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

The inpatient building of Beijing Hospital.

When Lin Feng stepped out of the elevator, he went straight to the ward.

The hospital bed was empty.

The blankets were neatly folded, the bedside table was spotless, and even the bouquet of carnations in the vase was gone. Only a small potted green ivy remained on the windowsill, its leaves glistening in the sunlight.

Lin Feng frowned.

He remembered it clearly—Shen Moran's discharge date was today.

Did I remember it wrong?

He pushed open the door and entered the ward. There was a faint smell of disinfectant in the air, but more so, a different kind of atmosphere—an indescribable sense of emptiness left behind after someone's departure. The wardrobe door was open, but it was empty; in the bathroom, all the toiletries were gone.

He has indeed been discharged from the hospital.

But where is he? Wasn't he supposed to pick me up?

Lin Feng took out his phone, intending to call Shen Moran, but found three missed calls on the screen—his phone had been switched off on the plane. They were all from Xiao Xiao.

Just as he was about to call back, he suddenly heard hurried footsteps in the corridor.

"Lin Feng?!"

The voice came from behind, filled with surprise and relief.

Lin Feng turned around and saw Xiao Xiao running towards him. Today she was wearing a light yellow dress, light makeup, and her hair was carefully styled. She looked radiant and was completely different from the girl who had broken down and cried outside the operating room a month ago.

"Xiaoxiao." Lin Feng went up to her, "Where's your senior? Has she been discharged from the hospital?"

"The discharge procedures were completed this morning." Xiaoxiao said breathlessly, but a mysterious smile appeared on her face. "But Ranran didn't leave; she's waiting for you."

"Wait for me?" Lin Feng asked, puzzled. "Where?"

Xiao Xiao didn't answer immediately, but instead looked him up and down. Lin Feng was wearing a simple white shirt and black trousers today, looking travel-worn, with the weariness of traveling all night still in his eyes—he flew directly from Donghai, went straight to the hospital after getting off the plane, and didn't even go back to his accommodation.

"Come with me." Xiaoxiao turned and walked towards the elevator.

The elevator went all the way up.

It's not going down to the first floor, but going up to the top floor.

The numbers jumped: 13, 14, 15... and finally stopped at the rooftop level.

The door opened.

The scene before him stunned Lin Feng.

The door to the rooftop was open, its frame draped with pale pink gauze and twinkling string lights. A breeze blew in from outside, causing the gauze to sway gently and the string lights to emit a soft, warm yellow glow.

A faint floral fragrance wafted in the air.

"Go ahead," Xiaoxiao gently nudged him from behind. "She's waiting for you."

Lin Feng took a deep breath and stepped out the door.

On the rooftop, he saw a scene he had never expected.

The once empty concrete ground is now covered with white petals. Not roses, but camellias. The petals form a path that winds its way to the center of the rooftop.

In the center, more petals formed a heart shape. Inside the heart stood a person.

Shen Moran.

She wasn't wearing her hospital gown today, nor her usual fashionable dresses. She wore a bright red traditional Chinese wedding gown—not the lavish costumes seen in movies and TV dramas, but a more traditional style, embroidered with lotus scroll patterns. Her long hair was styled in a simple bun, adorned with a white jade hairpin, and her face was only lightly made up, yet she was breathtakingly beautiful.

Sunlight shone on her, and the gold threads on her wedding dress reflected a shimmering light.

She held a bouquet of flowers in her hands, not roses or lilies, but sunflowers—the kind of flowers that always face the sun and are full of vitality.

She smiled when she saw Lin Feng.

It was a joy that welled up from the bottom of my heart, an undisguised joy.

"Junior," she said, her voice soft yet clear enough to cut through the wind, "you've come."

Lin Feng walked towards her step by step.

The petals beneath his feet were soft, sinking in slightly with each step, making a soft rustling sound. The rooftop was high, offering a panoramic view of most of the capital, but his eyes were only on the person before him.

