Rebirth of a Girl in a Boys' School

After a quick wash, Lin Ruofei left her dormitory and went to the 9th floor to find Ding Yilin.

Ding Yilin also got up early. As soon as Lin Ruofei appeared at the dormitory door, Ding Yilin quickly walked out of the dormitory.

Breakfast in the cafeteria wasn't cheap either. Lin Ruofei and Ding Yilin casually ate some eggs, porridge, and pickled vegetables, which cost them more than thirty yuan.

"Doesn't the price bureau or anything like that ever check the prices at this shady school?" Lin Ruofei complained angrily as she stepped out of the cafeteria. "They're just squeezing the hard-earned money out of students and their parents!"

"If the people don't report it, the officials won't investigate..." Ding Yilin shook his head helplessly and said, "Everyone has already accepted this reality, so who will care?"

The two chatted back and forth, and soon arrived in front of Building No. 4. By this time, quite a few students had already entered Building No. 4.

"Is the opening ceremony going to be held in the conference room on the fourth floor?" Lin Ruofei asked Ding Yilin as she went upstairs.

"That's what they said on the radio yesterday," Ding Yilin said softly, glancing at the other students passing by. "We can't go wrong by just following the crowd!"

Turning past the landing on the fourth-floor staircase, Lin Ruofei saw two large doors wide open, and teachers and students attending the opening ceremony were pouring through them...

This conference room occupied the entire fourth floor and was large enough to accommodate more than 3,000 people. Even after all the male high school students and teachers had arrived, only half of the seats in the conference room were filled.

The dozen or so students who were maintaining order in the venue organized everyone to sit in the front seats. After all the teachers and students were seated, the opening ceremony started on time at 8 o'clock.

The entire opening ceremony was long and tedious. Each speaker was either the principal, vice-principal, or the heads of academic affairs for each grade, and their remarks were nothing more than repetitive statements about studies and school rules. The ceremony didn't end until 11:30 PM.

"The opening ceremony is now over." After delivering his speech, Director Jin of the school's Academic Affairs Office announced the end of the opening ceremony.

"Oh my god! It's finally over!!" Lin Ruofei shifted her stiff body in her seat and whispered to Ding Yilin beside her, "I almost fell asleep several times just now!"

"I know," Ding Yilin said with a smile, "You just leaned your head on my shoulder several times!"

"Hehe..." Lin Ruofei laughed along.

Just as the crowd sitting below the stage was excitedly stirring, Director Jin of the Academic Affairs Office, who was standing on the stage, continued, "There will be a fire prevention lecture at 1 p.m. After lunch, students should remember to come to the conference room on time for the lecture. It's getting late, so freshmen should go to their respective classes to report after the fire prevention lecture."

"Huh? ...No way!" Lin Ruofei exclaimed softly, her face full of worry, "I have to come back and sit here again this afternoon!"

“This is how it is on the first day of school,” Ding Yilin whispered to comfort Lin Ruofei. “Just grit your teeth and you’ll get through it! Look at me, I made it through three years of junior high.”

"The opening ceremony at Yucai School is ridiculously long!" Lin Ruofei muttered angrily. "I remember the opening ceremonies at the schools I attended were at most two hours long, and they would even recognize outstanding students and class leaders during the ceremony. It wasn't this boring at all!"

"Let's hurry up and go to the cafeteria for lunch!" Ding Yilin called to Lin Ruofei. "If everyone goes to the cafeteria later, the lines for food will be really long!"

"Yes, that's right!" Lin Ruofei nodded in agreement, then got up and ran towards the cafeteria with Ding Yilin...

When Lin Ruofei and Ding Yilin arrived at the cafeteria, there were already quite a few people queuing at the food windows. The two of them chose a window where the queue was relatively fast and stood there.

At Ding Yilin's insistence, the two ordered a serving of salted mutton and a small plate of mixed vegetables, plus two servings of rice costing five yuan each. They also ordered two extra steamed buns for Lin Ruofei. This meal cost Ding Yilin another 84 yuan.

"Let's keep dinner simple!" Lin Ruofei said softly to Ding Yilin while eating, "If we keep eating like this, we'll be spending almost two hundred yuan a day!"

"Just eat without worry!" Ding Yilin placed a piece of mutton into Lin Ruofei's bowl and said with a smile, "If my dad knew I ate such a expensive meal, he'd jump for joy!"

"Does your dad want you to spend more money?" Lin Ruofei asked, puzzled. "My dad always tells my brother and me to be careful with our money!"

“My dad said that money is meant to be spent!” Ding Yilin put another piece of mutton into Lin Ruofei’s bowl, then said softly, “That’s why he always tells me to spend money more lavishly.”

"But no matter what, thrift is always a good quality, right?" Lin Ruofei said, looking around. She suddenly noticed that there were a lot of students queuing at window number four, with a line of over a hundred people and even a bend in the road.

"I said..." Lin Ruofei pointed with her chin towards the direction of the fourth food serving window and asked curiously, "Why are there always so many people queuing up at that window over there?"

Ding Yilin turned his head to look, then turned back and said casually, "That should be the free window. Our junior high school's free window is also number four."

"Free?" Upon hearing the word "free," Lin Ruofei immediately perked up and hurriedly asked, "Does the free window offer all dishes for free? What kind of free dishes do they offer?"

“Not necessarily,” Ding Yilin thought for a moment and said, “Anyway, I saw them serving free soup, free stir-fried tofu with green peppers, and free side dishes when I was in junior high school.”

"Why didn't you say so sooner?" Lin Ruofei said regretfully, "If I had known there was free food, I wouldn't have had to eat your food for free!"

“The staple food isn’t free; you still have to pay for it yourself,” Ding Yilin continued. “Besides, you can tell from the current situation that you have to wait in line for a long time to get food at the free window. It’s tiring, and you don’t even get any good food.”

"It doesn't matter if I'm tired or the food isn't good!" Lin Ruofei said earnestly, "Because it doesn't cost any money!"

"Don't worry about eating!" Ding Yilin put all the remaining mutton on his plate into Lin Ruofei's bowl, saying, "I still have enough money!"

"That's not how you live like a rich kid!" Lin Ruofei shook her head and said, "Even if you're rich, you can't spend money without thinking!"

Even when Lin Ruofei and Ding Yilin walked out of the cafeteria, window number four was still packed with dozens of people.

"I see," Lin Ruofei muttered to herself, seemingly enlightened, "If you want to get to window number four for food, you have to get to the cafeteria earlier..."

"Oh, forget about the free window!" Ding Yilin glanced at his watch; the hands were already pointing to 12:30.

"It's already 12:30, there's no time to go back to the dorm to rest." Ding Yilin suggested softly, "How about we go to the conference room and grab some good seats?"

"Are there sofas in the conference room?" Lin Ruofei asked carefully, "I don't see any. They all seem to be chairs with backs..."

"Hehe... I didn't mean the chair was good or bad when I said a good spot," Ding Yilin said with a smile. "Didn't you see how happy everyone sitting by the window is? When you're feeling down, just look out the window at the scenery, and it's easier to pass the time that way!"

“Oh yeah,” Lin Ruofei slapped her thigh and said, “Alright, let’s both sit by the window!”

When Lin Ruofei and Ding Yilin arrived at the conference room on the fourth floor, there weren't many window seats left. After taking two window seats a little further back, Lin Ruofei and Ding Yilin sat down one after the other.

All the students returned to the conference room before 1 p.m., gathering in small groups and chatting quietly while waiting for the fire safety lecture to begin.

Just as Lin Ruofei was looking out the window at the scenery, she suddenly heard a rude voice say, "Hey kid, you're sitting in my seat!"