Chapter 63: Out of place, feeling like someone from the village
The second omen occurred on the first day of school.
As soon as she woke up that morning, Zhu Yingning's right eyelid twitched violently. As a 21st-century believer in Marxist materialism, she ignored the superstitious belief that left eye twitching brings good fortune and right eye twitching brings disaster. She rubbed her eyes and followed Xu Sirui out the door.
Xu Zhengkang didn't have time to send them to school, so they had to take the subway to school by themselves.
It was 6:30 in the morning, and the subway station was sparsely populated. There were plenty of empty seats, mostly occupied by students. Xu Sirui was listening to music on his iPod, headphones in his ears. Zhu Yingning didn't want to disturb him, so she just sat there, picking at her backpack strap and staring at the route map, her mind wandering.
Arriving at his destination, Xu Sirui swiped through the exit gate and headed for Exit B. Adele's hit "Rolling in the Deep" was playing in his headphones, and he walked quickly to the rhythm of the chorus. He walked only about 700 to 800 meters before realizing something was wrong. He turned around, but there was nothing behind him.
…
It’s over. Could someone have been left behind on the subway?
He vaguely remembered that Zhu Yingning had mentioned to him before leaving that this was her first time riding the subway. Xu Sirui, overwhelmed, walked back, praying that she had simply gotten lost near the exit and wasn't still on the train.
Just as he was worrying, a dark shadow suddenly fell from the sky on the green tree next to him. He was so scared that his footing slipped and he almost fell on the spot. He stopped and squinted his eyes. It was Zhu Yingning standing under the tree holding a kitten by the scruff of the neck. Because it had rained lightly in the early morning, the soil under the green tree was still wet. When she jumped down, her shoes and a small part of her ankle stuck into the soil like a javelin thrown straight into the fan-shaped landing area.
“…”
Xu Sirui took a deep breath, his eyes wandering over the meowing kitten in her arms. He knew without a doubt that she had disappeared because she had climbed the tree to rescue the cat. He slowly let out the breath, held out his hand to her, and pulled her out of the mud under the green belt.
The white shoes had turned black. She rubbed the mud on the soles of her feet at the edge of the green belt, trying to remove as much as possible.
Then continue walking to school.
They were randomly assigned to different classes in their first year of high school, even on different floors. Xu Sirui was one floor above her. He continued to climb, headphones on, and Zhu Yingning parted ways with him at the corner.
Thinking of facing a whole new class of classmates alone, she felt a little nervous. She hesitated at the back door of the classroom for a few seconds before she mustered up her courage and walked in with her head held high.
Half of the students were already in the classroom, gathered in groups of two or three, excitedly sharing what they had done during the summer vacation. When she walked in, everyone looked at her, but when they realized they didn't know her, they looked away and continued chatting with the people around them.
She found her seat according to the seating chart on the podium. Her deskmate was a girl with long hair, light makeup on her face, and her hair curled into wool curls. She exuded a sweet fruity scent. She turned behind her and was chatting animatedly with the boy at the table behind her.
Zhu Yingning put down his schoolbag and wanted to say hello, but he didn't know how to start. After holding it in for a long time, he finally said something stiff and silly.
"Hello!"
The girl was startled by her and glanced at her out of the corner of her eye. She nodded coldly and distantly. Just as she was about to continue chatting with the boy at the back table, before she opened her mouth, she heard her say, "My name is Zhu Yingning. We will be deskmates from now on. Nice to meet you. What's your name?"
Well……
What's going on? Introduce yourself?
It was the first time that Shao Yanjun had heard such a stiff way of greeting. He was so awkward that he stood there for a long time before he slowly said, "Shao Yanjun."
"Shao Yanjun? Your name is really nice. What are the characters in it? Yan (like swallow)? Jun (like gentleman)?"
Dai Yize, sitting at the back table, chuckled. He and Shao Yanjun were close friends, having been in the same class from elementary school to high school. They were incredibly close. He knew that Shao Yanjun hated her name the most, especially the character "Yan." Almost every time she entered a new class, the "Yan" would cause her to be mistaken for a boy by the teacher. Zhu Yingning's opening statement was a complete disaster.
Shao Yanjun's face darkened a bit, and he said calmly, "The character 'Yan' with three strokes under the character 'chan'."
"Oh." Upon hearing this, Zhu Yingning's eyes lit up and said, "So it's this Yan! So majestic and beautiful."
She was genuinely praising him, but Shao Yanjun had a different feeling when she heard it. She forced a smile and ignored her, turning around to continue chatting and laughing with Dai Yize.
Zhu Yingning didn't know how else to start a conversation, so she could only sit in her seat and stare blankly.
As time went by, more and more people came into the classroom, and the desks in front and behind her gradually filled up. Zhu Yingning soon discovered a problem -
These people all know each other.
She thought about it carefully and guessed that they might have been admitted from the same junior high school. She vaguely remembered Xu Zhengkang mentioning to her that this school had a junior high school department.
...It's over, this is the worst case scenario. She is not afraid of going to a completely new place and building relationships with strangers from scratch. What she is afraid of is that these people have already formed circles with each other.
It is the most difficult to integrate into an already solidified circle.
Then, as if to confirm her worries, the bell rang and the teacher walked in. He glanced around and jokingly said, "What's going on? Why are all these familiar faces?"
The students below also laughed a little and called the young male teacher on the podium "Brother Yang".
The teacher and students laughed and joked happily for a moment before he straightened his face and said, "I see there are a few new faces in our class, so let me introduce myself. My name is Hong Qingyang, and I will be your homeroom teacher and math teacher from now on."
