Chapter 6: New Semester, New Classmates, New Starting Point

  The day before school started, I reluctantly left my grandmother's house and promised her and my aunt that I would stay here for a few more days during the New Year. Of course, there was another thing that had to be done, so before leaving, I went to find Cao Qiang and told him to keep an eye on my cousin, think of ways to urge him to study harder, spend less time playing with Liu Fei, Peng Qiang and others, and bring him chocolate with wine filling when he comes back for the New Year. Cao Qiang readily agreed. When leaving, I couldn't help but say some stimulating words to my cousin again, and he naturally fell for it, saying that we would see who did better on the final exams, and then followed my mom home.

  On August 31st, I went to school with my dad to pay the tuition and checked the bulletin board to see that I was still in Class 2. Ah, it seems like I'm destined to be in Class 2 for this lifetime, and even in my previous life, I was in Class 2 all the way through university. Then I looked at the list of classmates in Class 2 again to see if there were any familiar faces, and sure enough, I was thrilled to see that Wang Xiaoxiao, Hou Jingya, and Wu Hanwen were all still in Class 2. Even my "brother" Mu Luoquan was there! But then I saw Lin Lili, who's always getting on people's nerves - the former is a blessing, while the latter is a nuisance. In the afternoon, as usual, we had a get-together, and I brought the new bag that my mom bought for me to school. When I entered the classroom, I greeted Xiaoxiao and Yaya, and exchanged smiles with Wu Hanwen.

  Then I pulled Brother Gan to formally introduce him to Wang XiaoXiao. In their past life, Wang XiaoXiao and Mu LuoYan had known each other since kindergarten, but only Wang XiaoXiao had a deep impression of it. Later, Wang XiaoXiao had a one-sided love for Mu LuoYan, going through relationship after relationship, searching for Mu LuoYan's shadow in others, while Mu LuoYan was completely unaware. Even until my rebirth, Mu LuoYan's true soulmate hadn't appeared. So this lifetime, let me play matchmaker for the two of them.

  I smiled and said: "XiaoXiao, this is my handsome and kind Brother Gan Mu LuoYan." After finishing, I winked at her directly, then turned to Brother Gan and said: "Brother Yan, this is my best friend Wang XiaoXiao. She's lovely, generous, lively, and enthusiastic about helping others. You should take good care of her in the future, okay?"

  Muroku nodded, and Wang Xiaoxiao's eyes sparkled with a hint of light. "I'm Wang Xiaoxiao, we were in the same kindergarten before, you might not remember it anymore. At that time, Little Fatty snatched my bear cookie, and didn't give me a small stool to sit on, it was you who helped me, you were so fierce back then..." As she spoke, her face seemed to redden slightly. Muroku remained silent.

  At this time, Hou Jingya walked over from behind and said: "Xiao Xiao, why didn't you introduce me to the new classmate?" I introduced again, Mu Luoqun still nodded calmly, indeed a silly fool, no wonder he hadn't had a romance at 24. However, in my past life, I was also heartless, okay, I think I'm better than him.

  Our new head teacher is a young and beautiful university graduate, who is also our Chinese language teacher. Her name is Fan Xiaoling. I have to say that this teacher has had a profound impact on me, as she helped me become more confident, and also put down Lin Lili's arrogance. Teacher Fan introduced herself when she came in and told us that we can come to her if we need anything.

  Then she made us go out and line up, divided into two teams, boys in one team and girls in the other. There are almost as many boys as girls in our class. Who made me the shortest? I sat at the same table with the shortest boy in our class, his name is Wang Di, his father is the Chinese teacher of our school. In my previous life, I had a round face, also known as baby fat. Every time I entered the office, his father would say that I was a little chubby girl. His aunt is the director of our teaching department, surnamed Qian, plump and very pleasant, spoiled Wang Di, he is quite mischievous, anyway, when he made mistakes, he had his aunt to protect him, so in my previous life, I suffered at his hands many times.

  Wang Xiaoxiao actually sat at the same table as Mu Luoyan, unlike in her previous life. This life is going to be interesting. Wu Hanwen and Hou Jingya sat together, both of them are relatively quiet, not sure if this pairing is good or bad.

  Then it was time to elect the class committee. Unlike Liu Laoshi, who directly appointed the members, Yang Laoshi said that we should nominate our classmates and then vote by show of hands. Wang Xiaoxiao immediately stood up and said: "I nominate Wu Hanwen as class monitor, Nan Xiao as vice-class monitor, Hou Jingya as study representative, and I'll be the art representative." After the first person stood up, others followed suit, and after a fierce competition, I lost to Wu Hanwen by one vote. The position of class monitor went to Wu Hanwen's family, I became the vice-class monitor, Hou Jingya was the study representative... and Wang Xiaoxiao was the Chinese language representative.

