Chapter 8: High School
Because Nie Qiu had also fantasized before that her mom would dress her, feed her, buy her pretty clothes, and tell her bedtime stories, her mom… But fantasies were just fantasies after all.
Who was happier between her and this ‘Nie Qiu’? Nie Qiu couldn’t judge, because no amount of material possessions could replace love, and no amount of love could replace material possessions. She didn’t live extravagantly, but she had plenty of spare money. She didn’t live extravagantly, but she lived a comfortable life. Therefore… while everyone envied her high income, she also wished she could have the doting love of her parents.
But what if she had grown up in poverty, with the love of her parents? Such love would often be overlooked, which is why the current Nie Qiu cherished it so much. She liked the meticulous care this woman provided, she liked it very much, and she enjoyed it immensely.
Even if the conditions were very poor, it couldn’t stop her from liking it like this.
Nie Qiu was the same height as Nie Aifang. Under the pointing and gesturing and scornful gazes of all her classmates, Nie Qiu straightened her chest, placed her hand on Nie Aifang’s shoulder, and said, “Mom, don’t worry, I will study hard, strive to get into a good university, and find a good job to support you.” She believed that heaven helps those who help themselves, and she didn’t think that meeting a rich person would lead to a good job.
Nie Aifang smiled with satisfaction, raised her head, and patted Nie Qiu’s head. “Okay, Mom will wait.”
With that, she took Nie Qiu to Nie Qiu’s classroom, Class 10, Grade 3. Nie Qiu remembered that the school had a fast and slow class system, meaning that students with good grades were in one class, and students with poor grades were in another. Class 1 had the best grades, and it went down from there to Class 10. This meant that this class was the one with the worst grades.
Nie Qiu had spent her time from first grade to third grade in Class 1. Nie Qiu had never thought there was anything wrong with this fast and slow class system, because the learning atmosphere in their class was very good, so it was good.
She never expected the slow class to be so… undisciplined! No, it wasn’t just undisciplined; the classroom door was spray-painted with various graffiti, and in the classroom, three or four boys with strange hairstyles could be seen everywhere, huddled together, chatting animatedly. Many girls were also using their small mirrors to fix their hairstyles, completely oblivious to their surroundings, with serious expressions.
The floor and tables were a mess of books, notebooks, and exam papers. Some boys and girls were constantly chasing each other and playing, their laughter and noise mixed together. Not a single person was reading a book! Well, there were still people reading books, but they were either Hong Kong and Taiwan romance novels or Japanese comics.
Nie Aifang acted as if she hadn’t seen any of it and said to Nie Qiu, “Qiu Qiu, your seat is in Group 4, Row 5. Study hard, and come back early after school this afternoon. Mom will make dumplings for you to eat.”
That’s right, the original intention of sending Nie Qiu to this school was for Nie Qiu to make friends with people from wealthy families. As for the learning environment… that was the school’s arrangement, and no one could influence it. Those with good grades would naturally be in the good classes, and those with poor grades would naturally be in the poor classes. So… Nie Qiu was not surprised at all by Nie Aifang’s attitude of pretending not to see.
Nie Qiu stood at the doorway, looking at this group of third-year junior high students with a blank expression. She was considering whether to go in. This… would be the place where she would live for nearly a year, and her first impression was not good.
But under Nie Aifang’s expectant gaze, Nie Qiu still stepped into the classroom.
Nie Qiu knew that the family didn’t have enough money to transfer her to another school, so she could only continue to study at this school! She saw both Nie Aifang’s helplessness and her love.
