Lin Zhilan looked at him, somewhat surprised.
She had been thinking of having a phone installed at home, too.
But getting a telephone installed was still a huge hassle. Her workplace had to issue an official letter of introduction, and she had to take all the necessary documents to the local telecommunications bureau to fill out an application. Then she had to wait for the staff to verify her credentials. The whole process would take at least six months.
Curious, Lin Zhilan asked, “When did you apply for it? How much did it cost?”
“After the typhoon last year. Four hundred yuan in total.”
Lin Zhilan pushed his hand away and tilted her head, scrutinizing him. “Where did you get that kind of money?”
Su Lang covered his mouth with his fist and coughed lightly. “I got a bonus after finishing a mission last year. Five hundred yuan in total.”
Lin Zhilan pinched his arm. “Hiding private money from your wife, you bad man!”
Although, in his son’s eyes, Su Lang was already what people called an “old man,” he still enjoyed this kind of playful teasing with his wife. His face was practically splitting with laughter.
Su Lang volunteered an explanation. “I planned to send the remaining hundred yuan to our daughter to cover her phone bills.”
Lin Zhilan gave him an approving look, and her mood finally improved.
Linlin’s military training was still underway.
Everyone knew by now that the instructor was her brother. At first, they had hoped that Jiang Chengzhou would go easy on them for Linlin’s sake.
But not only did Jiang Chengzhou refuse to show them any leniency, he trained them even harder.
Linlin had spent many years living at a military base. No matter how hard or exhausting the training was, she persevered.
Her class counselor had initially worried that this delicate-looking girl wouldn’t be able to handle it. But Linlin’s military posture turned out to be more impeccable than anyone else’s. Most of the students in the class were boys, and none of them was willing to be outdone by Linlin, so they trained even harder.
Lu Zeyu had never met a girl like her. If you called her pampered, she could stand at attention under the blazing sun for several hours straight. But if you called her tough, she cried hard enough to bring tears to your eyes every time she called home.
She was fascinating!
Lu Zeyu’s interest in Linlin grew stronger by the day. Unfortunately, with Jiang Chengzhou around, he had few opportunities to get close to her.
In the dormitory, Linlin was still closest to Dong Xiaomin. She got along indifferently with the others.
But as the days passed, everyone began to notice something.
After standing at attention, marching in formation, and practicing the goose step under the scorching sun every day, everyone’s face—and every part of their skin not covered by clothing—had visibly darkened several shades.
There were two exceptions in the dormitory.
One was Linlin. Her complexion had already been fair to begin with, and after so many days of military training, the most she had suffered was a faint flush on her cheeks, which faded overnight. Even after all this time, her skin remained as white as jade.
The other was someone no one would have expected: Dong Xiaomin.
When she had first arrived, her complexion had been sallow and somewhat dull. Yet after all these days of training, she seemed to grow fairer and more radiant by the day.
At first, nobody had paid much attention. But now that everyone else had tanned, Dong Xiaomin had become the second fairest girl in the dormitory. It was impossible not to notice.
Before long, some of them couldn’t sit still anymore.
Linlin and Dong Xiaomin were always together, and after spending so much time with them, everyone knew that Dong Xiaomin’s family was not well-off. She had never bought face cream and used only the products Linlin shared with her.
So they all went to Linlin to ask where she had bought it.
Linlin did not try to hide the truth. “I told you before—my mother made it for me. It’s a herbal face cream. It also nourishes the skin and reduces inflammation.”
“Is it available for sale?”
Linlin shook her head.
Everyone was disappointed, but none of them felt comfortable asking Linlin to give them some.
Sun Lina wanted some too. But she had treated Linlin badly before, and she simply couldn’t bring herself to swallow her pride and ask.
After learning that Linlin’s grandmother was from the capital, she was both anxious and regretful. She sat on the edge of her bed for a long while before finally gritting her teeth, jumping down from the top bunk, and walking over to Linlin.
Dong Xiaomin and Linlin were startled. Thinking she was about to make a move, the two girls clung to each other and watched her warily.
Sun Lina rolled her eyes. “What are you so afraid of? I don’t eat people.”
Linlin blinked her large eyes and said softly, “Who knows? You look like you might right now.”
Sun Lina wasn’t ugly; she was simply too intimidating.
People often said that one’s appearance reflected one’s heart. Sun Lina was sharp-tongued all day long, and her brows and eyes always carried a hint of spite. She also had a habit of frowning and casting sidelong glances at others, giving off an unmistakably fierce, unapproachable air.
Whenever Linlin had clashed with her before, Sun Lina had always been the one to start it.
Otherwise, when faced with someone like her, Linlin would have simply kept her distance.
“If you’re not going to eat anyone, then please move aside,” Linlin said quietly.
Sun Lina was a tall northern girl, while Linlin had never been in a fight and had no idea whether she could beat her.
She could hold her own in a verbal argument, but if things turned physical, Linlin was a little nervous.
Sun Lina was so angry that her eyes nearly rolled upward. “I’m not going to eat you, and I’m not going to hit you. I want to buy your face cream.”
“Oh.” Hearing that Sun Lina wasn’t going to hit her, Linlin relaxed. “The face cream isn’t for sale.”
Sun Lina ground her teeth in frustration. “Linlin, I admit I treated you badly before. But if you’d told me earlier that you were from the capital, I definitely wouldn’t have treated you that way.”
Linlin frowned at that. “Sun Lina, do you know that college students can transfer their household registration?”
“What?” Sun Lina was stunned.
Linlin explained, “Students admitted to a university from outside the city can use their admission notice to transfer their household registration to the school’s collective nonagricultural registration. That’s how they become eligible to receive state financial aid, as well as grain and vegetable coupons for the cafeteria.”
“So”—Linlin pointed at Dong Xiaomin and the other girls in the dormitory—“everyone here has a capital household registration now. What are you going to do?”
Sun Lina was rendered speechless.
She was a native of the capital and had never known anything about transferring household registration.
She looked around the room. The others nodded, confirming what Linlin had said.
Sun Lina felt both humiliated and furious. “So what if you have a capital household registration? You don’t even own a house!”
With that one sentence, she offended everyone else.
Linlin said faintly, “Sun Lina, when we graduate and are assigned jobs, our work units will provide us with housing. We won’t be any worse off than you. What exactly are you comparing?”
They were all students. If Sun Lina wanted to compare academic performance, Linlin might have found that somewhat interesting.
But comparing places of birth…
That wasn’t something any of them could choose. What was there to be proud of?
The sense of superiority Sun Lina had built up over the years was suddenly punctured by Linlin. Her chest heaved as she stared at Linlin for a long while. Then, unexpectedly, she ran back to her bed, pulled the quilt over her head, and began to cry.
The other girls in the dormitory were left feeling awkward.
When Linlin cried, she had won the argument.
Sun Lina was crying because she had lost one.
Yet her earlier words had been full of disdain for those who came from outside the capital, so for a moment, no one felt inclined to comfort her.
Linlin propped her face in both hands and sighed.
Worried that Linlin might cry too, Dong Xiaomin poked her head over to take a look.
“I’m not crying…”
Linlin felt helpless. Perhaps she had cried too many times before, and now she suspected that her good friend regarded her as a Crybaby.
Dong Xiaomin glanced toward Sun Lina’s bed and said softly, “You won again.”
