Liu Yiyi once asked her advisor, Slint, whether graduate students could skip the freshman orientation.
The advisor explained that it was a school regulation; the month-long freshman orientation was compulsory for everyone.
As the top student admitted on a full scholarship, she made a fairly good impression on her advisor. However, due to her rather aloof personality and narrow social circle—limited to just a few close people—she had little fondness for group activities.
This time, she simply had to grit her teeth and participate in the freshman orientation to adapt to the new environment.
Freshmen were required to gather at a designated spot, where they would be led by senior students from their faculty. Since the Faculty of Arts had very few fresh arrivals, and graduate programs had even fewer students, the arts department was grouped together with the Faculty of Economics to organize activities. Because the two faculties were adjacent to each other, this division was made solely for convenience.
Liu Yiyi looked at the unfamiliar faces of the seniors around her and followed them to the freshman assembly point.
Roughly estimating, there were just over 150 freshmen across both faculties—relatively few compared to domestic universities, where incoming freshmen all underwent military training.
Country T was different; their society placed great emphasis on interpersonal communication and interaction. The very first lesson of the freshman orientation was led by Tan Qiuyan, a sophomore from the Faculty of Economics (whose Chinese name was Tan Qiuyan).
Tan Qiuyan had us line up in the activity room and introduced himself, saying his name was Tan Qiuyan, from Economics B3, and then introduced the four senior students standing beside him.
The first senior on the left had a crew cut and was slightly plump; his Chinese name was Zheng Wei, from Economics B2.
The second senior on the left had a currently trendy texture perm, a dimple, and a habit of dragging out the ends of his words when he spoke; his Chinese name was Yang Xuhe, from the Faculty of Arts, B1.
The first senior on the right wore a ponytail, looked very capable, and wore heavy makeup with a somewhat punk style; her Chinese name was Jisi, from Economics B3.
The second senior on the right had a curly mushroom cut and a habit of pointing at people with his finger; his Chinese name was Xu Jie, from Economics B2.
Afterward, Tan Qiuyan instructed us to go and get acquainted with the seniors around us. Everyone was given a notebook and a pen, and was tasked with introducing themselves to one hundred seniors to collect their signatures. The notebooks had to be submitted after three days, and attendance would be taken during morning, afternoon, and evening roll calls, with zero absences allowed.
The freshman training was extremely strict, and the seniors all wore rather solemn expressions.
Liu Yiyi could not comprehend such matters; it was all tied to local customs.
Once senior Tan Qiuyan finished speaking, the freshmen scattered to various corners of the campus to hunt down seniors for signatures.
Some universities in Country T had affiliated high schools, meaning high school students whose grades met the cutoff could directly enter the university. University T was one such institution, so most students at University T were admitted straight from its affiliated high school, rendering those freshmen quite familiar with the campus.
Holding her notebook and pen, Liu Yiyi looked at the freshmen rushing outside and sighed inwardly: "Just follow the rules and get that degree."
She stretched her legs and followed the crowd out. Having only visited during her entrance interview, she was hardly familiar with the campus paths. It was now morning, and the seniors' classes had not yet let out.
Examining the items in her hand, Liu Yiyi thought about finding a cool bench beneath a tree to rest. When the class bell rang, she would simply watch where the seniors went, then approach them to introduce herself and collect signatures.
She was casually flipping through the previews of her upcoming courses on her phone to pass the time when someone gently tapped her on the shoulder.
Liu Yiyi turned her head to look. It was a girl with straight, light brown hair draped over her shoulders and light makeup. Addressing me in the T language, she asked, "You're a freshman in the Faculty of Arts, right?"
"Yes, and you are?" