SFS Chapter 1263 Yun Rui's sincerity: First arrival in the UK
Chapter 1263 Yun Rui's sincerity: First arrival in the UK
The electronic screen at London Heathrow Airport flashed a cold blue and white light, and Lin Xu was dragging his suitcase.
The air-conditioned air, carrying the smell of disinfectant and leather, blew in his face. While queuing at the immigration counter, he heard the passengers in front of him speaking English with a rolled tongue, and suddenly realized that he was thousands of miles away.
The black car that picked us up drove away from the airport, and the late autumn rain streaked across the car window. The driver was silent the entire time, and the car's aromatherapy gave off the scent of cedar and juniper, exactly the same as the smell in Gu Yunqian's office.
Half an hour later, the car stopped in front of a Victorian townhouse in Cambridgeshire. The ivy-covered red brick wall glowed wetly under the street lights.
"Mr. Lin, this is where you will live during your stay in Cambridge." The driver handed over the key. The metal plate was engraved with an exquisite family crest. "The south-facing room on the second floor has been cleaned up."
When you open the door, the warm yellow wall lamp lights up automatically.
A white porcelain vase filled with bluebells was placed at the entrance, and the wooden floor had a warm luster. Lin Xu dragged his luggage up the spiral staircase, and his leather shoes made almost no sound on the thick Persian carpet.
The door of the room at the end of the corridor on the second floor was ajar. When he pushed it open, the scent of cedar mixed with lavender hit him in the face.
The huge French window faces the tributary of the River Cam, on which several wooden boats float. There is a walnut desk in the room, and under the desk lamp is a gold-stamped card, which is a welcome letter from Cambridge University.
The closet is filled with neatly ironed shirts, and even the tie clips are made of sterling silver.
A full set of toiletries was placed on the marble countertop in the bathroom, with his initials printed on the labels.
"Mr. Lin, dinner is ready." A gentle female voice came from downstairs. Lin Xu walked down the stairs and saw a silver-haired lady standing at the kitchen door. She was wearing a navy blue uniform and a small brooch on her apron. "I am Anna, responsible for your food and daily life in Cambridge.
"Mr. Gu has instructed that you should have scientific and nutritious meals for your three meals a day. I will prepare preserved egg and lean meat porridge tomorrow morning."
Lin Xu put the suitcase in the corner of the living room and noticed the latest issue of Nature magazine on the coffee table. When he opened it, the bookmark stuck in it fell out - it was a metal piece with the Cambridge school emblem printed on it.
"Thank you for the trouble." He nodded to Anna and glanced at the schedule on the kitchen counter, finding that even his route to the laboratory tomorrow had been marked.
The night rain was getting heavier, tapping on the stained glass windows. Lin Xu took a hot shower, and the steaming mist blurred the mirror.
He changed into his pajamas and walked to the window. The street below was empty and the street lights turned the raindrops into golden threads.
I opened the suitcase and found that the sketchbook at the bottom was still warm from before departure, but the ginkgo leaf bookmark inside it had completely dried up.
The next morning, Anna prepared breakfast on the carved dining table. The porridge in the blue and white porcelain bowl was steaming, accompanied by a few exquisite side dishes.
"The school bus will arrive in half an hour." Anna handed over a campus map and circled the key buildings in red. "Your advisor is Professor Harold Carter. His office is on the third floor of the Cavendish Laboratory."
Lin Xu took a bite of the soft steamed dumpling and heard the sound of a school bus whistle outside the window.
He put on his schoolbag and picked up the black umbrella Anna had prepared for him at the entrance.
When I went out, the morning mist had not yet dissipated. The Gothic buildings on both sides of the street were looming, and the puddles on the cobblestone road reflected the church spires.
The Cavendish Laboratory is more magnificent than one might imagine, with the names of scientists from past generations engraved on the marble steps.
Lin Xu found the tutor's office on the third floor. When he knocked on the door, he heard the melody of classical music coming from inside. "Come in!" The old voice had a strong Oxford accent.
