OVERGROWN GRASSLAND

1

“Test your baggage yet one more time.”

With out a phrase, Zhu Yun listened to her mom and opened up her suitcase and checked her belongings.

“You’ve obtained every little thing, proper?”

“I’ve obtained every little thing.”

Her mom nodded with satisfaction.

It was lastly time for the subsequent step. Zhu Yun’s mom pulled her daughter to her facet and grabbed her shoulders. “If you get to high school, ensure that to name dwelling, okay?”

“Mmh.”

“I actually wish to ship you all the way in which to high school.”

“It’s okay. You and Dad are each busy when faculty begins. I can go alone.”

Her mom’s face was filled with concern.

Zhu Yun stated, “It’s not that far anyway. We’re nonetheless in the identical province.”

Her mom urged her, “Get alongside together with your lecturers and classmates.”

“Mmh.”

“There are some things I’ll remind you about once more. First, below no circumstance must you attempt to get particular remedy, in any other case you’ll get bullied. Second, ensure that to maintain relationship together with your roommates. You’ll be dwelling collectively for 4 years. Third—”

“I do know, I do know.” Earlier than her mom expanded any additional, Zhu Yun lower her off.

She and her mom have been the one two left on the ticket gate. Her mother’s eyes have been turning purple. She pat Zhu Yun’s head and instructed her, “Be good. I’m pleased with you.”

They waved goodbye.

Along with her baggage in hand, Zhu Yun took a deep breath. After her feelings steadied, she felt fairly at peace.

She pulled two massive suitcases onto the practice automotive. And 4 hours later, she pulled two massive suitcases out of the practice automotive.

It wasn’t Zhu Yun’s first time on this metropolis. Neither was it her first time at this faculty. As one of many prime faculties within the nation, and contemplating the truth that it wasn’t too removed from dwelling, this faculty had way back change into Zhu Yun’s dad and mom’ goal school for her. One of many professors on the faculty had additionally been good friend of her father’s, although she heard that he’d died from a stroke a number of years in the past.

The varsity was filled with enthusiasm on Registration Day. This was a prime faculty, so the brand new college students couldn’t assist wanting round eagerly. Regardless of how tightly they shut their lips or tried to stay uanffected, they couldn’t management the burning flames of their eyes.

In distinction, the upperclassmen have been a lot calmer, and the graduate college students have been even sluggish, the shine gone from their eyes. Their eyelids drooped, detached to the newly arrived chicks flapping their wings, dashing this manner and that approach.

When Zhu Yun dragged her baggage into her dorm room, there was already somebody inside.

Zhu Yun as soon as had a good friend who preferred make-up rather a lot. Because of her, in Zhu Yun’s shallow understanding, all women who wore make-up have been categorised as lovely. In response to that normal, the lady within the room holding a mirror will need to have been a world class magnificence. Truly, her make-up made her face appear like a birthday cake.

When Cake Lady heard somebody enter the room, she circled. Two pairs of eyes met, and Zhu Yun gave a sort smile.

“Hiya, I’m Zhu Yun.”

Cake Lady regarded her over. The lady’s smokey make-up did nothing for her white eyes. Being checked out on this method, Zhu Yun almost misplaced her smile.

“I’m Ren Di,” Cake Lady lastly launched herself. And… What number of years did she spend smoking to finish up with a voice as hoarse as that? Zhu Yun’s ideas have been muddled, uncertain what to do subsequent.

Simply then, a voice sounded behind her. “That…”

Zhu Yun turned her head round and a lady with glasses regarded to her and Ren Di. She stated, “We have to be roommates. Hello, I’m Fang Shumiao!” After which there was one other spherical of introductions.

Ren Di didn’t say a lot. After ending her make-up, her expression was very detached. Comprehensible. How a lot of an expression may you anticipate a slice of cake to have?

Zhu Yun had tried her finest to maintain the state of affairs from turning chilly. Luckily, Fang Shumiao was fairly energetic. As she spoke, she pulled out some dried fruit from her bag. “A hometown specialty. Give it a strive.” Zhu Yun thanked her and pulled out the jerky that her mom had ready for her.

Maybe their class had fewer women or another motive, however a fourth lady by no means confirmed up. After politely chatting for half an hour, Zhu Yun suggesed, “It’s about time. We must always go choose up our army coaching uniforms.” (t/n: Firstly of the varsity yr, some faculties have obligatory army coaching—Extra information on Wiki and the net.)

