To please others? It's better to please yourself.

Classroom

"This English test was so difficult, Zhou Fubao, how did you manage to get them all right?"

"Fu Bao, you're amazing! You got all 100 multiple-choice questions right!" The surrounding classmates exclaimed in admiration.

"Fu Bao, can you help me with this question?" asked Zhao Mingming, her female roommate.

Zhou Fubao stammered and couldn't get the answer out.

Upon hearing this, many of the students around him changed their expressions.

Zhou Fubao vehemently explained, "I really don't know. I just got lucky!"

Zhao Mingming, who is a year younger than Zhou Fubao, couldn't hold back and retorted on the spot: "You guessed all 100 questions right?" If you don't want to talk, then don't talk. Who do you think you are?

Zhou Fubao nodded earnestly: "Yes!"

Her words silenced the entire classroom. Everyone was an adult, with a significant age difference between them. Some had initially tried to smooth things over, ease the tension, and find a way to save face for both sides.

Many people immediately turned around and left!

It was obvious that everyone else in the class felt Zhou Fubao was making excuses or being evasive. To believe her was to underestimate one's own intelligence!

The more Zhou Fubao explained, the less people believed him.

But Xu Jing'an knew Zhou Fubao wasn't lying. She really did guess correctly by luck. Let alone a hundred, even ten thousand questions, Zhou Fubao wouldn't be afraid!

More than two months have passed, and many of the classmates have been eating, living, and attending classes together, so they have gradually become familiar with each other.

Zhao Mingming now somewhat understands that she had misunderstood Zhou Fubao back then. Zhou Fubao was indeed an honest and lucky person!

There are nine girls in their class, eight to a dormitory room, and Xu Jing'an is one of them.

Recently, as everyone has become more familiar with each other, many people have come to trust Zhou Fubao's character. Their interactions with her have become increasingly closer—except for Xu Jing'an!

Zhou Fubao looked at Xu Jing'an with sincere eyes: "Sister Xu, do you want the English-Chinese dictionary that the teacher asked us to buy? I'll go buy it tomorrow and bring one back for you too."

Many students in the class who are younger than Xu Jing'an will politely call her Sister Xu.

Xu Jing'an smiled and declined, "Thank you, Fu Bao! Someone has already agreed to lend it to me. It saves me the money for a few meals!"

Cafeteria

Zhou Fubao: "I want a serving of braised pork with potatoes!" The chef deftly scooped out a full spoonful, so much so that the potatoes were barely visible.

Wow—there's so much meat today!

People around saw that the already long queue had suddenly been joined by a large influx of people.

Xu Jing'an looked down at her rice bowl. She had also ordered braised pork with potatoes, but she could tell at a glance that there were only two pieces of meat.

Zhou Fubao, who was just passing by, looked at her and said, "Sister Xu, you've taken too much food today. If you don't mind, I can give you some." He then reached for the rice bowl.

Xu Jing'an quickly reached out to stop her, saying, "Fu Bao, I appreciate your kindness, but I have a sensitive stomach. I can only eat two pieces of meat at most; I can't digest any more!"

library

"Comrade, the library has 10 sets of the complete works of Shakespeare that you requested, and they have all been checked out." The librarian flipped through the recent registration book.

Xu Jing'an was also helpless. There was a limit to the number of books each person could borrow, so a set of 8 books would have 10 sets, which would be 80 books. She couldn't borrow even one, so she had to give up and turn to leave.

Zhou Fubao rushed in from outside: "Excuse me, do you still have the complete works of Shakespeare?"

Just as the administrator was about to say no, someone came over and said, "Hello, returning a book."

Zhou Fubao's eyes lit up when he saw the complete works of Shakespeare on the table: "This is wonderful! Everyone in our dorm can have a copy!"

I turned my head and saw Xu Jing'an.

"Sister Xu, were you also going to borrow it? Why don't you take it back and look at it first, then give it back to me later!"

Zhou Fubao's eyes were clear and unobstructed.

Xu Jing'an quickly waved her hand, "I still have a lot of books I haven't read yet. It will probably be two months before I finish them."

"Fu Bao, I have to go now!"

After saying that, he quickly walked out. As he went downstairs, he subconsciously gripped the handrail tightly as he walked.

