Her name is Zhang Cui. She is not tall, has dark skin, and is an excellent student, ranking in the top three of her grade. She is the hope of her parents and lives right behind the school.
Her murder shocked the entire school. In an instant, everyone was in a state of panic, especially since she left in that way. No one—teachers, classmates, or parents—could accept it. Her close friends even lay on their desks and cried bitterly during class, causing the whole class to fall silent. Even the usually mischievous boys fell silent.
Although Xiao Jiu hadn't spent much time with her, she knew that she was a diligent, studious, and helpful girl.
Judging from her and her family's attire, the family was not wealthy. The fact that they were still able to send their daughter to school during such a difficult time at least proved that her parents were open-minded and did not favor boys over girls. Seeing her mother crying and fainting several times, and recalling how she herself had almost been harmed, Xiao Jiu felt terrible.
The day students immediately became the focus of the teacher's attention. Sure enough, as soon as get out of class ended, the teacher called her over.
"Tao Tao, why don't you live on campus? The conditions aren't great, but at least it's safe. I'm not entirely at ease leaving you like this. If you have any difficulties with tuition, the school can help."
"Okay, teacher, I'll go and complete the boarding procedures right away. It's alright, I have enough money with me."
After this incident, her parents will definitely come to the school to find her. Rather than having her secret exposed one day, it's better for her to live at the school.
She then went directly to the logistics department to complete the on-campus accommodation procedures. Since the semester was already halfway over, the school only charged her three yuan.
After lunch, she found a secluded spot, took out her bedding, tied it up, and carried it directly to her dormitory.
Although it was the county's top high school, conditions were poor in those days, and few could afford to attend. The teaching buildings were all single-story, and the dormitories were even worse, all made of adobe. There was only one girls' dormitory, next to the female teachers' dormitory, and two boys' dormitories, next to the male teachers' dormitory, separated by a washroom, clearly distinct from each other.
She thought the sixteen-person girls' dormitory would have bunk beds, but it wasn't. It was just a large classroom of more than thirty square meters with a large dormitory bed built up. The row without windows could sleep sixteen people. On the side with windows, there was a row of low cabinets, and tall cabinets in the east and west corners. In the middle were several tables, as well as a basin stand and other things.
Perhaps because they were all girls, the beds looked fairly clean and didn't have any strange smells. Each bed was colorful, covered with various sheets and duvet covers, and there were even many handmade sheets like those woven by grandmothers and maternal grandmothers. Even the ones bought from home had a strong sense of nostalgia.
Judging from the fact that each bunk has its own washbasin stand, tall cabinet (for clothes), low cabinet (for books), and study desk, the management is very strict.
There's also storage space under the shop, and everything inside is neatly organized and dust-free. The cement floor is very clean. Overall, it's much better than the rural dormitory that my sisters described.
She was initially afraid of encountering the kind of dormitory her fifth sister had described. If all dormitories were like that, she could accept it.
Six of the sixteen beds are still empty. The school has two classes per grade, with about fifty students in each class. So, out of three hundred students, there are only ten girls, which is a rather alarming gender ratio.
The dormitory supervisor said, "There were fifteen last year, but five dropped out this year because of the famine. See which spot you like and just lay out your bed. I'll help you."
With the help of the dormitory supervisor, she first wiped the cement slab with a rag, and then thoughtfully placed appropriately sized wooden bed boards on it. She laid out a mattress and sheets, put the quilt at the head of the bed, and the pillow on top of the quilt. She then helped clean her cabinet, organize her luggage, put the books she brought into the appropriate bookshelves, put the basin on the basin stand, and placed the kettle under the desk.
After settling her in, the aunt also explained the corresponding daily routine to her.
"Here, this is your locker key. I have the dorm key. If you need anything, just come to me. I usually open it after class. If you come during class, you can find me."
Although the dormitory was an adobe house, it felt quite warm. There were light bulbs on the beams. Although there was no fan, adobe houses are all about being warm in winter and cool in summer. She was already very satisfied with these conditions.
"Teacher, don't they go back to their dorms at noon?"
I just saw them come to the dorm to deliver washed lunchboxes. They gave her, the newcomer, a friendly smile, but they all left quickly.
"We started preparations at 12:50, and we still have to be in the classroom at noon. There's no lunch break, have you forgotten?"
