Of course, this also made Qin Xiangnuan even less burdened. She was about to start her senior year in high school, and currently, her whole family didn’t want her to do anything else but to focus on her studies.
Time slipped away quietly. The sweltering heat of summer had not yet dissipated when Qin Xiangnuan faced her first senior year in two lifetimes. Although she had never experienced high school before, she knew that it would be a grueling time. Those who made it through would find themselves on a path to prosperity, while those who didn’t would have no choice but to return home and work the fields.
For students at this time, getting into college was considered their only way out. Therefore, everyone looked forward to senior year, yet they also feared it.
Qin Xiangnuan was no exception. However, she might be a bit better prepared than the others; at the very least, she had more time, which made her senior year busier, with even less spare time, and even more hellish.
"Brother, this is yours," Qin Xiangnuan placed a pile of items in front of Qin Xiangyang.
Qin Xiangyang went over to take a look, and his eyes immediately widened in astonishment.
"Sister, did you embroider this?"
"Yeah," Qin Xiangnuan said, with a look as if you should’ve known, "I’ve already finished the Qingming River Painting in the living room. This is just a small task."
"When the time comes, just have someone frame the Hundred Years of Happiness Painting, and as for the four-piece bedding set, give it to your company commander in advance. Just say it’s something you made yourself and it didn’t cost much money. It’s meant to be auspicious and to bring joy."
Qin Xiangyang’s eyes widened even more. He knew his sister had skillful embroidery techniques, but he hadn’t expected them to be this exquisite. He hadn’t noticed when it was made into a screen, but now seeing the original embroidery, he was truly shocked.
It was densely stitched, with unique needlework, layer upon layer. Could this really have been done by hand? It was almost incomprehensible. How long did it take to embroider each stitch and thread? He worried she was staying up nights to work on it, but every day she seemed fine, with no dark circles under her eyes—so she must’ve been resting well. To finish these two major pieces in a month required incredibly fast hands.
"Sis, how did you manage this?" Qin Xiangyang stuttered, "Isn’t this too fast? Doesn’t everyone say that embroidery is really time-consuming? How did you finish so quickly?"
"Is it really that quick?" Qin Xiangnuan pointed at the Hundred Years of Happiness Painting in Qin Xiangyang’s hand. "This one is almost finished. I originally planned to embroider it for my big brother. Since he doesn’t need it right now, I’ve given it to your company commander. When the time comes for big brother to get married, I’ll embroider another one for him, how about that?"
Qin Xiangyang turned beet red.
"What are you talking about? Your brother is still a student," he argued, with a flushed face and thick neck.
"Students graduate, younger guys grow up. Big brother will be getting married soon," Qin Xiangnuan continued unabashedly, seemingly taking pride in making her big brother blush and driving Qin Xiangyang to bolt in embarrassment—she was truly shameless in teasing her own brother.
"That... uh..." Qin Xiangyang touched his head awkwardly, "I’m going to feed Conghua." Having said this, he dashed out, and soon after, Conghua’s barks could be heard. Conghua now adored Qin Xiangnuan more than its own master, in some respects.
Those who provided milk were regarded as mothers.
Those who gave food were seen as fathers.
Now Qin Xiangyang, who fed Conghua every day, was indeed considered its father, right?
The senior year classes started earlier than the other grades this year, including splitting into classes, settling into dorms, and all while other students were still enjoying their summer holidays. When the other students finally returned to school, senior students had already adapted to their busy schedules and turned it into their routine.
Qin Xiangnuan examined the class roll for her own name.
Class one and class two were the top classes, recruiting only the top one hundred students.
Fortunately, she was a student of class one, her grades qualified, but what she disliked was being in the same class as Li Mingyan again. Moreover, out of fifty students in the class, there were twenty-four girls divided into three dormitories. Coincidentally, she ended up bunking with Sun Mingyan.
Qin Xiangnuan really admired her own luck, as if she was somehow touched by it. She didn’t go to the dormitory, as Li Mingyan seemed particularly unfriendly whenever she saw Qin Xiangnuan; her nose twitching and eyes glaring in a way that clearly said:
These troublesome pests were indeed overwhelming; Qin Xiangnuan feared she couldn’t handle them.
When she returned, she threw her bag onto the stone table and sat down listlessly.
"What’s wrong?" Jian Zhiqing came over and sat opposite her. "First day of class, in a bad mood or got into some trouble?"
Qin Xiangnuan lifted her face and gazed at Jian Zhiqing for a while. It seemed she had to ask for Doraemon’s help again. She was absolutely not going to stay in the dormitory. With eight people to a room, she couldn’t sleep well or eat well—it wasn’t as comfortable as home. Plus, she felt that after having stayed in the dormitory last semester, she hadn’t learned as much as when she studied alone in the system. There simply wasn’t enough time to use.
"Brother Jian, I don’t want to stay at the dormitory anymore," she laid her head on her arms, feeling down for the whole day, especially because Li Mingyan kept glaring at her through flared nostrils as if they were a few times larger than anyone else’s. Perhaps growing such large nostrils meant she needed to breathe twice as much air as others?
Jian Zhiqing remembered what Qin Xiangnuan had said and worried that Li Mingyan really was in the same dormitory as her.
"In the same dormitory now?" He seemed to feel Qin Xiangnuan was in too good a mood and just had to rub salt in the wound.
Tsk, the rubbing of salt might as well have been a bloody white knife going in and a red one coming out.
Qin Xiangnuan was now too lazy to even glare at him, continuing to play dead with her head on her arms. Even Conghua, seeing its master , copied her and hid its head between its front paws. Qin Xiangnuan kicked it away.
"Stop imitating me, go chill out over there."
Conghua got up and lay down under the big tree in the yard, continuing to play dead.
Alright, Jian Zhiqing thought it best not to ask further. Asking more might lead him to silently light a row of candles for himself in mourning. "Tomorrow, Brother Jian will go to your school and explain the situation. You don’t need to stay at the dorms. With poor food and sleep, you lost weight last semester."
Qin Xiangnuan pouted; she didn’t feel she had lost weight, just grown out of her baby fat. Most importantly, staying at home was indeed more convenient than at school. If it weren’t for the school’s strict dormitory requirement, she really wouldn’t want to stay at school. Staying at her own home was so much better, so much closer.