Chapter 88 Roommate
Song Yuanchao carried his luggage to the dormitory. He had been to the Imperial University of Peking before, but not in this era, but 20 years later.
Song Yuanchao, who was already a middle-aged man at that time, visited the school for the first time with mixed feelings of nostalgia. He strolled along the lake, looked at the pagoda on the other side of the lake, walked on the school's tree-lined paths, watched the energetic young students passing by him, and listened to their conversations and laughter.
In the quiet library, the afternoon sun shines through the glass windows onto the seats, and students hold books in their hands, eagerly soaring in the ocean .
In the classroom, the teacher stood on the podium with a high spirit, and the students below listened attentively and took notes.
In the auditorium, more than a dozen students on the stage were divided into two groups, A and B, and were engaged in a fierce simulated debate on the pros and cons of an issue.
In the evening, when the sun sets, the melodious sounds of saxophone and violin can be heard in the woods. Male and female students in love take turns walking, talking quietly with enviable happiness, and silver bell-like laughter can be heard from time to time...
When Song Yuanchao saw these things back then, he was filled with mixed emotions. He tried to find the traces of Lin Yan left in these places, and feel every bit of her study and life here.
Unfortunately, Song Yuanchao eventually returned disappointed and left with great regret.
But now everything is different. He has come to this era, to this campus, and finally reunited with his beloved. Song Yuanchao is in a happy mood and filled with emotion.
The male dormitory for the Class of 1979, Department of Economics, is on the third floor of Building 38, next to which is Building 37 where Zhao Minglei and his classmates live.
After going up to the third floor, it was easy to find dormitory 302. Song Yuanchao pushed the door open and entered. After entering, he saw four bunk beds on the east and west sides of the room, a large table surrounded by three desks in the middle, and another desk by the window. A classmate in his twenties wearing glasses was sitting there reading quietly.
Hearing the noise, the student who was reading looked up at the door and saw Song Yuanchao standing up quickly with his luggage.
"Let me help you." The other party took the luggage from Song Yuanchao's hand. Song Yuanchao thanked him, and the two put the luggage aside.
"Hello, you are also a freshman. I am Cheng Mengshan, from Jiaodong, and also a freshman this year, from the Department of Economics." Cheng Mengshan smiled and extended his hand to Song Yuanchao to introduce himself.
"Hello, hello, I'm also a freshman in the Economics Department, from Shanghai, Song Yuanchao." Song Yuanchao stretched out his hand and shook hands with Cheng Mengshan.
At the moment of shaking hands, Song Yuanchao was a little surprised. Cheng Mengshan looked gentle and refined, but Song Yuanchao knew as soon as he shook hands that he was a person who often worked in the fields, and his palms were full of calluses.
"I came out early, yesterday. The school teacher took care of me and let me enter the dormitory first. This is my bed. Others haven't come yet. You are the second one to arrive. Pick one for yourself." Cheng Mengshan said, pointing to a lower bunk in the room. Song Yuanchao noticed that he did not choose the two beds near the window in the dormitory, which were also the best locations. Instead, he chose the lower bunk near the door.
Such an insignificant little thing made Song Yuanchao feel more favorable towards Cheng Mengshan. He was a person who was considerate of others. If it were in later generations, as long as the bed numbers were not specified when allocating dormitories, it would generally be on a first-come, first-served basis, and the first comers would have already occupied the good positions. How could Cheng Mengshan do this?
"I'm not so particular about sleeping. The bunk above you will be mine for now, is that ok? If someone likes the upper bunk, we can change it then." Song Yuanchao said with a smile, pointing at Cheng Mengshan's upper bunk.
Song Yuanchao's answer also impressed Cheng Mengshan, who nodded with a smile.
"Would you like a cigarette?" Song Yuanchao took out a cigarette and handed it over. When they shook hands just now, he noticed that Cheng Mengshan's index finger and middle finger were burnt yellow, which was caused by frequent smoking.
"Thank you, Daqianmen? Haha, this is a good cigarette." Seeing the cigarettes Song Yuanchao took out, Cheng Mengshan's eyes lit up. In fact, Song Yuanchao had a lot of good cigarettes, and even Huazi had a few packs, but he didn't take them out in front of Cheng Mengshan, but took the most ordinary Daqianmen instead.
This is not to look down on Cheng Mengshan. On the contrary, Song Yuanchao is taking care of him by doing this.
Cheng Mengshan was wearing a shirt that had been washed so much that the color could no longer be seen, with patches on the elbows. Coupled with the calluses on his hands, Song Yuanchao knew that his conditions must not be very good. If he took out a pack of good cigarettes at this time, it might give the other party some ideas. It would be more appropriate for him to use an ordinary Daqianmen cigarette.
The only things that bring men closer together are cigarettes and alcohol. While smoking, Song Yuanchao and Cheng Mengshan started chatting and soon got to know each other's situation.
Song Yuanchao guessed correctly . Cheng Mengshan’s hometown was in the Yimeng Mountains, and his name also came from the Yimeng Mountains.
