Middle school English had been a simple, introductory level, so that was no issue. Chinese had been all about rote memorization, and the material was etched into her very bones. A quick flip through the textbook confirmed she was familiar with most of the lessons.
Math, however, was a matter of talent. Combined with the fact that she hadn't touched it since graduation, it was the one subject she had to salvage first.
Xu Su turned on the fan and started reviewing math problems without even looking up. She had to register at the school on August 10th. The current month had 31 days, which meant, including today, she had less than half a month left to study.
When Chen Shulan returned home in the middle of the afternoon with Xu Yang from visiting neighbors, she didn't see Xu Su in the living room and went to check her room. Her eyes fell upon her daughter, sitting upright with her back to the door, furiously writing.
The girl's hair was tied in a high bun, a few stray wisps dancing in the fan's breeze. She sat on the bed, her back perfectly straight, as her pen moved nonstop across the paper, solving problems.
As long as it didn't involve her son, Chen Shulan was a decent enough mother. She smiled in satisfaction, and not wanting to disturb her daughter's hard work, she quietly backed out of the room.
Xu Su wrote from two in the afternoon until six in the evening. She only snapped out of her focus on math problems when the aroma of dinner wafted in and Xu Zhengping returned home.
Dinner was leftovers from lunch, with an added dish of smashed cucumber salad with vinegar. Aside from Xu Yang making a bit of a fuss from time to time, the family ate in silence.
Xu Su didn't know if the atmosphere at the Xu Family's dinner table had been like this before she came. In her previous life, she had blamed it on herself, believing her arrival was what made the family so awkward.
Halfway through dinner, Xu Su said, "I have to go to the school to register on August tenth."
"Is it for military training? My team leader's son is also starting high school, but he's going to City Third Middle School. I heard him mention having to register at the school early," Xu Zhengping said.
His words carried a hint of smugness that his own child was better than his team leader's. Xu Zhengping and his wife were the most traditional kind of parents, who favored sons over daughters. As long as she wasn't being compared to their son, they didn't treat their daughter too badly. They were also happy that she did well in school.
Of course, if their interests were at stake, they wouldn't hesitate to sell out their daughter.
Xu Su nodded. "Yes, for military training. I don't know the way to the school. Will you have time to take me there?"
Chen Shulan didn't expect her daughter to say that and replied with a slight reproach, "You just came to the city for school. Of course Mom and Dad will take you and show you the way. Did you think we'd let you find it on your own? You're our child too. Don't say things like that again."
Xu Zhengping said, "Do you have to live at the school for military training? Have your mom take you tomorrow to buy the things you'll need for the dorm. If you're missing anything, just tell your mom. This is your home."
After dinner, Xu Su naturally started clearing the table, offering to help wash the dishes.
In fact, when she lived in the countryside, although Grandma Xu doted on her, she still made sure Xu Su learned how to do the necessary chores. She had also often taught her to help out with work once she returned to her parents' side.
In the three years of high school in her past life, washing the dishes was basically her job whenever she ate at home. That changed only in the final year, when Zhou Mochen's presence made her parents become cautious with her and forbid her from doing chores.
After washing the dishes, the Xu family of three watched TV together happily on the sofa, while Xu Su continued to battle with her math problems in her room. She didn't stop writing until after nine o'clock, when Chen Shulan and her husband were getting ready for bed.
Chen Shulan found an unopened toothbrush and a towel. "These toiletries are for you. You've been doing homework all day, so wash up and get some rest soon."
Although Xu Yang had clamored for his own room during the day, when night came, he insisted on sleeping with his parents. Even so, he would rather let that room stay empty than allow Xu Su to sleep in it.
He had already thrown a huge tantrum during the day, and the Xu Weiping couple couldn't bear for their son to cause another scene. They took a sheet and a blanket, placed them on the sofa, and the family of three went into their room.
Xu Su looked at the two-seater sofa where she had slept for half a year in her past life. At her current height of five-foot-three, she could just barely stretch her legs out straight.
She silently turned the standing fan beside her to its lowest setting and lay down.
'It's okay. I'm used to it. This is just a second time around, that's all.'
A soul accustomed to a large bed found it hard to get used to being squeezed onto a small sofa. By around five in the summer morning, the sky was already light. Unable to sleep, Xu Su simply got up and continued to grind through her practice problems.
By the time Chen Shulan got up to make breakfast, Xu Su's hand was already a little sore from writing.
Seeing this diligent streak in her daughter, Chen Shulan was a little shocked. "It's only a little after six, why are you already doing problems?"
Xu Su was writing furiously at the small square dining table. Hearing the voice, she looked up and smiled. "School's about to start. I'm just reviewing."
"Be careful with your eyes. Don't ruin them from overworking."
With that one piece of advice, Chen Shulan went to the kitchen to prepare breakfast for the family.
Breakfast was plain rice porridge served with some of Chen Shulan's homemade dried radish, along with a hard-boiled egg.
"Your little brother is going through a growth spurt, so he has to eat an egg every morning." Chen Shulan cracked the eggshell and began to peel it. "We're not very tall, so we're giving your brother more nutrition in hopes that he'll grow taller."
Xu Yang, holding a toy gun, lifted his head proudly, enjoying the special treatment he received at home as if it were his birthright.
Xu Su nodded to show she understood.
After breakfast, Chen Shulan and her husband gave a few instructions before leaving for work. As usual, Xu Su washed the dishes and cleaned the kitchen.
She also washed the clothes she had changed out of the previous night and hung them up to dry, only then returning to her homework.
As for the rest of the family's dirty laundry, Xu Su had no intention of taking responsibility for all of it in this life.
Xu Yang was watching TV in the living room with the volume turned up extremely high. Xu Su closed her bedroom door, stuffed two wads of toilet paper into her ears, and continued to grind through her problems.
At eleven o'clock, following the instructions Chen Shulan had left, Xu Su started the rice. The Xu Family already had a rice cooker at this time—the old-fashioned kind where you just had to press the switch down and the light would turn on.
Chen Shulan came back very early. She originally worked on the factory floor of a textile mill, monitoring machines, but in order to take better care of Xu Yang, she later applied for a transfer to the logistics department. The work there was more relaxed, with flexible hours, but the corresponding pay was not high. In this era, after working at the factory for over ten years, her monthly salary was only about eight hundred yuan.
Xu Weiping's salary, on the other hand, was higher, at fifteen hundred a month. He worked as a mover, specifically loading and unloading goods for the factory. The job was all about brute strength, and after doing it day in and day out for over ten years, his body was riddled with work-related ailments.
When Chen Shulan got home and saw that her daughter had washed her own clothes, she didn't say anything. She just poured some laundry powder into a basin and started washing the clothes her husband and son had changed out of the night before. Summer clothes were thin and washed up in no time, and then she began to prepare lunch.
For lunch, they had spicy and sour shredded potatoes, braised tofu, and a bowl of tomato and egg drop soup. They were all dishes that went well with rice. The braised tofu had a little bit of meat in it, but Xu Yang didn't like the fatty parts.