Chapter 3
On the afternoon before school started, there was a freshman assembly in the university.
In the large lecture hall, there were two rows of girls sitting at the front, while the back was filled with boys.
The assembly hadn’t started yet, and whispering could be heard throughout the hall.
Du Ruo listened attentively to the conversations around her. They were all newcomers exchanging a few words.
“Which major are you in?”
“Which province are you from?”
“How many girls are in your class?”
She paid special attention to the girl’s attire, which was not much different from that in high school, with short hair and ponytails; blouses and T-shirts; jeans and pants.
Nobody deliberately dressed up; they had a more studious vibe.
The top female students in science and engineering didn’t seem to care much about their appearances, at least they didn’t show much concern when they first entered school.
In Jing Ming’s eyes, they would seem unsophisticated.
She could easily imagine Jing Ming’s face – appearing expressionless, but the corner of his lips would be imperceptibly curved, thinking she were a ridiculous clown; with a hint of mockery in his eyes, easily making people feel inadequate and worthless.
She was somewhat afraid of him, or perhaps it was – hate.
Hated his unreasonable and blatant dislike towards her.
Du Ruo looked at the girls around her, and then at herself. Wearing a clean white T-shirt and jeans, sitting among her classmates, she didn’t appear out of the ordinary.
She breathed a sigh of relief, then casually glanced around. The boys' faces were youthful and immature, and their clothes equally lacked sophistication like a high school student’s. Everyone was the same, just ordinary students, nothing fancy.
But the next second, her eyes were involuntarily drawn towards someone. It was simply because that person was too eye-catching.
Jing Ming came in from the back door of the hall.
He was tall and had fair skin. He was also wearing a white shirt, but the white of his clothes were several degrees whiter than that of others in the room.
Only then did Du Ruo realise that everyone’s white clothing was divided into grey, cream, beige, a yellowish white, a worn-out white and countless other whites.
As soon as she turned her head, the girls around her unconsciously followed suit, gradually forming a flock effect like geese, with the whole room echoing with the sound of girls turning their heads one after another.
Apart from Jing Ming’s exquisite appearance, there was an indescribable carefree but mysterious charm in his every gesture and movement. Jing Ming had a casual yet arrogant demeanour, without the slightest restraint and apprehension of a freshman.
With one hand playing with his phone and the other in his pocket, he stepped down the steps from the back door. He paused briefly, and took a moment to send a text message. His expression was not very good, his brows were frowning, and he silently mouthed “f*cking hell”. After sending the message, he raised his eyes in annoyance and noticed that the entire room of students were quietly looking at him.
He gave a condescending look, like he was looking at a bunch of muddy potatoes. His dark eyes swiftly scanned the classroom and found his three dormitory mates. They had saved him a seat. He put his phone back in his pocket and walked down the steps unhappily.
Du Ruo immediately turned around,
The empty seat was right behind her!
Her repulsion of Jing Ming was even deeper than she had imagined.
Coming to Beijing for studies, she originally carried joy and hope. However, on her first night in Beijing, Jing Ming dealt her a heavy blow. He saw her as a poor relative who came from the countryside to freeload. In his scornful eyes, she was not even worthy of being called a poor relative, but more like a beggar.
The sense of superiority she had from being accepted into a prestigious institution in her hometown vanished completely, because Jing Ming, this “spoiled rich kid”, was studying at the same school, and he was even a “special admission”.
Isn’t that a more advanced pathway?
Compared to him, her years of hard work and perseverance were like a joke. Maybe that’s how he saw her, otherwise he wouldn’t act so arrogant and mockingly in front of her.
A shadow flashed behind her and descended.
The folding chair was opened, and Jing Ming sat down.
“Why are you here so late?”
“Isn’t the meeting at five o’clock? I’m not late.” Jing Ming’s voice was laid-back and reasonable.
“That’s true.” His roommate didn’t think much of it, and laughed, “It’s 4:59 and 30 seconds, truly not late.”
“Sitting in the classroom is so boring. Once school starts, are you not afraid that I won’t have time to save you a seat?”
He was chatting casually behind her, and she felt uncomfortable all over and couldn’t breathe well.
At this moment, the classroom suddenly quietened down as several male teachers entered the classroom one after another. They were all dressed in typical engineering men’s clothes, wearing Polo shirts and pants.
Their looks were as low-key and easy-going as their clothes, even a little shy, and they didn’t take the initiative to make eye contact with the students.
There were a few of them who were slightly chubby, and revealed a somewhat naive posture when walking, appearing very approachable.
The students stared at them with bright eyes, like little chicks waiting for the mother hens to return to the nest, wondering which one belonged to them.
The teachers sat down in the empty seats in the first row, and the backs of their heads were inspected by a bunch of students.
He Huan Huan nudged Du Ruo’s arm and whispered: “Guess who is your class teacher?”
Du Ruo shook her head: “How would I know?”
He Huan Huan snickered: “I don’t know either.”
Du Ruo found an exceptionally young male teacher sitting at the end of the first row, who looked like a student. He had a handsome side profile, looking at the podium thoughtfully.
Qiu Yu Chen whispered: “That teacher is too young. I don’t want him as my teacher.”
Du Ruo was surprised: “Why?”
