Struggle Life in the 1970s

After Chu Ye returned to the dormitory, he found what Mu Jiajun mentioned while rummaging through his luggage: an envelope folded into a rectangle. When he opened it, there was a twenty-yuan bill inside. There were a few lines of handwriting written in a flamboyant style on the paper, which looked like leaping butterflies.

The letter said: You don't have much money on you, so just keep this twenty yuan. If you feel bad about it, you can return it to me after you get a job. Also, if you have any problems at school, you can write to me. I hope everything is going well with you.

Chu Ye read these few short lines for a long time. After she finished reading, she carefully folded them up and put them into a cloth bag.

She lowered her head and continued to pack her things. During this time, the last roommate arrived. Her name was Leng Zhuojun. As her name suggested, she was quiet and cold, with a neat student haircut. She was taller than the other three and had very fair skin. She was not particularly beautiful, but she looked particularly imposing when she stood there.

After the four people exchanged names, the dormitory fell silent again. Chu Ye and Leng Zhuojun packed their things. Zhao Yue was a person who couldn't sit still, so she helped the two diligently. The atmosphere in the dormitory was quite harmonious.

The next morning, when the four people in their dormitory came out of the cafeteria, they heard the school broadcast notifying them to go to the classroom to collect textbooks. They looked at each other, took their bowls and went to the teaching building tacitly.

The school cafeteria is right behind the teaching building, which is a five-story red brick building. The lower two floors are the teachers' offices, the instruction department, and the tea room. The upper three floors are student classrooms, but they are not full.

A few people climbed to the fifth floor and saw that there were people sitting in the four classrooms. There were four classes in their grade. Students were assigned to classes after being admitted. Chu Ye happened to be in Class 1.

The four of them walked into the classroom. It wasn't a big classroom. At a glance, there were about a dozen wooden desks. It was the common type where two people sat at the same table. There were three desks in a row.

At this time, there were already several piles of books on the floor of the podium, and there were male students who were bending over and carrying them here continuously. The students who came early also chose their seats and sat down, and the lively ones had already started to communicate with each other.

Among the people in Chu Ye's dormitory, except Zhao Yue who was lively and warm-hearted, the other three were not so outgoing. They had no interest in chatting with classmates at this time, so they found a seat in the front row by the window and waited for the books to be distributed.

After a while, bursts of exclamations were heard in the corridor. Chu Ye was puzzled and looked up to see a girl in a white dress standing at the door of the classroom. The girl was not short, with a small leather bag on one shoulder and a pair of black T-shaped leather shoes on her feet. At this time, the sunlight outside the window just happened to fall on her, making her look particularly youthful and beautiful.

Not to mention, this girl has fair skin, raised eyebrows, and a natural arrogance when looking at people. There are also a few boys following behind her, and they keep looking at her.

Presumably the commotion outside just now was because of this girl. Chu Ye's eyes swept across the girl's face and her mind froze for a moment. She felt that this person was somewhat familiar, but she couldn't remember where she had seen her for a moment.

The girl glanced around the classroom and her eyes fell on the back of Chu Ye, where Qin Manwen sat. Then she retracted her gaze, raised her head slightly, and sat down in the middle of the first row.

There were three girls following behind her, probably from the same dormitory as her. The girls looked at each other, then tiptoed and sat in two rows behind her.

After a while, half of the podium was piled with books, and the head teacher walked in at this time.

This was a man who looked to be in his fifties. He wore silver-rimmed glasses and had some gray hair on his temples. He was not tall and slightly fat, and he spoke calmly.

He first called two boys to the podium and asked them to distribute the books to the students. Then he told the students to write their names on the books to prevent them from being lost. Finally, he told them about watching a movie tonight and having class at 8 o'clock tomorrow morning. Then he waved and left.

Chu Ye and the other three came out of the cafeteria and went straight to the classroom. None of them had a pen with them. In the end, Zhao Yue smiled and asked the people around her for a pen. The four of them took turns writing their names on the cover.

When they had finished writing and put the books in the drawer and were about to go back to the dormitory, they heard a scolding from the side.

"Are you doing this on purpose? Ah? My pen is very valuable!" Everyone's eyes were attracted by the sudden voice and they all looked at the girl in the white dress.

I saw her two long and thin eyebrows twisted together, her eyes were sharp, and she looked imposing.

The girl sitting behind her wrinkled her face, tears welled up in her eyes, and shook her head desperately, looking like she was being bullied.

"Why are you crying? Pick up my pen quickly. You can't afford to pay for it if it breaks!" The girl in the white dress was obviously not someone who was easy to talk to. She slammed her hand on the table and kept complaining.

The classroom was completely silent. Those who had originally wanted to leave sat down quietly and watched the show. Everyone had just started school yesterday and was not very familiar with each other. This kind of thing happened suddenly, and everyone around watched quietly, trying to figure out the cause of the matter, so no one spoke out at this time.

When the girl in the back seat heard such humiliating words, her face turned red. After she recovered from the shock, she raised her arm to wipe her eyes, then lowered her head to pick up a black pen from the ground.

