Chapter 5 (1)

  On the day of registration, the scene of the class division exam was replayed. Lin's father and mother also rushed to help Yu Xiang move into his dormitory. In Chinese melodramas, there is no more classic reunion line than one person embracing another, gazing deeply, and saying, "XX, you've lost weight." However, after examining Yu Xiang for half a day, Lin's mother tearfully said, "Yu Xiang, you've gotten darker." She then suggested going to the street to buy skin-whitening powder. The dormitory was just one floor down from the third floor to the second floor. Roommates soon arrived, and several parents became fast friends, chatting enthusiastically while the students following behind them looked embarrassed, their eyes cast downward. The classification of dormitories also carried discrimination; those with Shanghai urban household registration were assigned to room 1 with a balcony, while those with town and rural household registration were assigned to room 2. Yu Xiang's bed was in room 2 near the door.

  There were four people in total, all of whom, except for Yuxiang, had taken the entrance exam; next door was a bit more lively with five people, all of whom were self-funded students. In high school, athletes and self-funded students were the most looked down upon, but self-funded students could hide it, while athletes were like monsters from ancient myths, always leaving behind some trace of their true nature, unable to conceal themselves through silence, and going for training every day was a harsh reality.

  After the parents left, a house full of people was silent, tidying up things that didn't need to be tidied. Yu Xiang couldn't bear it and went to room 203 next door to find Yu Xiong, but he wasn't there. Yu Xiang felt disappointed and helpless again, returned to his own dormitory and tried to make friends with a group of unfamiliar roommates, asking the four people: "Where are you from?" Originally wanted to create a lively atmosphere where everyone would eagerly answer, but unexpectedly all four people remained silent. Yu Xiang, as the one who asked the question, was in an awkward position, so he had to force himself to ask again: "You, where are you from originally?"

  The room finally had a response, and Yu Xiang put down his book and said, "Lingqiao Town Middle School." Yu Xiang let out a snort, and Zuo Pu continued, "They're both from there too." Yu Xiang's upper bunkmate finally greeted Zuo Pu, saying, "Old Tan, when are we going to..." Yu Xiang suddenly realized that the other three had known each other since morning and were intentionally not speaking to him because they didn't want to leave him out. A warm feeling welled up in his heart. The school was afraid that students would fight over bed assignments on their first day of school, so they put name tags on every bed frame. Yu Xiang knew that his upper bunkmate's name was Shen Qi, his left bunkmate's name was Tan Weidong, and the one farthest away from him was named Xie Jingyuan. The four of them started discussing their middle school entrance exams, seemingly showing off their knowledge. Laughter kept coming from the neighboring dorm room, making Yu Xiang feel itchy. Xie Jingyuan asked, "Yu Xiang, how many points did you get on your middle school entrance exam?"

  Yu Xiang cursed inwardly, scolding this kid for bringing up the matter, saying: "This time I got 484 points on the exam, missing by three points, but because I won an award in sports, I was admitted as a special student majoring in physical education."

  Yu Xiang's score increased significantly, and he felt anxious in his heart, carefully observing the expressions of his roommates.

  Xie Jingxiang smiled, causing Yu Xiang to tense up all over, thinking that Xie Jingyuan must have seen the scores and was intentionally asking again to mock him. Thinking this, he started sweating profusely and quickly added: "Let me think for a moment, it seems like it wasn't that score... how many points did I get?" Yu Xiang was pretending to be stupid, when Xie Jingyuan said: "You have a special talent, you're good at everything, we don't have any, so we can only take the exam." Shen Qi and Tan Weidong both nodded in agreement.

  It was a false alarm, and he said, "Actually, my 484 score is an extraordinary performance. In the past, I only scored around 420 points in exams. Before the middle school entrance exam, I made up my mind to cram for two or three weeks, and that's how I managed to get 484."

  Three people listened in unison and couldn't help but sigh in amazement. Yu Xiang adjusted his clothes while admiring his own cleverness - using his past foolishness to create today's glory.

  Four people went to the classroom, and five people from dormitory No. 1 were also making a ruckus on their way out, all the way from the dormitory to the Rain Hall, not one step was taken normally, laughing wildly and withdrawing in disarray.

