CHAPTER 153: CHAPTER 153: MEETING

Once Du Juanhua’s bed was ready, Bai Junjun’s side was almost cleaned up too.

She curiously pointed at Lin Qin’s bed, "Where’s she?"

Du Juanhua shook her head, "I haven’t seen her either."

That day, only the two of them slept in the dormitory.

The next day, the other three roommates came together.

One was named Zhang Hong, who was a fellow townsman with Du Juanhua. Their family conditions were similar, and they happened to sleep on the same side of the upper bunk.

Another was named Zhou Xue, a northerner, who lived in the south with her mother because of military duty, and she enrolled in the teacher’s college, considered a military child.

The other was named Ge Qiuyue, who was almost thirty years old. As soon as she arrived, she attracted everyone’s attention in the dormitory.

Under everyone’s curious gaze, Ge Qiuyue showed a simple smile and introduced herself, "My name is Ge Qiuyue, I’m twenty-nine this year, older than all of you. You can call me Sister Ge, this is my husband."

The four of them greeted in unison, "Hello, Sister Ge!"

"Hahaha..." Ge Qiuyue laughed heartily and asked naturally, "Why is there still one person missing?"

Bai Junjun immediately shook her head, "I heard that this person arrived first, is elusive, and we haven’t seen her yet!"

"Are you talking about me?" Lin Qin came in wearing a floral long dress with patent leather shoes, a delicate white bag on her shoulder, and carrying two large bags of fruit in her hands.

She instantly became the center of attention.

"Oh! The girl is really beautiful, like a star from a magazine!" Ge Qiuyue was the first to react, praising without reservation.

Lin Qin was amused, "Hello, hello, I may not be a young girl, maybe I’m even older than you!"

"That’s impossible!" Ge Qiuyue followed Lin Qin to her seat, loudly introducing herself, "I’m Ge Qiuyue, twenty-nine this year, definitely the oldest in our dormitory."

Lin Qin blinked in surprise, "Really! But I’m only two years younger than Sister Ge. We’re almost the same! I’m Lin Qin, please guide me well."

The whole room was wide-eyed.

Lin Qin called out, "I picked some fruits from home, including mangoes, lychees, guavas, and a big watermelon. It’s hot weather, come join me to eat and cool down."

Ge Qiuyue leaned in closer, clicked her tongue and said, "Looks fresh, must be delicious!"

Lin Qin smiled, asking, "Do you have a small knife or scissors? I want to cut the watermelon."

Zhou Xue immediately took out a sharp little knife from her desk shelf, "How about this one?"

"Thank you!" Lin Qin took it and, after just one look, was stunned, "This... doesn’t seem to be readily available in the market."

Zhou Xue gave her a thumbs up in appreciation, "You know quality! It’s from my family, no problem."

Lin Qin didn’t ask more questions, she put a bag on the floor and divided the watermelon into eight pieces, handing one piece to each person.

The saying goes, don’t hit a smiling face person, let alone eat someone’s food, thus all six people in the dorm gathered around, each introducing themselves to Lin Qin.

Ge Qiuyue curiously asked, "Girl, you look much younger than me. Did you take the college entrance exam several times before getting in?"

Lin Qin shook her head, "No, I got married early. Later, when my family’s conditions improved, I thought about studying more. My homeroom teacher thought I was quite diligent and recommended I try the college entrance exam. I tried last year but didn’t pass, so I focused all my efforts for a year and got in this year."

"Impressive!" Ge Qiuyue praised again.

Lin Qin handed her the peeled mango, "Try this, I wonder if any of you have eaten it before."

Mangoes are tropical fruits, even though their area is subtropical and could grow them, but it would be a decade before they became widespread. Back then, with land allocation just starting, fruit trees were not widely planted, and fruits were still rare items, even locals might not have tasted them.

Sure enough, Ge Qiuyue, Du Juanhua, Zhang Hong, and Zhou Xue all said they hadn’t eaten them before.

Lin Qin quickly peeled more for them.

Zhou Xue curiously asked, "Sister Qin, is your family fruit farmers?"

Lin Qin laughed, "No, no, my family just has more land, so we planted a lot of fruits and raised lots of chickens, ducks, and geese, but we don’t rely on them to make money. We pick as much as we want to eat.

You see, my dad knew I was coming today, so early in the morning he got the kids to help pick a pile."

"Kids? How many kids do you have? I have two, the older is a daughter, the younger is a son," Ge Qiuyue said.

Lin Qin held up three fingers.

Ge Qiuyue was instantly envious, "I also want more, but the government doesn’t allow it. You’re so lucky! It’s lively with three kids!"

The others also showed great envy.

Lin Qin found it amusing and exasperating, "What’s the big deal? You all are still young, college is the best time to study and find a partner. This is campus youth, we with families can’t join in on that fun. Also, just to let everyone know, I don’t live in the dorm, I’ll just come back to nap in the afternoon, but at night I have to go home."

Everyone was taken aback but understood.

Bai Junjun eagerly asked, "Sister Qin, how can I apply to not live in the dorm? I also want to go home."

Lin Qin had already noticed Bai Junjun’s difference. She seemed to be pampered and raised well, probably from a good family, "You’re also from An City?"

Bai Junjun nodded repeatedly, "My home is quite close, near the experimental elementary school. It’s just that my dad disagrees with me commuting, I was even thinking about going part-time at my cousin’s place!"

Ge Qiuyue didn’t understand, "Junjun, your family doesn’t seem to be lacking money. We are students, studying is more important. If it’s not absolutely necessary, none of us will take part-time jobs to earn money."

Bai Junjun sighed, "You don’t understand, my cousin opened an art training institution outside, enrolled many students from our school, and has already achieved financial freedom. I just want to go part-time there early, learn more, and one day open an art training institution like her."

Lin Qin paused her fruit peeling, asking in surprise, "Your cousin isn’t Bai Linlin, is she!"

"You know her?" Bai Junjun instantly perked up excitedly.

Lin Qin laughed heartily, "This An City is indeed small! My kids take classes at Teacher Bai’s place, we’re old acquaintances."

Because of Bai Linlin, Bai Junjun became much closer to Lin Qin, chasing her to ask many things about the training institution.

Meanwhile, Ge Qiuyue’s husband had already helped her finish tidying up the bed, arranged the living supplies neatly, and even organized the wardrobe properly.

Seeing that things were almost done, his husband greeted everyone, then looked at Ge Qiuyue, "I’ll go to the guest house first, bring you some things tomorrow morning, and then head back."

Ge Qiuyue hurriedly sent her husband downstairs.

With the dormitory door closed.

Zhang Hong said enviously, "Sister Ge’s husband is really considerate, their relationship is really good."

Du Juanhua agreed, "Absolutely! Like Sister Ge, with both a husband and kids, after graduation, she only needs to focus on working, so worry-free!"