Half an hour later, Yao Shiling's oxcart stopped at the four-way intersection in the county town, and Wen Qing followed behind, waiting for the bus.

"Mom, you should go back now." Wen Qing had a large military green bag slung over her shoulder and was carrying a large bundle of rolled-up blankets in her hand.

"No rush, I'll wait for you to get on the bus before I leave," Yao Shiling said.

"No need, Mom, I can wait by myself."

Yao Shiling insisted, "It's okay, I don't have anything to do at home anyway, and Aunt Wang said she'd watch the cows for me."

Wen Qing had no choice but to give up.

While waiting for the bus, Yao Shiling couldn't help but tell Wen Qing, "Wen Qing, don't skimp on your food at school. If there's meat in the cafeteria, just take it. I can use the sewing machine at home, and I make shoes every day. We're not short of money. Eat more, okay?"

Wen Qing laughed: "Mom, don't you always say that I just spend money blindly? How could I mistreat myself?"

Yao Shiling just couldn't bear to part with Wen Qing. Before, when Wen Qing didn't come home, at least her second uncle was there to take care of her, which gave her some peace of mind. Now that Wen Qing was going to Nanzhou City alone, and being a young woman, Yao Shiling was extremely worried.

"The bus is here! The bus is here!" someone shouted.

Wen Qing and Yao Shiling looked over and saw the dilapidated bus swaying along, stopping at the intersection shortly afterward.

"Mom, I'm leaving." Wen Qing picked up the quilt and was about to get into the car.

Seeing Wen Qing about to leave, Yao Shiling felt a pang of sadness, her eyes reddened, and she couldn't help but call out, "Wen Qing."

"Mom." Wen Qing had already gotten into the car.

As soon as Yao Shiling opened her mouth, her voice choked with emotion: "Wen Qing, if you're not too busy with your studies, it's fine to come back once every week or two. We won't skimp on travel expenses."

Wen Qing sensed something was off about Yao Shiling's words and had just turned her head.

"Hurry up, it's five cents per person, to the city!" The ticket seller urged, pushing Wen Qing to sit in a seat by the window, and then casually tossing her blanket onto the engine.

Wen Qing immediately opened the window and saw Yao Shiling wiping away tears, looking at her with reluctance. Her heart ached, and tears welled up in her eyes: "Mom, I know, you can go back now, go back now."

"Okay, okay, okay," Yao Shiling agreed, sobbing.

Wen Qing didn't dare look at Yao Shiling again; she felt the separation was too painful. When the cart turned another corner, she secretly looked back again. Yao Shiling stood alone by the oxcart, wearing the clothes Wen Qing had made for her, gazing longingly at them. Wen Qing had never imagined that she, having lived two lives, would still be so emotional. Sadness, heartache, and reluctance surged up, and she couldn't help but cover her face and cry.

She also couldn't bear to leave her mother.

"Little girl, why are you crying? It's just going to school. It's already September 1st, and the Mid-Autumn Festival is just over half a month away. School will be closed then," the ticket seller advised from the side.

Wen Qing felt embarrassed for crying out loud just now. She reached up and wiped her eyes.

"Hey, that's right! Once you get to school, study hard, learn new skills, earn money, and establish yourself in the city, then bring your mom to the city to enjoy a better life, isn't that enough?" the ticket seller said enthusiastically.

Wen Qing looked up and said, "Thank you, elder sister."

"Don't thank me, stop crying, focus on your studies."

"Mm." Wen Qing nodded.

For the journey of more than half an hour, as long as no one got on the bus, the ticket seller would chat with Wen Qing about all sorts of random things.

Wen Qing was initially worried that she had brought too much stuff and that the bus stop was quite a distance from Nanzhou No. 1 Middle School, and that she would be exhausted.

As a result, the ticket seller said that there was no need to walk. For just five cents, one could hire an oxcart, and the driver could take both the person and the goods to the gate of Nanzhou No. 1 Middle School.

Wen Qing thanked the ticket seller repeatedly. After getting off the bus, she started looking for an oxcart and saw many oxcarts parked not far away. The drivers were all farmers from the vicinity of Nanzhou City.

