[NW] Baobei Baobei Chapter 3
Xia Baobei called her brother-in-law the next day, and he promised to check on the tickets. Shortly after, he informed her that the tickets were on their way to her.
No matter what Boebei’s demands were, he would always try to fulfil them. This was Xia Baobei’s brother-in-law, and Baobei’s roommates were full of envy.
Class ended at ten minutes to noon. Fang Jie joined her boyfriend for lunch, while her two other roommates went to the cafeteria to secure a table for lunch, and Xia Baobei went to the school gates to collect the tickets. When she returned to the cafeteria, she was carrying several bags of food and necessities. Xia Baobei had not visited her sister for several weeks, and her brother-in-law, San Shao [1], knew how much Baobei’s sister worried about her. It was rare that the young girl had taken the initiative to call them, hence San Shao prepared a set of everything that Xia Xu would normally prepare for Baobei. He even nagged at her to visit her sister over the weekend. For him to go to this extent showed how much he cared for Xia Xu and her sister.
“What did your brother-in-law prepare for us this time?” Shi Xiaoxi almost pounced on Baobei when she saw the numerous bags.
“You’re shameless!” Baobei looked at Xiaoxi with disdain.
“Did you manage to get the tickets?” Jiahui was a Mayday fan, and was hence more concerned about the tickets.
“Yes, yes, I got them”. Baobei retrieved an envelope from her bag.
“Give them to me!” Jiahui snatched the envelope. “Not bad! We got mosh pit tickets. We’ve got to go earlier that day, so that we can take up the front rows!”
“What’s the big deal about the mosh pit? Put simply, it’s just about spending a large amount of money to buy a standing ticket”. Shi Xiaoxi had never been a fangirl her entire life. Her words attracted a beating from Jiahui.
Baobei kept the tickets safely.
“I met Chen Xiao again just now”, Shi Xiaoxi frowned. Shi Xiaoxi and Chen Xiao shared an ill-fated relationship. Their fathers were colleagues, and since young, their parents always made comparisons in everything they did. Unfortunately for the two girls, they were in the same school from kindergarten till university. Even if they were no longer in the same class in university, they both belonged to the Law School. This meant that they would still meet in most of their classes.
As if those weren’t enough, both of them had their eyes on the top student in the Law School. From education to men, this competition was intense.
Baobei and Jiahui glanced at each other, their faces in a smirk.
“What did she do to you this time?
“She didn’t do anything. She just kept hovering in front of my eyes. Urgh! This Chen Xiao is so annoying!” [1] Shi Xiaoxi was in a rage, shouting in a low voice.
As if on cue, Chen Xiao appeared from behind Xiaoxi. What was even more coincidental, was that their object of affection was also present.
“Cough!” Jiahui choked on her rice.
Baobei looked calmly at Shi Xiaoxi and said, “Is it true? How did Chen Xiaofan die? [2] I didn’t hear about it!”
Shi Xiaoxi was oblivious to Baobei’s save, while Jiahui continued choking, this time from laughter.
Liang Jiangnan burst out laughing, causing Xiaoxi to turn around. When she saw the two people behind her, her face paled.
“Is Senior Liang having lunch too?” Baobei glanced indifferently at Liang Jiangnan and Chen Xiao, who were holding their lunch trays. “I heard that the university had introduced an elective on the Law of Obligations for freshmen. That’s within the scope of Civil Law, which happens to be what Senior Liang is good at! Senior Liang, our Xiaoxi has some questions about this area, could she consult you on it?”
Liang Jiangnan took up Baobei’s suggestion, and sat down on the sole empty seat at the table, which also happened to be the one next to Xiaoxi.
Baobei raised her head in a smirk, and smiled patronizingly, “I’m sorry, there are no more seats available!”
Bang! Seckill!
Shi Xiaoxi was eternally grateful for this set-up.
The meal today took longer than usual, as the group continued to discuss Xiaoxi’s “questions”, even after they were done eating. Xiaoxi owed Baobei and Jiahui a good meal after this for their efforts.
“Why would a lecturer from the Business School lecture at our faculty?”
The Law School’s strongest department was the Civil Laws department. Qinghua’s Law School had only been established a few years prior, hence they were not as prestigious as other law schools, but their Civil Laws department was one of the best in the country.
Liang Jiangnan shrugged, “This Business School lecturer is only a guest lecturer. He’s apparently a very famous businessman in the United States, so it’s surprising that they managed to invite him. He only has one elective in the Business School, and this additional elective was his own suggestion. But no matter the reason, we’ll probably be able to learn a lot from him”.
What a unique Business School guest lecturer this was, for him to choose to start an elective at the law school. Initially, the Dean of the Law School hoped that he could open up his classroom for students in their penultimate or final year, but he was adamant on taking only freshmen. Freshmen were still learning basic theories, it was actually too early for them to start on the Law of Obligations. No matter what, this elective was already a bonus. As he was the owner of a large corporation, if they could build up good relations with him, perhaps he could also employ some of their students in future.
