Back to 1984: Let's Work Hard Together to Raise The Kids!-Chapter 210: A School’s Story

So they let Xu Jiahui sit in the middle, and she sat on the side. Several times Su Wanwan wanted to strike up a conversation, but when she turned her head, she saw Chen Xinyue had fallen asleep, giving her no chance at all.

Su Wanwan couldn’t help but feel a bit stifled, her face not looking very pleased.

Xu Jiahui didn’t notice, as all her attention was captivated by the scenery outside. Even though it was dark and only street lights were visible, some building outlines could still be seen.

From time to time, her exclamations sounded inside the car.

The driver chuckled, "It’s your first time in the capital, right? Are you here for school?"

Xu Jiahui nodded, "Yes! We are freshmen."

The driver praised them greatly.

Chen Wenjun asked, "Driver, do you know if there is a guesthouse near the Foreign Languages College?"

"Of course! We know this area like the back of our hands, especially since lots of students come from out of town this time of year. Although there are many universities in the capital, they are all pretty similar once you visit them. If you want to go to a guesthouse, I can take you there directly to save you the trouble of finding it yourself," the driver responded enthusiastically.

After thanking him, Chen Wenjun chatted with the driver, taking the opportunity to learn about the current development of the capital.

From food and clothing to housing and entertainment, they asked almost everything possible.

Xu Jiahui listened along and gained a lot of useful information. She was about to share it with Su Wanwan, but found that she was gazing out the window, lost in thought.

"What are you looking at? It’s so late!" Xu Jiahui craned her neck to look out but saw nothing.

Su Wanwan awkwardly smiled, "Nothing, just worried about the registration process."

"Hey! We’re almost there, what’s there to worry about!" Xu Jiahui didn’t think much of it. 𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

Chen Wenjun nodded in agreement, "The school might not be open by now, you can go to a guesthouse first, the guesthouses outside the school shouldn’t be expensive."

When Lin Qin went to college before, he already got a sense of the local prices around the school, which were affordable for students.

Xu Jiahui quickly thanked him.

As they were talking, the car stopped.

The driver said, "Here is the guesthouse, the total is twelve dollars."

Chen Wenjun paid the fare and helped carry the luggage down.

Xu Jiahui took out six dollars, "Uncle, this is for Wanwan and my share of the fare."

Chen Wenjun immediately refused, "No need, even without you, we would have needed two cars, which is the same fare. Keep it, that way you can use it for the guesthouse."

"That’s too embarrassing." Xu Jiahui scratched her head, feeling apologetic.

Chen Wenjun waved it off, "No need to feel embarrassed, you are still students. When studying away from home, you need money for everything. Besides, we’re all from An City and should look out for each other. Go on in."

Only then did Xu Jiahui nod obediently and head into the guesthouse with her luggage.

After opening the room, Su Wanwan went in without saying a word to Xu Jiahui.

Noticing something was wrong, Xu Jiahui asked, "What’s wrong with you?"

Su Wanwan turned her back, ignoring Xu Jiahui.

After a moment of silence, Xu Jiahui didn’t press further. Instead, she tidied up her belongings, cradled her important bag, and lay down to sleep.

As soon as dawn broke the next day, Su Wanwan got up and prepared to leave without saying a word to Xu Jiahui.

Xu Jiahui quickly stopped her, "The lodging fee hasn’t been paid yet. If you leave now, how will I find you?"

Su Wanwan didn’t care, "Aren’t you generous? You could decide to pay the fare for both of us, so what? You can’t spare one night’s lodging cost?"

Xu Jiahui wouldn’t put up with her attitude, so she blocked the door, "Su Wanwan, what do you mean by that? Shouldn’t we have split the fare with the others? Or were you planning to take advantage of someone else all along?"

"When did I take advantage of anyone? Watch your mouth!" Su Wanwan’s face turned red with anger. Now that she was at the Foreign Languages College, she didn’t need to stick with Xu Jiahui and could be herself without restraint.

Xu Jiahui looked as if she’d seen through her, "If you didn’t want to take advantage of others, why are you mad when I paid for them? Or do you think I should publicly discuss with you whether to split three dollars? How shameful! I see it clearly now, we are not on the same path. Let’s settle the lodging fee, and go our separate ways. In the future, let’s pretend not to know each other if we cross paths."

If she had known Su Wanwan’s nature earlier, Xu Jiahui wouldn’t have agreed to travel with her no matter what.

Since there were already guests waking up, and the guesthouse’s soundproofing wasn’t good, Su Wanwan, fearing an embarrassing scene, reluctantly took out her share of the money and stormed off towards the school gate angrily.

Xu Jiahui took her luggage and followed to register.

The Lin Qin family watched their spat from start to finish, shaking their heads silently.

Chen Wenjun worriedly glanced at Chen Xinyue, "Yaya, you’ve seen it, these girls are the same age as you, but not easy to deal with. Be on your guard at school, and don’t be easily fooled."

Xu Kang agreed, "Uncle, don’t worry. I’ll check on my cousins every week and make sure they’re well taken care of."

Chen Xinyue and Chen Ruiyu rolled their eyes in unison, "Yeah right, we’re more likely to be taking care of you!"

Xu Kang, feeling greatly wounded, clutched his chest and pretended to cry in a comical way.

Which made everyone burst into laughter.

The group then entered the school, signed in at the new students’ registration area, and after Chen Xinyue received her materials and dorm key, she followed a senior to her dormitory.

The dorms at the Foreign Languages College were quite nice, far better than the ones in high school, consisting of standard four-bed rooms. Being early, the dorm was empty.

Chen Xinyue picked the spot she liked.

Xu Kang and Chen Ruiyu helped clean the bed, desk, and cabinet.

Lin Qin, on the other hand, accompanied Chen Xinyue outside the school to buy daily necessities. With prior experience, she picked the best mattresses, mats, thick quilts for winter, thin covers for spring and summer, buckets, basins, toothbrushes, cups, kettles, etc., all according to a pre-made list.

On their way back, they nearly couldn’t carry everything, but fortunately, Xu Kang came to help share the load.

After returning to the dormitory, Lin Qin helped set up the bed, hang the mosquito net, and install a small fan. Everything was ready by noon.

The whole family took a tour of the school canteen and checked price lists at a few restaurants outside, getting a general idea of the costs.

While eating, Lin Qin said to her daughter, "I just estimated, the cost of living at your school seems reasonable. Including occasional dining out or socializing with classmates, how about I give you 180 a month for living expenses?"

Originally, she and Chen Wenjun planned to give their daughter 150, but considering a girl’s occasional additional expenses, they increased it by 30.

Chen Xinyue nodded eagerly, "That’s enough, mom. Over the years, I’ve saved some money myself. If my living expenses run short, I can use my own savings."