The joys of the holiday season are always fleeting.
Yue Qingqing went back to Lingguang with her newly-wed uncle and aunt.
Along the way, the couple was deeply affectionate, pink bubbles appearing every time they looked at each other.
Yue Qingqing felt she shouldn’t be in the car; she should be under it.
She was basically watching a public display of affection.
Because of her uncle’s wedding this summer break, Yue Qingqing and her senior barely met and even had to squeeze in hurried meetings with Jiang Jingze.
To make cooking easier, Jiang Jingze had Yue Qingqing come over to his house.
Unexpectedly, Jiang’s parents were also home, and their loving looks at Yue Qingqing reminded her of how her grandmother looked at her aunt.
Unfortunately, they would have even fewer chances to meet after school started.
Yue Qingqing also silently resolved to aim for Minghua University and study harder after the new term began.
When the first-grade students moved up to second grade, the first lesson was a severe wake-up call from the teacher.
"The school has announced that there will be a unified school-starting test tomorrow. After a holiday, I hope nobody has returned all their knowledge to the teacher, right?"
Listening to the wails rising and falling in the classroom, the homeroom teacher tapped the blackboard.
"Stop howling like wolves; you’d think it was a zoo. Come on, students, you need to start worrying. You are almost third-year students now, it’s time to stop playing."
This speech was very effective for most students, but it did nothing for some.
During evening self-study, Qu Ruorui and Yue Qingqing were just heading upstairs when they heard several girls chatting in the hallway.
Zhou Xitong was gleefully sharing stories about her holiday trips abroad.
These days, it’s rare to meet someone who has traveled by plane or train, let alone abroad.
For many, the farthest they had been before university was a bus trip to a neighboring city.
In Zhou Xitong’s description, foreign countries were beautiful and clean places, even the air smelled ten thousand times better than in China.
She distributed some small items and postcards from her suitcase to her peers in the dormitory.
Although people gossiped about Zhou Xitong last semester, after a holiday and seeing her generosity now, they no longer spoke ill of her.
Many even thanked Zhou Xitong for her gifts, heaping praise on her verbally.
Zhou Xitong intentionally skipped Yue Qingqing’s dormitory, her desire to isolate them quite apparent.
We’re high school students; can’t we be a bit more mature? That’s just too childish.
Yue Qingqing, Qu Ruorui, Lu Zhu — which of them would envy Zhou Xitong?
Ye Chunxiao, true to form, said sarcastically, "Our Xitong got to travel abroad during the holiday, while some people could only wait tables, smelling up the place. Better stay away from us."
Lu Zhu didn’t even glance her way and went straight into the dormitory.
Ye Chunxiao’s attitude also made many feel uncomfortable, and they too found excuses to head back to their rooms.
After all, families like Zhou Xitong’s were in the minority; most came from very ordinary homes. Even if they didn’t work non-stop like Lu Zhu, they inevitably had to help out at home during the holidays.
Ye Chunxiao’s remark offended quite a few people.
Zhou Xitong felt it was pointless and huffed back to her room.
Ye Chunxiao followed behind her, almost like Zhou Xitong’s tail.
Even the normally kind-hearted Qu Ruorui couldn’t help but think of the phrase "riding on coattails" in her mind.
She had thought of comforting Lu Zhu with a few words.
But Lu Zhu, having fetched water, sat at the edge of her bed soaking her feet and memorizing vocabulary, seemingly unaffected.
Qu Ruorui knocked on her own head.
How could she forget that Lu Zhu has always been thick-skinned, never taking such gossip to heart?
Yue Qingqing found Qu Ruorui’s expressions and gestures amusing and couldn’t help but smile slightly.
Following her gaze to Lu Zhu, Yue Qingqing’s smile momentarily hesitated.
"Lu Zhu, where are you planning to go tomorrow?"