Er Bao hid the White Rabbit Creamy Candy carefully, patted his pocket, then got out of bed, put on his shoes, and went out.

The class monitor’s dormitory was in Room 204, while Er Bao’s dormitory was in Room 206, with just one dormitory in between, so it was quite convenient to get there.

When Er Bao reached the door of Room 204, he didn’t go in immediately.

He would not enter someone else’s dormitory without permission.

“Lin Haizhi, you’re here! I was just about to come find you,” the class monitor said as he ran over.

Since the teacher had asked him to take good care of Lin Haizhi, he naturally had to do so. “Come on, I’ll take you to the classroom.”

The class monitor then told the people in the dormitory, “I’m taking Lin Haizhi to the classroom now. Don’t be late for class later.”

“Got it, class monitor. You go ahead,” the classmates in the dormitory said.

Schools of that era weren’t very large, but the sports school was different because it had elementary, middle, and high school sections, making it bigger than an ordinary school.

The class monitor showed Er Bao around the school, pointing out various things: “Here’s the sports field. It’s quite big, right? Our school has two such large sports fields. Over there is a smaller one… And this building here is for the high school… Over there is the administrative building where the teachers are… Our middle school building is this way. And over there… that’s the elementary school, but it has fewer students.”

After all, there were age limits for enrollment.

Children typically started elementary school at around age 12.

As Er Bao listened to the class monitor, he noticed that there weren’t many people around and took out the White Rabbit Creamy Candy from his pocket. “Class monitor, here’s some candy for you. Thank you for showing me around the school, helping me with the meal lines, and lending me food for steaming rice.”

The class monitor’s eyes fell on the candy in Er Bao’s hand.

Seeing it was White Rabbit Creamy Candy, he quickly said, “No need, no need. I’m the class monitor, so it’s my duty to take care of my classmates. You should keep it for yourself.”

The class monitor came from an ordinary family.

His academic performance wasn’t very good, but he was tall and was the tallest in his elementary school class.

Later, with the recommendation of a sports teacher and his parents’ consent, he came to the sports school for middle school.

Being from an ordinary family, he might not even have had White Rabbit Creamy Candy once a month.

It wasn’t just about the price but also about the sugar ticket.

With that ticket, his family would rather buy brown sugar or white sugar instead of candy.

Though he missed the taste of White Rabbit Creamy Candy, he couldn’t accept candy from a younger student.

He promptly refused.

Er Bao, while kind and somewhat naive, was also stubborn.

If he wanted to give something, he would insist on it.

Ignoring the class monitor’s refusal, he stuffed the candy into the class monitor’s hand and said, “My mom said that if someone helps me, I should thank them. Class monitor, you should eat it. I have more.”

He said this with great generosity and without any sign of reluctance.

Teenagers don’t usually engage in polite refusals.

Seeing how earnest Er Bao was, the class monitor accepted the candy with a smile. “Lin Haizhi, thank you. If you need any help, just let me know.”

“Really?” Er Bao’s eyes lit up. “Class monitor, could you show me where to take a bath tonight? I don’t know where the bathing area is, or where to get hot water.”

“Sure, I can show you. There’s a large bathhouse, and the hot water station is next to the cafeteria. But you need tickets for hot water—one dime buys 20 tickets, and each ticket gets enough water for a thermos. Bathhouse hot water is free, though…” The class monitor looked around and then said quietly, “Some people take their thermoses to the bathhouse to fill with hot water to avoid paying.”

Er Bao was taken aback and his eyes widened. “Why would you take bath water? It’s so dirty.”

The class monitor laughed heartily. “It’s not for bathwater. The bathhouse has faucets for clean hot water. Although the water isn’t boiled, it’s hot enough to drink.”

Er Bao had never done or heard of such a thing and found it very novel.

As a young boy, he was eagerly absorbing new knowledge and was amazed.

“Will the teachers find out?” Er Bao asked anxiously.

He worried that getting caught would lead to a reprimand.

“I’m not sure. Anyway, some people do it, but I haven’t heard of anyone getting reprimanded. But I haven’t done it myself; as a class monitor, I wouldn’t do that. If I did and someone told the teacher, I wouldn’t be a class monitor anymore.”

Being a class leader was an honor for every student.

