Nestled in the poplar grove at the far corner of the campus, there are two or three rows of low tile-roofed houses with mottled, peeling, and faded wooden doors and iron-framed windows with glass that doesn’t look very bright.
The row of adobe houses has eight rooms, each with two windows, allowing for ventilation from north to south. There was a blackboard on the exterior wall, but the words had been washed away by rain and were no longer legible.
Each room contained four iron beds, and two stacks of eight wooden cabinets facing each other were placed at the door.
There is a fairly large desk by the south-facing window, and next to the desk is an eight-tiered plant stand and a six-tiered bookshelf.
The iron bed was rusty, some of the wooden planks on it were warped, and the railings of the upper bunk were wobbly to the touch, making it look unsafe at all.
There was a low-wattage light bulb in the center of the ceiling, cobwebs everywhere, peeling and moldy paint on the walls in some places, and a dusty smell mixed with the damp, musty smell of a place that hadn't been lived in for a long time.
The floor was made of bricks, and after walking on it for a long time, a layer of solidified soil would form on it.
To be honest, the environment wasn't very good. She even worried that whoever slept on the top bunk might fall off and get hurt.
She regretted bringing her bedding roll with her; she should have checked out the environment first before deciding whether or not to stay at the school.
The high school only has a senior high school section, with two grades. Each grade has five classes, and each class has only thirty students, so the two grades have a total of three hundred students.
Judging from their names alone, there seem to be only five girls in their class. She was the third to enter the dormitory. The other two girls chose the two lower bunks on the south side by the window where they could get sunlight. Xiao Jiu could only choose the lower bunk by the door. The only advantage of this dormitory was that there were enough lockers. There were sixteen lockers for eight people, and each person could get two. Because of her height, she chose the bottom locker.
The lock is readily available; we just need to take it out and match it. The dormitory hygiene is a bit worrying; how come those two girls can't see it?
They were all brought here by their parents, and they were figuring out how to make their beds. They were all surprised to see such a young girl coming to school by herself.
Out of politeness, everyone greeted each other with smiles. After thinking for a moment, Xiao Jiu finally spoke her mind.
"Auntie, Uncle, Sister, I think we shouldn't make the bed yet. Look at the cobwebs on the beams and the mold on the walls. Shouldn't we deal with them first? Otherwise, even if we put on the bedding, it will affect our rest. The mold must be removed, and we should also nail it up with newspaper, otherwise inhaling it will affect our health."
Upon hearing this, everyone immediately agreed, "The little one is right. We were just discussing cleaning up first. Since we're on the same page, let's get started. You don't need to worry about what's up there. Let the two of us male parents climb up and get to the newspapers."
Xiao Jiu quickly raised her hand: "I have some here, I brought quite a lot."
Considering that she needed to wallpaper the walls and clean, she specially spent a dime to buy a large stack of relatively new-looking newspapers from the recycling station and piled them up in the space. Now they've come in handy.
The small bottles of liquor were taken out of the bundle, but they were actually taken out of the warehouse, in two separate trips, in two stacks.
"Oh, little one, you're so thoughtful! Well then, we won't stand on ceremony. Come on, let's fold a few hats and put them on so we don't get our hair dirty!"
Xiao Jiu also joined in folding hats, but everyone thought she was too short, so they just let her be in charge of cleaning the floor later.
Several parents helped by taking brooms and standing on the upper bunk to sweep down the dust accumulated on the beams and clean the light bulbs. After that, they cleaned the upper bunk and the walls. When the later parents saw that there was no use for their skills, they borrowed a hammer, bought nails, made a basin of paste, and old calendars. They first pasted newspapers on the walls, and then laid clean calendars on top and nailed them firmly.
By the time everyone finished their work, it was almost noon, but the parents were all relieved to see the newly renovated dormitory.
The fourth male parent arrived, carrying a basin of paste, and said...
"Okay, I think it's almost done. I'll go return the basin and hammer to them now."
This parent clearly had financial means, as he was able to borrow a hammer, paste, and calendar. The other parents were extremely grateful to him.
Not only was the dormitory cleaned, but even the north and south windows were wiped clean. Compared to the south window, although the window near the door was a bit small, it was precisely because there were two windows that the dormitory was not so dark.
Xiao Jiu contributed the least, but afterwards she treated everyone to apples, even considering the parents, giving each person a small piece. The girls gathered together to introduce themselves, and when they learned that she was only ten years old, they were all stunned. But all the parents turned to their daughters and told them to take good care of their little sister, which moved Xiao Jiu deeply.
