Chapter 51: Chapters 63, 64, 65, and 66 (Part 1) (Quad-in-One)

Inside the library, the sun was streaming through the eastern windows, casting its warm glow upon the study desks. A gentle summer breeze rustled the branches of the camphor tree outside, sending a cascade of leaves chattering as their noisy rustling blended with the chorus of cicadas filtering into the building.

Lin Yilan sat at a desk, cradling a thick dictionary in her arms, meticulously translating an article she had copied out from a newspaper.

After spending nearly an entire day on the task, she had finally managed to decipher the core of the text.

The article, a call for design submissions, explicitly stated that the target audience for the proposed sailors' center consisted precisely of fishermen, mariners, and personnel working aboard fishing vessels.

Furthermore, it expressed the hope that the sailors' center would cater to the resting needs of these individuals, providing them with a pleasant environment alongside a suitable amount of recreational space.

While these requirements were not overly vague, to Lin Yilan, they amounted to nothing more than the most basic fundamentals. What the small town truly desired perhaps remained unclear even to the author of the article; perhaps only the residents living within the town itself genuinely knew.

In the past, she would likely have booked a flight straight to the town to investigate in person, but now...

*Sigh—*

She had no choice but to rely entirely on her own guesswork.

Additionally, after searching through several atlases, she had finally located the town's position on the map.

Situated along the western coast of Zealand in Denmark, it was a small town steeped in a long history and cultural tradition.

She could roughly picture the overall architectural style of the settlement—traditional European classical architecture dating back to the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. To adapt to the local climate and environment, there might be some slight modifications, but the overarching aesthetic would undoubtedly remain the same. She could even imagine that in some well-preserved quarters, there might even be structures bearing a medieval flair.

Places of this sort were neither exceedingly common nor entirely rare; she had previously traveled to and explored several such destinations herself.

Although the scenery was picturesque, architects didn't necessarily relish the prospect of taking on projects in locales like this. In similar environments, architects were almost always compelled to make their own creations harmonize with the local surroundings. Leaning too far toward modernism would render the building incompatible with the area, creating a jarring sense of alienation.

Fortunately, based on the information she had gathered, she deduced that the sailors' center would most likely be constructed near the docks. Since the docks were situated at a certain distance from the town center, she wouldn't be forced to completely bend to the environment and design a traditional classical European building.

She detested designing buildings in the traditional classical European style above all else. Lin Yilan had never believed there was any value in blindly copying the architectural styles of the ancients; in her view, contemporary people ought to have contemporary design styles, and modern architecture should reflect contemporary thought.

Naturally, such ideas had their supporters, just as they had their detractors.

Flipping through her notes on Denmark's geographical environment, she cross-referenced the climate conditions of coastal cities sharing a similar latitude, compiling a set of records for analogous conditions.

"Xiaolin, you're at the library today too?"

Lin Yilan looked up to see Xiong Zhaodi and nodded in response. "Yes, I came to look up some reference materials."

Xiong Zhaodi glanced down at the books in Lin Yilan's hands, which appeared to be related to geography. Understanding only vaguely, she nodded and pointed toward the large tables in the back. "I won't disturb you then; I'm going over to work on my drawings."

Lin Yilan flashed an okay sign with her fingers. "Alright, shall we grab lunch together later?"

Xiong Zhaodi murmured an assent, adjusted her bag, lightened her footsteps, and headed toward the large drafting tables in the rear.

Taking into account the heavy concentration of students whose majors required long hours hunched over design drafts, the library of the Institute of Technology had specially designated a study room for these drafting students, equipped with specialized large slanted tables.

Regardless of whether she was working on drawings or not, Lin Yilan basically always chose this particular study room. However, when she wasn't drafting, she would sit at one of the few flat tables in the room to read.

It wasn't that she was being picky; it was simply that the lights in this study room were the brightest.

Yet, this very feature made it exceptionally easy to run into acquaintances.

"Professor Fu, could you please help me take a look and see if there are any issues with my design drafts?"

A clear, ringing female voice broke the quiet of the study room.

Hearing this voice, Lin Yilan couldn't help but scratch her ear. *Why is it this 'divine entity' again?*

Without even needing to look up, she knew it was Peng Junhua.

Immediately afterward, a low, gruff male voice sounded.

"Student Peng, take a look right here. There is an error in the calculations for this section.

However, your overall design concept is still quite imaginative; it's just the calculations that aren't quite precise enough."

This piqued Lin Yilan's interest. She hadn't expected a professor to speak so loudly right here in the study room, let alone offer guidance on Peng Junhua's work. If she recalled correctly, hadn't Professor Wu stated in his office last time that Peng had plagiarized someone else's work?

How very interesting.

She tilted her head, casting a glance at Peng Junhua, who was seated some dozen desks away.

"Ah yes~ modifying it this way is correct. Your previous approach was simply too careless," Professor Fu's voice rang out once more. "And this exterior facade—I think we ought to add something here to make it better. Let me see."

Lin Yilan saw Professor Fu straighten his posture, holding a pencil in his hand.

