I'm back in 1990

Chapter 60: Everyone's here

It cost more than 30 yuan and took a whole morning to replace both tires on this bicycle. The original tires were simply unusable; the rubber had aged and the inner and outer tires were stuck together.

The brakes were fixed, and the chain was lubricated again. After the repairs, Huang Xiaochuan rode it around and it was great! Now he finally had a means of transportation.

After buying a new lock and installing it, Huang Xiaochuan rode his bike back to school. He parked the bike downstairs in his dormitory, locked it, and then whistled as he went upstairs.

The door to dormitory 222 was unlocked, so it seemed someone was there. Huang Xiaochuan saw a new face as soon as he entered; it seemed that the guy named Ding Yi had arrived.

This guy was puffing away with Zhang Gaolei, so he must be a heavy smoker too.

After seeing Huang Xiaochuan return, Zhang Gaolei introduced him, saying, "Ding Yi, this is Huang Xiaochuan."

Upon seeing Huang Xiaochuan, this man named Ding Yi proactively took out a pack of cigarettes to offer to Huang Xiaochuan. Huang Xiaochuan took one look and exclaimed, "Wow! Zhonghua!"

However, Huang Xiaochuan quickly waved his hand and declined, saying, "Thank you, thank you! I don't smoke."

Seeing that Huang Xiaochuan didn't smoke, Ding Yi didn't force him and put the cigarette back.

After a few words, I learned that Ding Yi was a local from Shanghai. He hadn't been in a hurry to register because he lived nearby, so he took his time and registered this morning.

He could have been a day student, but like other college students, he was tired of his parents' control and insisted on living on campus.

Moreover, he came alone today and didn't bring much with him, just a rolled-up quilt and some toiletries. According to him, if he needed anything, he could just ride his bike back to get it.

That's the advantage of attending university near home, but many people are unwilling to do so. Ding Yi is indeed a rare case.

......

Hao Zhi returned home dejectedly before dinner, followed by his parents. His mother looked unhappy and muttered something in their local dialect.

Hao Zhidu's father knew a bit about social etiquette, so he took out cigarettes and exchanged a few pleasantries with the other students in the dormitory. His mother, however, still had a long face as if someone owed her money, but that didn't stop her from making Hao Zhidu's bed.

Huang Xiaochuan roughly guessed the reason: if Hao Zhidu wanted to rent a house off-campus, the school's consent was required. Otherwise, freshmen were not allowed to stay overnight off-campus. They were all freshmen, so why should the school make an exception for them?

So, barring any unforeseen circumstances, this family's application was definitely rejected, otherwise they wouldn't have come back to make the bed.

After finishing his work, Hao Zhidu's father said goodbye to the students in dormitory 222 and left with his wife. Before leaving, he reminded Hao Zhidu not to cause trouble at school, and because they needed to catch the evening train, they left first.

Interestingly, Hao Zhidu didn't seem to feel any reluctance at all. After his parents left, he actually seemed quite relaxed.

He looked around the dormitory, then frowned slightly, and looked at the other five people in the dormitory.

Seeing that no one was talking to him, he plopped down on his bed and started tidying up his things.

Wu Duo glanced at his watch; the cafeteria was about to open, so he quickly called to the few people in his dormitory.

"Hey! It's lunchtime at the cafeteria, let's hurry!"

Through their experience over the past two days, the group learned that if they wanted to get a meal, they had to queue up early. Otherwise, if they arrived even ten or twenty minutes late, most of the good dishes would be sold out, leaving only some vegetarian dishes or soups.

The canteen was small and crowded, unlike the universities of later generations where each stall had dozens of dishes to choose from, and even local specialties to choose from. When the chefs were bored, they could come up with some crazy ideas to develop a few bizarre dishes.

Nowadays, the cafeteria only offers seven or eight dishes, three meat and five vegetable. Want some meat? Then you'd better line up at the cafeteria's serving window early.

