220 Outburs

Cong Nianwei was out of breath from laughing. Qin Guan drove away, humming a song.

They had prepared a thesis in advance, so the training was not that interesting for them. They had originally planned on skipping most courses, but in the end they decided to continue.

Only Qin Guan was worried about his application. Cong Nianwei's tutor had applied for public funding on her behalf. Unless something terrible happened, she would be a postgraduate student at the Department of Civil Engineering at Columbia University.

Qin Guan had to try harder in his courses, as he didn’t want to study at some community college in New York.

On September 11th, 2001, they entered the classroom, expecting to have fun. The course that day was "comprehensive question-spotting cram school before the exams", which sounded necessary and really interesting.

The atmosphere was friendly and warm when they got there. Seats had been reserved for them. Other students were sleeping or reading in the back, paying no attention to them.

The color of Lan Jin’s hair was really attractive that day. There were blue stripes on its red canvas. The tutor went in and began his lecture.

"Now let’s clarify the different question types..." Suddenly, there was noise in the corridor.

"Boy Lan! Boy Lan! Where are you? My good boy!" a voice said in anguish.

"Mum?" Lan Jin looked at his watch doubtfully. It was before 10:00 p.m. His mother, who liked to watch TV shows, should have been at home at the time.

"Mum? I’m here!" Lan Jin stood up and gestured to the tutor apologetically. He went out to find his mother.

"My dear boy! You’re still alive! Come home with me! You won't study or go abroad." The portly middle-aged woman burst into tears.

"What’s the matter, mum? I have to go abroad for father. I have to take over our business in the future."

"Studying! What the f*ck is that even about? I won’t let you die for that. Let’s go home. I’ll tell your father. You can just study in China, you don’t have to go anywhere."

She wiped her snot with a handkerchief and pulled her son outside.

"Mum, stop that right now! What’s the matter? What happened? I have already paid the consultant!"

"Darling, come home with me. Watch the TV news. Two tall buildings in the US collapsed. Such tall buildings!"

A thought struck Qin Guan and he turned to Lan Jin. "That woman is really anxious. Something must have happened. Let’s go have a look. This course is not that important."

Lan was pulled out helplessly. They heard their conversation from afar.

"How did you get here, mum?"

"My boy, I was so worried about you."

All the students returned to their seats. The tutor announced solemnly, "Classes are suspended for today. Go back and watch the news, everyone. Reconsider your applications for US universities. Dismissed!"

The classroom was in uproar. Qin Guan and the other students drifted apart without any word.

On the way to QH, Qin Guan recalled the tragedy in the US that day. Two airplanes hijacked by terrorists had dashed towards the two buildings of the World Trade Centre in New York, which had collapsed after the attack.

The other five buildings of the World Trade Centre had collapsed from the shock. Then another hijacked plane had crashed into the Pentagon in Washington, part of which had been destroyed.

2,996 people had been killed and 200 billion US Dollars had been lost. And that was only the influence on the US.

According to UN statistics, the damage to the global economy had reached 1,000 billion US Dollars.

There was also an influence to the Middle East policy and the pattern of the world, which were quite far from Qin Guan. Their prospects in the US were difficult to predict though.

After the event, even US people themselves questioned national security.

Although the US government set stricter standards for exit and entry to the country, US universities opened their arms to students from all over the world to show their sincerity in solving the problem.

How Cong Nianwei wished she could greet students with open arms and shout, "Come here! We’re safe!"

Qin Guan thought he was a really lucky guy. His country was the best.

He parked the car under Cong Nianwei's dormitory building. Cong Nianwei got out, and Qin Guan waved at her and kissed her on the forehead.

"Watch the news first. Then have a good rest. Call me later."

Cong Nianwei smiled gently. "Okay."

Qin Guan didn’t start his car until Cong Nianwei waved at him from the balcony. Life is fragile. The world is unpredictable. I should cherish the people close to me.

His ringing phone broke his reverie. He glanced at the screen. It was Sister Xue. Perplexed, he answered it. "Hello? What's the matter? Okay, I’ll be there tomorrow."

Qu Xuemei, the chief editor of VOGUE, wanted to meet with him. After their cooperation on the cover, Qin Guan had only kept in touch with her staff. What could she want?