Chapter 21 Looking up at the wall
The first class in the afternoon was information technology class, which is computer class. In her previous life, Gu Yin was particularly looking forward to being able to see computers, but when she got to the computer room, she found that it was not what she had imagined.
The two of you share one computer, which isn't connected to the internet. The lessons are very simple: turning the computer on and off, using Notepad, sketchbook, and document editing software, memorizing the positions of the letters on the keyboard, and being able to type 50 words per minute. That's the scope of the final exam. As long as you feel you've mastered it, you can spend the rest of the time as you like—either in the computer lab or back in the classroom.
Sure enough, after entering the computer room, the teacher explained the lesson content: learn the basics of turning the computer on and off and using the keyboard. After the teacher checked our skills, we were free to leave.
There were only twenty-five computers, and people who came later basically had to sit and wait for others to finish before they could get a seat.
Gu Yin came in first, but she still shared a machine with Zhao Xiaomin.
After the teacher explained for twenty minutes, he let the students operate on their own.
Zhao Xiaomin looked at Gu Yin: "Can you?"
Before Gu Yin could speak, Wang Yanni at the next table laughed: "Who doesn't know how to use a computer these days? I even have a QQ account, and I have a pen pal! He's a college student! A top university student! Super impressive!"
A small portion of the students at No. 2 Middle School come from the town, where families are relatively well-off and they are quick to learn new things. The majority of the rest are from the surrounding rural areas. For example, the children in Gu Yin's village don't even know what a QQ account or a computer is, let alone anything else. 90% of the families in the village with televisions have black and white ones that can be manually tuned. Only the two families in the convenience store have color televisions.
So after Wang Yanni finished speaking, several classmates gathered around her and asked her to teach them.
Gu Yin didn't look at the smug Wang Yanni, but instead raised her hand, signaling the teacher to come and watch her.
Ten minutes later, Gu Yin demonstrated all the computer operations required in the textbook for the teacher.
The IT teacher smiled and nodded: "Very skilled, excellent job! No need for further instruction! Do you often go to internet cafes? You're still students, still minors, you can't go!"
Gu Yin blushed. These things were really basic. In her previous life, with its information explosion, these things were as simple as drinking water for them. She had benefited from her past life's experiences.
"No, my mom and dad were teachers before, that's how they taught me," Gu Yin said casually, figuring the teachers wouldn't bother to verify it anyway.
The teacher nodded: "That's great. Okay, you can come to computer class from now on, or you can skip it. Just come to take the final exam."
Gu Yin gave her seat to Zhao Xiaomin. Although Zhao Xiaomin wasn't as proficient as Gu Yin, she was still able to handle the first few chapters. After she finished, the teacher went to check the other students' work.
"Do you want to play games here, or go back to the classroom?" Gu Yin glanced at the screen; there were still ten minutes left before get out of class ended.
Zhao Xiaomin shook her head: "I'm not playing. I'll go to the convenience store and buy a bag of spicy strips, then sit and wait by the soccer field. Next period is PE!"
"Then let's go together." After saying that, she stood up and saw Wang Yanni looking at them with her lips pursed.
Gu Yin: "..." Gu Yin ignored it, turned around to change her shoes, and then left the computer room.
The school store was privately owned and not very big, but it had a wide variety of items. When Gu Yin and Zhao Xiaomin arrived, there were seven or eight boys sitting there eating instant noodles. The boys had very long hair, with bangs covering one side of their faces, so the other half was not visible. They were wearing skinny jeans, and even though they were fastened with large metal belts, the crotch was still very loose.
Wow! It's been a long time since we've seen this kind of non-mainstream style.
Zhao Xiaomin hesitated when she saw the scene, not daring to go over, but seeing that Gu Yin did not stop, she quickly took two steps forward to be parallel to her. However, when passing by those people, she still lowered her head and dared not look around.
Upon entering the convenience store, Gu Yin paused. Inside, amidst the smoky atmosphere, a boy was sweating profusely as he frantically sucked on snails, which gave her a sudden headache.
Seeing that Gu Yin wasn't leaving, Zhao Xiaomin looked inside and saw a lot of boys. She approached Gu Yin and said, "Why don't we go first and come back during free time in PE class?"
Gu Yin shook her head: "It's nothing." Then she went inside.
Zhao Xiaomin watched as Gu Yin walked to the table of a tall boy who was eating with his head down and knocked on it. She was a little nervous, afraid that the boy would get up and hit Gu Yin!
This period is a self-study period, and the next period is a physical education class. I heard that the convenience store is cooking snails, and I was afraid that they would be sold out if I came late! So Gu Shu and the boys in the class all came out early.
When he arrived, the snails had just come out of the pot. He bought one yuan's worth and got a full bowl. Just as he was enjoying his snails, the table was knocked on, and a clear, familiar voice came from above.
