September 15, 2004, Nanjiang City Medical College Football Field, the sun was bright.
It was the last day for registration at Nanjiang Medical College. Two long rows of tables and chairs were neatly arranged on the football field, with a teacher sitting at each table, overseeing the registration procedures for the students in their respective classes. Of course, the most important thing was collecting tuition.
As Fang Yuan entered Nanjiang Medical College, she instinctively glanced up at the golden sign above the entrance. Five gleaming golden characters adorned it: "Nanjiang Medical College." From that moment on, she became a student at Nanjiang Medical College. This meant she had bid farewell to her impoverished rural life and officially entered the city of Nanjiang, where she would study, live, and strive, striving to establish and thrive in the city through four years of study and hard work.
Five minutes later, Fang Yuan found her class's registration teacher, Qin Yue, her homeroom teacher.
Qin Yue was young, about thirty years old, wearing light makeup and possessing an elegant demeanor. If you didn't look closely, you could easily mistake her for a medical student. One of the Nanjiang Medical College graduates who had stayed on to teach, she had a cheerful personality and enjoyed interacting with students. At this moment, she was furrowing her brow as she helped Fang Yuan with her enrollment procedures. Today was the last day, but several students in her class hadn't yet registered.
"Fang Yuan?"
"Yes."
"Why are you registering so late?"
"I..." For a moment, Fang Yuan couldn't come up with a suitable excuse.
Qin Yue saw Fang Yuan's hesitation and seemed to understand something. Without further questioning, she said, "Well, forget it. Did you bring the money?"
"Yes."
Fang Yuan carefully took out her money: a stack of 100-yuan bills, 3,400 yuan. This was her first year's tuition and fees. She had scraped together this much money with great difficulty. Besides that, she only had a little over 300 yuan left, and that was all she had. She would have to find her own way to pay for tuition and living expenses from now on.
After completing the enrollment procedures, Qin Yue gave Fang Yuan her student ID and told her to go to the logistics department to collect the school's daily necessities and arrange a dorm room.
The logistics office wasn't far from the soccer field, and Fang Yuan arrived there in a few minutes.
The person who greeted Fang Yuan was a plump, middle-aged woman who appeared to be just an ordinary school worker. She was quite friendly. She glanced at her student ID and immediately prepared a quilt, blanket, thermos, and other daily necessities. She then found a small notebook and began to search for her dorm berth.
"Freshman?"
"Yes."
"You'll have to stay in the front few buildings like the other freshmen. Wait a moment, I'll check."
"Okay."
"Strange, why are they all full?" the middle-aged woman muttered to herself.
A bespectacled man beside her reminded her, "There's an increase in enrollment this year, and there are so many girls. Why not arrange for her to live in 441?"
The middle-aged woman's face paled. "441? This... Director Liu, is this appropriate?"
"What's inappropriate about this? Medical students, don't they have so many superstitious ideas?"
"But..."
"No buts. It's settled. If her homeroom teacher disagrees, tell her to come to me."
Director Liu's official tone was so strong that the middle-aged woman didn't dare to say anything more. She glanced at Fang Yuan with a strange look, as if she had done something wrong to her.
"Then... 441."
The middle-aged woman found a pen in the drawer and flipped to the registration book for 441. All eight bunks were empty. Her hand trembled, and in her panic, she actually wrote the words "Fang Yuan" in red pen.
The bright red handwriting made her feel uneasy. China has a long-standing saying that "red ink is a bad omen." In ancient times, red pens were used to record the names of criminals in government offices. There's also a folk legend that the King of Hell used red pens to mark the register of life and death, and anyone whose name was filled in with red ink was undoubtedly sentenced to death. Even today, except for teachers grading papers and accountants making corrections, red pens are rarely used to record matters, especially a person's name. Using red ink is especially taboo.
The middle-aged woman clearly didn't notice this, so Fang Yuan reminded her, "Teacher, you used the wrong color refill."
"Ah... I'm sorry... I'll help you fix it!" The middle-aged woman, increasingly flustered, switched to a blue refill and erased the red name "Fang Yuan." As she did so, she said, "Ah, I'm getting confused with age. Don't blame me, young lady."
After erasing, she rewrote "Fang Yuan" in the upper corner of the original spot. She then wrote a dormitory assignment certificate and told her to give it to her homeroom teacher.
After receiving her certificate, Fang Yuan left the Logistics Office. As she stepped out of the door, she heard the middle-aged woman sigh, "Poor girl!"
Fang Yuan found herself amused. This Logistics teacher was quite interesting. What era was this? How could she still be so superstitious? Although she didn't know where Dormitory 441 was, it was still a school dormitory after all. Why would she be so frightened?
What Fang Yuan hadn't expected was that her homeroom teacher, Qin Yue, would be even more out of control than the middle-aged woman.
"Are you kidding me? I told you to live in Dormitory 441?!" Qin Yue practically yelled in public in front of the other teachers and students, completely destroying her gentle demeanor.
"Teacher Qin..."
"Come with me to the Logistics Office. I need to talk things over with them!"
Qin Yue stormed into the Logistics Office and shouted at the middle-aged woman, "What do you mean? Why did they assign my student to live in Dormitory 441?"
The middle-aged woman didn't dare to respond, her gaze turning to Director Liu, who was sitting there. Director Liu had worked in the Logistics Department for many years and was used to this. He coughed twice and said, "Teacher Qin, you're a well-mannered woman. If you have any questions, calm down and speak slowly. Don't be impatient."
Qin Yue knew Director Liu wasn't someone to be trifled with. After all, he was a mid-level leader at the school, so it was difficult to confront him directly. Her tone softened, "Director Liu, look, this is my first year as a homeroom teacher, and I've encountered something like this. What do you want me to do?"
Director Liu smiled wryly, "Teacher Qin, you should also consider the school's difficulties. According to regulations, all new students live in the south freshman building, and this year, the school has expanded its enrollment, and I'm having my share of troubles. No one wants to live in dormitory 441, and I don't dare arrange for anyone to live there. It's hard to arrange for any teacher's students to live there. "You're so anxious! But the other dormitories are already full, you can't move anyone out. Besides, sooner or later, Dormitory 441 will be occupied. If there's anything to blame, it's your students checking in late."
"You can't say that. If anything goes wrong..."
Director Liu interrupted Qin Yue immediately, "What's the problem? You're a teacher, too. Say less and do less if it's detrimental to the school! You wouldn't be an intellectual like you, believing those rumors. You have to understand that they're unfounded superstitions. Not only should they not be spread, but students should be guided to view them in a positive way!"
Qin Yue had little administrative experience, after all. Unlike Director Liu, who had spent years in government, his few official jargons left Qin Yue speechless.