Cheng Shuang, carrying her schoolbag, appeared in front of a classroom door.
The school bell had already rung, but the echo of its sound still lingered in my ears.
A young male teacher stood on the podium in the bright classroom. He wore glasses and tilted his head to look at the little girl at the door.
Cheng Shuang smiled in a friendly manner without thinking. When he waved to her, she looked up and glanced at the class sign on the door frame—Class 1, Grade 8. Then she walked into the classroom and stood beside the teacher, facing dozens of pairs of curious and innocent eyes.
She was surrounded by boys and girls around thirteen or fourteen years old, not much older than her. Some of the children were even thinner and smaller than her, perhaps due to malnutrition, with yellowish skin and innocent, naive smiles.
This was so normal that the little girl felt a bit tired and wanted to lazily lean back in her chair, basking in the sun while listening to her classmates recite the text in unison.
"This is Cheng Shuang, a new female student who transferred to Class 1, Grade 8 at Baiyun Town Boarding School. Cheng Shuang came back from a big city with her brother. For various reasons, her brother chose our school. Of course, Cheng Shuang is also excellent enough, so our school chose to accept her."
"What are the various reasons, teacher?" A mischievous boy raised his arm and excitedly chimed in, his eyes constantly glancing at Cheng Shuang, trying to attract the attention of the new student as soon as possible.
The male teacher, with a good temper, pushed up his glasses and replied, "Of course, it's because our school has excellent teaching facilities, a strong faculty, a good learning atmosphere, and students who love and help each other!"
"Teacher Xue, aren't you just praising yourself?" another girl said with a laugh.
Teacher Xue smiled gently, "The idiom is used well, but the wording needs to be more subtle."
The girl immediately stuck out her tongue shyly.
"Alright, this class is a self-study period anyway, so let Cheng Shuang introduce herself. If you have any questions, feel free to ask her. Of course, remember the power of language and don't be an annoying classmate."
Teacher Xue gently pushed Cheng Shuang forward, bent down and whispered encouragingly, "Don't be shy, go and chat with everyone. I'll be back in a little while."
Cheng Shuang hadn't experienced the atmosphere of a normal school for a long time, and was a little lost for a moment. But she had been through a lot before, so she quickly calmed down, gave the teacher a sweet smile, and then glanced out the classroom window at a middle-aged teacher with a serious face who was looking at her very coldly.
After Teacher Xue went out, she immediately met up with the middle-aged teacher. The two talked for a while, and Teacher Xue's expression was slightly agitated. However, the middle-aged teacher's authority still made this approachable teacher hesitate.
"Cheng Shuang, this is your seat! I'm Guo Yang, the class monitor." The class monitor is a very handsome young man with a dimple on his cheek when he smiles.
The class monitor was a young woman with a cool and clean appearance, comparable to some of the most beautiful girls on the internet.
Perhaps fearing that the new student wouldn't be able to integrate into the group, Cheng Shuang's seat was arranged between the two of them, so she could see the back of the pretty girl's head in front of her and the dimples of the handsome boy behind her.
My deskmate on the left is a tall, steady, and outstanding class representative; my deskmate on the right is a cute and pretty student life committee member.
There's a suffocating feeling of being surrounded by beauty.
The little girl wondered, if this were reality, wouldn't she have already achieved the success of a winner in life?
After the teacher left, the atmosphere in the class quieted down. The students did not disturb the new student too much, and instead, some read their books and others did their homework.
Suddenly, a learning atmosphere was created.
Cheng Shuang put her schoolbag into the desk drawer and took out a book from it.
Upon seeing the newly revised 2008 edition of the junior high school math textbook, the little girl's eyes lit up. She opened her schoolbag completely and found that it was full of brand new textbooks, including Chinese, English, Chemistry, Physics, History, Geography, and Politics.
She placed history, politics, and geography books in the drawer, while the other books were quietly relegated to a separate storage compartment.
I wish I could find a way to buy books for the first and third years of junior high school.
Why don't you ask the teacher after class?
Cheng Shuang, of course, did not forget her job. While taking out the books, she released a zombie monster from the desk drawer to keep an eye out for ghosts in the classroom.
But strangely, the information returned by the sullen monster is normal.
The little girl didn't understand at first, until the freak repeated, 'Souls are normal!'
She jumped up, startling her deskmate, the outstanding class representative. The tall boy, who was only fourteen but already 1.8 meters tall, quickly helped her up, asking, "Are you alright?"
"N-nothing!" The little girl scratched her face. "I just suddenly remembered that I forgot to ask the teacher where the school cafeteria is?"
The class monitor patted her on the shoulder from behind, revealing a dimple, "Is that what it is? We'll take you there at noon and you'll find out!"
Cheng Shuang nodded gratefully, her heart filled with turbulent emotions. How could they all be human? No, no, it's good that they're all human, but how can she find the Gate of Reincarnation and escape this land of death?
She opened the history book and found that there was no Qin Shi Huang, Han Wudi, Ming Zhu, Qing Manchu, or Manchu emperors in the book. This was still not her world. Even though the written language was the same, the history was not the same.
The little girl rubbed her head, feeling that this world was too erratic. Would any weak-willed defender or newcomer be willing to stay?
Perhaps it took advantage of her young age, trying a softer approach when force failed? Poisoning her body first, then breaking her will?
Amused by her own imagination, the little girl leaned on the table to clear her mind, trying not to let the chaotic thoughts distract her.
But she was too tired. Two days and two nights of non-stop work made her fall asleep almost instantly when she collapsed.
Even with the zombies guarding her outside, Cheng Shuang didn't dare to fall into a deep sleep. She retained some consciousness, and in her hazy state, she could feel her tall deskmate draping a coat over her, and the class monitor in front of her lowering the volume of her oral practice...
Everything was so beautiful, it seemed unreal.
The little girl slept for about half a class period with a sigh, until her arm was gently touched and Teacher Xue's voice came from afar, "Cheng Shuang, you have a transfer document that you haven't submitted to the dean's office. Cheng Shuang, wake up!"
Cheng Shuang rubbed her eyes and looked up, her peach blossom eyes glistening with tears, her little face flushed from sleep.
Teacher Xue's pupils contracted, and she subconsciously overreacted. "Wake up, take advantage of the time before get out of class ends to finish the procedures so you can have lunch with your classmates and get familiar with the school environment."
The little girl was still a bit dazed. She took a piece of paper, put it in her schoolbag, asked Teacher Xue for directions, and walked out of the classroom in a daze.
As she turned into the corridor, Cheng Shuang's eyes were no longer filled with confusion. She glanced at the quiet corridor and recalled what Teacher Xue had said about the old campus. The lingering nostalgia for the beautiful and peaceful place in her heart completely disappeared.
The old campus is at the other end of the town. Follow the signs for half an hour, and there are shared bikes at the school gate. A ten-minute bike ride will take you to the teachers' offices that haven't been abandoned yet. She just needs to put the documents on Teacher Xue's desk, and other teachers will take care of them.
Cheng Shuang didn't believe a single word of it.
But whether she believed it or not didn't matter; she had to go.
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