Tang Rou was happy to see familiar faces and even more thrilled when she saw Jiang Li. Carrying her bag, she quickly walked up to Jiang Li. “Are you both living in this room?”
Jiang Li nodded and said, “Yes,” then asked in confusion, “But our room is already full. Are you sure you didn’t get the wrong one?”
Tang Rou was briefly puzzled and then checked the room number on the key she had just received. “This should be the right room!” She exclaimed.
The other girls looked at each other. Zhang Qingqing was the first to speak, “I’m sure Fatty Ju and I are in this room. We arrived yesterday and opened the door with our keys. There’s no way we got it wrong.”
Although Jiang Li was sure she hadn’t entered the wrong room, she still took out her key, and both Shen Mian and the girl in the black T-shirt also did the same.
Now everyone was looking at the girl in the checkered skirt. The situation had become quite clear. It was either the girl in the checkered skirt had entered the wrong room, or there was a mistake when the school made the arrangements.
The girl in the checkered skirt frowned, took out her key, and said, “My room number is indeed 301, no mistake.”
Shen Mian went over to check and then mockingly said, “Yes, you got 301, but not the 301 in our building. Anyone who can’t even get the building number right surely has something wrong with their brain.”
Checkered skirt girl:……
Zhang Qingqing quickly grabbed the chance to add fuel to the fire, “No wonder she was calling others ‘country bumpkins.’ Turns out her eyes are bad, so everyone looks bumpkins to her.”
Outnumbered and defeated, the girl turned around to pack her things and leave. Before she strode out, however, Shen Mian ‘kindly’ reminded, “Hurry up and take your precious poster with you. Don’t leave it in our dorm to gross us out.”
The checkered skirt girl glared at Shen Mian before reluctantly tearing down the poster and storming out of the room. After she left, the atmosphere in the room seemed to improve. Zhang Qingqing closed the door and pulled up a chair next to Shen Mian. She then asked, “Did you say all those things about Jiang Ruo just because you couldn’t stand her arrogant attitude?”
Shen Mian was taken aback for a moment and shook her head. “No, I really dislike Jiang Ruo.”
Zhang Qingqing furrowed her brows and asked again, “Is it because of the bad rumors about her on the internet? But I think she has a good talent as an actress.”
Shen Mian shrugged and said, “Of course she’s a good actress; otherwise, she couldn’t have deceived me for so long. Anyway, let’s not talk about her. Just mentioning her makes me angry.”
Shen Mian truly didn’t want to speak about this matter too much because, after all, she had acted foolishly at one point, even to the extent of faking a suicide attempt.
Zhang Qingqing shrugged and turned her attention to Tang Rou and the girl in the oversized black T-shirt. After some introductions, Jiang Li learned that the girl’s name was Wang Simin, who had previously attended Yingcai Middle School.
When Wang Simin heard Jiang Li’s name, her eyes lit up. “So, you’re one of the students who did well in exam?”
Jiang Li was taken aback for a moment but then realized that Wang Simin was talking about the banner put by Minjiang International School after she and Qin Zheng became the top scorers. “Well, it’s me. You should be able to see the other one at the general assembly.”
Wang Simin clapped her hands, “What a coincidence. I happen to be a student who didn’t do too badly in the exam.”
“Huh?” Jiang Li was puzzled.
Wang Simin chuckled “The top and second top scorers in this year’s entrance examination are both from your school, right? And weren’t schools not supposed to brag about their students’ ranking? But your school still put up banners claiming that you two have done well in exam. Our class teacher found out about this and teased me that I didn’t do too badly.”
“You mean, you are the third top scorer?” Shen Mian looked surprised. Seeing that Wang Simin did not refute, she immediately sighed: “Then our dormitory really is a collection of hidden talents. Who would think that we will have two of the three top scorers as roommates!”
Wang Simin didn’t deny it and replied with a big smile, showing her cute little fangs. “I remember the second place was someone named Qin Zheng. That should be a boy, right? Are you hoping to be roommates with him? But I’m afraid that might be a bit difficult.”