“Hmm,” Er Bao said seriously, “That’s not right. My mom said water should be boiled before drinking. Also, don’t take small advantages; it’s not good to gain a little and lose a lot.” He didn’t fully understand his mother’s advice, but he knew it was important to follow it.

“You’re right. My parents also told me that suffering is a blessing and not to be greedy for small advantages,” the class monitor said, smiling honestly.

They arrived at the classroom for Class 1.

The desks had been set up correctly, but now there was an extra one that Teacher Wei had moved in during physical education class.

The desk even had Er Bao’s name, Lin Haizhi, on it.

Since Er Bao arrived later, his desk was placed at the back.

“Here’s your seat,” the class monitor pointed to the desk.

“Okay,” Er Bao said, taking off his backpack and pulling out his books.

Er Bao’s books were all new, provided by Teacher Qi from the admissions office.

Seeing the new books, the class monitor suddenly realized a problem: “We’ve already covered this semester’s material, and now we’re in the review phase. Since you just arrived and haven’t learned the earlier material, you need to let the teacher know. Otherwise, if you get a zero on the final exam, it won’t be good.”

This was indeed a problem.

Er Bao had studied some first-year middle school material at home, but only a little.

Later, Lin Guodong had separated their tutoring sessions because Er Bao couldn’t keep up with Yibao and San Bao’s pace.

One day was for Yibao and San Bao’s lessons, and the other day was for Er Bao’s.

But because Erbao’s progress was slow and he hadn’t attended many classes, Lin Guodong was transferred to the capital.

When he heard about scoring zero on an exam, Erbao, feeling a bit embarrassed, said, “I’ll go talk to the teacher now.” He stood up.

Since there were fewer academic classes for the sports students, their teaching schedule was slower compared to other schools, so their final exams were also scheduled differently.

It didn’t matter if their final exams came later; they had a longer break.

“No need to go now. We have Teacher Wei’s class in the afternoon. She will come, so you can talk to her then,” the monitor said.

“Okay,” Erbao replied.

Seeing the monitor and the new accelerated student talking, some of the other students came over to chat.

“Lin Hairui, what do your parents do?”

It has to be said that regardless of the era, discussing family background is common.

In this era, it’s even more direct.

In later times, classmates might ask about where someone is from but wouldn’t directly inquire about their parents’ occupations.

However, in this era, it was quite normal.

Erbao responded, “My mother works at home.”

Upon hearing that Erbao’s father was a soldier, everyone showed respect and changed their opinion about him.

They initially saw Erbao as a smart student who had skipped grades and was good at running.

Now, they also thought that his family must be well-off.

People from worker families or military families were generally considered to be in good conditions.

However, they thought that since Erbao said his mother worked at home, it implied she didn’t have a job.

“So, Lin Hairui, where does your family live? If it’s nearby, we could hang out during the holidays,” another student asked.

“My family lives in a large compound on XXX Road,” Erbao explained, “You have to take two buses. First, take the…”

He even gave them directions.

“Oh, that’s not in the same area as my home.”

“I know that place. It’s full of small villas, very beautiful.”

“Does your family also live in a small villa?”

Erbao confirmed, “Yes.”

Small villas were indeed beautiful.

When the students heard that Erbao’s family lived in a small villa, their view of him changed again.

Not every soldier could live in a villa, and in their perception, only high-ranking soldiers could afford to live in such places.

Several students looked at Erbao with eager eyes and asked, “Lin Hairui, is your father very impressive? Your family lives in a small villa in the compound.”

Without hesitation, Erbao replied, “Yes, my father is a university graduate, and university graduates are very impressive.”

Erbao grew up in a military family and was surrounded by officers, so he didn’t think much of his father’s position as a regiment commander.

Instead, he thought being a university graduate was more impressive.

With middle school knowledge already so difficult, high school knowledge was even harder, and university knowledge was even more so.

In Erbao’s view, his father being a university graduate was truly impressive.

“Wow, a university graduate, that’s amazing.”

“My uncle is also a university graduate and works as an engineer in a factory. He’s quite impressive too.”

Erbao added, “My father isn’t as impressive as my mother.”

Speaking of his father naturally led to mentioning his mother.

“If your father is a university graduate, and he’s not as impressive as your mother, what does your mother do?”

“Yeah, is there anything above a university degree?”