  In the evening, I went home and announced to my parents that I was elected as vice class monitor. My parents told me to continue working hard. After dinner, we had a family meeting at home. It turned out that my father had offended the class monitor because of the late-night shift wall-climbing incident. The class monitor was not reasonable, and my father was not on his side either. Now the options are either to request a transfer to another difficult post, or to pay a fine and flatter the class monitor, or to find a higher authority, and the worst-case scenario is to resign. This thing finally came, it was like this in the past too. My father wanted to quit his job to sell breakfast, but my mother strongly disagreed. My mother found out the address of my father's superior's home through various channels, took my father and some gifts to visit them, and was very sincere. In the end, the matter was dropped, but that class monitor disliked my father even more.

  All I heard was, Dad said: "Wife, you know I'm a good person, usually I value harmony, but this time I really can't bear it, he's not the first time he's bullied someone like this, in the past I chose to endure, this time I don't want to endure anymore. Besides, I don't particularly like working at the chemical plant, I've always wanted to open a restaurant, we don't have the economic foundation for that now, but I can start by opening a small eatery first. I've asked around, as long as you're willing to work hard, it's definitely more profitable than having a salary."

  Mom hesitated and said, "As you said, our family doesn't have money, and we still owe money outside. What if the snack shop goes bankrupt? We'll lose big time inside and out. This matter really needs to be carefully considered. Besides, this time you're being stubborn and want to quit your job. If the snack shop doesn't do well in the future, it will be hard for you to go back, won't you regret it? After all, working at the boiler factory isn't that tiring..."

  Dad said: "I absolutely won't regret it, this has always been my dream, now that I finally have the chance, if I really fail, I'm willing to go do water and electricity package engineering, although it's very tiring, and I'll also trouble you to record my work hours every day..."

  Dad and mom couldn't agree, I know opening a small eatery will definitely not lose money. Currently, the famous "Old Nest" noodles in Beimen haven't appeared yet, if dad opens a small eatery there, it will definitely be popular and achieve the dream of opening a restaurant. So I carefully considered how to persuade mom, saying: "Mom, our school has more classes now, Ye Pu Primary School merged with our school. Today I met new classmates too. The new classmate said that there are low-priced rentals in Beimen and second-hand houses for sale, her family wants to open a small grocery store there, and also said that she will invite me to play there later."

  Dad glanced at me, thinking I was just talking casually, and continued: "Wife, I know about this too. I've already gone to check it out and was planning to persuade you before going to discuss with the other family."

  "Mother said: 'So you had planned this all along, didn't you? And won't your daughter be bought off by you too?'"

  "Come on, wife, you know our daughter has always been on your side, and in every family meeting, it's always me who gets criticized in the end. Just let me take a chance this once, if I fail, I won't regret it later, and I promise to not be so stubborn anymore..."

  I interrupted: "Mom, Dad's cooking skills are actually pretty good, especially his meat noodle soup and three fresh noodle soup, I love eating them! If Dad has the determination, but we don't support him, he won't be able to work in peace, it will always be on his mind and make him feel anxious. Mom, just trust Dad this once, just this one time. I promise to study hard, get into No. 1 Middle School for junior high, and get directly admitted to No. 1 Middle School for high school, so you won't have to spend money to buy my way in."

  Mom said: "Your current grades are not stable yet, who knows what will happen in the future, and you dare to talk big...". She tapped my head and said, "Okay, okay, then I have to calculate our family's money too, including when we can pay back the debt. Maybe we'll even need to borrow some more, what should we do? This is..."

  I comforted my mom by saying that the boat will naturally go straight to the bridge, and who knows, maybe we'll have a windfall on that day. In the end, Dad opening a snack shop is basically settled, next is raising funds and negotiating prices with the landlord.

  The second day was the first day of school, thinking that my old dad's dream is finally going to set sail, today is indeed a great day. I walked to school early, I always do this, on the first and last days of each semester, I go to school early, but in between, I often cut class, later my classmates said I was the king of cutting class, seeing me wasn't a sign of being late, it was a sign of cutting class.

  I walked into the classroom with a happy pace, sat down at my seat, took out my language textbook and stationery box, and gave a friendly greeting to my new deskmate Wang Di. He looked at me, smiled and said: "Good morning, I'm Wang Di. Your language book cover looks great, not like some people who use old calendar paper to wrap theirs, it gets dirty easily. Mine's not bad either, it's wrapped in a leather cover, simple."

  I smiled and thanked her. Now, although Liu's old stationery store hasn't become popular yet, many people have gone there to buy stationery. Currently, wrapping paper is still in fashion, but after a few more years, various types of gift bags will be in style. So now, wrapping paper is a bit expensive, and gift bags are cheaper. However, I still like gift bags, as I'm frugal and manage the household well.

  Little friend, you seem very friendly today. I guess there's something delightful or you want to tease me, but if it weren't for the fact that I've been taken advantage of by you in my past life, I would have thought you were a lovely and innocent little boy. Never mind, never mind, after all, when soldiers come, we'll use our shields; when water comes, we'll cover with earth. It's said well: the joy of fighting with others is endless.