Chapter Seven: The Café

At half past nine in the morning, sunlight poured through the window as Lin Nian opened his eyes and sat up in bed.

Unlike his usual vigor, Lin Nian sat motionless on the bed, staring blankly as if lost in thought. Yet, he was not merely dazing; he was trying to recall a strange dream from the night before.

After sitting quietly for several minutes, he found it difficult to remember any details of the odd dream. This frustrated him. Despite his exceptional memory, dreams were capricious—forgotten as easily as they came, leaving no certainty that they were ever truly remembered.

Unable to recall the dream, Lin Nian gave up. He changed out of his pajamas, folded the blanket, and went to the bathroom to wash up. When he entered the living room, he noticed Lin Xian’s door wide open but found no one inside. On the dining table beside the living room sat a bowl of soy milk and two steamed buns, with a note attached.

“I’ve gone to work. Won’t be home for lunch; back in the afternoon.”

Lin Nian tore off the note and lifted the lid of the rice cooker, finding it empty. He then returned to the table, picked up the soy milk, and slipped twenty yuan—the lunch money hidden beneath the bowl—into his pocket. Taking a bun, he bit into it and stretched.

“A year’s plan starts in spring; a day’s plan begins with the morning.” Whether by season or time of day, today’s morning was destined to be splendid. Lin Nian drew back the curtains by the living room window. The dazzling sunlight illuminated the flower beds outside, where several small pots of dahlias and February orchids Lin Xian nurtured were blooming vividly, their colors bright and uplifting at a glance.

Taking a deep breath, Lin Nian swallowed the bun in a few bites, returned to the table, downed the soy milk in one gulp, tidied up the dishes, and prepared to leave.

Usually, he would be out for his morning exercise by now. But today was different. He had an appointment, and the strange dream had caused him to oversleep, cutting into his usual routine. After years of a fixed schedule, he now had to break it and head out to meet someone.

He went downstairs, turned from the alley onto the main street, and checked the time. The appointment was nearly due. Taking a bus would be too slow, and since he hated being late, he hailed a taxi at the roadside.

“Nanshan Café, I’m in a hurry.”

The driver sped off like lightning, nearly running a red light. After some persuasion, they arrived before ten o’clock. Seeing the fare was twenty yuan, Lin Nian paid with the last of his lunch money.

Pushing open the glass door, Lin Nian scanned the Nanshan Café. Business seemed slow; the place was almost deserted at this hour. His eyes immediately found the person he was to meet.

“Over here!” A blonde girl in a white base shirt with a pink blazer waved at him from a window seat.

The sunlight streaming through the window made her golden hair shimmer like precious silk. Lin Nian thought she must take great care of her hair. Even if the café were crowded, this strikingly beautiful girl would be the first thing anyone would notice.

Lin Nian strode over and sat opposite her. The girl had already prepared a cup of hot coffee for him, the latte art depicting a half-withered giant tree—familiar to him.

“It’s the same as my QQ avatar,” the blonde girl said in fluent Chinese without a hint of foreign accent. “It’s called the World Tree. In Norse mythology, it connects nine worlds. It’s also the emblem of our academy.”

“You speak Chinese very well. What’s your name?” Lin Nian nodded politely.

“I’m Mandy Gonzales, a junior at Kassel Academy. You can just call me Mandy,” the girl smiled.

“You said online yesterday that you’re from Kassel Academy?” Lin Nian got straight to the point, appraising Mandy’s expensive-looking attire, which matched what Zhao Menghua had said about Kassel’s students being elite aristocrats.

“Yes, absolutely genuine,” Mandy replied, shrugging.

“Why the username ‘Kendo Enthusiast’?” Lin Nian asked after a moment’s thought.

“I thought you’d ask directly about Kassel Academy, but I can answer this. Yesterday morning, after seeing you, I figured you probably had many girls from your school adding you on QQ. Knowing your personality, you wouldn’t accept all friend requests, so I had to use a little trick to avoid getting rejected outright,” Mandy explained.

“How do you know my personality? Where from?” Lin Nian’s question struck a critical point.

“Don’t worry, all proper investigation methods. We pulled your school records from Shilan High School and learned about your background from the orphanage you grew up in. But that wasn’t enough to understand you, so I asked Norma to hack your internet café computer to observe you quietly,” Mandy stirred her coffee. “You’re not exactly reclusive, but definitely not outgoing.”

“When did the census bureau start hiring foreigners?” Lin Nian said dryly.

“I’m not census, I’m admissions, though the methods are similar,” Mandy said nonchalantly.

“Was Dean Li brought in by you guys yesterday morning for our work?” Lin Nian asked suddenly.

