NOVEL NEXT Chapter 105.2: No One Can Put It Down (2)
But she soon found what was inside the envelope wasn’t a cheque but a slightly old photo. She didn’t hold it well and it nearly fell to the ground, if not for Cheng Lin’s fast reflexes catching it in mid-air.
Cheng Lin took a look at it and asked, “Is this a photo you took when you were younger?”
Ji Fanyin leaned over to take a look.
The slightly yellowish photo showed a boy and a girl chatting with each other beside a swing in a playground. The boy was seated in a wheelchair whereas the girl was hugging a thick book titled ‘Exoskeleton’.
“Yeap,” Ji Fanyin said with a smile. “It sure brings up memories.”
“… He has been maintaining that cold expression since that age?” Cheng Lin clicked her tongue in annoyance. She flipped the photo over and saw that someone had labeled the photograph’s date and location. She scoffed, “What a tearjerker. He must be emotionally jerked off sending this photograph to you as a birthday present. Hah, a cheque would have been so much better from someone like him.”
Ji Fanyin quietly walked off and began organizing the other packages.
In truth, she knew what Li Xiaoxing was up to. He was trying to stoke her memories of their childhood in hopes that she would remember her previous promise to treat his legs.
What appears to be a heartwarming reminiscence of the past suddenly doesn’t look as innocent anymore. It’s all filled with selfish thoughts.
“Song Shiyu gave you a painting,” Cheng Lin said.
By the time Ji Fanyin snapped out of her daze, she saw that Cheng Lin had already tore open the other few packages.
“What? It’s much easier for me to bring the items back like this!” Cheng Lin replied defiantly.
Ji Fanyin didn’t say a word. Instead, she glanced at Song Shiyu’s painting and recognized it right away.
Indeed, it was the painting that Song Shiyu had given to the other ‘Ji Fanyin’, only to buy it back and gift it to Ji Xinxin afterward. It looked like he had ended up buying it back a third time.
He really thinks that it’s the item that matters. Not to mention, the other ‘Ji Fanyin’ doesn’t like this painting at all. She thinks that it’s too abstruse.
Ji Fanyin was honestly confused by Song Shiyu’s maneuver. She shook her head and said, “Please bring this painting back for me too.”
Cheng Lin agreed to the request.
This was only the gifts for the first year. In the three years she spent studying in Oxford, she received yet another three waves of presents.
After three and a half years, after publishing over twenty scientific journals and becoming a leading figure in her two key research topics, she was finally ready to return to China.
Oxford had offered her the generous terms in order to keep her with them. By this point, Ji Fanyin had already become a top-notch researcher that all universities wanted to recruit. It was just that money was never a concern to her. The fortune left behind by the other ‘Ji Fanyin’ was more than enough for her to live comfortably for the rest of her life.
In fact, the studio the other ‘Ji Fanyin’ had co-founded had grown to become a powerhouse in the film industry, such that just the dividends she received every now and then was enough to make her a rich madam.
After careful consideration, she rejected Oxford’s offer and decided to enter the Chinese Academy of Sciences. From the moment she entered the organization, she was already classified as a rank four researcher.
Six years later, she was nominated for the first time as a fellow.
The study room that she had specially reserved to park gifts for the other ‘Ji Fanyin’ was starting to run out of space, so she had no choice but to spend some time organizing them. Even though she had never responded to any of the gifts, they still arrived punctually every year.
There were times that Ji Fanyin wondered if the gifts were some sort of nostalgia trip down memory lane or just a simple habit.
It should stop when they’re finally able to put it down. It’s just that so many years have passed, but no one has been able to put it down.
The Chinese Academy of Sciences worked in a way where it was impossible for an individual to apply for fellowship. They could only be recommended by an organization or existing fellows. By the time Ji Fanyin learned that she was a candidate for fellowship, she had already received over forty nominations from other fellows.
As always, the Chinese Academy of Sciences posted an official announcement congratulating those who were awarded fellowship online. Such announcements rarely caused a stir on the internet, but Ji Fanyin surprisingly went viral.
She was the youngest ever person to be awarded fellowship, not to mention that she was pretty. It was inevitable that she would catch the eye of marketing accounts and ordinary netizens.
The students of Lakeside University fully expressed their astonishment on the forums.
“Woah, this incredible figure actually came from our school’s English Faculty?”
“She squandered twenty years of her life and only started walking on the path of research after she graduated from university. Even so, she still managed to become the youngest fellow of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. On the other hand, I’m desperately praying hard to the deities to pass my theoretical biology exam tomorrow…”
“I’ve already been kneeling in front of my laptop for an hour now. Maybe I should start praying to Ji Fanyin instead. Her intelligence might just rub off me.”
“I just want to scream: How can that big sis be so beautiful!!!”
“Oh!!! That name sounds familiar to me. I think she has a twin sister, but her twin sister was always the one who performed better academic-wise. In comparison, she was the normal one.”
“You must be kidding me! She’s the normal one?! God, I just want to be normal for once too!”