Rewinding Time

Two figures, many words exchanged, and one final decision.

"Do you really want to study in England, Katie?"

Katie held her breath, her heart pounding incessantly, pushing everything else aside just to have this serious conversation with her father.

"Yes, I truly want to study there. I really... have longed to be exposed to an environment where I can fully develop my potential, and to meet people who are on the same wavelength."

"But I'm afraid the environment there might be too much for you."

Katie gently inhaled, then sighed.

The sky over Hanoi today was so clear and blue, yet the atmosphere held an unusual calm.

"Dad, in the hidden corners you don't see, when I attend a normal school, I always feel crushed. I can't find myself in that regular learning environment. There are days when I'm extremely stressed, and on those days, I come home and solve advanced mathematics, immersing myself in books on calculus and quantum mechanics. That's when I feel like I find myself again."

Charles listened to his daughter in silence, not adding a single word. But his expression shifted from worry to a kind of emotion that was vague, surprised, and a little... relieved.

He knew his little girl had truly put in a lot of effort; perhaps this would be a wonderful opportunity.

Katie bowed her head, anxiously awaiting her father's reaction.

Suddenly, a large, rough, warm hand rested lightly on Katie's head.

Katie felt the warmth from the gentle pat; it was so tender it almost made her cry.

"Alright, Katie, I can't keep you by my side forever. If you truly want this, then do what you believe is right."

Katie looked up, met by her father's warm smile, and she lunged forward, hugging his tall frame tightly.

"Thank you, Dad."

That morning, a light drizzle fell along with a chill in the air and the bustling crowds—a characteristic of Vietnam's thousand-year-old capital. Today was the day Katie and her mother went to her secondary school to apply for a deferment of her academic results. This 12-year-old girl had finally received her father's approval to go to England for study and research. Katie had watched her father all night; in her dream, she saw him as very large, but his figure was terribly exhausted.

"Katie, do you want to say goodbye to your friends before you go to England?"

Katie looked at her mother with wide, round eyes, a sweet smile gracing her lips. It was hard to tell what the little girl was trying to hide.

"No need, Mom." Her smile echoed with the sound of the falling rain.

"Because no matter where I go, having Mom and Dad is enough. Friends will quickly forget. I just need to have Mom and Dad by my side."

Maria was surprised at first, but then she gently closed her eyes and offered a benevolent smile. She had truly forgotten that her daughter was not a clingy child who needed friends; she was mature, like a multi-variable equation that solves itself. No proof needed, no hypothesis required; the equation itself was already perfect, needing no adjustment.

That evening, Maria developed a severe fever. Katie stayed by her side, caring for her and giving her medicine. Charles, Katie's father, was working late at school again today; he never took care of her mother as much as Katie did. Since Katie was born, Charles had buried himself in work, making a living to support the whole family. He was not to be blamed, but neither was he to be pitied, having left Katie alone since she was little. The girl found solace in science books as a pastime. She read books and learned to solve difficult problems when she was only six years old.

The deprived environment was exactly where the genius was born.

The rain continued to fall, the air was still cold. After putting her mother to sleep, Katie took out her math book to solve problems alone, unaware that her father had returned.

"Katie."

"Oh, hello, Dad..."

Mr. Charles stood on the threshold outside the hallway, his leather shoes soaked, clutching a suitcase, looking at his daughter with dark brown pupils.

"Come into the study. I want to show you something."

The study was empty and quiet, only about 10 square meters but packed with books on science, technology, nuclear physics, and probability and statistics, in both Vietnamese and English. It seemed Katie's grandfather had been a retired researcher, and he had left this fortune to Katie's father.

Charles looked up at the fourth-highest shelf, reached for a dusty, brown hardcover book, and brushed the dust off. He took his little daughter's hand and presented the book to her. Katie excitedly took the book from her father. Inside were mathematical formulas from basic to advanced, as well as handwritten notes on the application of mathematics to quantum analysis and the mapping of the human genome through computational mathematics. The cover of the book read, "Harold Artemis's Final Discovery."

Harold Artemis... was that Grandpa?

"Yes, Katie. This is Grandpa's research notebook from when he was studying in London. He once had the opportunity to conduct research at the Cambridge Institute, but he lost the chance due to pulmonary tuberculosis."

"Why are you giving me something so precious?"

Her beautiful pupils wavered, sequences of numbers danced around Katie and Charles. They were not dancing in a cyclical pattern but changing variables erratically.

"Because you are going to study at Cambridge. I believe you can follow in Grandpa's footsteps and become a scientific researcher, something neither your grandfather nor I could achieve."

A hint of sadness crossed Charles's face. He was afraid to bring up the past. He didn't want his daughter to know that the truth about Katie's grandfather's death was actually due to exhaustion from overwork, which led to mental illness. Although Charles appeared outwardly as a cranky professor, he had a precious, loving heart for people.

Katie noticed the change and immediately took her father's hand.

"Dad, I know you worry about me, but you don't need to be afraid. Your daughter is very strong."

With that, Katie released her father's hand, clasping her own hands into fists and forcefully striking them together.

"I taught myself martial arts, Dad. If anyone dares to harm me or you and Mom, I'll give them a powerful physical punch to the face that will disfigure them."

Upon hearing his daughter, Mr. Charles burst into a loud laugh. The heavy atmosphere suddenly vanished, replaced by a strange sense of comfort.

Perhaps Maria was right. The child was not ordinary.

"Yes, Katie, I believe you will succeed. In any case, I am old now and cannot keep you by my side forever. You must decide your own future life."

Charles hugged Katie close. The warmth of both passed into the other, producing the love hormone, oxytocin. Perhaps for Katie, a hug was the most wonderful experiment of love between human beings.

On the other side of the door, Mrs. Maria stood quietly, wearing a fur scarf for warmth, watching the two of them with tears of happiness welling up in her heart.

On a Monday morning, as autumn slowly turned to winter, the Artemis family gathered at Noi Bai Airport to complete customs procedures for Katie, officially sending her off to Cambridge to begin a new chapter.

Katie's flight required a layover, taking up to 30 hours, and was further delayed by 8 hours. It wasn't until 45 hours later that Katie finally landed in the beautiful city of Cambridge, England.

45 hours of flying, 3 transfers, 1 unsolved equation.