"Skip class or what?"
When Gu Yin spoke, people around looked over, and the boy next to Gu Shu even nudged his knee.
Gu Shu rolled her eyes, then pointed to the empty stool next to her: "Sit here, sit here. It's self-study class, you didn't skip class. Next period is PE. Come out a few minutes early, it's okay! Want some snails? I'll buy you a bowl!" After saying that, she looked at the boy next to her and explained: "My sister, my biological sister."
Gu Yin nodded to the boy in greeting, then shook her head: "I'm not eating anymore. get out of class is about to end. I'll just buy a bottle of water and leave. You can eat slowly. Your face is covered in sweat."
Upon hearing this, Gu Shu got up to get a bottle of water. Seeing Zhao Xiaomin standing next to Gu Yin, holding Gu Yin's arm, he asked, "What do you want?"
"Spicy strips," Zhao Xiaomin replied softly, still not quite in a daze.
Gu Shu grabbed another pack, paid the bill, and handed it to them, saying, "Alright, you guys should go now. It smells like smoke all over here; it's not good to stay in there too long!"
Gu Yin nodded, took the things, and went out with Zhao Xiaomin.
After leaving the convenience store, Zhao Xiaomin breathed a sigh of relief, then asked curiously, "Is he your brother? He's so tall and quite handsome. Is he a senior in junior high?"
Gu Yin nodded: "Yes, my brother."
Gu Shu is quite good-looking, with thick eyebrows and big eyes. He's over 1.7 meters tall now, and I remember he grew to 1.85 meters when he was in high school. Perhaps because he used to do a lot of farm work, his skin is wheat-colored, and he looks very rugged and handsome. To be honest, none of the Gu family's children are bad-looking. It's just that Gu Yin hasn't fully grown up yet and is a bit dark-skinned, which is a bit of a hindrance.
Zhao Xiaomin exclaimed in surprise, "Wow, I'm so envious of you having such a handsome brother! I'm an only child, and I'm so jealous of you two!"
Gu Yin looked at Zhao Xiaomin and saw that there was genuine envy in her eyes, rather than any other girlish sentiments that were inappropriate for this time of year, so she felt relieved.
Gu Yin handed her the spicy strip: "Here you go."
Zhao Xiaomin took the money and gave it to Gu Yin.
Gu Yin refused: "My brother treated me, so you can keep it as a gift."
Aren't you going to eat?
Gu Yin shook her head and pointed to the scar on her head: "Give up spicy food."
Zhao Xiaomin said regretfully, "What a pity! I'll treat you when you can eat again!"
When the two arrived at the football field, the bell had already rung. After sitting on the grass for a while, Gu Yin saw Mo Wen walking over with a folder.
He sat down next to Gu Yin and asked, "How's the injury on your head?"
Gu Yin touched the wound; hair should have already grown around it. It felt prickly to the touch. She put her hand down and said gently, "The wound is healed. Now we're just waiting for the hair to grow. I don't know if it will grow."
Mo Wen nodded, then scratched his head as if thinking of something: "Do you want to rub some ginger on your hair? I heard that makes hair grow faster and thicker! Ginger is said to promote hair follicle growth and stuff."
Gu Yin had seen a girl rubbing ginger on her scalp in her previous life on a film set, and her scalp became red and swollen. Just thinking about it was terrifying.
She shook her head: "It's okay, the doctor said it will heal slowly and grow back."
Mo Wen didn't try to persuade her any further after hearing what she said. The class bell had already rung, so he stood up and looked at Gu Yin one last time: "800 meters shouldn't be a problem, right?"
Gu Yin said helplessly, "As long as it's not 1500, it's fine!"
Gu Yin originally thought she could leave after running in PE class, but she forgot that learning morning exercises was a must for freshmen in PE class!
After following Mo Wen through half a class of morning exercises, they were finally free to move around. As soon as they stepped off the grass, they saw Gu Shu running towards them.
Gu Yin looked at Teacher Qin not far away and raised the corners of her mouth: "Brother, is this the 1500-meter race?"
Gu Shu came running over, panting, shaking her head: "Damn it, 1500! This is 3000 meters! Where's your water? Did you finish it? Give it to me, I'll drink it later. I'm so angry! I thought Lao Tan was joking in the office last time, but they increased the workload in the first class!"
Seeing him stop, Teacher Qin called out from afar, "Gu Shu! Handsome Gu! Keep going! Don't stop! Teacher believes in you! Go for it! Go go go!"
Gu Shu rolled her eyes, waved the water bottle in Gu Yin's hand, and then looked at Gu Yin: "You play, I'll continue!" After saying that, she continued running and walking for a while.
When I got home from school in the evening, I saw Village Chief Li talking to the old lady in the yard with a piece of paper in his hand.
Li Sen looked up and saw Gu Yin enter the room. He greeted her with a smile, "Ah Yin, you're out of school!"
