Grandma Xia, who was walking ahead, excitedly said to her granddaughter, "Xiaomin, come here quickly, let's all take a picture together at the school gate."
A sign reading "Welcome New Students" is hanging above the school gate.
Xia Minmin's mind was filled with thoughts of "please let me go!"
Grandma Xia found a kind volunteer in a red vest to take a group photo for everyone.
"Xiaomin, look at the camera. Now that you're standing on the Peking University campus, what do you want to say?" Li Chunmei held up a DV camera and was filming.
Xia Minmin forced a smile and said, "I'm very happy!"
"Is there anything else you want to say?" Li Chunmei then asked.
Xia Minmin pouted and replied perfunctorily, "I'm very happy!"
Since boarding the plane yesterday, Li Chunmei's DV camera has been recording non-stop.
According to Xia Minmin's observation, among all the freshmen in the school who were carrying luggage, no one had more luggage than her, even after she had put some of her luggage in the house she bought in Beijing.
"Which floor is the dormitory on?" Xia Jianguo wiped the sweat from his forehead. The weather in Beijing in September was neither hot nor humid; its only drawback was that it was too dry.
"Let me see..." Li Chunmei glanced at the note in her hand, "504."
As Xia Jianguo carried his daughter's luggage up the stairs, he couldn't help but think how lucky he was that he hadn't given up exercising all these years. "That poor kid, what kind of heavy suitcase is this?" he thought. He gritted his teeth and carried the suitcase up to the fifth floor in one go.
Xia Jianguo stood at the entrance of dormitory 504 waiting for them.
thump thump thump…
Xia Minmin stood at the door of room 504. The room was bustling with activity. The small eight-person dormitory was packed with parents and children. It was strange that the dormitory could remain quiet with so many people.
"Hello, may I come in?"
Upon hearing Xia Minmin's voice, everyone in the dormitory looked up at her. Her childlike face was completely at odds with her height; she looked like a child, but her height was estimated to be 168 centimeters. Judging from her clothes, her family seemed to be quite well-off.
"You're my new roommate, right? I'm Du Lan, the top scorer in Heilongjiang Province this year, and a freshman at Guanghua School of Management! You can ask me any science questions you don't understand." Du Lan was dressed simply but looked very proud.
After Duran finished speaking, her roommate, who was busy packing her luggage, whispered something.
"So what if he's a top scorer? He keeps repeating it to every new roommate he meets. He's really showing off." It seems Durant was the first to arrive.
“Any student we randomly pick from Guanghua could be the top scorer.”
After the girl finished speaking, her family members quickly patted her, their eyes clearly conveying a warning.
“That’s right, the least valuable thing in our school is being the top scorer,” another young girl chimed in.
The noise outside made room 504 seem exceptionally quiet.
"Hello, I am Xia Minmin, and I am also from Guanghua."
Sigh, four years of university are going to be tough! There's an undercurrent of tension in dorm room 504.
"Xiaomin, why don't you come inside?" Li Chunmei nudged her daughter who was standing at the door.
They quickly made way for each other and entered the small 504 room. The room was already crowded, and now it was difficult to move around.
Wang Aimin's furrowed brows could trap a mosquito; the entire dormitory didn't even have a bathroom, the living conditions were terrible.
Grandpa and Grandma Xia pushed the metal-framed bed and felt it wobbling. They asked if the bed would really not collapse. What if Xiaomin fell asleep and the bed collapsed? That would be terrible.
With red eyes, Li Chunmei carried a bucket to the public washroom to fetch water. She used a rag to clean the dust off the bed board. Looking at the peeling paint on the walls, she felt an indescribable sadness.
The other people in room 504 looked at the six people who walked in. It was just sending their child to school, but they were spoiling them too much. So many people from the family came to see them off, and they had so much luggage.
"Xia Minmin, you're eighteen years old, why are you acting like a baby? It's just going to school, do you need so many family members to take you? You're so inconsiderate. Everyone has things to do, and you still insist on having everyone take you to school!" Du Lan couldn't stand these spoiled young ladies the most. They usually did terribly in school, so why should they study with her? She didn't know how they even got in.
Duran's words left Xia Jianguo and his team feeling helpless. As seasoned veterans who had seen all sorts of people, they had never encountered such a hothead before, criticizing others without even knowing them.
Xia Minmin was speechless. This person must have something wrong with their head, picking a fight with a stranger as a roommate. "Du Lan, right? Today should be our first meeting. I don't think I've offended you, have I?"
“I didn’t offend anyone, but I’ve always been outspoken and I’ll speak up when I see injustice. Am I not telling the truth?” Du Lan glanced at Xia Minmin’s family behind her.
"Okay, then let me ask you what your college entrance exam score was?" Xia Minmin asked.
Du Lan was very confident in her score. For more than a month since she became the top scorer in the college entrance examination, many people had been complimenting her every day, saying things like, "598 points in science." They would then look at Xia Minmin with disdain.
Pfft! Several young girls in the dormitory burst into laughter.
Duran is always "straightforward" when she meets her new roommate. They didn't want to ruin their relationship on their first meeting, so they thought they could be tolerant. But they didn't expect to run into a brick wall so quickly.
They're so smug, they think they got a perfect score. They're so shameless to brag about such a small thing to everyone. They don't mind kicking someone when they're down and venting their anger.
Duran blushed and said, "What are you laughing at? Even if you study for another year, you still won't get 598 points."
She has less than 600 points and still dares to be so arrogant. Who gave her the courage?
"I thought it was a high score! 670? That's hilarious! I have 702 points, and I'm still the top scorer."
"685".
As everyone finished announcing their college entrance exam scores, Du Lan's expression grew increasingly grim, filled with resentment.
"Duran, I'm sorry, but I scored 740 points without any bonuses. What my family does is none of your business, but you started mocking the new classmate for being ill-mannered as soon as we met! I was thinking of respecting elders and caring for the young, and I tried to tolerate you, but you just kept going too far..."
Before Xia Minmin could finish speaking, Du Lan dropped her things and ran out of the dormitory.
The atmosphere in the dormitory became lively.
"Hello Xia Minmin, I'm your classmate Jiang Lina. What you just said was so good. Du Lan doesn't know what happened either. You're the third victim. I wanted to say something before, but my mom stopped me." Jiang Lina is a very stylish girl.
Jiang Lina's mother gave an awkward laugh. This thing is such a pain in the ass.
"My dad also insisted on stopping me, saying that someone like Du Lan should be taught a lesson. Hello, I'm Wang Jing, and I look forward to working with you for the next four years." Although Wang Jing's name contains the character "Jing" (quiet), she doesn't seem quiet at all.
"I was terrified when I first came in. Our dorm was so quiet, while the other dorms were all talking non-stop. I thought I'd come to the wrong place. I'm Wu Yue, a local from Beijing. Feel free to contact me if you need anything." Wu Yue's Beijing accent was particularly interesting.
The people in the dormitory looked at each other with a hint of awkwardness.
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