Chapter 9 (6)

  There were nineteen boarding students in total. Mei Xuan introduced them to the important living facilities of the school, such as where the hot water faucets were located. After listening to Mei Xuan's introduction, it seemed that this kind of equipment at Shi Nan San Zhong was hidden like a fugitive, always hiding in dark places that saw no daylight. Yu Xiang and Xie Jing Yuan went to fetch boiling water after the meeting, and finally found a row of hot water faucets. Yu Xiang put the thermos under it, turned it to the maximum, but the water came out very slowly, dripping down one drop at a time. It took half a day for the thermos to be half full. Yu Xiang exclaimed in anger: "I can spit faster than this!"

  Xie Jingyuan only acknowledged the exaggerated words, and said to Yu Xiang: "You talk too much, saliva can't be spat out faster than it, although it's slow, but it's still faster than you spitting saliva."

  It was raining, and Lin Yuxiang scolded Xie Jingyuan for speaking nonsense. He didn't want to talk to him anymore and just focused on filling up his water bottle. After finally filling it up, he said to Xie Jingyuan, "I'm leaving first." When he arrived at the dormitory, he found that no one was there and realized that today was the first day of dinner at Yuhuotang. He hastily grabbed a bowl and went to eat. As soon as he arrived at Yuhuotang, he was shocked - no wonder the campus was empty, everyone had gathered here! Lin Yuxiang chose a relatively short queue and waited for a few minutes, still not moving. He thought that Nansan Middle School wouldn't have a rule about eating only after ordering. After waiting patiently for a few more minutes, the queue moved forward, and Lin Yuxiang thought he could finally take a step forward. But to his surprise, the queue seemed to be like a teenager's skeleton, slowly growing longer. Lin Yuxiang was forced to retreat three steps, confused and wondering how he had been queuing for 16 years but still encountered a situation where the more people queued, the further back they went. He looked around and saw that several people had run over from other places, chatted with those in the queue for a few sentences, and then suddenly flashed into the queue, disappearing without a trace. Moreover, various people also favored this team and came to join in, and this team was like Liu Bei, able to widely accept talented people. After a few more minutes, Lin Yuxiang had retreated not just three steps, fearing that if he continued like this, he would starve to death. He changed queues and joined another one. A voice from the new queue said, "Lin Yuxiang, over here!" Lin Yuxiang saw that it was Yu Xiong and hurriedly ran over. Yu Xiong said, "Queue in front of me."

  Yu Xiang was used to waiting in the back, afraid that if he inserted himself into the line, the people behind him would be dissatisfied, so he didn't dare to cut in.

  Yu Xiong said to Yu Xiang, "Now whoever has the route will eat, no one will praise you for managing so much." After finishing speaking, Yu Xiang was forced to surrender and stood at the front of the team. The feeling of being in the front row is indeed different, thinking about how many people are following behind him, feeling proud. He looked up at the menu on the blackboard, his face filled with craving, thinking that the chef's skills in Yu Guo Tang must be good. There were only two boys left in front, and Yu Xiang was just thinking of a great plan, when suddenly he heard a commotion from the crowd, someone said: "The self-service team has arrived!"

  Yu Xiang had never heard of "self-service", and thought it was a team that specialized in cutting in line. He turned his head to take a look, only to realize they were the ones responsible for checking. The person standing at the back of the line was clearly unprepared, with their armband on backwards and a shiny spot on the corner of their mouth, which was caused by not having time to wipe their mouth after eating. The people behind him urged: "Hey, buy already, you're holding up the line!" Yu Xiang hastily came back to his senses and turned around, seeing that the window of the cafeteria was right in front of him, with a person wearing a mask staring at him angrily. He was so scared that he forgot what he wanted to say, stuttering: "I... I want a serving of stir-fried three delicacies and sugar vinegar ribs, and also a block of rice." Yu Xiang saw the rice on the tray had been cut into uniform blocks, but couldn't think of the right unit of measurement, so he randomly said something. After finishing speaking, he saw that the person wearing the mask didn't react, as if they hadn't heard him clearly, and he repeated himself. The masked person scolded: "You haven't even given me your bowl yet!"

  Yu Xiang lowered his head to see the bowl still being pinched in his hand, and he handed it over with embarrassment. The masked man snatched the bowl away, saying: "There's no sweet and sour pork ribs!"

  Yu Xiang carefully said: "Isn't it written on your blackboard - sugar..."

