Mi Zehai traveled back and forth between Shanghai and Shanhai Town for several months. When the summer vacation ended, he took the children back with him.
Cheng Qing had already prepared everything they needed for school at home. The brother and sister each got a new schoolbag. The one for Mi Yang was a sports brand that students like nowadays, and they could carry it when they went out to play basketball. The one for Mi Xue was a pink cartoon schoolbag, the kind that can be carried on the back of a backpack, with a snow-white kitten printed on it.
Cheng Qing helped Michelle carry the bag on her back while saying, "When your brother was in primary school, he didn't have such good conditions as you. Our family was also in financial difficulty at that time. Your brother used a yellow military shoulder bag as a school bag and was even scolded by the teacher."
Michelle asked, "What did the teacher say?"
Cheng Qing said: "Your brother's schoolbag is too old and not good."
The little girl was immediately dissatisfied and said, "This teacher is not good. How can she say that? Our teacher Xiao Zhou is very good. She never does that! She taught us how to line up yesterday. We are in class one, mom, and we are standing at the front!"
The children were quick to talk and soon they were chattering about the first day of reporting yesterday. The first day was mainly about collecting books and getting to know the class. The elementary school that Michelle attended was near her home. Although it was not as good as the one that Mi Yang had attended before, all of Michelle's friends were there, and the little girl wanted to study with them too. When her family asked her to choose, she chose the same school as the other children without hesitation.
Cheng Qing listened to her talking non-stop and felt emotional in her heart. After all, times have changed. When Mi Yang was studying, those kids didn't dare to question the teacher like this. Now the school management is much more open and transparent, and the teachers are much better than when they were in the border town. She is very relieved that her little daughter goes to school.
Mi Yang packed little, so he only brought a set of daily clothes and some toiletries, and nothing else.
Cheng Qing went over and asked him, "Do you want to bring some more money? Is it enough for living expenses?"
Mi Yang put his backpack aside and nodded, "That's enough."
Cheng Qing was worried, so he stuffed another two hundred yuan into his pocket and said, "It's the same in your school. You're not allowed to bring this or that. The management is too strict. Just give me more money and buy what you need when the time comes."
Mi Yang stopped her and said with a smile: “Mom, why are you the same as my dad? He also gave me a few hundred last night, which was enough.”
Cheng Qing didn't listen and stuffed the money into his bag: "Take it, you've grown up, I feel more at ease if you bring more money." She gave the money and looked around, worriedly saying: "Why is there only a small bag? You will have military training this time. I saw on the registration form that it says that the holiday will be in half a month. Bring some food? Military training is so tiring, you must be hungry at night. I roasted a lot of beef jerky, it's tastier and cleaner than the ones sold outside. I remember Luochuan also likes to eat this. I'll pack another bag for you."
Mi Yang hurriedly said: "One bag is enough. It seems that we are going to the military camp for training this time, so I guess we can't bring it in."
Mi Xue has gone to be Cheng Qing's little helper. She helped her mother to pack a bag full of beef jerky in a sealed bag, and put it into Mi Yang's backpack. She covered it with clothes and said seriously, "Brother, take it in secretly." The little girl's face was full of worry. She was already afraid that her brother would starve outside.
Mi Yang was amused by her, touched her little head and said, "Okay."
On the day of going to school, Bai Luochuan came to pick up Mi Yang and go together.
Bai Luochuan's bag was similar to Mi Yang's, also a sports bag, but Master Bai's bag contained even fewer things, and he just put them aside. After he saw Mi Yang get on the bus, he looked at the bulging backpack and asked him, "Why did you bring so much? We need to change into our military training clothes, and we will be issued two sets of school uniforms. I guess we won't be able to wear casual clothes."
Mi Yang said: "Well, I brought a change of clothes and some food."
Bai Luochuan was quite interested and asked him, "What to eat?"
Mi Yang brought him a bag of beef jerky. Bai Luochuan didn't eat well in the morning, so he took it and ate a few pieces. It tasted delicious to his teeth. Mi Yang couldn't help looking at him several times. This man's white teeth were too sharp. It was very easy to eat this, just like a biscuit for teeth grinding. Mi Yang looked at him with envy. From the physical point of view, he had never been better than Master Bai since he was a child.
Bai Luochuan licked his fingers and asked curiously, "What's wrong? Why are you looking at me like this?"
Mi Yang shook his head and said, "No, I just think you seem to have grown a little taller."
Bai Luochuan became interested and said happily, "You noticed it too? The shirt I wore before is still wearable, but the pants are a little short, maybe two or three centimeters."
Mi Yang was extremely envious when he heard this.
He remembered that in his previous life, Bai Luochuan was born like a model, tall and handsome, and now he was starting to grow taller, slowly starting to have the outline of a teenager, but he drank so much milk and wanted to sleep after drinking, so he didn't grow much taller. If he ate seriously and exercised, he might be taller, at least taller than in his previous life, Mi Yang comforted himself in his heart, only compared with himself, it was still okay.
