บท 4: First Conversation With The female Protagonist
บรรณาธิการ: Henyee Translations
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Yue Yan said honestly, "It's too hard on my father to ride a tricycle. I want him to be more relaxed."
They were all neighbors who lived in the same building. Even if she didn't say anything, Brother Xiaofei would know what her family did for a living.
The more Zhou Boyan thought about it, the more he felt that Yue Yan was being used by the protagonists. How could such a sensible little girl become a vicious female supporting character in the later stages?
He was worried that Yue Yan would neglect her studies by earning money. "It's a good thing that Yueyue is considerate of your parents. Will earning money affect your studies?"
After gaining the support of her next door neighbor, Yue Yan told him her plan. "I'll collect the materials after I finish my homework every day. Selling them on Saturdays won't affect my studies!"
Zhou Boyan nodded. "Alright, as long as you have your own arrangements. You can look for me if you need help."
Yue Yan borrowed Zhou Boyan's second-year textbook and browsed through it. It was all basic knowledge and was much simpler than the college entrance examination questions in the later years.
This was Yue Yan's advantage. Education in the 1980s was not as competitive as in the modern era. They did not learn so much knowledge, let alone doing so many Math Olympiad questions. The general score was relatively low. However, life was much more difficult for students living in this era.
Yue Yan was not worried about her results. Brother Xiaofei's results were not bad either. There were even notes in the textbook.
For dinner, the family steamed cornbread. They were still eating pickled vegetables with boiled water. Her entire family lived in the city, and their expenses were quite high. It was difficult to save up money with a fixed salary.
Moreover, if nothing went wrong, her mother would get pregnant. When the time came, only her father would have an income when she took maternity leave. Although her position could be replaced, her family really did not have any close relatives in the city.
On the first day of school, Yue Yan carried her new school bag and came to school in clean clothes.
Her clothes were modified from her mother's old clothes. Yue Yan did not want to go to school in her new clothes. Her new clothes would get older every time she wore them. They were made during the New Year and she only wore them once.
She arrived at the classroom and saw a group of people gathered in the middle of the classroom.
She knew that it was the female main character Su Yu's seat.
Su Yu liked to be pursued the most, especially with her identity as the factory manager's daughter. She would never hide that. She wanted everyone to know that she was a rich young lady.
"Hmph, what's so great about her? She's a vixen who seduces men!"
Someone behind Yue Yan cursed softly. She could tell from the sharp voice that it was Zhang Cuiping.
Their small group disliked Su Yu the most.
Unexpectedly, Zhang Cuiping took the initiative to greet her. "Eh, Yue Yan, you're here so early!"
Yue Yan found an empty seat and went to the second row near the window inside. "Today is the first day of school. We have to start well in the new semester."
Zhang Cuiping took the opportunity to sit behind Yue Yan. "I'll sit here, next to you."
Yue Yan didn't really want to interact with them. She didn't want to know the female main character either. She just wanted to be an invisible person.
Su Yu's seat was in the middle of the classroom. Her deskmate was a thin girl, and she looked embarrassed being surrounded by a group of people.
The other party was about to cry. "Su… Su Yu, can you make them… leave?" Although it was no longer feudal times and gender equality was advocated, she still felt panicked to be surrounded by a group of boys.
Su Yu comforted her gently. "It's alright. They're just here to make friends."
There were students from the other classes in this group. Not only were there students from No.3 High School, but there were also many students from No.2 High School.
Zhang Cuiping leaned closer to Yue Yan. "Aren't you going to meet the popular new classmate?"
Yue Yan took out her textbook. "I'm not interested."
Hence, Zhang Cuiping thought that Yue Yan was on the same side as them. "Let me tell you, Su Yu is the best at pretending. Don't play with her."
Yue Yan said calmly, "I understand. I just want to study hard and get into university. It's up to fate to make friends."
Zhang Cuiping praised, "Your thinking and awareness are really high. I want to learn from you too."
Not long after, her friends arrived. Zhang Cuiping and Chen Dongmei were deskmates, and Wang Hecui and Ma Xiaoli were behind them.
Yue Yan was speechless.
Their side had really become the Avengers Alliance.
She studied the contents of the book seriously. From time to time, she would hear two sentences of gossip discussed by the people behind her.
It was human nature to like to listen to gossip.
Wang Hecui said, "That adulterous couple came to school together yesterday, as if they were afraid that others wouldn't know about their relationship."
Ma Xiaoli said, "Keep your voice down. Don't let her hear you. Otherwise, she'll say that we slandered her again and she'll cry in front of the men."
Chen Dongmei said, "If she didn't do anything wrong, why would she be afraid of ghosts knocking on her door? Everyone in No. 3 High School knows about her and Cao Wenkai's scandal. It's embarrassing."
Zhang Cuiping: "Do you think they…" She made a touching gesture with her two thumbs, and the girls blushed.
Wang Hecui said, "Stop talking. It's so embarrassing!"
It turned out that the male and female protagonists were already showing signs of intimacy at this moment. Even the students of No. 3 High School knew about it.
Soon, the teacher arrived at the classroom and got the students to return to their seats.
The people who were surrounding Su Yu dispersed. Good lord, more than half of them were not from their class.
The teacher realized that something was wrong and questioned loudly, "Which class are you guys from?!"
The boys ran away.
