On Monday morning, Xia Jianguo carried Xia Minmin's schoolbag and escorted her to the school gate.

With Xia Jianguo's help, Xia Minmin put on her schoolbag, and the weight of the bag bent her back.

"Dad, you can go home now! I'm going inside."

"Dad will pick you up after school this afternoon."

"good."

The little boy, carrying a big schoolbag, walked unsteadily towards the school.

Xia Jianguo stood outside the school gate, watching his daughter as she walked step by step toward the teaching building until she was out of sight, before heading toward his family's supermarket.

When Xia Jianguo returned to the supermarket, Li Chunmei was busy checking out customers. Seeing that there were quite a few customers in line, Xia Jianguo also opened the POS system. The time between school start and dismissal is the busiest time for the supermarket.

"Good morning, Xia Minmin!"

"Good morning!"

Xia Minmin climbed the stairs at a snail's pace. Classmates kept passing by and greeting her. She recognized many of them, but didn't know their names.

Good morning, Xia Minmin!

"Good morning, Tang Meng."

"Do you want me to help you carry your backpack upstairs?"

Xia Minmin checked the time and found it was still early, so she declined Tang Meng's suggestion.

“Your own backpack isn’t light either. It’s still early, I’ll climb up slowly.”

"Oh, then I'll go up first."

"Bye-Bye."

Xia Minmin used the stair railing for leverage and finally arrived at the classroom before class started.

As Xia Minmin sat down in the chair, she breathed a sigh of relief. Finally, they had arrived.

After finishing his work, Xia Jianguo complained to Li Chunmei, "Chunmei, do you think Xiaomin's school has so many useless books? That schoolbag must weigh at least ten kilograms, while our daughter only weighs fifty-odd kilograms."

"Sigh, there's nothing we can do. Xiaomin said yesterday that she would ask Teacher Wang to copy the class schedule, and that bringing books according to the schedule should make things much better."

...

Tang Meng looked at Xia Minmin, who was leaning back in her chair with a blank expression, and said, "You must be exhausted! If you don't come up soon, I'm going to go down and get you."

"The school is really unfriendly to sixth graders. The highest floor has the heaviest backpacks! It must have cost a lot of money to build such a big school. What difference would it make if we installed another elevator?!" Xia Minmin said through gritted teeth.

Tang Meng couldn't help but cover her mouth and laugh when she heard what her deskmate said.

Tang Meng was a little worried about her deskmate, "So what are you planning to do to get to and from school from now on?"

"It's okay, I'll ask Teacher Wang to copy the class schedule after he arrives, and then I'll bring fewer books." Xia Minmin patted Tang Meng's shoulder.

"That's a good idea. We only have three main subjects a day, so there's no need to bring the books for the elective subjects every day. If the teacher changes the subject, we can share a book between us."

"Thank you, Tang Meng!"

"Don't be so polite. You're younger than me, so it's only right that I help you."

The two looked at each other and smiled.

Tang Meng is a round girl with a round face, round eyes, and a pair of dimples. She looks very cute when she smiles, and her first impression is that she is a girl with a good personality and easy to approach.

Where do you live?

"Dudu Garden Community, what about you?"

"Your home is so close to the school. It takes me three bus stops to get to my home. Do you know Haomei Garden Community?"

"I know, my aunt used to take me around there on her bike."

As the two girls chatted, they gradually became more familiar with each other.

Ring ring...

Xia Minmin and Tang Meng sat up straight after hearing the bell.

"Class is starting, hurry up!"

"Class is starting."

Some students in the class were still running towards their seats.

The female teacher, wearing a white dress, walked in. "Quiet, today's morning reading class is for memorizing Chinese texts. Memorize the first text from memory and have it ready with your group leader before the end of get out of class."

"Teacher, we haven't been assigned seats yet, and we don't have a group leader!" a boy in the back shouted.

"Hmm... then you can recite it here for now. The first ten students to finish will help me check today's recitation."

"knew."

The Chinese teacher abruptly changed the subject. "Who is Xia Minmin in your class? Stand up so I can see her."

Upon hearing this, Xia Minmin stood up and said, "Hello, teacher, I am Xia Minmin."

"I'm Ms. Jiang, your Chinese teacher. If you have any questions, you can come to my office. Please sit down!" Ms. Jiang said to Xia Minmin with a smile.

"I'm so envious! Not only is Lao Wang good to Xia Minmin, but Lao Jiang is also so good to her!"

"What are you two whispering about?" Teacher Jiang asked, pointing to the two boys sitting at the back.

"Teacher, we say you're so gentle with Xia Minmin!"

"If you are young and have good grades, I will be gentler with you."

The whole class burst into laughter.

"Time to memorize! Anyone who hasn't finished memorizing before get out of class ends, come with me to the office after school to memorize it." Teacher Jiang patted the table.

The punishment of keeping students after school is quite threatening to students; even the naughty students dare not speak anymore.

Xia Minmin had already studied the sixth-grade material before, and after receiving the books at the start of the new semester the day before yesterday, she reviewed them again. Reciting the texts was a piece of cake for her.

Xia Minmin went up to the podium to recite the text to Teacher Jiang. A classmate who was daydreaming behind her nudged her deskmate's arm with his elbow and gestured for her to look ahead.

"Teacher Jiang, can I recite the text now?"

"You memorized it so quickly?"

"Yes, I studied on my own before the exam to prepare for skipping a grade, and I reviewed it again after I got the book."

"Then you can carry it."

Teacher Jiang held up the book to Xia Minmin.

The text was very short, and Xia Minmin memorized it in less than three minutes.

Teacher Jiang smiled and said, "Judging from what you're saying, you can recite all the texts in this Chinese textbook."

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