Thursday, it was a fine day with fair winds.
Early in the morning, a light breeze was blowing, the sky was clear for thousands of miles, and it felt very comfortable.
There were no classes for Xiao Qi in the first two periods today. She had already planned yesterday to go to the library to read books in the morning.
After the midterm exam ended, most students were like the springs on their foreheads were pulled out, and they became lazy again.
Chu Yu, who swore to do better next time, sat seriously in her seat to study for a whole night during yesterday's evening self-study session instead of caring about others left and right as usual. But when she returned to the dormitory, she couldn't help but open her phone to play games again, comforting herself that work and rest must be combined. If she kept reading books after self-study, she would become a bookworm.
However, although Xiao Qi’s dormitory accounted for the top five in the class, they were not arrogant.
Even Xiao Qi, who was the first in her major, felt that there was too much gap between her and those students from famous schools. Let alone those famous schools, even the second and third in her major were not far behind her and could easily catch up.
As for Yun Shu, who was ranked second in the class and fifth in the major, the gap with Xiao Qi was really big with a score difference of over forty points. However, she was not particularly obsessed with scores and rankings. Since they were dormitory mates, the gap could not be too big. She still felt that she should study harder.
Wei Cheng was third in the class and directly tenth in the major. She only found out after the exam that the top three in the major would receive scholarships. She cared most about this and felt really upset. It was just that she did not show it like Chu Yu. She wanted to work harder to get the scholarship. It was fine if she could not surpass Xiao Qi, who worked much harder than her. But she could not even surpass her deskmate Yun Shu, who seemed to be reading novels and occasionally making flower arrangements and bubble tea every day very leisurely, yet did better than her on the exam. Wei Cheng felt an urgent need to catch up. Sometimes talent could not be easily judged. She could only make up for inadequacies with diligence. Therefore, the study became even more tense after the midterm exam.
As for Mi Er, she already felt pretty good about herself for ranking fifth. She thought there was no need to cram for college. Looking at her roommates, none of them were die-hard studiers, yet they were good in all aspects and with decent grades. Although she was at the bottom, she felt a bit embarrassed and still needed to study hard and move upward.
Therefore, not only did Xiao Qi’s dormitory not slack off after the midterm exam, but they worked even harder.
Even Mi Er, who liked to go to student unions and societies every day, became a little more low-profile.
Usually Mi Er would have slept in on a morning with no classes in the first two periods like today. But today, she surprisingly got up early with her English book to go to the rooftop to read with Wei Cheng. Yun Shu really wanted to continue reading the novel she was at an exciting point last night. But seeing her roommates so diligent, she resisted the urge to take out her phone and started studying after making some tea.
Xiao Qi packed her school bag and jogged to the library, preparing to read books for two class periods at the library.
She was also under a lot of pressure. She had tried very hard to be the first place. The gap between her and Yun Shu was just over forty points. Yun Shu usually seemed very relaxed, spending most of her time reading novels and rarely spending extra time studying. Yet her exam results were still quite impressive.
Intelligent people were everywhere. She did not consider herself to be smart so she still needed to work hard.
Xiao Qi's psychology was closer to Wei Cheng’s. Perhaps because their family backgrounds were similar.
The difference was that Wei Cheng was the middle child of three siblings, so she was more neglected and had a slightly better personality.
Xiao Qi was an only child, and her personality was a bit self-centered at times. She did not always think as comprehensively about others like Wei Cheng.
When she arrived at the library, Xiao Qi found a window seat, took out the still warm noodles, flower rolls, and hot water bottle from her school bag, and put them in place before going to find books.
Being able to read books while eating at the same time was one of Xiao Qi’s favorite life experiences.
The view outside the window was also very nice with the waves of the river flowing into the sea and the light breeze.
The library management was not very strict. It was okay to sneak some food as long as you did not damage the books.
There was a Spanish elective course tonight. Electives met twice a week in the evening. Xiao Qi was going to the library to find a collection of poems by the Spanish poet Lorca, preferably in the Spanish version.
The foreign language department at Enhua University had a lot to offer. Although Spanish was less common, there should still be resources.
Moreover, Enhua University was a private university that boasted exchanging international students every year. The university was very diverse.