  When arranging seats, Yu Xiang's deskmate was Xie Jingyuan. Classmates politely asked each other their names and hobbies. In his heart, Yu Xiang thought that the head teacher should be a certain way, not old enough to take up an entire 10-minute break walking from the podium to the classroom door - this was what teachers at Gu school were like in theory. After waiting for several minutes, the teacher arrived - it was a female teacher in her thirties with curly hair and a slightly open mouth. Yu Xiang had heard Lai Shipei say that a teacher who didn't close their mouth when not speaking was prone to scolding people, as they needed to be ready to speak at any moment, which would take up too much time opening and closing their mouth, so it was better to just keep it open. Yu Xiang connected the dots and indeed saw a fierce expression. He shared this discovery with Xie Jingyuan, expecting to stir up fear, but unexpectedly Xie Jingyuan said: "The teacher being strict is also for our own good, only a demanding teacher can produce excellent students, so it's a good thing that the teacher is strict."

  Yu Xiang gave him a white eye and smiled on his face: "You're right!"

  The female teacher introduced herself: "My surname is Mei, and from now on I will be your class teacher." Teacher Mei paused for a moment, intentionally leaving time for the students to applaud. The students thought that Teacher Mei was new to the podium and was too nervous to speak, so they didn't dare make a sound. Seeing no reaction from below, Teacher Mei thought that these students were just shy and didn't even dare clap their hands, she almost wanted to take the lead in applauding herself.

  She continued: "The 'plum' in my surname is..." She wanted to borrow Mei Zi Han's name, but then thought that the students might not know who Mei Zi Han was and didn't dare use it. Then she thought of using "plum blossom", but felt it was too common, and "plum poison" was even more impossible, so she suddenly became tongue-tied. The students in the audience saw their teacher get stuck again and were all nervous on her behalf, not even daring to swallow their saliva.

  Miss Mei's energy was all spent on prolonging this "yes", when she finally ran out of breath, she decided to use Meizi Han after all, and dissected Meizi Han's name, saying: "'Mei' is the 'Mei' in Meizi Han, of course it's not called Ganhan, how dare I have the same name as the author?"

  This sentence of nonsense was the most articulate one in her speech, mixed with a small bit of humor, and all the students forced a laugh.

  Teacher Mei did not expect this sentence to cause a sensation, and followed the students in laughing. Because it was a forced laugh, as long as a sound was made, it would be enough, so the laughter was even louder, but there was no continuation.

  Miss Mei pressed her hands down a few times to indicate that the laughter was being suppressed by her, and then said: "My single name is 'Yi', Mei Dong. As for me, I'm here to teach you language and literature. I've finished introducing myself, now it's your turn to introduce yourselves. Come on, one by one."

  Yu Xiang said to Xie Jingyuan, "This teacher must talk a lot of nonsense. Look at what she's saying, 'come, one by one' and it seems like she wants two ones or one two instead."

  Xie Jingyuan said: "The teacher speaks for everyone to understand, can't blame her."

  Here is the translation:

  The student's self-introduction was brief, like a telegram. Suddenly it was Lin Yuxiang's turn. He stood up and said: "My name is Lin Yuxiang, Lin is my surname, Yu is my given name, Xiang is my nickname." He paused here, expecting thunderous applause, but his attempt at humor fell flat, with only a few scattered laughs that sounded more like ridicule.

  Yuxiang had mentally prepared for failure, but he still hoped to impress some girls. However, modern high school girls were as reserved as they were chaste, their faces expressionless. Yuxiang was taken aback, his wounds lingering for a long time, his voice sounding like it had lost its vitality: "I enjoy literature and have won some awards. I've published some articles and hope to become friends with everyone in our studies and daily lives."

  The second half of Yuxiang's speech left a good impression on the girls, who gazed at him warmly, their eyes soft as tofu. Yuxiang was extremely embarrassed, lowering his head to flip through his book.

  Xie Jingyuan stood up, looking sheepish: "My name is Xie Jingyuan, Xie is my surname, Jing is my given name... uh, no, Jing is the character for 'scenery', and Yuan is the character for 'abyss'. I believe that by working hard, we can achieve something." The classroom erupted in laughter, but his last sentence was drowned out.

  Xie Jingyuan's face turned bright red as he buried his head in his book. After everyone had finished introducing themselves, the school broadcast a meeting, "New Semester, New Plans". Yuxiang recognized the voice of Vice Principal Qian, whose content seemed to follow a familiar pattern, just rehashing what he had said at the previous sports rally.

