Like Old Friends

Wei Guiqin closed the door with a sullen expression and did not come out. She was puzzled. When did that wretched girl learn such a trick? Indeed, the more a girl aged, the more she could not be controlled. She would only cause trouble if she stayed at home.

…

Su Hanyan dragged her luggage to the factory. It was the weekend, so there were few people on duty.

She passed through the production area and went straight to the living area behind the factory. Behind rows of tall poplar trees stood a slightly dilapidated white building.

In the winter, the leaves would fall and the bare tree branches would cast mottled shadows on the white walls under the sunlight.

This was the factory dormitory for singles.

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After she had transmigrated into the book, she got to know a girl from the factory called Zhu Lin. She was twenty-two years old and had pretty eyebrows and big eyes. She had a cheerful and warm personality so they hit it off right away and talked a lot.

Zhu Lin, who was a technical school graduate, lived in the single’s dormitory.

In the 1980s, there were two types of technical school graduates: The first type was middle-school graduates who entered technical schools afterward, and the second type was high-school graduates who entered technical schools afterward. It was a two-year program.

Zhu Lin was a high-school graduate who entered a technical school. She was later assigned to the textile factory and had been staying in the single’s dormitory for four years.

The single’s dormitory could accommodate four people and she was the only one staying here. Three of the beds were empty, so Su Hanyan had a place to stay when she went over.

She dragged her suitcase and knocked on the door of the dormitory room. When the girl saw her, she was stunned for a moment before she warmly welcomed her.

“Hanyan, come in quickly!”

“Zhu Lin, we had a fight at home, so I temporarily moved out. Let me stay with you for now; I’ll immediately apply to stay in the dorm later!” Su Hanyan explained.

The girl happily agreed. “That’s alright. With you accompanying me, I won’t feel lonely anymore! Come, I’ll help you unpack!”

“Thank you! Thank you for helping me!”

While arranging her things in the closet, the two chatted casually.

Su Hanyan gained a better understanding of this girl. After graduating, Zhu Lin was directly assigned to work in this city’s cotton factory and moved into the single’s dormitory thereafter.

Her batchmates, who had been assigned to the same factory, got married one after another and moved out of the single’s dormitory. Zhu Lin originally planned to get married at the end of the year, but an accident caused her to break up with her boyfriend, which was why she was still staying here.

After living alone for so long, the other’s arrival made her quite happy.

Su Hanyan left in a hurry and forgot to pack her bedding. She could only wait for the factory to approve her accommodation application before they gave her a bedding.

Zhu Lin took the initiative to lend her an extra bedding, saving the latter the trouble of going home again.

After the bedding was laid out, Su Hanyan went to tidy the desk and discovered that there were a total of four desks in the room. Almost all were occupied by the other girl’s piles of books.

She sat down and casually flipped through a few books, only to learn that some were actually high school textbooks with a few English exercise books mixed in.

“You’ve already graduated; why are you still keeping these books?” she asked casually.

“Mm,” Zhu Lin answered, slightly abashed. “Before, I wanted to get into Ye University, but after studying for a while, I lost the motivation and decided not to take the exam… These books were bought with money, so I couldn’t bear to throw them away and still keep them. They don’t seem to be of much use now. I’ll pack the books and give them to someone else later.”

“Don’t! Please don’t!” Su Hanyan stopped her. “Since you want to get into Ye University, do it! You hafta try! Although it’s quite difficult right now, you definitely won’t regret it in the future!”

“Hm?” Zhu Lin did not understand.