Huang Feng also asked for a phone number, hoping to call and stay in touch over the next few days, but she regretfully gave up when she learned the Xu family didn't have a phone.
Seeing how reluctant the girl was to leave, Xu Su was a little touched.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
For the next few days, the textile factory remained incredibly busy. Aside from bringing lunch to Xu Weiping every day, Xu Su spent all her time reviewing her schoolwork. The extra attention from her homeroom teacher, both in this life and the last, put her under immense pressure.
In her past life, for various reasons, her grades had plummeted during her first semester of high school. It got so bad that by the second semester, she was moved out of the First High School's rocket class.
Xu Su didn't want to recall how that felt. She just knew that when it came to regrets from her thirty years in her past life, her academic performance was one of them.
This life, she would dedicate herself to her studies and strive to do her best.
「Soon, it was the twentieth.」
Xu Su had already told her parents that she didn't need either of them to take time off work to accompany her to school this time.
Early in the morning, after washing up and having a bowl of rice porridge, Xu Su left for the bus stop. In her pocket was the huge sum of fifty yuan that Chen Shulan had given her the night before.
This fifty yuan was for her meals during military training, and Chen Shulan had reminded her many times to be as frugal as possible.
As soon as she got to school, Xu Su found her way to the dorm room. Huang Feng hadn't arrived yet, but the other six beds in the room were already made and the floor was very clean. It looked like Dorm 215 was already full.
Three girls were gathered in the dorm, talking. They must have arrived the day before and spent the night. They all paused when they saw Xu Su walk in.
Qian Jia, who had met Xu Su before, smiled and made the introductions. "This is Xu Su. She's also in the rocket class and our dorm. Zhao Mei, she's on the bunk below you."
Xu Su smiled and nodded at them before sitting on her bed. She had met Qian Jia and Qiu Dandan last time; Zhao Mei must have been the only one who arrived after she had finished unpacking and left.
Zhao Mei returned a friendly smile. "That's great, we're all in the same class. We can go check in at the classroom together later."
Xu Su remembered that. "Okay."
The atmosphere in the dorm was relaxed, and the girls started chatting again.
"City No.1 High School is huge! It's so much bigger than my middle school back in my county. Do you guys know how many classes the freshman year has?" Qiu Dandan said in amazement. "Twenty-six! There are twenty-six classes just for the freshmen!"
The rocket class had been listed at the very top of the class assignment notice, so most students just found their own name and didn't bother reading the entire list. Hearing that a single grade level had twenty-six classes was a bit of a shock to the other girls.
Zhao Mei's eyes widened. "I know our rocket class has fifty-eight students," she exclaimed. "If every class is that big, then the number of freshmen alone is more than the total number of students in all three grades at my old middle school!"
Qiu Dandan added, "Also, I'm from An County, so I got here yesterday afternoon. I didn't have time to look around when I came to register, so I made a point to explore the campus this time. I found out the sophomores only get a month for summer vacation—they already started last week. And the seniors have it even worse. They only got a seven-day break!"
Qian Jia, nibbling on a piece of bread she'd brought, swallowed and sighed. "We have it pretty bad, too. This military training is eating into our summer vacation. That's ten days of break we're losing."
"No wonder I saw some classes in session when I passed the academic building just now... High school sounds so tough." Zhao Mei looked as if she'd heard terrible news, and her face paled. She clearly hadn't snapped out of her fun-filled summer vacation mode and was reluctant to face the intense academic pressure.
Xu Su joined the conversation. "Out of the twenty-six classes, the rocket class is the smallest. The other classes have over seventy students each."
She shared what she knew. "Actually, there are more freshmen than you think—probably around seventeen or eighteen hundred."
'Huang Feng's mother was right. Many parents tried to use their connections to get their kids into Teacher Wu's class, yet he accepted fewer students than any other teacher. It just showed how strict his standards were.'
City No.1 High School was the top-tier high school in Chang City. It always received preferential treatment from the Education Bureau and wanted for nothing in terms of teaching resources. Its college matriculation rate was among the best in the city. Any student who managed to get in—even into a regular class—had been a top performer at their respective middle school.
'Competing for grades against so many top students, the academic pressure would be immense, even for those in the rocket class. Although they were in the rocket class now, Xu Su knew that the moment their final exam scores slipped, the top students from other classes would be fighting tooth and nail to take their place.'
Just as a gloomy atmosphere settled over the dorm, Huang Feng finally arrived, lugging several bags.
The moment she saw Xu Su, she rushed over and gave her a big bear hug. "I missed you so much while I was at home these past few days!"
Although they hadn't known each other long, they had both taken a real liking to one another.
The two chatted for a bit, then waited a little while longer. When the occupants of the other three beds still hadn't shown up, the five of them decided not to wait any longer and headed to the classroom together.
Huang Feng had attended the middle school affiliated with the First High School, so she was very familiar with the campus. Qian Jia, Zhao Mei, and the others had only been here twice.
Although Xu Su was, on the inside, a veteran who had attended City No.1 High School for three years, she had to pretend she didn't know her way around. She let Huang Feng lead the group straight to the freshman academic building without a single wrong turn.
The rocket class was on the second floor, next to the faculty office.
As they walked down the hall, the door to every classroom was wide open. Students who had arrived early were already being organized by their homeroom teachers to start cleaning.
Xu Su also saw a few familiar faces—old classmates of hers from Kang County. Although Kang County First Middle School's resources weren't the best, several of its students had still managed to test into City No.1 High School. Unfortunately, they were all in other classes; Xu Su was the only one from her old school to make it into the rocket class.
Chen Si was carrying a trash can out of his classroom when he spotted Xu Su in the crowd. His eyes lit up as he ran over. "Xu Su! I saw your name on the list for the rocket class! You're incredible! First place in the whole county! I heard Mr. Li was smiling about it for a whole month, grinning from ear to ear."
Chen Si had been Xu Su's class president in middle school, and his grades had always been excellent, so it was no surprise he'd gotten into City No.1 High School. Xu Su glanced at the sign by the door he'd just come through. "Are you in Class 9?" she asked.
Chen Si nodded, trying to contain his excitement at seeing a familiar face. "It's not just me. Yang Xue, Fan Lulu, and Peng Fei from our old school are here at City No.1 High School too. We can all catch a ride home together for the holidays."
Xu Su thought about the upcoming holidays. "Okay. I'll join you guys for the ride back during the National Day holiday."
The old classmates, who hadn't seen each other in over a month, chatted for a moment before Chen Si was hurried along by a new classmate to take out the trash.
Huang Feng and the others, who were standing off to the side, watched Chen Si walk away with knowing smiles. "An old classmate? His eyes really lit up when he saw you."