“Yes,” Mandy nodded. “If we suddenly introduce ourselves as a foreign academy recruiting you, you’d probably think we’re some fly-by-night school. So we decided to take a side approach, letting you discover us on your own.”

“But I don’t really know you yet,” Lin Nian shook his head.

Mandy smiled, “It’s not that you don’t know us; it’s that you don’t want to know.”

With that, she pulled a stack of documents from under the table and slid them to Lin Nian. He opened the first one to find a certified copy of a legitimate university license registered with the U.S. Department of Education. Following were photos of classical, luxurious campus facilities: library, gymnasium, music hall. From the wide shots, Kassel Academy seemed perched halfway up a mountain, resembling a renovated castle. Students in uniform and venerable professors stood at the gate—handsome and beautiful faces of all nationalities, with the professors’ expressions marked by countless battles.

“First, a brief intro: Kassel Academy is a private university located in the suburbs of Chicago, Illinois. It has a partnership with the University of Chicago. Each year, we co-host equestrian, rowing…” Mandy paused to glance at something briefly, then resumed evenly, “hot air ballooning, swimming, and other intercollegiate competitions on Lake Michigan, alongside broader academic exchanges. We were honored to receive your name from Shilan High’s mid-year foreign exchange student list. We believe you meet Kassel Academy’s admission standards and hereby extend you a preparatory student invitation.”

“Preparatory student?” Lin Nian looked at Mandy, who finally relaxed after her recital.

“This is for students not yet in their senior year but qualified for admission. Like you, you can enter the prep class in the second half of your junior year, study until graduation, then take the entrance exam. Pass, and you enter the Illinois main campus; fail, and you return home for the national college entrance exam—so you have the best of both worlds,” Mandy explained.

“I qualify? Why do I qualify?” Lin Nian pondered the meaning of “qualification.”

“Because you’re exceptional,” Mandy said with a meaningful glance. “Kassel only admits students who are extraordinarily outstanding, even excessively so. Your excellence is enough that we can skip the examiner’s interview and admit you directly.”

Lin Nian subtly squeezed the spoon handle, expression unchanged. “Seems I have no reason to refuse an olive branch from a prestigious university.”

“If others received an offer from Kassel Academy, even just the prep class, they’d wake laughing from dreams,” Mandy said softly.

“But I refuse,” Lin Nian shook his head, setting down his coffee spoon.

“Why?” Mandy sipped her coffee, unfazed.

“Can’t afford it,” Lin Nian replied succinctly. “Your kind of university sounds expensive.”

Mandy chuckled lightly, not mocking. Lin Nian sensed no offense. “If Kassel Academy’s chosen students gave up because they couldn’t pay tuition or buy tickets, our school would become a laughingstock.”

“You cover tuition?” Lin Nian showed genuine surprise.

Mandy nodded. “Of course. For students from needy families, the board of trustees provides full scholarships covering tuition and all living expenses during the prep class. If you pass the entrance exam, congratulations—you’ll receive a $36,000 annual scholarship. This covers your four years of university living expenses, and you can even send money home.”

“Sounds a bit too good to be true, like a pie falling from the sky,” Lin Nian said bluntly.

Thirty-six thousand dollars, at current rates, equals about 240,000 yuan, and it’s four years guaranteed. Unless the exchange rate wildly fluctuates, this scholarship is a fortune.

“But the pie really is falling in front of you. You can ask around, check with official bodies if we exist, even call the main campus to verify me. My student ID is Al082321B—you can look me up. If you still don’t believe me, I can have them fax you my ID photo,” Mandy shrugged. “I’m confident in my photo.”

Lin Nian studied Mandy again. Indeed, she had a face that could pass the scrutiny of any iPhone front camera.

At this point, Mandy’s attitude was clear: not afraid you won’t check, only afraid you won’t bother.

“So, afraid we’re selling you off to work in the Middle East mines?” Mandy joked.

“Too far,” Lin Nian said.

“What did you say?” Mandy thought she misheard.

“Chicago suburbs are too far,” Lin Nian clarified. “Sorry, I still refuse.”

“No, the prep class isn’t in Chicago. This batch is in San Antonio, Texas,” Mandy said instinctively.

“Even farther,” Lin Nian shook his head.

“You said you can’t afford it, that I understand. But what’s with ‘too far’?” Mandy’s beautiful face finally showed a conflicted expression.

“Too far is too far. I live with my sister. Leaving him alone in China makes me uneasy,” Lin Nian said. “America’s too far. If something happens to her at home, I’m afraid I won’t get back in time.”

“That…” Mandy paused. She had considered every reason Lin Nian might reject admission—except this one.