The high school was a boarding military-managed school, which was much stricter than the previous ones. When the freshmen first entered, the dormitories were all six-person rooms, and the roster was shuffled. Bai Luochuan wrote his name together with Mi Yang, but they were not assigned to the same class. Not to mention the dormitory, they were not even in the same class.
Bai Luochuan looked unhappy, but there was nothing he could do so he could only live like this for the time being.
Bai Luochuan was assigned to Class 1 of Grade 1, while Mi Yang was in Class 2. When the school held a freshman meeting in the morning, the two classes were separated by a white line. Bai Luochuan was taller, and although he was one year younger than the others, it was not noticeable, and he was still standing at the back. He tilted his head slightly to look at the next class, and after searching for a while he recognized Mi Yang among a group of students wearing the same school uniforms. His little Xiaoguai was standing in the middle row on the right side of Class 2, listening carefully to the speeches of the school leaders on the rostrum.
While Bai Luochuan was still watching, the head teacher of their class came over and whispered to him, "Bai Luochuan, you will go up to speak on behalf of the freshmen. Get ready. Have you written the speech?"
Bai Luochuan withdrew his gaze and nodded.
The head teacher of Class 1 was still a little worried, so he asked him to take it out and read it himself. When he felt that there was no problem, he patted him on the shoulder and encouraged him with a smile: "It's well written. Try to speak without a script when you go up. You can also read aloud if you are nervous."
Bai Luochuan said: "Okay."
The school leaders finished their speeches very quickly, and Bai Luochuan was taken to the podium by his class teacher, who asked him to go up and give a speech to the freshmen.
Bai Luochuan didn't even take out his manuscript. He stood there and gave an impromptu speech with his eyes level in front of him. He spoke very fluently. After finding the person standing in Class 1-2, he didn't move his eyes away. He stood there and spoke steadily. The head teacher of Class 1 was a little more nervous than him. He stood aside and listened, nodding his head. He had just read the speech and knew the content. He looked at his class standing there and finished speaking in one go. There was only one thing left to finish. He couldn't help but smile. When he was about to applaud, he heard Bai Luochuan continue speaking again, and the smile on his face froze.
This paragraph is not in the manuscript
The head teacher was dumbfounded. Listening to the impromptu segment added by Bai Luochuan on the spot, his heart rose in his throat and sweat broke out on his forehead. He listened and observed carefully. Bai Luochuan's expansion seemed quite convincing. He spoke for a few more minutes and soon left.
The head teacher finally breathed a sigh of relief.
He led Bai Luochuan back to the class and whispered, "Why did you add another paragraph at the last minute? You scared me just now."
Bai Luochuan said: "I'm a little nervous going up there."
head teacher:"… "
He has taught so many classes of students, but this is the first time he has seen a student perform better when he is nervous.
Every year during the military training period, the school sends students to the military camp for training. This batch of freshmen were also sent there together as per previous years’ practice. They were divided into teams according to their classes and each class was managed by an instructor. They were all impartial and would not make any concessions at all.
After Bai Luochuan arrived, he went to Class 2 first and spoke briefly to Mi Yang to see if he could help in any way.
Mi Yang, like him, grew up in a military camp, so he was more familiar with the green military camp. He was also very quick and had almost finished cleaning up the house. Bai Luochuan came over to help him and whispered to him, "If you have anything, go to the first shift to find me. If you can't hold on, ask for leave. You are in good health..."
Mi Yang nodded and said, "I'm fine, you can go back soon."
Bai Luochuan hesitated a little: "I'll pack for you before you leave." He had made a splash at the freshman meeting, and now everyone knew him, and when they saw him coming, they looked over with a little curiosity. Bai Luochuan didn't care at all, and only left after making sure that Mi Yang was fine.
In the military camp, students also live in dormitories, which are a little tougher than those in school. There are eight people in a room, and it is lively to chat with more people. Some people saw that someone came to take care of Mi Yang, and they were envious. They asked him: "That person just now was Bai Luochuan, the one who gave a speech to the freshmen? Do you know him?"
Another one also came over and said, "How can I know him? I saw that he takes special care of Mi Yang. Hey Mi Yang, he is your brother, right?"
Mi Yang thought about it, smiled and nodded, "Yes."
The people around him were even more envious: "Your brother is so good to you."
Mi Yang smiled and said nothing, tacitly agreeing with this.
On the other side, after Bai Luochuan returned, he ran into the black-faced instructor in charge of his class.
The instructor asked seriously, "Are you from this dormitory?"
Bai Luochuan stood there and said, "Yes!"
Instructor: "Then why aren't you in your seat!"
Bai Luochuan: “…”
The instructor said coldly: "Go out, go to the playground outside, and run!"
This "Brother Bai" who was particularly kind to Mi Yang was punished by the instructor to run five laps on the playground that night because he did not abide by the discipline and left his dormitory without permission.
Bai Luochuan ran very fast. When he came back, his forehead was covered with sweat, and his clothes on the back were also soaked with sweat. His chest rose and fell violently, and only his eyes were as dark and bright as before. He stood at the door of the dormitory and shouted again to the team to return: "Report! The run is over!"
The instructor said, "Come in, tidy up your room, and take a rest!"
Bai Luochuan: “Yes!”