Chapter 296: Difficult To Keep It Low-key
Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
Xiao Tong successfully shut her brother up, and she happily continued to play Kings of Glory.
However, her match didn’t go well, and her smile disappeared.
Her teammates died five times in five minutes, and all of them had negative KDA.
Her teammates went AFK and left her alone.
Xiao Tong angrily threw her phone away and leaned on the sofa as she muttered, “A bunch of kids.”
Lu Zhou looked at her.
I told you not to play so much.
Xiao Tong was looking a little depressed, so Lu Zhou left her alone and tried to switch the topic of conversation.
“Stop playing games, tell me about your university life.”
Xiao Tong’s eyes suddenly lit up, and she started to blabber.
Lu Zhou was surprised; although she was a slob at home, she was a “model student” at school.
She ranked first in her cla.s.s and third in the year. Not just that, she was also the leader of the 2017 finance club and was given a national scholars.h.i.+p.
Xiao Tong was right, she wasn’t a disappointment to the Lu family at all. Lu Zhou didn’t have to worry about her living expenses anymore due to her scholars.h.i.+p, and her performance in her first year was even better than Lu Zhou’s.
Normally, the national scholars.h.i.+p was for second-year students. To receive the scholars.h.i.+p as a first-year student meant that one was either really smart or had connections…
Xiao Tong obviously belonged to the former. She earned the recognition of her teachers through her relentless work ethic. In fighting for the scholars.h.i.+p, she spent half a month preparing the PowerPoint materials for the oral defense.
Lu Zhou was genuinely happy for her.
She was really trying her best.
It would be best not to reveal the real reason why she received the scholars.h.i.+p.
As long as she was happy…
…
There were quite a few changes to Lu Zhou’s home.
Although it was still in the same neighborhood, the house had been renovated and looked much more beautiful than before.
In the beginning, Old Lu persisted that he would never spend the money from Lu Zhou’s card and that he couldn’t be persuaded.
Then around July, Lu Zhou told his old man that his salary was US$400,000 after tax. The old man finally changed his mind and accepted his son’s offering.
The timing was perfect; Xiao Tong was off to university so the old couple refurbished their house.
Actually, Lu Zhou’s initial idea was to sell the house and move into a better neighborhood. However, his parents were strongly against this idea.
His father said that he had been living in this house for more than 20 years and that he was emotionally attached to this place.
In the old man’s eyes, this was the best neighborhood. The environment was lively, he was familiar with his neighbors, and there was a place for him to fish nearby.
If they moved into a high rise apartment, they would have more neighbors, but it would be cold and quiet. Plus their children were not around, what if they got sick?
Lu Zhou thought about it and it made sense.
Still, he would definitely choose to live in an apartment, and he believed that Xiao Tong would agree.
Perhaps this was because of them being in different generations.
“One day, if you ever overworked yourself in that big city, you can come and rest in this home. Don’t stare at your phone all day; your father and I never use that thing, and we’re doing just fine.”
Lu Zhou was eating dinner with the family when he heard this.
He swore that he didn’t even use his phone that much. He only used it to share the joy with his fans through Weibo and WeChat.
His mother’s words should be directed at Xiao Tong instead.
Old Lu asked, “Is it cold over there?”
Lu Zhou: “It’s very cold. I got off in Shanghai and had to take my jacket off. Jiangling is a lot warmer than Princeton; it’s so nice here.”
Fang Mei was worried, and she asked, “Is it snowing there?”
Lu Zhou: “Yeah, it is. It’s been snowing since Christmas.”
Fang Mei said, “It must be very cold then, remember to put on your sweater and trousers, don’t catch a cold.”
Although Lu Zhou knew that his parents were only concerned about him, he was still a little annoyed.
Lu Zhou helplessly said, “Okay… I know.”
Old Lu asked, “Is there a heater at your place?”
Lu Zhou said, “My house doesn’t have central heating, but it does have a fireplace. When the doors and windows are closed, the house isn’t cold at all.”
Xiao Tong didn’t speak for this whole time, but then she suddenly got excited and asked, “Fireplace? Bro, did you move out? How big is the new house?”
“It’s pretty big, but not too expensive.” Lu Zhou smiled and said, “If you want, you can take a vacation there this summer.”
“You bought a house over there?” Old Lu looked at Lu Zhou in surprise as he asked, “So you’re not coming back?”
Lu Zhou said without thinking, “Of course I’m coming back. Jin Ling University is still waiting for me to save them. As for the house, I can just sell it when the time comes, it’s not that expensive anyway.”
Old Lu said, “Oh, wow! Money really changes you, look at you showing off.”
“It’s a pity to sell the house. Just keep it and rent it out.” Fang Mei’s concern was somewhere else and she continued, “Xiao Tong can live there when she goes overseas to study.”
Lu Zhou’s parents were oddly attached to houses, and it made Lu Zhou speechless.
He would have to pay a yearly property tax if he didn’t sell the house. Princeton’s housing market wasn’t looking good, and he was a “foreigner”, so he couldn’t take advantage of the New Jersey tax exemption policy.
It was fine if he worked there as his income tax covered his property tax. However, once he returned to China, Princeton wouldn’t pay his taxes anymore.
Xiao Tong rolled her eyes and said, “Mom, how many times do I have to tell you, my major is finance, not mathematics. Even if I wanted to study abroad, I would go to the University of Pennsylvania instead, okay?”
Old Lu said, “What the heck is the University of Pennsylvania? Isn’t Princeton better?”
Ever since he heard that Princeton’s mathematics department was better than Harvard, Harvard’s ranking in his heart had dropped significantly. In his mind, Princeton was the best.
Xiao Tong was speechless; she started to regret arguing with her parents.
Actually, this wasn’t Old Lu’s fault. It was difficult to explain to people the difference between university rankings and course rankings.
Thankfully, Lu Zhou coughed and ended the argument.
“Princeton doesn’t have a business school…”
…
After coming back to China, Lu Zhou was finally able to relax and not worry about his work.
However, a scholar of his level couldn’t escape from work.
Jin Ling University seemed to have estimated that Lu Zhou would come back for Chinese New Year, and in less than two days since he got back, he received a call from Jin Ling University.
Unsurprisingly, it was Professor Tang who called.
Old Tang smiled and said, “Princ.i.p.al Xu told me to ask if you were coming back for New Year’s this year. So, when are you planning on coming back?”
Lu Zhou smiled and said, “I’m already home.”
Old Tang was astonished, and he asked, “What? You’re already back?”
Lu Zhou: “Yeah, I came back after the conference at Berkeley. The schedule was a little tight, so I didn’t tell anyone.”
Of course, the reason why Lu Zhou didn’t tell anyone was actually that he didn’t want anyone to bother him.
He only wanted to quietly enjoy his new year and didn’t want any trouble.
Old Tang sighed and said, “I wanted to buy you a meal before New Year’s Day, but now it seems that isn’t possible.”
Lu Zhou smiled and said, “Are you the one inviting me or is the school inviting me? If you are, I’ll come to see you three days after New Year’s Day.”
“You must be kidding! How are you going to buy a ticket? Just rest at home, I don’t need you to visit me.” Old Tang paused for a second before he said, “Princ.i.p.al Xu told me to ask you when you are back because according to him, he has something to discuss with you.”
Lu Zhou said in a serious tone, “Is it important?”
Old Tang said seriously, “Don’t know if it’s important, but it’s definitely something good for you.”
Lu Zhou the replied politely, “Okay then, on the fifteenth day, I’ll visit Jin Ling University before I go back to Princeton!”