wavenovel 057 Is this the class beauty?
057 Is this the class beauty?
It's exactly 7 o'clock.
The evening breeze in Shanghai and Hong Kong did not dispel the daytime temperature, making it still feel muggy.
The four-person group from dormitory 404 arrived at classroom 302 in building A.
The classroom was already quite full, and there was a lot of noise. The counselor, Teacher Zhao, was standing on the podium, holding a roll call list, gesturing for students to sign in at the front of the classroom.
After signing in, the four of them found their seats.
In university classrooms, there are no assigned deskmates; everyone sits wherever they like. Wang Zhe chose a seat near the back of the window. It offered a slight breeze and a good view.
Fang Gang, Wei Jing, and Luo Yueshi naturally sat down next to him and in the row behind him.
At that moment, Song Zhiyi and her roommates came in.
Compared to her roommate, or even to the other girls in the classroom, she was like an exceptionally fresh lily, dazzling in her own way.
She walked into the classroom, her eyes scanning the crowd before quickly locking onto Wang Zhe, who was sitting by the window.
Their eyes met in mid-air.
Song Zhiyi didn't say anything, but just raised her eyebrows slightly, and then walked to the other side of the classroom to sit with her roommate Huang Yue and others.
Although there was no verbal exchange, the natural familiarity they exuded was still noticed by the onlookers.
"Tsk tsk tsk," Fang Gang exclaimed, "Old Wang, was that the one from earlier? The way she looked at you, there was definitely something going on."
Wei Jing pushed up his glasses, his tone full of exasperation: "She was clearly staring at you the whole time, why didn't you two sit together? You're wasting her talent!"
Wang Zhe smiled, picked up his water glass and took a sip: "Distance makes the heart grow fonder, you don't understand."
At this moment, Luo Yueshi, who had been relatively silent, cautiously leaned over and pointed to his phone screen: "Um... do you guys want to run for class officers? The counselor just sent a notice in the group saying that we're electing two temporary class leaders today, one male and one female."
Upon hearing the words "class monitor," Wang Zhe paused slightly in his hand holding the water glass.
A long-forgotten memory resurfaced in my mind.
In his previous life, it was also in this classroom, on this sweltering evening. He and Song Zhiyi both ran for class monitor, and were elected as the male and female temporary class leaders, respectively. After military training, they naturally became the official class monitor and academic representative.
"Squad Leader Wang, how do I fill out this form?"
"Song Xuewei, are you going to do the room check tonight?"
"Our class doesn't have enough funds for activities, what should we do?"
During those five years, under the guise of "cooperating with work," they openly appeared together, eating, attending meetings, and working together. That was the time when their relationship blossomed the most in their previous life.
but now……
Wang Zhe glanced at Song Zhiyi, who was sitting on the other side of the classroom.
She was talking to Huang Yue with her head tilted to the side, her profile serene and beautiful.
Will I have to follow the same old path in this life?
Why should you get bogged down in those tedious class affairs, getting overwhelmed by collecting class fees or organizing team building activities?
More importantly, he is now a reborn person with hundreds of thousands of yuan in his hands, so he has no time to care about trivial matters like who hasn't handed in their homework.
"Not interested," Wang Zhe said calmly, shaking his head. "I'm not running for office. Let whoever wants to do that thankless job do it."
Wei Jing adjusted his glasses and asked, "Being class monitor is not only prestigious, but it also adds to your overall assessment score, which is useful for scholarship applications later. If you're not interested in the overall assessment score, then what do you want? Are you only interested in that female classmate?"
"Superficial!" Before Wang Zhe could speak, Fang Gang interrupted, "Old Wang's interest is definitely in stocks! You guys don't know, just now in the dorm, Old Wang showed me his skills—he's a true stock market genius! From now on, our 404 dorm will have two financial tycoons!"
"Two people?" Wei Jing scoffed. "Is the other one you? Are you a crocodile, or just a piece of meat in its mouth?"
"Get lost! You're the fat one!"
The two were arguing when suddenly a boy sitting in the front row turned around.
The boy had a buzz cut and looked quite energetic, but there was an urgency in his eyes.
"Hey guys, can you vote for me when we vote later? I want to run for temporary class monitor. If I get elected, I'll treat your whole dorm to dinner! This weekend, you can pick any place you want!"
Fang Gang paused for a moment, looked him up and down, and then asked, "Who are you?"
The boy thought he'd been insulted and instinctively said, "Huh? No, bro, I..."
Wang Zhe chuckled and patted Fang Gang on the shoulder, trying to defuse the situation: "He didn't mean anything by it. It's just that we don't know your name yet, so how are we going to vote for you later?"
The boy then realized that Fang Gang meant no harm and was genuinely just asking, "Who are you?"
So he quickly introduced himself: "Oh! I forgot to mention, my name is Yang Fan! Yang as in poplar tree, and Fan as in setting sail. Guys, give me your support!"
"Okay, Yang Fan, right? Got it." Wang Zhe nodded.
Soon, all the students had arrived.
Teacher Zhao walked up to the podium, tapped the blackboard, and signaled everyone to be quiet.
"Alright, everyone, please sit down. Today is our first class meeting for Architecture Class 1, and we've all just met. Our first activity is icebreaking. Each student will come up to the stage and give a brief self-introduction so everyone can get to know you."
The students below immediately stirred. Some socially awkward students were already eager to try, while others with social anxiety were already digging their toes into the ground.
Self-introductions should be conducted in order of student ID number.
One by one, everyone went up on stage.
Some were cheerful and outgoing, making fun of themselves right away; some were introverted and taciturn, only managing to say their name and hometown after a long pause; and some were so nervous that they stammered, unable to even pronounce their name and hometown fluently.
Soon, it was Song Zhiyi's turn.
When she stood up from her seat and walked to the podium, the previously noisy classroom instantly quieted down.
Both boys and girls couldn't help but focus their attention on her.
Beautiful girls are indeed a scarce resource.
She stood on the podium, poised and confident, her voice clear and melodious: "Hello everyone, my name is Song Zhiyi. Song as in Song Ci (Song Dynasty poetry), Zhi as in knowledge, and Yi as in art. I come from Chengdu, Sichuan Province."
"She must be the prettiest girl in our class, right?"
"She's definitely a class beauty! I never expected our architecture department to have such a high-quality beauty. I thought all the pretty girls went to study design."
"Chengdu is known for its beautiful women..."
As Wang Zhe listened to the whispers of the boys in the front row, a subtle smile appeared on his lips.
At this point, Teacher Zhao asked with a smile, "By the way, it would be best if we mentioned our major in our self-introductions. Why did you choose architecture as your major?"
Song Zhiyi was taken aback; she hadn't expected to talk about this.
She subconsciously raised her head, her gaze passing over the many figures to look at Wang Zhe sitting by the window.
Wang Zhe was looking at her with his chin resting on his hand.
Song Zhiyi withdrew her gaze and smiled sweetly: "Actually, I don't know much about architecture. The reason I chose this major is because of a classmate's recommendation."
Teacher Zhao then asked, "Who recommended you? Your parents?"
"No," Song Zhiyi shook her head, a sly glint in her eyes, "he is... a very farsighted friend."
Wang Zhe touched his nose from below the stage, ignoring the gossipy looks from his roommates.
All he could think was that choosing architecture as a major showed a lack of foresight. If his rebirth had occurred before he filled out his college application, neither he nor his recommendation to Song Zhiyi would have chosen this major.
What's the point of studying architecture? Is it to work overtime, or to be constantly abused by clients?
Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.