I'm Done Pretending. Here's the Truth.

That evening, a call went out to the Middle East.

Gavin's parents spent most of the year outside the United Kingdom.

To be precise, they drew a clear distinction between "immigrating to the United Kingdom" and "living in the United Kingdom." They could keep their residency status, property, and educational opportunities there without making it the center of their business or their lives.

That was entirely in keeping with their usual approach—

Practical and efficient.

"He said what? He wants to go to Oxford?"

On the other end of the line, Gu Jianguo's voice rose so high it nearly pierced the receiver.

"Isn't he still in primary school?!"

Mrs. Carlos stood straight with the receiver in her hand, doing her best to sound professional.

"Sir, I'm only passing along young Master Gu's wishes."

"But... his approach to studying has been rather different lately."

"How different?"

"He reads Eton's textbooks as though he's reviewing them, not learning from them."

Silence fell on the other end.

A few seconds later, a gentler voice spoke.

"Put him on."

"Young Master Gu, your mother would like to speak with you."

Gavin set down his pen and took the phone.

"Mom."

"Wenwen, I hear you want to go to Oxford?"

Lin Wanyin skipped the pleasantries and got straight to the point.

"To be precise, I'm almost ready."

Seated at his desk, Gavin began lying with a perfectly straight face.

"I've contacted a professor. All that's left is an interview."

The other end went quiet for a moment.

So quiet that even the faint static seemed to stop for half a second.

"Do you know what you're saying?"

"Of course."

"Do you know how old you are?"

"Of course I do."

"Then why would you say something like that?"

"Because I really don't want to waste any more time. Primary and secondary school textbooks are just too boring."

Gavin thought for a moment, then added:

"Of course, whether it works out depends on what kind of mood the professor's in today."

"..."

Another voice cut in.

"Fine."

Gu Jianguo had clearly seized the phone.

"Just wait."

"I'm booking a flight now."

The call ended.

Gavin put down the receiver and let out a long breath.

"Didn't see that coming."

That was his assessment.

"Well, that saves me the trouble of telling them. Looks like I need to pick up the pace."

The Hogwarts acceptance letter lay quietly at the very bottom of his desk drawer.

Above it lay his acceptance letter from Eton College.

"Oxford..."

Gavin leaned back in his chair and twirled the fountain pen in his hand.

"I'll have to go there myself."

Gavin left early the next morning.

Oxford was not far from London.

As he sat on the train watching gray-green fields roll past the window, he found himself thinking that parts of the United Kingdom were rather scenic after all.

The sky over Oxford was as gray as London's.

Stone walls rose at different heights around quiet lawns. Students in coats and sweaters passed by, and the air carried the scent of books and freshly cut grass.

It felt like an ancient city. Countless spires, domes, and Gothic window frames stood together, lending the place an air of solemn grandeur.

"Looks the part."

Standing outside an academic building, Gavin glanced down at the slip of paper in his hand.

A name was written on it:

Bill Roscoe

Bill Roscoe

A scholar who would become quite famous in computer science in the years to come.

For now, of course, he had yet to make that name for himself.

But that didn't matter.

What mattered was that Gavin intended to become his student.

Professor, your star pupil has arrived.

The bell rang, ending class.

Students streamed out of the academic building.

Gavin waited patiently to one side and soon spotted his target.

Middle-aged, with slightly curly hair, a blue shirt, and several books tucked under one arm.

Gavin walked straight up to him.

He stopped in front of him.

"Professor."

The man looked down at the child, who barely reached his chest, and paused in surprise.

"Are you lost?"

"No."

Gavin shook his head.

"I came to find you."

"Me?"

The professor frowned and studied his face for a couple of seconds.

"Which lecturer is your parent?"

"I'm your future student."

The air went still for a moment.

The professor laughed, as though he had heard a particularly good joke.

"All right, my future student."

He asked patiently:

"So what have you come to see me about?"

"I'm not very satisfied with your current research direction."

Gavin considered his words, then answered honestly.

"I'd like to help you move a little faster."

The professor's smile froze. A strange look entered his eyes.

"What?"

"Take current computer system architectures, for example."

This time, even his polite smile faltered.

"Now, young man, I think—"

"The central problem with existing systems is still the balance between concurrency and consistency."

Gavin spoke unhurriedly and clearly.

"If we introduce a decentralized structure where every node can perform verification, we may be able to redefine, at the architectural level, many questions of trust that currently depend on a central system's authority."

The professor had been about to interrupt Gavin and send the child on his way.

But by now, the look in his eyes had changed.

"Go on."

Gavin laid out the points he had prepared, one by one.

Distributed systems.

Verification mechanisms.

Decentralized trust.

Node consensus.

Chained records.

"In other words..."

He paused briefly as he reached his conclusion.