When she handed the pen over, she began to explain herself. Although her voice was not loud, she was very firm. "Qiao Mingzhu, it was obviously you who didn't hold it firmly that caused it to fall to the ground. Don't blame me here. Don't look down on others. If it was really because of me that it was broken, I can afford to compensate you no matter how expensive your pen is."

The girl in the white dress rolled her eyes and didn't say anything. She took the pen and carefully checked it. Then she scratched it on the book. After confirming that there was no problem, she said as if to reward you, "Tsk! Can you afford to pay for it? This pen is imported from abroad. There is only one in the department store. You may not have seen it before."

She glanced at the girl and said disdainfully, "I've been so unlucky these past two days. Yesterday, a peddler got my skirt dirty, and today you knocked my pen away. I really need to get rid of the bad luck." Chu Ye, who was standing next to her, widened her eyes when she heard this. The peddler's angry words yesterday matched exactly what the girl in the white dress had said just now. She carefully observed the girl's appearance without making any expression, and finally came to a guess in her mind.

She had seen this person before! She had even confronted him!

Chu Ye recalled that during the days when she was taking exams in June, Mu Jiajun invited her to a restaurant for noodles one afternoon, but a girl at the next table mocked her for being a country bumpkin.

After hearing this, she didn't stand it and fought back on the spot, leaving the girl speechless. She still remembered that when she was leaving the house after dinner, she was still sighing that although this girl was mean and looked domineering from her appearance, she was actually not good at fighting back.

Chu Ye understood in his heart that the girl that the vendor complained about yesterday was her. Chu Ye's eyes fell on the edge of her skirt and found that it was completely white and empty. She must have been washed yesterday.

The girl named Qiao Mingzhu put her purse on her shoulder and stood up to leave the classroom, but the girl at the back desk grabbed her arm at this moment.

"You can't leave. You have to explain yourself clearly. I can't be wrongly accused by you for no reason." The girl shook off her timid look and became more determined.

"Everyone, please judge for yourself. When I returned her pen just now, I called her from behind. She didn't turn around, but just put her hand behind her. I put the pen in her palm, but she didn't hold it tightly and dropped the pen on the ground."

"Then she scolded me, saying that I dropped the pen, but it was obviously because she didn't hold it firmly. I didn't touch the pen at the time, and my deskmate can vouch for me!"

After getting rid of the panic she felt when she was frightened by Qiao Mingzhu at the beginning, the girl became more and more confident as she spoke. She had done nothing wrong in the first place, so she would not bear the injustice in vain.

Hearing this, Qiao Mingzhu frowned, her face full of impatience. She twisted her arm to get rid of the pull and shouted, "That's enough! I won't hold you responsible anymore, stop pestering me here."

"You! Stop slandering me here! I won't admit anything I didn't do!" The girl immediately fought back.

Qiao Mingzhu stood there, with the eyes of the entire classroom focused on the two of them. She didn't know whether to leave or stay.

The pen fell to the ground just now because she did not hold it firmly, but she still subconsciously blamed others. After all, others did use her pen, so what if she just said it?

Who would have thought that this girl was such a prick? Now she was embarrassed. She glanced at everyone in the classroom. They all had dark yellow faces and looked like people who worked hard every day. She wanted her to admit that she had wronged someone under their noses? Forget it in this life!
Qiao Mingzhu looked impatient, but she was pretty, and the girl who was confronting her looked furious and vowed to explain clearly what had just happened.

Some male classmates stood up and tried to mediate between the two, and some female classmates began to pull the two apart, saying nice things to them, trying not to let the relationship become too strained.

After all, we have just arrived at the school and it is not even the first day of school. We still have a long time to be classmates.

On this side, Zhao Yue was a warm-hearted person who joined the crowd to watch the fun. Chu Ye was not in the mood for this. After looking at the other two, he silently picked up his bowl and stood up.

She and Leng Zhuojun were walking in front. Qin Manwen was a step late because she had to take the bowl from Zhao Yue's drawer, and she was not following them at this time because she had to pull Zhao Yue out from the crowd.

After they returned to the dormitory, about a while later, the two of them came back. As soon as Zhao Yue entered the room, she closed the dormitory door, with an expression as if she had just finished eating the melon and wanted to share it.

"In my opinion, the girl in the white dress must have dropped the pen because she didn't hold it firmly. The people sitting behind her also came out to testify that the pen was in her hand at the time and she dropped it herself."

Zhao Yue curled her lips, "But the girl didn't admit it. After all, the people around didn't see what happened with their own eyes, so it's hard to take sides. Fortunately, the pen was intact, and the two of them lived in the same dormitory, so everyone advised them to let it go."

"But judging by their expressions, I don't think they will get along too well in the future."

After that, she curiously said to the three people, "Hey, that girl's clothes are pretty nice, but her temper is too bad."

After hearing this, Chu Ye agreed deeply. She nodded and responded, "What you said is true."

After he finished speaking, three pairs of wide-open eyes looked over, waiting for Chu Ye's next words.

(End of this chapter)