Chapter 15: Burning Desire

No one in this country knew about her past.

They only knew she was a star student from the Mathematics Faculty of Academy S.

"I was a computer whiz since I was young, my technique only got better after years of learning," Xinghe shrugged like it was no big deal.

Understanding dawned for Xia Zhi. He said, "Sis, you grew up overseas so none of us were particularly clear about your history before you moved in with us. We tried to find out more from you but obviously you couldn鈥檛 remember. Regardless, Sis, you鈥檙e still mighty impressive. You finished writing the piece of software in an hour when a programming student like myself needs at least a few days to complete it, and that is after six years of amnesia..."

Xia Zhi鈥檚 head slowly lowered in shame.

His results had always been the top of his class, but he was handily beaten by his amateur programmer sister.

"Sis, how professional exactly are you? Based on your level of proficiency, I dare say you鈥檙e at least ten times better than my senior," Xia Zhi asked eagerly but was hesitant to hear the answer.

Xinghe shook her head, "I have no idea honestly because computer science is a constantly evolving subject. If we鈥檙e just talking about the theoretical aspect, I believe I know less than you. Since I鈥檝e got nothing else to do at the moment, could you bring me some textbooks that were published in recent years?"

Xia Zhi laughed, "Sis, you鈥檙e too modest. I鈥檝e just tested your software, it was bug free. I鈥檝e sent it to my senior and he said the same. The only comment he gave was that even though the coding method was a bit outdated, the technique was definitely superb. He realized immediately that it isn鈥檛 my handiwork. I told him it was by a friend when he asked."

Xinghe nodded affirmatively. "It鈥檚 good that you didn鈥檛 mention me because that鈥檒l be hard to explain."

"I agree. I have no intention of going into your history and amnesia with him so I opted for a white lie."

"Then, has he banked the money yet?" That was Xinghe鈥檚 only concern.

Xia Zhi said excitedly, "He just did! Sis, do you have anything that you want to eat? I鈥檒l go buy some for you. I鈥檒l stop by the library to get some of the books you want as well."

"I don鈥檛 mind anything, why don鈥檛 you buy something that you like to eat? We can share."

"Okay, I鈥檒l be right back!"

Xia Zhi shouldered his bag and left the hospital with a spring in his step.

His first pit stop was his school. He checked out several programming textbooks from the library before going to purchase a bowl of meat porridge and some fruits for Xinghe.

After a quick lunch, Xinghe started on the books.

Xia Zhi鈥檚 advice that she should take some rest, inadvertently, fell on deaf ears.

She was filled with a burning desire to absorb all the knowledge, to restart her life.

If not for her weak body, she would have been out there looking for work.

However, she knew certain things couldn鈥檛 be rushed. Health was one of them. Overexertion might exacerbate her head injury. She decided to use the downtime to catch up on the six years of progress that she had missed.

"Sis, your reading speed is so fast..." Xia Zhi whispered in shock as he took a bite out of his apple. Xinghe finished reading two-thirds of a book in half an hour.

Xinghe replied without taking her eyes off the page, "I鈥檓 speed reading just to familiarize myself with current technology. I鈥檓 not reading the details."

Since Xinghe already had a good foundation, she could figure out which parts of the text she needed to focus on after just a quick scan.

This way, she didn鈥檛 have to waste time reading about things she already knew...

She put down the book she had in her hands and picked up another.

Xia Zhi studied her quietly. He still had trouble accepting the reality that his sister was a computer programming master.

"Sis, how come I鈥檝e not seen you near a computer in the past three years?" Xia Zhi asked curiously.

Xinghe鈥檚 amnesia shouldn鈥檛 have wiped out her motor memory or go so far as to eclipse her computer knowledge completely.

There wasn鈥檛 a lack of conversational topic on computer science in their household because that was what he studied, so why hadn鈥檛 she said anything in the past six years?