for the regrets and expectations of others?

After arriving in Nandu City, Lin You had given Xie Xingmeng a promise—

"In winter, I'll give you a formal confession."

Xie Xingmeng wasn't a foolish girl. When Lin You encouraged her to participate in Eastern University's Singer Competition and also expressed his intention to join, she vaguely knew that Lin You must be planning something... Eastern University had tens of thousands of students, with hidden talents, and even Xie Xingmeng and Lin You couldn't guarantee reaching the final.

Therefore, in Xie Xingmeng's eyes, this semi-final might also represent the 'formal confession' Lin You would give.

Xie Xingmeng was a traditional and serious person. She was willing to stay by Lin You's side, watching him continuously improve and pursue his dreams, even if it was her confession... it didn't matter... anyway!

As long as Lin You could say it himself, even if it was just a simple sentence, even if they just found an secluded corner, for her, it would be the most romantic scenario.

Little Mengmeng: "You go ahead and focus on your competition, I'll wait for you to come back."

Lin You looked at Xie Xingmeng's sensible demeanor, knowing that she wasn't angry, nor was she sulking, because Xie Xingmeng was just that kind of person.

In the past, as long as Lin You was doing the right thing, she would prioritize Lin You's matters.

After their feelings deepened, if it was Lin You, even if it was the wrong thing, she would still prioritize Lin You's matters.

Lin You had reviewed and re-examined the fragments of affection and memories between his three good friends many times.

Xie Xingmeng wasn't like Du Zhaoyu, with their childhood 'hero saving the beauty,' nor like Wang Xiaoyi, with the life-and-death separation at age 29.

Xie Xingmeng, at the right time and place, accompanied him through the long years of his youth. There weren't many ripples, and their interactions weren't much different from most ordinary couples. But... during that time, Lin You was just a disheartened university student who had failed the College Entrance Examination, had no bright future, and couldn't even take care of himself.

Even an ordinary Lin You was liked by the radiant Xie Xingmeng~

Xie Xingmeng, ah, was willing to grow up with the 'useless' Lin You.

Lin You: "Xingmeng, having you is truly wonderful."

...Two days later.

After Lin You, Wang Chun, and You Xinyue met up, they got into Teacher Hu Xian's car and headed to the high-speed rail station.

Along the way, everyone in the car was a bit excited.

"These past two days feel like a dream. Do I really deserve a Higher Education Press Cup award?" Wang Chun chuckled like an idiot.

Teacher Hu Xian smiled, "If you're lucky enough to have Lin You as your captain, then of course you do. It's just a Higher Education Press Cup; this is just Lin You's starting point."

Including Teacher Hu, the three members of the team other than Lin You had almost witnessed how Lin You, in a short period, went from a novice in mathematical modeling to a mathematical modeling master.

And the most perverted thing was that during this process of becoming a mathematical modeling master, Lin You also casually learned several important Physics courses, learned several programming languages related to the competition, as for mastering essay writing, that little thing... it was almost not worth mentioning.

A genius.

A genius who crushed everyone.

Truly worthy of being a genius who scored full marks in five subjects in the College Entrance Examination, with a total score of 737.

Even the exam score might have limited Lin You's actual ability.

You Xinyue and Wang Chun exchanged glances, then looked at Lin You, who was sitting in the front passenger seat.

You Xinyue was a relatively traditional girl when it came to relationships, valuing loyalty and commitment, and utterly despising perverts.

But Lin You's formidable nature... even made her overlook his pervert traits.

You Xinyue smiled sweetly and said, "Teacher Hu, you really have good judgment, daring to choose Lin You, a freshman, to join our team."

The original three members of the team had almost forgotten about the previous captain who was responsible for the mathematical modeling part.

Teacher Hu did not take credit, "I merely trusted Academician Zheng Boyan's judgment."

Lin You listened with a grin for a long time. It's hard not to be happy when being praised.

"Hey, stop praising me, it's so embarrassing... I only did some minor work..."

...The high-speed rail from Nandu City to Beidu City takes three and a half hours in total, which isn't too long and is a relatively convenient travel option.

Although flying is faster, if you factor in the time to get to the airport, waiting for the flight, and potential delays, the high-speed rail is a better choice.

Lin You had already bought a high-speed rail ticket for his return tomorrow as well.

Once on the high-speed rail, it wasn't long before Lin You sat in business class for the second time.

Teacher Hu Xian had said that travel and accommodation expenses could be reimbursed by the school, but the standard for a few students naturally wouldn't reach the business class level.

Lin You could only sigh, as expected of a university teacher who drives a luxury car.

Wang Chun and You Xinyue voluntarily sat together, giving Lin You the opportunity to sit with the beautiful teacher.

Nothing happened along the way. Although Lin You... got together with Sister Yin, he wasn't a pervert who had special feelings for teachers.

Upon arriving in Beidu City, they checked into a hotel booked near Beidu University, with four rooms for the four of them.

After dinner, although Wang Chun and You Xinyue had the idea of looking around... they were just accessories; Lin You would still be the main force tomorrow, so they weren't actually needed.

However, the two of them obediently stayed in the hotel and didn't go anywhere.

If you're clinging to a powerful figure, you have to have the awareness of doing so. The powerful figure is diligently preparing for the expert interview at the hotel, while the two accessories go out to play... does that make sense?!

At 7 PM, Lin You brought Teacher Hu Xian and his two teammates, preparing to stroll around the nearby Beidu University campus.

"Isn't it just doing the previous interview again? What's there to be nervous about~"