Mrs. Lin entered the room and saw Aunt Ge struggling to lift soone onto the bed. Without asking questions, she lifted the feet while Aunt Ge lifted the head, and together they managed to get the person onto the bed.
Aunt Ge angrily slapped her injured son’s leg, "I told you countless tis, if anything happens, just call . Why are you trying to be so capable by yourself? You were just starting to recover a little bit, but you ssed things up again. What if it gets worse than before?"
"Mom, I just wanted to try... I don’t want to be a burden to you."
Tears welled up in Aunt Ge’s eyes. She didn’t say anything and led Mrs. Lin out of the room.
The pancakes on the table had already gone cold, and she had no appetite to eat. She explained her family’s situation to Mrs. Lin and Lin Xiang.
"My husband passed away early, and my son was sensible from a young age. He knew it wasn’t easy for to raise him and his sister, so he joined the military early on. His monthly allowance was mostly sent ho. During that ti, relying on his allowance, the family’s life was indeed manageable."
"But the good tis didn’t last long. Two years ago, my son was injured during a mission, and both his legs beca disabled. He had to be discharged. The military provided a settlent fund, but his uncles jumped in to make trouble, and because there was no one to stand up for us, they forcibly took most of the money, leaving us with very little."
Mrs. Lin listened to Aunt Ge and wiped her tears.
"Mrs. Ge, our situations are so similar. I’ve been through what you’re going through now..."
Two people in similar distress found a common topic and comforted each other.
Lin Xiang remained silent, simply focusing on eating.
The next morning, Lin Xiang woke up early.
As she went out to wash up, Aunt Ge was loading items onto a small cart.
"Heading out this early?" Aunt Ge greeted Lin Xiang.
"Today is registration day, I need to get familiar with the environnt."
"Wait a mont, let make a pancake for you to eat on the way."
Aunt Ge’s small cart was already organized, and making pancakes would require taking everything down, which was quite botherso.
Lin Xiang declined her kind offer, carrying the new backpack Fifth Aunt made for her, heading to school alone.
The school gate faced north, with a bulletin board on the right-hand side.
On the bulletin board, Lin Xiang saw her na and found she was assigned to Class 1 of the second grade.
Lin Xiang, carrying her backpack, entered the school.
After several years, she was entering the high school campus in a different ti and place once again, and the feeling was quite peculiar.
The Town First Middle School was quite old; two teaching buildings faced a large playground. In the center of the playground was a podium, and the five-star red flag was already raised to the highest point.
On the right side of the playground was the cafeteria, and on the left were the dorms.
The cafeteria was a row of large flat houses, with the kitchen on the far left.
The dorms were a three-story building, of an old-fashioned design, with corridors on the outermost side.
Next to the playground, several desks served as registration points, and each class teacher was in charge.
Lin Xiang found Class 1 of the second grade, and handed over the checked tuition fees.
"Are you the transfer student Lin Xiang this year?" Mr. Wen pushed his glasses up on his nose, his mouth opened, and the cabbage on his upper teeth swayed in the wind. Even at a distance, Lin Xiang seed to sll the cabbage, "Your registration was completed a couple of days ago, just go back to the classroom and find a place to sit."
"Oh, alright."
Lin Xiang felt the new teacher was so enthusiastic, it eased any bit of nervousness she had about being a transfer student.
The Town First Middle School had two teaching buildings; the front one was the high school division, and the back one was the middle school division.
The high school building had three floors: third grade, second grade, and first grade.
The third grade was on the ground floor, saving the need to go up and down stairs, thus saving a lot of ti.
The class 1 of the second grade was in the first room on the left side of the second floor. When Lin Xiang pushed the door open to enter, many students were already seated inside.
"A new classmate?" A student sitting in the first row greeted the unfamiliar face enthusiastically, "Hello new classmate, welco to Class 1 of the second grade."
"Hello, everyone."
Just as Lin Xiang was about to find an empty seat to sit in, a tall female student walked straight up to her, "Hello classmate, I’m the class monitor of Class 1 in the second grade. Mr. Wen ntioned that a new student would be joining today and asked to take care of you. My desk partner dropped out this term, do you mind sitting with ?"
Being new and unfamiliar with anyone, Lin Xiang had no particular preference for a seat, so she accepted the class monitor’s enthusiastic invitation and sat alongside her.
"By the way, you don’t have any textbooks yet, do you? Would you like to share mine for now, and later you can get them from Mr. Wen?"
Lin Xiang took the textbooks the principal had given her from her backpack, "Thanks, but I have already prepared all the textbooks ahead of ti."
Fortunately, the current subjects were few, so Lin Xiang brought all the textbooks without knowing the class schedule.
"That’s good."
The class monitor mumbled sothing under her breath, which Lin Xiang could not hear while organizing her textbooks.
The classroom wasn’t big, but there were many students sitting inside. On a winter day with the windows closed, it was quite warm.
"I haven’t introduced myself yet. I’m Chen Xiangqin from Longgang Team. What’s your na and where are you from?"
Lin Xiang replied truthfully, "I’m Lin Xiang from Li Hua Team, I..."
"Ah? You’re from the countryside too?" Chen Xiangqin was surprised, and her gaze towards Lin Xiang changed subtly.
Lin Xiang didn’t understand why she reacted like that, but she keenly felt Chen Xiangqin wasn’t as enthusiastic as before. She opted to remain silent, focusing on her textbooks.
Chen Xiangqin did not engage with her further, turning to chat with the classmate at the neighboring desk, occasionally glancing back at Lin Xiang.
Lin Xiang was certain they were talking about her.
She felt soone poking her back with a pen, turned around, and t with a pair of bright, watery eyes. "I’m Kong Jingjing, also from Longgang Team, and I’ve grown up with Chen Xiangqin."
"Let tell you, don’t be fooled by Chen Xiangqin being the class monitor. She is quite snobbish and likes to mingle with students from the city. Didn’t you notice how her attitude changed when you ntioned being from the countryside?"
Lin Xiang smiled, "The class monitor led to familiarize myself with the class; that’s enough. We are still getting to know each other, and she can’t sacrifice her ti just to keep company, can she?"
Kong Jingjing hadn’t expected Lin Xiang’s reaction, not joining her in criticizing Chen Xiangqin but instead speaking in her defense.
"Anyway, welco to Class 1 of the second grade. We are front and back desk neighbors, if you need anything, just ask ."
"Thank you."
After a polite expression of thanks, Lin Xiang continued reading her textbooks.
She didn’t take Kong Jingjing’s words to heart.
She ca here to study, not to make friends. How Chen Xiangqin treated her was not important.
As for Kong Jingjing...
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