Xiao Jiu slapped her forehead. She had forgotten! Luckily, the teacher reminded her. After she left, she quickly took out her lunchbox to eat. After finishing her meal, she went to the sink next to the dormitory to wash the lunchbox. She tidied herself up quickly, locked the door, and rushed to the classroom.
People who are used to a leisurely life will find it somewhat difficult to keep up with the pace of school, especially since she is a so-called transfer student who has already attracted the attention of all the teachers. As if to verify the miracle she achieved in her exams, every teacher likes to call on her to ask questions.
She was sitting in the first row, so it was hard for her to get distracted.
After her deskmate left, no new student took her place, and the students behind her didn't want to take her seat, so it remained empty.
There were originally four girls in their class, including her. After her deskmate left, there were only three left, and because they were tall, they all sat in the back.
I heard that the class next door has no girls at all, it's all boys. Because you need to take an exam to get into the top high school, the competition is fierce. Those who can get in are all quite good, they are from some of the better schools. Those who are not good at studying can't get in.
The desks were very old and worn, as were the blackboards. In some places, there was even a hole in the blackboard. In the days when only blackboard writing was used, every time the blackboard was erased, chalk dust would fly everywhere. Moreover, chalk was not used casually. Each teacher brought their own chalk to class and would take it away after class.
If students want to use it, they just use the chalk on the table to write their timetables and homework, which is very economical.
You rarely see colored chalk; it's all white, and even that white isn't pure; it's grayish.
The teachers all spoke in their local dialects, with almost no Mandarin, which resulted in their English pronunciation being incredibly rustic. So when the teachers heard her voice, they were all amazed and often called on her to lead the reading of the text. The original English class representative became a mere figurehead.
But no one was jealous of her. They often came over after class to learn pronunciation from her. Her name was also easy to remember. She was called Ma Lu because her father's surname was Ma and her mother's surname was Lu. Everyone affectionately called her Xiao Lu.
Perhaps because she was short and had a cute appearance, she easily aroused people's protective instincts. So, the three girls, Ma Lu, Ding Ding, and Zhao Yuanyuan, took good care of her. They liked to take her with them when they went to the toilet after class, during long breaks, and during PE class. Probably because of the teacher's instructions, she adapted well during the two days she spent at school, except for not eating well and not sleeping well at night.
The school cafeteria serves nothing but steamed buns, mantou, and porridge every day, or cornbread, noodles, and pickled vegetables. Stir-fried dishes are rare, and rice is practically unheard of.
Of course, the prices were also cheap. All the raw materials used were mixed grains, which were dark and unappetizing. But in a famine year, being able to provide such food and fill one's stomach was already a great blessing.
Four steamed buns cost one cent, six cornbread buns cost one cent, two steamed buns cost one cent, and a chopstick of pickled vegetables cost one cent. Staple foods were usually priced with grain coupons ranging from one to two ounces. They were indeed very cheap, but the taste was indescribable. After they hardened, they were coarse and irritating to the throat. It felt like the steamed buns contained bran or something similar in addition to mixed flour, making them very unpalatable.
I only bought it once, and I couldn't even finish it. It was so watery that you could see your reflection in the broth, but you couldn't see any rice grains. However, the free broth helped me swallow it.
She ate very slowly. Her three female classmates could clearly tell that her family must be well-off, otherwise they would have been able to enjoy the food without being hungry. She hadn't even finished one steamed bun, while the others had already eaten two or three. They would buy four small steamed buns at a time and always save one to eat before lunch, otherwise they would get hungry.
It wasn't that she was being fussy; it was just that she had never eaten such unpalatable food before. Even during the most difficult times, she had never eaten such food. The coarse grains she had eaten were completely different from these. Her grandparents always picked out the best dishes for her when they brought food home from the canteen. Over time, she became quite picky about food and couldn't even pretend anymore.
But she knew she had to learn to adapt and not act special in front of everyone, otherwise people would think she was creating class divisions and speculate about her family's circumstances. That was not what she wanted, so she had to eat it no matter how bad it was.
The steamed buns were only the size of a palm; one wasn't enough, but two were too much. Since others bought four, she bought four too, and then followed their example and took the remaining two to the classroom.
