Chapter 13

Xu Wen turned on the faucet, shook the water droplets off his hands, and walked forward a few steps.

In front of the front row of dormitories is the school playground, and both the playground and the road are made of dirt.

There is a long pole in front of the dormitory with a light bulb on top serving as a street light.

Wen Yiming stood under the light with his hands in his pockets.

Xu Wen only saw clearly that it was him when he got closer.

Wen Yiming stood up straight and smiled apologetically: "I'm sorry! I had something urgent to do this afternoon and broke my promise and couldn't accompany you to school."

"It's okay." Xu Wen really didn't mind and asked him, "Are you done with your work?"

"Yeah." Wen Yiming nodded without saying anything more and invited Xu Wen, "Would you like to have dinner together tomorrow morning?"

Xu Wen shook his head: "No, I brought the food from home."

"Then give me a chance to give you a gift and apologize at noon?"

Xu Wen still shook his head and reminded him: "Wen Yiming, this is a school."

Although the school does not have a clear rule prohibiting premature love, of course, half of the students are already in premature love. However, both boys and girls will consciously keep their distance.

Wen Yiming was stunned for a moment, obviously a little surprised, and then he returned to his gentle smile: "Sorry, I was inconsiderate. How about we go home together on the weekend?"

"We'll see when the time comes!" Xu Wen didn't agree immediately, and asked him, "What do you want to talk to me about?"

"Nothing! I just thought I'd go to school with you, but I didn't. I was afraid you'd be mad, so I came to check on you. It's not convenient for me to go to the girls' dormitory, so I thought you'd come get some water sooner or later, so I waited here."

"Ah? You don't have to be so polite." Xu Wen was a little embarrassed, "Have you been waiting for me for a long time?"

"Just a moment." Wen Yiming shook his head. He came just in time for school. He paused and asked, "Xu Wen, can you lend me your high school notes?"

"Okay." Xu Wen nodded, "I'll sort it out for you later."

"Let me ask, should we go back first or wait for you?" Shao Yue called her.

"Together." After Xu Wen replied to Shao Yue, he looked at Wen Yiming apologetically, "Is there anything else? If not, I'll leave first. My roommate is calling me."

"It's okay. Go ahead!"

Xu Wen said goodbye and ran back. Halfway through, he remembered that he didn't know which class Wen Yiming was in, so he wanted to turn around and ask him.

When I turned around, I found that Wen Yiming was not coming to the dormitory, but was riding his bicycle out of the school.

The lights are about to be turned off at this time, what are you doing outside?

Xu Wen turned around, picked up the basin from the faucet, and followed Li Yun and Shao Yue to the dormitory.

Li Yun was older and knew more about the relationship between man and woman. She leaned over and asked, "Who is your partner?"

Xu Wen hesitated and shook his head, "No, we are from the same commune. We are also classmates in our school."

It's not that she wasn't honest, it's mainly because she didn't know what Wen Yiming meant.

Wen Yiming never explicitly expressed his desire to be with her, but he showed in every way that he cared about her very much.

She had something urgent and couldn't come to school with me, so she asked her cousin to look for her.

I came to apologize to her in the evening.

Were people in the 70s all so ambiguous with their partners? !

Or is it that you can be so considerate even when the person you are talking to is not your friend?

I'll have time to ask Li Yun for advice when I go to bed at night. Xu Wen thought.

Shao Yue exclaimed: "From our class? Why haven't I seen him before?"

Xu Wen knew that Shao Yue was lively and liked interacting with people.

She knows at least eighty out of a hundred people in her grade.

Even if he is in the first year of high school, she should at least know half of him.

Thinking of this, Xu asked her, "Do you know Wen Yiming from the first year of high school?"

Shao Yue thought about it carefully and shook his head: "I have no impression. It's strange. Logically speaking, such a well-mannered guy with a special last name. I shouldn't have no impression at all."

There aren't many people with the last name Wen in school.

Li Yun had no impression either.

The three of them were all thinking about the 300 or 400 people in the school. It was normal that they didn't know each other.

None of them took it to heart and went back to the dormitory chatting and laughing.

In front of each row of dormitories, there is a one-meter-wide brick paving. In front of the bricks, there is a small ditch for students to dump sewage.

