Chapter 73 The Second Eighteenth Birthday
At the start of the second semester of senior year, the pace of review suddenly accelerated considerably.
Even weekends have been reduced; students continue to attend classes for half a day every Saturday, with school ending at noon, and then returning to school on Sunday afternoon for evening self-study.
This is still the so-called "Great Zhou".
And what about "Little Zhou"?
That means they don't get a break for a single day, except for a short two-hour break on Saturday afternoons, which is used for a very small number of boarding students to go out and prepare their daily necessities. For day students, it's just to go out for a meal to improve their diet.
After the homeroom teacher, Lao Fan, announced the "alternating weeks" system on the podium, there was only a brief rustling sound in the classroom before it quickly returned to silence.
After all, it's already the second semester of senior year, and there are less than four months left until the college entrance examination. No matter how absurd the regulations are, you can just endure them and they will pass.
With the college entrance exam approaching, nothing else matters.
Jiang Wan vaguely remembered that in the second semester of her senior year of high school in her previous life, she became too lazy to go out to eat during short weekends, and during long weekends, she would stay at school on Saturday afternoons to finish her homework before going home.
In short, I'm either studying or on my way to study every day.
Until the results of Peking University's independent admissions were announced.
However, this time, there was no chance for early admission through independent enrollment, so she needed to make the most of her time to review.
However, it was only the first week of school, and everyone was still adjusting to their new routine.
Since it's still during the Spring Festival, the first weekend will naturally be a long weekend first, giving students more time to reunite with their families.
Fortunately, Jiang Wan's eighteenth birthday is this Saturday.
Jiang Wan's family had planned ahead. Although they knew she had already started school, they still wanted to hold a birthday party to celebrate since it was on Saturday.
Of course, due to her busy studies and the fact that this was Jiang Wan's second eighteenth birthday, she declined the suggestion to hold a grand coming-of-age ceremony, saying that she would just have a meal with her family and friends.
"Which friends do you want to invite?" Shan Tong saw right through Jiang Wan's thoughts.
“Sun Qianyu,” Jiang Wan answered matter-of-factly, then paused, glancing away guiltily, “Also, invite a few more close classmates, otherwise it will be awkward for Sun Qianyu to come alone.”
"Oh, right." Shan Tong raised an eyebrow, picked up her phone, and noted down the dinner arrangements. "How many classmates are you planning to invite? Should we have a separate table for you?"
Jiang Wan thought for a moment and nodded, "Yes, let's have a separate table. Otherwise, my classmates will definitely feel uncomfortable sitting with you adults."
"That's not necessarily true. Your father and I have eaten with your classmates before." Shan Tong smiled knowingly, then asked knowingly, "Are you planning to invite Zhou Chong over?"
Jiang Wan puffed out her cheeks and glared at her irritably, "Mom, you know perfectly well."
"I have no idea." Shan Tong shrugged and deliberately held up her phone. "Yuxing Restaurant is doing very well during the Lunar New Year. It's hard to book a private room now. You should give me the number of people you're sure of as soon as possible."
Jiang Wan pouted, "Okay."
Jiang Wan didn't even wait until the next day to go to school to ask; she immediately sent Zhou Chong a QQ message about it.
Worried that he might have some concerns, she specifically said that she would set up a separate table for the students. Although she hadn't asked for other people's opinions yet, she had already tacitly agreed to a few choices.
In short, they can definitely put together a table of people for Zhou Chong.
Zhou Chong didn't ask who else was involved and readily agreed.
Sun Qianyu didn't need to ask; she would come as soon as she was called. After all, she knew Jiang Wan's family, and she had mentioned to Jiang Wan many days in advance that she had prepared a birthday gift for Jiang Wan.
The only thing we needed to confirm with her was whether or not to take the opportunity to call Jiang Shengming to come along.
"Of course I want to!"
After finishing lunch, Sun Qianyu and Jiang Wan returned to the classroom, went straight to their seats, and went to talk to Jiang Shengming.
"Zhou Chong is going too?" Jiang Shengming glanced at Zhou Chong across the aisle and nodded. "Okay, then I'll go with you too."