Fang Shumiao immediately recalled such a factor. “That’s proper! Now we have a category assembly within the afternoon too.”

It was their top quality assembly of school. They’d meet their class advisor and classmates, so it was fairly essential.

The summer time afternoon was scorching and insufferable. After some tens of minutes standing in place, the entrance of the road confirmed no indicators of transferring. The road of individuals prolonged throughout from the gymnasium.

Zhu Yun was utterly ready. She pulled out an umbrella from her bag. “You guys ought to come below too.”

“Thanks.” Fang Shumiao moved below the umbrella.

“Ren Di?”

“No, thanks.” Ren Di had been standing behind them, listening to music. After being interrupted by Zhu Yun, she closed her telephone and shouted to the entrance. “Are you handing out the uniforms or not!?”

Zhu Yun and Fang Shumiao have been each startled by the outburst. College students who attended a prime faculty comparable to this have been normally fairly favorable, well-behaved with light speech. However these new chicks have been too excited on at the present time, so after Ren Di’s outburst, the opposite college students additionally chimed in.

They shouted—

“Yeah!”

“Are you handing them out or not?! I’m going to get heatstroke!”

“I’m going to faint from this warmth!”

After the shouting continued a bit, the sweat-covered organizer stepped out from the gymnasium. “Cool down! When your identify is known as, come inside! You’ll be able to all keep in mind your scholar numbers, proper?”

Everybody bowed their heads and looked for the scholar IDs they’d simply acquired.

The organizer, with a worn out record in his fingers, raised his head and shouted, “First is the Laptop Division! Expertise Purposes Class 1! #1, Li Xun!”

Zhu Yun was happy. She’d be out of the solar quickly.

“Class 1, #1! Li Xun!” Nobody answered.

The organizer’s voice was rising hoarse from his shouting. “Li Xun! Is Li Xun right here?! Does this particular person exist? Li—”

“Right here,” a response got here from who knew the place.

Zhu Yun was startled. This voice felt very clear. This clear, easygoing voice was simple to differentiate within the afternoon campus. Certainly. A superb faculty had good seedlings. A happy Zhu Yun slowly turned her head, however what greeted her brought about her insides to burn.

Everybody else was additionally startled. Because the boy walked ahead, the group break up in two to make room for him, like Moses break up the ocean. After he disappeared into the gymnasium, the group began chattering once more.

“Wow, what a showoff.”

“Who’s that…?”

“The varsity helps you to dye your hair?”

……

“Hey, did you see?” Fang Shumiao gently nudged Zhu Yun. “His hair was blond.”

I noticed. How may anybody miss it. He was like a strolling lightbulb.

Zhu Yun’s dad and mom have been each lecturers, so she’d come throughout all kinds of scholars earlier than. However she’d by no means seen a scholar with hair that shiny. Zhu Yun surveyed these round her.

In comparison with highschool college students, school college students had much more freedom. There have been various college students who dyed their hair, however since this was a science and engineering faculty, individuals have been usually extra conservative. Browns have been a typical alternative, and a few would possibly go as far as to dye their hair a grimy blond. However blond hair that regarded almost white when the solar shined onto it was a uncommon sight.

What was his identify? Li Xun. Zhu Yun felt a bit embarrassed. Why’d you dye your hair like that? Are you pretending to be the solar? Nobody at this faculty needed to be a shame.

Whereas Zhu Yun’s ideas flew, Li Xun accomplished his coaching registration and exited the fitness center.

Everybody appeared to have made a silent settlement. All of them shut their mouths and regarded over the boy out of the nook’s of their eyes.

He was sporting an bizarre grey, cotton, short-sleeved shirt. Because it was scorching out, he’d rolled his sleeves as much as his shoulders, exposing a pair of slender arms. There was a thinness to him that solely the younger may have.

He took massive steps and left with out assembly with one other scholar. However he grazed Zhu Yun’s shoulder. A tall stature, a slender face, and considerably drained. That was Zhu Yun’s first impression of him.

A brief hmph lower her ideas brief.

Zhu Yun turned her head to see Cake Ren cross her arms throughout her chest, her eyes narrowed as she stared at Li Xun’s retreating determine. Her expression wasn’t nice.

Since they’d met, this was the primary time she’d confirmed some sort of emotion on her face—raised left eyebrow, lips turned down, eyes receding. I suppose it might be known as a sneer. Her face remained mounted till Li Xun disappeared from their line of sight, and after a second, she spit out the phrase very clearly, “Conceited.”

“….” Zhu Yun couldn’t assist pondering that the 2 have been fairly the match.

