Chapter 549: Chapter 549

The other three roommates in the four-person dorm were all local students from L City. At first, everyone was unfamiliar with each other, but they all got excited when they learned that she was the Y City middle school exam top scorer snatched from Zhengwai. Sharing a dorm with the top scorer was a honor, wasn’t it? Especially since Zhou Yiyi’s score was impressively high, even by L City standards, where she would have been ranked among the best.

It could be said that academic prodigies were admired wherever they went. Who wouldn’t benefit from a prodigy’s guidance in their studies?

Most importantly, the other girls were all older than Zhou Yiyi, so they were very kind to her. Although they didn’t know much about Zhou Yiyi’s family situation, they were aware she lived far from home. Therefore, when they went home for the weekend and had delicious food, they always thought of her. Though this city was only third-tier, all these girls were easy to get along with. They weren’t rude or difficult, which made her feel incredibly thankful. After all, dorm life is unpredictable, with the risk of encountering troublesome individuals.

They were all children of the post-80s, mostly only-children. However, rural people like Zhou Yiyi were quite rare; if not for her father’s sacrifice, she might have had a brother or sister, assuming her father wasn’t a public servant.

All four dorm ’sisters’ were only-children but were not spoiled—perhaps because the post-80s generation didn’t have the luxury to be spoiled.

Zhou Yiyi was born in 1987, the youngest of the group, with others born in ’85 and ’84. This age difference was likely due to the varied school starting ages of their generation. Zhou Yiyi was different—she had skipped grades to be here, probably the youngest in the entire first year of high school.

The half-month military training included standing in military posture, various group activities, and also dormitory cleanliness. Under military-style management, dorm supervisors and the student council conducted inspections and implemented a dormitory points system. Each floor’s lowest-ranking dorm had to clean the hallways and bathrooms.

Zhou Yiyi was a well-behaved and compulsive child, so she managed her personal hygiene more skillfully than the other three, likely due to her early independence. Dorm leaders rotated monthly, with all four taking turns according to age. Zhou Yiyi was the last due to her youth.

Tian Xin was a tall girl with a sweet appearance and an outgoing, lively personality. Being the oldest in the dorm, born in December ’84, she served as the dorm leader for the first month of school.

Meng Ziwei, born in April ’85, was the second oldest in the dorm. She was petite, with a gentle demeanor and a somewhat introverted personality, not inclined to talk much.

The third, Niu Quanling, born in October ’85, was unusually tomboyish, perhaps influenced by her surname. She was the only one in the dorm with short hair and a somewhat androgynous appearance. She was not delicate at all and spoke with a resonant voice. Yet, with the straightforwardness of Northern people, and sometimes she felt she was more like a robust Northeastern ’tigress’ than the soft-spoken Meng Ziwei, providing a stark contrast, haha~~

So looking at them as a whole, Tian Xin was cheerful, Meng Ziwei reserved, Niu Quanling bold, and Zhou Yiyi came across as more calm and restrained. Zhou Yiyi’s quietness was different from Meng Ziwei’s shyness; she simply preferred to be quiet and didn’t talk much. But when necessary, she was very dependable.

For instance, preparations were needed for National Day and the school’s anniversary right at the start of the school year. Since Experimental First High School celebrated its anniversary on September 20th, the event was combined with National Day, offering every student an opportunity to perform on stage. Besides identifying talents for extracurricular development, it also aimed to cultivate the students’ social skills.

Zhou Yiyi wasn’t one to seek the limelight, so she opted for the rather common chorus and didn’t even join the dance.

But with more boys than girls in her class, not participating in a dance wasn’t an option, so Zhou Yiyi was reluctantly dragged into a group dance.

Group dance it was, as long as it wasn’t a solo.

The class schedule at Experimental First High was similar to what she had at City No.1 Middle School in Y City, starting with morning runs at 5:30, followed by reading time from 5:30 to 7:00, then breakfast and personal care from 7:00 to 8:00 (some students went for their run without washing their faces or brushing their teeth). There were four classes in the morning and three in the afternoon. The difference was that classes in the afternoon started at 2:00, allowing time for a nap in the dorm, which was quite humane, probably due to the boarding system. Evening self-study was from 7:00 to 9:00, with the remainder of the time free.

She had never had evening self-study in middle school; in high school, it was time for doing test papers and homework. As an elite high school, students were highly disciplined.

By the way, class placement upon entry was based on middle school exam scores, so Zhou Yiyi was in Class 1. Her three roommates were also in the same class, so it was natural that their scores were not low, at least above 750 points.

First High also had monthly exams, which determined class placement. Whether she could maintain her position in Class 1 over the next three years depended on her dedication to her studies each month.

Class 1 had fifty students, with thirty boys and twenty girls, indicating that there were more male academic prodigies.

Perhaps due to the same gender repelling each other, when they first joined the class, the boys sat with boys, and the girls with girls. Then the class teacher, particularly sensitive to high schoolers dating early, decreed that boys and girls couldn’t share desks. This rule drew complaints from several boys.

"Teacher Song, what era are we in, still segregating boys and girls?" one student protested. "We already have fewer girls in our class, and now with this rule..."

Teacher Song was a middle-aged woman with an authoritative look and a powerful, resonant voice. She was reputed to have led graduating classes for consecutive years, frequently acknowledged as an outstanding class teacher and educator. As a result, when the boy raised his objections, she shot a sharp look his way. Tʜe source of this ᴄontent ɪs novel※fire.net

"You’re opposed? Anyone else? Raise your hands so I can see."

Realizing the situation, the other students wisely refrained from raising their hands, which pleased Teacher Song.

"That’s more like it. If you dared to raise your hands, believe me or not, I’d have you all sitting at separate desks."

A tall boy sat behind Zhou Yiyi, so she heard him audibly scoff, "Master of Extinction."

As Zhou Yiyi’s lips slightly curled, Teacher Song scanned the room: "Who goes by Zhou Mo? Zhou Mo, stand up for me to see."

Zhou Yiyi felt the desk behind her shake as a very tall boy with a slightly husky adolescent voice stood up.

"Teacher, I’m Zhou Mo."

Teacher Song glanced at him and nodded in approval, "Very good. This is our city’s middle school exam top scorer, Zhou Mo. Everyone, take note. Besides Zhou Mo, our class has three other top scorers: from Y City, Zhou Yiyi; from M City, Song Jing; and from S City, Liu Yang... All stand up and introduce yourselves."