This was the first day of school, and everyone was wearing camouflage uniforms while sitting in class. It was then that Zhou Yiyi learned she was not the only one poached by Experintal First High School. There were other top scorers from various counties and cities as well. With that in mind, their class really was full of talent!
Because she was called upon by the teacher, while the other students were still seated, she stood up in her camouflage uniform, wearing a hat and sporting two ponytails. Presenting herself in such a pure and lovely manner, she addressed the class with ease and confidence.
"Hello everyone, my na is Zhou Yiyi. Mom said I was born on a Monday, and since her na is quite difficult to write, she decided to just call Yiyi, saying it’ll save quite a bit of ti during tests. I’m very happy to join Experintal First High School and to be your classmate. I hope we can all work hard together for the next three years and get into the universities of our choice." After her introduction, she bowed and then took her seat.
Teacher Song obviously knew about her and proudly added after she sat down,
"Our Yiyi is younger than all of you. She’s only thirteen this year. You all, as her older classmates, should take care of her."
Upon hearing that Zhou Yiyi was only thirteen years old, all the students, except those from her own dorm, were taken aback. At this point, her classmate sitting right behind her, who thought the idea of ’boys and girls not sitting together’ was a bit too strict, curiously glanced at the boy next to him and then at her, uttering a remark that made Zhou Yiyi wish she could silence him.
"Your na is Zhou Yiyi and his is Zhou Mo, don’t tell you’re related?"
The boy nad Zhou Mo glanced sideways with a chilly tone, "You’re overthinking it, we’re not."
Other students whispered among themselves, "These two have interesting nas, could it be that Zhou Mo was born on a weekend?"
"The character ’Mo’ has anings like tip or end; my parents hoped I would be at the forefront, rather than at the tail end of things. Additionally, my mother’s surna is Mu, and the character ’Mu’ with an extra stroke becos ’Mo,’ which suggests I am a child of the Mu family. Also, I was not born on a weekend, thank you."
Zhou Mo’s voice was calm and cool, seemingly without intonation. While explaining, he remained seated, talking as if to himself, but also as if to clear up any misunderstanding. Zhou Yiyi only glanced back at him once, and her only impression was that this boy was quite tall and good-looking, with a notably pleasant voice. Even in the midst of his voice changing, it did not detract from its magnetic quality. Of course, the boy next to him who kept making biting comnts was also quite handso.
"Your aunt’s surna is Mu? Well, what a coincidence. My dad’s surna is Lin, and my mom’s is Mu, with the three drops of water character for Mu. She thought it wasn’t suitable for a boy, so she nad Lin Mu. Our mothers have homophonic but different surnas, what a pleasure to et you."
This guy, familiar as he was, stretched out his hand to shake hands with Zhou Mo, but was t with an icy stare and was avoided. Lin Mu touched his nose awkwardly and chuckled towards his classmates, "This guy’s a bit cold, seems a bit difficult to get along with."
"It’s typical for top students to carry a sense of aloofness, you just don’t understand," quipped another student from the back.
The discussions continued in the background while self-introductions resud at the front of the class. After the top students finished introducing themselves, the other classmates took turns on the platform to give theirs. Throughout this process, Lin Mu kept chattering away, but Zhou Yiyi wasn’t annoyed; instead, she found him to be quite an interesting kid.
This being a third-tier city, their Mandarin was much better compared to when she was in City Y. Except for the occasional student from a lower-tier city, everyone’s Mandarin was up to par. As for the teachers, they spoke very standard Mandarin, which was pleasing to hear. Naturally, Zhou Yiyi’s Mandarin was also very standard—she had represented City No.1 Middle School in Y city at two recitation competitions!
After self-introductions were finished, they began cleaning the classroom and then ca the dayti military training, followed by evening self-study. This would continue for two weeks before returning to regular classes.
The quality of the school’s food was acceptable to her.
Her space had boiled eggs, so she didn’t buy any at school. Breakfast was just a bowl of porridge, a stead bun, a dish of vegetables, and with one yuan, she could eat her fill. When no one was around, she would eat an egg.
Noon als in the cafeteria were much more abundant, with rice, noodles, Spicy Hot Pot, rice noodles, and Stew Noodles. The restaurant had three floors; the third floor catered to Hui people, the second floor offered clay pot and mini hot pots, and the first floor served rice and fast food options.
Last weekend, when her roommates were out, she went to the market and bought beef, chicken legs, and pork belly. In her space, she prepared braised at, braised eggs, and braised chicken legs. Military training was exhausting, and she desperately needed at to replenish her spent energy, so that week she spent more money on food. With the rare chance to go out on the weekend, she wouldn’t miss it, especially since her own cooking was tastier and more flavorful.
With these at dishes as supplents, her lunches at school beca more vegetarian. After eating, she would find a secluded spot to enjoy a chicken leg or so beef.
Her everyday attire was limited to the school uniform. Having two sets to alternate, she didn’t bother wearing her own clothes, leading her roommates to increasingly suspect she ca from a poor family background. Every week, they would bring her snacks made by their mothers, and of course, Yiyi wasn’t stingy either, sharing her own banana leaves, pickles, twist desserts, and so on.
Following the school’s opening, they had to start rehearsing for various events. September was the busiest for the first-year students, and their routine was never stable.
They had no space for practice and could only rehearse during the evening self-study period. If they couldn’t find another ti, they would have to wait until self-study was over, aning they would return to the dormitory just as lights were out.
Since she couldn’t eat the food from her space, Zhou Yiyi’s daily drinking water all ca from there.
Mobile phones like Xiao Lingtong were already available, but high school students didn’t qualify to use them since their parents hadn’t universally adopted them yet. How could they afford them for their children?
Therefore, every dormitory had a phone, and you needed a 201 phone card to use it. While others called their parents, she would only call her master and his wife, and not too often—once every ten or fifteen days was enough. Too often wouldn’t be good.
If she were the original host, she might be very sad, but although empathetic, she was much calr than the original host.
Life in the first year of high school was much more relaxed than in the second or third year; it all ca down to self-discipline.
Zhou Yiyi had started previewing the first-year curriculum early on, so her studies were doubly effective since she had already morized the texts for English and Chinese, and even the history, biology, and political science materials that required morization had been previewed. She had copied down the key points according to her mory to make them easier to rember.
Zhou Yiyi often practiced yoga, a good habit she continued from many lifetis. Even now that she was living on campus, she would still practice for one or two hours in her space after lights out. So dancing was easy for her, and her flexibility surprised even Xie Nana, who had been dancing since she was young...
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