He gave a series of opening remarks. Zhu Yingning hoped to integrate into the class as quickly as possible, so she listened carefully and occasionally lowered her head to take notes.
Shao Yanjun looked at her in shock. After a while, he couldn't help but ask, "What on earth are you memorizing?"
"Hmm?" Zhu Yingning thought she was asking out of curiosity, so she handed her the notebook and answered enthusiastically, "I'm taking notes on what the teacher said."
Shao Yanjun looked down and saw Zhu Yingning's notebook had been neatly written with the following: "1. Obey school rules and unite with classmates... 2. Arrive at school before 6:50 am... 3. Don't doze off in math class and respect the teacher..."
She couldn't help but burst out laughing after taking a look at it. She covered her mouth and handed the notebook to Dai Yize in the back seat: "Take a look."
Dai Yize glanced at it and also started laughing silently.
Zhu Yingning didn't understand what they were laughing at, but even if she didn't, she could sense the subtle sarcasm in their smiles, as if she had done something incredibly stupid. She awkwardly scratched the edge of her desk. Shao Yanjun returned the notebook to her only after he finished laughing. He patted her shoulder and said, "Good student, awesome." She made a gesture of encouragement and said, "Keep taking notes."
Although she asked her to continue writing, Zhu Yingning suddenly found it difficult to write down the words. The light pen inexplicably became heavy. Hong Qingyang's speech was nearing its end. He cleared his throat at the podium and said, "Okay, enough of the usual talk. Now I'll ask a few students to go to the auditorium and move the books."
The class was immediately filled with complaints, and the boys lowered their heads one after another, avoiding eye contact with him to avoid being assigned hard labor.
"Hey! What's wrong with you? You're all so young, but you act like your life is at stake when you do something? Be more proactive! Especially the boys, who wants to sign up? If no one's there, I'll just call out the seat numbers randomly."
"No, teacher, why are we boys responsible for moving books every semester——"
"Exactly, why shouldn't girls have to move books? I support gender equality when it comes to moving books!"
A few of the more outgoing girls immediately joined in the verbal battle:
"Why didn't I see you mention gender equality when fighting over food in the cafeteria?"
"That's right. If you have the guts, ask the cafeteria auntie and uncle to serve more food to us girls. Why do your hands always shake when they serve us rice? You eat more, so you should work more!"
Everyone burst into laughter.
Amidst the chaotic laughter, a loud voice suddenly emerged: "Teacher, I'm willing to move the books."
"Oh?" Hong Qingyang looked over in surprise, and the others in the class also looked towards the source of the sound.
"You are..." Hong Qingyang looked down at the seating chart, "Your name is Zhu Yingning, right? Not bad, very good! See? A girl has actively signed up, what are you guys still standing there for? Who else wants to sign up? Girls can also actively participate."
The atmosphere in the class became tense because of her initiative. Although no one said anything, everyone exchanged glances, and their expressions were somewhat unhappy. The boys were unhappy because they felt insulted, while the girls were unhappy because they had just argued hard for the right to not have to move books, but just as they won it, a traitor appeared, not only volunteered to sign up, but also made them look like clowns.
Zhu Yingning didn't notice the subtle change in the atmosphere. She had already stood up, eager to go to the auditorium to move her new books. Seeing that no one had volunteered, Hong Qingyang had no choice but to randomly call a few boys by seat number and ask them to take Zhu Yingning to the auditorium.
**
"Your new deskmate is quite..." Dai Yize watched them leave and searched for words in his mind. "Quite...weird, huh?"
Shao Yanjun curled his lips in disdain: "Don't you think she's really unsophisticated? I don't even want to talk to her."
"It's very unfashionable," he commented bluntly. "Her hairstyle is unfashionable, her looks are unfashionable, her clothes are unfashionable, and her speech is also unfashionable. She feels like she's from the countryside."
Shao Yanjun sneered, "You must be from the suburbs."
**
Ten minutes later, just when Hong Qingyang was about to continue emphasizing the classroom rules, Zhu Yingning appeared first, holding a huge bag of books as tall as a mountain.
Saying that it was "as high as a small mountain" was not an exaggeration, but a realistic description. The bag of books was two-thirds as tall as she was. When she held it in her arms, it completely blocked her face. If you didn't look carefully, you would think that the mountain had walked into the classroom by itself.
Hong Qingyang on the podium was shocked: "What's going on? How come you moved so much by yourself?"
He looked at the empty-handed boys behind Zhu Yingning and asked sternly, "What's wrong with you guys? Why did you let the female students move all by themselves?"
"Teacher, this is unfair!" The boys scratched their heads. "We wanted to help, but she lifted it up by herself and said she didn't need our help."
"Yes, teacher." Zhu Yingning poked his head out from behind the bag. His expression was as usual, without any trace of fatigue. He said with vigor, "These books are much lighter than I thought. If there is such work in the future, you can let me move it by myself."
It was the first time Hong Qingyang had seen such a student. He was dumbfounded and said, "This... How can this be possible?"
She lifted the book in her arms, placed it firmly on the ground, and said with a smile, "I really don't feel it's heavy. Teacher, you don't know, everyone in our village says I'm very strong!"
She never felt that coming from a mountain village was a shameful thing, nor did she ever think about hiding it. It should be said that she had no sense of "needing to hide" at all. For her, speaking about her origins was as natural as drinking water and eating. However, almost the moment she finished speaking, the class fell silent.
After a few seconds, laughter erupted from the audience.
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