Siheyuan: Relieve stress and relieve worries

Chapter 982 Refusing to Live on Campus
One by one, the students who had registered entered the classroom. At this time, apart from the students they knew, everyone sat quietly. Some of the more outgoing students greeted the people next to them, but Wang Zhan sat quietly in the corner, looking out the window, seemingly lost in thought.

"Excuse me, is this seat taken?" a voice came from the side.

Wang Zhan turned his head and saw a tall, thin boy standing next to another table. Wang Zhan said, "There's no one here, you can sit down."

The boy sat down and smiled at Wang Zhan, who returned the smile as a greeting.

"Hello, my name is Lü Qing, and I'm also a freshman this year. May I ask your name?" the boy said.

"Oh, hello there too. My name is Wang Zhan, but it seems that everyone in this classroom except the teachers is a freshman, right?" Wang Zhan said with a smile.

Lu Qing slapped his forehead and said, "Look at my brain, I get nervous as soon as I enter the classroom. You're right. By the way, where are you from? Do you have a boarding school office?"

"No, I'm from Dongcheng. I don't want to live at school, and I have a younger sister to take care of, so I can't," Wang Zhan said.

"My home is in Changping. I just got a boarding school room. Goodness, there are eight people in one room. There's barely any room to turn around," Lu Qing complained.

The two started chatting, and Wang Zhan got to know his first classmate.

Not long after, a middle-aged man in his forties walked in. Wang Zhan looked him over. The man was burly and stood upright. He looked a bit like his master. Wang Zhan guessed that this man must have been a soldier.

The middle-aged man glanced around and then said, "Students, please be quiet. Let me introduce myself first. I am not your teacher, but the dean of students at this school. My name is Wang Hong. I'll be in your class to discuss the upcoming military training arrangements."

After Director Wang finished speaking, he took out a notebook and began to explain what he needed to prepare for the upcoming military training, the training schedule, and the disciplinary requirements.

Many students took out paper and pens to take notes seriously. Wang Zhan also pretended to write something with his pen. But if you saw Wang Zhan's notebook, you would find that it only had a date written on it, followed by the two words "Start of School".

While others didn't see it, Lü Qing did, and he thought his deskmate was quite interesting.

After Wang Hong finished speaking, he left. A short while later, a sixty-year-old man rushed into the classroom, panting. He said between breaths, "I'm sorry, students, I'm late on the first day. I am your mentor. My surname is Yu and my given name is Cang. I will be there to accompany you as you grow for the next two years."

Next, Teacher Yu asked everyone to introduce themselves. Wang Zhan was at the back of the line and simply said his name and age.

Teacher Yu then asked everyone if they had settled into their dormitories. Military training would begin tomorrow and would last for a month, with no leave allowed. When Wang Zhan heard this, he sighed. He thought that after registration was over, he would find Teacher Yu and explain his situation.

After the registration meeting ended, Wang Zhan slung his bag over his shoulder, said goodbye to Lü Qing, and hurried off to catch up with Teacher Yu. Teacher Yu walked quite fast; he had already reached the teachers' office in the middle of the floor. Wang Zhan knocked on the door and went inside.

Teacher Yu looked puzzled when he saw a student walking towards him. Wang Zhan said, "Hello, Teacher Yu, I am your student, Wang Zhan, a freshman in Mechanical Engineering Class 2."

"Oh, right, I remember you. What can I do for you?"

"Teacher Yu, it's like this, I have some special circumstances at home, and I don't plan to live at school. Is that alright?" Wang Zhan said calmly. Teacher Yu looked at this ordinary student in front of her and frowned. According to the course schedule, there were morning exercises and morning reading in the morning, and evening self-study sessions in the evening. If he didn't live at school, he wouldn't be able to participate in these school-organized learning activities.

Seeing that his teacher was hesitant, Wang Zhan told his advisor about his family situation, hoping that his advisor would approve his idea of ​​not living on campus.

Upon hearing Wang Zhan mention that he came from a family of first-class merit recipients and had a younger sister, Teacher Yu wavered. He had already agreed with Wang Zhan's idea in his heart, but he still didn't say it aloud. He then said, "Okay, I'll report to the principal and see if I can get it done. Don't rush, but you're not allowed to go home for military training. You'll have to prepare yourself."

Wang Zhan thanked Teacher Yu and returned to the classroom with a nervous heart. School ended in the afternoon, partly to give the boarding students time to go out and buy supplies, and partly to prepare for the opening ceremony the next day.

Wang Zhan rode his new bicycle home, where Jinbao greeted him warmly as always. Instead of going next door to pick up his younger sister, Wang Zhan was thinking about what to do if the principal didn't agree. Would he have to drop out of school? That would be a serious matter.

Wang Li was in high spirits, gesturing wildly in the neighboring yard. She had won over the dozen or so children in the yard with candy, and she became the big sister, directing a group of children to act out scenes from the movie "Little Soldier Zhang Ga".

Wang Li was having a great time, while Grandma Sun watched with amusement as she cleaned up the vegetables.

Just then, an old man's voice came from the front yard into the middle yard, "Hey, little Wang Zhan, it's been a long time since you've shown up. Where have you been?"

“Uncle Liu, you’re talking nonsense. I came to pick up my sister yesterday, mainly because you didn’t show up,” Wang Zhan said.

Grandpa Liu is the liaison officer in charge of the front yard. He has one bad habit: when he sees children, especially teenagers, he always wants to tease them.

"Really? Then you must have misremembered. How come there are two rounds?" Grandpa Liu said provocatively.

"Forget it, you lousy chess player, you always cheat. I'm not playing chess with you anymore. I'm going to pick up my sister." Wang Zhan waved his hand and walked straight towards the central courtyard.

Upon entering the courtyard, Wang Zhan saw Granny Sun picking green beans in front of her house. He glanced at his younger sister, who was playing wildly in the courtyard, and then walked over to Granny Sun. He found a small stool, sat down, and helped her pick the vegetables.

Wang Zhan said, "Auntie, that's impressive! You can even buy green beans?"

"Haha, thanks to a former colleague, he went to the countryside to do publicity work and brought some back with him. He shared half with me, and we'll stew some potatoes with it later." Grandma Sun was happy today, having gotten such a great deal.

“Just stewed green beans aren’t tasty. Wait a minute, I have some spare ribs at home. I’ll bring them over. Spare ribs stewed with green beans and potatoes are a perfect match.” Wang Zhan suddenly thought of spare ribs and said, then stood up and walked outside.

Not long after, Wang Zhan came in carrying a basin containing pork ribs. Grandma Sun's eyes lit up instantly. She took the ribs and some freshly picked green beans and went into her kitchen.

Wang Zhan was now just waiting to be served, sitting there lighting a cigarette and watching his sister and her friends play.

(End of this chapter)