Relatively speaking, the first year of junior high had the most courses. There were the compulsory Chinese Language, mathematics, and physical education, not to mention the less prominent art and social studies classes. Students chose one foreign language, and it was a day-study program. The remaining seven science and humanities subjects—history, politics, geography, physics, biology, chemistry, and engineering—all had to be taken.
In the second year of junior high, students would choose three subjects from the seven science and humanities courses to focus on. Before that, at the end of the first year, there would be an academic proficiency exam: Chinese Language, mathematics, foreign language, and the seven science/humanities subjects, totaling ten exams. This was jokingly referred to as the 'Ironman Decathlon.'
At that time, academic achievement grades would be assigned. Each subject had a perfect score of one hundred, and grades were divided into six levels based on performance: A, B, C, D, E, and P. These grades would follow the student's file and be used as a criterion for ranking during the junior high to high school entrance exams. For the same score, a higher academic grade would be advantageous. Additionally, there were strict requirements: to attend a regular high school, one could not have a P; to attend a provincial key high school, one needed at least five As.
After the academic grading exams were completed, it was time to choose courses. Students selected three from the seven science and humanities subjects, and the remaining four classes no longer needed to be attended.
In the second year of junior high, there would be a 'moving class' system, so the teaching building was no longer composed of small classrooms like in the first year. Instead, there were large classrooms, mostly tiered lecture halls. Top-tier classes, elite classes, and regular classes might share a classroom, but the teachers and teaching content were separated.
The good news was that in the second year, if the top-tier classes had lessons together, Simon and Zhang Yingxuan could be classmates again.
The first class of junior high was scheduled for the afternoon. The opening ceremony ended at 8:30 AM, and the time until the noon self-study at 12:30 PM was free for students. New students followed the guide robots, riding mobility scooters to the dorms.
The student dorms housed four people per room. The single bedrooms were quite spacious, about fourteen square meters, fully equipped with desks, chairs, beds, cabinets, common appliances, and even toiletries. In a few days, Simon would be able to fit his simulated cabin there.
The living room was twenty-five square meters. In addition to furniture, basic appliances were also sufficient. Central air conditioning was a given, along with a shared refrigerator and a projector that could play TV. However, the available programs were limited to science popularization, educational films, and news current affairs.
The bathroom was integrated, very clean, and measured twenty-two square meters. It had four sinks, four independent shower stalls, and four partitioned toilets, so there was no need to crowd together.
Cleaning was handled by robots. For trash disposal, students needed to sort it themselves, bag it, and place it into the trash chute.
It was no worse than many star-rated hotels. Cool.
Coincidentally, Simon and Zhang Yingxuan were roommates. Zhou Ping lived in the dorm next door to them.
Of the four roommates, besides Simon and Zhang Yingxuan, one was the talkative Number Two, named Zou Jiaqi. He was fair-skinned, with red lips and white teeth, and his hair was dry and yellow, making him look like a doll. His height was quite short; saying he was in fourth grade of elementary school would not be an exaggeration. He was never quiet, chattering away like a machine gun, but his voice was pleasant, and his words were amusing, making him sound like a stand-up comedian.
The last roommate was Number Thirty-Four, named Wei Changjun, nicknamed 'Gastric Bacteria.' He was a tall, thin boy with skin as yellow as dried tangerine peel. His chin was not prominent, and his lips were thick, so his former classmates used to tease him by calling him 'Peking Man.' He himself didn't care about these jokes; he was a cool young man who liked music, basketball, and movies. His only drawback was that his words occasionally seemed to be on a different wavelength than others.
During school, students were not allowed to leave campus or order takeout.
The cafeteria offered a meal delivery service to the dorms, but it required an application. Teachers could enjoy this, but students only received this treatment if they were sick and bedridden. On regular days, they had to run errands themselves. In Zou Jiaqi's words, this was a regression of modern civilization.
The cafeteria offered a wide variety of dishes. Whether one chose three dishes and one soup or eight dishes and one soup was up to them, but the rule remained: a quota. Each person received one portion per meal, with no limit on the number of portions, but no waste was allowed. Simon feasted. His current appetite was neither too big nor too small, the kind that could get his money's worth at a buffet.
The campus facilities and conditions were first-class, but the academic pressure was also immense.
The Class Teacher, that sharp-tongued Woman, laid out her demands to the students during the noon self-study session.
First, discipline regarding study time: paying close attention in class was the most basic; no talking or moving around during breaks, unless going to the restroom; trash cans could only be used at noon and after school, and must be kept clean at all other times; personal hygiene must be maintained at all times, boys' hair could not cover their ears, girls must tie their hair, no makeup, fingernails must be kept clean; before joining the Communist Youth League in the third year, the red scarf must be worn daily; school uniforms must be worn, school badges must be worn, and the school badge must be worn on the right side of the chest below the collarbone…
Then, discipline regarding daily life: those living in dorms must return on time; those living at home must send a selfie with their family to the Class Teacher upon arriving home; in class, everyone must stand up and bow to the teacher to greet them; eye exercises and broadcast calisthenics must be performed with standard movements; no being late in the morning, no eating breakfast in the classroom, no catching up on homework during morning self-study, no playing with fire in the dorms, no puppy love at a young age…
Students: (;′Д｀)ゞ "Ah♦♦…"
Class Teacher: ╰(‵□′)╯ "What 'ah'? No 'ah'! All of you, be good and listen!"
Simon thought: My goodness, this is too high-pressure.
Their class had fifty-four people, seated in nine rows, with six people per row, which was just right. There were slightly more girls than boys, thirty girls and twenty-four boys.
What was rather strange was that even though the Class Teacher said no puppy love, the seating arrangements were still mixed-gender. Moreover, they would be changed monthly, with new arrangements based on a rule: good students and shorter students went to the front, poor students and taller students went to the back, and average students of medium height filled the middle.
At the beginning of the school year, Simon was quite tall, so he sat in the last row. His deskmate was Number Three, the straight-laced girl who sat to Zou Jiaqi's right during the opening ceremony. Her surname was Bai, Bai Fengjiu. Although serious, she was a literary youth: Simon didn't even need to ask to guess that she liked scar literature. The moment he saw her, the famous poem "Rain Alley" suddenly popped into his head.
"Holding an oil-paper umbrella,
"Alone,
"Wandering in a long,
"Long,
"And lonely rain alley.
"...
"She wanders in this lonely rain alley,
"Holding an oil-paper umbrella,
"Like me,
"Like me,
"Silently treading,
"Indifferent,
"Bleak,
"And melancholic..."
Yes, there was no mistake. Although this young girl always appeared meticulous, when she held a book of poetry, what flowed from her slender eyes was nothing but the sorrow of dreamy fascination and longing. While there might be a suspicion of self-indulgence, her pursuit of beauty was genuine and unmistakable.
Simon had personally witnessed her during a quiet break, placing a collection of Nalan Xingde's poems on her desk. Her left elbow held down one side of the book, and three fingers of her right hand held down the other. She would tilt her head, gaze down at the pages, and cup her cheek with the palm of her left hand. Her neat ponytail slightly draped over her left shoulder. Light streamed in from the south-facing window, blurring her fair skin against the backlight, making her tender earlobes seem transparent. Beneath the fine down on her cheeks, a healthy rosy complexion was unmistakable. Her face was like a small peach, and her earlobe was that single drop of water…
Simon slightly turned his head to look at Bai Fengjiu. To his left, across an aisle, Su Xiangli's hand suddenly grabbed his ear.
"Isn't she very pretty?"
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