Chapter 16

Sitting in the bus for 20 minutes at Dongsen University, Bian Xuedao watched as the bus started to move.

In the front row, three students were seated. Before the bus started, a girl who seemed to be the leader counted the number of people on the bus. As she passed by Bian Xuedao, she asked, "The bus is about to leave, where are your parents?"

Bian Xuedao replied, "I came by myself."

Sitting by the window, Bian Xuedao quietly observed the city outside the window, which was both familiar and a bit strange. The Songjiang City of 2001 was quite different from the one in his memory.

When the bus entered the Dongsen University campus, the main building was already crowded with people. Each department had set up a few tables, and bamboo poles on both sides of the tables held banners with the department names.

Bian Xuedao, carrying his small travel bag, walked to the Economics and Management Department table, signed his name, and got a registration process sheet. Following the instructions, he began to run from building to building.

The campus at this time was somewhat different from when Bian Xuedao graduated. The new dorm buildings, library, gymnasium, and swimming pool in Area B were still under construction. However, this did not hinder his registration, as he had lived in this campus for four years and was already very familiar with it.

Apart from the long queue for the medical check-up at the school hospital, the other procedures were quick. By 12 o'clock, Bian Xuedao was already holding the bedding, pillow, and basin issued by the school and heading to Dorm 6A according to the assigned room number.

The door to Room 717 was open.

Bian Xuedao looked inside and saw a room full of people.

He knocked on the door with his hand and said with a smile, "Hello everyone, my name is Bian Xuedao, and I'm your new roommate."

Seeing him carrying a pile of things, a boy from the lower bunk by the door came over to help. He pointed to the lower bunk by the window, "The school has already assigned the beds, with name tags and photos. Your bed is over there."

Including Bian Xuedao, there were five students in the room. Two of them had their parents help set up their beds and left after a few words.

As the parents left, the boy in the upper bunk next to Bian Xuedao became lively. He opened the door a crack, looked outside, and then locked it. He took out a pack of cigarettes from somewhere and said, "I've been dying to smoke," then waved the pack at the other boys, "Who wants to smoke?"

Bian Xuedao glanced at the name tag by his bed and saw that the boy in the upper bunk was named Li Yu.

Bian Xuedao said, "Give me one," while the other two shook their heads.

The two smokers had just lit their cigarettes and taken a few puffs when someone knocked on the door. They quickly extinguished the cigarettes and threw them into the bathroom. Before opening the door, Li Yu sprayed some air freshener.

When the door opened, Li Yu was stunned.

A tall guy stood at the door, holding a large travel bag. Behind him were two girls, one carrying the bedding issued by the school and the other carrying a basin and other items, with a small travel bag slung over her shoulder.

Bian Xuedao was also a bit confused, wondering what kind of group was at the door.

The tall guy threw the bag inside and quickly turned to take the bedding, saying, "Thank you, senior sister, thank you, senior sister. I'll definitely treat you to a meal when I'm settled. Can you give me your phone number?"

The two girls glanced into the room, and the taller one said, "No need, we're in the same department. We have to go, there are more new students to take care of."

The tall guy immediately said, "I'll see you off, senior sister," and closed the door, chasing after them.

Li Yu looked at the bag on the floor and said, "Damn, a senior sister brought it up, and he even got her phone number. This guy is something!"

A moment later, the tall guy returned, holding a note with a phone number.

Li Yu looked at the photo by the tall guy's bed and then at him, saying, "Bro, did you come to the wrong room?" pointing to the photo, "Is this you?"

The tall guy glanced at the photo, "That photo was taken in junior high. I didn't have any other photos, so I submitted this one."

The others in the room gathered to look and indeed, it didn't look like him.

The photo showed a chubby boy. The tall guy now had thick eyebrows, smiling almond-shaped eyes, a high nose, and a well-defined face, making him a handsome man.

After setting up his bed and putting his things in the cabinet, Bian Xuedao lay down to rest, chatting casually with everyone.

By 2 PM, all eight roommates were present.

After the parents left, they followed the tradition of ranking themselves by age and birthday.