Zhou Fubao's humility, kindness, and helpfulness are all genuine. She never expects anything in return for helping others.

Xu Jing'an could sense it.

But you should know that sometimes just because a child doesn't care doesn't mean the parents don't care.

She read the book again carefully and discovered that every effort Zhou Fubao made was remembered by Tiandao's father. A loving father is always afraid his child will suffer!

Once someone accepts a benefit from Zhou Fubao, no matter how small, a karmic bond is formed between them.

If anything happens, all the benefits gained from Zhou Fubao will have to be returned with interest!

Before long, the semester was coming to an end. Perhaps Zhou Fubao realized something, because he never took the initiative to go to Xu Jing'an's side again.

After dinner, the dormitory quieted down. Exams were approaching, and everyone was studying diligently.

With a "snap," the room suddenly went dark.

"What happened?"

"It's not time to turn off the lights yet!"

"The power supply in the dorm is so unreliable!"

It was pitch black all around, and everyone could only grope their way in and move around carefully, causing chaos in the room.

Xu Jing'an was already in bed, so she took out a flashlight from the bed first and turned it on to provide light for everyone.

Zhang Xuehong and Dong Zhu followed suit, taking out flashlights from the cabinet; Wang Meihua and Wu Lanzhi took out kerosene lamps; Jiang Qiaoqiao, Yue Xiaomai, and Zhao Lanying took out two candles.

The room quieted down again, and everyone resumed studying their books.

During breakfast, Dong Zhu said, "Today I plan to study in the classroom during the day and then go to the library to study in the evening. We can't expect to get any more light in our dorm room."

"Same here, same here, let's do it together!" Yue Xiaomai swallowed the food in her mouth and immediately replied.

The others chimed in, "I'm not planning to come back during the day either!"

This means that unless there are special circumstances, I won't come back unless I come back to sleep at night.

"Where's Qiaoqiao?" Xu Jing'an returned from her run around Weiming Lake and after finishing her foreign language class to find one person missing from her dormitory.

"Sister Jing'an, Qiaoqiao heard that the Xinhua Bookstore in Wangfujing is reprinting a famous 19th-century literary work today. She went to queue up early this morning!" Zhao Lanying chimed in.

"I didn't even have time to eat; I just grabbed a leftover cornbread from yesterday and left!"

"Something's happened—" Wang Meihua shouted as she pushed open the door, breathless from running.

"What's wrong?" The people in the dormitory looked at her anxiously.

Wang Meihua swallowed hard: "Our class of students put up a poster saying that we were Chairman Hua's first generation of college students."

Xu Jing'an thought for a moment and said, "It's nothing, at most we'll just have to argue with those level 75 or 76 people."

Wang Meihua, panting, said, "That's not the most important thing. The important thing is that I also wrote a poem."

The gist is: "In the past, I couldn't go to university because I didn't have horns on my head or thorns on my body."

"The worker-peasant-soldier students are having enough! Now, more and more people are gathering at the propaganda board in the triangular area!"

Those of them who entered university through the national college entrance examination will inevitably have conflicts and disputes with the worker-peasant-soldier students who were recommended for admission earlier. This is unavoidable!

Xu Jing'an reassured her, "The school is watching; nothing serious will happen!"

This doesn't sound like a big deal, and there's nothing to be nervous about.

But everyone in the room had a tense expression, mainly because they had been terrified by the big-character posters over the years.

Countless people from all walks of life have fallen because of the "big-character posters." Unlike Xu Jing'an, who knew the future trends, who can be sure that this policy won't change?

Even today, the atmosphere and lingering influence of the Cultural Revolution still exist on the Peking University campus. Posters are frequently put up, criticism meetings are held, and large groups of people are organized to march.

Xu Jing'an felt the air was oppressive!

This semester, I send a letter home every week and make a phone call every two weeks to chat with my three children.

It's fair to say that most of the monthly school allowance was spent at the post office.

Sometimes she would write a love letter to Shen He, expressing her longing, or send him a leaf, a petal, or a simple sketch of Shen He or Xu Jing'an in an envelope...

When making a phone call, recite a couple of poems or sing a song...

Their back-and-forth conversations, filled with longing and yearning, somehow brought them back to the honeymoon phase.