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墨書 Inktalez
Finally, Er Ya returned just before mealtime, looking somewhat hurried and dusty.
"Why did you come back so late?" Mother asked as she took a towel from the washstand, dampened it with water, and wiped Er Ya's face, who was standing still.
"I ran into some classmates on the street and got delayed a bit..." Jiang Xiaoya explained.
"Hurry up and go inside to eat," Gao Qingzhen said as she hung up the towel and patted her daughter's back. She still needed to go to the kitchen to bring the remaining food to the dining table.
Xiao Ya walked into the house and noticed an extra person; it was her older brother.
Jiang Yizhou was engaged in a lively conversation with their father, though it was mostly one-sided as he listened to their father's stories about relatives from far and wide. Not much else was being discussed. Upon noticing his sister's arrival, he said, "Sit down, sit down! I saved you a few pieces; hurry up and eat! Why are you back so late?"
Jiang Xiaoya repeated her earlier explanation and quietly sat down, holding the bowl of rice that had been prepared for her, slowly savoring the dishes on the table.
...
"Did you pack everything?" Jiang Yizhou had spent a peaceful night at home, and today was the day his sister Jiang Xiaoya would start school, which was also why he was in such a hurry to return.
Er Ya nodded heavily in affirmation, and Jiang Yizhou took her out the door along with a pile of luggage—two basins, towels, bedding. Since it was still warm, they didn't need to bring thick winter blankets just yet.
"That's great! Xiao Ya is going to high school; she'll have a bright future!" The family living next door was his grandfather's family. The tall and thin grandfather wore an old-fashioned military green outfit and joked about the siblings going to report for school.
Jiang Yizhou had come to borrow a tricycle from him. He couldn't ride a motorcycle well, and he didn't have an electric bike like theirs. After thinking it over, he decided that the tricycle would be convenient for carrying luggage.
"Grandpa, don't say that. It's not like everyone can get into high school just by paying; you shouldn't exaggerate!" He rushed out of his grandfather's yard with the tricycle.
"Hey, how can you say that? Everyone knows Er Ya is good at studying. One bad exam doesn't mean anything. I have high hopes for her; maybe she can get into a key university. Our village hasn't produced a college student in years; we're counting on Er Ya!"
Jiang Yizhou felt somewhat embarrassed by this praise, let alone Jiang Xiaoya, who seemed more shy than anything else.
In an era when universities hadn't expanded enrollment yet, even though soon the government would stop guaranteeing job placements, it was still something to be envied.
"Grandpa, I'm leaving now! I'll come back this afternoon to return the tricycle!" With a pile of luggage in the back, Xiao Ya sat behind holding onto things to prevent them from bouncing around due to the bumpy road.
The two siblings were not very talkative. Apart from stopping briefly to greet some familiar relatives and neighbors they encountered on the way, they hardly spoke.
They arrived at school around nine-thirty. However, students in the high school campus gradually began to fill the area. The two tightly packed teaching buildings and a dormitory building provided accommodation for students and teachers who did not have housing.
Sophomore and Senior Year students had already started their early classes, as there were still make-up classes available, mainly due to the summer vacation, which lasted only about a month.
These students had been attending classes for about a month now. It wasn't too bad; aside from collecting some fees for test papers, everything else was free. This was certainly better than prohibiting free make-up classes and forcing students to attend expensive off-campus tutoring.
Guarding the luggage and tricycle, Jiang Yizhou saw Jiang Xiaoya approaching with a fee receipt and asked, "So, do you know your class and dormitory now?"
"Yes, I'm in Class 68, and my dorm is in Building 50!"
Riding his tricycle alongside his sister, Jiang Yizhou arrived at the dormitory building and noticed that both boys and girls seemed to be housed in the same building.
He locked up the tricycle and followed his sister upstairs. At the stairway between the third and fourth floors, he discovered an iron door—just as he suspected, it was the same routine.
"How come you're a local yet still living on campus?" he asked.
"It’s not like that; it takes me an hour to get home. It's not just down the street!"
Upon reaching Building 50, the lively sounds inside the dormitory abruptly ceased when Jiang Yizhou pushed the door open.
"This is my brother; he's helping me move my luggage!" When reporting in, it was generally accepted that parents could come inside. However, Jiang Yizhou looked a bit young; if he were still in school, he would be in Senior Year or Fourth Year of high school. He had already received many strange looks from others while climbing up to the third and fourth floors.
Accepting this explanation, normalcy returned to the dormitory. Jiang Yizhou helped Xiao Ya set up her bed and organize her things but felt awkward chatting with other parents of girls who were in their thirties or forties; at his age, he would clearly be seen as one of them.
Realizing his uncomfortable situation, he called Xiao Ya to escort him downstairs before leaving with some reluctance. Being too young really made it hard for him to adapt to being a parent.
It was better to let Xiao Ya adjust slowly! There wasn’t much to worry about in high school; she would mostly stay in class studying and living in the dormitory. Now that there weren't many internet cafes or dance halls around, aside from worrying about relationships affecting studies, it was just about paying money and returning home as usual.
Jiang Yizhou also felt that perhaps he was worrying too much; it seemed there weren’t really any problems that needed solving.
He rode his bike to the market and bought everything according to his mother’s instructions before hurrying back home.
"Today's Class Meeting ends here. If anyone has any concerns, feel free to come to me. Also, Class Leader, please take a few people to collect the books and assignment notebooks!" The homeroom teacher, wearing old-fashioned glasses, was a decisive person who didn't like to waste words, or perhaps was just in a bad mood.
In short, the afternoon's agenda was quickly wrapped up. Then, looking at the entrance exam results, a group of class officers was selected, and the tasks were handed over to them for proper handling.
Jiang Xiaoya, being a sponsored student, was not yet on the homeroom teacher's list and was considered an unexpected addition. This feeling of not being noticed by the teacher was something she had never experienced before.
However, after the first Zhongkao exam, things should improve significantly! Jiang Xiaoya thought as she sat in the third-to-last row of the classroom, getting to know her newly acquainted classmates around her.
"Xiao Ya!" The elected class leader was her upper bunk roommate, Li Dongmei, who had been temporarily appointed as class leader due to her top ranking in grades. "Come with me! The others are all boys; it would be awkward for me to go alone! Let's go!"
Li Dongmei half-pleaded and half-demanded. Jiang Xiaoya didn't voice any objections and was pulled along out of the classroom.
...
"Hello, who are you looking for?" Qin Yi answered the phone, having just been woken up from a nap by the call.
"Hello, may I ask if you are Jiang Yizhou... sister?" The staff member responsible for contact couldn't determine gender from Jiang Yizhou's contact information left on Plan; it could be assumed female but wasn't certain.
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