“Wanwan, what goodies did you buy?”
Mao Xiaomin, drying her wet hair, tilted her head to look at her good roommate, who had just returned to the dorm laden with bags.
She was truly envious. Lin Wanwan was a renowned beauty, not just in their department but throughout the entire university—prettier even than the dance majors. It was no wonder she could find such a great boyfriend.
In contrast, she herself was just ordinary. It was only because she had become Lin Wanwan’s roommate that whenever Wanwan went out shopping, she would always bring something back for her, whether it was snacks or things like notebooks and pens. That’s why Mao Xiaomin was envious, but not at all jealous.
Mao Xiaomin couldn’t help but think it would be wonderful if she could be roommates with Lin Wanwan for a lifetime. She had no great ambitions and didn’t mind it when those annoying classmates called her Lin Wanwan’s little follower or tag-along. Lin Wanwan was good to her, and others didn’t know that.
“Jian Ming said he wants to take me to meet his parents tomorrow. I went to buy a new outfit and a gift for them.”
Lin Wanwan placed her things on the communal table in the middle of the dorm. Under Mao Xiaomin’s expectant gaze, she smiled and pulled out a paper bag, still warm, from the pile. “Here, this is for you.”
“Chestnuts! Wanwan, you’re the best! I’ve been craving the roasted chestnuts from the stall by the school gate for so long!”
Seeing Mao Xiaomin happily clutching the chestnuts, forgetting even to dry her still-dripping hair, Lin Wanwan quickly reminded her, “Hurry up and dry your hair. It’s so cold, be careful not to catch a cold.”
“Right, right.” Mao Xiaomin tucked the still-warm sugar-roasted chestnuts into her thick woolen blanket to keep them warm and quickly got to work drying her hair.
“Is the bathhouse crowded?” Lin Wanwan asked Mao Xiaomin, who had apparently already showered and returned, as she thought about having to go wash up soon.
“Not at all, there’s almost no one. Who would want to go for a shower every day in this cold weather?”
Even she herself only went to the bathhouse once every few days, which was already considered frequent. The main reason was to save money, as showering also cost money. Besides, you didn’t sweat much in winter, so Mao Xiaomin didn’t go every day.
Lin Wanwan smiled without saying anything. It had been several years since she had inexplicably woken up and transmigrated here. She had gradually adapted to every aspect of this life, but as a southerner, the one thing she couldn’t accept was the school’s public bathhouse.
The standard of living here was similar to the 1980s of the world she came from. The university dorms didn’t have individual showers, so everyone had to go to the public bathhouse.
It was fine when the weather was warm. Aside from not being used to the crowds—Lin Wanwan had never in her life showered naked with so many women—the main issue was that as winter approached, she became particularly afraid of the cold, especially on the walk back to the dorm from the bathhouse.
But it was uncomfortable not to shower. For her, a modern person, taking a shower before bed had long become a habit. If only she could move out of the dorm sooner.
“Oh, right! You just said you’re going to meet his parents!”
Mao Xiaomin, sitting on the edge of the lower bunk combing her hair, finally processed the news. She quickly pushed the fragrant chestnuts from her mind and asked Lin Wanwan about the important matter.
Lin Wanwan was standing in front of her small personal cabinet, gathering her toiletries into a washbasin. With her back to Mao Xiaomin, the blissful joy she had when she first returned to the dorm was gone from her eyes, replaced by a certain coldness.
But because her voice was naturally soft and gentle, with the lingering, connected cadence of someone from the Jiangnan region, no one could detect anything unusual just from her speech. “Yes, his family knows we’re dating. They said they want to meet me and have invited me over for a meal.”
“That’s wonderful! You two are such a perfect match. Does this mean we’ll be celebrating your wedding after graduation…”
Lin Wanwan didn’t have the heart to listen to the rest of Mao Xiaomin’s words, her mind preoccupied with what had happened today.
When she first transmigrated here, Lin Wanwan had gone through a period of panic. She didn’t know how to do anything and had nothing. She couldn’t start a business and get rich like the female protagonists in novels. She didn’t have the courage for that. Her only way out was to study desperately and get into university.
And so, Lin Wanwan began her university life. She majored in English. For her, who had attended university and passed the CET-6 in the modern era, the course content wasn’t difficult and didn’t require much effort. The real trouble was her living expenses; the allowance her family gave her was next to nothing.
