Already Had a Car Before Starting College?

Zhang Niannian?

Jin Xia's brow paused, and her red lips curved into an intriguing smile.

If she remembered correctly, this was the class's famous walking encyclopedia, lively, fond of gossip, and very good at getting along with her classmates.

Jin Xia picked up her phone and quickly tapped out her name on the screen. "Jin Xia."

Zhang Niannian sent a cute cartoon kitten sticker. "Jin Xia, you don't mind if I add you to our dorm group, do you? There are five of us in the dorm, and you're the only one missing."

A dorm group? How had she not known this existed in her previous life?

Jin Xia replied with a single word: "Sure."

But then something else occurred to her, and she asked, "How did you find my contact information?"

"That was easy. I already asked the teacher for our dorm's roster. I just searched for your name in our class group chat, and there you were."

Even through her phone screen, Jin Xia could feel Zhang Niannian's exuberance.

The next second, a notification popped up on her phone screen: new messages in "Group of Demons"...

Jin Xia tapped it and took a look. Her other four roommates had already joined the group chat.

They had clearly been chatting for quite a while, eagerly discussing the campus and various bits of everyday gossip.

Seeing Jin Xia join the group, Zhang Niannian immediately took the lead. "Let's give a grand welcome to our final roommate, Jin Xia!"

Four "Welcome" messages followed in a row.

The person with the screen name "Little Li Can't Stay Awake" posted, "Since we're all here now, why don't we find a time to have a meal together before classes start? I'm already in Haicheng. When are you all free?"

This Little Li Can't Stay Awake should be Song Li.

Jin Xia simply replied, "Anytime works for me."

To her surprise, the group chat instantly erupted.

It turned out that all her roommates were already in Haicheng, and Meng Ya and Zhang Ru had already gone shopping together.

After a spirited discussion, Song Li suggested meeting at Dahui City.

Song Li: "Dahui City has plenty of food options. Since everyone's new to Haicheng and this is our first meeting, this meal's on me. Pick whatever you like!"

How generous...

Jin Xia vaguely remembered that Song Li seemed to come from a well-off family. Back at school, she had often come and gone from classrooms carrying designer bags.

But something else seemed to have happened, and Song Li had returned to her hometown without graduating.

She scrolled through the chat history as she thought.

They settled on ten thirty tomorrow morning, and Song Li also told everyone not to feel constrained and to pick whatever they wanted.

Jin Xia replied with a single word: "Okay."

Then she put her phone away, returned to bed, and concentrated on her medical book.

The situation at the orphanage was trickier than she had imagined. Besides the director needing treatment, the children also needed in-person consultations as soon as possible. Three of them had congenital hearing loss; with surgery, their condition could improve enough for hearing aids to be viable.

And that wasn't even the biggest problem!

What gave her a headache was that, with the director hospitalized for treatment, the orphanage had no one in charge and had fallen into chaos.

There were only two caregivers and one teacher, who simply couldn't manage all those children.

Jin Xia methodically posted recruitment notices online. Since the job required living at the orphanage without being able to go out freely, she offered a base monthly salary of eight thousand. She also added that casual part-time work was available, with daily pay.

In just a few hours, she had already selected five suitable candidates through online interviews.

Jin Xia referred all of them to Teacher Bai, remembering to add, "You just need to assess them. Keep them if they're suitable."

Late that night, Teacher Bai saw the list and message Jin Xia had sent and couldn't help marveling, "Xia really is amazing! She found suitable candidates in such a short time. This one's even a new graduate with a teaching qualification! And another one is actually a child psychologist!"

By the time Jin Xia had finished everything, shut down her computer, and lain back down in bed, it was already one thirty in the morning.

Although her life now brought plenty of problems to face every day, she felt incredibly fulfilled and grounded.

She closed her eyes and fell asleep almost instantly.

When she opened her eyes again, it was already nine thirty the next morning.

Jin Xia had originally intended to call An He and ask her to drive her there, but then she remembered that she had specifically told An He yesterday that she would be resting at home for the next few days and had no plans to go out. Besides, Zhang Niannian was far too quick to talk...

Classes hadn't even started yet, and she didn't want to make too much of a spectacle and invite gossip.

Standing outside the old Western-style house, Jin Xia waved down a taxi.

Outside Dahui City, a girl with a backpack was looking around. She wore a grayish-white cotton dress and had a quiet, refined air.

Jin Xia recognized her at once: Meng Ya.

In her memories, Meng Ya had barely had any presence at all. She even... wondered whether she had exchanged more than three sentences with Meng Ya in her previous life!

Besides attending classes, Meng Ya also worked part-time after school. She was reserved and rarely became particularly close to anyone except Zhang Ru, who had come from the same hometown. The two were practically inseparable.

Sure enough, a moment later, Jin Xia saw Zhang Ru running cheerfully over with two cups of milk tea in her hands.

Zhang Ru handed Meng Ya a milk tea. "Ya, try this. It's He Yan Yue Se! This brand's been really popular online lately!"

Meng Ya took the milk tea, and then a graceful figure came into view.

The girl walking straight toward them wore a short-sleeved ramie shirt with cotton sweatpants and flat shoes made of distressed, washed cowhide. The clothes were unremarkable in style, their utterly minimalist combination of gray and wheat tones coming together just right on her.

Her delicate little face had long, willow-leaf eyebrows, bright eyes, and pearly teeth. Although she wore no makeup at all, her features together were no less striking than those of a glamorous movie star!

This was the look that internet users ten years later would call old money style.

By contrast, one of the two of them wore a cotton dress, while the other wore jeans and a top with "hello" on it...

"She's so pretty..."

Zhang Ru stared at Jin Xia in astonishment, not forgetting to nudge Meng Ya lightly.

Meng Ya nodded. "A-are you here to meet us? Are you one of our roommates in 319?"

"I'm Jin Xia."

Jin Xia said it casually. Her voice was clear and sweet, not sharp, yet her words rang out with conviction.

Once people heard it, her name became deeply etched in their minds.

Zhang Ru stepped forward excitedly, still holding a huge rolling suitcase. "So you're Jin Xia? I noticed you barely said anything in the group. I'm Zhang Ru, and she's Meng Ya."

Jin Xia's slender brows drew together slightly, her gaze gradually settling on the suitcase Zhang Ru was holding. "Are you going to carry that around the whole time?"

Zhang Ru gave a sheepish laugh. "I haven't been to school these past few days. I've been out using the internet, so my luggage has been with me. I'm planning to head back to school after we eat later and leave it there."

Jin Xia: "..."

All three of their phones chimed.

Meng Ya was the first to take out her phone. "Song Li's here. She says she's parking."

"P-parking?"

Zhang Ru could barely contain her tomboy side. "Holy crap, a rich girl! She's already got a car, and she's only just starting college?"