Miao Caijun saw the mottled skin on his junior schoolmate’s face lying on the bed. He wanted to avoid it but felt it would hurt her feelings, so he could only patiently greet her, say a few words, and then quickly find an opportunity to get up and leave.
Liu Chen couldn't help but secretly laugh behind her back when she saw Xiong Wan speaking softly with half her face covered in foundation.
After Miao Caijun left, Xiong Wan finally remembered the reason for her heatstroke.
"See? To save a few dollars, I got sunstroke. I told you we should buy it at the supermarket downstairs?"
Liu Chen rolled her eyes. She genuinely wondered how this girl managed to get into Tsinghua with such a brain.
"Sheng Nan already said she'd bring it back for you, but you changed your mind and insisted on coming along. Don't you remember?"
As Liu Chen said this, Xiong Wan also remembered. She had thought at the time that if the three of them walked together and she wasn't there, they would surely gossip about her behind her back, which was why she forced herself to go with them.
After recalling the reason, Xiong Wan felt a little guilty, but stubbornly said,
"Even if I followed along, you should have just gone downstairs?"
Liu Chen rolled her eyes and stopped bothering with Xiong Wan. "Since you're awake now, we're leaving. We have the freshman orientation assembly tonight at seven-thirty in the school auditorium."
"You're not allowed to leave! You have to stay with me!"
Liu Chen completely ignored Xiong Wan and directly pulled Sang Ling away. As for Tang Sheng Nan, she looked at both sides and followed them out.
"Are we still going to the supermarket?" Tang Sheng Nan was still thinking about buying a basin and a facecloth at the supermarket.
"Let's go."
…
In C City, Hu Qian stood outside the prison gate, looking at the stern walls with their cold electric fences and shattered glass, and couldn't help but swallow.
She hadn't told anyone. She had asked an aunt at the police station and found her way here.
After presenting her ID and filling out the visitor form, she was scheduled for an afternoon visit.
Led by a prison guard, Hu Qian walked through a long, dark corridor to the visiting room.
The visiting room was an old room with a long table in the middle. Opposite the table was an iron bars, and behind the bars was a solid glass wall. The old incandescent light bulb flickered slightly.
Hu Qian swallowed and sat down in a chair, waiting for her mother.
After a short while, Zhang Lili arrived, her hands shackled. When she saw Hu Qian, her face was a mixture of tears and laughter.
After Zhang Lili sat down, they both picked up the landline phones placed at the top left corner of the table.
"Mom."
Hu Qian's voice came from the phone. The tears that had just stopped in Zhang Lili's eyes began to fall again.
Zhang Lili forced herself to stop crying. She knew that visiting time was limited and couldn't be wasted on useless tears. "Yes, how have you been lately? Has your father been giving you a hard time?"
"I, my college entrance exam results are out. I didn't get into a bachelor's program, only a vocational one."
"It's okay. Have your dad bribe his way into a third-tier university for you. We still have the money for that."
Hu Qian looked at Zhang Lili, sitting opposite her behind the glass, in a daze.
"Mom, I, I don't want to repeat the year."
Zhang Lili looked at Hu Qian, who was speaking haltingly, and a suspicion arose in her heart. She pressed for details.
At first, Hu Qian just wanted to see her mother and let her know that she was doing well.
But under Zhang Lili's repeated questioning, Hu Qian poured out everything that had happened since her imprisonment.
Zhang Lili's hand holding the phone suddenly tightened. She wasn't stupid; she had managed to become the "main wife" by being a mistress. Listening to her only daughter's words, her head buzzed.
Hu Xingfa, Hu Xingfa, I'm going to kill you!
Hu Qian watched Zhang Lili stare blankly at the phone and couldn't help but ask,
"Mom, tell me, what should I do? Should I listen to Dad and repeat the year in S Province?"
Zhang Lili gritted her teeth, managing to suppress the urge to curse.
She was imprisoned now. If she let Hu Qian realize what Hu Xingfa had done, she didn't know what this foolish daughter would do. She would likely not get revenge and not get any benefits.
After thinking for a moment, Zhang Lili could only try to calm her daughter down.
"Since so many things have happened, you can go to a vocational college in another province. But remember, no dating in college, understand?"
Hu Qian thought of her 'boyfriend' and all that had happened recently. She didn't dare. She didn't dare face him. The moment she saw him, her lies would be exposed.
"I understand, Mom."
The mother and daughter chatted for a while longer until the visiting time was up. Hu Qian reluctantly left the visiting room.
After Hu Qian left, Zhang Lili slumped onto the chair as if all her energy had been drained.
After this prison ordeal, Zhang Lili had a clear understanding: men were all nonsense. The most important things were money and her daughter.
Hu Xingfa, that scumbag, used her daughter as a pawn. That "CEO" was probably a pervert. Who knew what benefits he had promised Hu Xingfa, that scumbag.
Thinking that she still had a year and a half of her sentence left, a hint of madness flashed in Zhang Lili's eyes.
"Hu Xingfa, you just wait."
…
After the freshman orientation assembly at night, they would report to their respective classes. Coincidentally, in dorm 305, apart from Sang Ling, the three of them in the Food Science department were in the same class.
