Twenty-three, new life

  Stanford University in the United States was founded in 1885.

  At the time, California railroad magnate and former Governor of California Leland Stanford decided to establish Stanford University in memory of his son who died of typhoid while traveling in Italy. He took out 8180 acres of his farm used for training thoroughbred horses as the campus of the school.

  So even today people still call Stanford "the Farm".

  At Stanford University, bicycles are a necessary means of transportation for students.

  In the 1960s, when the University of California at Berkeley was renowned for both academic and student activism, Stanford University was still "sleepy". But today, Stanford is regarded as the "Harvard of the West Coast".

  With over 8,000 acres of land, the university thought it would be impossible to use all of it, so in 1959, the Dean of the School of Engineering proposed an idea - this was a turning point for Stanford University: to lease 1,000 acres at a very low rent, only symbolic, for a long time to industry or alumni to set up companies, and then have them cooperate with the school to provide various research projects and internship opportunities for students.

  Stanford became America's first "industrial park university" in its campus.

  Benefiting from the huge gains brought about by this proposal, Stanford put itself at the forefront of America: "industrial parks" enterprises opened one after another, soon exceeding the land area that Stanford could provide, expanding outward to form the high-tech and elite gathering place in California, USA - "Silicon Valley".

  Stanford University is surrounded by tech companies and enterprises, closely tied to high-tech, business, practicality, and pioneering spirit, the typical "American Spirit".

  As the US West Coast "high-tech belt" rose, various computer companies, including "darling of the century - Microsoft", set up camps along this line, and Stanford University's position became increasingly important.

  If Harvard and Yale universities represent the traditional humanistic spirit of America, then Stanford University is a symbol of the 21st century's technological spirit.

  Stanford University is a four-year private university ranked #5 in National Universities by US News & World Report and #1 in Academic Ranking of World Universities.

  In 2002 US News reported Stanford Engineering as #2 in the nation.

  The College of Education ranks second in the nation.

  The School of Business and Economics is ranked first.

  The Stanford Graduate School of Business and the Stanford Law School are among the top-ranked business and law schools in the United States. At one time, six of the nine justices on the US Supreme Court were graduates of Stanford Law School.

  In doctoral program rankings, Biology is first;

  Computer Science tied for first with Carnegie Mellon University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and the University of California at Berkeley;

  Third in geology

  Mathematics tied for third with Princeton University and the University of California, Berkeley;

  Physics tied for third with Harvard University, Princeton University and the University of California, Berkeley; applied mathematics fourth; chemistry fifth.

  Other courses in the forefront include English, psychology, mass communication, biochemistry, economics and drama.

  According to a recent official statistics, Stanford University's average annual salary for new graduates ranks first among all American universities.

  In 1998, Chelsea Clinton, the only daughter of US President Clinton, chose Stanford University and became a "new" student there, which is also another proof of Stanford's strength.

  Xu Fu was just accepted by this famous university's study abroad invitation.

  After completing the admission procedures at the school administration office, Fang Jixin came out with a big sweat.

  His poor English made communication between them very difficult.

  If it weren't for the school finding a Taiwanese exchange student to help with translation, I have no idea how long this would have dragged on.

  As soon as they walked out of the administration building, Fang Jixin wanted to say thank you and express his gratitude for the help from the Taiwanese student. Unexpectedly, the other person gave him a cold stare and turned around to leave.

  He agreed to bring Fang Jixin to the dormitory, but he went back on his word as soon as they left.

  Or you won't agree! Are you still Chinese?

  Only then did Fang Jixin realize that he had been overthinking things.

  That Taiwanese student just now when he came in, kept saying that he is a Taiwanese, and did not acknowledge himself as Chinese at all.

  Was it just being overly sentimental?! Something that has been forgotten by one's ancestors.

  Fang Ji Xin cursed silently in his heart.

  Having no choice, he could only write his destination on a piece of cardboard and ask people for directions.

  Fortunately, Americans are generally enthusiastic and it didn't take much effort to find where I wanted to go.

  He stopped in front of a four-story residential building.

  The exterior looks clean. Only after entering the gate did I realize what a world of difference it is.

  In this building dedicated to foreign students, trash is all over the floor, with all sorts of items scattered around. Every few steps you can see something that was discarded after being used once.

  The entire building has people of all ethnicities, but it's still mostly white and black, with very few Asians. Perhaps the more reserved Asian people can't stand the terrible environment here and have mostly chosen to move out.

  Fang Jixin's first reaction was to look for an opportunity to escape himself.

  But for now, being unfamiliar with life, I'll just have to make do.

  Perhaps due to special care from the school, he was assigned a single room.

  In other rooms, at least two or three or four people are crowded together. When passing through those rooms, a strange smell hits the nose.

  If it were in Tsinghua Garden, Beijing, who knows how many credits would be deducted?

