The main business of the Lins revolved around software development, leaning towards being a product company that sold technically advanced gadgets with high performance systems. When Lin Shaofeng passed over the company to Lin Shenglan, it was actually already starting to crumble.
There was high competition in the market, especially since each year, more and more intelligent prodigies that mastered software engineering were being recruited by top companies. Lin Shenglan was gifted at persuading people, advertising products, and trade selling. But it ultimately came down to the quality of the product being sold.
If the product wasn't good, no matter how enticing the sales pitch, there wouldn't be any buyers.
That was where Lin Yitian came in. He had already been confirmed for having prodigious savantism since he was a child, which meant that not only did he have the rare savant syndrome, unlike most savants, he was not restricted to only being exceptionally talented at one area. Even more so, most people with savant syndromes had low IQs, but in some rare cases, like Lin Yitian's, his IQ wasn't affected at all.
One had to know, the probability of having savant syndrome was approximately 1:2000 in persons with autism. And the probability of having prodigious savantism was even rarer than that. To date, fewer than 100 prodigious savants have been documented. For Lin Yitian to pick the golden lottery ticket and even maintain his high IQ...
Song Jia thought, he's the male god, alright.
Because of Lin Shenglan's urgings, Lin Yitian started studying software engineering. And it wasn't long before he became the best at his field, leaving their other competitors in the dust. This was what also frustrated his father, Lin Shaofeng, about him.
Clearly a talented and intelligent son, but he just had to end up being not right in the head. Lin Shaofeng couldn't even brag to his friends about him. He could show off Lin Shenglan, but every time his business partners asked about his second son, he could only bow his head in shame. What was the use of having a highly intelligent son when he couldn't even converse properly with other people? Sometimes Lin Shaofeng entertained the idea that if only Lin Yitian's intelligence was given to Lin Shenglan instead...
That was why, between the older and the younger, there existed a mix of inferiority and bitterness that slowly widened the gap between their relationship as siblings.
"Jia?"
Lin Yitian's voice snapped Song Jia out of her musings. He had made her sit on a chair right next to his computer screen, so that he would only have to tilt his head sideways to immediately see her. The only books Lin Yitian had inside his study were about computers, so Song Jia's mind wandered off while she was reading. Lin Yitian would occasionally disturb her, poking her cheek and calling her name.
Just like what happened fifteen times before, Song Jia looked at him. "Yes?"
After getting her attention, Lin Yitian would only smile happily and continue working.
They air lay still and quiet, the comfortable silence broken only by the sounds of pages flipping over and the rhythmic taps on the keyboard. Once in a while, Lin Yitian would quietly say "Jia," and poke her on the cheek. Other times he would absently pat her on the head while looking at his computer screen, as if reassuring himself that she was still there.
Song Jia gave up on understanding the book that she was reading. Most of the computer books inside Lin Yitian's study were already advanced, so she, a complete beginner, could barely understand it. She stood up from her chair and stretched her limbs.
Lin Yitian stopped typing and looked at her. "Jia?"
He found out that with Song Jia always in his sight, his mind completely relaxed and his work efficiency became even faster than before. His fingertips had flown over the keyboard for the past few hours, and all six of his computer monitors displayed thousands of lines of codes. There was a minimized window box displaying a spreadsheet, while another displayed his IDE.
Song Jia squeezed his shoulder, not wanting to distract him.
"I'm just going to look around for a bit," she told him.
Lin Yitian's study was spacious, and nearly half of it were occupied by books and computers. There was a portrait of his family hanging on the wall, with Lin Shenglan standing beside his father and Lin Yitian standing beside his mother. A dark maple desk, sofas against the walls, soft plush carpeting, and various antiques filled the rest of the room.
While Lin Yitian wasn't looking, Song Jia expertly arranged a nearby antique tea set to its traditional order.
Song Jia abandoned the tea set and explored the rest of the room. She suddenly spotted something that looked like a jewellery display case tucked in one of the corners of the room. It was hidden by a tall bookcase, so she didn't immediately see it.
When she looked down to peer at the glass, Song Jia became dumbfounded.
What the heck, it was just a white shirt! And it even had a stain!
Was it another ancient artifact that Lin Yitian collected? But the shirt looked modern. Maybe the red stain on its sleeve was actually blood, and that blood stain symbolized a great moment in history.
No wonder it was displayed in a glass case like an exhibit in a museum. Song Jia nodded to herself.
Song Jia moved on to look at the rest of the contents inside the glass display case.
A wooden paddle brush with stray hairs caught on its bristles...
No wonder it looked so familiar, Song Jia thought. Maybe I had read about this paddle brush in historical books. It was probably used by a famous queen.
Next to the paddle brush were dried orange peels...
Song Jia thought of the orange she and Lin Yitian had eaten a few days ago. Lin Yitian was such an avid collector that he even collected historically significant dried orange peels. What was the difference between the orange peels she threw in the trash and these expensive orange peels bought at an auction?
Song Jia shook her head. What a complete waste of money.
Most of the stuff inside the display case were random objects, so Song Jia gradually lost interest in looking at them. Finally, at the leftmost end, there was an empty amber bottle.
It was labeled, 'Deep Moisturizing Body Wash, 50% Off.'
Song Jia, "..."
Wasn't that the same body wash she just threw in the trash can that morning?