(1)
“Knock, knock.”
“Coming. Who is it?”
Zhu Ying cracked the door open just a sliver, blocking An Jing, who was trying to hide behind the curtain in the living room.
“Zhu Ying, Teacher Ye Wen is calling us to assemble.” Standing at the door was Yuan Lanque. She was wearing Zhu Ying’s school uniform, which fit her quite well, except for being a bit tight around the chest—the only part that seemed snug.
That annoyed Zhu Ying immensely—she had the illusion that everyone except An Jing was bigger than her.
“Okay.” Still, she flashed a perfect, sweet smile, the kind only a beautiful girl could muster. But as Yuan Lanque turned away, she hesitated and added a reminder, “Um… you don’t have to zip it all the way up.”
“Huh? Ah! S-sorry! I didn’t mean to stretch your clothes…”
“…I didn’t mean that. I meant, isn’t that uncomfortable?”
“But if I pull it down, it’ll look weird… I’m not wearing a tank top underneath today… so maybe this doesn’t suit me after all?”
“What? So you’re wearing a bra! No wonder you look much bigger than usual.”
“It’s actually a little loose inside…”
“You should stick with a regular tank top. Since it’s a school uniform, this looks strange.”
“Yeah, y-yeah… I’ll go change right away.”
“I’m just giving a suggestion, you don’t have to change if you don’t want to.”
“Okay, see you downstairs in a bit.” Zhu Ying waved her hand, a relieved smile spreading across her face. She turned to look at An Jing, who was already completely hidden behind the curtain. “Alright, she’s gone. Come out. Anyway, people will see us when we go downstairs later.”
“Getting seen a few minutes later is still better…”
“Don’t worry, Xiao Jing!” Zhu Ying winked playfully. “I’ll cover for you!”
“Are we going downstairs?” Wang Xinru had just changed in the bedroom and came out wearing a pure black dress. It was a bit too loose, making her look somewhat chubby, but a closer look showed her arms and thighs were still slender—though certainly fleshier than Zhu Ying’s figure.
“Ah, Wangwang, you changed pretty fast. You took such a long shower earlier.”
“Huh? I-I just wanted to wash, wash thoroughly…”
“Ahem—!” Zhu Ying coughed loudly, her face suddenly flushed bright red as if she had heard some inner thought. “You don’t need to go into detail! Xiao Jing is right here!”
“What detail? Say what?”
“Enough nonsense. Let’s go downstairs!”
“Hold on!”
“What now?”
“I need to mentally prepare myself…”
“Pfft. Just say you’re An Yin, An Jing’s little sister.”
“Who would believe that?!”
“Then why did you think I believed it back then?”
“Oh, that, that was because… my brain stuttered. I thought I had great acting skills… Besides, that was a chance encounter. This isn’t!”
“Just say An Jing left early and had her sister take her place.”
“Only a ghost would believe such a cliché novel plot!”
“Cliché?”
“Extremely cliché!”
“And the ‘forgot to bring clothes so had to wear a girl’s outfit’ plot isn’t any better…”
“…I’ve never seen such a scenario.”
“I see a lot of it in the manga I read.”
“What weird manga are you reading…”
“Like the ‘training a younger boy’ kind. Oh, by the way, next time let Xiao Jing read the Flower Arrangement series!”
“Ew! It sounds wrong just from the title. I don’t want to read it!”
(2)
There was a dedicated dining room on the first floor of the wooden cabin. Its style resembled a cafeteria, but most of the furniture—including tables and chairs—was made of wood. The warm tone of the wood made people feel gentle and unconsciously relaxed.
Yet An Jing couldn’t relax at all right now.
No one was in the stairwell or hallway she had walked through, which only made her more nervous.
Because that meant most people were already seated in the dining room.
The moment she entered, she would likely become the focus of everyone’s gaze.
Her toes were gripping the soles of her shoes, and she was already starting to back out.
“What if I just skip dinner? Anyway, I’m not that hungry…”
“No way! The evening activities definitely aren’t just about eating!”
“Don’t, don’t drag me! I’ll walk on my own!”
“Then why are you standing still?”
“Slow down, go slower…”
“Don’t worry, Xiao Jing.”
“Do you have some kind of plan?”
“No, I mean, better to get the pain over with quickly.”
“Can’t I just not have the pain?!”
“This is an inevitable step on the path of growth!”
“What kind of growth is that?!”
(3)
In the dining room, filled with an old-fashioned atmosphere, everyone was queuing to get utensils. Those who got theirs moved forward to scoop the remaining food onto their plates.
First, a ladle of pork skin boiled with soybeans. No doubt—you could hardly see any pork skin, just a pile of thoroughly cooked, mushy soybeans.
Next, a scoop of stir-fried potato slices with a few burnt spots on the surface.
Then Qiu Yi handed out a small wooden bowl of soup made with white radish and carrot mixed together. If you were lucky, you might find a few bits of chicken in it.
