"That's settled then. I won't go out tomorrow; let's see what happens."

"Okay, I've ordered curtains, a door curtain, and bed sheets for you today, but they're not floral polyester, they're blue denim."

"Hehe, you don't like these curtains either? They were made by my teacher's wife, and I don't like them either."

Is it okay to trouble them like this?

"It's fine."

"How about I give you these curtains? They're a kind gesture from someone. I not only made you some denim curtains, but I also made a set for myself. I'll return them to you cleanly once the new curtains are finished."

"That's not necessary."

"That won't do. This was made by their own hands; it has a different meaning."

"Sure, anything is fine."

After finishing his meal, Liu Jingze tidied up and washed up.

The next morning, the two ate fried rice with eggs and then went next door.

Liu Jingze looked at the furniture and also felt that the dining table needed to be replaced, and the room next to the bedroom needed to be converted into a study. This would require finding a carpenter.

"Anyway, there's no rush to move in, so let's take our time decorating. I'll have someone measure the furniture dimensions and then repaint the whole house."

"School starts tomorrow, are you all ready?"

"I'm ready, but there's not much to prepare."

"Remember to bring your water bottle and lunchbox. Try the cafeteria food on the first day."

"Okay, I got it. Is there hot water at school?"

"Yes, we have an electric water heater, but the water doesn't taste very good. It's the only option in winter. In summer, you can bring your own water."

"I don't want to bring a teacup; it'll just make a clattering noise. I'll just bring a water bottle. Lunchbox and chopsticks. No spoons, though; I hate the sound of spoons in my lunchbox, it's annoying."

"The two returned home, and Liu Jingze rode his bicycle out to find a carpenter. Making furniture and selecting wood takes quite a bit of time."

Zhang Hongmei found another satchel, put a lunchbox inside, and of course, put the chopsticks inside the lunchbox as well. She found a military water bottle but thought it was too big, so she took out a plastic cup from her spatial storage, looked at it, and put it in there. This really wouldn't work.

After thinking for a moment, I took out a ceramic mug. It was all white, and after looking at it, I thought it was alright, nothing special. That's it.

Wearing both bags on my body felt a bit strange, so I simply found a piece of cloth and made a rectangular cloth bag with two handles, just the size of the lunchbox. I also made room for the cup. An hour later, looking at the cloth bag I had finished, I thought it looked pretty good.

It fits both items quite well, but the lack of a lid made it look awkward. So I picked up the scissors and sewed on a lid, along with two small cloth bags that could be tied up.

This looks much better; at least it's not exposed.

The stitching isn't quite right, but it's fine as it is. At noon, Zhang Hongmei finally got to eat the fried noodles with soybean paste she'd been craving. Although the only toppings were cabbage hearts and shredded carrots, Zhang Hongmei didn't complain because the sauce was so delicious.

In the afternoon, Liu Jingze rode his bike out again, this time to find someone to help him book rooms.

Zhang Hongmei was bored at home, so she simply took out a novel and became engrossed in reading it. If Liu Jingze hadn't come back, she wouldn't have known it was almost dark. She found this kind of light novel easy and relaxing to read.

I made rice porridge, tofu salad, and pickled vegetable shreds for dinner.

School starts tomorrow. Zhang Hongmei lay curled up in bed, the cold blankets making her back ache. She was going to be alone when she got home and refused to suffer like this again.

It would be a lie to say I wasn't excited; I'd be a university student starting tomorrow. But then I suddenly remembered that in my past life, this movement started with a few university students meeting with the Chairman, engaging in high-sounding discussions, and ultimately receiving tacit approval, which led to this tragic situation that set us back ten years.

What about this life? If only someone could step in and stop it. Who doesn't want their family to be wealthy and powerful? So they can walk with their head held high.

I drifted off to sleep after thinking about random things for a while.

The next morning, Liu Jingze got up early to cook rice porridge. Zhang Hongmei didn't want to be covered in cooking fumes on her first day of school, so Liu Jingze rode his bike out to buy fried dough sticks. Nowadays, fried dough sticks aren't all made from wheat flour; some are made from bean flour and corn flour.

However, since they are deep-fried, they are quite expensive, costing two cents each.

Liu Jingze bought four sticks. Zhang Hongmei ate only one stick and drank a bowl of porridge. Liu Jingze ate the rest.

Liu Jingze had a bag of clothes hanging on the handlebars. Zhang Hongmei, wearing a military overcoat, hat, scarf, and cotton gloves, sat on the back seat carrying a lunchbox and a shoulder bag.

"Hongmei, this lunchbox bag is quite nice."

"Right? I think so too. It feels weird to carry them all on your back."

The two arrived at the school in a quarter of an hour. Many students from other places had returned since the day before yesterday, as well as this year's freshmen. Liu Jingze had been busy with this for the past few days.

Stepping into the school, I immediately felt a change; it wasn't as desolate as the last time I visited. Seeing the smiles on the students' faces, the weather didn't feel so cold anymore.

"Hongmei, come on, I'll take you to fill out your college application. After you finish, your classmates will tell you to go to the auditorium of your economics department to register. There will be class assignments then. Your grades should be in Class 1, right?"

Liu Jingze asked his roommate to take the bag to the dormitory, and he and Zhang Hongmei stood at the college application office.

"Liu, did you bring your younger sister with you to register?"

Liu Jingze just smiled and didn't say anything. He hated it when people said that Zhang Hongmei and Zhang Hongmei were siblings.

"Junior, you've made the right choice by applying to the economics department."

Out of politeness, Zhang Hongmei had already taken off her scarf, so the senior student in charge of registration saw a particularly pretty and lovely girl. It turns out that not all pretty girls apply to the Chinese Literature Department.

Zhang Hongmei smiled politely.

"Junior, bring me your admission letter, I need to register."

"Thank you, senior." Zhang Hongmei handed over her admission notice, and the classmate opened it and immediately let out a shout.

Then he burst into laughter, "This year, our economics department has finally made it!"

"Chengzi, are you crazy? Why are you laughing like that?"

"I'm going to laugh, a triumphant laugh."

"What's going on? This year's top scorer in the national college entrance examination has come to our economics department. Should we be happy about that?"

"Hahahaha, this is hilarious! Let me see."

"Wow, not only is she the top scholar, but she's also so beautiful. She's finally made it through."

Zhang Hongmei stared speechlessly at the two of them. Were these students from the most prestigious university? Were they all like this?

Liu Jingze was also helpless. These classmates were really something. With their loud voices, people were already starting to gather around.

"Student, hurry up and register, or it'll be packed soon."

"Haha, this is exactly the scene I wanted. It's not just the Chinese Literature Department that gets surrounded by onlookers; our Economics Department is even better."