Sure enough, food without any oil or fat makes you hungry quickly. After two classes, I felt a bit hungry. I would break off a small piece to eat every now and then after class, and I only felt comfortable after my stomach was full.
By noon, things were finally not as bland as in the morning. There was now a big bowl of sticky noodles, with dried, blackened bits of vegetables, fresh cabbage, and even some spicy shredded radish as a side dish. Black cornbread was placed at the bottom, because you can't get full just by drinking this kind of noodles, so you have to have some staple food with it.
A large bowl of these noodles costs five cents, plus one tael of grain coupons. If you buy cornbread, they'll also give you some shredded radish. Three cornbreads for five cents each, which looks quite substantial, also cost one tael of grain coupons.
I didn't finish the steamed buns I ate this morning, so I ordered a bowl of noodles instead. I didn't ask for any pickled vegetables, and instead took the lunchbox back to the dorm, where there was chili sauce and pickled vegetables.
Since her classmates had all come back with her for dinner, she generously gave each of them some pickled mustard greens and chili sauce.
"Try it, this is made by my grandma, it's delicious."
After saying that, he took out a small bag of cookies from the cabinet and gave each person two or three cookies.
"These were brought to me by my parents yesterday, you should try them,"
Yesterday evening, after her parents heard the news, they rushed over to tell her not to run around and brought her a bag of whole-grain biscuits, afraid that she would mistreat herself at school.
Cookies were incredibly precious during that famine year when resources were scarce. They all politely declined her offer and didn't take them, because everyone knew it was a parent's love for their child. There were only so many, how could they possibly take them? But Xiao Jiu insisted on giving each of them two cookies.
It wasn't much, but it was enough to deeply shock the three girls.
That's all she could share with them; the eggs and such were too big a target, so she kept them for herself.
She ate plain food during the day, but under the cover of darkness at night, she not only ate eggs in her space, but also shrimp. She swallowed a whole shrimp in one bite, having already removed the shrimp vein, but she didn't remove the shrimp's internal organs from the head. Food is precious, so she decided to save the trouble!
After supplementing her protein intake, she also needed vitamins. Since the school was stingy with fresh vegetables, she ate fruit instead.
She ate some steamed buns with chili sauce and drank some sweet potato soup in the evening, so she was starving after evening self-study. She hid in her room to eat and drink her fill before returning to the dormitory.
The day cost two cents. No wonder they say a dollar a week is enough. They really are frugal!
I don't get home until Saturday afternoon. Spending one yuan for six days is so economical!
These girls are nice people; sometimes when she buys extra steamed buns and cornbread, she shares them with them promptly.
Since she couldn't refuse, she accepted the food. But the girls didn't want to owe her a favor, so they offered to help her clean, do laundry, and lend her their old notes to copy. They also helped her fetch water every day. She didn't refuse, because what if they refused and then refused her food?
This can be considered mutually beneficial.
Before school ended on Saturday, she went to tell her teacher that she wanted to ask for leave from Sunday evening self-study. She wanted to sell things during that time and go out for one night. That would be enough for her living expenses and food coupons for the week, and even more than enough. She could sell like that once every two weeks or once a month. But she also wanted to save up some money for herself, so she decided to go out once a week. The teacher readily agreed.
She thought Zhang Cui's case would remain unsolved, but the police were not to be underestimated. They probably found out something through interviews. She only heard that Zhang Cui's aunt had been arrested to cooperate with the investigation, but later she found out that it was her lover who did it. That morning, he came out of his aunt's house, bumped into Zhang Cui, thought she had seen him, and simply killed her.
Uncle Zhang Cui passed away early, and it wasn't easy for a widow to raise her child alone. Even if she remarried, no one would have said anything, but she was worried that her brothers would take over the house after she left. So everyone knew that she had a bad reputation, and there were always people gossiping about her at her doorstep. She was used to it, but even she never expected that her niece would die at the hands of her lover.
After Zhang Cui's mother learned the truth, she scratched her aunt's face and beat her severely. Knowing she was in the wrong, the aunt did not fight back. Even her own children did not help her, but watched her being beaten, despised her, and did not understand her.
Of course, this is a complicated matter. How can you expect her children to understand? To understand her finding a lover?
After hearing about this, the aunt was so shocked that she attempted suicide. After being rescued, she rarely went out.
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