Growing Pain · Conversa

In September 2018, the summer in Jiangzhou dragged its scorching tail, refusing to leave. The entrance of Elite High School was crowded with parents and students carrying suitcases. The asphalt road gave off the pungent smell of hot tar, mixing with the unripe scent of sweet osmanthus trees that had not yet bloomed, thickly pasting onto people's faces. By the time Lin Miaomiao was dragged out of the taxi by her mother, the sweat on the back of her neck had already soaked her uniform collar. Wang Shengnan poked her back with one hand while holding a suitcase in the other: "Stand up straight, don't slouch. Look at how energetic everyone else is." Miaomiao rolled her eyes and peered into the school gate. She saw a girl in a white dress ahead, with long hair draping over her shoulders, her back as straight as if she had trained in dance. Standing next to her was a heavily jeweled woman, chin tilted up, saying to the security guard, "Our Xiaoqi is an art specialty student." The jade bracelet on the woman's wrist clanked against the iron railing of the school gate with a sharp ding. "See that? Look at her grace," Wang Shengnan added from behind. Miaomiao pursed her lips and dragged her suitcase forward. The suitcase wheels got stuck in a gap between the pavement tiles. As she bent over to pull hard, a dark figure swept past—it was a tall boy, walking with large strides, wearing headphones. A basketball bag was tied to his suitcase, and he didn't look at anyone, as if this noisy morning had nothing to do with him. The security guard shouted, "Student Jiang Tianhao, where are your parents?" He waved his hand without turning back and simply said, "None." Miaomiao freed her suitcase wheels, and just as she straightened up, a commotion suddenly broke out at the school entrance. A black sedan pulled up smoothly right at the main gate. The back door opened, and a tall, slender youth stepped out. In a white shirt, black trousers, with a backpack slung over one shoulder, he looked like he had just been pulled out of a refrigerator; the surrounding heatwave automatically retreated three steps when it reached him. The dean of students stepped forward with a beaming smile and called out, "Student Qian Sanyi!" The surrounding parents turned to look and whispered among themselves—"That's the top scorer of the high school entrance exam," "I heard the school spent a fortune to recruit him." Miaomiao stared at his profile for a couple of seconds. Wang Shengnan smacked the back of her head: "What are you looking at? He's in the same grade as you. Learn from him!" Miaomiao covered the back of her head, muttered "Oh", and dragged her suitcase toward the dormitory building. Behind her, Lin Dawei, carrying a rolled-up bedding set, caught up, dripping with sweat, panting, "Slow down, sweetie. Dad will carry it for you." Wang Shengnan turned around and glared at him: "You always spoil her." The family of three squeezed through the crowd toward the dormitory. The morning light filtered through the leaves of the plane trees, hitting the slightly curled cowlick on Miaomiao's head. She had no idea how this autumn would rewrite her life. At this moment, she only cared about whether the dorms had air conditioning, whether the cafeteria food tasted good, and that boy in the white shirt from earlier—sure, he looks good, but why is he acting so smug? <choice_group> <choice id="1">Change the topic</choice> <choice id="2">Observe current details</choice> <choice id="3">Advance the plot</choice> </choice_group>