The sun at three or four in the afternoon cast a dull, languid light, making everything feel even more stifling.
After parting ways with Lin Zhuer, Lin Erxia arrived at the dormitory. Most of the girls had already arrived, and there was now bedding on the lower bunk beneath hers.
There were eight beds in total. One entire bunk bed set was still unoccupied, leaving the innermost bunk against the wall empty.
The dorm was now full. Besides Xu Ru, Xie Qinglan, and Xie Xiaolian—whom she had met that morning—there were four other girls chatting cheerfully together.
As soon as Lin Erxia walked in, their conversation stopped, and they all looked at her.
She smiled. “Hello, everyone. I’m Lin Erxia—one of your dormmates.”
Xu Ru glanced at Lin Erxia’s newly cut short hair in surprise but didn’t ask about it. Instead, she introduced the others.
“These four are Liu Xiaomei, Wang Yanyan, Qi Fang, and Cheng Ling. What a coincidence—we’re all in the same class. If I remember correctly, the eight of us are all the boarding girls in our class.”
The four girls smiled back politely. No matter what, first meetings were always friendly.
Xie Qinglan couldn’t help but ask curiously, “Lin Erxia, why did you cut your hair so short?”
Before Lin Erxia could answer, Xie Xiaolian tugged at Xie Qinglan.
“She probably sold her braid for money—what’s wrong with that? Are people not allowed to do that?” she said, then turned to Lin Erxia with a smile. “Erxia, Qinglan was just curious—she didn’t mean anything by it.”
Lin Erxia sighed inwardly. Great… I can already smell the same vibe as certain coworkers from my previous life.
She glanced at her long-sleeved shirt—patched unevenly at the elbows—and her dark blue pants with a black patch at the knee. The stitching was neat enough not to stand out too much, and this was already her better outfit.
Well… she did look poor.
Seeing Xie Qinglan’s slightly anxious expression, Lin Erxia said calmly, “I cut my hair because it was too long and hard to manage at school. Of course… I also thought about exchanging it for money.”
She spoke frankly, showing no embarrassment at mentioning money.
Relieved that Lin Erxia wasn’t upset, Xie Qinglan smiled. “But your hairstyle actually looks nice. Did the person who bought your braid cut it for you?”
“I just cut it myself,” Lin Erxia replied casually.
“Wow, that’s impressive,” Xie Xiaolian said, sounding a bit overly enthusiastic.
Lin Erxia didn’t respond. She turned around and began tidying her cabinet, as her clothes still weren’t properly arranged.
While sorting, she came across the bag her aunt had given her. Inside was a new shirt—a dark blue one. She had tried it on that morning; it was a little big, but that meant she could wear it for years. It was her first new piece of clothing, and she treasured it deeply.
As Lin Erxia remained silent, the atmosphere in the dorm grew slightly awkward. Xie Xiaolian whispered something to Xie Qinglan, occasionally glancing at Lin Erxia before quickly lowering her head again.
Feeling bored, Lin Erxia turned to go out for a walk. Seeing this, Xu Ru hesitated briefly before following her.
Outside the dorm, Xu Ru noticed Lin Erxia heading toward the field and walked with her for a bit before calling out,
“Lin Erxia, wait for me.”
Lin Erxia turned back. “Xu Ru? What’s up?”
“I just wanted to look around the school—thought I’d go with you.”
Lin Erxia nodded in agreement.
Their school wasn’t very big—just neat rows of buildings with a wide road running through the middle. The teaching building was at the very back.
Just inside the gate on the west side was the bike shed, and further west was the cafeteria.
After walking around and chatting, it was about time for dinner. The two returned to the dorm to grab their lunch boxes and grain coupons before heading to the cafeteria.
Lin Erxia also brought along her pickled vegetables.
Since she had eaten quite a lot at lunch and hadn’t done much in the afternoon, she only exchanged for one flatbread, paired it with her pickles, and filled a thermos with hot water—that was her dinner.
Xu Ru ate a bit better: a bun made from a mix of white flour and cornmeal, along with a bowl of plain porridge.
They chatted as they ate, deliberately avoiding topics about food.
After dinner, there wasn’t much to do. There were no evening classes, and after a day of travel, everyone was exhausted. Lin Erxia fell asleep as soon as she lay down, and the others in the dorm were much the same.
Early the next morning, after breakfast with Xu Ru, they headed to class around seven.
They had already checked the classroom the day before—it was similar to the dorms, built of red bricks and tiles, just larger.
Class 3 of Senior Year One was in the middle. There were only six rooms in total for the first-year students, one of which was the teachers’ office—meaning there were five classes altogether.
The classroom had already been cleaned. The desks were long tables with storage compartments, and the benches were shared by two students.
The room was fairly spacious, and even with the desks and chairs, it didn’t feel cramped.
They arrived early—only a few boys were already there.
At this time, unlike later generations, boys and girls didn’t casually joke around with each other; there was still a clear sense of distance.
Lin Erxia and Xu Ru chose seats by the window. By eight o’clock, more students gradually arrived, and the other six girls from their dorm sat nearby.
Once most people had gathered, two more girls entered. One of them immediately drew everyone’s attention.
She wore a simple floral dress, her hair held back with a headband that revealed her full forehead. Her eyes were calm, without any particular emotion.
She had a classic oval face, flawless skin, and a straight, elegant nose that added a hint of sharpness to her beauty. Her overall aura was cool and aloof.
Even by modern standards, Lin Erxia thought, this girl would still be stunning—and she wasn’t even wearing makeup.
Her beauty was completely different from Lin Zhuer’s. Lin Zhuer was sweet and charming, while this girl was refined and cool.
It was no wonder she attracted so much attention—even the girls in the class kept glancing at her.
Seeing the girls seated together, she brought along a slightly chubby girl beside her and quietly took a seat at the back.
Soon, a teacher entered.
He was their homeroom teacher, Teacher Wan Heping, who also taught Chinese.
A middle-aged man wearing glasses, he had a calm expression and unreadable eyes. He didn’t comment on the somewhat disorderly seating.
After briefly introducing himself, he told everyone to begin self-study, then left the room.
Lin Erxia quickly counted—there were 56 students in the class, but only eight girls.
A ratio of 1:8—and it would only become more skewed at higher levels.
Their high school curriculum didn’t include foreign languages or music. The subjects were Chinese, mathematics, politics, physics, chemistry, history, geography, and labor class.
Politics was the top priority. Next came labor class, which took up a significant portion—every Tuesday and Thursday afternoon.
They would go to nearby villages to work. Even though they were students, they still couldn’t escape labor.
Everyone was used to it. After all, in middle school, it had already been half a day of classes and half a day of labor—though in reality, that often just meant going home to work.
Provided by the author Zhu Lin Luoyu