Rejecting Tsinghua and Peking Universities: I Will Lead Harbin Institute of Technology to World Lead

"You're back?"

When Lin Feng carried his son and sister into the living room, his father, Lin Guodong, was sitting on the sofa watching the evening news.

In the living room, the television was broadcasting international news, and the announcer's voice was steady and clear.

Lin Feng gently put the two children down from his arms, and looking at his father's slightly hunched back, an indescribable sorrow welled up in his heart. Three years had passed; his father's hair had turned a little whiter, and his figure had become a little thinner.

"dad."

He called out softly, his voice not loud, but like a pebble thrown into a calm lake.

Swah——

Lin Guodong suddenly turned his head.

When his gaze fell on Lin Feng, he froze as if struck by lightning. The remote control in his hand fell to the sofa with a thud. The old man slowly stood up, his eyes widening, his lips trembling, and after a long while, he managed to squeeze out a sentence:

"Son...you're back?"

His voice was filled with unbelievable excitement.

"What? Our son's back?"

A surprised voice came from the kitchen. Immediately followed by hurried footsteps, and the mother, wearing an apron and holding a damp rag, rushed out.

When she saw Lin Feng standing in the center of the living room, she froze instantly.

The rag slipped from his hand and fell to the floor, splashing up tiny water droplets.

"son……"

Su Wenqing's voice choked with emotion. She walked step by step toward Lin Feng, her eyes quickly welling up with tears. Three years of longing burst forth at this moment.

Lin Feng stepped forward and looked at the wrinkles on his mother's face—marks that hadn't been there when he left. Time had etched its marks on his mother's face.

"Mom, I'm back." He opened his arms and embraced his mother.

Su Wenqing hugged her son tightly, as if he would disappear if she let go. Her shoulders trembled violently, and tears silently streamed down her face, wetting Lin Feng's shoulder.

"It's good that you're back...it's good that you're back..." she murmured repeatedly, as if she wanted to express all the prayers she had made every night for the past three years.

It took the family a long time to calm down from the excitement of their reunion.

Lin Feng sat on the sofa, with his son Lin Sibin in one arm and his younger sister Lin Chuxue in the other. The two children nestled in his arms, curiously looking at this suddenly appearing "father" and "big brother".

Shen Moran brought over hot tea and sat down next to Lin Feng. Tears still lingered in her eyes, but her face was beaming with a happy smile.

"This time, I can stay at home for three months," Lin Feng announced to his family.

As soon as he finished speaking, the living room fell silent.

Lin Guodong and Su Wenqing exchanged a glance, both seeing the surprise in each other's eyes. Shen Moran covered her mouth, afraid she would cry again—three years had passed, and this was the day she had been waiting for.

"Three months? Really?" Lin Guodong's voice trembled slightly.

"Okay." Lin Feng nodded. "I'll stay with you for the next three months."

"That's great!" Su Wenqing wiped away her tears. "Perfect, perfect... You've been gone for three years, Xue'er and Bin'er are so grown up now, and you haven't spent enough time with them yet."

Lin Guodong was already excitedly making plans: "Three months, that's plenty of time! Let's go on a family trip. Son, you don't know, in the three years you've been gone, the family hasn't had a proper trip. Your mother and Moran had trouble getting pregnant, and then they had to take care of the baby. Now that the kids are older, it's perfect timing that you're back..."

Once the old man started talking, he couldn't stop. He talked about all the worthwhile places in China, from Beijing to Hainan, from the Northwest to the Jiangnan region.

Lin Feng listened quietly, his heart filled with guilt.

Yes, when he left, his mother and wife were both pregnant. For the past three years, they had single-handedly shouldered the burden of pregnancy and raising their child, while he, as her husband, son, and father, was thousands of miles away, fighting for the "greater good" and missing every important moment of their "smaller family."

"Okay." He took Shen Moran's hand, looked at his parents, and said, "Let's spend these three months together as a family."

The days that followed were the most relaxed and happiest time for Lin Feng in the past three years.

Their first stop was Beijing.

At four in the morning, the family, bundled up in thick coats, stood among the crowd in the square. As the national flag guard marched out of the Jinshui Bridge with resounding steps, as the national anthem played, and as the red flag slowly rose in the morning light, Lin Feng felt his son's little hand tightly gripping his fingers.

"Dad, the national flag is so high!" Lin Sibin looked up, his eyes sparkling.

"Because our country is great," Lin Feng replied softly.

He silently added in his mind: And everything Dad has done in the past three years is to ensure that this flag can rise higher and more steadily in the future.

Our second stop was the South Island.

Azure sea and sky, coconut palms and sandy beach. It was the first time Lin Feng had seen his son and sister playing on the beach—Lin Sibin chasing the waves in the shallows, while Lin Chuxue squatted on the sand, diligently building sandcastles, and Shen Moran watching them with a smile.