They were all young men and women, and they all had unusually good appetites. Moreover, the meat dishes in the school cafeteria were cheap, so as more and more people bought them, some people naturally couldn't get any.

Unless you're rich enough to buy stir-fries at the cafeteria every day, most students are poor and live on a meager allowance from their families. They might be able to treat themselves occasionally, but eating stir-fries every day? Absolutely not!

The group quickly got to work, and in less than a minute, everyone except Hao Zhidu had grabbed their lunchboxes and were ready to leave.

Hao Zhidu was still sitting there blankly, completely unaware of what was happening. Wu Duo couldn't help but ask him, "Hao Zhidu, right? Aren't you going to eat dinner?"

It seems this guy has never been to the school cafeteria before; he looks completely bewildered.

"Of course we'll eat! But what are you doing going so early?"

Zhang Gaolei quickly explained, "If you go too late, you won't be able to buy any meat or vegetables. Our cafeteria's big meatballs are delicious and affordable, only 60 cents each. If you go too late, you won't be able to buy any."

Every day, the cafeteria has a menu written on a blackboard and hung at the cafeteria entrance, so everyone already knows what they'll be eating that night.

Upon hearing this, Hao Zhidu immediately stood up: "Come on! Let's go out to eat. I'll treat you to noodles."

Wu Duo reminded him, "We're not allowed to leave the school tonight. There's a notice that there's going to be a meeting tonight and we're not allowed to wander around. There will be plenty of opportunities for you to treat us in a few days. Where's your lunchbox? Grab it and get going."

Hao Zhidu could only find his own rice bowl and go to the cafeteria with the others. Once there, they split up according to the plan they had discussed at noon: four people would line up to get food, while the other two would get rice and free soup.

It's obvious that freshmen and returning students are different in the cafeteria. The cafeteria is mainly filled with freshmen. The returning students, who have just returned from summer vacation, have bulging pockets and are not as restricted as the freshmen, so they mostly go out to eat better. Once they've used up most of their money, they will obediently return to the cafeteria.

The senior students ate and chatted in twos and threes in the cafeteria, while the freshmen were more interesting, eating in groups of six or six from their dorm rooms.

If you see a table with six people, each holding a rice bowl and eating together, they're guaranteed to be this year's freshmen.

When registering, the school gave out three enamel lunch bowls, one large and one small. The side of the lunch bowl had the school name and number. For example, Huang Xiaochuan's lunch bowl number was 901603, which meant that it was the 1603rd lunch bowl of the class of '90.

The three rice bowls were used: the smaller one for rice, and the two larger ones for vegetables and soup. This was the standard practice for everyone. By the time students were in their senior year, most of the rice bowls they had received at the beginning of their freshman year had been lost, and very few students could still put together a complete set of three bowls.

Because Huang Xiaochuan had experienced this in his previous life, and some of the basic rules in university were similar.

After a meal, Hao Zhi became much more familiar with the group, and they soon discovered that he loved to show off.

They couldn't help but chuckle to themselves, thinking that money could solve everything. They thought to themselves, "Even with money, you couldn't win over the school teachers. You still ended up living in the dorm."

This guy even took out his pager to show the others and told them his pager number.

This pager was only obtained thanks to Huang Xiaochuan. Yesterday, due to Huang Xiaochuan's negligence, he forgot to put the pager on vibrate mode, which led to the discovery of the trap.

Seeing that his roommates had one, Hao Zhidu also insisted on buying one. His wealthy father and doting mother quickly bought him one, and it even had a Chinese character display.

Wu Duo asked Huang Xiaochuan, "Xiaochuan, where's your pager number?"

When Huang Xiaochuan heard Wu Duo ask him for his pager number, he readily gave them his own.

By this time, everyone could see that Hao Zhidu clearly came from a wealthy family, and they could all discern his ulterior motives. But Huang Xiaochuan was more interesting; he was handsome and easygoing, but it was impossible to tell what kind of person he really was.