The university subsidized students’ meal costs, but the subsidy was just barely enough to eat one’s fill. If one wanted to buy things and live a little better, it was all up to their own abilities.
Among those who could attend university in Beijing, besides the students who tested in from all over the country, the majority were local students. Those from well-off families were given living expenses, while those from less fortunate backgrounds did everything they could to find part-time jobs to earn some money.
Lin Wanwan’s English proficiency gave her an advantage over her classmates who had no foundation. Her grades had been excellent since she enrolled, so she helped a professor with some translation work. Her translations were accurate and fast, and the pay she received was not low for a university student.
She wasn’t the frugal type and was very willing to spend money on herself. Aside from the money she saved up to send home once a year, in just one short year, Lin Wanwan’s image in the eyes of her teachers and classmates slowly transformed from a pretty country girl with two thick braids into a fashionable campus goddess.
The national college entrance exams had only recently been reinstated, and Lin Wanwan had only managed to get into university after a couple of years of trying. Now in her early twenties, she was at the perfect age, not to mention her outstanding performance in various school activities.
Thus, a professor wanted to act before she graduated. Such a fine young woman would be assigned a job back in her hometown if she didn’t have connections in Beijing, becoming an English teacher in a rural school with a future one could see to the end. The professor truly liked Lin Wanwan as a student—pretty, capable, and with a clean family background. Thinking how wonderful it would be to introduce her to her own nephew, she facilitated the relationship between Lin Wanwan and Jian Ming.
Lin Wanwan was quite satisfied with her boyfriend, Jian Ming. At the end of the day, she was still a young woman. Pursued by a tall, handsome “Compound Kid” with a good family background, who showered her with gifts in a sweet offensive, her little bit of vanity was satisfied, and she naturally started dating Jian Ming.
In her three years of university, Lin Wanwan had never returned to her hometown. Jian Ming’s proposal to meet his parents today inevitably made Lin Wanwan dig up memories of her family and parents from the depths of her mind.
Her family’s situation wasn’t bad. They were in a county-level city in the south, both parents had jobs, and she was their only daughter. They had always had high expectations for her. In the words of a later era, Lin Wanwan was a university student propped up by the full efforts of an ordinary family—a “Small-Town Exam Solver.”
She had lived up to their expectations and indeed got into a university in Beijing. But a girl who stood out as excellent in a small county town found that there were too many people more outstanding and capable than her in the big city. If she didn’t work hard, she would be just as easily submerged among the masses, becoming dim and lackluster. Her overly striking looks could instead become a sharp weapon turned against herself.
The only thing Lin Wanwan had to her name was her grades. Studying alone in Beijing, she had no other advantages.
When she was repeating her last year of high school, whenever relatives and friends praised her good grades, her parents would always shake their heads. “She suddenly got it in her head to go to university. It would have been better to go to a technical secondary school to learn a skill and help out the family sooner.”
Although they said that, her parents fully supported her studies at home, giving her all the nutritious food. While her peers had graduated from technical schools and could already work in factories, Lin Wanwan was still wrestling with those thick textbooks.
She had no natural talent; she relied on this brute-force method, burying her head in practice problems and exam papers for two or three years after transmigrating.
Lin Wanwan was a bit lazy and wanted to lie flat, but her current living conditions were too uncomfortable for her to do so. The “lying flat” she desired was a comfortable one.
Who hadn’t watched Taiwanese idol dramas as a child about a “domineering CEO falling in love with me and marrying into a rich family”? Who hadn’t had such a slightly foolish daydream filled with a young girl’s romantic notions? Lin Wanwan was no exception.
Jian Ming’s appearance could allow her to stay in Beijing after graduation. Although job assignments were said to be unified and fair, there was still a difference between being in her hometown county and being in Beijing. Lin Wanwan wanted to pursue a better life. Only by securing an Iron Rice Bowl could she lie flat comfortably.
Besides, after getting to know Jian Ming, she had grown to like him quite a bit. He was direct, enthusiastic, like a happy puppy, always willing to rush to the front to help anyone in need.
After all, this was the partner she had decided to spend her future with. Lin Wanwan took tomorrow’s visit to Jian Ming’s home very seriously. Amidst her happiness, she was also nervous, afraid that Jian Ming’s family wouldn’t like her.
But the person she met today, the things that happened, and Jian Ming’s reaction all gave her a strange feeling in her heart. She hoped she was just overthinking it…