Chapter 217

Su Xiaoqi's roommates each got a large green mangosteen.

Xiaoqi had eaten this kind of mangosteen many times before, her family would buy them often.

Wei Cheng had never eaten one before. She thought they smelled very fragrant and was reluctant to eat it, placing it on her bedside table instead.

Mi'er had eaten lots of mangoes before, but not this kind. They were still quite hard. She thought they needed to soften first before one could eat them. These mangosteens were very big, over a pound each.

Upon hearing they could be eaten directly, Mi'er, who could never make it through the night without a late-night snack, was the first to cut into the large mangosteen.

Since Yunshu liked to eat fruit in the dorm, they had a full assortment of fruit peeling and slicing tools.

Mi'er sliced up a large bowl full from just one mangosteen.

The dormmates sat together and ate, chatting about their days over the fruit.

Xiao Qi just took Subject One of an exam today, and talked about her impressions of wandering through the Meng City marketplace. There was so much stuff there, she said they should all go together next time.

Wei Cheng spent the morning in the dorm studying. In the afternoon she went to the Film Society and they screened an old foreign classic film called "Big Fish". She also worked a part-time job there, very simple, just tidying up the screening room after the movie ended. The students were all very considerate, rarely leaving garbage behind, so she just had to sweep up a bit. Fifty yuan for one screening.

Mi'er's External Liaison Society had an event today that kept her running around all day, including a trip to Meng City. She got to witness the legendary corporate sponsorship hunting - with her wit, she was kept by the upperclassman's side the whole time. Xiaoqi was amazed to see how the upperclassman secured 8,000 RMB in sponsorship just by having a few banners up for their school event. It opened Mi'er's eyes to a whole new world.

Yunshu also spent the morning in the dorm studying. In the afternoon she went to the Tea Art Society and was now browsing Taobao on her phone, preparing to buy a tea set.

Xiaoqi glanced at the price of that tea set...starting at four digits...and silently looked away.

Yunshu's hobbies were a bit pricey.

Since the weather had cooled slightly, Xiaoqi had been thinking of going to Meng City to get some warmer clothes, but today had been too rushed - after finishing at the vegetable market it was already quite late, and the electric scooter wasn't suitable for the winding mountain roads at night either, so she headed back early.

The next day, Xiaoqi wore the somewhat ugly blue uniform pants from high school that all her former classmates unanimously agreed were hideous.

The New District was right on the bay, so the winds were stronger and it felt cooler than the old district.

The blue uniform, both jacket and pants, had two white stripes down the sleeves and pant legs. When selecting uniforms, Xiaoqi had deliberately chosen a size up, worried they'd look too short when she wore them. She'd directly selected size L back then, since it was the same winter uniform, and she could layer sweaters underneath.

She'd maintained them well - just a bit of pilling at the cuffs, which her mom carefully trimmed off each time she was home. They were washed very clean, the white still white, the blue only slightly faded. Xiaoqi's current proportions were quite decent, and her spirits were good too, so even in this rather tacky uniform she didn't look bad per se.

Of course it didn't make her look stunning either - the uniform was quite loose, giving her a bit of a hip hop vibe. Her hair was simply tied back in a little ponytail, the most convenient style. She wasn't patient enough to grow out long hair; when short, it would easily fall into her eyes, so she'd always preferred this very casual look.

The high school uniforms weren't differentiated by gender, the only difference in the stripes - narrower for boys, wider for girls.

Xiaoqi had figured there would be work involved in making kimchi and whatnot, so no need to wear anything too nice that she'd feel bad about dirtying.

She jogged over early in the morning, feeling energetic during her morning run and still having time to study by listening to audio recordings. Today it was Thursday's Japanese elective with Professor Yamamoto - learning through actual human speech always felt twice as effective. Yamamoto-sensei spoke textbook proper Tokyo dialect, essentially the equivalent of Beijing Mandarin for Chinese. And it was quite easy to pick up - his enunciation was very precise and his speech pace unhurried, making it great material for beginners.

Compared to Professor Zhou who'd lived in Japan for years, Yamamoto's Japanese was better by far, since Zhou used it so rarely.

Xiaoqi used Yamamoto's audio to train her sense for the language - she was still in the phase of having language sensitivity buffs. Learning came easier and her recall was strong too - basic material she'd heard just once was easily remembered, making for extremely efficient studying.

Jogging all the way, she soon arrived at Jin Zaiyan's lakeside apartment in the New District. Xiaoqi pressed the number panel at the door, it opened, and she headed straight in.

Jin Zaiyan lived on the first floor. There was the direct sight of someone running out to greet her.

Seeing Xiaoqi in her full blue tracksuit, Jin was slightly surprised - it looked a lot like Korean school uniforms from the 1980s.

Xiaoqi: ...It's still the current uniform... Not that long ago, the high schools here still use this style...

At home, Jin didn't wear very much - just a little cropped tank top and running shorts... She really was a lost cause. It was like she'd wrapped a strip of cloth over her chest - dressed like that she looked totally flat, while Xiaoqi had always felt she herself was flat, but seeing Jin this way made her feel comparably voluptuous. At least she had some curves and protrusions rather than being mistaken for a boy.

Jin had quite enjoyed her chat with the girl yesterday while browsing the market. She was very fond of this independent and hardworking student who'd gone to study abroad in America by herself and was now working in China.

It could be said they quite understood each other. Jin was much taller than Xiaoqi and casually draped an arm over her shoulders as they headed into her apartment, looking like a pair of good buddies.

