Spring Breeze Twenty Years

Chapter 26 Registration

Xiao Wei looked at it, picked up a pen and filled in the form, writing down his name, gender, date of birth, place of origin, and home address one by one. Although Xiao Wei hadn't attended school much, his handwriting was quite good. This was a talent, and had nothing to do with how much schooling one received.

Finally, I took a photo on the side, and that completed the formalities. I paid the fee, received the receipt, and then I could wait to come to class. The books would be distributed when the class started.

The girl looked at the form Xiaowei had filled out and said, "Are you stupid? You live in Nanhu and you still chose this place to stay. You were complaining about the price just now, but now 300 yuan is nothing to you. Are you going home or staying here?"

Xiao Wei was taken aback because Xiao Hong's school required students to pay tuition regardless of whether they stayed in the dorms or not, and dorm rooms were allocated accordingly. So he assumed it would be the same here and didn't ask.

"I'll definitely go home."

The girl took a pen and made some changes to the form, then said, "You're such a scatterbrain. Pay up, 1600."

Xiao Wei took out some money from his pocket and asked, "Can't you give me a discount? People always have a price tag when they buy things."

The girl wrote "Li Na" on the bottom of Xiao Wei's form and said, "Get out of here, pay the money over there."

Xiao Wei asked, "Your name is Li Na? We really can't forget that!"

Li Na rolled her eyes and said, "You think you can negotiate your tuition fees?"

The people around laughed again. A middle-aged man said, "This young man is interesting. Are you from around here? My son is also coming to learn. I'll take care of him then. I'll treat you to dinner later."

Xiao Wei counted the money and handed it to the accountant sitting at the back. He turned to look at the young man standing next to the middle-aged man and said, "We're all here to learn, who needs to take care of us? He's much bigger than me."

The accountant took the money, counted it, quickly wrote out a receipt, stamped it, and handed it to Xiaowei. Xiaowei took it, looked at it, folded it neatly, and put it away.

The middle-aged man said, "My son's name is Yang Tiebin. What's your name, young man?"

Xiao Wei said, "Zhang Wei."

Yang Tiebin's father, a middle-aged man, said, "My family is from Fushun. This child has never been out of town before and is unfamiliar with the place. He will be a classmate from now on, so please take good care of him, Xiaowei."

Xiao Wei said, "Okay, you're staying here?"

Yang's father said, "We have no choice but to stay here. We don't have any relatives here. It's been several months, and since you're a local, you'll have to rely on your classmates to look after you."

The other family was also paying, and they chimed in, "Fengtian, especially the area around the South Station, is really chaotic right now. If you're studying here, just focus on your studies and don't run around aimlessly. If you get into trouble, no one will care. Your homes are all so far away, you'll find out about this too late. Anyway, it'll only be three or four months."

Mr. Yang asked, "How old is your child?"

The parent said, "He's nineteen, and he's not going to school anymore. There's no other way; he has to make a living. Oh, my son's name is Li Guangzhao. You three should get to know each other."

Yang's father looked at Li Guangzhao and asked, "Where are you from?"

Li's father said, "We're almost at Shanhaiguan, much farther than you are."

Li Guangzhao said from the side, "Dad, what are you talking about? After you pay the money, you should leave quickly. I'm fine, I can take care of myself." He was thinner and smaller than Xiao Wei, but he seemed to have quite a temper.

As they were talking, another person came in, alone like Xiao Wei. His hair was either permed or naturally curly, and he was over 1.8 meters tall, wearing a mid-length trench coat. He looked quite handsome. He rushed over to Li Na and asked, "Is this where you pay for the chef's class?"

Li Na looked at him and said, "Fill out the form and take your photo first, then pay the money over there."

The big guy picked up a pen and filled out the form without saying a word.

Mr. Li said, "Young man, you're here to learn too? Judging from your accent, you're from Chaoyang, right? How old are you? What's your name?"

While filling out the form, the big guy glanced at Li's father, then turned back and said, "Yeah, I'm from Beipiao, and I'm twenty." People from the three northeastern provinces all have similar accents, but the accents in Liaodong are quite diverse. The accents in Liaozhong, Chaoyang, and Dandong are all different. In short, the closer you get to the coast, the more your accents tend to be like those in eastern Shandong.

Li's father said, "This big guy is really strong. Xiao Zhao, look at him, and then look at yourself. Eat more tomorrow and grow some more flesh." Everyone laughed when he said this, and Li Guangzhao's face turned red. He glared at his father.

The tall man filled out the form and handed it to Li Na, then took out his money and handed it over as well. He turned to look at Xiao Wei, Li Guangzhao, and Yang Tiebin and said, "Are you all here to learn? My name is Xia Maosheng, what are your names?"

Xiao Wei said, "My name is Zhang Wei, his name is Yang Tiebin, and this one is Li Guangzhao. Where is Beipiao?"

Xia Maosheng reached out and took the receiver, saying, "Chaoyang, we're in a county-level city." He turned to Li Na and asked, "Where's the dormitory? Do you have any luggage?"

Li Na said, "It's right at the back, just inside the classroom. There's luggage here too, but you'll have to buy it."

Xia Maosheng reached into his pocket, turned to Xiao Wei, and asked, "Do you all live here?"

Xiao Wei shook his head and said, "I'm not staying at the hotel; the two of them will."

Xia Maosheng took out some money and asked Li Na, "How much? Make sure it's thick and warm for me, I get cold easily."

Li Na said, "They're all the same, forty yuan a set."

Mr. Li took out his money and said, "Give us a set too. Before we came, we didn't expect to just stay here after registering. We didn't bring anything."

Mr. Yang said, "We don't need to. We brought our luggage. We'll take it in once everything is arranged."

Li Na quickly collected the money and issued the receipt. She didn't hand over the money for the luggage to the accountant; she collected it herself.

After handing the receipt to Xia Maosheng and Li Guangzhao's father, Li Na stood up and said, "Come on, it's in here."

Xiao Wei didn't leave either, following behind. The group entered the room at the back of the classroom. The room was large, about 70 or 80 square meters. Inside, a double-layered bunk bed was nailed along the wall with thick wooden planks. Only the doorway was empty.

A communal bed is a single, uninterrupted bed with no partitions or dividers. Two people sleeping on it are right next to each other, and if you turn over, you can squeeze into someone else's bed. In the past, inns usually had these large beds. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, they have basically disappeared from cities and are only found in some remote areas.

Once inside, Li Na gestured around with her hands and said, "Find a spot yourself, anywhere is fine. I suggest you find a spot by the wall, that way even if there are many people, you'll only have people on one side."

Li Guangzhao's father and Yang Tiebin's father exchanged a glance, then looked at Xia Maosheng together. Xia Maosheng looked around and said, "I'll sleep on top. There are definitely fewer people on top than on the bottom."

The two fathers turned to look at their sons, who exchanged glances. Li Guangzhao said, "I'll sleep on the bottom."

Yang Tiebin said, "I also sleep on the bottom. It's too tiring to climb back and forth every day."

Li Guangzhao's father looked him over and said, "Lie down. I'm worried about it being crowded. With your small frame, who can you squeeze past?"

Li Guangzhao pursed his lips and said, "If I sleep in the corner, how could he possibly push me into the wall?"