Gu Yin nodded, parked the car, and walked over: "What is the village chief doing?"
"The town gave us a registration form, saying that anyone who wants to install a landline can sign up, and they'll arrange for someone to come and install it. I just came to ask your family if you're getting one installed?"
This did happen in my past life. It seemed like it cost 8 yuan a month. At the time, my family wasn't well-off, and we didn't think it was necessary to install it, so Gu Qingming didn't install it. Later, when we got a mobile phone, we didn't need it anymore.
Gu Yin looked at the registration form, which already had more than a dozen entries. She handed the form to the village chief and looked at the old lady: "Grandma, let's install it at our house. When my older brother goes to high school in the county, it will be convenient to keep in touch by phone."
Li Mingfang had also considered this matter: "Then let's sign up too. You can all go to high school in the county later, and it will be convenient to contact your family if you need anything!"
And so the matter was settled. Li Sen checked the box under Gu Jianguo's name and then instructed, "Someone will be coming to install it the day after tomorrow. You need to have one person stay home, otherwise it will be bad if we miss it! Okay, I'll go ask around at other places first. You guys get busy!"
The old lady got up to cook, Gu Yin picked the vegetables, and just as she finished washing them, everyone else came back. Knowing that a telephone was going to be installed at home, Gu Shu ran out to find people to brag to, without even eating.
After washing up, Gu Yin went back to her room, finished her homework, and then previewed her studies. She then took out her notebook and began to conceive a campus romance novel. Unlike the currently popular melodramatic stories, Gu Yin went against the grain and wrote a sweet romance, offering a refreshing change to readers whose minds were filled with chasing, witty banter, and infatuation with hooligans. Isn't a healthy, mutually supportive, and mutually beneficial love better? Does it have to involve donating a kidney or having a miscarriage? What kind of taste is that!
"What are you writing?" Gu Hua came in and saw Gu Yin writing non-stop at the table. It's only the beginning of the semester, and there's already so much homework?
Gu Yin hasn't planned to tell her family yet; it's not too late to wait until there's a result.
"You need to write a weekly journal entry, one entry per week, and hand it in on Friday."
Gu Hua understood; they also had to write, but only two articles a week.
After Gu Yin finished writing 30,000 words and making revisions, it was already midnight. She put the manuscript away and planned to mail it to the post office after training the next day.
The next day, after finishing the eye exercises during break, Gu Yin was about to get up to go to the toilet when Wang Yanni stood up and went up to the podium first.
"Everyone, quiet down! National Day is coming up, and each class needs to put on two performances. Our class is currently planning a large chorus, and we also have one performance. Does anyone have any ideas? Let's discuss it!"
Gu Yin figured she probably wouldn't be able to hold out until the next class, so she got up and left through the back door.
When I came back, I saw that they were still discussing it, and it seemed like they were arguing.
Gu Yin walked over and said, "What's all the arguing about? Let's solve the problem. What's the point of arguing? This is a classroom, not a market!"
Seeing that it was Gu Yin, everyone quieted down. Gu Yin looked at Wang Yanni, whose eyes were red, and then at Wang Weiwei, who was furious, and said helplessly, "Speak up, what's all the noise about?"
Wang Weiwei pointed at Wang Yanni: "Class monitor, weren't there supposed to be two performances, a large chorus and one that hasn't been decided yet? We all want to perform, so we suggested forming a team of seven or eight people to learn a dance together, so everyone could go on stage. But the arts and culture committee member disagreed, saying we were too old-fashioned and that a bunch of dancers would definitely not win any awards. She said it would be better for her to play the piano! I asked her, 'You play the piano, and we can dance on the sidelines. That would be more novel than the others,' but she refused! She just wanted to go on stage by herself! How could she be so naive!"
Gu Yin looked helplessly at Wang Yanni: "The National Day performance is a group activity, so we have to consider the group first. If no one is willing to go on stage, then whoever has the talent can go on stage. If you have talent, you can wait for the individual talent competition on New Year's Day. Right now, you can team up with them to learn to dance, is that not okay?"
Wang Yanni pursed her lips: "No way!"
Gu Yin was speechless: "Then let's talk to the homeroom teacher and see what she decides."
Wang Yanni reached out to stop Gu Yin: "It's no use you going! I've already submitted my application!" She originally thought no one wanted to go, so she signed herself up. Anyway, she's so good at playing the piano, she's sure to be a sensation! Who would have thought these people would say they wanted to dance! To be honest, those dances are really ugly, not synchronized at all, what's so interesting about them!
Her words caused an uproar in the class. Was she really going to act first and ask questions later?!
Gu Yin gave her a thumbs up: "You're amazing!" The registration form was submitted, and there was no way to change it.
Gu Yin patted Wang Weiwei on the shoulder: "Let it go this time. You can practice hard first, and you can participate in the talent competition."