Professor Harold Carter sat behind a desk piled with papers, his blue eyes behind his glasses sparkling with wisdom. "Lin, welcome to Cambridge."
He stood up and shook hands with Lin Xu, his strength was unexpectedly strong.
"I've seen your research, it's very interesting. But here, we're going to try something even crazier."
The professor pushed open the French window, and humid air rushed into the room. In the distance came the sound of the barcarolle on the River Cam, mixed with the sound of church bells.
Lin Xu looked at the students walking in groups of two or three downstairs and suddenly realized that this arranged study abroad trip might be the beginning of his transformation from a cocoon to a butterfly.
And those secret surveillances are nothing but the most insignificant footnotes in this game of life.
The incandescent bulbs in the Cavendish Laboratory emitted a subtle hum. Lin Xu passed the last set of data through the glass curtain wall. The twilight in Cambridge was dyeing the River Cam amber.
He rubbed his sore wrist and realized that the phone in his lab coat pocket was vibrating. It was a message from Anna. The ginkgo leaf icon kept flashing on the screen: "Mr. Lin, dinner is ready."
When you push open the carved iron door of the villa, the damp scent of ivy hits you in the face.
Anna stood in the entrance, her silver-gray curly hair glowing softly under the wall lamp, and a black mobile phone lay quietly on the tray. "Mr. Gu asked me to pass it to you."
Her voice is like silk soaked in honey,
"The built-in communication software has entered the necessary contacts, including the instructor, the lab assistant, and..." She paused, her eyelashes casting fan-shaped shadows under her eyes, "Me."
Lin Xu took the phone, the metal casing still had body temperature.
In the address book that popped up on the unlocking screen, my parents' numbers were missing.
"If you need to contact China," Anna bent down to pick up his Oxford shoes, the cashmere slippers were just the right temperature, "you can tell me your specific needs, and I will arrange an encrypted hotline."
The candlelight on the dining table flickered gently, and the aroma of the pan-fried cod mixed with the sourness of Bordeaux red wine.
Lin Xu turned the wine glass and looked at the dark red tears on the wall of the glass: "Ms. Anna has been in Cambridge for a long time?"
"Twenty years." She removed the empty plate neatly, and the silverware made a crisp sound. "I first served Mr. Gu's father, and then was transferred to..." She suddenly fell silent, pausing for half a second while wiping the table. "I was transferred here."
The night rain knocked on the stained glass window again. Lin Xu lay on the four-poster bed, staring at the intricate plaster carvings on the ceiling.
The new phone was shining faintly on the bedside table, and the lock screen wallpaper was the emblem of Cambridge University.
He pressed the dial button for some unknown reason, and when he realized he was dialing his mother's number, he laughed at himself - it wasn't even in his address book.
At three o'clock in the morning, the emergency lights in the laboratory suddenly lit up with a faint blue light.
Lin Xu woke up suddenly and found that he had fallen asleep on the laboratory table.
The phone screen displayed unread messages, and Anna's profile picture was particularly dazzling in the dark: "I have reserved a school bus for you tomorrow morning, and I have prepared shrimp rice rolls for breakfast."
He fished out his old phone from his pocket. The SIM card had been taken away long ago, and the last message on the screen was still there before he boarded the plane: "Take care of yourself."
—— It was sent by Gu Yunxi.
This feeling of suffocation followed me everywhere in the following days.
Lin Xu found that his itinerary was calculated to the minute, and even the book he wanted to borrow from the library was on Anna's "suggested list".
One day in the corridor of the Chemistry Department, he was chatting about his hometown with a French exchange student in the same group. Anna appeared at the corner without knowing when, and reminded him with a smile: "Mr. Lin, there will be an online class in fifteen minutes."
One evening in late autumn, Lin Xu was taking a walk along the banks of the River Cam.
The river breeze blew up his scarf, and Lin Xu looked at the sparkling water, and suddenly remembered the glass of always cold whiskey in Gu Yunqian's office.
Thinking about the days when he had no worries about food and drink but no freedom, he suddenly laughed out loud, and that laughter was full of bitterness, and the corners of his eyes were uncontrollably sour and wet...