RCJM Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Du Ruo was enshrouded in a gloomy mood, and even the final introduction of the class teachers couldn't lift her spirits.

When the freshman assembly ended, the students visited several laboratories in the university according to their class, and watched the senior students operate all kinds of precision instruments on the test bench. Her depressed feelings were finally swept away, and she was once again full of expectations and motivation for university life.

After the laboratory tour, they had a class meeting. 

The Control Systems major had only one class of 22 students, with 21 boys and one girl.

Yes, that girl was Du Ruo.

She sat in the middle of the first row, right in the centre, with no one else in that row. The boys either sat at the back or in the next two rows, as if an invisible barrier surrounded her.

The class teacher’s surname was Yang, and his name was Chang Qing. He was a middle-aged man in his forties, full of smiles, a little shy, and had a very scholarly sense.

As the only girl in the class, Du Ruo had been mentally prepared.

As expected, the first thing Mr. Yang said was: "Ah, we have a giant panda in our class."

The boys all laughed lightly, and she couldn't help but smile too.

Mr. Yang was very easy-going and let everyone introduce themselves one by one. Although the students came from all corners of the country, about half of them were locals.

Du Ruo noticed a boy named Li Wei who sat behind her during the assembly and seemed to live in the same dormitory as Jing Ming. He introduced himself as a local with an easy-to-remember name, a combination of Li Bai and Wang Wei, two famous Chinese poets.

After everyone finished their introductions, they couldn't remember every detail about each person, but they would gradually get to know each other through their study life. However, Du Ruo, as the only female student, was a rarity, and no one would forget that she came from the southwestern border and was named Du Ruo.

Mr. Yang then asked everyone why they chose this major and what they knew about it.

The classroom fell silent, and some faces showed silent caution.

Du Ruo was one of them. She knew nothing about this major.

Isn't going to school ultimately about acquiring one or more skills, earning money to support oneself and one's family? She thought.

During high school, she only knew to bury her head in books and practice exercises. The school had cut off all extracurricular activities, so how could she know anything beyond her textbooks?

Other students had probably chosen their majors randomly as well.

But Li Wei raised his hand and said loudly: "I've loved cars since I was a kid, and I'm particularly interested in automated stamping production and assembly. The various tasks in the production line require sensor control. So, I chose this major, haha."

Du Ruo understood every word he said but couldn’t comprehend the deeper meaning behind his words.

She began to feel a little panicked and her cheeks flushed.

Mr. Yang smiled warmly and nodded: "Very good, what about the rest of you?"

Another student named Wan Ziang said: "My family owns a factory, and I've been dealing with machine tools since I was young. However, the instruments and circuits in my family's factory don't work smoothly, and the precision is not high. It damages the machine tools and results in wasted materials. So, I want to figure out the ins and outs here, in case I can make a breakthrough. Hehe."

Mr. Yang praised him, and said: "Ambitious. In the field of industrial technology, even a small breakthrough," he touched his thumb and index finger together, drawing a tiny gap in the air, "can bring about a great increase in productivity. A small breakthrough in key technology can even lead to a revolution in the entire industry.

Our major has a wide range of applications, including energy, medical treatment, food and chemical engineering, robot transportation, machine tools, cars, elevators, and so on. There are plenty of stages for you to display your talents."

He said, "It’s great that you are still young. When you're young, you can dream as big as you want, and go as far as you want! And my responsibility as a mentor, and the responsibility of all the teachers in our department, is to impart our lifelong knowledge to you and give you a push.

Children, run forward without restraint!"

Everyone was quiet. A wave of emotions surged in their hearts, but the ripples were silent.

Twenty-two pairs of thirsty eyes focused on this middle-aged man.

Inexplicably, Du Ruo felt her eyes becoming a little wet. Was she embarrassed or ashamed? She didn't know.

The class meeting wasn't long, and a temporary monitor [1], Li Wei, was elected. He collected everyone's contact information and said it would be distributed to everyone after printing it into a form.

When Du Ruo returned to the dormitory, the other three had returned too. He Huan Huan was in the same class as two girls in the dormitory next door, and went there to play.

Du Ruo entered the room and asked the remaining two: "What did you talk about in your class meeting?"

Qiu Yu Chen: "What else is there? Self-introduction, and then chat."

Du Ruo opened her wardrobe, took off the ripped T-shirt, and changed into another, carefully checking for any loose threads before wearing it, and asked, "Why did you choose your major?"

Xia Nan shrugged her shoulders, while browsing a shopping website on her phone: "I'm interested in computers."

Du Ruo looked at Qiu Yu Chen: "What about you?"

"Same." Yu Chen turned on her computer, ready to watch dramas.

Du Ruo closed the cabinet door, sat down at her desk, and fell silent.

Qiu Yu Chen noticed and went to her side: "What's wrong?"

Du Ruo fiddled with her fingers and talked about what happened at the class meeting just now, and whispered: "They all understand, but I don't know anything about my major, and... I didn't choose it out of interest. It feels like I'm a little behind..."

"That's okay, you'll understand when you learn it later. When you were born, did you know anything? Aren’t you proficient in language, mathematics, physics and chemistry now? No one is born knowing it all. If you want to understand what you'll be doing tomorrow, start learning now." 