What else could be done? But Wang Weiwei was still angry and went to the office to tell the teacher. When she came back, Wang Yanni was also called over and came back crying. Gu Yin thought that her position as the literature and art committee member had been removed, but she could still be the one. Very good, very powerful!
As the last class was about to end, the homeroom teacher walked into the classroom and instructed Song Pengfei to organize a dance performance for the National Day holiday.
Gu Yin looked at Wang Yanni and, sure enough, saw her shedding tears. The others, on the other hand, became excited.
Perhaps because she was mentally older, Gu Yin had absolutely no interest in such activities, so when Song Pengfei asked her if she wanted to participate, she refused outright.
When school was over, the homeroom teacher walked up to Gu Yin and told her, "There's an essay contest for National Day, with the theme 'The Future.' Write something about the development of our motherland. Prepare well and hand it in to me by next Friday. Also, tell them about this and ask them to submit their essays if they want to participate. You have to submit yours, understand?"
Gu Yin hadn't expected this topic, and nodded, "I understand. I'll tell them during morning reading tomorrow."
After Wang Shumei finished speaking, she left.
Gu Yin contacted 001 in her mind: "Tell me, did I get a good deal in this essay contest? Who knows the future direction of our country better than me? Your data says my luck value is so low. I told you you were wrong from the beginning, and it turns out you were right."
001 ignored Gu Yin and threw a virtual excrement at her. The thing exploded right in front of Gu Yin, making her so disgusted that she lost her appetite for dinner.
Because she had no appetite and didn't want to eat, the flag bearers, who had originally planned to eat in the cafeteria after class before training, assumed that Gu Yin was making the most of her time. As a result, the others also stopped eating and went directly to the podium to train.
They trained until dark before going to the convenience store to buy instant noodles, which they then cooked and ate before returning to their dormitories.
Gu Yin took the toiletries and waited for Gu Hua and the others to come down. They went to the shower room in the cafeteria, filled up with cold water and started rinsing. By the time they finished, it was already eight o'clock in the evening.
As Gu Yin was on the bed memorizing the content she needed to recite in Moral Education, Gu Hua walked in carrying a pillow: "A-Yin, I'll sleep with you tonight, in case you're not familiar with the place."
Gu Yin moved to let her come up.
With one more person, Gu Yin couldn't lie flat and had to turn sideways.
Just as Gu Yin was about to continue reciting her lessons, Gu Hua grabbed her arm and whispered, "Yin, do you know that a security guard had an accident at the lake in front of our dormitory?"
Gu Yin paused in her book flipping, then patted her arm: "It's all rumors, and there are security guards patrolling at night. We'll lock the door, it'll be fine."
It's true, it's not a secret at the school. There are several villages around the school, and the school wall isn't high. A lot of the glass on it has been smashed. The toilets and girls' dormitories are right next to the wall, so the safety level is very low. Female students often say they see heads peeking out from the other side of the wall when they go to the toilet, and they often hear people talking dirty outside the wall. Those people are all thugs from the village. The security guard who got into trouble saw some thugs climbing over the wall while he was on patrol at night and was killed by them. Later, the school hired several security guards, and they patrol together in teams at night.
Gu Hua nodded, still feeling scared. Last semester, she went to the bathroom alone in the middle of the night and saw someone peeping at her from the wall. She was so scared that she almost lost her soul and went straight back to her dormitory to hold it until dawn!
"If you need to go to the toilet tonight, you'll come with me, to give me courage."
Gu Yin nodded: "Okay." It's not certain that she'll need to go to the bathroom at night. Seeing that she was still scared, she picked up a magazine by Wang Weiwei and handed it to her: "Read this to relax."
Some things are just too much to bear. Sure enough, at around 2 a.m., Gu Yin was fast asleep when Gu Hua shook her awake.
"Ayin, my stomach hurts a little. It's probably from eating instant noodles tonight. I need to go to the toilet."
Gu Yin nodded, got up, got out of bed, and led Gu Hua out of the dormitory.
The campus was quiet, and the wind was a bit strong at night, rustling the branches.
Gu Hua held onto Gu Yin's arm tightly as they walked toward the restroom.
The toilet was the squat toilet type, with two large rows and more than a dozen in each row. Gu Hua squatted in the first stall. After Gu Yin finished urinating, she whispered, "I'll wait for you at the sink. You can see me if you peek out."
Gu Hua nodded. The handwashing area was only about two meters away from here, so she wasn't afraid.
The handwashing area is spacious, and since many students use the restroom during the day, this area is reserved for students to queue.
After washing her hands, Gu Yin was thinking about having lunch at school tomorrow, then going to the street to mail the novel, and then taking a nap for an hour when she got back. Just then, 001's voice rang out.
"Host, look up at the top of the wall."
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