  Settling himself down, Fang Jixin immediately found a school map. He didn't want to be pitiful and unable to find even the classroom door at times.

  Hello!

  At the entrance of the corridor, several black people took the initiative to greet him.

  They're very friendly.

  Fang Ji Xin hastily replied.

  A few other white people also nodded to him, which made him feel a bit more at home. Thinking of his experience in Tsinghua Garden where no one paid attention to him, he couldn't help but feel that modern Chinese people seemed too indifferent.

  Several blacks even took the initiative to go to Fang Ji's new room and invite him to drink together.

  Fang Ji Xin declined, saying he wouldn't be able to make it.

  He also heard that, whether abroad or at home, when treating guests to dinner, everyone pays for their own meal, and there's no one grabbing the bill. His scholarship is barely enough, so he can't be too generous.

  It was written in the admission procedures that he would still be a freshman, which made him somewhat perplexed. He had already been a sophomore in his home country, so why did he get demoted to a lower grade after coming here? What's going on, is this bullying?!

  Fortunately, American education is different from domestic one, and there are professional courses in freshman year, so Fang Jixin didn't mind.

  American universities implement a credit system, as long as you accumulate enough credits, you can graduate, that is to say, as long as you work hard, you can graduate early. This point is more flexible than the domestic routine-style waste of time.

  Fang Jixin did not plan to spend more time in college.

  The next day in class, Professor Ross made an exception and introduced Fang Jixin to his classmates before the lesson started.

  America is a place that values strength, and as long as you have the qualifications, you should enjoy different treatment. As a result, my classmates had to look at me with new eyes. They voluntarily gave up their front-row seats, which were the best places to listen to lectures.

  This is the manifestation of strength.

  However, what made Fang Jixin unhappy was that the Taiwanese student was also in the front row, next to a Japanese student, and the two seemed to get along quite well.

  How did he end up with pigs and dogs. He wanted to change but couldn't offend the good intentions of others, so he had no choice but to sit down with a strong sense of disgust.

  The course is not difficult, but Fang Jixin finds it very hard. His spoken English has always been poor, and it seems he will be at a disadvantage for a while.

  Like Tsinghua University in Beijing, classes are held in the morning and self-study is done in the afternoon. Learning relies entirely on the students' self-awareness.

  Fang Jixin quickly adapted to this rhythm.

  In the first semester, Fang Jixin took eleven elective courses.

  Professor Luo was surprised and tactfully advised Fang Jixin not to be too greedy.

  Fang Jixin politely declined his kindness and didn't fight without confidence. He still had reservations even after reporting eleven classes.

  Professor Ross is aware of the hard work of Chinese international students. Seeing Fang Jixin's confident smile, he didn't say much.

  For several days in a row. When returning to the dormitory, several black foreign students showed extraordinary enthusiasm. At first, Fang Jixin didn't notice it and thought it was their enthusiastic hospitality. In just a few days, he found something was off.

  The tall black man, Svenson, was the first to speak up and ask him for a room.

  He said he borrowed it from Fang Ji Xin when she was studying in the school library. He didn't give a reason.

  Thinking about it and doing nothing is also doing nothing, Fang Jixin did not refuse and agreed.

  That day he had something to go back to the dormitory to retrieve materials, using a key to open the door, he saw a shocking scene.

  Swenson was on his bed with a black-skinned girl doing that thing. The two exaggerated movements stimulated people's eyeballs. Seeing Fang Jixin coming in, Swenson stopped his own gun thrusts, pulled out the "long gun" and smiled at him, indicating whether Fang Jixin was interested in playing together.

  The girl on the bed heard this suggestion and did not show any refusal, but instead threw a flirtatious glance at Fang Jixin...

  Fang Ji rushed out without looking back. Only now did he understand what the black man's friendliness meant. They had ulterior motives.

  A few people squeezed in one room, inconvenient to handle affairs. Even if they were open-minded, no one would be willing to perform a small movie in public. As soon as Fang Jixin arrived, they started making fun of him.

  The Chinese are friendly in a genuine and purposeless way. They differ, absolutely with a clear purpose!

  After discovering this secret, Fang Jixin refused any subsequent requests from anyone.

  The other party immediately changed their face. The initiative to greet was gone, and the invitation to drink together was even more impossible. When they saw Fang Jixin, they uniformly gave him a cold shoulder, and from time to time found fault with him.

  If Fang Jixin wasn't a key protected figure of the school, the black fist would have landed on him long ago.

  One morning, Fang Jixin opened the door, but no matter how hard he pushed, he couldn't push it open.

  He had no choice but to use the inner power of the Dragon Absorbing Technique to get out of the predicament.

  The trash at the entrance piled up into a small mountain overnight. Needless to say, it must have been those few black African students who did it.

  Fang Ji Xin's face fell into a bitter smile.

  Real American society, real American style, real Americans.

  Hehe, didn't expect my new life would start in someone else's womb...