*Ah~*
*Don't know him.*

Surveying the professor—who sported light stubble on his chin, glasses perched on the bridge of his nose, slightly short hair, and a somewhat plump physique—Lin Yilan offered a silent mental commentary.

After watching for a moment longer, Lin Yilan decided she had nothing better to do than mind her own business. Why waste time watching them?

She lowered her head once more and resumed flipping through her reference materials.

She was someone who was rarely influenced by her external environment, so even with the persistent sound of conversation echoing right beside her ears while she researched and read, she was entirely capable of tuning it out.

She simply hadn't anticipated that when she finally raised her head again, preparing to break for lunch, the pair would *still* be talking.

*Don't their mouths get dry?*

With a silent internal complaint, she slid her notebook back into her school bag.

By today, she had more or less figured out or deduced most of the parametric data for the project site.

Having to dig up data that a project firm would ordinarily provide all by oneself left her feeling somewhat uncertain.

Clutching her books, she prepared to leave the study room and return the volumes to their original shelves when, hearing the duo still chattering away endlessly, a sudden mischievous impulse struck her.

Xiong Zhaodi was furrowing her brow as she drew, wishing she could stuff cotton balls into her ears while mentally cursing the two people talking in the study room, when she suddenly noticed her roommate walking past her.

She lowered her pen and quickly turned her head to look behind her.

There was Lin Yilan, cradling a stack of books, standing right behind the professor who had been talking nonstop.

"What are you doing, female student?" Professor Fu, in the midst of gazing at Peng Junhua's design drafts with immense satisfaction, suddenly noticed another female student standing beside him.

With keen interest, Lin Yilan tilted her head to examine Peng Junhua's design drawings for a moment before remarking with a deflated tone, "Ah~ so the two of you have been disturbing everyone in the study room all morning just to fuss over this bit of nonsense."

Her dismissive tone instantly irked Professor Fu, while Peng Junhua, upon recognizing Lin Yilan's voice, whipped her head around to spot her.

Facing their disapproving glares, Lin Yilan wore an expression of utter innocence. "Why are you looking at me like that? Did I say something wrong?"

"I actually thought the two of you were arguing away the entire morning in the study room to draft some epoch-making masterpiece!"

"Now it seems... hmm..."

Deliberately putting on an expression of withholding speech, Lin Yilan sighed and shook her head. "It appears I overthought it. I genuinely thought I was missing out on some earth-shattering spectacle."

"Wasting ten minutes just to watch the two of you draw—forget it, carry on." She sighed once more, casting a censuring look at both Professor Fu and Peng Junhua.

With that, she clutched her books, turned around to retrace her steps, and prepared to walk out of the study room.

Professor Fu raised his voice to halt her. "Female student, what do you mean by coming over here, spouting a long speech, and then trying to leave?"

"Which department and year are you in? I am going to find your counselor and ask why our school has a student who lacks basic manners!"

The other students in the study room successively paused their pens and turned back to observe the scene.

Lin Yilan halted her steps, first sweeping her gaze across everyone present, then looking back in feigned bewilderment. She pointed to herself and asked uncertainly, "Esteemed Professor Fu~ are you speaking to me?"

Professor Fu thrust his chin upward. "If not you, then who?"

Lin Yilan tightened her grip on the books in her arms, turned to face him, and asked with a puzzled air, "I honestly thought you were talking about the female student next to you who has been making a racket all morning."

Professor Fu's face shifted like a chameleon, instantly turning beet red.

Frightened, Lin Yilan instinctively took a few steps back. "Professor Fu, you don't happen to have high blood pressure or a heart condition, do you? Please don't agitate yourself into a medical emergency; our school doesn't have a medical department, you know."

"The campus infirmary is quite a distance from the library, so please stay calm."

"I know you must be angry with yourself for taking the lead in violating the library's regulations as a professor, and feeling too ashamed and guilty because I just pointed out your mistakes, but please don't fall ill over a bout of self-reflection."

Watching the professor's face turn a mottled shade of red and black resembling a village bull stricken with mad cow disease, Lin Yilan quickly addressed the surrounding students. "Um, everyone, I'm terribly sorry. My conversation with this professor has disrupted your studies, and I'd like to offer my apologies once again. I am truly sorry."

"I would also like to apologize to everyone on behalf of Professor Fu."

"Please don't be angry with Professor Fu. Seeing the state of his health, which doesn't seem all that robust, you should all forgive him—otherwise, Professor Fu might fall ill from overwhelming guilt."

"I also hope you will all forgive me. I know the students in this study room are the most magnanimous people alive, and since none of you minded certain individuals chattering away all morning in the study room, surely you won't hold these two sentences of mine against me, right?"

*Clap, clap, clap, clap—*

Unexpectedly, the other students in the study room began to applaud, and a few even took the lead in calling out: "It's fine, classmate, we forgive you."

"That's right, classmate, we know you didn't mean it."

"Yes, yes, yes, we forgive Professor Fu as well. How could he possibly have meant to talk loudly in the study room all morning?"