Chapter One

  "Knock knock——"

  Yu Cai woke up with a start from her feigned sleep, rubbed her eyes, and wondered who could be knocking on the door at this hour.

  Countless times appeared in Yu Cai's confused dreams, the no longer young national character face once again appeared in front of Yu Cai. Yu Cai regretfully knocked her own temple and muttered to herself, "How did I dream of Old Mei again, so unlucky!"

  A burst of laughter erupted, and Old Mei's square face showed a hint of turning green.

  Yu Cai lowered her head and took a look around, only to find that not only Lao Mei, but also Qiao Jia, the deskmate she referred to as her high school nightmare for three years, had appeared in her dream. What's even more absurd was that many of her high school classmates, whose faces had long since become blurry, were once again clearly standing before her. Yu Cai teared up - those high school students not only made her days unbearable, but also invaded her dreams!

  "It's not a good phenomenon to sleep in class," Old Mei said, biting her teeth and trying to maintain her dignity.

  "On the contrary, having class while sleeping is absolutely a good phenomenon," Yu Cai self-deprecatingly said. It has been seven or eight years since her high school days, yet she still often dreams of going back to high school for classes and exams. Is it really what they call psychological shadow?

  The whole class burst into an even more intense laughter, and the boy behind Yucai moved the table without noticing in his crazy laughter, and the table ruthlessly slammed onto Yucai's waist.

  The pain made Yu Zai startled, pinched her cheek hard, it hurt, wasn't she dreaming?

  "Where am I?" Yucai's classmate had a bad habit of speaking English whenever he got excited, and it seemed he hadn't lost it even in his dreams.

  The laughter stopped under Lao Mei's restraint, just in time for him to hear Yu Cai's rough muttering.

  "Are you still dreaming?" Old Mei was furious, nowadays students are too much, the first lesson of the new semester and they're already sleeping in class, and to make matters worse, they're saying they still haven't woken up yet!

  Yu Cai nodded solemnly, "Dernd." (Perhaps, but perhaps I am in a fairyland)

  "Do you think you're Alice in Wonderland?"

  "Z." (Hmmm, maybe it's Dorothy from Kansas?)

  Yu Cai nodded vaguely, "Huh?" (What?)

  Lao Mei was excited. It's not surprising that a first-year student would know this, but what's surprising is that this student had actually read it and could communicate with him in English so naturally and fluently.

  "What's your name?"

  "Yu Cai" (郁采) translates to "Melancholy Beauty".

  "Really? (Your English is great, how about being the English class representative?)"

  "I'm already a labor committee member."

  Lao Mei's eyes lit up, "It doesn't matter, you can all do it."

  But...

  The bell rang on time, and Lao Mei threw out a sentence, "We'll talk next time" and flashed away. Yu Cai wiped the sweat beads from her forehead, this dream was really strange! In the past, she only dreamed of being scolded by Lao Mei, and Lao Mei would appreciate herself, even in dreams it should be impossible, right?

  "Hey, your English is so good, how did you learn it?"

  Yu Cai followed the sound and saw Qiao Jia's kind and gentle face, and reflexively smiled. Suddenly, she blurted out a sentence, "Am I dreaming?"

  "Not even awake yet!" A loud jeer echoed from behind.

  Yu Cai mechanically turned her head, and saw the boy she secretly thought was the most handsome in high school three years ago. Although she had long forgotten his name, she could clearly remember his appearance, as well as the feeling of being like a mouse seeing a cat when she saw him back then.

  The boy's slender white hand waved in front of Yu Cai's face, "What?"

  "I'm Dorothy, please call me Dorothy," was Yucai's response, which can be said to be a conditioned reflex from years of devil training. As long as someone spoke English to her, she would definitely respond in the first instance.

  The boy obviously didn't mean to have a deep conversation, he smiled casually and walked past her, but Yu Cai suddenly grabbed the corner of his clothes from behind, "A Fei-----"

  Yucai's smile stiffened at the corner of her lips after Mo Fei quickly shook herself off with a mixture of surprise and disgust.