  Time seemed to be trapped in Vice Principal Qian's words, and he seemed to have the ability to turn time into heat energy. The students in the classroom were all dozing off or reading books, when Vice Principal Qian finally concluded: "That's all I wanted to say." The students all perked up, thinking it was over, but Vice Principal Qian continued: "However, I still want to emphasize a few points..."

  The students were shocked and outraged, their faces twisted in anger. Vice Principal Qian seemed to be flirting with the points he wanted to emphasize, repeating them multiple times before finally concluding: "That's all I have to say. The rest is up to you students to put into practice." The students let out a collective sigh of relief, applauding and cheering.

  Teacher Mei said: "Day students can leave, boarding students stay behind for a meeting. Don't forget to come to school tomorrow!"

  There were nineteen boarding students in total. Mei introduced them to the important living facilities of the school, such as the hot water dispenser. After listening to Mei's introduction, the equipment at Municipal Third Middle School seemed to be hiding like a fugitive, always lurking in dark places that saw no daylight. Yuxiang and Jingtian went to fetch boiling water after the meeting, and finally found a row of hot water dispensers. Yuxiang placed the thermos under it, turned it to maximum, but the water came out very slowly, dripping down one drop at a time. After half a day, only half of the thermos was filled, and Yuxiang exclaimed: "I can spit faster than this!"

  Xie Jingyuan only acknowledged the exaggerated words, and said to Yu Xiang: "You talk too much, saliva can't be spat out faster than it, although it's slow, but it's still faster than you spitting saliva."

  Yu Xiang scolded Xie Jingyuan for talking too much and stopped chatting with him, focusing on filling up his water bottle instead. After finally filling it up, he said to Xie Jingyuan, "I'm leaving first." When he arrived at the dormitory, he found that no one was there and realized that today was the first day of Yu Guo Tang's opening. He hastily grabbed a bowl and went to eat. As soon as he entered Yu Guo Tang, he was shocked - no wonder the campus was empty, everyone had gathered here! Yu Xiang chose a relatively short queue, but after waiting for several minutes, he still hadn't moved. He thought that surely there wouldn't be a rule at Shi Nan San Zhong Middle School that you could only eat what you ordered on the spot. He waited patiently for another few minutes. When the queue finally moved forward, Yu Xiang thought he could finally take a step forward, but unexpectedly, the queue seemed to grow longer like a teenager's bones during puberty. Yu Xiang was forced to retreat three steps, bewildered and wondering how, after queuing for 16 years, he had encountered a queue that got longer as you waited.

  He poked his head out to see what was going on, and saw a few people running over from other places. After chatting with the people in line for a while, they suddenly flashed into the line and disappeared without a trace. The people from all directions also looked at this team with favor and came to join in. This team seemed like Liu Bei, able to widely recruit talented people. After a few more minutes, Lin Yushang had already retreated by no less than three shops, afraid that if things went on like this he would starve to death, so he switched to another line. A voice from the other line said: "Lin Yushang, over here!" Yushang saw it was Yu Xiong and hurriedly ran over. Yu Xiong said: "Line up in front of me."

  Yu Xiang was used to staying behind and feared that if he inserted himself in front of others, they would be dissatisfied, so he didn't dare to move forward.

  Yu Xiong said to Yu Xiang, "Now whoever has a way will eat. No one will praise you for being so nosy."

  After finishing, Yu Xiang was forced to surrender. Standing at the front of the team. The feeling of being in the front row is indeed different, thinking about how many people are following behind him, feeling proud and satisfied. He looked up at a certain dish on the blackboard, his face filled with craving, thinking that the chef's skills in Yu Guo Tang must be good. There were only two boys left in front of him, Yu Xiang was just thinking about his great plan, when he suddenly heard a commotion from the crowd, someone said: "The self-service team has arrived!"

