Chapter 41: Just Want to Study Quietly
The sky was a deep blue, with a few white clouds hanging as if welded in place.
The heat waves in the air were rolling and churning, making it hard to breathe.
Zhou Wanfeng was packing her luggage. She was planning to live in the dorms for high school. After Yun Jingya found out about her idea, she discussed it with her family. She also wanted to live in the dorms. The commute was indeed a waste of time.
Yunhai City No. 1 High School was not close to South Lake Mansion. One was in the north of the city, and the other was in the south. And with the heavy workload in high school, everyone was racing against time to study. It was not worth it to waste time on the road.
Yun Jingya was 15. Anyone who wasn’t blind would say she was beautiful. Her superior temperament, like that of a well-bred young lady, was outstanding. She stood out in a crowd, like a crane among chickens. Her features were elegant, her figure slender, and her posture graceful.
Yun Jingya was also multi-talented. She could play the piano, dance ballet, draw, and write beautiful calligraphy. It could be said that Yang Yijun had raised her very well.
When she said she wanted to live in the dorms, Yang Yijun was the first to disagree, especially after she found out that the student dorms at No. 1 High School had eight people crammed into one room.
But Yun Jingya was by no means a delicate flower in a greenhouse. She had her own ideas and would actively fight for them. When she was determined, even Yang Yijun couldn’t do anything about it and had to compromise.
In the end, Yang Yijun waved her hand and rented a house near the school. She had originally wanted to buy one, but the houses were either too small or too old, and she couldn’t find one she liked.
The rented two-bedroom, one-living room apartment was a benefit for Zhou Wanfeng, thanks to Yun Jingya.
Auntie Luo and Xiao Ling had gone to clean the house two days ago. Today, all they had to do was bring their personal belongings. Tomorrow was the start of school and military training.
Someone was packing Yun Jingya’s things. She was obviously a little excited, wandering around Zhou Wanfeng and talking about her fantasy of high school life.
She looked down and saw Zhou Wanfeng folding her clothes one by one. She reached out and looked at the other clothes in her backpack, then frowned and let out a soft “oh.” “Wanfeng, are you too fond of black and gray? Look, are there any other colors in this bag? It’s too heavy.”
She then sized up Zhou Wanfeng’s current attire.
Zhou Wanfeng had grown taller, a little taller than her. Perhaps because of her daily morning workout, her slender and tall figure did not look weak at all. She was like a straight ginkgo tree growing upwards, with an infinite vitality bursting from her body.
Her eyes were like cold stars and a cold moon. It was rare to see her eyes filled with laughter. They were mostly grim, coldly looking at her surroundings, as distant and indifferent as a bystander.
Many times, Yun Jingya couldn’t see through these eyes. She didn’t know what the owner of these eyes was thinking. Occasionally, a flash of impatience would appear in them. But she knew very well that Zhou Wanfeng had always been a serious person. She was serious about everything she did.
Many times, Yun Jingya could feel Zhou Wanfeng’s sense of duty towards her own life, leaving no regrets.
Zhou Wanfeng snatched her bag from Yun Jingya’s hand, put the packed clothes in, and zipped it up. “As long as I like it.”
Yun Jingya pouted playfully. “Yes, yes. We’ll be living together from now on. Please take care of me.”
Zhou Wanfeng slung her backpack over her shoulder and went downstairs.
“Hey, aren’t you taking the car?”
“I’m riding my bike.”
“Then give me a ride. I’ll go with you,” Yun Jingya said, quickly following. She was afraid that Zhou Wanfeng would run off if she were a second late.
But Yun Jingya was still too slow. Zhou Wanfeng had gone downstairs a few steps ahead of her. By the time she came down, the bike was already out of the courtyard. All she saw was Zhou Wanfeng’s perfunctory wave.
Yun Jingya was out of breath. She stomped her foot and shouted, “Zhou Wanfeng, can’t you wear a sun hat?”
Her fair skin had been tanned.
Zhou Wanfeng felt a slight breeze in the heat wave. Tomorrow and the day after, she would probably be training in this hot weather. She liked this kind of life that she was in control of, and she was going all out in the direction she wanted to go.
Yunhai City No. 1 High School, the best high school in the city. She was looking forward to her student life.
On the day of school registration, the weather was so hot that not a single breeze could be felt. It was like a steamer.
