Gao Xia giggled and looked at the remaining girls. "When are your birthdays? We haven't finished."
Liu Min smiled. "Mine is the first day of the ninth lunar month. Wang Yue'er is the first of the fourth. I am exactly five months younger than her."
"I am also born in September," Li Lili said. "I am two days younger than you, on the third day of the ninth month."
Gao Xia counted on her fingers. "So, I am the oldest in our dorm. Wang Yue'er is second, Chen Fei is third, Wang Annie is fourth, Liu Min is fifth, Li Lili is sixth, and An Xiaoxiao is seventh. One is missing. Zhu Yanyi, what about you?"
Zhu Yanyi coughed lightly. "No need to say my birthday. I am only eleven this year. I am the youngest."
The other seven girls stared at Zhu Yanyi in shock. "You are only eleven?"
Zhu Yanyi looked calm, as if this was nothing surprising. "Yes, I am eleven. What is wrong? I just started school early. I began at six. You started at eight. Everything else is the same."
"Hehe." Gao Xia and the others exchanged glances and sighed in amazement. "The number one student in Yong City at only eleven. How did your head grow like that?" They looked at her head as if trying to see a flower blooming on it.
Zhu Yanyi felt a bit shy. "Let's not talk about it. It is just grown like this. Besides, I learned a bit more things, so I scored well."
Zhu Yanyi meant she had studied a wider range of subjects. But the others thought she had spent more time studying. Regardless, the other seven girls admired Zhu Yanyi greatly. Knowing she was the youngest, they all decided to take good care of her. They affectionately called her "Little Eight." Even the timid Wang Annie felt she should protect Zhu Yanyi. This made Zhu Yanyi feel quite embarrassed.
This day was the first time Zhu Yanyi met her roommates and her new friends. In her past life, she started school at eight, when nine-year compulsory education was already in place. She knew different people then. Now, because she entered school early and the primary school system was five years, she knew entirely new friends. Rebirth meant a new life. Zhu Yanyi had realized this early on. The people from her past life were drifting further away. Even if they met again in the future, they would likely not be close. The people she knew now represented her true current life.
The next morning, the eight girls went to the cafeteria for breakfast together. Breakfast was available for purchase, but it was simple: just porridge and steamed buns. Zhu Yanyi bought a bowl of porridge and two vegetable buns. The porridge cost five cents, and each vegetable bun cost six cents. The total was seventeen cents. Each girl bought the amount she wanted, and they ate together nearby.
After finishing their meal, they went to wash rice and steam it together. They placed their lunch boxes in the designated steaming baskets and then went to the classroom.
The 31st was not a busy day. The main tasks were arranging seats and receiving new textbooks. The rest of the time was free. Classes would officially start on September 1st.
The textbooks for the first year of junior high were not many. Although Yao City was a third-tier city, it could not compare with first-tier cities. Education here was developing, but not rapidly. The first-year curriculum mainly included mathematics, Chinese, and English. Additionally, there were history, geography, and politics. These were the only six subjects.