I laughed. “Professor Chen, can you please get
me a legal document severing parental ties?” I
walked out without looking back.
Two police motorcycles were waiting. We
jumped on. The officer’s radio crackled.
“Dispatch, this is Officer Miller. Requesting all
green lights from Maple Street to City High,
traffic diverted. Two SAT students need to
arrive by 9:15.”
We sped through the streets. My officer,
sensing my distress, said, “Hey, kiddo, it’s
11:03
okay. You’re done with them after today. You survived that mess. Never gave up on yourself. That’s more than enough, college or not.”
Cars pulled over, clearing a path for us.
Strangers cared more about my future than my own parents. It was kind of heartwarming.
People still believed in the SATs as a life-
changer. Underdog stories happened every day.
9:13. We reached the school gates. We sprinted to our respective testing locations,
9:15. I slid into my seat just as the clock’s
second hand hit twelve.
The first test was English. The essay prompt:
“Talent vs. Hard Work. Which is more
important? Thomas Edison famously said,
‘Genius is one percent inspiration, ninety–nine
percent perspiration.‘ However, some argue the
quote is incomplete, missing the crucial
addendum: ‘But that one percent inspiration is
<
11:03
extremely important, even more so than the ninety–nine percent perspiration.‘ Discuss your thoughts on the above, 800-1000 words.”
As I handed in my essay, I burst into tears. The hurt and resentment finally caught up with me. I’d never expected much from my parents, but this… this would take a lifetime to heal.
Professor Chen picked me up after the test. “I always wanted a daughter to carry on my math legacy, but I got stuck with that physics- obsessed boy. Forget it. You’re my daughter now. They don’t want you? Fine. I do.” “Your parents are blind, chasing fool’s gold. Haven’t
they seen the news? Real estate companies are
going bankrupt left and right. I took a look at
Miller Group’s financials. Looks flashy, but it’s a
house of cards.”
I checked my answers after the tests. Harvard
seemed likely. But I was starting to think about
UCLA, studying under Professor Chen. Making
<
He flatly refused. “Ashley, you and Alex need to
go far away. Don’t look back. You fulfilled my
greatest wish. I have no regrets. Never put me before your own future.”
Some parents were different.
Before my SAT scores even came out, I
received a letter from Professor Dennis
Hansford, chair of the mathematics department at the University of Chicago, and current editor of the Journal of Symbolic Logic. “I am among the many who have previously tackled this problem without success, and I was quite delighted to see its final resolution, especially with such a beautiful proof. Please accept my
congratulations on your wonderful and surprising result!” “The University of Chicago will be hosting an international conference on
mathematical logic, and we are inviting twelve
leading scholars to participate. I would like to
extend an invitation to you, as the sole
representative from Asia, to join us. We eagerly
<
await your presence.”
That summer, at eighteen, I flew to Chicago,
representing the US and Asia, presenting my
work for forty minutes to the world’s top
mathematicians. News channels around the
globe carried the story.
After the presentation, the system reappeared,
seemingly out of nowhere. I finally got to ask
my question. “Sys, why did you change the
rules for me?”
The system’s voice, still robotic, seemed…..
warmer. “I couldn’t stand by and watch laziness
devour everything while hard work went
unrewarded.” “My mission was to help your
sister solve that theorem. But when she skipped
a math competition for a basketball game, I
knew. Even with her talent, her potential was
limited. Get a fancy degree, trade her
intelligence for beauty, marry rich, have kids,
live vicariously through her husband. She didn’t
<
deserve this system.” “I saw you struggle, night
after night, never giving up, even when progress
was slow. That’s the spirit of true research.” “A
good bird chooses its tree. A wise official
chooses their leader. I chose you.”
I was speechless. “Sys, did you get in trouble
for helping me?”
The system’s voice was flat, but I detected a
hint of bitterness. “Let’s just say I was
transferred from ‘Girl Boss‘ world to ‘Tragic
Romance‘ world. The Big Boss said since I
hated romance–obsessed heroines so much, I
should experience them firsthand.”
What a cruel punishment.
“Gotta go. My current heroine is about to throw
herself off a bridge. No regrets, though. You
were the strongest, bravest, most hardworking
host I ever had. You deserved it. I’ll take the
punishment for you.”
<
The system disconnected, Gone, Like it had
never been there.
Back home, my Harvard acceptance e letter
arrived. Three prominent mathematicians – Dr.
Peterson, Dr. Lee, and Dr. Davis -wrote a joint
letter to the Department of Education,
recommending me for special consideration,
requesting I be given the best possible research
environment.
I was offered a tenure–track position at MIT,
before even starting my master’s degree. The
youngest tenured professor in the country,
I continued my research, publishing my second
paper two years later in the Annals of
Mathematics. I chose my next field of study
big data analysis.
Times changed. The once–booming real estate
market crashed. My parents, having
remortgaged their house and borrowed heavily
<
from relatives to invest in Miller Group’s “high-
yield” financial products, lost everything. They
had a mental breakdown. Jessica put them in a
nursing home. Miller Group, two trillion dollars
in debt, declared bankruptcy. Ethan and
Jessica’s marriage, held together by a thread
and a child, dissolved. Jessica’s beauty faded.
Her life spiraled downwards.
I remembered a quote from a biography of an
ancient Chinese merchant: “Those who serve
others with their beauty will lose favor when
their beauty fades, and when favor fades, so
does affection.” It felt good to have a brain.
Life’s seemingly unsolvable problems often had
precedents in history. Concubine Qi, favored
consort of Emperor Gaozu of Han, a beautiful
dancer, beloved by the emperor, was, after his
death, imprisoned, mutilated, and thrown into a
latrine.
With the rise of TikTok, my research in big data
analysis moved from theory to application. I
11:03
acquired 10% of TikTok’s initial stock. Alex
made breakthroughs in physics. His team
solved the lithium battery problem, propelling
the US to the forefront of the electric vehicle
revolution.
(84)
I flipped through the Princeton Companion to
Mathematics, the book that had changed my
life, watching Alex on TV, looking dapper in al
suit, blushing like the boy I’d met in the library.
“For solving the lithium battery problem, I have
only one person to thank Professor Ashley
Ellis.” “For never forgetting to include me in her
conference acknowledgements!” His eyes
locked onto the camera, his hand clutching his
jacket, as if he could see me. “I may not have
achieved great things yet, but I have to ask…
will you go out with me?”
I remembered that summer, abandoned by my
parents, Alex cooking for me every day, making.
sure there was never any shellfish. We’d
weathered the storms of adolescence together,
<
jacket, as if he could see me. “I may not have
achieved great things yet, but I have to ask…
will you go out with me?”
I remembered that summer, abandoned by my
parents, Alex cooking for me every day, making
sure there was never any shellfish. We’d
weathered the storms of adolescence together,
faced different tests, chosen different paths,
but we’d never drifted apart.
If I hadn’t met Alex, maybe my life would have
been rewritten by Jessica and my parents. I was
grateful to him, for seeing the spark in me, even
when I was at my worst. For recognizing the
value of hard work, even when it went
unnoticed.
Just keep working. Fate has a plan. It never
forgets those who strive.