  Obviously, many people asked this question. The vendor said, "This is the menu for the last day of the previous semester, look inside to buy!" Yu Xiang stretched his head and saw that the meat was already sold out. Inside, it was early spring, with a lush green color everywhere, but he couldn't name them, so he just pointed at the greens and said "This, that!" The people behind him were impatient and scolded continuously.

  Yu Xiang wasn't interested in this meal, having eaten too many boxed lunches during summer training. He got up and left as soon as he finished. Only after leaving the Rain Fruit Hall did he realize that his bowl was still on the table. When he turned back, the bowl had already been taken away. Feeling unlucky, he returned to his dormitory. In Dorm 1, five people were huddled together listening to a soccer match, while in his own dorm, Xie Jingyuan was helping Shen Qi with a problem. Yu Xiang asked, "Have you eaten yet?" Xie Jingyuan didn't hold it against him for abandoning him during the water fight and smiled warmly, saying, "How could I eat? I'm eating crackers." He then brought out his crackers to prove the credibility of his words to Yu Xiang.

  Yu Xiang glanced at the bag of loose cookies and casually asked, "How much is your monthly living expenses?" As soon as he spoke, he regretted it, this was clearly a disdain for Xie Jingyuan and his cookies.

  Xie Jingyuan didn't haggle and said: "Two hundred."

  "Even eating?"

  "Go on."

  Yu Xiang's face was shocked, and he couldn't help but blurt out: "I earn 500 a month." The shock on his face transferred to Xie Jingyuan's face, who exclaimed: "So much!"

  Yǔ Xiáng said: "Those people next door might have even more!"

  Shen Qi and Tan Weidong both put down their books and stared with wide eyes, Xie Jingyuan muttered to himself: "Then they can buy a lot of reference books."

  Yu Xiang waved his hand and said, "Where? These people eat away 20 to 30 yuan of snacks every day!" Xie Jingyuan was heartbroken, as if they were eating his money, and said, "So much! They're just eating, it's a sin!"

  Yu Xiang heard this and smiled secretly, saying: "The clothes on their bodies alone are worth 200-300 yuan each."

  "Short sleeves?" Shen Qi asked. Yu Xiang nodded. Xie Jingyuan said, "Then aren't their families going to be driven to poverty by them?"

  "Where? These people, each family has at least 500,000 yuan as a bottom line, otherwise how can they get in with such low scores?"

  Xie Jingyuan was puzzled and said: "Why doesn't the principal of the school come to manage it?"

  Yu Xiang deliberately let out a loud laugh and said: "School, principal, ha! They're in charge, but where does the money come from?"

  Xie Jingyuan said: "Why doesn't the Education Bureau take care of it?"

  Yu Xiang originally wanted to say: "The Education Bureau is in charge of this, they are on the same road, if they manage it like this, wouldn't it be like prostitutes driving away customers?" After some reflection, he felt that facing Xie Jingyuan, who was so simple and only educated in political books, he couldn't say something like that. So he cut off the beginning and end of the sentence and said: "They are on the same road."

  Xie Jingyuan's eyes softened, saying: "How can the school be like this? The school is a place to cultivate socialist construction talents, it is..." Shen Qi and Tan Weidong also came over to discuss. Yu Xiang did not speak, watching from the sidelines.

  A string of curses came from the neighboring dorm room.

  Lin Yuxiang was extremely unaccustomed to the three-hour evening self-study session, unable to say a word, sitting there with nothing to do, only constantly checking his watch and suspecting it was broken. Feeling extremely bored, he quietly sang a song, singing halfway through when someone poked him from behind. That poke seemed like a police raid on prostitution, effective for just a short while, after a while Yuxiang couldn't help but sing a few more lines again.

  It's not easy to get through the evening self-study, and even at night, I couldn't sleep soundly. Before the lights went out, the school broadcast the "Dormitory Rules" for boarding students, and it was Principal Qian's voice again. Yu Xiang thought he was doomed this time and would be sleepless tonight. But Principal Qian himself also had to hurry to bed, so he just read through the dormitory rules once, like Jehovah giving the Ten Commandments to the Jews:

  "...Dormitory rules of the Third Middle School in the southern part of the city... No sleeping with two people on one bed... No loud noise... No taking other people's things at random... No listening to music, no..."

  Yu Xiang thought for a moment, and apart from "no killing", everything else was mentioned. Finally, Principal Qian said: "Classmates, have a good rest tonight, there's another task waiting for you tomorrow!" This sentence was like a puddle of blood on the road, making people both fearful and curious. Principal Qian seemed to be able to see the listeners' expressions through the broadcast, and when the students were tortured by curiosity until they couldn't take it anymore, he slowly said: "That task is military training..."