In First Year, Class Three, all the windows were open, and the front and back doors were open. The four electric fans on the ceiling were whirring, like an old cow panting, but not a single cool breeze could be felt.
Yun Jingya and Zhou Wanfeng were both in Class Three. Zhou Wanfeng sat by the wall, and Yun Jingya was sitting with her junior high school classmates, chatting. The two of them had a tacit understanding. Yun Jingya had her own social circle and would actively make friends. She would not just hang out with Zhou Wanfeng just because she was in the class.
On the contrary, if she did that, the one who would be annoyed would definitely be Zhou Wanfeng.
And she would never interfere with Zhou Wanfeng’s making friends or anything. It was obvious that Zhou Wanfeng had no such intention.
Zhou Wanfeng was very quiet. Before the teacher came, she just buried her head on the desk and slept. She didn’t care when someone sat down in the empty seat next to her.
The noise in the class didn’t affect her either. Everyone was actively gathering information about their classmates, especially asking about their high school entrance exam scores to judge how formidable they were. After asking about the total score, and knowing that it was higher than their own, they would have to ask about the scores for each subject, especially Chinese, math, and English. From these three subjects, you could tell what their ranking in the class would be in the future.
High school was different from junior high. There was more emphasis on asking about grades.
Of course, there were also those who were different, who talked about their hobbies.
“I’m a red belt in Taekwondo. During the military training, I’ll definitely find a chance to spar with the instructor,” a boy with a loud, rough, and powerful voice said. Zhou Wanfeng didn’t have to get up to know his approximate height and weight.
“Don’t be so arrogant. You’ll just get beaten down by the instructor.”
“Hahahaha, impossible. I can at least last a few rounds.”
The class was quickly making friends with laughter. When the bell for class rang, the talking gradually subsided like a receding tide. Zhou Wanfeng sat up, a smile on her lips.
Although there were still whispers, and some bold ones ran to the door to look, wondering which one was their homeroom teacher.
“A man and a woman are walking over from a distance. The woman is in her early thirties and is wearing glasses. The man is in his forties, a little thin, and a little dark.”
“They’ve separated. The woman is heading to another class. It’s confirmed. This man is our homeroom teacher.”
As he got closer, the boy quickly returned to his seat. Just as he sat down, the homeroom teacher he had described walked in.
He was a little over 1.7 meters tall, with a slight hunch. From the side, it looked like his upper body was not straight, but he gave off a lean, not-to-be-messed-with, and very hot-tempered impression.
He walked straight to the podium and glanced down. “Is everyone here? Let’s call the roll now.”
There was no long speech. He went straight to the point.
There were 46 people in the class. After calling the roll, he turned and wrote his name on the blackboard. “My name is Xu Lei, your homeroom teacher. Military training will officially begin this afternoon. The instructors are already on their way and will probably arrive at noon. In order to cooperate with some of the class’s affairs during the military training, we need to select a class president to cooperate with the instructor’s training. Any volunteers?”
They were all high school students. Many things didn’t need to be explained in detail.
The class president during the military training would probably be re-elected after the official start of school. Everyone knew that at that time, it would be based on academic ability.
“Teacher Yu, I volunteer. I was the class president for all three years of junior high,” a girl with a ponytail in the middle said, raising her arm to fight for it.
As soon as she finished, a boy in the back row also raised his hand. “My name is Yue Junfeng. I volunteer to be the class president. I will help everyone with their work and fight for their benefits.”
“Teacher, teacher, over here. My name is Wu Jiajin.”
Zhou Wanfeng was half-lying on her desk. The sound of eager volunteers was like carp jumping out of the water, full of motivation.
There was another familiar face in the class. Jiang Chen was sitting behind Yun Jingya. He glanced at the wall and poked Yun Jingya. “Isn’t she going to stand up and fight for it?”
They both knew who “she” was.
“Jiang Yi said she was the class president for all of junior high,” Jiang Chen had thought that Zhou Wanfeng would stand up and volunteer.
Yun Jingya shook her head and whispered, “She won’t be a class officer. She just wants to study.”
From the moment she had entered the classroom, Zhou Wanfeng had been sitting quietly. Before the teacher came, she had been lying on her desk, sleeping, and not interacting with anyone. She had understood then.
Zhou Wanfeng’s goal had always been very clear. She had not come to school to make friends, nor to be a class officer and work for others. She was here to study, and she only wanted to study. She probably wouldn’t care about anything else.