Xu Wen asked them if they were all squatting on the tiles and washing facing the small ditch.

Generally, everyone has two basins, one for washing face and one for washing feet.

When the basin is brought back, pour some of the water into the foot basin first, and use the rest to wash your face and brush your teeth.

Another reason Xu Wen likes school is that even though she is poor, she is not considered an outlier here.

Normally, no one in the production team brushed their teeth, and they only brushed their teeth during festivals. This made Xu Wen, who insisted on brushing his teeth every day, look like an outlier.

One time, a neighbor saw this and laughed at Xu Wenqiong for being picky. Some people even said that brushing your teeth too much is bad for your teeth, it will damage them and cause them to fall out earlier when you get old.

Xu Wen began to try to explain, but to no avail.

Among the seven members of the Xu family, only Xu Qie was forced to brush his teeth with her under her education.

Moreover, she suspected that after she left home, Xu Qi would also be lazy and refuse to brush his teeth.

At least in school, everyone, whether male or female, brushes their teeth.

After washing up, people from each dormitory would stand on the flower brick path in front of the door and chat for a while or play some small games to pass the time.

Xu Wen asked about the row of dormitories in which their grade occupied only two rooms, as the others were occupied by junior students from the lower grade.

It is said to be one level lower, but in fact it is only half a level.

Because Xu Wen's class is enrolled in the winter. The second batch of freshmen enrolled last summer, and the new year students also enrolled a week ago.

There are more people at each level.

There are more than 500 people in the whole school, and there are basically no empty rooms in the dormitory area.

Shao Yueyue is best at visiting and chatting with people. After she finishes chatting from east to west, she knows all the gossip in the school.

He even knows the name of the top freshman in his grade, how many points he got in the exam, and which girl is the prettiest and which boy is the most handsome.

Regarding this point, Xu Wen sighed that he was not as good as Shao Yue and gave him a thumbs up.

When the lights-out bell rang, the students reluctantly returned to the dormitory and went to sleep in their mosquito nets. Because there was no fan in the dormitory, it was particularly hot and stuffy.

Xu Wen's mosquito net was made by Zhu Meizhen using an old mosquito net from her home. No matter how much you wash it, you can't tell it was once white. There are also a few patches on it.

The holes of the mosquito net are dense, which is good for blocking mosquitoes and also blocks wind thoroughly.

Xu Wen was fanning himself with a palm-leaf fan, but his body was still covered in sweat, so he had to get up, stand in the aisle, grab a wet towel and wipe himself briefly.

This would make her feel cooler, and it was one of the reasons why she was willing to come to school. She couldn't even do this at home.

Shao Yueyue and Li Yun were the same, both were too hot to sleep, so they just chatted.

Shao Yue felt that the mosquito net would affect her conversation, so she dragged Xu Wen into Li Yun's mosquito net.

Li Yun’s mosquito net was newly bought, and the bed was located close to the window, so it was a little cooler.

Shao Yue talked for a long time and found that only Li Yun was listening to herself. Xu Wen lowered his head and looked thoughtful, obviously not listening to her.

She nudged Xu with her elbow and asked, "Excuse me, you were distracted just now, what happened?"

Xu Wen shook his head: "Nothing."

"Nothing, your soul is wandering?" Shao Yue didn't believe it.

Li Yun teased her, "Are you still thinking about the male classmate just now?"

Xu Wen bit her lip. She was indeed thinking about Wen Yiming, not in the sense of missing her but in the sense of pondering her.

His attitude was neither too close nor too close, which made her a little troubled.

It was not easy to tell my family about this. Li Yun and Shao Yue were among Xu Wen's few friends. After thinking about it, Xu Wen said frankly, "Actually, I kissed him once during the summer vacation."

Shao Yue was shocked, "Is he really your crush?"

Xu Wen shook his head and sighed, "I don't know what his relationship with me is. Because of a misunderstanding on the night of the blind date, we went our separate ways after a few words. Later, the matchmaker didn't come to my house to talk about it again, and I thought it didn't work out. But he came to my house a few days ago to find me and invite me to go to school together. In the end, he was unable to come to see me because of something, so he asked his cousin to come to my house to give me a bicycle. Look, he came to apologize again in the evening. I don't understand, what does he mean by this?"