Wen Qing, carrying a large bag and holding a quilt, asked, "Uncle, how much does it cost to go to the First Middle School?"

The uncle looked Wen Qing up and down, and seeing that Wen Qing looked clean and tidy, said, "One cent."

“I used to pay 50 cents for a ride, how come it went up to 10 cents in just a few days?” Wen Qing said.

The uncle thought to himself that this was a regular customer, so he said, "Five cents it is, I'll give you a discount since you're a student."

"Thank you, Uncle Xie."

The uncle reached out and took the quilt and large bag from Wen Qing's hands, put them on the oxcart, placed a straw mat on the oxcart, and said, "Sit down."

Wen Qing didn't stand on ceremony and sat on the oxcart.

From Shuiwan Village to the county seat, and then from the county seat to the city, Wen Qing didn't see many children coming to school. However, on the route from the city bus station to Nanzhou No. 1 Middle School, Wen Qing saw quite a few students, all of whom looked like high school students.

"Little girl, how old are you?" Uncle Oxcart asked.

“I’m seventeen,” Wen Qing replied, sitting on the oxcart.

What grade are you in?

"Second year of high school."

"Oh, that's so small."

Wen Qing smiled because there were no kindergartens or preschools in this era. Everyone started school in the first grade of elementary school. Therefore, the school stipulated that students must be seven years old to enroll. Seven years old was already quite old. However, in some families, older siblings would have younger siblings, and the parents would postpone the older siblings' start of school so that they could stay home and take care of their younger siblings for two years until they were a little older before enrolling in school.

Therefore, it's not uncommon for students in the school to start first grade at the age of nine or ten. Those like Wen Qing, who start high school at seventeen, are actually the minority.

If Wen Qing remembers correctly, when she was in her first year of high school, some of her classmates were twenty years old, and some were even married.

“Young lady, study hard. Studying is good. If you get into university, you’ll be guaranteed a job, and maybe you can even become an official,” said Uncle Oxcart.

Wen Qing smiled and replied, "Yes." However, Wen Qing had no interest in becoming an official.

"Young lady, we'll be at No. 1 Middle School soon. Do you want to get off here or at the entrance?"

"Get off at the door."

After Wen Qing arrived at the door, he took out five one-cent coins from his pocket, handed them to Uncle Niu Che, said thank you, and then, carrying his bag in his left hand and his quilt in his right, stood at the No. 1 Middle School of Nanzhou City.

She came to No. 1 Middle School last time; she came with Pengpeng to see Teacher Zhao.

However, today is the first time I'll actually be going back to school. Returning to school doesn't just feel like a different world, it truly feels like a different world.

Wen Qing looked at the words "Nanzhou No. 1 Middle School" written in bold red calligraphy above the school gate and was immediately filled with emotion.

"Hey, hurry up, come help me!" A clear voice reached Wen Qing's ears.

When Wen Qing turned her head, she saw several girls dressed in worn but clean clothes helping each other carry their schoolbags and blankets.

When did you arrive at school?

"I just arrived."

"Have the grades from last semester come out yet?"

"Not yet. The homeroom teacher hasn't arrived yet."

Where do we register and pay later?

"You should go to your respective classrooms, wait for your homeroom teacher, and then pay to receive your new books."

"Hurry up, hurry up, help me carry my blanket and backpack to the dormitory. We'll go to the classroom together for registration. Oh, right, I brought some pickles from home, made by my mom. Let's go to the cafeteria and try them later."

"Okay, okay."

Several girls walked along, laughing and joking. Each of them had a youthful and innocent smile on their face, which was completely different from the spirit of the villagers in Shuiwan Village. Wen Qing was instantly transported back to her student days.

She carried her bag and blanket as she walked into the school.

Nanzhou No. 1 High School is the best high school in Nanzhou. Besides having a relatively large number of students, it has the most buildings and classrooms among the high schools, and even the boys' and girls' dormitories are three-story buildings. However, the majority of buildings at Nanzhou No. 1 High School are still tile-roofed houses.