After the registration was full, the scholars drifted over to the educational constructing.

“Hey, the library!” Fang Shumiao pulled Zhu Yun alongside as she pointed to a close-by constructing.

Ordinarily, a college’s library mirrored the training ambiance of the varsity. Fang Shumiao regarded inside on the massive crowd, and he or she cried out in pleasure, “There are lots of people! Superior!”

They have to be distributing books.

The hallways within the tutorial constructing have been full of new college students, like a market.

Zhu Yun and the women shortly discovered their class and took a seat. The remainder of their classmates slowly gathered, sitting down with their roommates and chatting about this and that.

After which, the room quieted.

Zhu Yun circled, and there was Li Xun. He took a seat diagonally behind her. Simply as she was about to look over him extra fastidiously, the bell rang and he or she snapped ahead, eyes to the lecturn on the entrance.

The halls grew quiet. And shortly, a middle-aged male professor entered the room. He wasn’t tall and his head was very spherical. He stepped as much as the lecturn and smiled at everybody.

“Hiya, everybody.”

The scholars answered, their responses scattered and disjoint. “Hiya, sir.”

The instructor rubbed his fingers and stated, “I’ll introduce myself first. My identify is Zhang Dai, and I’m the advisor for Expertise Purposes Class 1. I’ll even be your superior arithmetic instructor.”

Trainer Zhang was clearly a tutorial sort with a shining résumé, however he wasn’t good at expressing himself. He chanced on, “How about everybody makes an introduction, so I can get to know every of you, and in addition so you’ll be able to familiarize yourselves with one another. Who desires to go first?”

Deathly silence adopted.

Trainer Zhang wiped away the sweat on his brow. “Then… Let’s go by your scholar quantity.”

Scholar quantity? #1 in my class…

From behind her, a scholar walked previous her. He stepped as much as the lecturn, and the advisor immediately appeared even shorter. Zhu Yun stared forward. She may lastly take a look at his face brazenly.

If she have been being sincere, he was a bit good-looking. However his hair… In such shut proximity, Zhu Yun may see that he’d used hairspray. Should you’re going to make use of it, use it nicely. His hair had been grabbed and fussed into a large number. To place it properly, it regarded like an overgrown area. In much less nice phrases, it regarded like an previous and worn-out broom.

The remainder of the scholars, Zhu Yun included, secretly regarded ahead to what Trainer Zhang must say.

Trainer Zhang actually will need to have seen all kinds of individuals although, for he was solely briefly shocked earlier than recovering. He turned to the category and stated, “Lots of college students in our class are from this province, proper?”

“Mmh,” the scholars responded. Zhu Yun additionally nodded together with the category.

Trainer Zhang then introduced, “That is the highest scorer on the science examination. You all most likely didn’t know that, did you?”

Zhu Yun couldn’t assist however assume, WHAT?!

Prime scorer? Now that she considered it, when the scores have been launched, the science prime scorer hadn’t been reported within the newspaper. She did assume it was a bit unusual on the time, however because it didn’t contain her, she didn’t linger on it.

So, the present state of affairs was… Your complete district’s examinees misplaced to a punk like him? Zhu Yun’s abdomen began to harm a bit.

Trainer Zhang pat Li Xun’s shoulder and stated, “Go on, introduce your self.” Your complete class went silent. His darkish eyes have been heavy, like he was extraordinarily drained. Trainer Zhang’s phrases appeared to wake him up a bit.

“I’m Li Xun.” That clear voice sounded once more, neither too excessive or too low. It was reliable, just like the sound of a knock on a bit of top quality wooden in a silent courtyard.

Everybody waited for his subsequent phrases, however it appeared he hadn’t considered what to say subsequent. After just a few seconds, he smirked. “I’m the highest scorer on the faculty entrance examination this yr.”

One phrase flit into the heads of ten plus in-district college students—

Motherfucker.

TL Talks

Completely happy Valentine’s Day ♡

The tentative schedule is Tuesdays and Fridays (or Wednesdays and Saturdays relying on the place you reside), and I’ll most likely publish 1-2 chapters at a time.

The Lighter and Princess Robe is written by Twentine in two components. The outline posted on jjwxc actually wasn’t very descriptive, however I believe the theme is straightforward sufficient. Zhu Yun is a lady who comes throughout as and obedient scholar, however maybe there’s extra to her than meets the attention. When she begins school at a prestigious(?) and considerably conservative faculty, she collides with a fairly unconventional boy.