"Xiaomin, I've brought you dinner!"
Lin Lanzhi returned to the dormitory with two servings of oil-splashed noodles. Xia Minmin was studying, Zhong Xi and Du Lan were sleeping in bed, and the others had not yet returned.
Xia Minmin put down her pen and rubbed the bridge of her nose. "What time is it? Why are you back so soon?"
Lin Lanzhi placed the oil-splashed noodles she was carrying on her desk, and only handed the noodles over after she had tidied up her desk.
Xia Minmin took the warm noodles. "The one from the cafeteria, right? It's still so hot. Did you run back?"
Lin Lanzhi nodded. "Do you love me?"
"I love you! I haven't had their oil-splashed noodles for days, and I really miss them."
Xia Minmin quickly mixed the noodles. This oil-splashed noodle dish in the cafeteria was her favorite. The owner was from Shaanxi and would always make hand-pulled noodles no matter how busy he was. The chewiness of hand-pulled noodles was incomparable to dried noodles, which were the main type of noodles she ate in Shenzhen.
"I knew you wanted to eat this, so I bought it especially for you. The juniors haven't finished class yet, so the cafeteria isn't crowded. If it were crowded, I would have gotten something else," Lin Lanzhi continued. "I also brought you some garlic. Remember to brush your teeth after you eat it. I really don't know why a beautiful girl like you loves garlic so much?"
"Haha, there's a saying that goes, 'Eating noodles without garlic is like missing half the flavor.' Why don't you give it a try?" Xia Minmin found two cloves of raw garlic in the bag, peeled them, and ate a bite of noodles followed by a bite of garlic.
"They haven't come back?" Lin Lanzhi asked.
"No, has the school released the list of candidates for the re-examination?"
Lin Lanzhi did not qualify for the guaranteed admission to graduate school, so she can only choose to take the entrance exam. The list of candidates for the re-examination at Peking University will be released in the next few days.
"Hehe, I've made it to the second round of interviews, so there shouldn't be any major problems." Lin Lanzhi was very satisfied with her initial test results. She had decided to take the postgraduate entrance exam on short notice and hadn't spent much time preparing.
The half-open dormitory door was pushed open, and Jiang Lina and Wang Jing walked in.
Wang Jing sniffed the smell in the dormitory. "Are you guys eating the oil-splashed noodles from that cafeteria? Give me a bite." She picked up Lin Lanzhi's bowl and took a bite of noodles. "It smells so good! I never thought that what I would miss most when I leave school would be a bowl of oil-splashed noodles."
Jiang Lina put her bag on the chair and looked at her roommates who were leisurely eating oil-splashed noodles. "You guys have it so easy. I'm so envious! Finding a job is so hard, and finding one that can help you get a Beijing residency permit is even harder."
A Peking University degree is a big plus when looking for a job, but finding one with a satisfactory salary and that also helps with residency registration requires careful searching.
In the past two years, the household registration system has become increasingly strict. Many companies no longer have quotas for household registration, and the system also considers one's major; not all majors qualify for household registration.
"How about taking the postgraduate entrance exam? I know a senior who graduated with a master's degree this year and has already successfully settled down in the city," Xia Minmin said.
"Sigh, it's too late to take the postgraduate entrance exam now. Xiaomin, you're so lucky. You got a direct PhD spot right after graduating from high school." Jiang Lina was extremely envious.
“Hey, forget it! You’re the kind of person who goes out every weekend. Xiaomin has hardly gone out at all in the past four years. If we were all as hardworking as Xiaomin, we could probably all get into graduate school,” Lin Lanzhi said.
Wang Jing said, "I have found a job, but it's in the Shenzhen branch. I'm still hesitating because I've never been to Shenzhen before."
"Does it help you get a Shenzhen residency permit? What's the salary like?" Jiang Lina asked quickly.
"Solved. The internship salary is over 8,000 yuan, and it will be over 10,000 yuan after becoming a full-time employee."
“That’s a good idea. Xiaomin and Lanzhi will both be returning to Shenzhen in the future, so I’ll give it a try for a company there too.”
Lin Lanzhi smiled and said, "No problem. When you come to Shenzhen, Xiaomin and I will treat you to meals every day. We can also introduce you to apartments. Xiaomin's godfather has a rental building not far from the CBD, right?"
"Just let me know if you need anything, and I'll have my godfather reserve a room for you."
Wang Aimin's rental property is located near Shenzhen's earliest CBD, about a 20-minute walk away. Most of the established financial companies are nearby, and rents have been rising year by year. Moreover, the supply is less than the demand, and it is difficult to find a place without prior notice.
"Thank you, Xiaomin!"
Zhong Xi lay in bed listening to others discuss employment and graduate school applications, feeling very annoyed. She got up, dressed, and slammed the door shut as she left. Not long after, Du Lan followed her out.
Jiang Lina pointed to the door, "What's wrong with those two now?"
"What else could it be? They're delaying their graduation! Let's not talk about them anymore. How's your thesis preparation going?" Lin Lanzhi said expressionlessly.
Upon hearing the word "thesis," two groans erupted in the dormitory.
As far as Xia Minmin knew, neither of their papers had finished their first drafts, and there were only three days left before the deadline for submission.
At 10:30 p.m., the only sound in the dormitory was the clattering of typing. All six people were wearing pajamas and had serious expressions on their faces.
Snap...
The tightly closed dormitory door was violently slammed, making a loud noise. It was Zhong Xi again. Ever since they learned about the delayed graduation, she had been opening and closing the door like this every day, seemingly venting her dissatisfaction.
"Zhong Xi, are you sick in the head? Let me tell you, the front door was broken when we checked out after graduation, and I was responsible for all the compensation. I've already kept the evidence, so you can't deny it."
This wasn't the first time Zhong Xi had done this. After her roommate discovered signs that the hinges and locks on the dormitory door had been damaged again, Xia Minmin used a DV camera to record footage of her violently opening and closing the dormitory door every day. She preferred to spend money to buy a DV camera and tapes rather than pay for the damages with her.
Just the fact that several dorm rooms next door knew about her behavior was enough to annoy everyone on this floor. Anyone would be annoyed by her forcefully opening and closing doors before dawn when everyone was sound asleep. They had complained to the dorm manager and counselor, but she showed no remorse and continued to do as she pleased.
"Xia Minmin, is that all you're capable of? If you're so capable, then just make me drop out of school! What's wrong with me turning it on and off?"
After saying that, Zhong Xi kept violently opening and closing the door, which attracted students from the surrounding dormitories to come out and watch, pointing and whispering.
"Is Zhong Xi mentally ill? She's like this every day."
"Being in the same dorm as her is the worst luck imaginable."
"You guys don't know yet that she's had to postpone her graduation!"
After the girl finished speaking, everyone looked at her with curiosity.
"What happened to you? Tell us quickly."
“I heard from our counselor that military training is not included in the graduation assessment for our year. Those two skipped military training back then, and their counselor made them and the younger students make up for it. But those two idiots didn’t go. They thought the counselor was just messing with them.”
"That's so stupid! If I were their class advisor, I'd be furious."
"You might not believe it, but recently our class counselors have been afraid to go back to their offices. Every morning, the two of them get up and sit in the counselor's office until evening before returning."
"You mentioning this reminds me of something. No wonder I've been seeing them in the counselor's office lately. It's really disrupting the counselor's work."
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