Xiao Qi really liked this aspect, which was also an advantage of the school.
After searching the index for a long time, Xiao Qi finally found Lorca's poetry collection, but it was the Chinese version without the Spanish version. However, she found a Spanish city guide, a Spanish beginner to advanced textbook, and some original Spanish novels that would still be difficult for Xiao Qi’s current level.
Xiao Qi took both the poetry collection and city guide, and the beginner to intermediate volumes of the Spanish textbook.
It was a very pleasant experience to eat breakfast while reading about Spanish cities, making it feel as if she was strolling down the streets of those cities.
There were golden houses in books. This was probably the golden house where she could take a morning walk down the streets of Spain and browse magnificent buildings and touch historical sites without using a time machine or transportation and experience the exotic scenery and foreign customs.
It expanded the horizons and breadth of her mind.
Reading was the most convenient life shortcut in life, accessible to both the rich and the poor.
There was only a little sediment left in Xiao Qi’s noodle soup, but she could not keep slurping it loudly with a straw in the library. She had to reluctantly give up and clean up her desk before throwing out the trash.
After briefly browsing through the Spanish scenery, Xiao Qi opened Lorca’s poetry collection. Perhaps it was because Teacher Ai Zhen had explained that poem in class. She did not feel anything special reading his other poems. When she saw “Ballad of the Three Rivers”, she felt it was the most beautiful.
It was not easy to appreciate the beauty of poetry. It needed to incorporate the environment and historical period the poet was in. Ancient Chinese poetry was very beautiful with many allusions that made us laugh knowingly or contained metaphors when we recited them. But foreigners reading them were probably often confused.
At this point, Xiao Qi felt the same way, without the teacher’s interpretation of that environment and historical period. Each line seemed like scattered poems, like prose, unable to grasp a sense of beauty or profound feeling. But she still persevered in reading patiently.
The poems were fragmented, so she just randomly flipped to a page and read carefully. After finishing, she felt no lasting impression. So she copied it down again. This way, if she encountered the Spanish version in the future, she might have some impression of it. This was how reading and learning worked, making connections and accumulating knowledge bit by bit for the best results.
Xiao Qi basically read, recited, memorized, and copied down the poems. Copying poems by hand felt most cost-effective as the poems she recited as a child were still deeply engraved in her memory today and could still be frequently used for allusions and metaphors.
Xiao Qi did not copy too many either, just randomly selected five and earnestly remembered them down before putting down the poetry collection and opening another book.
She felt this was the most efficient way to learn. Constantly reading the same book sometimes became dull and turned into fulfilling tasks towards the latter part. She was reading for herself and did not need to cater to herself. When it reached a appropriate amount, she switched.
The Spanish beginner to advanced book was a textbook and a different version from what Xiao Qi was currently learning.
She flipped through it. The first volume was very simple, mostly overlapping with what she had learned, but the angle was slightly different, making it quite interesting to read.
Therefore, Xiao Qi did not skim through it just because it was simple, but read it carefully and attentively.
Time flew by in the blink of an eye, and the two classes were over.
Xiao Qi's set alarm rang gently.
She turned off her phone alarm, put down her book, stood up and stretched lazily. Reading time was the most scarce, especially when reading attentively, it went by in a flash.
But she felt very content.
Putting the book back to its original place, Xiao Qi went back to the teaching building with her school bag. She had classes next, Applied Statistics, which was also quite difficult. Having learned Calculus, she felt it helped her understand better in general.
Of course she didn't get full marks on the exam. Xiao Qi scored 92 points with some mistakes and omissions.
Xiao Qi didn't know if she would ever need these subjects in the future, but she was a student now, studying this major. She felt being good at the major courses was also a capability and studying ability itself was proof of herself.
Otherwise, why would those companies prefer recruiting students from prestigious schools? Because these students had already proven their abilities.
Unfortunately Xiao Qi only understood this rationale when she reached university. There was no chance to choose again in the past few years.
But the future was still long, college was just a starting point. It didn’t matter if she missed it once. She should just study hard for now! After tidying her schoolbag, the moment Xiao Qi walked out of the library, the mechanical voice in her mind sounded again: "The host studied diligently and understood the meaning of learning, rewarding the host with Spanish for Beginners."
