“What’s wrong with 8:00 AM classes? Back when I was in high school, it was 5:00 AM to 10:00 PM every single day. These college students are so greedy,” Xu Qianqian said, shaking her head like a disappointed parent. “If this keeps up, there will be no one left to build the nation!”
This joke successfully made everyone laugh, except for Xi Le, who watched them with a faint, knowing smile.
Indeed, that was exactly what she had thought before she started college.
“When are we going to pick up our military training uniforms?”
Xi Le asked.
“I don’t know. There hasn’t been a notification on WeCom yet. It’s still early, isn’t it?”
Huang Rong said uncertainly.
“But what if we don’t have uniforms when training starts in a few days?”
Xi Le scratched her head.
“Training is still a while away. Did you not look at this year’s freshman schedule? Military training has been postponed until a month after enrollment,” Xu Qianqian said.
“Oh, is that so?”
Xi Le really hadn’t checked.
Usually, college military training starts within a week of registration, so she had taken for granted that it would begin soon.
“Don’t overthink it. Just have fun for now!”
Lin Qing threw an arm around Xi Le’s shoulder.
At the same time, Ouyang Qian stood on the boarding bridge and stepped onto a plane heading southeast.
Her destination was an obscure county within Haizhou City called Hailing County, also known as the Crystal Capital of Huaxia.
At the very last second before the cabin door closed, Ouyang Qian looked back toward the distance.
***
College life was generally leisurely.
Perhaps it was because Xi Le was a new student, but the school had very few scheduled classes.
There were only one or two classes a day, though this was limited to the first half of the semester.
Xi Le was not the type to seek pleasure the moment her basic needs were met.
While her roommates were busy gaming together in the dorm, she was out working a part-time job under the scorching sun to earn money.
Her job was at a fruit stall, where her main tasks were sorting and weighing fruit.
The work was quite simple and easy, but it became much less so in an outdoor environment of 30 or 40 degrees.
Moreover, there were many mosquitoes; if she wasn’t careful, she would end up covered in itchy red bumps.
Every time Xi Le went to work, she would spray herself with several layers of Liushen Florida Water.
The pungent scent was sometimes so strong she could hardly keep her eyes open, yet the mosquitoes still bit her.
The first month of college was fast approaching its end.
One evening, after finishing her day’s work and saying goodbye to her boss, Xi Le was about to head back to the dorm for a shower when the boss called out to her.
“Xi Le, wait a moment.”
Xi Le stopped and turned around. “What is it, boss?”
“Take this bag of fruit. It hasn’t been selling and it’s already overripe. If it’s not eaten soon, it’ll probably go bad, so take it back with you.”
The boss handed over a plastic bag.
It was packed with many different kinds of fruit, but they clearly didn’t look like they were about to spoil.
“You’ve been working for me for nearly a month, so I have to give my employee some benefits. Take it,” the boss said with a smile, tossing the bag slightly.
“You kids never want to spend money on yourselves. If this keeps up, I won’t be able to keep this fruit stall open much longer.”
“Thank you, boss.”
Xi Le felt a warmth in her heart as she reached out to take the fruit.
Back at the dorm, several girls were sitting on their beds with the air conditioning on, passionately gaming on their phones.
“Lin Qing, come support me!”
That was Xu Qianqian’s voice.
“Stop farming that stupid jungle! I’m getting wrecked over here!”
That was Huang Rong’s voice.
“Don’t panic! Don’t panic! Wait until I’m done! I have to help this person first, then I’ll help you! Don’t rush me, I have my own plan!”
That was Lin Qing’s voice.
The three of them were so focused on the battle that they didn’t even notice Xi Le entering the room.
Seeing them playing, Xi Le placed the fruit on the table, went to the balcony to take down the clothes she had hung up yesterday, and put them in a small basin.
Then, she turned and walked into the bathroom.
Soon, the sound of splashing water began to echo.
Xi Le didn’t turn on the light.
The dense mist wrapped around her like a ghost, a sensation that made her feel at ease.
Her hair had grown quite a bit.
Once wet, it stuck to her skin in a damp, uncomfortable way.
‘I should find a time to get it cut,’ Xi Le thought.
The sound of water soon stopped.
Xi Le dried herself and left the bathroom carrying her basin.
“That last round was such a shame.”
As soon as she returned to the balcony, she heard Huang Rong speaking.
It seemed they had lost the game and were currently reviewing their mistakes.
“Oh!? Xi Le? When did you get back?”
Lin Qing noticed Xi Le standing on the balcony.
“A while ago. I saw you were playing, so I didn’t want to disturb you,” Xi Le said with a smile.
“Everyone, come down. I brought some fruit for you.”
The three of them saw the large bag of fruit on the table and immediately scrambled down from their beds.
“Wow! So much fruit! Did you strike it rich?”
It wasn’t surprising they asked that, as Xi Le really didn’t spend much money.
When they went shopping together, she rarely bought anything unless it was a necessity she truly lacked.
Moreover, she only had a few sets of clothes that she rotated through; they could even predict which outfit she would wear the next day.
“I didn’t spend any money. These are employee benefits from the owner of the fruit stall where I work,” Xi Le said, tilting her head as she gently dried her hair with a towel.
“There are actually such good perks for a part-time job?”
Xu Qianqian said thoughtfully.
“Don’t even think about it. You know how exhausting part-time work is. Xi Le is out there from 9:00 AM to 6:00 PM every day,” Huang Rong said, patting her on the head.
“Help yourselves. If we don’t finish all this fruit today, it’ll go bad in two days,” Xi Le said with a smile.
Since Xi Le had said so, the others didn’t hold back.
Soon, they were all stuffed, yet more than half the bag of fruit still remained.
Right then, a commotion broke out outside the window.
Xi Le heard someone calling her name, so she went to the windowsill and looked down.
Below was a dense crowd of people, but a large empty space had been cleared in the center.
In the middle of the clearing stood a boy holding a bouquet of flowers.
“Xi Le!” he shouted toward the girls’ dormitory building, tilting his head back.
Xi Le’s face instantly darkened.
She turned and walked back into the dorm, intending to ignore him.
This guy was Chen Sheng, a junior.
While Xi Le was working at the fruit stall, he had inexplicably come over and confessed his feelings to her, leaving her utterly stunned.
‘I was a man for over twenty years. When was I ever confessed to by a man?’
A chill ran down her spine.
But out of politeness, Xi Le had still smiled and tactfully rejected him, telling him he deserved someone better.
She hadn’t expected her politeness to be mistaken for shyness by that idiot Chen Sheng.
He had spent the next several days harassing her, standing in front of the fruit stall without buying anything just to make small talk with her.
Finally, one day Xi Le could truly take no more and lost her temper — a rare occurrence for her.
Only then did he stop showing up.
Xi Le thought he had finally left her alone, but it turned out he was just saving up for this big stunt.
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