Cheng Mengshan is three years older than Song Yuanchao. He is 27 years old this year, married and has children. He is a primary school teacher in a local village. However, he is not on the regular payroll as a teacher. He just receives work points from the production team. Moreover, the income of a teacher is not high, not enough for his family to eat and drink. Therefore, Cheng Mengshan usually has to work in the fields to earn work points.
Cheng Mengshan only finished junior high school and did not go to high school. He relied entirely on self-study in high school. In addition, his hometown is relatively backward and the education level is not high. Ordinary rural teachers like him not only have to teach children but also be busy with farm work on weekdays. It is not easy for him to be admitted to university.
Cheng Mengshan failed the college entrance examinations in 1977 and 1978, but he finally got good scores this time. When asked about this, Cheng Mengshan proudly told Song Yuanchao that he was the first college student from the mountains in their hometown. When he reported to the university, the entire team not only raised enough money for his travel expenses, but also beat drums and gongs to send him off to college.
"By the way, this is what my fellow villagers brought me when I came here. You can try it." As he spoke, Cheng Mengshan remembered something and quickly dragged out a bag from under the bed. He rummaged around in it and took out a few corn pancakes.
"This is good stuff. I haven't eaten it for some time." Corn pancakes are a specialty of Jiaodong. There are similar foods in the northwest, but Song Yuanchao never ate them again after returning to Shanghai.
Song Yuanchao didn't hesitate to take it and took a bite. The pancake was hard to chew and people with bad teeth really couldn't chew it. However, Song Yuanchao ate it with relish and said while eating that it would be better if there were green onions and sauce.
Hearing what Song Yuanchao said, Cheng Mengshan became even happier, and hurriedly said that there were both green onions and sauce, but he didn't take them out just now because he was worried that Song Yuanchao might not be used to it. As he said that, he took out two green onions and a can of sauce from his bag. Song Yuanchao took it directly, peeled the onion, dipped it in the sauce, and took a bite of the green onion and a bite of the pancake, eating it with great relish.
After eating, Song Yuanchao wiped his mouth, smiled and said that since he had eaten his food, he had to give a gift in return, and immediately gave Cheng Mengshan a bag of butterfly cakes he had brought.
Cheng Mengshan had never eaten this before. The butterfly pastry wrapped in oil paper had a fragrant milky aroma. He knew it must be delicious without even taking a bite.
"After all, this is Shanghai, and the things that come out of it are just different." Cheng Mengshan sighed.
"What's the difference? Aren't they both something that goes into the stomach? In my opinion, when you're really hungry, this thing is not as useful as your pancakes. I still have a few packs here, how about we just exchange them?" Song Yuanchao laughed and joked. Cheng Mengshan was also amused to hear this. He was not stupid and naturally knew that Song Yuanchao meant well. But forget about exchanging. Although Cheng Mengshan knew that butterfly cakes were good things, he absolutely could not take advantage of this bargain, not to mention that he was going to eat these pancakes slowly for several days.
We were chatting excitedly when there was a noise at the door. We looked up and saw a new student coming in.
"Oh, isn't this classmate Song?" When the freshman saw Song Yuanchao sitting and talking with Cheng Mengshan, his eyes suddenly lit up and he looked a little excited.
Song Yuanchao looked back in confusion, but couldn't remember where he had seen this classmate before.
"Hello, classmate Song. I didn't expect that we would be roommates in the same dormitory!" The man came forward enthusiastically and stretched out his hands to Song Yuanchao, holding them and shaking them up and down: "When I came to report earlier, I saw you chatting and laughing with those teachers and seniors. I was wondering who this person was. Later, I asked around and found out! He is a freshman today like me, and he is also the boyfriend of our senior sister from Class 77. Hahaha, classmate Song, when I came to the dormitory earlier, I was still thinking about how to get to know you, but I didn't expect to run into you as soon as I entered the door. What do you think, is this fate?"
This outgoing classmate was not tall, had a pointed face, and looked unworthy of the respect given to the masses, but he spoke very fluently and was extremely enthusiastic. In addition, there was a northwestern accent in his voice, which made Song Yuanchao feel particularly close to him.
Song Yuanchao waved his hands repeatedly and said that it was not as exaggerated as he said, but the classmate laughed and said that Song Yuanchao was too modest. Especially when he saw Cheng Mengshan looking puzzled, the classmate immediately described in detail what he had seen and heard about Song Yuanchao and Lin Yan at the registration office. After he finished speaking, he even gave Song Yuanchao a thumbs up and praised him for being so awesome.
This outgoing guy is called Sun Yaoliang. Upon asking about his hometown, it turns out that he is from Chang'an in the northwest. Sun Yaoliang was an educated youth, but he returned to the city to work a few years ago. When he was admitted to university, Sun Yaoliang was already a clerk in the local supply and marketing cooperative. No wonder he is so eloquent. Seeing his excited look, Song Yuanchao thought of Qin Zhengguo who was far away in Guangzhou.
