098 You're really amazing
Guan Yuehe chose the bottom bunk at the very back of the dormitory. Cheng Shuang, who lived in the next dormitory, suggested that she choose the top bunk, but she recalled her last experience staying in the dormitory and knew that falling from the top bunk would be terrible, so she firmly chose the bottom bunk.
Cheng Shuang was shocked to see her fold the blanket she brought into a perfect square. "You served in the army?"
"...No, my former roommate was in the military, and so was my husband." She was influenced by her surroundings.
"No wonder." Cheng Shuang sat on the bed opposite her, watching her take the books out of her suitcase one by one and place them at the foot of the bed. "It's a pity we weren't assigned to the same dormitory... Do you think I should go to the teacher and ask if I can switch dorms here?"
Guan Yuehe paused in her work of arranging the books, and said sincerely, "I'll follow the school teachers' assignments. If we live close by, we can study together in the future."
Cheng Shuang pondered for a moment before saying, "That's true."
Guan Yuehe breathed a sigh of relief after Cheng Shuang returned to her dormitory. Cheng Shuang seemed genuinely interested in learning English from her, but she had absolutely no interest in learning math.
That's terrifying.
After finishing tidying up, I realized it was almost time, so I got up and went out.
Before going to Teacher Qin's house, I went to the supply and marketing cooperative outside the school to buy some fruit and pastries. As soon as I entered Teacher Qin's house, I was told, "Don't be so polite! In the future, just come in person. Don't waste money buying this and that. I don't need anything here."
"The kitchen is small, there's no room for you, no need to help." Teacher Qin didn't stand on ceremony and told her to get the bowls and chopsticks and set them out, as two other teachers would be coming over for dinner later.
Just as the bowls and chopsticks were set out, two other teachers came over, Ms. Ye and Ms. Sun, both of whom had taught her. She had seen them quite often when she came to the school to ask questions over the years.
Apart from Teacher Ye, who is still relatively young, the other three teachers all have gray hair.
Since the news of the resumption of the college entrance examination was officially announced, she had come to school several times but had not seen Teacher Sun and Teacher Qin; it had been almost a year since she last saw them. After only a brief moment of unfamiliarity, Guan Yuehe felt that her teachers were still as kind as before.
"You came to report early, does your son Xiaolin have any objections?" Teacher Sun asked.
"No, Comrade Lin Yiku is very supportive."
“That’s true, Comrade Xiao Lin is a soldier.” Teacher Sun chuckled briefly, as if remembering something, and said to Teacher Qin, who was bringing out the dishes, “When their class graduated, only one student was pouting and wiping away tears.”
The three teachers burst into laughter, a rare occurrence for them. Clearly, Xiao Guan had left a deep impression on them when he graduated, and they laughed every time the topic was mentioned.
Guan Yuehe thought to herself, "Thank goodness she's thick-skinned, otherwise she would want to crawl into a hole in the ground right now!"
"Alright, let's eat." Teacher Qin told Guan Yuehe not to be shy, "You need to fill your stomach so you can work well."
Guan Yuehe: "......"
After the meal, the teachers told her about the tasks they needed her help with.
In addition to assisting teachers in completing textbook writing, she also needs to proofread manuscripts translated by undergraduate students.
"There is a shortage of people who are proficient in foreign languages everywhere. Next year, the English score in the college entrance examination will also be included in the total score, which shows the importance the country attaches to English."
Teacher Qin smiled and said, "Fortunately, Xiao Guan hasn't fallen behind in his studies these past few years, otherwise we really wouldn't know where to find help."
Freshmen who have just completed one semester are just getting started, while worker-peasant-soldier college students who haven't graduated yet haven't studied in depth.
"Your first class is the best at learning." You're also the least troublesome.
Guan Yuehe: "Next time my classmates write to me, I will definitely tell them about the teachers' praise."
"Oh right, I almost forgot you were the messenger for both classes in the first cohort."
Guan Yuehe corrected, "It's the communications company commander."
The teachers were amused by her again.
After discussing work, the teachers started talking about recent developments, such as the government sending people to other countries this year to conduct research and learn about their industrial situations. They also mentioned that the government might select people from various industries to study and visit abroad.
Guan Yuehe sat quietly to the side and listened. It was almost eight o'clock when the teachers said they had to go back to their work.
"Xiao Guan, we'll take you back to your dorm."
"No need, I'll get there quickly if I run a bit." She knows the way well since it's all within the school grounds, and it would be a waste of time for the teacher to take her back and forth.
The teachers thought that she hadn't missed a thing in her studies or training back then, especially Xiao Guan's dormitory, who was particularly fast, so they didn't insist on sending her off anymore.
He jogged back to his dormitory, then went to the bathhouse. Back in his dormitory, he took out his tape recorder and played a cassette tape to listen to German.
However, Guan Yuehe was unable to focus her attention on her studies for a long time.
Before coming to the school, she thought of it as completing a work task. She also felt that she had spent two and a half years at Peking University and was quite familiar with the teachers, so she thought of it as an early adaptation to graduate student life.
but......
"Yuehe." Cheng Shuang knocked on the door. "I just came back from the library. I forgot to ask you today which book I should read to get started learning English. Can you give me a reading list? Huh, what's that you're listening to? It's some kind of gibberish, English?"
“It’s German.” Guan Yuehe’s melancholy had barely surfaced when Cheng Shuang interrupted her, flipping to a blank page in the notebook and listing English learning books for her, adding, “You can also learn by listening to the radio; there are dedicated English learning channels.”