Li Yun thought for a moment and said, "Maybe it means you two are a couple by default? After all, you didn't tell the matchmaker that you disagreed. He didn't say he disagreed either. If no one objects to the blind date, then you're together, right?"

She had never encountered such a situation before. Usually, whether she agreed or not, she had to tell the matchmaker.

"Ah?" Xu Wen blinked, "Is that so?"

Shao Yue objected: "He didn't say he liked Wenwen and was dating Wenwen, so what kind of person is this? Since it was a blind date, then if he didn't continue the relationship through a matchmaker, does that mean he was unwilling? Maybe he just wanted to be 'friends' with Wenwen?"

Xu Wen sighed: "He's making it difficult for me. I can't just ask him 'Do you want to date me?' right?"

Shao Yue asked her: "If he really wants to date you, will you agree?"

Xu Wen shook his head, "I haven't thought of that yet."

For some reason, when Shao Yue asked her this question, the image of Lu Yuanzheng appeared in her mind.

Xu Wen shook his head to get rid of the inappropriate thoughts: "Forget it. Let's not talk about me. What about you? Have you ever been on a blind date?"

Shao Yue shook her head, she was still young.

Li Yun nodded, a little shy: "We were introduced by a matchmaker during the Chinese New Year..."

The three of them chatted until late at night before finally falling asleep, and were woken up by the alarm clock early in the morning.

The school's wake-up bell is a manual bell that is particularly loud. Every morning, the security guard will ring the wake-up bell on time.

Xu Wen yawned and sat up.

Li Yun had already gotten up and made the bed, and she didn't forget to call them: "Hurry up, you two can't be late for the national flag-raising ceremony today."

On Mondays, we have to raise the national flag before we can have breakfast.

Four or five hundred people gathered in front of the teaching building, standing in classes under the flagpole, listening to the national anthem and watching the red flag rising slowly.

Then the principal gave a speech.

"Today is the first day of the new semester. It is also the day when new students officially enter the school. Our school now has more than 500 students. Both the teaching buildings and dormitories are very crowded. However, I have good news to share with everyone." The white-haired principal announced radiantly, looking genuinely happy, "The county has approved a piece of land for us to build a new campus."

Hearing the news, all the students cheered with joy.

The principal waited until everyone was happy enough before continuing, "However, due to the lack of construction funds, we need to be semi-self-reliant. What does that mean? It means that we all need to work together to clean up the new campus and lay the foundation... Let's put it this way! Except for highly professional and technical work, we need to do it ourselves. We all have to build our own new school with our own hands."

No matter what you think in your heart, the applause is enthusiastic.

We cannot afford to be unenthusiastic. If we have negative thoughts and resist labor, the consequences will be serious.

Xu Wendu followed suit and clapped vigorously with a smile on his face.

The next step is for each class teacher to inform their class of the responsibilities they will take.

After the head teacher finished arranging the tasks and called for the class to dismiss, Xu Wen asked Li Yun and Shao Yue to go to the cafeteria first, while he went back to the dormitory to eat cooked noodles.

Li Yun and Shao Yue both have city hukou, so they don't receive the three yuan subsidy, but their families give them a little more living expenses, so they can spend money more freely.

They also knew that Xu Wen's family was in financial difficulty, so they went to the cafeteria first.

They had tried to help Xu Wen before, but were rejected by Xu Wen.

Xu Wen returned to the dormitory, took out an enamel water jar, filled it half with hot water, used a ceramic spoon to scoop two spoonfuls of cooked noodles from the noodle jar and put them into the water, and added a little sugar for seasoning.

After stirring for a while, add half a cup of cold water.

When Li Yun and Shao Yue came back from getting food, Xu Wen was sitting at the head of the bed drinking porridge.

"It smells so good!" Shao Yue sniffed, "Can you give me some to try?"

Li Yun raised her hand: "I want one too."

Xu Wen used their drinking cups to make each of them a cup of water, and added more sugar than he did for himself.

Shao Yue took a sip and praised it endlessly: "It tastes good!" She broke off a piece of her own pancake and gave it to Xu Wen, "This is quite filling, help me eat some."

Li Yun also gave Xu Wen a bun: "That's it, let's share it together."

Xu Wen then realized that the two of them were afraid that she was not full, so they found ways to bring her food.

She also wondered what the aroma was in such a bland batter.

