Chapter 33

One of the teachers spoke of the matter with visible indignation, as if harboring long-standing resentment about it.

Soon, the other teachers had also finished grading Lin Yun’s test papers. When they tallied up the total score, they found it shockingly high. She had only lost a few points in the science comprehensive exam. Though her performance in the humanities was a bit weaker, her overall score was still more than enough for college admission.

The teachers gathered together and sighed in admiration, saying, “It looks like this child didn’t slack off during summer vacation. She must’ve worked hard to get this kind of result.”

“I even went over to Grade 10 to check on her sister’s grades—they’re not bad either. Maybe the two sisters studied together during the break.”

The next morning, a teacher called Lin Yun into the office to discuss her exam results and asked if she had been studying over the summer. Lin Yun didn’t hide anything and answered honestly, saying that she had indeed reviewed some material on her own during the break.

“I don’t want to give up on my studies, and I really want to get into college. So whenever I had the chance over the summer, I made time to study. You don’t have to worry, teacher—I’ll be able to catch up with the rest of the class, even if I missed some parts of the Grade 10 syllabus.”

“Looking at your exam scores, I’m not worried about that. What I’m more concerned about is whether you’ll face the same issues as last semester.”

Seeing the concern on the teacher’s face, Lin Yun grew serious as well. “Don’t worry, teacher. What happened before won’t happen again.” Her solemn expression reassured the teacher.

“Alright then, as long as that’s behind you. You can go directly to your new class—it’s the science track.”

“Okay. Thank you, teacher. I’ll head over now.” With that, Lin Yun left the office and went to the Grade 11 science classroom.

In fact, Lin Yun had already been studying in this classroom for the past couple of days. Since the school year had just started, everyone was still busy distributing textbooks and dealing with minor logistics, and formal classes hadn’t begun yet. The teacher didn’t mind her presence, knowing she was likely joining the science class, although they hadn’t officially assigned her a seat.

Today, the homeroom teacher was supervising morning self-study. When he saw Lin Yun walk in, he understood her placement was confirmed. Without saying much, he pointed to a seat and signaled for her to sit there. He also told her her textbooks would be brought over shortly.

Lin Yun nodded and gave a quick wink to Zhao Baozhu, who had been staring at her the whole time, before returning to her seat.

As soon as the morning reading ended, Zhao Baozhu rushed over to Lin Yun. “Xiao Yun, you really chose science? I thought you were going to choose humanities!”

Lin Yun nodded. “I realized over the summer that I probably like science more, so I went with that.”

Baozhu didn’t press the topic. Instead, she looked excited. “That’s great! Maybe in a few days, we’ll end up being deskmates again!”

High school life now wasn’t exactly the same as Lin Yun remembered from her past life. Classes in the morning lasted until 8 a.m., and afternoon classes ended at 5 p.m. Evening self-study was optional, especially for day students who had to go home—it wouldn’t be safe if it got too late.

Still, Lin Yun noticed that many students stayed in the classroom even after dismissal, lingering until the lights were turned off.

There was another important part of school life: farming work. Yes, most of the vegetables in the school cafeteria were grown by the students themselves.

Maybe because the school year had just started, the teachers hadn’t mentioned it yet. But Lin Yun knew it wouldn’t be long before they would be required to bring hoes, shoulder poles, and other farming tools from home to work in the school’s fields.

In the past, the original Lin Yun had been very diligent in this area. Since her family often couldn’t afford her tuition, she hoped that her hard work would let her continue her education.

Time flew by after the start of school. Lin Yun felt like she had barely done anything, and the first week was already over. On Saturday, September 4th, 1982, they finished the week’s lessons and were ready to head home.

Zhao Baozhu was obviously the most excited. “I’ve got to rush home. My mom must’ve cooked tons of good food for me. I swear I’ve lost weight after just a week—school food is just so bad.”

Every time Lin Yun heard her say things like that, she couldn’t help but sigh. This girl was truly blessed—and honestly, she deserved it.

“Baozhu, if anyone else heard you say that, you might get beaten up,” Lin Yumei suddenly interjected. The three of them had become close lately, going everywhere together. In the past, Lin Yumei would never have made such a comment, but now she often voiced her own opinions.

“Sis Yumei, you’re wrong about that. I never say this stuff in front of anyone else. Besides, I know you guys would never do that to me, right?” she said, playfully winking.

Lin Yumei gave a helpless smile. She had always known her sister had a friend like Baozhu, but she hadn’t interacted with her much before. After all, they were classmates, and she had already been out of school for a while, so they had little in common. She had worried before, especially since her sister and Baozhu were always together.

After all, rural areas tended to be more exclusionary. In the whole Zhaojiawan village, the Lin family was the only one with that surname, which already set them apart. It wasn’t surprising that others would subtly or openly exclude them. And since their family had three kids and barely scraped by, they were universally seen as having the worst conditions.

Meanwhile, even though Zhao Baozhu was a girl, her family had many male relatives, and they all got along well. Her family was well-off, and Lin Yumei had always worried that her little sister would be bullied.

But after interacting with Baozhu over the summer and during the first week of school, Lin Yumei realized that her previous assumptions weren’t fair.

The three of them walked and chatted the whole way, and in two to three hours, they made it back, laughing and joking the entire time. Lin Yun couldn’t help but think—this kind of walk is only bearable because it’s rural. The roads were lined with tall trees and shaded paths. Without them, walking under the blazing 1–2 PM sun would be unbearable.

At the village entrance, Lin Yun parted ways with Baozhu and continued home with Lin Yumei. When they got to the house, no one was home. Lin Yun was just about to put her things down and go look for someone when she saw Lin Yumei crouch down, slide the wooden door and threshold to the side, and then reach underneath. In just a moment, she fished out a key.

Lin Yun stared in shock. “Sis, how did you know Mom hid the key there?”