Chapter 250: Morning
Once the Lantern Festival is over, the Lunar New Year comes to an abrupt end.

The Rain Water, one of the 24 solar terms, is just around the corner. Although the freezing cold has not yet subsided in most parts of northern China, the vast land in the south and the increasingly open society are already filled with spring.

Spring is the season for farming.

At such times, whether you are a worker, a farmer, or a student, you have to put away your mood of the old year, bend down to pick up time, and start sowing in this farming season with the gongs and drums in your heart shaking the sky.

The exciting start of the school season has arrived.

Early in the morning, after running along the fixed route as usual, Zhang Yunqi slurped a bowl of delicious and spicy fish noodles in his own Qifengdu Fish Noodle Shop and helped his mother to attract customers. The school had just started and the business in the shop was booming. The seats were already full and there was a long line of students who were taking their meals away. Zhang Yunqi was busy collecting money, wiping tables and serving fish noodles until nearly 8:30 before he went to school to report and pay.

It was still early, the early spring sun was shining obliquely, very warm but not strong. The street vendors in front of the school gate had already opened along with the No. 1 Middle School. The greasy aroma of fried snacks filled the air. There were many people and it was very lively. The boys who came to report for school were talking and laughing loudly on their old bicycles that made all kinds of noises. The girls were wearing their always loose school uniforms and smiling in the swaying shadows of the trees. When the wind blew past them, their thin and slender outlines could be seen...

This is the beauty of youth.

Zhang Yunqi narrowed his eyes, followed the crowd of students, crossed the road and came to the school gate. When he was about to go in, he suddenly heard someone calling him.

He turned his head and saw Chu Jian.

When I first saw her, she was standing in the crowd of students at the school gate, holding a copy of "A Midsummer Night's Dream" in her arms. Compared to last year, she seemed to have grown taller, thinner, with long and straight legs, a plain ponytail, and a pair of ordinary white canvas shoes on her feet. She pursed her lips, and the warm sunlight poured on her like a waterfall, and her little face was clear and white.

Many students, both boys and girls, would subconsciously look at this girl when they passed by the school gate.

Zhang Yunqi was a little surprised. Usually, she would come to school early when they first met. Although school had just started today, this girl always came regardless of weather conditions and was not affected by time or space.

He walked over and said with a smile: "It's quite late today."

"It's not too late. I've been reading books in the bookstore for quite a while." Chu Jian pursed his lips, smiled faintly, and pointed to the bookstore on the left side of the school gate. That bookstore was where the two had their first memory of getting to know each other as friends.

Zhang Yunqi nodded: "What are you doing at home during the New Year?"

Chu Jian said: "Nothing, just reading at home."

Zhang Yunqi didn't know what to say. This girl's life seemed to be all about books, which was quite boring. Although the importance of learning was self-evident, he didn't want Chu Jian to focus all her attention on studying. Besides studying hard, she should still see more of the world's differences and great scenery. However, he really didn't want to say these righteous words to Chu Jian from a high position. He knew what this girl was thinking, and he knew that knowledge carried everything she wanted.

That's enough, take your time. Zhang Yunqi smiled and said, "Chu Jian, let's go to the classroom."

When he first saw her, he uttered a soft "hmm".

The two walked through the campus boulevard and came to the old and worn-out First Teaching Building. On the way up the stairs to the classroom, they met many familiar faces and greeted each other. After not seeing them for a month or so, these hideous animals seemed to have become particularly cute.

This semester is already the second semester of the second year of high school, and we are only one step away from the chaotic third year of high school. However, perhaps because the school has just started and the laziness of the New Year has not yet subsided, the ignorant students do not seem to have the sense of urgency to cross the single-plank bridge alone. The boys in the corridor are still noisy and laughing. Compared with last year, except that they like to stand on the balcony and comment on the appearance and butt size of a girl passing by, there is not much change. Perhaps the growth of teenagers is always slow, and they need to walk more and have more unforgettable experiences before they can understand, just as the great poet Tao Yuanming said: "At first it is very narrow, but only then can people pass through it. After walking a few dozen times, it suddenly becomes clear."

On the first day of school, there were no classes in the morning, and students mainly reported in, paid tuition and fees, moved new textbooks, cleaned and arranged seats.

The seats in Class 156 are different from those in other classes. The head teacher, Wang Mingzhen, particularly hates the practice of arranging seats based on grades. Every time seats are changed, students are free to choose. To put it simply, the quality of the shit pit is determined by the speed of the butt.

This way of doing democracy is indeed democratic enough, but it also causes many conflicts. After all, good positions are always in short supply and competition is fierce. In addition, the phenomenon of small groups is very serious. A group of people with good relationships will often contract an area and not allow third parties to interfere, so the division of power in the class is very obvious.

For example, Liu Zicheng, the class idol Zhao Dong, and Liao Haihua, who was beaten once by Zhang Yunqi, are a group of boys who firmly occupy the area at the back door entrance of the classroom. On the map of China, they belong to the southeastern coastal area that first launched the wave of reform and opening up. They are the ones who should have become rich first. Their family situation should be the best in Class 156. They are not bad people, but they are very jumpy. They are also very popular at the school level. They are lazy in class and their hobbies are playing basketball and picking up girls.

Across the river from them are Zhang Yunqi, Wang Xiaokai, Tian Zhuangzhuang, and Yang Wei, a group of people who are distributed at the back of the classroom, against the wall. On the map of China, they belong to the remote and backward southwestern border area, a no-man's land where the sky is high and birds fly freely. They do whatever they want in class, mainly reading martial arts novels with pornographic covers. After school, they go to the game room or video room.

However, when Zhang Yunqi arrived at the class, he was somewhat surprised to find that Wang Xiaokai, Tian Zhuangzhuang and Yang Wei, the three little fools, had all moved to the right side of the middle of the classroom near the window. That area was occupied by the most popular girls in the class, Li Yufei, Lin Xueqing, Xiao Xuemei and Yu Qingqing. On the map of China, it belongs to the East China region, the decadent foreign land, and the century-old Bund that everyone yearns for.

It was a good place, and they had a good relationship with several girls in Li Yufei's circle. When Wang Xiaokai saw Zhang Yunqi come in, he and several girls asked him to sit over there.

The past cannot go away.

He was guarding the southwest alone. The location was a bit poor, but at least no one disturbed him and he felt very comfortable.

Zhang Yunqi went to sit in the previous seat. Chu Jian, who came in with him, was Li Yufei's deskmate. That seat was still empty, but she did not go over to sit. Instead, under some people's inexplicable expressions, she sat directly in front of Zhang Yunqi. That seat was where Tian Zhuangzhuang sat before.

Zhang Yunqi looked in the direction of Li Yufei, and Li Yufei happened to look over there. He asked Chu Jian: "Do you want to sit here?"

Chu Jian nodded and said nothing more.

******
(End of this chapter)