Chapter 595: Chapter 595

"Yiyi, is that all the ambition you have?"

Zhou Mo, frustrated by her apparent lack of resolve, knocked on her forehead, and Yiyi pouted.

"I do want to be ambitious, but I just don’t have the strength, you know?"

"If I had known earlier, I would have chosen the arts. Science is so brain-consuming. I think without your strong support in my junior and senior years of high school, I couldn’t have done so well in science. Without scoring 700 points, I wouldn’t have been able to get into Tsinghua. Without Tsinghua, I wouldn’t have to endure this torture. It’s utterly unbearable, don’t you think?"

Yiyi’s complaints were met with several eye rolls from Zhou Mo.

"Did you come to Tsinghua to be the last in class? Is just passing your goal? Yiyi, is that all you aspire to?"

"Granted, everyone who gets into Qingbei is top-notch, picked from a pool of thousands or even one hundred thousand, and should be among the best in their province. But in every university, there’s always someone at the bottom of the class, right? Just listen to those self-introductions, dammit, if I weren’t a member of the Calligrapher Association, I’d be too ashamed to stand up there. It’s too damn nerve-wracking,"

Yiyi sat there with her chin in her hands, looking somewhat dazed.

"Zhou Mo, what do you think it’s like to be the worst student at Tsinghua or Beijing University?"

"Even without you saying it, I can imagine. I’m sure I’d be crying about how brutal it is. Here, not only do you need good grades, but you also need to excel in various abilities and have specialties. When others are winning awards in competitions until their hands go weak, and I’m still struggling just to pass exams, the difference between people is more than just discouraging."

Actually, the Computer Department is a general term. They have an even broader umbrella term called the Information Science and Technology College.

Yiyi and Zhou Mo both belonged to the Computer Science and Technology Department. Before even arriving, Yiyi knew how prestigious the Computer Department was. Once there, she felt her intelligence was being crushed. She even clung tightly to Zhou Mo’s arm, looking completely forlorn.

"So, dear Zhou Mo, for the next four years, avoiding failing any classes is all on you to cover for me!"

Luckily, luckily, you’re still by my side.

"It’s okay, we’ll take it slow. With me by your side, we can aim a bit higher. Don’t just fixate on the passing mark; it’s disheartening. But you’ve seen it yourself, folks from our small place, we’re far behind compared to those from big cities. So, I’ll try to participate in competitions in the future. Tsinghua’s resources are said to be the best in the country. We should truly cherish our time at Tsinghua; it might not just be four years, maybe eight years?" The source of this content ɪs novel•fire.net

"Do you plan to do an integrated bachelor-master-PhD program?" Zhou Mo nodded, "And more than that, I might even go abroad in the future. So, Yiyi, we must work hard to get scholarships. Do you have that aspiration?"

Right, at least fifty percent of Tsinghua and Beijing University students go abroad, and some even on public expense...but—

"You’re not going to betray your motherland, are you? Tsinghua and Peking University have certainly produced quite a few traitors!"

Zhou Mo gave her a dismissive glance, "Don’t you think it’s silly to talk about this when I’m dreaming about the future? My home is here, my roots are here. Where else could I possibly go?"

Yiyi curled her lip, unconvinced. Weren’t all those who left for abroad initially well-intentioned? And yet, didn’t they end up staying overseas for a better future and for money?

However, she trusted Zhou Mo. As for studying abroad, Yiyi hadn’t considered it yet and simply replied to Zhou Mo with, "We’ll see."

Zhou Mo also thought it wasn’t the time to discuss this and helped her pick up her books, taking her hand, "Come on, let’s go back to the dorm."

On the morning of August 14th, the school held a welcome ceremony. The hall could accommodate thousands of people across its three levels, the biggest hall she had ever seen.

The welcoming ceremony lasted all morning, and to Yiyi’s surprise, the representative for the new students was Hua Yang—a real shining moment for their Computer Department.

Military training starts tomorrow by class, without distinction between boys and girls, so she could already imagine how tough the upcoming month would be.

Her dorm mates would occasionally lament, "Although there are many hot guys, isn’t this a bit too cruel for us?"

More than just cruel, perhaps?

Yiyi shook her head resignedly and pulled out her camouflage uniform to begin sewing the legs. "Although the clothes they gave us are the smallest size, look how long they still are. I think only Zou Wenqing doesn’t need to sew; the rest of us have to,"

Qiao Shan suddenly slapped her forehead. "Right, how could I forget about that? Hurry, Yiyi, help your sister out. I’ve never even held a needle in my life and don’t know how to sew,"

Yu Wenya looked at Yiyi admiringly, "You’re really something, even able to do needlework, and you even brought it with you. How could you be so thoughtful?"

How could Yiyi admit she had practically moved her entire house here? The sewing kit was a legacy from her mother!

They were issued army training uniforms: two short-sleeve shirts (army green), two pairs of pants (camouflage), and two long-sleeve shirts (camouflage), which were a bit large. Qiao Shan looked hilarious in them, but Yiyi wasn’t much better. The dorm girls complained about the school’s lack of consideration, even choosing male sizes for the small uniforms—it was just too much.

After sewing them for her roommates and the girls from Room 301, and finding that they fit okay, she finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Fortunately, they didn’t have to cut their hair, but the school did require that girls couldn’t perm their hair, while boys had to ensure that when they put their hands in their hair, no hair would stick out—about a three millimeter short cut, just like a private in the army. This was stipulated clearly, so in the days before school started, barbershops were doing incredibly well.

At five o’clock on the morning of August 15th, the whistle sounded urgently outside the dormitory. When Yiyi heard it, she felt as if she was back in the army. She quickly changed into her clothes, only having time to wash her face and comb her hair, and without even brushing her teeth, stumbled down with her roommates. It turned out it wasn’t a gathering for girls but for classes, and after wobbling to find her class, she stood at the end of the line, one girl in each row of twenty-eight students. It looked ridiculous and pitiable.

However, it’s said that this year, a class in Civil Engineering didn’t have even one girl, so for the Computer Department to have four girls was actually quite good.

Tsinghua’s military training was the real deal, with everyone issued a training backpack, making their first task a five-kilometer march with load.

Other schools might send students to the army for military training, but Tsinghua didn’t need to bother. Its campus was huge, one department could monopolize a road and still not use it all. Plus, with the large drill field and sports ground, they could endure whatever they wanted. So, it was soldiers coming to their school to train them.

Yiyi had once been a soldier, even a male soldier, and she could generally remember the drills. However, her body was not as it had been during her time with Long Gang, so she had to start from scratch. This month was a perfect chance to bring back some of those old military memories.