Yue Yan was a liberal arts student. There were more than 400 students in the entire grade. There were a total of eight classes, and the first four classes were liberal arts classes.
The girls behind her were snickering. The teacher walked up to Su Yu.
"Where did they come from?"
Su Yu's deskmate was so frightened that she couldn't speak. "I don't know them. They're here to look for Su Yu."
Annoyance flashed across Su Yu's eyes. She looked up and said obediently, "I don't know them either. They said that they want to be friends with me."
The teacher looked at her meaningfully. "Studying hard is the most important thing."
Su Yu nodded obediently with an embarrassed expression.
Seeing Su Yu suffer, the girls not only watched the show but also snickered.
Su Yu had long noticed this. These people did not get along with her and their words were vulgar. She would not argue with these people and lower her status.
However, she saw an unexpected person. The girl who could not afford to eat popsicles was also in her class.
Su Yu had the intention to rope her in.
The students in the class arrived one after another. Cao Wenkai was also here. He looked around. Only Yue Yan had an empty seat beside her.
Before he could walk over, a little fatty suddenly squeezed past him and sat beside Yue Yan.
"That was close. I almost lost my seat!" The little fatty patted his chest in shock.
Seeing that his deskmate was a girl, he stood up in surprise. The girls behind him laughed at him.
"Um, Classmate, do you mind if I sit beside you?" The little fatty scratched his head.
Yue Yan did not even look up. "Help yourself."
The little fatty rubbed his arm. This female classmate's personality was really cold.
"Yun Cheng, why didn't you come and sit at the same table as Su Yu earlier?"
The person at the back table obviously knew the little fatty.
Yun Cheng did not understand. "Why should I sit with her?"
Zhang Cuiping was indignant. "Don't you often talk to others? Were you scared away by Cao Wenkai?"
Yue Yan remembered who this person was.
Yun Cheng, the male protagonist's underling. He had lost contact with them after graduating from high school. It was possible that the author had forgotten about him.
It seemed that his family was quite rich and he often lent the male protagonist money. During their school days, he was the male protagonist's ATM machine.
Yun Cheng's face turned red. "What nonsense are you talking about?! She asked me to send her home and said that a hooligan teased her on the way. Your thoughts are really impure!"
Although there were no hooligans on the way, Su Yu's family wanted to see her father and seek the connections through him.
Zhang Cuiping knew that she was in the wrong and apologized reluctantly.
Cao Wenkai was in a dilemma. There was no room for him in the classroom anymore.
The teacher quickly decided. "This student, sit in the first row for now. I'll change your seats later."
This first row was the glorious throne beside the teacher's lecture table. Yue Yan smiled. This seat was reserved for problematic students.
Cao Wenkai was extremely embarrassed. He was only a little late, and he had to sit at the same table alone.
He instinctively looked at Su Yu, but she was talking to her deskmate with her head lowered.
Why didn't Little Yu help him reserve a seat in advance?
Forget it. It was all his fault for being late. How could he blame Little Yu? She was thin-skinned and would definitely feel embarrassed.
At the thought of this, he could not help but blame Yun Cheng for snatching his seat.
Damn fatty!
The entire class was present. As Cao Wenkai did not have a table or chair, he could only stand there temporarily.
"Come back for a meeting after you get your homework. Don't run around outside."
The teacher was a tall and thin middle-aged man. His Mandarin was not very standard and he had a northern accent. His words were a little like a stand-up crosstalk.
The boys went to carry the books while the girls were in charge of cleaning the classroom and wiping the tables, stools, and glass.
After a summer vacation, the podium in the classroom was covered in a thick layer of dust. No one wanted to do the dirty work.
Yue Yan looked around. Although her teacher said that it was voluntary, it seemed to be the calm before the storm. She sighed helplessly.
"Teacher, let me clean the lecture table."
The cloth and basin were both available in the classroom, but she needed to go out to get water.
"What's your name?" The teacher didn't teach her before. The class was reassigned.
"Yue Yan."
The teacher nodded. "The surname Yue is quite rare."
Yue Yan was agile. She had worked in a restaurant before, so she cleaned the table very quickly.
The teacher asked, "Are you local? It seems like you often help your family with housework?"
"Yes. My parents work during the day, so I do what I can."
"How sensible," the teacher said with emotion.
There have been more and more students in the past few years. The students in the city were supported by their families. The children from the countryside who came to study had to work at home during the holidays. He did not expect the city students in his class to be sensible.
Yue Yan even specially washed the rag and returned the things to their original places.
Su Yu and her deskmate volunteered to sweep the floor. However, it was her timid deskmate who swept most of the classroom alone. Su Yu stopped after taking a few steps and looked around.
"Classmate, I'm not feeling well. Can you help me sweep the floor?" Su Yu stopped Yue Yan with a troubled expression.
Yue Yan shouted outside the classroom, "Zhang Cuiping, you need to wash your rags twice with water. Otherwise, you won't be able to wipe the glass clean."
Zhang Cuiping saw her standing with Su Yu and instantly understood what she meant. "Since you're free, help us fetch a basin of water."
Yue Yan shrugged at Su Yu. "I'm free either. Find someone else."
Su Yu thought to herself that people from the countryside liked to meddle in other people's business. Zhang Cuiping and the others were clearly slacking off. She helped them but not her.
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