Shen Mian immediately put on a sulky expression. “I didn’t say that. You’re the one who said it.”
Zhang Qingqing and Pang Ju exchanged glances, both seeing surprise in each other’s eyes. Due to its reputation, they had known that Minjiang First would be full of top students, but it was still quite shocking to find top scorers gathered in one place like this.
Pang Ju silently made up her mind to study diligently and not lag behind her classmates too much.
Zhang Qingqing, however, looked at Jiang Li and Wang Simin, then she asked in her casual manner, “I heard that almost every student in Minjiang City attends extracurricular cram schools. Is that true?”
Wang Simin shook his head, “I can’t speak for everyone, but it is indeed common to take extra lessons for weak subjects. As for me, I didn’t need those extra lessons, but I did attend competition-level tutoring.”
Zhang Qingqing sighed, “It totally different for county folks like us. Although there are cram schools available, hardly anyone goes to them. Fatty Ju and I have never attended cram schools.”
Pang Ju, somewhat awkwardly, admitted, “I did attend bridging courses.”
Zhang Qingqing muttered in a low voice, “I knew your grades were too good to be true, but it turned out that you’ve been attending training programs all along, huh? It’s nice to have parents who are willing to spend so much for you.”
Pang Ju whispered in explanation, “During summer and winter vacations, cram schools often run special promotions, so the fees are much cheaper than usual.”
Zhang Qingqing shrugged and said, “Even if they are cheaper, my parents still wouldn’t pay for me. These classes are getting more and more expensive these days, and I really don’t see the point.”
Jiang Li didn’t feel like joining in on the conversation. She felt her phone vibrate and checked on it, only to see a message from Tang Rou.
[Why do I feel like that Zhang Qingqing seems to look down on people who attended cram schools?]
Jiang Li thought for a while and replied: [If you feel uncomfortable, you can argue with her.]
If someone made her uncomfortable, she would make them even more uncomfortable – that was Jiang Li’s personal rule. However, what Zhang Qingqing said had nothing to do with her, so she didn’t intend to interfere.
But Tang Rou generally avoided arguments. She bit her lips and typed a reply: [Forget it then. We shouldn’t quarrel.]
Unlike Tang Rou, however, Shen Mian had a short fuse: “You’re right. Students in our city not only attend cram schools but also various extracurricular classes. For example, I’ve been practicing classical dance since I was little, and Tang Rou has completed up to the tenth level on the violin.” Her voice was even louder than Zhang Qingqing’s.
Shen Mian shifted her gaze to Wang Simin, who laughed and said, “I’m quite good at table tennis.”
Shen Mian then turned her attention to Jiang Li but quickly realized that Jiang Li had grown up in an orphanage. She thought for a moment and spoke up, “Jiang Li is pretty good at martial arts. She could easily take down one or two people, especially those who don’t think before they speak.”
Shen Mian trusted Jiang Li’s fighting ability thanks to the impression she got on their first meeting. Although describing Jiang Li as “pretty good at martial arts” might be an exaggeration, it wasn’t entirely baseless.
“…” Everyone present was silent for a moment.
Shen Mian’s retort had finally silenced Zhang Qingqing. She realized that Shen Mian was not someone to be messed with and turned her gaze to Pang Ju. “Fatty Ju, I think you should try on the military training uniform early. If it doesn’t fit, you can change it sooner.”
< Previous | TOC | Advanced TOC | Next >
Wants more chapters?
Click this page for the status of sponsored chapters.
Click this page for advanced chapters TOC.
I want her to step up off Pang Ju’s neck. Like, give sis a break! And that girl k ows she doesn’t like being referred to that way, no one is that oblivious. I think she’s taking advantage of Pang Ju’s silence as “permission” to continue being rude.
I feel like Zhang Qingqing is just jealous of those that are able to attend cram school/class. She did say how even if it’s cheaper at certain times her parents still won’t sign her up for it. So I think it’s just pure jealousy not so much as her looking down on it.