Maybe it was because Susan Morrow had already extracted a full memory segment in London last time—the link between her and the source of the Void Rift’s memories was much stronger now. Back then, it took Professor Kensington Orland’s careful narration, lots of interviews, and some on-the-spot vibes to trigger the memories from the void. This time, Santiago didn’t say much, but wave after wave of fresh memories came flooding up from the depths of the Void Rift.
“The first time I met that person, I was just a grocery store owner.” Santiago got all nostalgic, reminiscing about his early days: “I still remember—it was the summer of 1980. I only met Sophia and that guy because I had an Apple II sitting in my shop.”
“App~le~II~?” There was already an Apple II back then? You gotta be kidding me!
“Same Steve Jobs, but not the smartphones we use now—this was one of the world’s earliest personal computers, the Apple II Plus. Yeah, Apple was already like this back then, always throwing around ‘plus’ for everything.” Santiago rubbed his forehead, glanced at Susan Morrow, and sighed, “Sophia was still a very young lady back then—skinny, fragile. One day, she just showed up outside my shop window, staring at the Apple computer I had on display, eyes like a kid’s. I remember that scene so clearly, because she had something really special about her—can’t quite put it into words, but you never forget it once you see it.”
Everything in front of them began to blur. Unbeknownst to them, a whole new batch of memories had already soaked into the minds of all three. The trio’s linked spirits followed the veins of the Void Rift, sneaking along until suddenly, they were back in the distant past.
1977—the first year China reinstated the college entrance exam after the chaos.
That winter, Susan Morrow bundled up in a ragged cotton jacket, trekked dozens of miles through the mountains, cheeks cracked and red from the cold, just to take the first post-Cultural Revolution college entrance exam. She absolutely crushed it, acing nearly every subject, becoming one of the rare ‘Heaven’s Chosen’ who got straight into undergrad out of 5.7 million students nationwide. She even caused a huge stir in her county—though, English was always her Achilles’ heel.
Back then, the saying went, ‘I’m Chinese, why bother learning a foreign language?’ Susan Morrow totally agreed.
Of course, with the kind of education and resources that tiny county had, it was almost impossible to raise a genius like that. Susan Morrow showed serious talent for science—sometimes it was like she just knew the answers by heart. Looking back, who knows how much of that was the Twin Resonance Effect working its magic from Joan Morrow’s side.
After 1978, Susan Morrow buckled down and studied in the Land of Abundance—Sichuan, at West China Medical University. Her major was OB/GYN, but she totally aced all the other subjects too—basically a mini Sophia at Cambridge. As one of the first female students admitted after the exam was restored, ‘Queen Susan’ set off a real storm at school with her personality, style, looks, and brains.
Whenever Susan Morrow thinks back to those days, she gets super proud—those local wannabes didn’t stand a chance against her. Who knows, maybe some folks in the Health Ministry now were crushing on her back then.
But Susan Morrow was just your everyday genius—totally within the normal range, nothing too wild. Her fame was pretty much limited to students. Now, Joan Morrow? At the same age, she made way more waves.
In 1979, Sophia finally tagged along with Professor Kensington Orland to do experiments and published academic research that same year. Orland didn’t have the nerve to put his name first—after weighing his contribution, he shamelessly wrangled a co-first author spot. He put his name after Sophia’s, rode the fame, and years later, it even netted him his second Nobel Prize.
The next year, Sophia officially got her PhD from Cambridge University, becoming one of the youngest doctors in history. Compared to some freakishly gifted predecessors, getting a Cambridge doctorate at 18 wasn’t even that flashy. But if you count from when she started college to when she finished her PhD, Sophia was totally unbeatable.
Professor Orland was always kicking himself, wishing he’d discovered Sophia’s genius earlier. If she could read at one, start school at three, get her PhD at five, and win a Nobel at seven—that kind of resume would be epic, and totally fitting for someone like Sophia.
