Chapter 90: Chapter 90: The first day of school without boarding
September 1st, the day of registration, was no different for third-year students than usual. They closed the door and went to class as usual. ƒree𝑤ebnσvel.com
For the new first-year students, it was a day of novelty and excitement, a new school, new teachers, new classmates...another new beginning.
For Feng Yiping and the other second-year students, this was the last reporting day in middle school when they would not be taking a serious class. Their main task today was to go to the finance office to pay their tuition and fees, and then clean the school.
Feng Yiping arrived at school in the morning, paid the tuition fees, said hello to Xiao Zhijie and Wang Changning, and then took advantage of the cover of the new students reporting for duty to slip out of the school. Since they were doing collective labour, his absence would not be missed.
Back in his cubicle, he stewed the braised pork and prepared the other dishes. Taking advantage of the little time he had, he double-checked the few sheet music he had written down. This was a matter of great importance that would determine whether he could open a restaurant in the provincial capital, and he could not afford to make any mistakes.
He likes to braise the pork for a long time. After two hours or so, he adds a handful of baby bok choy, a pinch of salt, and then reduces the sauce over high heat.
He tastes a few pieces: slightly sweet, melts in the mouth, not greasy, not bad!
Next, he fries some tofu, then some eggs with chili, and finally makes some mushroom soup. Just then, he hears Xiao Zhijie knocking on the door.
He takes a deep breath as he enters, 'Wow, it smells good!' and then rushes to the kitchen.
Wang Changning was behind him, carrying a black plastic bag containing at least a litre of peeled peanuts.
Feng Yiping didn't waste any time and took it from him, then showed him around the room. In the other bedroom, the bunk beds were already set up and ready for him to move in.
The glutton that he was, Xiao Zhijie took a few pieces of braised pork in a bowl and walked over to them, saying, 'You're really good at this, the soup is ready too. What are you looking at, let's eat!'
He couldn't drink, so he had a soft drink instead. There was no need for any small talk, everyone just sat down and started eating immediately. The first thing he grabbed was the braised pork, which was just stewed pork without any other side dishes. You could only eat this every year when the New Year's pig was slaughtered.
The growing teenager really had an appetite for meat, and he polished off more than two catties of pork belly, as well as all the tofu and eggs. There was just a little mushroom soup left, and that was because they had drunk two big bottles of soft drink.
The three of them all lay on the sofa, feeling full, with their bellies rumbling. Feng Yiping kicked Xiao Zhijie, 'Go wash the dishes,'
and Xiao Zhijie kicked Wang Changning, "Old Wang, you go, I washed them a few days ago.'
'I wasn't here the other time either,'
because it was still before class, they were all a little over-energetic and good at picking fights.
In the end, Feng Yiping made the decision, "You two play rock-paper-scissors, winner takes all.'
In the end, Wang Changning was unlucky and lost to Xiao Zhijie's outstanding cloth with his fist.
Xiao Zhijie watched him go into the kitchen with a wicked smile on his face. But then he sighed, 'Oh, it would be nice to have a TV.'
'Forget the TV, I'll buy a tape recorder in a few days. You can listen to music and learn English.'
It's actually quite nice not having a TV, a computer or the internet. Feng Yiping knows that he is not a determined person. If there are too many external temptations, he will definitely relax. It is better to be a bit nervous during this period of laying a solid foundation.
He can skip school in the afternoon, but he must go to evening study sessions, because Wang Yumin will definitely be there. If she doesn't show up during evening study sessions after being absent all day, that will really challenge her bottom line.
In the evening, Wang Yumin's speech still contained nothing new, emphasising the meaning of learning and the urgency of time. It is not surprising that these words will continue throughout the remaining two years.
It was after nine o'clock when Feng Yiping returned to the village, pedalling hard under the starlight.
The village was quiet, most people had already gone to bed, and only a few windows were still lit.
The silence was deafening, even the insects in the grass by the roadside were barely audible. The occasional barking of a dog in the distance only served to emphasise the loneliness of the night.
Listening to the monotonous sound of his own footsteps, Feng Yiping felt a little nervous. There weren't many good lights in the corridor, so he went upstairs in the dark. To boost his courage, he stamped his feet hard on each step as he went up, opened the door, turned on the light, and then closed the door behind him.
Once inside, he relaxed. He took another shower, soaked his clothes in the basin, went into the bedroom, wrote some more of his novel, and went to bed at half past ten sharp.
September 2nd. Yesterday's chaotic school quickly returned to normal, and with the ringing of the bell to wake up, the new semester officially kicked off.
Feng Yiping got up at 6am, made a bowl of egg noodles, and while eating the noodles, cooked two more eggs to take to the two delivery guys.
At 6:30, he rode his bike to school, and at this time the building was still quiet, with most people still asleep.
He entered the classroom at 6:45, and the boarding students had not yet returned from running. A few minutes later, he saw the large group of students running into the school. Then, he heard the school leader's speech in the playground. After the speech, the students went to their classrooms in groups of three or five.
After school at noon, he hurried back to the village on his bike, cooked the rice, stir-fried some dried long beans, and went to bed when he saw that the rice was not yet ready. He got up an hour later, washed his face, finished the two bowls of rice, and then arrived at school before 1:30 in a fresh mood.
In the afternoon, he went home with Mr and Mrs Wang Yumin. Teacher Zhu rode his bicycle with Feng Yiping, while Wang Yumin rode Feng Yiping's mountain bike, with Xiaoyan sitting on the front bar.
After entering the house, Wang Yumin looked at her watch, 'It's almost fifteen minutes.'
Teacher Zhu took Xiaoyan for a spin and then came out and said, 'Your hardware is better than ours!'
Wang Yumin then unceremoniously inspected the books on Feng Yiping's desk, opened the drawers and looked around, even glancing under the bed. Noting that there were no random books or other things that would distract him, she nodded with satisfaction.
Feng Yiping hadn't known about today's visit, which had come as a surprise, so he hadn't been able to prepare. Now it seemed that, as his mother had said, he was still a child who could put adults' minds at ease.
Since he was here, Feng Yiping simply stayed for dinner. There were plenty of dishes in the kitchen anyway.
Wang Yumin was going to be the chef, with Zhu Laoshi's help, and Feng Yiping took Xiaoyan to buy milk and popsicles from the small shop on the street.
Wang Yumin's cooking was just so-so, with a light taste. Maybe it was because of Xiaoyan, but Feng Yiping knew that Zhu Laoshi liked things a little salty and spicy.
At the dinner table, Wang Yumin mentioned that it was fine for now, but next month, after the lunch break was cancelled, it would be a half-hour round trip, plus cooking, so it would be more rushed at noon.
Feng Yiping had already thought about it: when the weather turned cooler, he could cook the food, take it to school in an insulated lunchbox in the morning, and eat at school at noon.
However, his request to skip school and attend evening classes was rejected out of hand by Wang Yumin, who added that if there was bad weather, such as heavy rain or snow, he could ask for leave.
Knowing that it would not be that easy, Feng Yiping still had to think of a way to get her to agree.