As evening fell, the family sat at an open-air restaurant by the sea, enjoying freshly caught seafood. The setting sun painted the sea golden. Lin Feng peeled shrimp for his son and removed fish bones from his sister's fish, listening to his parents chat about everyday life, savoring this ordinary yet precious warmth.

The third stop: a journey to the Western Regions.

In the desert, they rode camels and watched the sunset. As the setting sun dyed the boundless sea of ​​sand blood red, Lin Chuxue leaned against Lin Feng and whispered, "Big brother, will you come back next time you leave?"

Lin Feng felt a pang of pain in his heart.

He hugged his younger sister tightly and solemnly promised, "I will. Big brother promises you, every time I come back, I will take you and Xiaobin out to play."

Three months passed swiftly, like fine sand in an hourglass, amidst such warm companionship.

They went to the water towns of Jiangnan and rode in awning boats; they went to the snowy plains of Northeast China and saw the rime ice; they went to the southwestern border and experienced the customs of ethnic minorities.

Lin Feng captured every moment with his phone: his son learning to ride a bicycle for the first time, his sister dancing her first dance on stage, his parents walking side by side in the sunset, Shen Moran's profile as she cooked noodles for him in the kitchen...

These ordinary scenes represent the warmth he has longed for most over the past three years, in the laboratory, on the Gobi Desert, and during countless sleepless nights.

However, time never stops for anyone.

On the ninetieth day, Mr. Chen called again.

At that time, the family had just returned to their home in the mountain city after finishing their trip to Southwest China. Lin Feng was in the living room helping his two children with a puzzle when his phone vibrated in his pocket.

He went to the balcony and answered the phone.

"Lin Feng, your vacation is coming to an end." Old Chen's voice came through the receiver, gentle yet solemn. "The Nuwa Project is preparing for its first plasma discharge experiment, and the Heavenly Court System is about to conduct a full-system combat test. You are needed for these two historic moments."

Lin Feng remained silent for a few seconds.

He looked into the living room—his son was showing off a puzzle piece to him, his sister was whispering to him while holding Shen Moran's hand, and his parents were preparing dinner in the kitchen, the aroma of food wafting through the air.

This is the ordinary happiness he has been enjoying every day for the past three months.

"I understand," he finally replied. "I'll be there on time in three days."

After hanging up the phone, Lin Feng stood on the balcony for a long time.

Until Shen Moran walked over and gently took his hand: "Are you leaving?"

"Mm." Lin Feng turned around and pulled her into his arms. "I'm sorry to have kept you waiting again."

Shen Moran shook her head and buried her face in his chest: "It's okay, you go ahead, I'll take care of things at home."

That evening, Lin Feng told his family that he was about to leave.

Lin Sibin and Lin Chuxue reacted the most directly—the two children hugged his legs on either side, their eyes brimming with tears.

"Brother, don't go." Lin Chuxue's small hands gripped the hem of his clothes, refusing to let go.

"Dad, don't go." Lin Sibin burst into tears. "You said you'd always be with me..."

Lin Feng squatted down and hugged both children into his arms.

His heart felt like it was being squeezed, and it ached terribly.

"I promise you, I'll come back as soon as possible after I leave this time." He wiped away the children's tears, his voice gentle yet firm. "Daddy has to go to work, to do something very important. Once Daddy's done, I'll have more time to spend with you."

The children couldn't understand how important something important really was; all they knew was that their father and older brother, with whom they had only spent three months, were leaving.

Over the next two days, Lin Feng will likely spend more time with his family.

He played hide-and-seek with his son one last time, helped his sister complete the 1,000-piece jigsaw puzzle, accompanied his parents to the market, and watched a movie with Shen Moran.

Every moment is like collecting treasures, preparing to savor them repeatedly in the lonely years to come.

The night before departure, Lin Feng waited until the two children were asleep before quietly entering the children's room.

Moonlight streamed through the gaps in the curtains, illuminating the sleeping faces of Lin Sibin and Lin Chuxue. The two children slept soundly, smiles playing on their lips; perhaps their father and older brother were still in their dreams.

Lin Feng bent down and placed a light kiss on each of the two children's foreheads.

"I'm sorry," he said softly. "Wait for Dad (his brother) to come back."

The next morning, before the children woke up, Lin Feng quietly left home accompanied by his family.

At the door, Lin Guodong patted him heavily on the shoulder: "Go ahead without worry, I'll take care of things at home."

Su Wenqing straightened his collar, tears welling in her eyes: "Take care of yourself, and eat on time."

Shen Moran gave him a final hug and whispered in his ear, "We'll wait for you."

Lin Feng glanced at his family for a long time, then turned and walked towards the waiting convoy.

As he started the car, he didn't look back in the direction of his home, afraid he wouldn't be able to leave.

Then, his gaze hardened.

The car drove towards the airport, where the private jet was already waiting.

Three hours later, the plane landed in the northwest.