Yun Jingya glanced at Zhou Wanfeng. Sometimes, she had to admire her strong mentality. If it were her, she would definitely not be able to do it.
Jiang Chen sat back down with a little regret.
After a short show of hands, Yue Junfeng was selected as the class president. He had thick eyebrows and big eyes, was tall and strong, and had small dimples when he smiled. He was sunny and talkative.
Zhou Wanfeng had completely faded into the background, quiet, with almost no presence, not saying a word to the people in front or behind her.
Even in the eyes of her deskmate, she felt that the girl next to her was a little sullen, withdrawn, and not part of the group.
In the morning, the class president, Wu Junfeng, organized the boys in the class to go and get the military training uniforms and the new textbooks, and then mobilized everyone for a big clean-up. It was clear that he was very experienced.
The tasks were arranged in an orderly manner. One group for cleaning the windows, one for mopping the floor, one for sweeping, and one for cleaning the doors and the hallway.
Anyway, at this time, the diligent and the lazy were all mixed together, laughing and joking as they worked. There were also some who were slacking off, holding a rag and wiping the same window for half an hour.
Two students, one with a bucket and one with a basin, were walking back and forth in the class, asking who wanted water.
The boy with the bucket felt that his bucket was too heavy. He insisted on pouring some into the basin. As they were laughing and joking, the water in the basin sloshed out.
Zhou Wanfeng’s shin was splashed. Her summer pants were thin, and the water seeped through to her shoes.
“Sorry, I wasn’t paying attention,” the two of them said casually, and then continued to laugh and joke.
Zhou Wanfeng bent down to take off her shoe and roll up her pant leg. Her voice was not loud, but not soft either. “Be careful. Don’t splash anyone else,” she said. The two boys just glanced at her and didn’t take it seriously.
Jiang Chen was one of the slackers. He was holding a rag and wiping here and there. He had now wandered over to Zhou Wanfeng, smiling. He glanced at her wet pants. “I thought you would teach those two a lesson.” It was a little unexpected. He had really thought that Zhou Wanfeng would lose her temper just now, but it had passed so lightly.
Zhou Wanfeng looked at him with a cold gaze, her voice tinged with a warning. “Watch your mouth. I just want to study quietly in high school. Don’t mention the things from junior high,” she said. Yun Jingya wouldn’t say anything, and then there was this Jiang Yi’s older brother.
The situation in First Year, Class Three was different from First Grade, Class Nine.
Jiang Chen nodded in understanding. It was true that fighting in high school was different from in junior high. Zhou Wanfeng’s idea was right.
The windows were bright and the desks were clean. Xu Lei came to inspect and was very satisfied. Wu Junfeng was doing a very good job as the class president.
During the lunch break, some people took a short nap, but most of them were already reading their new books.
They were studying in advance.
At 2:30 in the afternoon, with a whistle that went from soft to loud, all the new students of the first year lined up downstairs and entered the big playground in order.
There was already a neat formation there, dressed in military green camouflage, all standing straight and tall. Although there were not many of them, their shouts were powerful and resonant, and even the air seemed to vibrate.
Zhou Wanfeng was fascinated, her blood pumping.
Yun Jingya was standing in the line. Her shoe had been stepped on for the third time by the boy behind her. She bent down to pick it up and turned to the boy behind her. “Be careful.”
Her voice was soft and gentle. This made the few boys behind her start to imitate her.
“You be careful.”
“Be careful.”
“That’s right, be careful.”
Yun Jingya turned around. After a few steps, her other shoe was stepped on again. Behind her were the soft laughs of the boys. “I told you to be careful.”
“Be careful.”
Zhou Wanfeng had noticed the situation with Yun Jingya. She glanced over and then looked away. Yun Jingya was not a girl who needed to be protected. She was very clear on that point.
“Class president, can you help me change my position? There’s a jerk behind me who’s deliberately stepping on my shoes,” Yun Jingya said. She was pretty, and in junior high, there were always boys who would deliberately flirt with her, and some would even play pranks on her to get her attention. You couldn’t be nice when dealing with this kind of thing.
A smile appeared on Zhou Wanfeng’s lips. Her gaze was fixed on the group of military green camouflage uniforms as they dispersed and ran to their respective classes.
The military training opening ceremony had officially begun.