It was noon, so everyone went out to eat, and after lunch, the family members should all leave.
Xiao Jiu didn't go with them because she had brought her own food. After they left, she hung up her mosquito net and laid out her straw mat.
To be honest, it was still a bit hot that day. Although the dormitory was under a poplar grove and was a low adobe house that was warm in winter and cool in summer, there were a lot of mosquitoes where there were many trees.
Xiao Jiu was eating his boxed lunch while leaning on the table. The aluminum lunchbox was half rice and half vegetables. The vegetables were stir-fried green beans with shredded pork and stir-fried green peppers with potatoes. Each lunchbox had different vegetables, mainly a mix-and-match style. These were also the dishes he ate most often in the summer.
All sorts of vegetables, from tomatoes and peppers to cucumbers, eggplants, and green beans, are now available outside the warehouse, so she set up a wok outside to cook them, then divided them into boxes for later use.
The fifth girl didn't show up until she finished eating.
When the remaining three girls returned, their parents didn't come along, which made the atmosphere in the dormitory more relaxed.
"Little girl, how can your family be so at ease letting you come to school by yourself at such a young age?"
Gao Mingxia, the eldest sister in the dormitory, is 15 years old this year. She has naturally curly hair, comes from a rural area near L City, is tall and thin, and is definitely a tough girl. She is a great worker.
My second sister, Pang Weiwei, is fourteen years old this year. She's from this city, and her parents borrowed a lot of things from her. She has thick eyebrows and big eyes, and two braids hanging down in front of her chest. She's lively and cheerful, and speaks in a loud voice. You can tell she was born into a pampered working-class family.
And that is indeed the case. Pang Weiwei said that both her parents worked, and she had an older brother who had already joined the army. She was the youngest child.
The third sister, Peng Juan, was also fourteen years old, a little younger than Pang Weiwei. She had small eyes and a few pimples on her face due to puberty. She had a short haircut, didn't talk much, and dressed simply. Like her, she came from a rural area in the surrounding county. Her mother came to see her off. Although she didn't say much, she could be seen as a simple farmer.
Xiao Jiu's age of starting high school made the other three feel intellectually inferior, especially since their student ID numbers were all after Xiao Jiu's, which made them think that Xiao Jiu was a top student.
The four of them got tired of chatting and were about to take a break when the dormitory door was suddenly pushed open. A girl dressed in a more plain style rushed in. Realizing that she might have made too much noise and disturbed them, she quickly scratched her head in embarrassment.
"Yes, I'm sorry, I got a little excited and couldn't control myself. Hello, my name is Zhou Shengnan, I'm sixteen, and I'm from County C. You all arrived quite early. I came by myself, walking all the way from the bus station. Oh dear, I'm exhausted."
Zhou Shengnan has a very masculine appearance. If she hadn't spoken first, they might have thought a boy had barged in. She was carrying two large bundles, both of which were patched and looked dusty. She must have sweated a lot on the way, as her body odor was quite noticeable. In this weather, her cloth shoes even had her big toes sticking out.
Xiao Jiu and the others quickly stood up to help her with her things. She looked around and saw that the lower bunk was already occupied, so she naturally chose the upper bunk.
Two of the four upper bunk positions had warped wooden planks, so she chose Gao Mingxia's upper bunk, although the upper bunk railing was a bit shaky.
"Sister Zhou, this isn't very safe. You'd better find something to secure it to yourself later, so it doesn't fall down while you're sleeping at night."
Zhou Shengnan touched it and, after confirming that it was probably a loose screw inside, turned around and smiled at her.
"Okay, thank you. I'll talk to the teacher and see if they can fix this for me."
Then he said to Gao Mingxia in the lower bunk, "Hey, from now on I'll sleep in the upper bunk above you. If anything bothers you, just tell me!"
Now Gao Mingxia has become the second oldest, and the others have followed suit and moved to the back of the line.
As the four people were helping Zhou Shengnan tidy up her things, another girl with two small pigtails came in through the door. She was the older sister who came to see her off. Since the beds had already been cleaned, she quickly helped the two of them tidy up their beds and slept in the upper bunk above Pang Weiwei.
Because the wooden planks on Xiaojiu and Pengjuan's upper bunks are warped, it's uncertain whether anyone will come to stay there.
The last girl to arrive had the student ID number 3 and was a better student. After tidying up and seeing her older sister off, she introduced herself amidst their cheers.
"Hello, my name is Zhu Hongqi, I come from a rural area in X County, and I am thirteen years old."
