Finding Stardust

Emma took out her laptop and busied herself in her bedroom with a variety of materials that she had obtained about the organization. Haoran called her at 3 pm and asked about the conference.

"Hey ... it was quite useful. I got a lot of important information there," Emma said. "What are you doing?"

A long sigh was heard on the other end of the phone. "I"m bored. I"ve been studying all the materials for my exam on Monday. I think it will be good. I miss you."

Emma rolled her eyes at Haoran"s words since the young man said it in a whiny tone. She didn"t remember Haoran ever acted this way.

"Do you want me to go to your house?" asked Emma.

"Would you come to my house??" Haoran asked back, but he couldn"t hide his excitement.

"I just happened to be home early from the conference," Emma answered. "I still have some time to spare."

"Where are you now? Still on the Esplanade or at home?"

"Already at home," Emma said.

"Wait there, I"ll pick you up!"

Before Emma could answer, Haoran had dashed to get his car keys and ran down to the garage.

"You"re going to come here? But I can go to your house. Isn"t it easier?" Emma said in surprise.

"It"s okay. I can come and get my girlfriend, can"t I?" Haoran asked her. "I"ll arrive in ten minutes."

Emma just smiled at Haoran"s words. She closed her laptop and started getting ready. When Grandma Lin saw her wash up and check herself in the mirror, she knew Emma was going out.

"Do you plan to spend your weekend with friends?" Oma Lin asked attentively.

"Yes, Grandma," Emma replied. "Haoran will come here to pick me up."

Oma Lin looked at Emma with a meaningful look. She could guess that Haoran was someone special for Emma, judging from the girl"s beaming face when she mentioned his name.

"Why didn"t you ever invite him to dinner here?" Grandma Lin asked suddenly. "I also want to meet him."

Emma was stunned by Grandma Lin"s question. She never invited Haoran to the apartment because she was being self-aware and didn"t want to overstep her place. Even though they lived together, Emma somehow still felt like an outsider living with Grandma Lin. This apartment was Grandma Lin"s, and she was only a guest.

But now, it was Grandma Lin herself who asked Emma to invite Haoran to have dinner with them.

Ahh .. why not? Thought Emma. If Haoran was willing ... it would be nice to introduce him to Grandma Lin.

"I"ll ask him," Emma said, nodding.

"Ahh ... if he is willing to have dinner with us, I will be very happy. I have not cooked for guests for a long time," Grandma Lin said with a radiant face.

Emma knew that Grandma Lin loved cooking because she used to open a food stall. She hoped that Haoran would stop by and get to know the old woman she had considered as her own grandmother.

Ten minutes later, Emma"s cellphone rang. Haoran had arrived in front of her apartment building. Emma hurried out and welcomed the young man.

"Hey ... Grandma Lin invited you to dinner here. Are you willing to come?" Emma asked after tapping on Haoran"s car window. The young man lowered his window to listen to Emma better.

"What did you say?" the young man asked in puzzlement. "Aren"t you going out with me? Why don"t you bring your bag with you?"

"Well, Grandma Lin wanted to invite you to dinner here. What do you think?" Emma repeated the question.

"Oh ..." Haoran looked stunned at Emma"s question. A moment later, his face was decorated with a big smile and he nodded. "Of course. I"ll park my car."

He then parked his car and immediately went out to follow Emma into her unit.

"Grandma loves cooking and I think she has missed cooking for guests. We never had any guests so far." Emma explained.

"Oh ... I"m glad to have dinner with Oma Lin," Haoran said with a smile. "I"ve been wanting to see your home for a long time."

"Don"t compare it to your mansion," Emma said hurriedly.

Of course, the apartment she shared with Oma Lin was tiny and simple compared to the mansion where Haoran lived.

According to Emma"s guess, the size of Haoran"s bedroom was still greater than the whole apartment where Emma lived.

"But I didn"t bring anything for Grandma Lin," Haoran complained. "Should I stop by somewhere to buy flowers or wine?"

Emma shook her head and smiled. When they arrived at the door of her apartment, Emma gave a signal to Haoran to pay attention to her right hand. Not long after that, a bunch of fresh flowers appeared in the girl"s hand.

"We already have flowers," the girl said with a chuckle. Haoran only nodded with an awkward smile.

He still had to get used to seeing Emma use her powers.

"You are amazing," whispered the young man.

Emma smiled and answered, "Thank you."

They then went inside. They could immediately smell freshly baked cinnamon rolls emanated from the kitchen. Haoran walked following Emma who was looking for Grandma Lin to the kitchen.

"Oh ... welcome, Haoran right? I am very happy to meet you," Grandma Lin hurriedly wiped her hands to the ap.r.o.n and hugged Haoran who had just entered the kitchen. "Please sit down. I just made a cake. You will have dinner here, right?"

"That"s right," Haoran said kindly. "Thank you for inviting me."

"Ahh .. it"s okay. I haven"t cooked for guests for a long time. Please enjoy this cake and have tea with Emma. I will go shopping for ingredients at the shop. I will cook a special dish."

Grandma Lin then patted Haoran"s shoulder and headed out of the kitchen. Not long after, the old woman had come out of the apartment to buy groceries, leaving Emma and Haoran alone.

"Uhm .. do you want to tour around this apartment?" Emma asked. "As you can see, this is the kitchen. I can show you the living room, bathroom, my room, and the balcony terrace."

Haoran nodded. He followed Emma who showed him around the three places she just mentioned. The apartment was very simple indeed but clean and comfortable.

"Your place is quite comfortable," Haoran commented.

"Well ... not bad. At least, here I have my own room where I can do whatever I want," said Emma. "In the orphanage, there were too many of these rules and I never felt I had a home."

Haoran was stunned. He almost forgot that Emma lived in an orphanage for a long time. Of course, life there was far more uncomfortable.

"Hmm .. I"m glad you managed to get out of there," Haoran said sympathetically.

"Do you want to hear what happened at the conference?" Emma asked while boiling hot water in a pot. She would make tea for them.

"Of course," Haoran answered.

"Bring the cake to my room. I will make tea for us. We will chat there," Emma said, handing him a tray of cinnamon rolls that Oma Lin had just made. "You won"t believe this, but I met Professor Ren Hanenberg!"

"Profesor Hanenberg... from s.p.a.ceLab?" Haoran furrowed his brows. "What was he doing there?"

"He gave a presentation on cybersecurity measures implemented in s.p.a.ceLab.. and I"ve got him to give me his access code and pa.s.sword." Emma smiled faintly when she remembered what she did to Ren Hanenberg earlier today. She controlled Ren Hanenberg"s mind to give up his personal access to s.p.a.ceLab and made sure he would never change it.