Liu Chen had always thought that university was like what was shown on TV, where they would go to luxuriously decorated lecture halls every day with their laptops. Now, seeing classrooms that looked like high school, except for the individual desks and chairs, she was a little disappointed.
The entire Class 1 of Food Science had 48 students. The young counselor called out names one by one from the roll, asking those called to raise their hands.
When Liu Chen raised her hand, everyone finally connected her to the name "Liu Chen, the top scorer in science."
"Alright, is anyone willing to volunteer for the positions of class monitor, league secretary, study committee member, logistics committee member, and cultural and sports committee member? If you are, you can come up and share your ideas. Don't be shy. After graduating from university, you'll be entering society and looking for jobs yourself. This is a good opportunity to gain experience and be more composed in the future."
Perhaps it was the counselor's words that made everyone a little restless. Liu Chen saw a tall, sturdy boy sitting behind her walk past and stand on stage.
"Hello everyone, my name is Xu Dazhuang, from Heilongjiang. I'm a pure Northeastern man. I've loved ice skating since I was little and also studied boxing for a while. I want to run for cultural and sports committee member."
With Xu Dazhuang as the first to take the stage, six more people went up one after another, including Xiong Wan.
"Sheng Nan, why don't you go try?" Liu Chen looked at Xiong Wan, who was earnestly canvassing votes on stage, and asked Tang Sheng Nan, tilting her head slightly.
Tang Sheng Nan shook her head. "I have a part-time job. If I become a class committee member, I don't think I'll have enough time and won't be able to handle the teacher's tasks well."
This wasn't the first time Liu Chen had heard Tang Sheng Nan mention her part-time job. Thinking back on her past life experience, she offered some advice.
"Sheng Nan, you can ask the counselor if there are any suitable part-time jobs for you. If you look for them yourself, you might end up wasting time on the road."
Tang Sheng Nan nodded, clearly taking Liu Chen's advice to heart.
Xiong Wan, who was giving a speech on stage, saw the way they were talking. After coming down, Xiong Wan sat back next to Tang Sheng Nan and asked what they had been talking about.
"Liu Chen suggested I ask the counselor for advice on finding a part-time job."
Xiong Wan's eyes widened, and she said disapprovingly,
"Sheng Nan, we worked so hard to get into Tsinghua University. Don't waste your time on these things. If you're really short on money, I can lend it to you. You can pay me back slowly after you start working, or you can come directly to our company, consider it an investment."
Tang Sheng Nan, who appeared amiable and easygoing, just smiled innocently and didn't say anything. This made Liu Chen look at her a few more times, understanding in her heart. How could someone who got into Tsinghua University not have some thoughts in their mind?
Recalling, it seemed that whenever Tang Sheng Nan encountered a question she didn't want to answer or found difficult to answer, she would just smile innocently. Coupled with her somewhat dark and round face, people wouldn't press further at that time.
After waiting a few more minutes and seeing no one else come up to give a speech, the counselor called out,
"Now let's start voting. I'll read out the names, and you'll raise your hands to vote. Liu Chen, won't you come up and try?"
The counselor was still a bit persistent. In his opinion, Liu Chen was the top scorer in the class and was also beautiful. If she became the class monitor, many things would be easier to handle in the future.
Liu Chen, sitting in her chair, shook her head, politely declining the counselor's invitation. Compared to being a class monitor, she preferred to enjoy her university life.
After the voting ended, Xu Dazhuang, who had gone up first, successfully became the cultural and sports committee member, while Xiong Wan became the class monitor.
Another girl with black-rimmed glasses and short bangs, Wang Ranran, became the study committee member.
"Alright, the class officers have all been selected. Next, I'll talk about tomorrow's military training. This year's military training will be the same as in previous years, lasting twenty-four days, and it will be held on campus. The cafeteria will be open as usual during military training.
Since the camouflage uniforms are all the same, it's best for you to make your own marks. Otherwise, when you take them out of the washing machine, they'll all be identical camouflage uniforms, and you won't be able to tell who is who.
During military training, everything will be under the command of the drill instructors. You can communicate with them if you have any problems. After military training, there will be a military training performance. In previous years, our Food Science department has always been at the bottom. This year, I hope you will put in extra effort.
That's all I have to say. You should go back and get some rest. If nothing unexpected happens, you'll probably have to get up very early tomorrow morning."
After the counselor finished speaking, he truly walked out of the classroom with the class roster, leaving the students sitting inside.
"Although my health isn't good, and I fainted from walking in the sun today, I will still persevere with military training."
Xiong Wan, sitting next to Liu Chen, suddenly placed her hand on Tang Sheng Nan's arm and said weakly.
Xu Dazhuang, who happened to be passing by, heard this and was quite moved. He walked back, clenched his fist, and vigorously nodded his encouragement to Xiong Wan.
"Yes, you are our class monitor, after all. You need to take the lead. Keep it up!"
Xiong Wan, who had originally intended to lay the groundwork to "faint" tomorrow as well, couldn't help but nod and smile after being encouraged.
"Heh heh, thank you for your encouragement, classmate Dazhuang."
The three of them came together, and when they left, Liu Chen and Tang Sheng Nan walked together. Xiong Wan stayed behind with Wang Ranran, the study committee member.
As they reached the entrance of the girls' dormitory, Liu Chen was about to go in when she was called.
"Liu Chen!"