Jiang Wan gave an "OK" sign and returned to her seat.
She also invited Shi Leyao, as well as Shi Leyao's deskmate, Zheng Ran.
There are also Zhang Chi and Li Yang at the front desk. After all, if I only call out to Zhou Chong and Jiang Shengming, the two boys, they might feel uncomfortable.
Moreover, Zhang Chi and Li Yang usually have good relationships with everyone.
Everything was ready, and it was Saturday.
Before school ended at noon, Jiang Wan greeted them one by one, "See you at Yuxing Restaurant at six o'clock tonight."
"Okay, I'll be there on time."
See you then.
After arranging a time with everyone else, Jiang Wan was the last to inform Zhou Chong, and then went downstairs with him.
"Six o'clock tonight, don't be late."
"Hmm." Zhou Chong nodded, noted the time, then chuckled softly, "When have you ever seen me late?"
Jiang Wan raised an eyebrow. "I haven't seen that before."
During the winter vacation, Zhou Chong came to her house every day to study with her. He always arrived at eight o'clock sharp in the morning and was never late or early.
It's as if he has a built-in alarm clock, timing everything perfectly.
He would appear precisely on time as soon as the bell rang.
"It's fine if you arrive a little earlier." Jiang Wan pouted slightly. "There's no such thing as being on time for meals. If everyone arrives early, then we can start eating."
Zhou Chong thought for a moment, "Okay, then I'll arrive five minutes early."
Jiang Wan suddenly felt a tightness in her chest, unable to breathe.
Okay, okay, it really is a human alarm clock.
-
Zhou Chong kept his word and appeared at the door of the private room precisely at 5:55.
Shan Tong booked two private rooms connected together, separated by a sliding door. Not everyone has arrived yet, so the middle sliding door is open, connecting the two sides to form a small banquet hall.
The private room was decorated for a birthday celebration, with ribbons hanging from the ceiling, pink, red, and white balloons tied into the shape of sunflowers, and a huge KT board placed by the floor-to-ceiling window, surrounded by colorful lights and fresh flowers.
Two giant "18" number balloons were placed against the wall, and a string of pink letter balloons that read "Happy Birthday" were also pasted on the wall. Jiang Wan was holding a bouquet of flowers and was asked by Shan Tong to stand there for a photo.
Jiang Wan's smile was stiff, her lips curved into a forced curve.
The hotel's decor from ten years ago is something she really can't appreciate now, judging by her current aesthetic standards.
Because of her busy studies, all of these arrangements were finalized by Shan Tong and the hotel, and Jiang Wan hadn't paid much attention to them before.
After all, it wasn't her first time celebrating her eighteenth birthday, so she didn't feel the solemnity of celebrating it only once in a lifetime.
So, she originally thought that it was just a simple meal, and the hotel private room didn't need to be decorated.
Until Shan Tong called me here to take photos.
The whole family sat around the dining table, smiling as they watched Shan Tong take pictures of Jiang Wan.
Jiang Wan forced a stiff smile, three black lines appearing on her forehead.
If she had known, she should have come earlier and asked the hotel manager to remove all the retro-style decorations.
She was busy doing her homework at home in the afternoon, and she arrived ten minutes early. As soon as she arrived, she was stopped to take pictures. Thinking that she would make her family happy, she cooperated.
The flashes of light from the cameras were so bright they made her dizzy.
After a brief flash of white light, I caught a glimpse of a familiar, tall figure out of the corner of my eye.
Jiang Wan stared intently at the doorway, where Zhou Chong was standing, a schoolbag slung over one shoulder, one hand in his pocket, looking at her with a smile.
Community is dead!
She quickly put the bouquet aside and raised her hand to block Shan Tong's camera. "Okay, Mom... Mom, we've filmed enough. My classmates are here. I'll go over and greet them."
Helplessly, Shan Tong put away her camera, turned around and looked at the other private room. When she saw Zhou Chong standing at the door, she smiled knowingly.
When he looked away, he was surprised to find that Jiang Rongyue's gaze was also in that direction, and their eyes met briefly in the air for a second.
A knowing smile.
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