Back in the 1980s, hiking in the mountains was also a way of life

Seeing that Wang An and his two companions had parked their car at the gate, the old gatekeeper came out and asked:

"What do you guys do? School's out for break."

Wang An opened the door and got out of the car. Just as he was about to take out a cigarette, he saw Wang Yi had already skillfully propped up the motorcycle, taken off the fur trim from his cotton hat used to keep his nose, mouth, and chin warm, and said to the gatekeeper with a smile:

"Grandpa, it's me, Xiao Yi. My classmate is in the dormitory. We've come to pick her up. I asked my brother to find her a job with room and board."

The gatekeeper clearly recognized Wang Yi; upon seeing Wang Yi appear, he immediately smiled and said:

"You're something else, kid, riding a big motorcycle now, hahaha!"

Wang Yi smiled subtly, then raised his head and puffed out his chest, saying with great pride and self-satisfaction:

"My older brother bought it for me. He buys me whatever I want."

At this moment, Wang Yi had an arrogant look on his face, as if he wanted the whole world to know that he, Wang Yi, had a good older brother.

However, what he said was indeed correct, because apart from Mu Xueqing giving Wang Yi 10 yuan of pocket money every week, no matter what Wang Yi wanted to buy, as long as he asked Wang An, Wang An would almost never think twice and would just give Wang Yi the money directly.

However, every time Wang An gave the money, he would say the same thing:

"You better study hard, or if your grades drop, I won't give you a single penny next time."

Despite his words, Wang An rarely inquired about Wang Yi's academic performance.

Of course, Wang Yi's family doesn't need to worry about his studies at all.

When Wang Yi uttered these arrogant words, Wang An's eyelids twitched involuntarily, mainly because Wang An hadn't expected Wang Yi to say something like that.

Wang An twitched the corner of his mouth, but said nothing.

The gatekeeper glanced at the silent Wang An, then chuckled and continued:

"You're always showing off your older brother. The whole school knows you have a great older brother, hahaha."

It's obvious that Wang Yi showed off Wang An quite a bit when he was at school, and even the gatekeeper knew about it.

Wang Yi chuckled, showing no embarrassment whatsoever, but rather a smug look on his face.

Then the gatekeeper continued:

"Hey, you mean that classmate, Yang Qiuju? You guys need to pick her up quickly. That kid is crying and screaming and insists on staying in the dormitory. Your homeroom teacher actually agreed to it. In this freezing cold, and with her lack of food and water, I'm really worried that something might happen to her."

Wang Yi said with a smile:
"Yeah, my classmate's family situation is a bit special, and it's not easy to find work these days. My older brother just arranged something for her, and we came to pick her up."

Only then did Wang An take out a cigarette, offer one to the gatekeeper, light it for him, and say with a smile:

"If you stay a few more days, it'll be Chinese New Year. Aren't you going home, sir?"

The old man took a puff of his cigarette and said with a hint of helplessness:

"I'm coming back, I'm coming back right away. If it weren't for that Yang Qiuju, I wouldn't have come here at all. It's so good that you've come to pick her up, hehehe."

After exchanging a few more words of nonsense, the old man opened the gate, and Wang An, led by Wang Yi on his motorcycle, drove directly to the entrance of the girls' dormitory where Yang Qiuju was located.

When Wang An and his two companions entered the dormitory, they saw Yang Qiuju sitting on the bed, lost in thought, wrapped in a faded, unrecognizable blanket. Upon seeing them, Yang Qiuju was startled at first, then immediately threw the blanket aside, jumped off the bed, and said with a mixture of unease, nervousness, and surprise:
"Class monitor, class monitor, you, you guys, what brings you here?"

Upon hearing Yang Qiuju's address to Wang Yi, Wang An couldn't help but turn to look at Wang Yi.

Wang An was genuinely surprised that his younger brother was actually the class monitor! Mainly because Wang Yi had never mentioned it when he was home!

To be honest, Wang Yi is quite an oddball. When talking to outsiders, he goes out of his way to show off, but at home he never talks about how awesome he is at school.

Wang Yi looked at Yang Qiuju, his face full of sympathy and pity. After a two-second pause, he spoke with the authority of a squad leader:
"Put your shoes on first, the ground is so cold. Then pack your things and come with us."

Yang Qiuju clearly trusted Wang Yi, the class monitor, and quickly agreed, finding her shoes to put on. Only then did Wang An turn his gaze back to Yang Qiuju.

To be honest, at this moment, Yang Qiuju looked almost like a little beggar. At first glance, the only feeling was that this child was really too pitiful, as pitiful as could be.

Her face was covered in black soot, and her hair was disheveled, with bits of grass and coal dust stuck to it. It was hard to tell how long it had been since she had washed her face or hair.

Not only were the clothes covered in patches, but there were also several places where the cotton was leaking out.

The key point is that this outfit was actually quite small on Yang Qiuju, with a section of her dark forearm and a section of her dark calf showing.

Fortunately, Yang Qiuju is quite petite, otherwise she wouldn't have been able to fit into this outfit.

Wang An frowned as he looked at the cloth shoes that Yang Qiuju was going to wear.

Because these shoes were not only single shoes, but they also exposed the toes. When worn on Yang Qiuju's filthy feet, they looked like two tattered rags.

Yang Qiuju's attire is enough to prove just how cold-blooded and indifferent her relatives are to her!
Her relatives, who were Yang Qiuju's elders, clearly ignored and disregarded her.

Those people's hearts are absolutely made of iron, considering that Yang Qiuju is their own niece or cousin!

Wang An didn't look at Yang Qiuju again. Instead, he turned his head and looked around the dormitory.

The accommodation at the county's No. 1 Middle School is quite good.

Ten people shared a room, which was a large dormitory-style dormitory. However, all the beds were empty except for Yang Qiuju's set of luggage, the color of which was indistinguishable, which was laid out on one of the straw mats.

In the middle of the dormitory, there was a large iron stove for heating, and on the stove lid was a black aluminum lunchbox containing a small amount of cornmeal porridge.

Although it's called cornmeal porridge, Wang An thinks it's just dishwater because there's really too little cornmeal in it.

The worst part is that the porridge has now frozen solid.

Therefore, it is clear that there was absolutely no spark inside the furnace.

This was because it was during the holiday, and the logistics teacher who managed the coal room had already gone home, which meant that although there was a stove in Yang Qiuju's dormitory, there was no coal.

Of course, there were some straw and broken branches near the stove, as well as a small amount of firewood, which Yang Qiuju had clearly collected.

However, it is obvious that Yang Qiuju would only use the firewood to light the stove when cooking or when it was too cold at night.

There was no other way; in order to save coal, residents in the county town would collect tree branches or straw from the surrounding areas to burn for firewood. If Yang Qiuju wanted to collect more firewood to make the dormitory warmer, it would be a really difficult task.

After surveying the entire dormitory, Wang An couldn't help but click his tongue. (End of Chapter)