Chapter 0027: Afternoon of a Senior Year

During the new book promotion period, I need everyone's support. This is very important for my motivation to write. I hope everyone will vote and collect to support me. Thank you all! This will affect my performance after the book goes on sale, so I hope everyone can help!

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The canteen of No. 1 High School is quite large, with three floors. The first floor is the public canteen, similar to a fast food hall, with small stalls selling various dishes around the perimeter, and rows of tables and chairs in the middle.

The second floor is for private dining rooms, suitable for wealthier students who can order dishes. However, some students from less affluent families also come here for birthday parties. The quality of the dishes on the second floor is clearly a notch above those on the first floor, as they are prepared by professional chefs.

The third floor is the exclusive dining area for teachers and staff, with food similar to that of the student canteen on the first floor, but in a more elegant setting. Of course, students are not allowed to dine there.

Lin Yi followed Kang Xiaobo into the canteen. Kang Xiaobo pointed to an office on the right and said, "Go there to get a meal card."

"Okay, I'll go get one." Lin Yi nodded. Initially, Chu Pengzhan and Uncle Fu did not give him a school meal card or library card, but these could be obtained at any time within the school, as long as he showed his student ID.

"What? Do you look down on me?" Kang Xiaobo was a bit displeased when he saw Lin Yi going to get a card. "It's our first day meeting, and we're on my turf, so I'll treat you!"

Lin Yi, seeing Kang Xiaobo's reaction, decided not to get the card immediately. "Alright, let's eat first, then I'll go get it later."

"Sure, I'll go with you after we eat!" Kang Xiaobo said cheerfully, leading Lin Yi through the various small windows in the canteen.

There were quite a few dishes available at the different windows, both vegetarian and meat options, with several types of main dishes, as well as buns, dumplings, and pies. Lin Yi ordered some alfalfa tomatoes and some rice, while Kang Xiaobo ordered a dish of fish-flavored shredded pork and steamed buns. The total cost was 11 yuan, which was a moderate level of spending.

Lin Yi and Kang Xiaobo found a seat and placed the two dishes together so they could share.

After sitting down, Lin Yi quickly scanned the entire canteen. Chen Yushu and Chu Mengyao were not there, apparently they had gone to the private dining rooms on the second floor.

"What are you looking at? Checking out the beauties?" Kang Xiaobo laughed. "Chen Yushu and Chu Mengyao are upstairs. They wouldn't eat with us, but if you're lucky, you might see Tang Yun!"

"Is that so?" Lin Yi was more concerned about where Chu Mengyao was and didn't care much about whether Tang Yun would appear.

"However, Tang Yun's family doesn't seem to be doing well, so she often brings her own lunch." Kang Xiaobo sighed. "Actually, with Tang Yun's conditions, she could easily have countless boys vying to treat her to meals. Even eating in the private dining rooms on the second floor every day wouldn't be impossible!"

"Heh, a girl with ambition wouldn't care about these things." Lin Yi said lightly.

"You're right. Tang Yun has never cared about these things, and such a girl is truly rare." Kang Xiaobo agreed. "But the more so, the more boys like her! A girl who doesn't care about material things is exactly what we students love!"

Unfortunately, Tang Yun did not appear even after they finished lunch. Lin Yi didn't mind, but Kang Xiaobo was slightly disappointed. Many students, like Kang Xiaobo, came here every day hoping to see Tang Yun, which had become a kind of anticipation.

Chu Mengyao and Chen Yushu, hand in hand, came down the stairs from the second floor, drawing many admiring glances from the boys. However, to most of the students, they were like high and mighty princesses, out of reach.

Even many boys dared not look at them directly. Lin Yi watched as the two girls left the canteen and then went to the management office at the canteen entrance with Kang Xiaobo.

"Lin Yi, you were staring at Chen Yushu and the others just now, weren't you?" Kang Xiaobo asked.

"Just a casual look." Lin Yi was a bit embarrassed.

"Ah, you'll understand in a few days. They aren't our princesses. Tang Yun is." Kang Xiaobo looked at Lin Yi sympathetically. When he first entered school, he too had a crush on Chen Yushu and Chu Mengyao, but as he matured, he realized the gap between them.

Equality is a beautiful fantasy. Any slightly mature person would understand that people are never truly equal. The rich feast while the poor freeze to death; this is not a joke but a reality.

Chu Mengyao and Chen Yushu lead a colorful and splendid life, like princesses, which is not something an ordinary boy like himself could enter.

Therefore, many in the class, though they knew Chu Mengyao didn't like Zhong Pinliang, also understood that in this class, only Zhong Pinliang had the qualifications to pursue Chu Mengyao.

The process of getting the meal card was quite smooth. After all, he was giving money to the school. Although the canteen manager claimed not to make a profit, who would believe that?

Lin Yi showed his student ID and prepaid 200 yuan, easily obtaining the meal card. As they were leaving, Kang Xiaobo complained, "Bro, why did you deposit so much money?"

"For eating, what's the problem?" Lin Yi was puzzled. When he was depositing the money, Kang Xiaobo kept giving him signals, but he didn't understand what the guy was trying to say.

"The school canteen, when you give them money, they welcome you with a smile, but when you want to stop eating and get a refund, good luck with that! We're in our senior year, who knows how long we'll be eating here? If you deposit so much money, you'll have to spend a lot of time getting a refund when you graduate!" Kang Xiaobo said reproachfully.

"Heh, I see. No problem, it's just 200 yuan. We spent over ten yuan today, so 200 yuan will last about a month." Lin Yi laughed. "If they don't refund it, so be it. We can always come here and have a big meal one day."

"You're quite laid-back!" Kang Xiaobo praised. "If it weren't for the fact that restaurants outside are even more expensive, I wouldn't eat in this canteen."

"Having food is good enough." Lin Yi wasn't picky. The canteen food, though not as good as what Uncle Fu's chef prepared yesterday, was still better than the snacks from the village's Wang widow's place.

After returning to the classroom, he found that most of the students had not gone out to play. Senior year is a precious and紧张的时期。这是人生的一个分水岭，努力奋斗后，可能会进入一所重点大学，稍有疏忽，也许就会名落孙山。

能考上一中的学生，都是佼佼者，谁也不希望自己比别人差。当然，那些贵族子弟除外，他们此刻都在操场上尽情地打篮球，甚至在校外的网吧打网络游戏。

（Note: The last sentence was not fully translated due to the abrupt end in the original text. Here is the complete translation of the last sentence: "Senior year is a precious and tense period. This is a turning point in life; with hard work, one might enter a key university, but a slight lapse could result in failure. Students who excel and get into No. 1 High School are all top performers, and none of them want to be worse than others. Of course, the children of the elite are an exception; they are currently playing basketball on the playground or even playing online games at internet cafes outside the school."）