Moving on, there was a bamboo basket filled with a bunch of misshapen apples. None were rotten, but many had bruises.
Finally, a wooden rice bucket. Using a heavy wooden ladle, you scooped out the amount you needed and placed it in the last empty spot on your tray—coarse grain rice. That was tonight’s dinner.
In Teacher Ye Wen’s words, this was the typical meal for logging camp workers in the 1980s.
That’s right, this was a “Recall Bitterness and Think of Sweetness” meal.
“Actually, this meal isn’t too bad, you know. Especially in the early ’80s, it was pretty good to have something with meat every day.”
“But my dad said they didn’t lack meat back then!”
“That’s for city people. And even city people had fixed rations—just more of it.”
“Why did city people get to eat better? The pigs and cows are all raised in the countryside!”
“You can ask your own parents about that. Everyone will have their own opinion. Then we can discuss it together at school—it’ll be interesting.” Teacher Ye Wen smiled with her lips pressed together. “But on Wednesdays and Fridays, the logging camp would have a fancier dinner—braised pork, meatballs, and the like. After all, workers had pretty good benefits back then.”
“Did farmers eat worse than logging camp workers back then?” someone asked in disbelief.
“Yes. If it was a remote and poor area, they might even have trouble getting enough to eat.”
“Was the ’80s still that tough?”
“I thought it was only like that in the ’60s.”
“Yeah, yeah.”
“I think it’s fine. My family still eats like this. Doesn’t seem too hard.”
“Damn, Hei Pang, first time I knew your family had it so rough!”
“What rough… If you can eat your fill, I don’t think it’s rough.”
“Everyone has different standards for happiness. Some have high standards, some have low ones. That’s also very interesting.”
Teacher Ye Wen chuckled softly. She suddenly stopped ladling food and tilted her ear slightly.
From the hallway came a messy sound of footsteps.
Then, with a creak, the dining room’s wooden door was pushed open.
The first to enter was a girl in a black Japanese-style skirt. The outfit made her look like a Japanese junior high school student—and a bit of a delinquent at that.
Her short hair, almost brushing her shoulders, swayed gently with her petite frame. A sly smile hung on her face, and her big, pitch-black eyes darted around.
Right behind her came a girl in a white dress. She was just as petite, but compared to the one in front, she exuded a softer, more fragile air. Her innocent little face was flushed, and her slightly open mouth was panting, as if she’d just done a light jog.
Last came another girl in a black outfit—this time a black dress. Its hem covered most of her plump thighs, and the fabric hung straight, showing the dress’s good quality.
She gently pushed the girl in the white dress ahead of her, biting her lips to suppress a laugh, her head slightly lowered.
First, Teacher Ye Wen’s gaze was drawn to them. Then, one by one, the other students turned to look.
Those who had already sat down to eat, noticing the sudden quiet in the room, also lifted their heads.
All eyes were fixed on the girl in the white dress…
And that girl in the white dress stood quietly, facing everyone with a stiff smile on her face. Her throat bobbed, as if she wanted to say something, but after a few seconds, she was drowned out by the burst of exclamations from the students.
“Wow—!!!”
“Holy crap, who the hell is that?”
“Is that An Jing?”
“It really is her!”
“Dressed in a girl’s clothes, you can’t even tell he’s a guy!”
“Seriously! And she’s not even wearing makeup!”
“Actually, even in a school uniform, people often mistake him, right?”
“No wonder he’s the most handsome ‘guy’ in our school—”
“Is An Jing really not a girl?”
“He’s definitely a guy. I’ve seen it with my own eyes. Damn, nineteen centimeters, okay?”
“Ew, why are you talking about that? That’s disgusting.”
“I’m just proving it. If you don’t believe me, ask Sun Wei. He knows too.”
“What?”
“I said An Jing’s nineteen centimeters.”
“Yeah, it’s true.”
“Ew, you guys are so boring, focusing on another guy’s thing when you’re both male.”
“Exactly, exactly.”
“Then why are your eyes shining?”
“They are not!”
“Yuan Lanque, did her eyes shine?”
“I-I… Huh? I don’t know anything…”
Amidst the chaotic uproar, Fang Qiang was the first to step out from the crowd. He placed his hand—rough, with a patch of long black hair on the back—on An Jing’s shoulder, wearing a pained expression. “An Jing, you’ve… you’ve finally become like this? I mean, sure, you’ve always looked like a girl, but at least you were manly before. Have you finally succumbed to depravity? Are you going to do these… earth-shattering things?”
“What earth-shattering? What kind of earth-shattering is that?” An Jing jumped up. Behind her, Wang Xinru couldn’t help covering her mouth with the back of her hand, laughing so much her whole body shook.
As for Zhu Ying, she was bent over, slapping her knees, laughing just like Tom the cat…