After the New Year, time flies by, and before we know it, it's time for the new school term to begin.
Xia Qingqing enjoyed a comfortable winter vacation at home, sleeping in until she naturally woke up almost every day except for the few days of the Lunar New Year. The thought of returning to her 8 a.m. routine filled her with resistance.
However, no matter how much she resisted, she still had to go to school.
As soon as she arrived at the classroom, she saw Liu Huimin and the others waving at her: "Qingqing, come over here."
Xia Qingqing immediately walked towards them and plopped down next to Liu Huimin.
They arrived early, and the counselor hadn't come yet. The students in the classroom were all sitting in twos and threes chatting.
After Xia Qingqing sat down, she asked with a smile, "Sister Qiu, Xiuxiu, what did you do during your winter vacation? Why didn't you come to visit me?"
"What else can I do? I just stay home and help my brother and his family take care of their kids," Xiang Qiu said with a smile, but there was a clear hint of helplessness in her voice.
Xiang Qiu has two older brothers and sisters-in-law, and the whole family lives together. Since they are workers and don't have winter vacations, Xiang Qiu, the youngest sister-in-law who is the most free, naturally became the best candidate to take care of the child.
She could only relax a little when Wang Zhihong occasionally invited her out.
Liu Huimin put her arm around her and laughed, "Consider it practice beforehand. When you and Comrade Wang have children in the future, you'll have experience too."
Xiang Qiu, embarrassed, pushed her away: "Go away, what kind of joke is this? You're a married woman, you're so shameless."
Liu Huimin didn't mind at all when people said she was shameless: "Hahaha, Sister Qiu is just shy."
The two people next to her were making a ruckus. Xia Qingqing looked at Chen Xiu and asked, "Xiuxiu, what about you? What have you been doing during winter break? Why haven't you come to play with me?"
"My grandma is sick, and my mom has to go to work, so she asked me to take care of her," Chen Xiu said softly.
Although she was supposed to be taking care of her grandmother, she didn't actually need to do anything. She just kept her grandmother company and helped her pass the time. Her aunt took care of everything else.
Hearing this, Xia Qingqing paused for a moment, then asked apologetically, "Is your grandmother feeling any better now?"
Chen Xiu smiled and said, "Yeah, it's just some old ailments I developed when I was younger. After resting for a while, I'm almost fully recovered now."
"That's good," Xia Qingqing breathed a sigh of relief. She was really afraid that she would ask about Chen Xiu's sad stories.
They chatted for a short while before the counselor arrived. The whole class held a class meeting, and the counselor asked the boys in the class to help move the new books for this semester.
After distributing the books, today's work is done. Just come to class on time tomorrow.
Liu Huimin glanced at her watch and invited Xia Qingqing to come to the dormitory for a while: "I brought some local specialties from my hometown. Come to the dormitory and eat with us."
"Alright then, I'll reluctantly eat a little," Xia Qingqing agreed with a smile.
Upon entering the familiar dormitory, Xia Qingqing sat directly on Chen Xiu's bed: "Xiao Minzi, hurry up and bring my things up."
Seeing her making a funny face, Liu Huimin cooperated by taking a bottle out of the cabinet, presenting it to her and saying, "Please, Your Majesty, have a taste!"
"Hmm, not bad, here's a reward," Xia Qingqing said with a wave of her hand.
"Thank you, Your Majesty," Liu Huimin said in a deliberately high-pitched voice.
Chen Xiu and Xiang Qiu were amused by them and burst into laughter. With these two lively characters around, their college life became much more fun.
Xia Qingqing played in the dormitory for more than an hour before going back. It gets dark early in winter, so she had to go back early for dinner.
"I'm leaving now, see you tomorrow."
"Bye-bye, see you tomorrow."
When Xia Qingqing arrived home, she saw Gou Dan setting out the bowls and chopsticks.
Dog Egg glanced at her and said, "Sis, why are you so late? Dinner's almost ready."
"I went to the dorm and chatted with my roommates for a while. You have to start school tomorrow, right?" Xia Qingqing asked casually.
"Yes, I made an appointment with Hongjun to go to school together tomorrow, so my parents don't need to take me to register."
Last semester, he asked his parents to take him because he wasn't familiar with the school. He definitely can't ask his parents to take him this semester, or his classmates will laugh at him.
At this moment, Xia Heping entered the main room carrying a bowl of food in one hand: "Qingqing is back. Go wash your hands and eat."
"Okay, I'll be right there," Xia Qingqing replied with a smile.
At the dinner table, Zhang Hongyan asked her why she came back so late. Xia Qingqing patiently explained, "After the class meeting, there was still time, so I went to the dormitory with my roommate for a while."
"Come home earlier after school next time. I heard that a woman had an accident on South Street a couple of days ago," Zhang Hongyan said mysteriously.
Xia Qingqing's curiosity was immediately piqued: "What happened?"
"I heard it from Aunt Cai next door; she has relatives living on South Street."
"They say a woman in her twenties was walking alone at night and was murdered. It seems she was also raped. Her clothes and pants were torn to shreds, and all her valuables were gone. Everyone guesses that she was robbed, and the robbers took advantage of her because she was pretty," Zhang Hongyan said with a hint of pity.
Then, with some concern, he added, "The police haven't caught the murderer yet, and we don't know if those people will continue to commit crimes."
Such a good person is gone just like that. I wonder what will happen to that woman's family. I heard from Aunt Cai that the woman was already married and had a child who was a few years old. She lost her mother at such a young age. I'm afraid her life will be difficult in the future.
But what's even more worrying is that the perpetrator has not yet been caught, causing widespread panic. Many female workers are now afraid to go out alone at night, and even if they have to work the night shift, they ask their husbands to pick them up.
Zhang Hongyan was also worried. Her Qingqing was such a beautiful young girl, and she went to and from school alone every day. What if she accidentally got targeted by that group of people?
Xia Qingqing looked surprised. She knew that the security situation had been bad lately. She often heard about petty theft, but this was the first time she had heard of someone being killed. If the murderer could not be caught in time, she was afraid that things would not be peaceful for a while.
"Qingqing, you must come home immediately after school these days, do you understand?" Zhang Hongyan reminded her daughter worriedly.
Xia Qingqing nodded quickly: "I heard you, I'll definitely come back early after class, Mom, you don't need to worry about me."
Even after receiving her daughter's assurance, Zhang Hongyan was still somewhat uneasy. Who knew if those heartless people would make a move during the day? What if they had several accomplices who could abduct someone into an alley? The consequences were unimaginable.
With a worried expression, she suggested, "Why don't you have your dad pick you up from school? I'm still worried about you being alone."
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