To Xiaoqi's surprise, the business major Wu Xinyue from the English academy specialization happened to be at Jin's apartment as well this early morning.

She wasn't there to visit the teacher though - one of her best girl friends in the finance program had rented a place in the New District student area, also hoping to start a business, planning to open a nail and beauty salon. Wu Xinyue had spent the previous night there.

Enhua University usually had nightly room checks, though not every single day. There were occasional surprise inspections - if you were caught not on campus, the punishments were severe. A school-wide circular would be issued, and you'd be disqualified from scholarships and the like. However, students were allowed to be off-campus over weekends, since Enhua had many local students who went home on weekends.

Wu Xinyue wasn't an early riser, but Li Taiping had asked her out for a hike, so she'd had no choice but to crawl out of bed early today.

They'd planned to go to the Bagua Temple just outside the New District.

She certainly hadn't expected the man who sent Su Xiaoqi back yesterday to actually be a teacher. And even less expected Su Xiaoqi to be so silly and shameless, immediately going over to the teacher's apartment after that. What could happen with an unrelated man and woman alone together?

Wu Xinyue had rather unsavory thoughts about it. She shook her head slightly.

Initially feeling that Su Xiaoqi could become strong competition, a formidable opponent, she now instead felt the girl was quite casual.

Glancing again though at the rather worn tracksuit Su Xiaoqi was wearing today, she could understand a bit - even Wu Xinyue no longer liked wearing last year's clothes. It wasn't just out of style, she felt old clothes were inherently ugly. Yet to keep wearing new outfits all the time, her family circumstances didn't allow for that kind of spending power either.

So she was determined to keep clawing her way upwards, constantly struggling to elevate herself and obtain the material lifestyle she desired.

Not sure what provoked her, Wu Xinyue took pictures on her phone of the two walking close together, arm in arm as they entered the building... From slightly afar, not the clearest resolution.

Xiaoqi didn't notice Wu Xinyue's gaze at all. She looked at Jin Zaiyan with some admiration that she could wear so little this early without feeling cold. It seemed foreigners had no cold-sensing cells - even in winter they often wandered around in shorts.

Once inside Jin Zaiyan's apartment, it wasn't as spacious as Grace's place, just a small studio unit, but quite adequate for one person living alone, everything compactly arranged. There was even a little yard outside too.

The yard was nicely maintained, with a sun umbrella and table with two chairs underneath. The table was decorated with a simple tea set.

Seeing the furnishings inside the apartment like the tablecloth and such, all delicate patterns, and her clothes neatly folded...contrary to Jin's tomboyish exterior, inside the home was fully girly-girl, even sweetly scented from perfume. The yard plantings were also neatly tended.

The yard would be a nice spot to work, with the gentle breezes and sunny brightness. Jin had earnestly asked her family how to make kimchi, even taking notes on the method, but she was helpless in the kitchen - even with the theory she had no idea how to actually make it happen. Xiaoqi was just the opposite.

She herself was quite interested in cooking. Following Jin Zaiyan's method, she started cooking, rolling up both sleeves and first washing the cabbage, since there was a sink in the yard.

Jin Zaiyan assisted, following along as Xia Qi cooked.

After a while, Grace also came over, because Jin Zaiyan had taken a photo of Xia Qi making spicy cabbage kimchi and sent it to their party chat group.

Grace had not expected Su to actually be able to make Korean food. Carrying a dessert she had made at home yesterday, she came downstairs.

She had learned it from TikTok, but it was not very successful. It was originally meant to be a large bread loaf, but when she made it, it turned out like a pancake, hard as a brick, but the taste was still ok, sweet, really sweet, cloying.

Grace also pitched in to help.

They were all following Xia Qi's movements to learn. Xia Qi actually did not have any special tricks, her hands just moved smoothly by feel, and she had a good sense of how much salt and seasoning to use.

Grace took out her video camera again, planning to learn it herself later when she went back.

Korean kimchi pickles are very famous in their country, because it is said to be a dish Koreans eat every day, which is quite incredible.

After working on it for a morning, they initially made something in the proper shape and put it in jars to ferment for 10-15 days before it could be eaten.

In addition to the kimchi, Xia Qi also pickled some radishes and bamboo shoots, making both sweet and spicy versions.

Pickled bamboo shoots are unique to Jingnan Province, since there is plenty of bamboo here that sprouts shoots.

Upon learning that this stuff grows into food that pandas love to eat, Grace and Jin Zaiyan were quite curious.

They may not know much else, but they both knew about pandas. Xia Qi felt that domestically raising pandas had been very successful in China—the cultural export was quite powerful, if nothing else.

While Xia Qi was making kimchi pickles over here, Wu Xinyue and Li Taiping had made it to the Bagua Temple over there.

Li Taiping circled around the Bagua Temple as if he were a headless fly. Seeing his pimply face, Wu Xinyue felt a little impatient. They had gotten up early and it was still making her feel somewhat sleepy, but thinking of his well-off family background, she endured and kept him company.

She heard Li Taiping say, "What's so special about this place that the young master actually said it was beautiful?"

Wu Xinyue had already integrated herself into their circle for a period of time and knew who Li Taiping was referring to as the "young master", so she was also rather curious. She circled around a few more times herself but truly did not see anything special about this place.

She then heard Li Taiping continue, "It seems like the young master has taken a liking to a girl. He's finally opened his eyes."

Wu Xinyue's heart started thumping rapidly, while her expression remained as calm as ever. Her inner emotions surged as she casually asked, "Oh? Who is she?"