Xia Nan looked down, turned over her phone and said, “Yu Chen, is that app you mentioned reliable? The face masks are cheaper than the market price; I hope they’re not fake.”

“I heard it from someone else too. If you’re not sure, go buy it over the counter.”

Qiu Yu Chen went to Xia Nan’s side, and the two of them started shopping for clothes, commenting on which ones looked good and which ones didn’t include free shipping.

Du Ruo watched them and was comforted in an instant.

Thinking she should also buy some clothes, she joined them.

The three of them were busy choosing clothes when He Huan Huan opened the door and came in, bringing a small piece of news: “The other two girls in the dormitory next door are in the same class as Jing Ming.”

Du Ruo: “......”

Is there some kind of law? The more you want to avoid, the more they appear? Li Wei, their class monitor, was Jing Ming’s roommate, and her roommate next door is Jing Ming’s classmate.

In the future, that name will often linger in her ears.

Perfect.

Qiu Yu Chen said: “There are quite a few good looking guys in our University but he should be a school grass. Hey, Xia Nan, what about his girlfriend? Is she also at our school?

“No, she’s studying at some vocational college. Her grades were poor when she was in school. We were not in the same class, so I don’t know much about her.”

“Is she pretty?”

“Very pretty.”

Qiu Yu Chen didn’t have much interest in gossip and quickly changed the topic to something else: “Huan Huan, do you want to buy clothes or not? We’re bargaining with the store. Let’s buy together. It’s free shipping.”

“Why didn’t you call me earlier? Unbelievable.”

After they finished shopping online, it was already 7pm. They went to the cafeteria for dinner, then leisurely walked back to the dormitory building.

Halfway, Du Ruo’s phone rang. It was an unfamiliar number.

"Hello?"

"Hey, is this Du Ruo?" The lively male voice was very familiar.

"You are..."

"So quick to forget! I'm..."

"Oh, monitor." She recognised him in time and repeated, "the class monitor."

Li Wei chuckled over the phone, and said: "The books have been distributed. We just moved them to the dormitory. The boys live together, so it was easy to distribute. Which dormitory are you in? I can bring the books to you."

"It's okay.” She was embarrassed to bother him, “I'm not in the dormitory right now. I'll come find you."

"Sure."

Du Ruo walked to the male dormitory and saw many people carrying books in and out. 

She sent a text message to Li Wei: “I’m here.”

As soon as it was sent, she heard the sound of someone running behind her. As soon as Du Ruo turned around, Jing Ming appeared to be rushing towards her. His tall figure approached, passed in front of her eyes, and swept over a gust of wind.

Before her heart reached her throat, his figure had already flashed past, running up the stairs in steps of twos and threes, disappearing into the dormitory. The faint scent of the boy lingered in the air, and melted into the night.

Du Ruo knew he didn't notice her at all. Like she was an obstacle, no different from a tree.

This unequal relationship made her feel a little unhappy.

Jing Ming was halfway up the stairs when he saw Li Wei going down with a stack of books in his arms. He wondered, "Where are you going?"

Li Wei smiled: "Sending books to our class flower." [2]

Jing Ming frowned, surprised the "class flower" had already been chosen. Then he remembered that there was only one female student in their class, so she was the "class flower."

He lifted the corners of his lips, smiled, and continued upstairs.

In late summer, the night breeze rustled the leaves of the treetops, and blew through Du Ruo's clothes gently, feeling both cool and refreshing.

She looked up at the night sky above the shadows of the trees, with the wind still blowing. This was university.

She stood by the flowerbed near the dormitory entrance for a while. A very beautiful girl came opposite, with long hair, a long blue dress and a thin belt around her waist. Under the short dress were a pair of long and fair legs.

The boys coming in and out looked sideways one after another, and even Du Ruo couldn't resist looking at her a few more times. As she looked, she unconsciously took a few steps back, creating some distance between them.

The girl folded her arms and made a phone call: "I don't care, you tell him to come down.... I'm downstairs right now! ...Who told him to block me?… Then tell him to answer the phone.... You tell him to come down…. Tell him, if he doesn't come down, I'll break into the boys’ dormitory!"

Du Ruo shrunk her neck and looked at the sky: "Campus life is truly exciting. You can even watch a romance drama while taking a walk after dinner to pick up books."

When I go back, I can share this gossip with Yu Chen and the others.

While thinking about the gossip, Li Wei came out and suggested: "The books are quite heavy. Let me help you carry them back.”

"No need, I can carry it myself." Du Ruo quickly waved her hand, not wanting to trouble him, and said, "I used to do farm work at home, this is a piece of cake."

Li Wei was stunned, and couldn’t help laughing. He was about to say something when…

From the side came Jing Ming's cold voice, full of disgust: "What are you doing here?"

Translated by evienRose

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[1] 'class monitor' aka class leader is elected by the class to help assist the tutor in relaying messages to the class, handing out work, collecting homework, creating a group chat etc

[2] 'school flower' is basically the female version of a school grass - an exceptionally popular and pretty female student

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