  Xiaobai's face turned around with a sinister smile, "Or perhaps, you know her?"

  As if nothing had happened, "Don't know you, let's go".

  Watching Mo Fei's figure leaving the classroom, and the surrounding people's subtle glances, Yu Cai heavily knocked her own forehead - Ow, it hurts!

  Yu Cai started searching for her close friends from high school, they met her gaze with polite smiles, filled with curiosity but without a hint of familiarity.

  Yu Cai's panic at this time cannot be described in words, she was clearly in the small rented house marking those high school students' homework... shouldn't dreams be so clear?

  Quickly looked down at himself, wearing a long-sleeved pink shirt that he loved in high school but now thought was tacky, black pants with no style, and cheap sneakers on his feet.

  Inside the desk was a green floral backpack that she used to think was very elegant but actually quite tacky. Yu Cai had been searching for half a day and still couldn't find her phone. The surrounding noise, the creaking of chairs moving, and the rough texture of the backpack all indicated that this was definitely not a dream!

  She rummaged out some loose change and keys, stood up decisively and rushed out. When she walked out of the teaching building gate, she almost bumped into Old Mei face to face. Yu Cai covered her face and lowered her head, barely getting past.

  At the school gate, I found a phone booth and started dialing Dad's mobile number.

  "I'm sorry, the number you have dialed is unassigned..."

  Yu Cai didn't give up, and dialed again. The voice on the other end of the line was still the announcer's lifeless tone. After trying a few more times, Yu Cai finally gave up and started dialing her own cell phone number, then her brother's, but the result was only deeper despair.

  Holding the receiver in a daze for a long time, Yucai suddenly remembered the phone that had been abandoned at home for a long time. After thinking hard for half a day, Yucai finally recalled the seven-digit number that he used to recite fluently. The receiver made a ringing sound, and Yucai's hand holding it gripped tightly. The call went through!

  "Sorry, the number you have dialed is temporarily unavailable, please try again later..."

  "Sorry, the number you have dialed is temporarily unavailable, please try again later..."

  Yucai rummaged through it again and again, as if grasping at the last straw after drowning.

  "Hello?"

  Yu Cai gripped the receiver tightly, trying hard to control herself from bursting into tears, "Hello?"

  "Which one?"

  Yu's mother's voice was familiar yet strange, Yu Cai hesitated and responded with a hum, and on the other end, Yu's mother asked, "A Cai?"

  "Mom—"

  "How about calling now? Isn't today your first day of class?"

  Yu Cai murmured vaguely, and Yu Mu hastily asked, "A Cai, what's wrong?"

  "No, I just wanted to make a phone call."

  "Aren't you going to class?" Yu's mother still doubted.

  "Uh, this class is physical education, and the teacher let us have free activity."

  Yu's mother finally felt at ease and said with a heavy heart, "A Cai, you must behave well in school and don't think about home!"

  "Mom, I want to go back for a trip!" Yu Cai blurted out.

  "Hmm, come back this Sunday, or I can go see you instead."

  "Uh, I think I'll head back now."

  Yu's mother smiled and said, "This little girl, I just helped your father register you to come home yesterday, how can you miss home today? Study hard and get used to it."

  Yu Cai responded with a low "hmm".

  "Uh, nothing's wrong, hurry back to class, it's fine there, don't think about home!"

  "Ah, right, mom, what's today's date?"

  "No. 3"

  "What month was it that year?"

  Yu's mother was taken aback for a moment before responding, "September 2001, Ah Cai, what's wrong with you?"

  "Oh, never mind, I'm going to class."

  In 2001, Yu Cai couldn't help but smile wryly. It was indeed the first year he had just been admitted to high school in the county town from the countryside. Had he also caught up with the army of crossing?