"Senior," he finally stood before her, "this is...?"

"I arranged it myself." Shen Moran looked into his eyes. "I started doing it little by little yesterday afternoon. Xiaoxiao helped me."

She paused, a hint of slyness creeping into her smile: "I knew you'd come today. You've never broken your word."

Lin Feng's throat tightened slightly.

"Junior," Shen Moran took a deep breath, his voice suddenly becoming serious, "listen to me."

A gentle breeze blew by, lifting a few strands of her hair.

"A person's life is probably only about 30,000 days." She began, speaking slowly, each word as if carefully considered. "In the first half of my life, you saved me three times."

"Back in high school, you saved me from some thugs."

"When I was at work, I was framed and almost ruined, but you saved me."

"And this time... I had terminal cancer, and the doctors said there was no hope. It was you who brought the medicine and snatched me back from the jaws of death."

She took a small step forward with each sentence she spoke.

The distance between the two was getting closer and closer.

"Over the years, I've struggled in the entertainment industry, witnessing too much hypocrisy and scheming. But I've become increasingly clear about one thing—" Shen Moran stopped, now only half a step away from Lin Feng, able to see the curve of his eyelashes just by looking up, "I like you."

She spoke those four words softly, yet with great weight.

"It's not just gratitude, not just dependence, it's liking you as a person. I like your humble attitude despite your great abilities, I like your sincerity that has remained unchanged all these years."

Her eyes were red, but her smile remained.

"I don't know exactly what you do for a living, but that confidentiality agreement... I can probably guess something. I won't ask or interfere. It's your career, your responsibility, and I support you."

"I just hope," her voice began to tremble, "that when you're tired and worn out outside, you know there's a place where the light is always on for you, and someone waiting for you to come home. I hope you know that there's someone in this world who holds you in the most important place in their heart."

Shen Moran held the bouquet of sunflowers in both hands and handed it to Lin Feng.

Her eyes shone as if they were filled with starlight.

"Junior, I like you, I've liked you for a very, very long time."

"Would you...be my boyfriend?"

The wind stopped.

Time seemed to stand still.

There were only two people on the rooftop, a bouquet of flowers, and white petals scattered all over the ground.

"Senior," Lin Feng finally spoke, his voice a little hoarse, "Actually, this matter... should be done by me."

Shen Moran was stunned.

"I know you were really tired of leaving the entertainment industry," Lin Feng continued, his gaze gentle. "But I also guessed it was because of me! — Because you saw the confidentiality agreement, guessed the nature of my work, and knew that being a partner of a public figure could bring trouble. So you chose to give up your career and choose a more low-key lifestyle."

He sighed softly, "Thank you for thinking so much about me."

Shen Moran's tears finally fell, landing on the petals and leaving a small wet patch.

Shen Moran's eyes widened.

"Junior, you..." her voice choked with emotion, "You agreed?"

"Mm." Lin Feng nodded and took the bouquet of sunflowers from her hands. "Senior, please guide me for the rest of my life."

The moment she finished speaking, Shen Moran threw herself into his arms.

The sunflower was sandwiched between the two people, its petals slightly deformed by the squeezing, but its brilliant golden yellow was so dazzling in the sunlight that it made people want to cry.

Lin Feng hugged her tightly, his chin gently resting on the top of her head. He could smell the faint scent of shampoo in her hair, feel the trembling of her shoulders, and hear her suppressed, joyful sobs.

"Mr. Lin," Shen Moran said in a muffled voice in his arms, "I hope you will guide me for the rest of my life."

"it is good."

The two of them held each other like that on the rooftop, in the afternoon sunlight, amidst a carpet of white petals.

Xiao Xiao hid behind the door and secretly took a photo—she didn't send it, she just kept it on her phone. In the picture, a girl in a wedding dress was tightly embracing a boy in a white shirt, with a bunch of bright sunflowers between them, and the sky of the entire city in the background.

She looked at the photo, smiled, and wiped the corner of her eye.

very nice.