“Room 307 is yours. Go up and find an empty bed.”

“Thank you, Senior. I understand. Please go attend to your other duties!”

Zhao Qian was in a hurry, and Xia Xiaolan didn’t want to burden her further – she surely had many new students to receive today.

The key in her hand had a ‘307’ tag attached, along with the Huaqing school badge.

“So this is enrollment?”

Looking at the sea of people, Li Fengmei and Liu Fen had remained quiet. Xia Xiaolan’s college entrance exam score was certainly excellent – 617 points, ranking third nationally. But at that score level, there were quite a few students nationwide who scored above 600. Those who scored lower than Xia Xiaolan weren’t necessarily less intelligent; it might just be a difference of two or three multiple-choice questions. Anyone picked from this crowd would be a top student.

With so many people qualifying for Huaqing, Li Fengmei no longer dared claim her niece was the smartest, keeping a low profile during the enrollment process.

“Let’s go upstairs.”

In university dorms, whoever arrives early gets the best spots. Xia Xiaolan thought she was early enough, but when she arrived, three beds were already taken.

“Excuse me, is this Room 307?”

“Come in, this is 307. What’s your major?”

A square-faced girl in the room immediately asked. She wasn’t short, nor fat, but had a large frame with broad shoulders and a square face, looking very spirited. True to her appearance, she was quite outgoing.

“Architecture Department. Are there students from other departments in our room?”

The square-faced girl immediately smiled, “That would be me – Civil Engineering. I heard your department only admitted 15 female students this year.”

So there were so few female Architecture students that they couldn’t even fill two eight-person dorms, necessitating a Civil Engineering student to join them. Xia Xiaolan was in Architecture Class 2, and this year Huaqing’s Architecture Department had only three undergraduate classes, probably around a hundred students total, with only 15 female students.

This gender ratio made Liu Fen somewhat worried.

Was this major unsuitable for girls? Why were there so few female students?

“Well, I’m one of this year’s fifteen Architecture girls. Let me properly introduce myself – Xia Xiaolan, from Yunan. This is my mother, aunt, and young cousin.”

“Oh my, hello aunties, hello little cousin! I’m Yang Yonghong from Jibei Province. We’re practically fellow townspeople, though you don’t have any accent at all.”

Yunan and Jibei, separated only by the Zhang River, had similar living habits and customs, so they could indeed be considered half-townspeople. To reach Beijing from Yunan Province, the train had to pass through Jibei Province.

With this semi-hometown connection, Yang Yonghong was very friendly towards Xia Xiaolan.

Initially, when Xia Xiaolan entered the room, Yang Yonghong was quite shocked – not just because of her beauty, but because her dignified air made her seem like some young lady from who-knows-where. She’d worried Xia Xiaolan might be difficult to get along with. After exchanging a few words, she realized Xia Xiaolan wasn’t the aloof type.

Yang Yonghong urged Xia Xiaolan to quickly choose a bed. In Room 307, Xia Xiaolan was the fourth to arrive. Yang Yonghong had chosen a bottom bunk, saying she feared falling off during the night if she slept on top.

The other two unseen roommates had taken the window-side upper bunks, so Xia Xiaolan chose the one behind the door. Yang Yonghong also reminded her to claim a storage cabinet, “Eight cabinets, but several have broken locks that need fixing. But you’re really lucky to have so many family members accompanying you for enrollment. The train tickets from Yunan to Beijing must be expensive…”

Yang Yonghong was very cheerful and naturally friendly.

Before Xia Xiaolan had finished making her bed, Yang Yonghong had already shared most of her situation. Being from Jibei near Beijing, no one from her family had accompanied her for enrollment. She’d traveled with another hometown classmate who was also admitted to a Beijing university. Upon reaching Beijing station, they were picked up by Huaqing’s school bus and brought directly to campus, making enrollment completely hassle-free.

“My goodness, the entire train car was full of college students admitted to Beijing universities. Behind me sat two Jing University graduate students, and diagonally across was a senior who’s a Huaqing doctoral student…”

Yang Yonghong had met many people on the train.

By coming early for enrollment, Xia Xiaolan had missed out on some experiences, at least the famous “student car” phenomenon.

But she wasn’t in a hurry – there were still four years… no, five years to gradually meet classmates from various departments. Huaqing’s Architecture Department had a five-year undergraduate program. Xia Xiaolan often got confused about this – a side effect of attending university twice before, making her mix up certain details.

After making her bed and still not seeing the remaining roommates, Xia Xiaolan asked Yang Yonghong if she wanted to join them for a meal.

Liu Fen and Li Fengmei both extended the invitation, but Yang Yonghong shook her head, “No need, no need, you go with the aunties. I brought two flatbreads from home that I need to eat before they go bad.”

Outside, Li Fengmei nodded approvingly, “Your classmates seem quite easy to get along with. This one isn’t the type to take advantage of others.”

From Yang Yonghong’s clothes and bedding, it was clear her family circumstances weren’t well-off. Inviting her to eat would mean Xia Xiaolan’s side would pay since the elders were present. It was admirable that she didn’t try to take advantage, and even more so that she spoke without pettiness. Xia Xiaolan looked forward to sharing a room with such a girl for the next few years.

They hadn’t met the other roommates yet, but hopefully, they would be as sunny-natured as Yang Yonghong. If so, these college years would be full of promise!

After completing enrollment, they planned to climb the Great Wall in the afternoon, with train tickets back to Shangdu at eight in the evening. Li Fengmei and Liu Fen were concerned about leaving their business in Shangdu for several days. Moreover, primary schools in Shangdu generally started on September 1st – taking the eight o’clock train tonight would get them to Shangdu early tomorrow morning, just in time to register Liu Zitao.

They took many photos at the Forbidden City and the Great Wall. Xia Xiaolan used up an entire roll of film on others’ cameras, which could be developed right after shooting.

…

At the Zhou family home.

Though Zhou Cheng had left, Guan Hui’e received a lecture from old Master Zhou.

The old master rarely troubled his daughters-in-law – he disliked Zhou Cheng’s eldest aunt’s way but wouldn’t say anything.

One can imagine how angry old Master Zhou was, believing Zhou Cheng’s personality was inseparable from Guan Hui’e’s influence. When Zhou Cheng was young, Guan Hui’e had been unwilling to give up her work, leaving him with a nanny. Later, when she transferred from medical practice to the Health Ministry, moving from a technical to a management position, she finally had time to build a relationship with Zhou Cheng.

But Zhou Cheng was already in his teens by then – wasn’t it too late?

Guan Hui’e’s compensation was to spoil Zhou Cheng excessively.

Old Master Zhou believed Zhou Guobin and Guan Hui’e had failed as parents, creating Zhou Cheng’s arrogant and conceited personality!

One too strict, one too indulgent – how could Zhou Cheng adapt between these two extremes?

Guan Hui’e felt wronged and complained to old Master Zhou:

“Zhou Cheng wasn’t always this unreasonable. His current girlfriend is exceptionally striking, attracting trouble wherever she goes. I didn’t even know about that Fan Zhenchuan business in Yunan Province… Father, given how he’s acting now, how can we let him continue with Xia Xiaolan!”