No wonder Tao Tao thought there were only five girls in Class One. She never expected that Zhu Hongqi would be such a young, shy, and slightly self-conscious girl. She probably felt that she wasn't very good-looking, that she was dark-skinned, and that she wasn't very tall. So, relatively speaking, she was the most taciturn among the older girls.
No new roommates arrived until evening. However, today was the first day of registration, and there was still one more day to go. Perhaps someone else would come tomorrow.
The school cafeteria won't open until tomorrow, but the boiler room is already open and there's hot water. Everyone brought their own food, so we made do with steamed buns for this meal.
Three girls can make a show, let alone six girls. Compared to them, only Pang Weiwei and Gao Mingxia are locals. Although Gao Mingxia is from a rural area in the suburbs, she is still from L City. The other four are from rural areas in prefecture-level cities and counties. Comparing their clothes and nutrition, Tao Tao felt that they were much better than her roommates from the county town.
At least she felt that at this time, families who could still afford to send their children to high school, even if their circumstances were not good, were not so poor that they would go hungry.
For the first dinner of the group project, everyone brought out steamed buns, but only Pang Weiwei ate cornbread. The others ate different kinds of vegetable buns or sorghum and sweet potato steamed buns. However, Tao Tao, who had a keen eye, compared the food that everyone was eating and found that Zhu Hongqi, Zhou Shengnan, and Peng Juan were not as well off as Pang Weiwei, Gao Mingxia, and herself.
Eating only steamed buns wouldn't be enough, so Xiao Jiu took out her stir-fried mustard greens and pickled chili peppers to share. The other roommates also shared the spicy sauce and pickled vegetables they had brought. The girls chatted and laughed, and seemed to be getting along quite well.
When it came time to go to bed at night, you could tell whether it was clean or not. Zhou Shengnan and Zhu Hongqi didn't even have a kettle; they just took a patched iron basin to wash up.
Xiao Jiu noticed that the two of them didn't even have toothpaste or toothbrushes, no wonder it felt like talking to them wasn't very pleasant.
At that time, the toilets were still dry toilets, which was better than the girls' washroom, which was indoors and surrounded by walls. After filling the kettle with hot water, you could mix it with cold water to take a shower, relieve the fatigue of the day, and wash away the sweat and odor. Because everyone felt embarrassed, they all showered in tank tops and shorts. Only those with their own small basins would clean themselves. Of course, Xiao Jiu brought his own, but he would find a secluded spot and go into the warehouse to wash up.
That's the downside of living in a dormitory; nothing is convenient. The boiler room doesn't have water every day; it only boils water at set times. Fortunately, the water quality is pretty good; it's all groundwater with no impurities.
Only Xiao Jiu and Pang Weiwei prepared mosquito nets; the others didn't have a good night. There were so many mosquitoes that they were practically drinking blood.
They didn't sleep well all night, so they got up early in the morning, basically waking up as soon as it was light. Some were doing laundry, some were doing morning exercises, and the only ones who stayed in bed were Weiwei and Xiaojiu.
"You two are sleeping soundly. The cafeteria is open now, or it might be gone if we don't go soon."
"You guys go ahead, I'm not eating. If I don't eat today, I won't be able to sleep in anymore."
Xiao Jiu also said she wouldn't eat, turned over and continued sleeping.
Seeing that they couldn't wake them up, the others ignored them and went straight out the door.
When they were woken up again, it was already 7:30; they had returned from dinner.
"It's a pity you didn't go. The cafeteria made free cornmeal soup today. It was a bit watery, but at least it was free. We just couldn't take it away, so we didn't get any for you two. But we got you some hot water. You can drink some hot water while you eat your dry bread later."
The two older sisters are truly destined to worry; they take care of Xiaojiu and Weiwei with remarkable ease.
"Did you bring food rations or coupons? If you're having lunch, you'll have to go to the canteen early to drop off your lunchboxes!"
These days, everyone uses aluminum lunchboxes. When I registered yesterday, there were cafeteria staff sitting there to register and weigh me.
Those who are weighed are all those who brought their own food. The school will cook for you for free. You can just go and pick up your own lunchbox when it's time. No one cares whether you eat the school's food or bring your own. You can decide for yourself.
Of course, having money and tickets is the most convenient; you can get a hot meal just by paying money and paying tickets.
When Xiaojiu arrived, he noted that he would bring his own food, which meant he would buy it at the canteen. However, many people went to weigh their food, because most children from farming families did not have food coupons. If they went to exchange them, they would have to pay the difference in price. Therefore, more people chose to bring their own food directly.
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