Chapter Three

Chapter Three

Under Yaning and Jingyi's envious gaze, Bai Sha, still puzzled, followed the old lady to collect all the utensils and entered the kitchen.

The kitchen housed an oversized dishwasher. However, due to the large number of people in the orphanage, the dishes had to be washed in batches. After cleaning, they were disinfected and sorted onto shelves.

"There's no heavy labor here, just a bit tedious. We need to prepare the food and utensils before meal times and clean up after everyone has eaten. It's a repetitive cycle, daily," the old woman said cheerfully. "You can come help me prepare lunch after your morning classes, though it might cut into your rest time."

Bai Sha: "It's okay, I don't sleep much anyway."

The old lady seemed amused: "No wonder Mrs. Picol wanted you to help in the kitchen. You seem very sensible, not at all like the other children your age. Working in the kitchen means spending more time on chores, but it's not without its perks—sometimes you can get double the food as a reward."

Bai Sha: "..." No wonder those two kids looked at her that way. Working in the kitchen meant random extra meals.

"Mrs. Picol mentioned that your health isn't the best and you need more nutrition. The kitchen is a good place for you, helping both your health and ensuring you're well-fed," the old woman said slowly. "But I noticed you gave your food to Yaning. That's not good."

Bai Sha, feeling a bit sheepish: "I'll make sure to eat properly."

"I can tell you probably didn't like the taste of breakfast," the old woman said. "Maybe you don't like milk? Some kids love it to death, while others can't stand even a hint of it. I have some potato mash without milk flavoring, would you like to try?"

Bai Sha decided to welcome her first extra meal. Without the "milk flavoring," the mashed potatoes were much more palatable. She finished a whole bowl in one go.

"Alright, off to class with you," the old lady's smile grew brighter, seemingly fulfilled by feeding Bai Sha. "I'll take care of these last few bowls."

Bai Sha, unaccustomed to such extreme kindness, hastily excused herself and headed towards the academic building.

The classroom building had three floors, with the day's schedule posted on the wall of the first floor. Bai Sha found her name on the timetable and located the corresponding classroom.

Children around her age were sitting on benches, gathered in small groups. As she entered the classroom, several turned their heads and whispered to their companions.

"Hey, we're over here!" Yaning waved his hand vigorously, calling out to Bai Sha. His red hair made him quite conspicuous in the classroom.

Bai Sha walked over, and Yaning pulled up a stool for her.

"There are many group discussions and assignments during class," Yaning said, ruffling his hair with a smile. "It's better for you to join Jingyi and me rather than being assigned to a group of strangers."

Bai Sha nodded in agreement.

Jingyi, however, seemed a bit uncomfortable with the arrangement.

She said reluctantly, "If you can't keep up, I'll tutor you."

Bai Sha nodded, "I'll do my best. So, what are we studying?"

"We follow the Federation's standardized curriculum for our age group. It's the same material taught in regular schools, though our orphanage might move at a slower pace and have lower expectations for students," Jingyi said, showing a hint of disdain. Tapping the table, a light orb appeared, which she manipulated like a seed sprouting branches. The branches bore fruits of text and numbers, some unfamiliar to Bai Sha, yet strangely understandable. Jingyi selected the relevant chapters, and the content of the textbook materialized before them.

Jingyi turned to ask Bai Sha how much she knew, but saw her eyes shining with uncontainable curiosity at the light orb on the table.

Jingyi's heart skipped a beat, "You... you haven't learned any of this before, have you?"

Bai Sha nodded honestly.

Jingyi almost fainted from shock.

"How is that possible? Where are you from, some backwater place that's never seen—no, wait. We're on Lanslo Star, a remote region already. It's quite normal for an orphan like you to be unfamiliar with these things," Jingyi realized, deceived by Bai Sha's appearance and demeanor.

"Look what you've done!" Jingyi hissed at Yaning, "She should be in the classroom next door!"

Yaning was surprised too but quickly recovered, becoming somewhat defensive, "Jingyi, that's too much."

Jingyi was taken aback, turned her head, and huffed softly, but said no more.

Bai Sha, sensing something amiss from their conversation, asked, "The next-door classroom? What about it?"

Yaning glanced apologetically at Bai Sha, stammering, "That's where the children with radiation sickness have classes... the ones you saw in the hall, the slow-reacting, less intelligent kids."

Bai Sha: "..." So, those are the children with intellectual disabilities?

Jingyi frowned awkwardly, about to say something, when the teacher walked into the classroom and stood on the podium. "Good morning, everyone. How are you all feeling today?"

The children responded half-heartedly. Jingyi, losing the opportunity to talk to Bai Sha, turned her head away again.

The tall, thin teacher with glasses started the lesson. His tone was gentle and calm, quieting even the most restless children, who were willing to listen to him.