Wen Qing hadn't been to Nanzhou No. 1 Middle School for almost a year. She didn't know where the dormitories for the second-year students were or where their classrooms were.

So they had no choice but to ask as they went.

Every time someone asked a question, that person would look up at Wen Qing for a while longer, and after answering, they would mutter, "This student is really good-looking."

One classmate even exclaimed, "Are you Wen Qing?" This classmate was thin, about the same height as her, and dressed fairly neatly, at least without any patches.

Wen Qing was taken aback: "Classmate, do you know me?" She had only been taking classes in Nanzhou for one semester, and almost a year had passed, yet someone still recognized her.

"Yes, I know you. You were the prettiest girl in our first year of high school, Wen Qing," the person said directly.

Wen Qing: "..." There are still people who speak so directly in this day and age.

"You're back to school?"

Wen Qing: "..."

Which class are you going to?

Wen Qing: "...Classmate, where is Teacher Zhao's class?"

"Oh, what a coincidence! I'm also in Teacher Zhao's class. My name is Hou Chunming. You can just call me Chunming like the other students. We weren't in the same class in the first year of high school, but we ended up in the same class after we were separated into different subjects." Hou Chunming chuckled.

"Hello, hello," Wen Qing said with a smile.

Hou Chunming was quite enthusiastic. He carried Wen Qing's quilt and ran up to the second floor, so fast that Wen Qing couldn't catch up.

Hou Chunming was extremely excited. As soon as he got to the second floor, he went straight to the classroom in the far corner, put Wen Qing's quilt on the ground, and shouted towards the classroom, "Wen Qing is here to school!"

Wen Qing arrived shortly after.

The two of them stood at the doorway, staring blankly into the classroom.

Inside the classroom, Teacher Zhao was standing on the podium, and all the students in the class were staring at the two of them.

Hou Chunming said humbly, "Hello, Teacher Zhao."

Wen Qing also said, "Hello, Teacher Zhao."

As soon as Wen Qing finished speaking, the class erupted in chaos.

This is what the girls were discussing in private:

"Wen Qing? Why is she back at school again?"

"Isn't it because your family is poor and can't afford to go?"

"Yeah, when we first started high school, they were so arrogant, they had the best food, clothes and everything else. But then they ran out of money to go to school, they were just pretending to be poor. How come they have money to go to school now? Did they borrow the money?"

"..."

The few boys in the class were quietly discussing this:

"Oh my god, my dream girl is back!"

"As soon as Wen Qing came back, the whole Class 2 of Grade 11 was overjoyed."

"Wen Qing is actually coming back to school, that's amazing!"

"I thought she went to get married and have a baby!"

Regardless of the debate between the two factions, everyone's consensus was: would Wen Qing still be as arrogant, conceited, and domineering as she was in the first year of high school? Would she again be the type to send someone flying 800 meters away with a single sentence, get angry at the slightest disagreement, and start hitting people with a broom?

The students were wondering what was going on, so Wen Qing looked up and glanced around the classroom, and all the students lowered their heads.

Class teacher Zhao, abandoning her previous gentle demeanor, looked at Hou Chunming sternly: "How many times have I told you, no making noise in public places!"

"Teacher Zhao, I was wrong." Hou Chunming said, his head hanging low.

Teacher Zhao's expression softened: "Come in."

Hou Chunming walked into the classroom with his head down. As he passed the rows of desks, some boys tried to trip him by sticking out their legs. Hou Chunming cursed, "You little bastard, I'll kill you."

Then Hou Chunming sat down in his seat, and as soon as he sat down, his deskmate came over.

"How dare you come up here with Wen Qing?"

"Why don't you dare?" Hou Chunming asked.

"Wen Qing has a very bad temper."

"I think it's great."

"That's because you weren't in the same class as her," my deskmate said meaningfully.

Hou Chunming disagreed.

On the podium, Teacher Zhao pointed to a table: "Wen Qing, you can sit in the empty seat on the right aisle in the fourth row for now. I'll arrange a seat for you after I finish my lecture."

