I'm back in 1990

Chapter 57: New Roommate

At noon, the four of them, including Ji Mei, had lunch at the Second Medical University cafeteria in Yu Xiang. While they were eating, many of Yu Xiang's classmates came over to inquire about Huang Xiaochuan and Yu Wei.

"Yu Xiang, who are these two people?"

"My brother!"

"I never knew your two younger brothers were so handsome!"

One leaves and another arrives.

"Yu Xiang, where did you find them? Are they from our college? There are two of them! They're so handsome!"

Seeing her classmate swooning over her crush, Yu Xiang quickly clarified the facts.

"Don't get the wrong idea, he's my brother, my own flesh and blood!"

"Sis! Do you mind if I become your sister-in-law?" This girl didn't treat herself like an outsider at all. As she spoke, she plopped down next to Yu Xiang and hugged her affectionately, but her eyes were flashing at Yu Wei.

Yu Wei was so shocked he couldn't eat. He looked speechlessly at Yu Xiang and Huang Xiaochuan, realizing then that these female college students were real hooligans! Unlike his reserved high school classmates, they were nothing like the girls he knew. How could they be so unrestrained in their speech? He'd run into one with the bun hairstyle at his own school, and now he was facing another one—was he even going to survive?

At this point, Ji Mei started to shoo them away: "Zhang Dan, you brat, are you being horny? Stop messing with the kids, okay? Go eat your food."

The medical student named Zhang Dan smiled and left with her lunchbox. Ji Mei comforted Yu Wei and Huang Xiaochuan, "Don't be afraid, she meant no harm, she just wanted to play a joke on you."

Huang Xiaochuan smiled to show his understanding, while Yu Wei touched his chest, looking like he was still in shock. When Huang Xiaochuan saw this, he couldn't help but think to himself, "Damn it, you big pervert, you're pretending to be an innocent little rabbit?"

After lunch, the two of them had to go back to their respective schools. After sending Yu Xiang and Ji Mei back to their dormitories, the two of them hailed a taxi outside the school gate. They first sent Yu Wei to school, and then Huang Xiaochuan went back to his own school.

On the way, Huang Xiaochuan took a small box out of his shoulder bag and handed it to Yu Wei.

"Here you go! This is for you, it'll make it easier to contact each other later."

Yu Wei took it without thinking, glanced at it, and his eyes nearly popped out when he saw the pattern printed on the box.

"Holy crap, a pager?"

"A gift for me?" Yu Wei looked incredulous.

"There's an instruction manual in the box, which shows how to use this thing. I've also written my pager number on it. Yours is 11566, and mine is 11666. If you can't remember it, just look it up in the manual."

"It must be very expensive, right?"

"I bought it regardless of the price. It's convenient to use. It's easier for me to contact you and for you to contact me. Neither of our dorms has a phone, so if you need to call me urgently, I'll be at a loss."

Yu Wei nodded after hearing this, thinking that what Huang Xiaochuan said made sense, even if it didn't, since this thing cost over a thousand!

He immediately opened the box and started examining it. Huang Xiaochuan had already installed the batteries and everything else, so it was ready to use as soon as he received it.

However, Huang Xiaochuan still reminded him, "Don't tell your sister, otherwise she'll definitely say we're wasting money again."

Yu Wei agreed wholeheartedly, giving Huang Xiaochuan a reassuring look and patting him on the shoulder.

"Don't worry! I would never tell, even if you killed me."

Huh? Why do these lines sound so familiar?

After dropping Yu Wei off at the Customs College on Fenyang Road, Huang Xiaochuan took a car back to his own school.

When they arrived at the dormitory, it was already 1:30 pm. In addition to Chen Zhe, there were two new roommates. The two were chatting at the desk, while Chen Zhe was reading on his bed.

Upon seeing Huang Xiaochuan enter, all three of them looked at him.

After smiling at the three of them, Huang Xiaochuan first asked Chen Zhe, "Your parents left?"

Chen Zhe was surprised that Huang Xiaochuan spoke to him as soon as he returned. He paused for a moment before replying, "My home is too far from Shanghai. There are still many things to do at home. My parents bought train tickets to go home at noon as soon as they arrived at Shanghai Railway Station."

Huang Xiaochuan understood and asked, "Where are you from? I'm from Qingjiang in Jiangnan."

Chen Zhe succinctly replied, "From Hejian, Hebei Province."