“All the freshmen are trying to get a place in this elective. Senior Liang, as a member of the Student Council, is there a way you can help us get in?” Jiahui was also interested in this elective.
“I’ll help you ask, but don’t get your hopes up. We won’t be able to do much this time. Regardless, I’ll definitely sit in for his classes”, concluded Liang Jiangnan.
------------
That night, the four of them stayed indoors, busy refreshing their school’s webpage. Even Fang Jie chose to stay in, rather than go on a date with her boyfriend. As there were too many people who were on the site, the module system crashed.
“This lecturer is too popular!” Fang Jie gritted her teeth.
“I actually managed a glimpse of him when I was walking past the Business School, he’s really handsome!!! What’s more, he’s so successful, he’s truly a rare gem!” Shi Xiaoxi continued refreshing the page relentlessly.
“This is madness! I must definitely get into this class!” Jiahui said.
Baobei nodded, as she leisurely tried to refresh the page. She was actually not that hung up about this elective, unlike the others, and was only joining for fun.
After much difficulty, all of them managed to log into the modules system to choose their classes. What was left was to wait for the results.
“Ohhh… I wonder if we’ll get the course!” Xiaoxi fished three straws out of nowhere, and started to pray at the computer screen with the straws as incense offerings.
“Don’t worry, we’ll find out tomorrow”. Baobei started tidying her table, and then went to shower.
The results were released the next day. Xia Baobei and Shi Xiaoxi were the lucky ones who successfully registered for the elective, while Jiahui and Fangxi angrily cursed at the heavens for their misfortune…
However, even if they did not manage to register for the module, they still could not slack off on their other classes.
At 7.40AM, the four girls from room 409 sat towards the back of the lecture hall. In each of their hands were a bun, which they nibbled as they struggled to stay awake.
Whoever said that university life would be a breeze? What a joke! The specialisation modules for the Law School students were so heavy! Whoever said that must have been spouting nonsense!
While Boabei was not especially hardworking, she still paid full attention in her classes. She would quickly pick up what was taught, and immediately ask questions if there were things she did not understand. Her notes were known to be the most sought after model materials, and everyone in class would strive to get a copy of it before exams.
The class that they were attending was taught by a highly respected professor. This professor was friendly, and his teaching materials were regularly updated; the only flaw about his classes was the mandatory roll call.
At the end of the roll call, Baobei took out her notebook, and readied herself for class. “A teacher who relies on roll calls to keep their students in class is like a woman who relies on her body to keep her man!”
“Xia Baobei, stop joking around!” Xiaoxi clutched her heart in laughter.
Xia Baobei was someone who could unwittingly represent the truth in the simplest of words.
Lu Ran from Room 408 appeared only after the first period ended. This young lady did not think that her lack of punctuality was a problem. Baobei, who was in the midst of consulting the lecturer at his podium, saw Lu Ran entering the class in a pair of stilettos, her head held high as she walked into the classroom, her make-up immaculate, and her outfit stylish.
Looking up again, Baobei’s three roommates were already huddled together gossiping. Shi Xiaoxi said, “One of the best things in life is to have a group of friends that I can gossip with! How true that is!”
Baobei slowly returned to her seat, but was immediately dragged into the gossiping group.
Fang Jie: “Look at those shoes! Miu Mius!”
Jiahui: “She’s carrying a Balenciaga!”
Baobei: “Her dress is from Valentino!”
Xiaoxi: “Her earrings are from Chanel!”
Jiahui: “She’s covered in branded labels from top to toe, as if she’s scared that others wouldn’t notice”.
Baobei: “You can smell the scent of a nouveau riche approaching us!”
Xiaoxi: “I can buy everything that’s on her with 200 bucks at the night market”.
Fang Jie: “Are you jealous?”
Xiaoxi: “Did water get into your brains?”
Jiahui: “She’s only lucky she managed to find a good catch, but it’s probably just a fling, why would she be so obnoxious about it?”
Baobei laughed. She folded her arms and leaned back into her seat, sneering, “This is like a peacock trying to spread its feathers, but is showing her butthole instead!”
“Pfft!”
“Baobei! What a revelation!”
“...”
“Lets begin”, the professor brought the class back to order.
[1] San Shao is not his name, rather, means the third young master (or the third son in the family - 三少). I’m using this as his name because he appears in future chapters too, and it seems that he’s just addressed as such (or you will have to bear with a million “third young master” in subsequent family conversations).
[2] & [3] - A homonym was used here, “烦死” and “凡死” (pronounced as “fan si”). In [1], Xiaoxi says, “陈晓 (Chen Xiao) 烦 (annoying) 死 (to death) 了”. In [2], Baobei merges “Chen Xiao” and “fan” into a name, hence it became, “陈晓凡 (Chen Xiaofan)，怎么死的 (how did he die)?