  Yu Xiang had never heard of "Zan Li Hui", and thought it was a team that specialized in cutting in line. When he turned his head, he realized they were the ones responsible for checking. The person standing at the end of the line was clearly unprepared, with their armband on backwards and a shiny spot on the corner of their mouth, which was caused by not having time to wipe their mouth after eating. The people behind him urged: "Hey, buy already, you're holding everyone up!" Yu Xiang hastily came back to his senses and saw that the window of the cafeteria was right in front of him, with a person wearing a mask staring at him angrily, scaring him so much that he forgot what he wanted to say. He stuttered: "I... I want one serving of stir-fried three delicacies and sugar vinegar pork ribs, and also a block of rice." Yu Xiang saw the rice on the tray was cut into uniform blocks, but couldn't think of the right unit of measurement, so he just made something up. After finishing speaking, he saw that the masked person didn't react, as if they hadn't heard him clearly, so he repeated himself. The masked person said calmly: "You haven't given me your bowl yet!"

  Yu Xiang lowered his head to see the bowl still being pinched in his hand, feeling embarrassed as he handed it over. The masked person took the bowl and said, "There's no sweet and sour pork ribs!"

  Yu Xiang carefully said: "Isn't it written on your blackboard - sugar..."

  Obviously, many people asked this question. The vendor, who seemed to know what was going on, said: "This is the menu for the last day of the previous semester, look inside and buy!" Yu Xiang stretched his neck and saw that all the meat dishes had already been sold out. Inside, it was just in time for spring, with a garden full of green colors that couldn't be contained. Everything was a lush green, but he couldn't call out their names, so he could only point at the dishes and say: "This, that!" The people behind him were getting impatient, and curses kept coming.

  Yu Xiang wasn't interested in this meal, having eaten too many boxed lunches during summer training. He got up and left as soon as he finished. Only after leaving the Rain Fruit Hall did he realize that his bowl was still on the table. He turned back to find that the bowl had already been taken away, and he could only acknowledge his bad luck as he returned to his dormitory. In Dorm 1, five people were huddled together listening to a soccer match. In his own dorm, Xie Jingyuan was explaining a problem to Shen Qi. Yu Xiang asked, "Have you eaten yet?" Xie Jingyuan didn't hold it against him for abandoning him during the water fight earlier and smiled as he said, "How could I eat? I'm eating crackers." He then brought out his crackers to prove the credibility of his words to Yu Zhi.

  Yu Xiang glanced at the bag of loose cookies and casually asked, "How much is your monthly living expenses?" As soon as he spoke, he regretted it, this was clearly a look down on Xie Jingyuan and his cookies.

  Xie Jingyuan didn't haggle and said: "Two hundred."

  "Even eating?"

  Lian Ah, Yu Xiang's face was shocked, and he couldn't help but blurt out: "I earn 500 a month." The shock on his face transferred to Xie Jing Yuan's face, who said: "So much?"

  Yǔ Xiáng said: "Those people next door might have even more!"

  Shen Qi and Tan Weidong both put down their books and stared with wide eyes, Xie Jingyuan muttered to himself: "Then they can buy a lot of reference books."

  Yu Xiang waved his hand and said, "Where? These people eat away 20 to 30 yuan of snacks every day!" Xie Jingyuan was heartbroken, as if they were eating his money, and said, "So much! They're just eating, it's a sin!"

  Yǔ Xiáng listened and smiled secretly, saying: "The clothes on their bodies are worth 200-300 yuan each."

  "Short sleeves?" Shen Qi asked. Yu Xiang nodded. Xie Jingyuan said, "Then aren't their families going to be bankrupted by them?"

  Yǔ Xiǎng Dào: "Where did they come from? Each of these families has at least 500,000 yuan as a bottom line. How could they get in with such low scores otherwise?"

  Xie Jingyuan was puzzled and said: "Why doesn't the principal of the school come to manage it?"

  Yu Xiang deliberately let out a loud laugh and said: "School, principal, ha! They're in charge, but where does the money come from?"

  Xie Jingyuan said: "Why doesn't the Education Bureau take care of it?"

  Yu Xiang originally wanted to say: "The Education Bureau is in charge of this. They are on the same road, so if they manage it, wouldn't that be like a prostitute soliciting customers?"

  Reflecting on it, I felt that facing Xie Jingyuan, who was so simple and only influenced by political books, I couldn't say this, so I cut off the head and tail of the sentence and said: "They are on the same road."

  Xie Jingyuan's eyes softened, saying: "How can the school be like this? The school is a place to cultivate socialist construction talents, it is..." Shen Qi and Tan Weidong also came over to discuss, Yu Xiang did not speak, watching from the sidelines.