"We could try to build a system of trust that doesn't rely on a central server."

Gavin looked at him and smiled.

"We could call it—

Blockchain."

A breeze blew between them.

Outside the academic building, people were talking on a lawn in the distance, and leaves rustled in the trees.

Yet the little patch of ground where they stood had fallen conspicuously quiet.

The last trace of amusement vanished from the professor's face.

"What did you just say?"

"I said Blockchain."

Gavin's tone was calm.

"Of course, that's just one of my ideas. If you think it's too complicated, there are a few simpler, more feasible research directions we could explore. Search algorithms, operating system paradigms, machine learning—that sort of thing."

The professor stared at him for several seconds.

He no longer looked at Gavin as though he were a child causing trouble.

He looked as though something had suddenly emerged from the bushes—

A monster.

"Say that again."

His voice dropped.

"In more detail."

"Sure."

Gavin nodded.

"But explaining it out here might be a waste of your office."

Thirty minutes later.

In Professor Roscoe's office.

The professor took off his glasses and rubbed the bridge of his nose. Across from him sat Gavin, whose feet still could not quite reach the floor. For a long time, the professor said nothing.

The desk was covered in calculations and rough diagrams.

The professor had circled some sections himself.

"How old are you?"

At last, he asked the question he should have asked first.

"Eleven."

"Who taught you all this?"

"I came up with it myself."

Satoshi Nakamoto came up with it, Gavin thought, silently giving the genius his due.

The professor was quiet for a long time.

So long that Gavin began to wonder whether he was considering calling someone else in to take a look.

"I know this sounds a little absurd."

Gavin added thoughtfully.

"But I wouldn't joke about something like this."

"It isn't a little absurd."

The professor slowly shook his head.

"It's extremely absurd."

"That's a relief."

"What do you mean, a relief?"

"It means I didn't come all this way for nothing."

The professor looked at him, then suddenly smiled.

"So, you want to become my student?"

Gavin sat up straight, his tone turning formal.

"A doctoral student."

"Of course." The professor nodded.

"With a full scholarship."

"I have only one condition—"

He stared at Gavin with such intensity that he seemed afraid the boy might run off at any moment.

"I must be the corresponding author on every paper you publish from now on!"

Gavin thought for a moment.

"Of course. That goes without saying."

"You're agreeing just like that?"

"Why wouldn't I?"

Gavin shot back.

"I'm an eleven-year-old schoolboy who's just been admitted to an Oxford doctoral program. I couldn't ask for more."

The professor was momentarily lost for words.

"Is that so?"

Professor Roscoe couldn't shake the feeling that something was off.

"But I do have a request."

The professor tensed, then relaxed. On second thought, it would have been stranger if Gavin had no requests.

"Go ahead."

"I'd like some flexibility."

Gavin spoke frankly.

"I don't like being tied to a timetable."

The professor was silent for two seconds.

Then he nodded at once.

"That's fine."

"And one more thing."

"There's more?"

"If I'm away from campus now and then, I'd appreciate it if you could explain my absence."

The professor studied him for several seconds.

"You have other commitments?"

"For now."

The professor took a deep breath.

He didn't know how to answer. In the past, he never would have agreed to let an eleven-year-old come and go as he pleased.

But the child before him was clearly no ordinary child.

His instincts told him he had to keep Gavin here, whatever it took.

"All right,"

he said.

"We can discuss anything."

Gavin nodded, stood, and held out his hand.

"I look forward to working with you, Professor."

Professor Roscoe reached out and shook it almost without thinking.

Even as their palms met, the professor felt a little dazed.

An eleven-year-old doctoral student who had come knocking on his door of his own accord.

And brought with him a research approach far ahead of its time.

If the pages on his desk hadn't still been there, he might have wondered whether last night's late hours had finally caught up with him.

Gavin was in a good mood on the train home.

Things had gone even more smoothly than he'd expected.

Of course, it wasn't all luck.

Having knowledge from another era was an almost unfair advantage. Most people who traveled through time simply couldn't put it to such precise use.

"Three days."

He leaned back in his seat and watched the fields race past the window.

"That should be about enough time for them to fly back."

Sure enough.

Three days later, Gu Jianguo and Lin Wanyin rushed into the house, travel-worn and breathless.

They had clearly hurried back.

Gu Jianguo hadn't even changed out of his coat, and Lin Wanyin's pinned-up hair was slightly disheveled.

"Where is he?!"

Gu Jianguo asked the moment he came through the door.

He was so loud they could hear him upstairs.

“In the Study,”

Mrs. Carlos answered.

The two went straight upstairs and pushed open the Study door.

On the desk lay a letter.

It was a thick, ivory envelope made of expensive watermarked paper.