"Thank you!" Xu Wen was not a person who did not know what was good for him.

"We're all living in the same dormitory, why should you be so polite?" Shao Yue waved her hands.

After breakfast and cleaning the dormitory, I go to the classroom for class.

There are four classes in the morning and two classes in the afternoon.

After class in the afternoon, we study ideology and politics and do labor.

This learning is also a school-wide learning.

According to the number of participants, it is divided into group learning, class learning, grade learning and school-organized learning.

Usually it is group study. Basically it is to study newspapers and articles. It has to be news or articles with positive thoughts.

Pick someone to read and start discussing the learning.

Finally, everyone has to express their own opinions and write a written summary.

There are fewer formal classes in the afternoon, but more music, physical education and art classes.

Xu Wen asked that their class has physical education class on Monday afternoon.

After waking up from lunch break, Xu Wen, Shao Yue and Li Yun stood at the dormitory door, all looking a little unhappy.

Liu Rulan asked them to wait for her to go together, but she was hesitant.

Li Yun is a good person, so she stood aside and said nothing.

Xu Wen estimated the time and thought that it would be nothing if he was late for the physical education class, so he didn't say much.

Only Shao Yue was straightforward. She kept rolling her eyes and kept urging, "Liu Rulan, can you hurry up? It's just a physical education class. I'm not asking you to get married. Do you need to put on makeup? Aren't you afraid of getting a cloak of sweat from running?"

Liu Rulan stood in front of a wooden cabinet, on which stood a square mirror with legs, and next to the square mirror were a pile of bottles and jars. She was applying paint layer by layer on her face. She even had time to reply to Shao Yue: "What do you know? You put on makeup just because of physical education class. What if you get tanned?"

Shao Yue curled her lips, "You won't be white if you don't sunbathe. Look, you won't get tanned no matter how much you sunbathe."

Liu Rulan choked and ignored Shao Yue no matter what she said.

Seeing that the entire dormitory area was empty, Liu Rulan put away the bottles and jars with satisfaction.

She ignored Shao Yue and walked up to Li Yun, holding her arm, "Sister Yunyun, let's go!"

Shao Yue was so angry that she waved her fist and complained to Xu Wen: "Wenwen, look at her, what kind of person is she! She clearly told us to wait for her together, but now she just took Sister Yun's arm and left, as if we were waiting for her, without even looking at us."

Xu Wen didn't care. He locked the door and said, "Just don't wait for her next time."

Getting angry with such people will lower your own quality.

In fact, she didn't want to wait this time, mainly because she was on duty today, and she stayed to prevent Liu Rulan from messing up the hygiene she had cleaned.

"I won't be named Shao if I wait for her next time!" Shao Yue swore to the sky, "How can I look like a student when I am so evil?"

After walking for a while, Shao Yue was still angry, "What's the point of applying so many layers? It's not as good as washing your face with water."

Xu Wen not only washed his face with clean water, but also dressed simply.

Afraid that it would be inconvenient for me to participate in physical education class, I changed into a short-sleeved shirt and long pants, which were old clothes passed down by Xu Wang or other relatives.

Just this alone is far better than Liu Rulan.

Shao Yue glanced at Xu Wen twice, and suddenly an idea flashed in her mind, and her anger turned into joy, "Haha! I said she ran so fast without waiting for us, she was afraid that she would be outshined by you if she walked with you?! She must be, with Liu Rulan's petty mind, I don't know her!"

"You're overthinking. Walk a few steps faster! We're going to be late." Xu Wen laughed and shook his head.

There is a playground in front of the dormitory area, and you can see a lot of students gathered on the playground.

Shao Yue also saw it and exclaimed in surprise: "Why are there so many people? Class 2 is also having physical education class? It seems that there are not only Class 2, but also students from lower grades. Eh? Freshmen are also here... What are they all doing there?"

Xu Wen shook her head. She didn't know. Judging from the number of people on the playground, almost all the students in the school were there.

Physical education classes are a rare chance to relax. Boys usually play football or badminton, while girls jump rope or play shuttlecock.

When he got closer, Xu Wen was stunned.

She saw Lu Yuanzheng, who was able to look down on everyone even when surrounded by a crowd because of his height.

Xu asked: ???

What is he doing here?