After the New Year, the final exams are approaching.

A week before the exam, Ye Tian took a leave of absence from the cafeteria. This was her first exam, and she was nervous, especially since it involved English. She was afraid of failing. She was a strong-willed person and couldn't accept doing so poorly.

Ye Tian had seen scholars who had studied for decades, all hoping to pass the imperial examinations, but only a few actually made it. Her restaurant would also provide free financial assistance to some needy scholars, and of course some, out of gratitude for her help, would even find a minor official who went out of his way to bring her food in the prison.

Unexpectedly, it was her turn to take the exam, although it was just an ordinary final exam.

Other subjects were fine; she'd listened carefully in class, reviewed after class, and reviewed again before the exam, so she shouldn't have any problems. But English was the only thing she couldn't find her way to. Li Yue told her to read every conversation and sentence in the textbook thoroughly, and memorize more vocabulary whenever she had free time. So she carried a small CET-4 vocabulary book in her bag every day, taking it out to memorize whenever she had time.

She previously bought a cheap PAD for 1,299 yuan, which worked quite well. She could watch TV shows, play games, and download materials for study. But she still preferred the realism of books, the feeling of writing with a fountain pen on a beautiful white notebook and hearing the swish of the pen across the paper.

After a while of getting used to it, her penmanship became very beautiful, but she still accidentally wrote in traditional Chinese characters. Li Yue loved her handwriting so much that she even used it as a model to practice calligraphy.

Ye Tian also followed the trend and bought a beautiful notebook, in which she would sometimes write down recipes, draw a few simple pictures, or record her occasional small feelings. This is how she, an ancient person, clumsily adapted to modern life.

During exam week, the school is no longer as lively as before. There are fewer students walking around in groups of two or three, and fewer people playing games. People need to go early to grab seats in the study room, and the classrooms are full of people concentrating on studying.

Ye Tian could study anywhere, so she simply didn't go out to grab a seat and stayed in the dormitory reading.

Their dorm was a typical bunk bed, with a bed on top and a desk below. Like everyone else, she'd installed curtains around her bed, giving her a sense of security and warmth at night. On the table below, she kept her books, some simple skincare products, and a cup.

Lu Xinyi has a lot of stuff. She bought a lot of acrylic storage boxes, grids for lipsticks, rows of foundations and air cushions, a large drawer of blush and eye shadows, and two pen holders of eyebrow pencils, eyeliners and various brushes. It is worthy of being a beauty blogger's desk.

When studying in the dormitory, Lu Xinyi seemed to be surrounded by a pile of cosmetics, but she has stopped wearing makeup recently and doesn't even have time to wash her face.

Every day, Ye Tian goes to the third canteen to get food. Aunt Liu and Xiao Li always give her extra food. Xiao Li sometimes sends her a message: "Little Master, eat more, study hard, and keep going!"

Ye Tian usually smiles after watching it, and then continues to study, putting in the same effort as when she was learning cooking.

Lu Xinyi no longer does manicures, Zhao Yu no longer cares about class or student union activities, Li Yue no longer goes home, and the usually pretty girls no longer care about their image. They all start staying up late to review with disheveled hair and dirty faces.

Seeing these young ladies who were practically unable to take care of themselves, Ye Tian took the initiative to take on the responsibility of making supper. Perhaps because everyone was overexerting themselves mentally and anxious, they ate a lot and got hungry quickly.

Compared to them, Xiaotao from the dormitory across the street was the most outrageous, eating countless packets of snacks a day. They had everything from French fries, spicy noodles, hawthorn sticks, dried apricots, dried mangoes, and beef jerky, all topped off with a cup of instant coffee. She ate non-stop.

Sometimes, they would order milk tea for takeout, and usually they would take turns to treat each other. Milk tea with a stronger base was also very refreshing, and the effect was no less than coffee. Ye Tian also took the opportunity to drink a lot of milk tea flavors.

The school didn't allow takeout after 10:00 PM, so the dorm's late-night snack consisted of homemade noodles and other types of rice. Ye Tian initially tried to add eggs and vegetables, but eventually decided that wasn't enough, so she bought rice, preserved eggs, luncheon meat, and some scallions and ginger. When she got tired of reviewing, she'd make a small pot of preserved egg porridge. Everyone shared a bowl when they were hungry; it was mild, warming, and healthier than instant noodles and rice.

Living in a dorm with limited space, no cutting board, few seasonings, and only a small fruit knife, she prioritized ease of use. Her porridge was simple: after washing the rice, she added half a pot of water and began to boil. Meanwhile, she cut the luncheon meat and preserved egg into small pieces, shredded ginger, and chopped green onions. When the porridge was almost done, she added the preserved egg, luncheon meat, and shredded ginger. Before serving, she sprinkled the chopped green onions, salt, and pepper on top, stirred, and her simple preserved egg porridge was ready.

The pot of porridge was full, and there was still some left after their dormitory had divided it up. Ye Tian called Xiaotao and Amiao from the opposite side. Sure enough, the two of them were still awake, and they happily came over with their lunch boxes to have some porridge.

On a cold winter night, when you are shivering with cold and drowsy from reviewing, having a bowl of fragrant hot porridge is so soothing!

As the exams were completed one by one, the number of subjects that needed to be reviewed gradually decreased, and smiles began to appear on everyone's faces, and they slowly relaxed.

Ye Tian felt she did well on every exam. She could answer everything she'd seen before, and her papers were neatly written with beautiful handwriting, which would have pleased anyone. However, she could only manage a passing grade in English. She struggled on several Chinese-to-English translations, was unsure about the multiple-choice questions, and her final essay was a bit messy. She still needed more practice in writing English. She preferred writing in classical Chinese.

Anyway, the best news is that the exams are over. The results don't come out that soon, and even if you fail, you can always retake them. With the first six months of independent university life over, everyone is looking forward to going home.

On the last day of business, Canteen No. 3 made dumplings. Ye Tian prepared two kinds of dumplings, one with celery filling and the other with three fresh vegetables. As the saying goes, dumplings on the bus, noodles on the bus. I hope everyone has a smooth journey home.

On the way back to the dormitory after get off work, Ye Tian heard a classmate dragging a suitcase out say: Although I am looking forward to going home, I can't eat the food in the third canteen when I go home.

Ye Tian suddenly felt that her efforts were not in vain.

Other people in the dormitory were also packing up and preparing to go home.

"Are you staying here alone? The dormitory will be closed in two days. Why don't you come home with me?" Lu Xinyi invited sincerely.

"My home is in this city, you should go to my house!" Li Yue was also full of sincerity.

"My home is too far away. After getting off the plane, I have to take a train and then a bus. I won't let Tiantian go through all the trouble with me." Zhao Yu scratched his head.

Ye Tian was very grateful. She had already made plans and would not go to any of them. She said, "Don't worry, I'll go rent a house tomorrow. You can go home and spend time with your family!"