Before long, Teacher Wan returned carrying a stack of textbooks. Several others followed behind him, also holding books—one with hair already half gray, the rest middle-aged like Teacher Wan.
Teacher Wan gave a brief introduction: these were the teachers for each subject. None of them paid any attention to the noisy classroom as they began handing out books. After distributing them, Teacher Wan simply said that at 2 p.m. they would gather on the field for weeding duty, and that the morning would be self-study. With that, he left the classroom.
Lin Erxia flipped through her brand-new textbooks, unable to resist taking a look. As for the teachers’ attitude, she understood it.
In the past few years, many teachers had been wrongly accused—some even by their own students. As a result, they had grown far more guarded. Since then, their attitude toward students had completely changed: the safest approach was to stay hands-off.
Naturally, they didn’t dare manage students’ studies too strictly anymore. Combined with the limited study time, it was no surprise that academic performance wasn’t very good.
The classroom was in chaos. Some students shouted and chatted, some sat on desks flailing their arms like they were having a fit, and others simply walked out.
Xu Ru saw Lin Erxia reading and quietly joined her. A few other girls whispered among themselves, occasionally glancing toward the back.
Sitting in the back was a cool, aloof girl. When she noticed their looks, she would sometimes respond with a slight nod.
A bold boy walked over and sat at a desk across the aisle from her. With his hair parted neatly and a grin revealing yellow teeth, he said,
“Comrade, my name is Ren Jian. What’s yours? Since we’ve met, it must be fate—we should get along well and be friends.”
He even waggled his eyebrows as he spoke.
The boys around him chimed in, “Yeah, yeah!”
The girl’s expression turned cold. She didn’t even turn to look at him. Instead, the chubby girl beside her snorted,
“Why don’t you take a look at yourself first? You think you’re worthy of being her friend?”
Ren Jian’s face stiffened—anyone would lose face being spoken to like that.
He was about to retort, but someone whispered something in his ear. He turned away and started chatting with others, no longer bothering them.
Xu Ru and Lin Erxia paid no attention to the commotion in the back. Xie Qinglan and the others exchanged glances, realizing that the aloof girl wasn’t easy to approach, and stopped sneaking looks. The attention on the two girls in the back gradually faded.
At noon, Lin Erxia and Xu Ru went to eat together. Since there were too few tables in the cafeteria, they carried their food outside and sat on small wooden stools.
Xu Ru bought a single dish—shredded potatoes. Food had to be paid for: ten cents for vegetables, twenty five cents for meat.
She urged Lin Erxia to share. “Erxia, have some. I can’t finish it alone—it’d be a waste.”
Lin Erxia didn’t refuse. She took out her pickled cucumbers to share, and together they ate them with sorghum flatbread—it tasted just fine.
It wasn’t that Lin Erxia had no money. Including what she’d earned from selling her braids, she had a “huge sum” of 7 yuan, 26 cents.
But she couldn’t bear to spend it. Perhaps it was because of her previous life—she valued money deeply. Only money gave her a sense of security. Without it, she felt uneasy. So she lived frugally, always thinking about ways to earn more.
As they ate and chatted, they naturally brought up the stunning girl from the morning. Compared to her, despite being the same age, Lin Erxia felt like a weed while the other girl was like a budding flower—strikingly beautiful. Whether it was her looks or her temperament, she easily made people forget her age.
Xu Ru sighed, “That girl is really beautiful. She has such a unique aura.”
“Mhm… the aura of money.”
Xu Ru blinked in surprise.
“Without wealth beyond the ordinary, you can’t cultivate that kind of temperament and posture… and appearance.”
Lin Erxia added,
“I’m not denying her efforts. She must have worked hard too—otherwise she wouldn’t be who she is today.”
Xu Ru burst out laughing. “Erxia, the way you talk is really interesting. I’d say you’re very honest—open and straightforward.”
Lin Erxia shrugged. “Of course. That’s one of my fine qualities.”
In her previous life, Lin Erxia had met girls like that—wealthy daughters. She had once envied and resented them… and, well, she still did.
Back then, she sometimes thought: aside from having a rich father, good looks, and the freedom to spend money, what else did they have?
Well… she had nothing.
No matter how hard she struggled, she could never be like them. Sometimes, the only way to feel better was to belittle their abilities in her own mind.
It wasn’t until she started working that she truly understood the gap.
A rich, beautiful colleague who joined at the same time as her outclassed her in everything—work ability, social skills, perspective—by miles. No matter how hard Lin Erxia tried to stand out, she felt like a maid trying to catch a young lady’s attention.
Yet the other girl never looked down on her. She even gave her advice and helped broaden her horizons.
Only then did Lin Erxia realize how wrong she had been.
The “enemy” she had imagined wasn’t even competing with her—it was more like a game to them. A “raising” game.
From then on, she understood one thing: don’t create imaginary rivals. In their eyes, you might not even count for anything.
Since then, she let go of her narrow-mindedness and focused on improving herself. That was what truly mattered.
In the afternoon labor session, all first- and second-year high school students gathered on the field. Before them stretched a vast patch of weeds—that was their task for the afternoon.
Hundreds of students—five or six hundred—crowded together, yet still looked small against the field.
They were divided by class. Class Three of the first year was assigned a spot slightly north of the center. Teacher Wan had people fetch tools, marked out their work area, and then selected two student volunteers—one boy and one girl—to organize the work.
The boys were led by Mao Junwen, a mild-mannered, bespectacled student. Though he spoke softly, he quickly coordinated with Xu Ru to divide the work areas between boys and girls.
They then arranged for others to fetch tools.
Xu Ru came over to speak with their group of seven.
“Do you have any preference for what kind of work? It’s either pulling weeds or transporting them. Choose first.”
For a moment, no one spoke. The chubby girl muttered, “Who would want to work? It’s dirty and exhausting—I don’t even want to touch it.”
Xu Ru ignored her. After a minute, she spoke again.
“Qi Fang and Cheng Ling will transport the weeds. The rest will be responsible for pulling them—each person gets a section. That’s the arrangement. I’ll take Qi Fang and Cheng Ling to get tools.”
The chubby girl protested, “Why do those two get to transport the weeds?”
Xu Ru fixed her with a steady look. “I already asked for your opinions. Since you didn’t object then, it means you agreed. So my arrangement stands.”
Her firm attitude shut the girl up—she didn’t dare argue further.
When you’re leading, if you’re not decisive, things only get messier.
Off to the side, Lin Erxia secretly gave Xu Ru a thumbs-up. That commanding presence was impressive.