While Bai Sha paid attention to the teacher, she also played with the light orb beside her. She found the basic education concepts of this planet advanced and full of unfamiliar principles and common knowledge. However, nothing was too difficult to understand. Apart from the universal mathematics and science knowledge, she was indeed illiterate in this world's script.

Perhaps the novelty of the light orb captivated her; her brain seemed to be working rapidly. The unfamiliar words and images on the orb seemed to leap into her sight with a life of their own...

An hour later.

The class ended.

Jingyi looked despairingly in Bai Sha's direction.

She had been observing Bai Sha – who hadn't looked up at the teacher once, engrossed in the light orb the whole time.

Jingyi's gaze fell on Bai Sha's pearl-like silver-gray hair and the slightly excited blue eyes. She resignedly thought it was her own decision to agree to Bai Sha joining their group, so she couldn't blame anyone now.

The teacher began transmitting the classwork to each group. A random worksheet appeared in front of everyone, with different questions for each. Most were multiple-choice, as it was in-class work and the teacher hoped to save time for the next chapter.

Yaning and Jingyi, preoccupied with their own sheets, began answering. Bai Sha, forced to stop browsing the orb, also started answering diligently.

After the allotted time, the teacher began to discuss the answers.

"There are three students who scored full marks in this small test: Jingyi, Yaning... and our new student, Bai Sha," the teacher smiled slightly with pleasure. "Jingyi and Yaning have always been excellent, and Bai Sha, joining their group, has shown remarkable ability. Everyone should learn from them, maybe one day you'll get into Lanslo Middle School..."

Most children showed little interest in the teacher's encouragement.

Yaning and Jingyi looked at Bai Sha with disbelief.

Jingyi: "Are you making fun of us?"

"Making fun? What do you mean?" Bai Sha replied somewhat bewilderedly, her attention returning to the orb, "Isn't it just about applying formulas and quick calculations? That's simple enough, isn’t it?"

Yaning/Jingyi: "..."

Jingyi didn't believe Bai Sha's explanation and wanted to say something, but Yaning intervened: "Alright, alright, isn't this a good thing? Now everything's settled. In future group assignments, our group's score won't drop; it might even go up!"

Bai Sha paused, looking around the small classroom, "It seems like everyone isn’t too concerned about the test scores."

"That's true," Yaning admitted, somewhat sheepishly touching his nose, "But it's still important for us."

Bai Sha nodded, "Got it. The sensitive self-esteem of school-age children."

Jingyi bristled, "Don't talk down to me like an adult. Do you think you're better than me? If you're so confident, fight me!"

Bai Sha: "You want to fight me again?"

Yaning: "Misunderstanding, misunderstanding. Our orphanage even has basic combat training, taught by Teacher Holman—"

Bai Sha was shocked at this revelation.

What kind of orphanage is this, teaching combat classes!

……

At noon, Bai Sha completed her kitchen duties like a wandering spirit, bringing an extra bean cake for Yaning and Jingyi.

"You two can share this," Bai Sha said.

Yaning happily accepted Bai Sha's kind gesture, while Jingyi remained petulant.

She sat on the steps in the yard. The orphanage provided uniform clothing for the children: both boys and girls wore the same type of shirts, but the boys had shorts while the girls wore knee-length skorts, slightly puffy, looking neat and pretty.

Jingyi's white skort was wrinkled and stained with gray marks. She had been dressed like this since morning, but she didn't seem to mind, and neither did anyone else.

However, Jingyi was particular about her hair. If it got messy, she would quickly find a secluded corner to fix it. It seemed that as long as her hair was neat and smooth, she felt presentable.

Bai Sha approached, ignoring Jingyi's fierce look, and sat beside her.

Bai Sha said gloomily, "I've never been in a fight in my life."

"I don't believe you anymore," Jingyi crossed her arms over her chest, "You're probably just holding back, planning to surprise me in combat class, right?"

"Regardless of whether I can or can't, why do we even have combat classes?" Bai Sha was genuinely puzzled.

"On Lanslo Star, only the strong survive," Jingyi explained. "Whether it's working as a miner, a patrol guard, or even joining the Kangheng Life Safety Company as a security officer, strong physical fitness is a basic requirement."

Bai Sha: "...Those careers sound so violent. Do we have any other options?"

Yaning, having finished his bean cake, jumped up, "Sure! Join us in applying to the military academy! Become a proud officer of the Federation! But all military academies have academic requirements too, and you must pass the Federation's unified entrance exam. It's not easy even for students who have completed all their courses in the regular system. We from the orphanage just have to seize every opportunity to work hard."

Yaning spoke enthusiastically about the military academy, but Bai Sha thought to herself, 'Becoming a Federation officer sounds even more violent.'

Their conversation didn't last long.

Soon, Holman came over leading a group.

The combat class was about to begin.