Qiu Yu Chen: “The older ones are more experienced. Following this teacher, I’m afraid I won’t learn much.”
Du Ruo nodded with a look of understanding: “I don’t want him either.”
After she finished speaking, she noticed Jing Ming from the corner of her eye. Although he didn’t look at her, she was startled and immediately straightened her face.
She made up her mind not to turn her head, not even ten degrees.
The welcome ceremony is presided over by the vice dean.
First, the dean delivered a speech, introducing the school, its history, current status and future development direction. The dean also shared some encouraging words, reminding the students not to forget their goals, to study hard, to innovate, to exercise, to plan their four years of university wisely, growing in all aspects, and contribute to the country.
The freshmen had just experienced their first step since passing the college entrance examination, each of them carried unlimited expectations for the future, and were filled with ambition inspired by these words. The young faces radiated with brilliance.
Jing Ming didn’t pay attention to the speech at all. He kept playing with his phone under the table. Gradually, he became irritated, and finally blocked a certain profile on WeChat. Still not satisfied, he opened up his contacts and blocked “Min En Zhu”.
He held the phone in his fingers and raised his eyes.
After the dean’s speech, next up was the student representative, Li Qing He, a sophomore senior. It was the young man sitting at the end of the first row who was mistaken by Du Ruo and the others as a teacher.
“So its senior brother.”
Compared to the freshmen in the audience, Li Qing He had shed his youthful awkwardness and exuded a mature aura befitting an upperclassmen. He spoke and smiled with ease, sharing his insights and experiences of studying with the younger students in a relaxed and composed manner.
There were bursts of laughter from time to time.
However, in Jing Ming’s opinion, he didn’t find Li Qing He’s speech the least bit funny. He felt he was just putting on airs of being experienced, fooling the freshmen like they were elementary kids.
He lost interest in listening, and with lowered eyes, he looked at his phone. That person had already been blocked, and there were no new messages on his phone.
He raised his eyelids in displeasure, and inadvertently glanced at the girl in front of him. Why… does she… look so familiar? His gaze had swept past, but stopped and moved back one seat.
Oh, isn’t that, Du Ruo Chun, right?
Coincidentally, she appeared right under his nose again.
When sending Du Ruo to school that day, Jing Ming didn’t look at her the whole time. His impression of her was still of the time he picked her up at the train station – dirty hair, yellowish skin, cheap clothes, malnourished figure, and a sweaty body odour mixed with the smell of the train carriage.
This time, her hair was washed clean, short, fluffy and soft. Perhaps due to lack of nutrition, it had a brownish yellow colour.
“Yellow-haired girl,” this nickname, he thought, suited her, and couldn’t help laughing.
On the side facing him, her short hair was pinned just behind her ears, slightly curled. The straight ends of her hair revealed her slender neck. The classroom’s fluorescent lights unintentionally highlighted her complexion, making her appear whiter. It really gave a beautifying effect.
She wore a crisp T-shirt, looking completely different from the sloppy girl at the station that day.
Jing Ming didn’t show much interest. He glanced up and down and noticed a spot on her T-shirt where the thread had come loose, exposing a small patch of skin about the size of a fingernail. He smirked again, curling his lips.
Isn’t the ugly duckling still an ugly duckling after cleaning its feathers?
He couldn’t be bothered to think about it more, so he withdrew his gaze.
On the podium, the senior was still sharing his experiences. Ah, there’s nothing more dull and boring in this world than attending an assembly.
He picked up his phone but couldn’t really play games either.
Half a moment later, he suddenly thought of something. Slowly recalling it, his eyebrows furrowed, and he quickly typed a text message and sent it.
In front of him, Du Ruo’s phone made a “ding” sound. The sound was not loud, but enough to attract attention.
Not to mention, the surrounding classmates, even the teachers turned around to look.
On the podium, Li Qing He paused for a second, then continued.
Du Ruo blushed with shame, hurriedly silenced her phone, and saw that it was a text message from Jing Ming:
“Where did the money for your clothes go? Embezzled?”
Du Ruo was puzzled, but had no intention of responding. Just as she was about to put her phone away, the screen lit up again with a message: “Your clothes are torn.”
Shocked, she turned to look at him in panic.
Jing Ming stared blankly at the podium, not looking at her, appearing an outsider to her dilemma.
Afraid of attracting attention, she hurriedly turned her head back, cheeks flushing. She inexplicably felt like everyone was looking at her, their gazes piercing countless holes through her.
Her palms were sweaty, and she quickly sent a message asking: “Where?”
But, the other party no longer had the kindness to reply to her.
After Li Qing He finished his speech, there was a round of applause. Then it was the freshman representative’s turn to speak.
Du Ruo carefully turned her head to check her shoulders on both sides. No problem. Then she looked at her sides.
There was a loose thread on the right side of her T-shirt, about one centimetre long, not noticeable when she was still. But with slight movement, it would create a small circle.
If someone accidentally saw it, she would feel embarrassed and awkward, but it wouldn’t make her feel ashamed or inferior.
But unfortunately, this “poor and pitiful little hole” was seen by Jing Ming. Du Ruo immediately felt that it would be better if one of them died.
Translated by evienRose
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