Bian Xuedao was the fourth oldest, the handsome Li Yu in the upper bunk was the fifth, the square-faced Ai Feng who smoked with Li Yu was the oldest, and the squint-eyed Yu Jin in the lower bunk was the third. The tall handsome Chen Jian was the second, and the dimpled Yang Hao in the lower bunk was the seventh. Chen Jian's opposite upper and lower bunks were the sixth, Kong Weize, and the eighth, Tong Chao.

Ai Feng was from Xi'an, Yu Jin was from Hubei, Yang Hao was from Jiangsu, Chen Jian was from Shandong, and the remaining four, including Bian Xuedao, were from Beijiang.

The boys lay on their beds, discussing their impressions of the campus, the pretty senior sisters they had seen, and eagerly anticipating meeting their female classmates.

However, what surprised them the most was that the dorm room was equipped with a TV, even with cable, and they could even watch Phoenix Chinese TV.

During the conversation, when someone asked Bian Xuedao, he would respond, but most of the time he was imagining which female dorm Xu Shangxiu might be in and envisioning their first meeting.

For dinner, the eight boys went to the cafeteria together. On the way, they saw many similar large groups, clearly new students who had just registered.

Generally, such full dorm activities only happened at the beginning of the first year and on special days. Regardless of gender, the students in the dorm would form several small circles based on personality, family background, appearance, grades, and interests.

Especially after they became familiar with the campus and the surrounding environment, chose different courses, and had boyfriends or girlfriends, full dorm activities would become less frequent.

After a day of observation and recollection, Bian Xuedao was certain that he and Xu Shangxiu were not in the same class. In 2012, Xu Shangxiu attended a university class reunion and pointed out a few people in the graduation photo who were doing well.

None of the people in his dorm were in that graduation photo.

After a day of rest and the distribution of military uniforms, the military training began on September 18th.

At 7:50 AM, the green-clad freshmen stood outside the stadium, waiting for the school to form them into squads before entering.

Bian Xuedao talked with his roommates while looking around for Xu Shangxiu. However, the uniform military uniforms made it difficult to spot her, and after a few rounds of searching, he followed the squad into the stadium.

They lined up by height, assigned instructors, designated training areas, and familiarized themselves with the training commands, which took up the entire morning. At 1.87 meters tall, Chen Jian was the tallest in the squad, and Bian Xuedao and Ai Feng were also in the first row.

All day, Bian Xuedao kept looking for Xu Shangxiu in the surrounding squads but still couldn't find her. He told himself she must be in a squad far away.

On the second day of training, Dongsen University, known for its strict management, began to enforce a series of dorm hygiene standards, school discipline regulations, and student behavior norms. The most extreme rule was that no hair could be on the dorm floor.

After dinner, the student council and the training instructors went to each dorm to teach how to fold the military blankets.

Bian Xuedao had known about this requirement beforehand. After dinner, he went to the campus supermarket and bought two packs of Furongwang cigarettes. When the instructor finished demonstrating twice and was about to leave, Bian Xuedao stopped him, took out the cigarettes, and said, "Instructor, I didn't quite remember a few things. Could you demonstrate again for us?" He pointed to his own blanket.

The instructor looked at the cigarettes, put them in his pocket, and told Bian Xuedao to get some water from the bathroom and a chopstick. A few minutes later, the instructor went to the next dorm. Seeing the neatly folded blanket, the other seven boys in the dorm were stunned.

Bian Xuedao carefully placed the neatly folded blanket at the head of his bed and pulled out a thick blanket from the cabinet. Li Yu finally couldn't hold back, "Bro, that's not fair!"

In Room 717, Yang Hao was the first and only one to claim he had a girlfriend. According to him, they had been dating since sophomore year in high school, and the girl was now in Chengdu. Since the dorm had a phone, Yang Hao would call his girlfriend every night.

After Yang Hao reluctantly hung up the phone, Li Yu poked his head out of bed, waving a piece of paper and said, "Bro, I counted. You just talked for 45 minutes, said 'darling' 27 times, 'I miss you' 18 times, and 'kiss' 11 times. I can't take it, I still have goosebumps!"