  Put down the microphone, Yu Cai fiercely shook her head. The three years of high school were the darkest period in her 24-year life. A rural girl suddenly came to this small county town, which was like an international metropolis to herself at that time, plus the pressure of studying and the intentional or unintentional malice of people around her, her confusion and helplessness can be imagined. Since heaven has given herself a chance to start again now, she will make a good comeback!

  After walking around the street, Yucai looked at herself in the mirror with satisfaction, still a little dark and chubby country girl after a summer vacation, but changed into a pair of ordinary jeans shorts and T-shirt, plus high-heeled sneakers, the whole person's aura has changed, it can be said that with just a few dozen yuan, she can achieve a big change in image, Yucai really couldn't understand why she didn't think of this before!

  She ate something casually and stepped into the classroom, just sitting down when Qiao Jia whispered to her, "The English teacher asked where you went, I said your stomach hurt and you went back first."

  Yu Cai sincerely thanked her, although she had been quite resentful of Qiao Jia, but she wanted to have a good start, and this sentence undoubtedly helped herself greatly, falling behind with a truancy reputation at the beginning of school was not a good thing.

  The first lesson was math, Yu Cai listened very seriously. In high school, her weakest subjects were mathematics and science. Later on, she chose to major in science, which was the most brainless thing she had ever done. Now that she's starting over again, the first thing she wants to do is shift her focus to liberal arts, of course math is something that needs to be learned regardless of whether it's liberal arts or science.

  The greatest benefit of interning at X High School for half a year is that Yu Zai realized how wonderful it was to sit in the classroom and listen to the teacher's lectures. The afternoon passed quickly, although Yu Zai spent most of her time daydreaming.

  After class in the third lesson, Yu Cai went to the neighboring class to find her good friend and sworn sister Ding Si from junior high school, asking her to wait for herself after school to have dinner together.

  Two girls had lunch in the cafeteria and sat down to eat slowly in the bustling dining hall. After exchanging information about their teachers and classmates, they finished eating. Yu Cai suggested going back. They were very close in junior high school and lived near each other. The adults of both families discussed that since they were attending high school in the same school, it would be better to rent a room together, so they could have company for each other. Who knew that after half a year of living together, the two girls had small frictions due to various reasons, and the iron sisters eventually became strangers, which was also one of Yu Cai's nightmares in high school life.

  At this time, Ding Si was still Yu Cai's good sister. After listening, she said it would be a waste of time to go back, and it would be better to go to the classroom for self-study earlier. Yu Cai had no choice but to agree, because she didn't remember where she lived that year at all.

  She watched as Ding entered the classroom, then immediately turned around and went downstairs. She still needed to calm down.

  Yu Cai stepped into the classroom when it was already fully seated, with only one seat left empty. She had just sat down for a short while when their teacher, Old Mei, also came in and reminded them of a few things before instructing everyone to study on their own.

  Yu Cai took out her math book and pretended to be deeply engrossed in thought, but her mind had actually wandered off somewhere else. It wasn't until Qiao Jia gently pushed her that she realized it was Lao Mei calling her. With no other choice, she reluctantly followed Lao Mei out of the classroom.

  Lao Mei started asking her questions in English as soon as she walked out of the classroom, and Yu Cai's mouth had already begun to answer before her brain could decide whether or not to hide her sharpness.

  After inquiring about the basic situation, I asked her how she learned English and brought up the matter of being an English class representative again. After she firmly refused, I encouraged her a few times before letting her go back.

  Qiao Jia saw her return and immediately asked the class teacher in a low voice what she had said.

  "Nothing, just the class representative problem mentioned in class."

  "You said it yourself, your English is really good, I can understand you, but I just can't say it myself."

  "I'm just a movie buff, I've learned a few phrases and my oral English is okay, but that's about it. I said Zhang Wenjing's English is definitely better than mine, and the teacher didn't say anything," jokingly, in the afternoon, she inexplicably accepted Zhang Wenjing as the class representative for English, with a few unfriendly glances, if she had replaced me, wouldn't she have become an enemy right from the start?

  Qiao Jia nodded and didn't say anything else, Yu Cai continued to stare blankly...

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