Sunday, December 29. After the first evening self-study period.
Shan Kaiquan called Jiang Ning out to the Small Garden. He took out a fifty-yuan bill and handed it to Jiang Ning.
"Here's the fifty I borrowed from you last week. We're even now."
When Shan Kaiquan went home, he asked for a week's living expenses. Since the New Year's holiday fell in the middle of the week and wasn't connected to the weekend, they only got one day off.
For students like them whose homes weren't in the city, getting back meant taking buses, sometimes even transferring. Rather than go through all that trouble for a single day, they decided not to go home for New Year's and wait until the end of the week instead.
Jiang Ning accepted the money. "Fine."
Shan Kaiquan chatted with Jiang Ning for a few more sentences, then headed outside the school.
Using the New Year's Gala as an excuse this week, he had asked his family for an extra thirty yuan, leaving him much better off.
Shan Kaiquan decided to buy Bai Yuxia a box of hot milk outside and let her feel how good he was to her.
During the last evening self-study class, Hu Jun went up to the podium and shouted, "There are still a few students who haven't paid the New Year's fee! The gala is Tuesday night, so hurry up, or there won't be time to buy everything!"
Tuesday, December 31.
From early morning onward, the campus had been filled with a peaceful, festive atmosphere. The students wore far more smiles than usual, all eagerly waiting for the evening to come.
Every now and then, students could be seen entering through the school gates carrying large and small bags. Most came in groups of boys and girls,