But no matter how much Orland fantasized, Sophia’s graduation day came right on schedule. Before leaving Cambridge, she racked up nine more PhDs in various fields, bagging a grand slam. Then, under Orland’s bittersweet gaze, Sophia left Cambridge.
She left London.
She left England.
She arrived in the United States—Wisconsin.
Now, the world in these memories wasn’t just black and white anymore. There were red flowers, green grass, the stunning blue Great Lakes, broad, bustling American streets, and a kaleidoscope of colors everywhere you looked.
At this moment, the hippie movement was still spreading, with all kinds of flashy fashion trends sweeping across America—smoky eyes, wild afros everywhere. Young people were living it up, losing themselves in dance halls, shaking it to beats that weren’t so different from today’s square dance tracks.
International tensions were running high—the Iran-Iraq War was looming, and the oil market was all over the place. The Soviet Union was still flexing, adding nukes every year and making every American from old to young totally paranoid. Ever since the Tsar Bomba went boom, Americans had this weird habit of digging bunkers for nuclear war, and it hadn’t stopped yet.
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And things weren’t great in America either. The Bretton Woods system had already crashed, inflation was sky-high, and the dollar was losing value fast. Banks were basically loan sharks, with interest rates hitting 20%—lots of folks were teetering on the edge of unemployment and bankruptcy. Mortgages and car payments were the biggest headaches, and being a slave to your house wasn’t just a Chinese thing.
In this crazy era, Jill Young and her crew saw 18-year-old Joan Morrow dive headfirst into this colorful world. She landed in Wisconsin and started working at a university research institute.
Cambridge grad, grand slam PhD, super-genius Sophia—what kind of splash would she make in America?
Sorry, but things didn’t go as expected. Her arrival didn’t cause a stir—in fact, it barely made a ripple. The science world’s old boys’ club has been blowing strong forever. Even Marie Curie, with two Nobel Prizes and a breakthrough in atomic science, faced relentless attacks and was labeled a 'Polish outsider,' suffering real emotional harm.
When Sophia got to America, she faced the same tough environment. Most of what she heard was: ‘You’re young, talented, but are you really up for the job?’ ‘Ten PhDs? That’s hard to believe.’ ‘You say you’re smart, but can you prove it?’ ‘PhD? That’s nice, but let’s see you do the real work—wash test tubes and petri dishes!’ Don’t want to? Then maybe this isn’t the place for you. There were plenty of young people hoping for a shot. So, either you do the work, or you move on.
If things hadn’t been like that, she never would’ve ended up in Wisconsin—a place where the research scene wasn’t exactly top-notch. Sure, the University of Wisconsin–Madison is called a ‘public Ivy’ and is one of the best public schools for research, but Sophia didn’t get in there. She ended up somewhere much smaller, much less prestigious.
And even in Wisconsin, at a university that was basically out in the sticks, Sophia still didn’t get fair treatment. She managed to land her own lab thanks to her stellar credentials—so at least she didn’t have to wash test tubes like a temp. But the equipment and funding she got were nowhere near enough for real scientific research.
In the whole science world, this supernova who should’ve been rising fast got the cold shoulder and was seriously sidelined.
If she’d stayed in England, with Professor Orland’s connections and reputation, she’d have had a golden future. No doubt Orland would’ve welcomed her with open arms in his lab and treated her like royalty.
But she didn’t.
She didn’t stay in cushy England—she dove straight into the wild waves of America, stubborn and alone. And all of it, just because Adam said, “I’m heading back to the States. Wanna come with me?”
She didn’t hesitate for a second—grabbed her suitcase and said, “Let’s go.”
Crossed the Atlantic, went from Cambridge prodigy to a small-town researcher—Sophia’s life took a wild turn. But this clear-eyed, ethereal woman didn’t feel bitter at all. In fact, she smiled way more than she ever did before.
Because—
“Off work?” In the crowd, Adam’s elegant figure stood out, bright and sunny: “Want me to give you a ride home? I’ve got a car!”