But Cheng Shuang's focus shifted, and she looked at her with admiration. "You can speak German?! You're amazing, Yuehe!"
Guan Yuehe was delighted by her sincere praise. She suppressed the smugness that was about to rise from her lips and tried to be modest, saying, "I know a little bit, hehe."
"You're amazing! We must learn from each other from now on!"
"..." Guan Yuehe chuckled and scratched her face, trying to change the subject, "You're still better."
I said I wanted to learn English from her in the afternoon, and she came to ask for a book list in the evening. With that kind of determination, no wonder she can understand math so well.
"Math was too easy! You're amazing! This is the first time I've ever met a living person who speaks two foreign languages!"
Guan Yuehe: "It's alright, I have two teachers who speak several foreign languages, so it's nothing for me."
If Cheng Shuang continued praising her, Guan Yuehe would get cocky, so she quickly asked her if she had eaten dinner, and took out two lunchboxes of steamed buns she had brought from home, "Want some?"
"I'm a little hungry, I'll take one. I'll treat you another day." Cheng Shuang took a bite and exclaimed, "Wow! Where did you buy this bun? It's even better than the ones I get at the state-run restaurant!"
I made it myself.
"Yuehe, you're amazing! You're good at everything!"
Guan Yuehe thought that Cheng Shuang was really good at praising people!
After Cheng Shuang came over and made a fuss for a while, Guan Yuehe's earlier melancholy had vanished. Only before going to sleep did she suddenly miss her hardworking and fun-loving roommates, and especially missed the wide and long kang bed at home and Lin Yiku.
Lin Yiku, who returned to Courtyard No. 2 of Ginkgo Hutong at around 8 p.m. that day, was also a little melancholy, especially when she saw the two plates of steamed buns on the table.
Just as I picked up a steamed bun, Lin Sitian came over, turned on the TV as if we were old friends, then leaned over to the table and pouted, "Yuehe saved so many for you! You like vegetarian ones, so I ate the meat ones for you...you stingy thing!"
Lin Yiku covered the two plates of steamed buns on the table again, and only took one meat bun and stuffed it into her mouth.
"Did you come all this way just to watch TV?"
“Yuehe went to school. I was worried that someone was secretly crying at home, so I came to check on them.”
Lin Yiku chuckled softly, wondering who was secretly crying. She then exposed her, saying, "You only came here because you couldn't get a seat on the sofa at home, right?"
They bought a TV, but the sofa can only seat two people. If their parents insist on sitting next to each other, everyone else has to sit on small stools.
It was Lin Sitian who usually came over to watch TV. Yuehe would squeeze onto the sofa with her and let him sit on a small stool.
"Okay, stop talking and watch TV."
Lin Yiku went inside to find bath tickets and clothes, and Lin Sitian reminded her, "There's hot water in the pot in the kitchen."
He added, "If you weren't my own brother and Yuehe's boyfriend, I wouldn't have come over to boil water for you!"
Lin Yiku put the bath ticket back, took the hot water and went out. As she passed Lin Sitian, she flicked her forehead with her finger and said, "I really want to thank you, Lin Sitian."
After he finished showering and watching TV, Lin Yiku reminded her, "Aren't you leaving? Do you want me to clear out the kang (heated brick bed) for you, and I'll sleep in the storage room?"
Lin Sitian felt somewhat guilty, as she was the one who suggested that he sleep in the storage room, and it made her feel uneasy that her own brother had brought it up to her face.
Before going home, she didn't forget to joke with him, "I'm going back now, don't secretly wipe away your tears tonight."
Tsk! Do you think he's her?
The year he joined the army, she cried secretly every night at home for more than a month. Every day she woke up with swollen eyes, and her parents had to pretend they knew nothing.
He wasn't concentrating much on his studies tonight, and his learning efficiency was far lower than usual.
When I went to sleep that night, I truly understood for the first time what Guan Yuehe had said: "My kang (heated brick bed) is three meters long and two meters wide. There are enough room for two more Lin Yikus to lie down."
No wonder she said she rolls around several times when she sleeps alone.
I closed my eyes and waited for a long time before finally falling asleep.
—
Guan Yuehe was still getting used to the dormitory bed just two days ago. After that, she had more and more work to do, so she no longer cared about the dormitory bed being as comfortable as the kang (heated brick bed) at home, and she no longer missed Lin Yiku.
Only she and Teacher Ye were "permanent staff" in the office; the other teachers had other jobs.
She guessed that some confidential documents needed the teachers' help to translate, and they needed them urgently, so the teachers went to those organizations to do the translation.
"Little Guan, what other languages have you learned?" Teacher Ye felt that she was still hiding something, so she tried to get the information out of her when they went to the cafeteria for lunch.
"It's gone, really gone."
Teacher Ye sincerely suggested, "I think you have a talent for learning foreign languages. You can even learn German. You should learn another foreign language."
Guan Yuehe remained unmoved; such sweet talk could not sway her. She simply urged her, "Teacher, eat quickly, we still have work to do this afternoon."
Good heavens, during the day she had to prevent Teacher Ye from encouraging her to learn another foreign language, and at night when she returned to the dormitory she had to politely decline Cheng Shuang's offer to teach her math.
Until the end of August, someone came to the office and said immediately after knocking on the door, "I'm looking for Comrade Guan Yuehe."
Guan Yuehe's eyes lit up when she saw Lin Yiku appear carrying large and small bags.
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