Love Affairs in Melbourne-Chapter 107 - 104 A Refugee

The Master of Fashion program with a design focus at RMIT ends its final semester with a Capstone Experience.

Although it’s called the summit, it’s actually an integrative course.

Its main purpose is to allow students to blend the knowledge and skills they’ve acquired during their master’s studies, facilitating future employment.

RMIT is a university that prioritizes practicality.

Not every university in the world aims to become a "high-level research university" like many in China today.

RMIT may not rank impressively, but when it comes to employment, it is second to none in Australia.

Many companies prefer to hire RMIT graduates for a simple reason: RMIT students are "easy to use" and quick to adapt.

For companies, research capabilities are far less important than practical working skills.

RMIT’s architecture ranks in the top ten globally, as does its fashion program, making their graduates in high demand.

As many graduates as there are, that’s how many get signed.

Many firms directly recruit Master of Fashion graduates from RMIT for management trainee positions.

However, many who study fashion design choose to start their businesses.

This makes graduates even more sought after in the employment market.

After the semester began, Yan Yan became very busy, preparing not only for the capstone course but also for the Fashion Showcase.

Master of Fashion students at RMIT need to complete 192 credits, of which 132 credits are from a single course titled Advanced Fashion Design Studio.

This is an advanced fashion design course that requires hands-on creation, divided into parts 1, 2, 3, and 4, and is the highlight of each semester of the master’s phase.

The Fashion Showcase is the stage where everyone displays their design thinking and achievements accumulated throughout their studies.

RMIT’s Fashion Showcase has a different theme every year.

During the last semester, everyone was desperately designing, not only studying but also participating in various competitions, both internal and external.

Plus, with the dissertation to write, one can imagine how busy Yan Yan was.

Although it sounded hectic, there wasn’t much class time each week, and most of the time was, in fact, freely manageable.

So, even though she was extremely busy in August, Yan Yan wasn’t completely overwhelmed.

She had promised to attend Liu Siyan and Lu Ying’s graduation ceremony, and even if it meant pulling several all-nighters upon her return, she definitely wouldn’t break her promise.

Moreover, Qi Yi and Chu Ying had asked Yan Yan no less than thirty times about her return date.

Of course, Chu Ying posed the question twenty-eight times out of those.

For Qi Yi, knowing that Yan Yan was definitely coming back and asking her to book her flight and confirm times in advance so that he could arrange his leave was enough.

Yan Yan and Qi Yi were the only two out of the 44 classmates who had yet to finalize their travel plans.

Qi Yi naturally conveyed that his itinerary depended on Yan Yan’s.

This led the shadow class leader, who was keen on having all 44 classmates’ attendance, to inquire daily on QQ.

Liu Siyan and Lu Ying’s wedding was on August 20, and Yan Yan ultimately bought a flight for the 19th, returning on the 22nd.

...

Yan Yan received a phone call.

"I’ve arrived in Melbourne," a young man told Yan Yan on the phone.

"Ah? Are you kidding me?" Yan Yan felt this phone call was really quite sudden.

"No joke, I’ve temporarily resigned and now I’m homeless, so I’m coming to hide at your place." The caller explained his "basic situation."

"What exactly does ’temporarily resigned’ mean?" Yan Yan didn’t understand what the person on the other end of the phone was talking about.

"It’s a McKinsey thing. If you don’t want to work anymore, you can take a temporary leave. You can go start your own business, or join another company, and then come back later," the guy on the phone clarified for Yan Yan.

The only person Yan Yan knew who worked at McKinsey was her cousin Yan Ling.

"Weren’t you supposed to have promised Aunt to resign and come back home? How did it become a temporary resignation?" Yan Yan was somewhat puzzled, wondering what her cousin was up to.

"A temporary leave means, if I go back shortly, it’s just a short-term leave. If I don’t return for a long time, doesn’t it naturally just become a resignation?" Yan Ling felt like Yan Yan’s intelligence was a bit offline today.

"So that’s possible, too. Let’s not talk about work for now. You said you’re ’homeless now,’ what does that mean?" Yan Yan continued to ask.

"Little sister, don’t you think you’re focusing on the wrong things here?" Yan Ling voiced his dissatisfaction.

"What’s wrong about it?" Yan Yan truly believed she was concerned with the important stuff.

"Don’t you think you should be more concerned about where in Melbourne I am right now? Whether or not I need you to pick me up? The sort of normal concern that any slightly normal person would have as their first question?" Yan Ling presented the obvious answer to Yan Yan.

"That actually makes a lot of sense, but do you really think your cousin I have ever been normal?" Yan Yan realized she had indeed been focusing on the wrong things just now.

"You’re right. By saying that, it seems I’m actually the one in the wrong; you’ve never been normal. So what now, Melbourne doesn’t welcome me?" Yan Ling sought a clear answer from his cousin.

"It’s not that you’re unwelcome, it’s just what are you doing in Melbourne for no reason?" That was Yan Yan’s only concern at the moment.

"Seeking refuge, what else?" Yan Ling gave a frank reply.

"The words ’seeking refuge’ do sound quite interesting. Can you actually make it back alive?" Yan Yan suddenly became interested.

"I think I might not be able to return with all my limbs intact, so I’ve come to Melbourne to ask for your help," Yan Ling explained his reason for coming.

"Just make your own way to the City for now. How can I come to pick you up if you haven’t arrived yet? You’re already here, and honestly, I can’t be bothered to meet you. Just hurry up and get a taxi over here," Yan Yan was always straightforward with her cousin, and they never minced their words.

Seeking refuge isn’t something you can go into detail about over the phone.

Only by having Yan Ling come over directly could Yan Yan find out more quickly what kind of trouble he was running from.

During the days Yan Yan visited New York, Yan Ling was on a business trip. Yan Yan’s trip was so sudden; she hadn’t discussed it with Yan Ling beforehand. freewebnoveℓ.com

That’s also why, when Yan Yan went to New York, she wasn’t able to meet with Yan Ling who had already settled down there.

During the Lunar New Year this year, Yan Yan’s family was all in Melbourne and did not return to China, and she hadn’t seen Yan Ling for over a year.

When Yan Yan was young, she followed Yan Ling around every day, never leaving his side.

After Yan Ling went to the United States, Yan Yan only got to see her cousin during the New Year.

It was the first time the siblings hadn’t seen each other for more than a year.

From a young age, Yan Ling was a bit of a rascal - not bad in his studies, but with a terrible attitude towards learning.

Most importantly, Yan Ling liked to seek fights for no particular reason.

To Yan Ling as a child, any problem that could be solved with fists didn’t warrant useless talk.

For instance, with the issue of Yan Yan being targeted, in Yan Ling’s view, it was just a matter of not being tough enough with his fists.

Yan Ling was four years older than Yan Yan. They went to the same elementary school.

When Yan Yan began being targeted in first grade, Yan Ling was unaware.

By the time Yan Yan was in the second grade, Yan Ling gradually started to detect something off from her behavior.

Unable to tolerate his cousin being bullied, sixth-grader Yan Ling solved the problem with his fists, taking on the two boys from Yan Yan’s class who had been bullying her the most.