  A foul smell came from the neighboring dormitory.

  Lin Yuxiang was extremely unaccustomed to the three-hour evening self-study session, unable to say a word, sitting idly with nothing to do, only constantly checking his watch and suspecting it was broken. Feeling extremely bored, he quietly sang a song, but halfway through, someone poked him from behind, that poke seemed like a police raid, effective for just a short while, after a while Yuxiang couldn't help but sing a few more lines.

  It was a struggle to get through the evening self-study session, and even after lights out, sleep didn't come easily. Before the broadcast ended, the school's principal, Mr. Qian, came on the air with his familiar voice, making Yu Xiang think that this time he was doomed, and tonight would be another sleepless night. But Principal Qian just wanted to get some rest himself, so he only read out the dormitory rules once, like Moses receiving the Ten Commandments from Jehovah: "...the regulations of the City South No. 3 Middle School dormitory...no sleeping in pairs...no loud noise...no taking other people's things...no listening to music, no..." Yu Xiang roughly calculated that except for "thou shalt not kill", everything else was covered. Finally, Principal Qian said: "Students, get a good rest tonight, there's another task waiting for you tomorrow!" This sentence was like a puddle of blood on the highway - it could evoke both fear and curiosity. Principal Qian seemed to be able to see the listeners' expressions through the broadcast, and waited until the students were tortured by their curiosity before slowly saying: "That task is military training..."

  The dormitory building was filled with curses, but the principal Qian, who was in the broadcasting room, was not affected. Instead, the dormitory manager, Wen, came out and scolded: "You are rebelling! Go back to sleep!" Unexpectedly, the students did not take Wen seriously, and water poured down from upstairs, causing Wen to jump back and shout: "You bunch of bastards, stop pouring water! If you pour again, I'll remember it!"

  The student who was pouring water only heard the first half of the sentence and followed orders to pour out the rest of the water, shouting "Get out!" as he did so. The dormitory manager had intended not to move in order to intimidate the students, but his feet didn't listen to his brain's control and continued to jump around to avoid disaster. Yu Xiang thought this was funny and, worried that there was nowhere to pour the water for washing his feet, poured it out along with the momentum.

  "What's going on?" a voice in the darkness said.

  A voice on the third floor trembled and shouted: "It's Principal Qian!"

  The upstairs was filled with the sound of basins being collected. Yu Xiang hurriedly put away the basin, accidentally touching the balcony railing, and his hand slipped, hearing a "pa" sound as the basin fell to the ground. Principal Qian's body shook, seeing that thing still rolling on the ground in the dark, he went forward to press it down, finding it was just a basin, furious at those students who not only splashed water but also threw their tools down to hurt people. Yu Xiang shouted "no good", hearing no response from below, thinking Principal Qian had been killed by his own carelessness.

  Principal Qian picked up his foot basin and yelled: "You all get to bed quickly tonight, I will definitely investigate this matter to the end!"

  Yu Xiang waited for the principal to leave, then snuck down to look for his basin. The person on the first floor told him that it had been taken away by the principal. Yu Xiang was only regretful, thinking that in the future, without a basin, he would have to suffer and wash his face with his feet in the same water. He returned to his dormitory, where there was still a little while before lights out. He ran over to chat with Yu Xiong in the next room, but when he came back, he had forgotten his key, and the door to his dormitory had been locked again. Feeling embarrassed, he knocked on the door. Someone from Room 1 came out to open it for him. Yu Xiang looked at him gratefully, sighing that he was indeed a city boy, as white as if he had just been painted with a layer of powder. He asked: "What's your name?"

  "Oh, I'm Qian Rong." Yuxiang thanked him and began to suspect that Yuhuang's words were insincere.

  In Dormitory 2, three people were lying on their beds reading books. Yu Xiang also didn't bother talking to them and climbed onto his bed to sleep. Although he had been living in San Zhong for over a decade, he had never actually slept in this kind of bed before. The bed was only one meter wide and just the right length for one person. It seemed that San Zhong was responding to the national call for "frugality", with each bed being tailor-made, not a single millimeter different, except for not being human-shaped. Thinking about it again, he wondered if San Zhong was a religious school - the eighth commandment of Buddhism is "do not sit on high and wide beds".