Vivian Carter even complained during the last two months of last semester that he hadn’t gotten into any fights, which almost made her fail to meet her spending quota.

As an assistant to the dean, she had an important task—to find ways to spend money.

The university board had been eyeing their sponsorship funds for a long time. If they didn’t use up their budget, next year’s budget would definitely be cut.

The board members from their School of Computer Science certainly didn’t want to hand over such a big piece of the pie to the university board.

Although the money couldn’t go into their own pockets, at least it could be used within their own school.

Halfway through, Vivian Carter stopped at a supermarket, bought a bunch of groceries, and then called the dean to invite him to dinner.

A dozen minutes later, the two of them returned to an apartment building in a middle-class neighborhood where they lived.

It was about a 30-minute drive from the main campus of USC, which was considered pretty far. Taking the bus would take 50 minutes to an hour.

But the rent was cheap. Edward Thompson’s monthly rent was $300, which Vivian Carter had helped negotiate. And just like living on campus, you only needed to pay rent for nine months out of the year. For the three months of Christmas, winter, and summer breaks, you didn’t have to pay rent but could still stay.

$300 a month was already expensive for Chinese international students from ordinary families. The average monthly income in Beijing was just over a thousand yuan, and that’s in RMB.

But at this price, unless you were a wealthy international student, everyone was willing to spend two hours commuting back and forth.

Because if you lived on campus, the current year’s dorm fee for international students at USC was $12,600, also calculated for nine months, averaging $1,400 a month.

There was a huge difference in housing costs between domestic and international students.

Edward Thompson’s room was in suite 08 on the 12th floor. It wasn’t big, but it had everything he needed. The small suite was just over 30 square meters, divided into three spaces: a kitchen, a bathroom, and a combined living/bedroom.

When he got home, he took a shower and changed clothes—a habit he’d developed after experiencing the pandemic, and one he’d kept ever since.

No matter whether there was a pandemic or not, he felt it was a good habit.

Edward Thompson went to the largest suite on the same floor. The door was open, so he walked right in.

Seeing him come in, Vivian Carter teased, “Your obsession with cleanliness really hasn’t changed at all.”

“Didn’t you change your clothes too? And you’re still talking about me.”

“I just washed up and changed, unlike you, who has to take a shower as soon as you get home and make me wait so long…”

The two of them bantered as they started prepping the food.

Cooking was something Edward Thompson really enjoyed, and he didn’t find it tiring. Seeing others enjoy his food gave him a great sense of accomplishment.

But prepping the ingredients was truly exhausting!

Luckily, he had help—and a beautiful one at that. Working together, Edward Thompson didn’t feel as tired.

By a little after 7 p.m., Edward Thompson had finished cooking, and Dean Carter, who lived in a nearby villa community, arrived right on time.

Looking at the big table full of dishes, Dean Carter felt much more balanced—he hadn’t been forgotten when it came to a feast, so all his help hadn’t been in vain.

The dishes were a mix—there were a couple of light Chinese dishes, but most were Western-style, the kind Vivian Carter was used to. He didn’t insist on “promoting” Chinese food.

There were so many types of Chinese cuisine that even he, when moving to a different province or city back home, might not get used to the local food.

Besides, Dean Carter had been in the U.S. for over twenty years and was long accustomed to the local flavors.

Edward Thompson was a good cook. Although he wasn’t a specialist in any particular cuisine, everything he made tasted pretty good. People often said he was wasting his talent by not opening a restaurant. Vivian Carter and Dean Carter both enjoyed the meal, and as the chef, he was happy to see that.

The thing was, Vivian Carter alone ate more than both him and Dean Carter combined, yet her figure was curvy but not overweight. All the weight went to the right places. He could only marvel that some people were just born gifted…

At a table of three, two had gotten into the school through connections. Vivian Carter had become the assistant to the dean of the School of Computer Science right after graduating with a master’s in social management from the School of Public Policy at USC, thanks to her father, who was a classmate of Dean Carter during his own master’s studies. Sitting with these two for dinner, Edward Thompson felt like he was involved in some kind of shady deal.

After the meal, Dean Carter left first. Vivian Carter went to cut some fruit for dessert and sat down to chat with Edward Thompson.

They talked about Edward Thompson’s tryout for the basketball club on Saturday. Vivian Carter teased, “I didn’t expect you to join the basketball team because of Henry’s threat. I always thought you didn’t care whether you could stay at the school.”

Edward Thompson was surprised. “How could I not? With such a beautiful assistant to the dean, of course I want to keep studying here. Besides, I work really hard. Studying abroad isn’t easy—I don’t want to waste the opportunity to learn.”

Vivian Carter rolled her eyes at Edward Thompson with a smile. “You really know how to talk… You’re definitely very active in class. Last semester, you were the only student in the whole department with perfect attendance. We have other Chinese international students in our school, but all of them missed at least a few classes.

You work hard, and the teachers are very satisfied with your performance and attitude in class. You often interact with them during lessons.

With your enthusiasm, hard work, and intelligence, of course your grades are excellent. Last semester, you were in the top five in every subject, and your overall score was the highest in the entire year.”