"Okay, thank you, Teacher Zhao." Wen Qing replied, put the large bag and quilt next to the podium, walked over and sat in the fourth row on the right aisle. As soon as she sat down, she felt a fierce gaze. Wen Qing looked in the direction of the gaze and was slightly stunned. It was Ji Ningzhi.

Wen Qing then realized that in her previous life, she and Ji Ningzhi were in the same year of high school, but Ji Ningzhi continued to attend school while she stopped.

Speaking of which, Ji Ningzhi is the same age as her, and three months older. Zhang Fangfang is four years older than her.

In her past life, she dropped out of school before being assigned to a class. Unexpectedly, in this life, she was assigned to a class and ended up in the same class as Ji Ningzhi. What a coincidence!

When Wen Qing looked at Ji Ningzhi, Ji Ningzhi angrily turned her head away and looked at the podium.

Wen Qing smiled and looked at the podium as well.

Although everyone was listening to Teacher Zhao review the previous semester and look forward to this semester, Wen Qing could clearly feel that her classmates' eyes were glancing at her from time to time.

Teacher Zhao didn't talk for long. Then she asked the class monitor to count the number of students and then asked the class monitor to take a few male students to the teacher's office to bring the new books to the classroom.

Teacher Zhao took out a list and read out the names. The students then went up to pay for their books, tuition, and accommodation, and then received their books. The book fee was fifty yuan, the tuition was twenty-five yuan, the accommodation fee was ten yuan per year, and the school uniform was thirty yuan.

Wen Qing looked around for a while and found that almost no one wanted to buy school uniforms.

But when it was Ji Ningzhi's turn, she asked for the school uniform and paid an extra thirty yuan. Carrying her books and school uniform, she walked smugly past the blanket next to Wen Qing's podium, deliberately kicking it with her leg, leaving a footprint on the blanket. She then walked back to her seat triumphantly.

Wen Qing forcibly suppressed her anger and managed not to lose it.

After all the students had received their books, Teacher Zhao told them to go back to their dormitories to clean up, and that classes would officially begin the next day.

Then a group of students left the classroom.

Teacher Zhao called Wen Qing to the podium alone. Wen Qing returned the books she had borrowed from her, and Teacher Zhao asked with a smile, "How was your reading?"

"It's alright, I've memorized everything I could."

"Alright then." Teacher Zhao smiled. "I'm quite busy today, so I won't test you. Classes will start tomorrow. If there are any subjects where you're falling behind, let me know immediately."

"Thank you, Teacher Zhao."

Teacher Zhao then asked, "Did you bring your tuition?"

"I brought it."

"Okay, hand it over to me. After you get the book, go to the girls' dormitory, room 202. You'll be living there from now on."

"Okay, thank you, Teacher Zhao." Wen Qing didn't buy a school uniform either.

Ms. Zhao was worried about handling so much money at once. So after taking Wen Qing's money, she hurriedly returned to her office.

Wen Qing, carrying a bag and a blanket, went to raid the girls' dormitory.

Just as they stepped out of the classroom, Hou Chunming rushed out again: "Wen Qing, let me help you carry it."

Wen Qing was indeed too tired to carry it anymore, so she said, "Thank you, thank you," and handed it to Hou Chunming.

Hou Chunming carried the blanket all the way to the entrance of the girls' dormitory building: "Wen Qing, male students aren't allowed in here, so I'll just walk you this far."

"Thank you."

"You're welcome." Hou Chunming waved and left.

Exhausted and thirsty, Wen Qing didn't have time to say a few more words to Hou Chunming. She hurriedly carried her bag and blanket up to the second floor and found dormitory 202. The dormitory, which had been filled with laughter, suddenly fell silent because of Wen Qing's appearance.

The four girls in the dormitory stared straight at Wen Qing, including Ji Ningzhi.

Wen Qing smiled and said, "Hello, my name is Wen Qing. I will be living in this dormitory from now on. Please take care of me."

As soon as she finished speaking, the four girls looked at each other and went about their own business, ignoring Wen Qing completely.