Starting off by speaking badly about Chen Xiangqin, the tea-flavored undertones were quite strong, clearly not soone simple.
Kong Jingjing saw that after saying so much, Lin Xiang had no reaction at all, and couldn’t help but purse her lips, but she didn’t say anything more.
After a while, Chen Xiangqin ca back, took the attendance list from her desk cubby, and handed it to Lin Xiang, "These are the nas of our classmates, try to morize them for now, I’ll help you get familiar with everyone when they’re all here."
"Thank you." Lin Xiang thanked her politely and started looking at the attendance list.
There were thirty-six nas in total on the list, with a few of them crossed out in red, and at the very bottom was Lin Xiang’s na.
"The crossed-out students have dropped out, like Ge Yuanyi, for instance, who left this sester."
Kong Jingjing poked Lin Xiang in the back with her nose, "Ge Yuanyi used to be the class monitor’s desk mate. They were really close, but after that incident, the monitor stopped associating with her. Let tell you..."
"Kong Jingjing!"
Chen Xiangqin turned around and slapped the table hard, "Don’t you understand the consequences of speaking recklessly? Just because Ge Yuanyi isn’t at school doesn’t an you can gossip about her like that. It’s a real misfortune to have you as a classmate!"
Kong Jingjing defiantly retorted loudly, "Am I wrong? Weren’t you close with Ge Yuanyi before? And after that incident, didn’t you stop interacting with her?"
"That’s because..."
"Proximity to ink makes you black. If Ge Yuanyi could do such a thing, and you were practically glued to her, who knows what you’re like behind the scenes!"
"Kong Jingjing, if you keep talking nonsense, watch tear your mouth apart..."
Unprepared, the two of them unexpectedly started fighting, knocking chairs and desks over in the process.
Lin Xiang didn’t expect the situation to escalate like this, standing in the aisle, clearly a bit at a loss.
A classmate whispered, "The two of them are the class monitor and the student council mber. Both are from Longgang Team, and they always rank first and second in every exam, viewing each other as rivals and finding an excuse to fight every now and then."
Lin Xiang: "...Good."
Classmate: "Huh?"
"I an, the class monitor and the student council mber have quite a good stress-relief thod."
But why does the na Ge Yuanyi sound so familiar?
"What are you all doing!" Mr. Wen, just having finished registration and carrying a desk back to the classroom, saw the two fighting, pushed his glasses up, and angrily said, "Fighting on the first day of school, huh? If you love fighting so much, why not do it on the playground and let other classes take a good look at the style of our Junior Class A?"
Chen Xiangqin and Kong Jingjing finally let go of each other but still glared at one another, then tacitly straightened back the overturned desks and chairs.
Mr. Wen had the male classmates in the class fix the tables, glanced at the empty seat, and said to Lin Xiang, "Lin Xiang, you can sit in the front row."
Lin Xiang didn’t want to sit in the front row.
"Mr. Wen, can I sit here? If I have questions, I can ask the class monitor right away."
"I can teach you too; my grades are no worse than Chen Xiangqin’s."
Lin Xiang: "...There’s also the student council mber."
Mr. Wen felt a string of question marks float before his eyes.
He had heard from the senior grade teachers that their new transfer student, Lin Xiang, was extrely talented in math. The exam papers brought by the dean, which the math teachers couldn’t solve, she had tackled with a new approach.
Does such a talented student need others to teach them?
However, since Lin Xiang was unwilling to sit in the front row, Mr. Wen wouldn’t insist.
After all, geniuses have privileges no matter the situation.
"Don’t take what happened just now to heart," Chen Xiangqin said, "Kong Jingjing is just that kind of person. Avoid mingling with her too much in the future. If you have questions, feel free to ask , as long as it doesn’t interfere with my own studies, I’m happy to help."
"...Alright."
Today was just registration, no classes, so after Mr. Wen finished speaking, he let the students go ho or to their dorms.
After Lin Xiang had packed up, Chen Xiangqin asked, "Aren’t you staying in the dorms?"
"Our Li Hua Team isn’t too far from the school, so I don’t plan on staying in the dorms."
"But commuting every day will cost you a lot of ti, ti you could spend on studying, and you could gain a few more points for the college entrance exam."
Lin Xiang: "It’s just and my mom at ho. If I don’t return ho, she’s left alone."
After packing her textbooks into her bag, Lin Xiang bid farewell to Chen Xiangqin, "I’ll head off now, see you tomorrow."
When Lin Xiang returned to Aunt Ge’s house, she saw Mrs. Lin making pickles in the yard, but Aunt Ge hadn’t returned yet.
"School let out so early today?" Mrs. Lin looked up at Lin Xiang, not stopping her work.
"Today was just registration; classes officially start tomorrow. Mom, why are you making pickles?"
"Since we moved to the city and don’t have a personal plot to grow vegetables, I brought so vegetables back today to make into pickles. It’s convenient to eat too."
"Alright then." Lin Xiang put down her bag, rolled up her sleeves, washed her hands, and prepared to help make pickles with Mrs. Lin.
Mrs. Lin moved the winnowing basket aside, letting Lin Xiang’s hands find nothing to grasp.
"Aunt Ge said, it’s crucial now for you to prioritize your studies. This bit of work isn’t tiring, I can handle it myself. You go back to the room and study first."
Mrs. Lin didn’t let Lin Xiang join in, urging her back to the bedroom.
Lin Xiang took her books out of her bag, turned around, and noticed soone had moved the things on her desk.
She had mild compulsive tendencies, with a fixed order for placing things, and no disturbance once used.
But the order of her textbooks on the desk didn’t match her habit.
However, Lin Xiang didn’t think much of it, assuming Mrs. Lin tidied the room, so she didn’t mind.
The textbooks the principal gave her felt worn through during the New Year; she’d gone over them repeatedly without finding anything new, so Lin Xiang simply made test papers for herself.
She worked until five in the afternoon when Aunt Ge finished cooking, and Mrs. Lin called Lin Xiang for dinner.
Compared to yesterday, today’s dishes were a bit more sumptuous, at least with so richness.
Aunt Ge made a pork rib and corn soup. The soup was clear, with chunks of corn visible and only a few ribs.
Yet the bowl of soup given to Lin Xiang had three small ribs in it, "To celebrate your start of school today, Auntie specially made pork rib soup, have more."
A look at Aunt Ge and Mrs. Lin’s bowls showed just corn and scant bits of yam, not a trace of at, not even a bone.
But Aunt Ge drank it with relish.
User Comments
0 comments from readers