【006】 Change
On October 8th, school was back. At six o'clock, the alarm went off, and Gu Juan swiftly jumped out of bed. Thanks to the energizing energy within him, even after only six hours of sleep, he felt remarkably energetic. The weather in October was already quite chilly, so he threw on a sweater before donning his school uniform. After washing up, he casually glanced out the window. It was barely dawn.
Gu Juan's high school, Congzhou No. 2 Middle School, competes fiercely with Congzhou No. 1 Middle School, and the schedule for seniors is incredibly tight. Morning exercises are from 6:30 to 6:40, morning self-study from 6:40 to 7:20, breakfast from 7:20 to 8:20, four classes from 8:20 to 12:00, and afternoon classes run from 2:00 to 5:30, also four periods, with evening self-study from 7:00 to 9:00.
It wasn't even 6:30 when Gu Juan arrived at school, following the crowd toward the playground behind the teaching building. Back at high school, he felt quite calm. After the big surprise of receiving the opportunity to cultivate, it was hard to get excited again.
Many boarding students returned to campus yesterday afternoon and arrived early this morning, gathering in groups of two or three to chat. The prelude to the radio gymnastics program played over and over over the school radio.
Unable to remember where his class was doing exercises, Gu Juan looked around the edge of the playground for a while and saw a few familiar faces. He walked over slowly and stood silently behind the team.
Someone in the team next door snorted coldly. Gu Juan glanced at the person and said nothing.
The one who snorted coldly was Gu Haojie. Gu Haojie was a beloved family favorite. Gu Xiangfu was a purchasing manager at a shopping mall, and Liu Guofang was an accountant at a textile factory. Both husband and wife had good jobs and were willing to spend money on Gu Haojie's food and clothing. Furthermore, Gu Haojie was good-looking, and the students at No. 2 Middle School secretly ranked him third on the "class flower" list. Furthermore, Gu Haojie's grades were always among the best in the class, making him incredibly popular. Consequently, he looked down on Gu Juan even more. Whenever he saw her, he would either avoid her or look her in the eye. But today, Gu Juan had given Gu Haojie a real surprise.
After just a few days of not seeing him, Gu Juan seemed like a completely different person. He used to be timid, shrouded in a gloomy, depressed, and self-deprecating air. He'd always hunch his neck during class and glance forward at a 70-degree angle when walking. But now, Gu Juan stood straight, his gaze fixed squarely ahead, his whole being as vigorous as a tall, upright young poplar. While all the other students wore the same bland blue uniform, he, alone, managed to pull it off with a unique flair, standing out like a crane among chickens. Furthermore, Gu Juan looked more robust than before. His face, once skinny and almost bony, had become fuller, and his deep, bright almond-shaped eyes accentuated his features, giving them a more three-dimensional, heroic air.
Less than two minutes after Gu Juan arrived at the playground, Gu Haojie noticed that at least seven or eight girls were secretly looking at him, and jealousy suddenly surged in his heart.
Gu Juan knew that Gu Haojie was glaring at him, but he pretended not to know.
A short boy standing in front of Gu Juan noticed that many people were looking behind him. He turned around and was surprised to see Gu Juan. He then reached out his hand towards Gu Juan's face and said with a smile, "Juanzi, what delicious food have you eaten at home these days? Look at your tender little face!"
Gu Juan had a deep impression of a high school classmate named Liu Guang. He was the shortest in the class, even shorter than the shortest girl, and his height remained the same throughout the three years he was in Gu Juan's class. Even if a 17 or 18-year-old boy was less than 1.8 meters tall, he would still be 1.6 meters or 1.7 meters tall. However, Liu Guang was only 1.45 meters tall, and his face was so youthful that someone who didn't know him would have mistaken him for only 11 or 12. Because of his height, Liu Guang, like Gu Juan, had a certain inferiority complex, always fighting for the back seat during morning exercises and when lining up seats. In some ways, he and Gu Juan shared a common affliction, and their high school relationship remained close. Later, when Liu Guang moved south to prepare for university, their contact faded.
Gu Juan made up an excuse and said, "I have been feeling a little uncomfortable these past few days, so I have been eating better."
Liu Guang probably knew his family's situation. He had seen how frugal his family was in the past, so he had no doubts when he heard him say this. "Health is the capital of revolution. You have to take care of it and spend what you need."
A strong male voice rang out over the radio, "Now we begin the eighth set of radio gymnastics, marching in place..."
The two didn't talk any more.
Gu Juan followed the broadcast, but was actually practicing his skills secretly, taking the opportunity to cultivate without wasting any time.
After finishing the two rounds of gymnastics, the students dispersed and returned to the classroom for morning self-study.
The classroom was clearly divided between the good and the lazy, evident in the fact that the sounds of memorizing were mostly heard from the front. There were also students who, just hoping to get a high school diploma, stared blankly into their textbooks. Some students were secretly playing on their phones, while a few more daring boys even took playing cards and played Landlord (a card game) behind the piles of books.
Gu Juan thought for a while before remembering that his seat was in the second-to-last row, against the wall. A bookshelf stood on the desk, holding a row of textbooks. He glanced at the class schedule taped to the right corner of the desk. This morning was English self-study.
He was good at math and science, but average in English and Chinese. As far as I can remember, his scores never exceeded 110. In his previous life, he only attended a second-tier university.
Having a new life, Gu Juan didn't want to leave any regrets. He pulled out his English textbook and started reading from the first page. After just three reads, the first passage was firmly ingrained in his memory. He was astonished—his memory had improved! He then looked at the grammar points summarized at the end of the passage and surprisingly found that he easily understood the previously incomprehensible grammar explanations, as if he had suddenly become enlightened.
This unexpected surprise brought a smile to Gu Juan's lips, which was inadvertently seen by his deskmate. The deskmate was so surprised that he accidentally defused the four 2 bombs and used a 2 to suppress the 3 of his previous player.
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