Huang Xiaochuan chuckled upon hearing this: "Donkey meat sandwiches, right?"

Chen Zhe was somewhat surprised, not expecting that this classmate would know about the famous dish from his hometown, "donkey meat sandwich".

However, he still nodded and said, "Yes."

After speaking with Chen Zhe, Huang Xiaochuan extended his hand to his two new roommates and greeted them: "Hello, my name is Huang Xiaochuan, I'm from Qingjiang, Jiangnan."

The two newcomers also stood up and introduced themselves.

"Wu Duo, from Yanjing."

"Zhang Gaolei, from Taikang, Henan Province." As he spoke, he took out a bottle of Golden Leaf cigarettes, a famous brand from Henan Province, and offered it to Huang Xiaochuan.

Huang Xiaochuan quickly smiled and politely declined, saying, "I don't smoke, thank you!"

As she spoke, she took off the shoulder bag that was slung across her body and put it back on her bed.

At this moment, Wu Duo suddenly said, "I almost forgot, someone who said he was from the student council came at noon and told us not to run around these two days. He said he would have something to tell us tomorrow night after everyone has arrived."

"Okay, thank you!" Huang Xiaochuan smiled at Wu Duo to express his gratitude.

Xiangjie helped him make the bed, but he still had to install the ceiling fan himself. After Huang Xiaochuan installed the ceiling fan, he realized that there was still a long way to go before he could find an electrical outlet. He had no choice but to carry his bag back to the school store to see if he could buy a wire and a plug and socket.

There aren't many power strips available for purchase these days; those won't be available for several more years. Right now, you can only buy those black, round two- or three-prong sockets with brown or black plastic plugs.

As expected, the school store didn't sell these items. After asking around, Huang Xiaochuan learned that a hardware store outside the school sold them. After getting directions, Huang Xiaochuan went to the hardware store and bought these items, along with a screwdriver.

I walked all the way back to my dorm. It was quite a long way, mainly because the campus is so big. It seems I need to buy a used bicycle to get around, otherwise my legs won't be able to take it, and my wallet will suffer even more.

Back in the dorm, I connected the plug, socket, and power cord, plugged them into the power source, and then fixed the newly bought socket to the head of my bed. I plugged in the ceiling fan, and a gentle breeze started blowing – much more comfortable now.

While Huang Xiaochuan was busy installing the ceiling fan, Wu Duo and Zhang Gaolei were trying on the military training uniforms issued by the school. In fact, they were the outdated Type 65 military uniforms, along with liberation caps and liberation shoes, except that the uniforms did not have red collar tabs and the caps did not have red stars.

After putting on their military uniforms, the two of them grinned at each other. Chen Zhe was also tempted and wondered if he should try it on too.

Just then, another roommate came in. This guy looked a bit arrogant. Looking closer, I noticed that he was followed by a middle-aged man who was holding a mobile phone in his right hand and a briefcase in his left. The man had a thick, large gold ring on his hand.

Beside the middle-aged man was a short, plump woman, adorned from head to toe with gold and silver, who seemed to want to wear gold on her body the whole time.

"Mom and Dad, this is it. My name is on here." This arrogant guy pointed to the lower bunks of the two middle beds, where his name, "Hao Zhidu," was pasted on the side.

After the couple entered, they looked at the dormitory with disdain. Chen Zhe subconsciously made way for them, leaving them a wide passage.

"My child! Why are the conditions so bad? My child is going to suffer!" The short, plump woman looked distressed.

"Don't worry, we'll rent a place for my child later," the middle-aged man with the mobile phone said arrogantly.

Upon hearing that accent and seeing that attire, Huang Xiaochuan suddenly thought of the word "coal boss?"

"Beep beep beep beep..." At this moment, Huang Xiaochuan's pager went off. This must be Yu Wei; no one else knew his pager number. He had been careless and forgotten to put his pager on vibrate.

Everyone in the room was staring at him. Huang Xiaochuan smiled, quickly climbed out of bed, grabbed his bag, and hurriedly left the dormitory to find a quiet spot on campus to return the call.

Sure enough, when I made the call, it was Yu Wei.

"Are you bored out of your mind? Why are you making such a fuss?"

"Who said it's nothing? You have no idea! That girl named Tang Yuan is sticking to me like a leech. I finally managed to get rid of her. You need to give me some advice." Yu Wei complained to Huang Xiaochuan through gritted teeth.

Hey! Huang Xiaochuan was overjoyed!