A dark-blue shield-shaped crest was printed in its upper-left corner. An open book sat at its center, surrounded by three crowns and a small line of Latin: Dominus Illuminatio Mea—The Lord is my light.

Gu Jianguo walked over and picked up the letter.

His hand trembled a little.

"Is... is this real?"

"It's real."

Gavin sat to one side, picked up his teacup, and took a sip to buy himself time.

"You can call and check again."

"I already did."

Lin Wanyin came in, barely able to contain her smile.

"Professor Bill answered the phone himself."

"It's real."

"A full scholarship and admission by special exception."

The Study fell quiet for a moment.

Gu Jianguo looked down at the admission letter, then up at Gavin.

His expression was too complicated to describe in a few words.

There was shock, pride, disbelief—even a sense that none of it was quite real.

Then he raised his hand—

Smack!

He slapped himself across the face.

"That hurt."

He nodded.

"Not a dream."

Gavin looked at him and managed not to laugh.

"You little..."

Gu Jianguo stared at him for a long time before finally getting the words out.

"When did you turn into a monster?"

Gavin gave it serious thought.

"Is it possible I always was one?"

Silence hung in the air for a second.

Then Gu Jianguo burst out laughing.

"Hahaha! That's my son. I knew the Gu family had excellent genes."

"Your dad came all the way to the United Kingdom for you. I bought a house, looked for schools, planned everything out—and after all that work, you skipped straight to the finish line yourself."

He slapped the desk, his voice ringing with heartfelt relief.

"I'm free!"

Lin Wanyin stood nearby and couldn't help laughing too.

"Don't celebrate too soon. We still have to take him to school."

"Of course we'll take him."

Gu Jianguo nodded immediately.

"It's Oxford. I have to see it for myself."

"Then let's go tomorrow."

Gavin set down his teacup, sounding as though he were arranging an ordinary outing.

"Tomorrow?"

Gu Jianguo froze.

"Doesn't the term start in September?"

"For regular students."

Gavin nodded.

"But I'm a doctoral student admitted by special exception."

"..."

Early the next morning, the family of three went to Oxford.

More precisely, Gu Jianguo and Lin Wanyin went to Oxford brimming with excitement, and Gavin went along with them.

Everything they saw along the way fascinated the two of them.

They had to look at the stone walls, the lawns, the clock towers, and the libraries.

As they walked around campus, Gu Jianguo even felt a strangely powerful sense of belonging. It was as if his son hadn't gotten into Oxford; instead, Gu Jianguo's own life had finally caught up with a dream long overdue.

"This place is wonderful."

He walked with his hands behind his back, trying to look like someone who frequented institutions like this.

"You can really feel the history."

"Mm."

Gavin nodded.

"The air's full of knowledge."

"You can smell it?"

"More or less."

Professor Bill Roscoe appeared soon afterward.

He was exceptionally warm when he met Gu Jianguo and Lin Wanyin.

He had to be.

After all, these were the parents of the genius student he had just managed to secure.

In a sense, they were the ones funding the whole enterprise.

Gu Jianguo's English was a little halting, but he made up for it with confidence and a broad smile. And since Professor Bill was eager to get along, the two actually had a pleasant conversation.

Lin Wanyin was more concerned about Gavin's studies and living arrangements.

At last, reassured, Lin Wanyin said, "Then we'll leave him in your care."

She smiled as she spoke.

"Please don't worry."

"I'll do everything I can to look after Gavin."

As Professor Bill said it, he felt a little guilty.

He remembered the freedom he had promised Gavin, but he soon put his mind at ease.

The final say was his. All he had to do was make things a little difficult for Gavin, and Gavin would feel too embarrassed to leave.

He just had no idea what he was about to face.

Before Gu Jianguo and Lin Wanyin left, they gave Gavin a few more reminders: study hard, take care of himself, and don't work too hard.

Gavin agreed to everything.

His attitude was good, and his expression was earnest.

He looked like a child who would never give anyone cause to worry.

Once the two of them were out of earshot, Professor Bill couldn't help saying:

"Your parents are lovely."

"They are."

Gavin nodded.

"Which is why I need to be an even more devoted son."

"What?"

"Nothing."

Gavin turned to the professor. The warmth on his face vanished in an instant, replaced by something else.

His whole manner grew sharp.

"Professor."

Gavin spoke.

"Let's begin."

"Begin what?" Professor Bill looked puzzled. "You mean... talk about the paper?"

"Of course."

Gavin looked as though the answer were obvious.

"Time waits for no one."

Professor Bill suddenly felt old, though he had only just turned forty.

That night, Gavin sat at the desk in his dorm room and opened a drawer.

The acceptance letter from Hogwarts lay quietly inside.

He looked at it for a few seconds, then pushed the drawer shut.

"Just a little more, and things here will be settled."

He murmured to himself.

"Wait for me, Hogwarts."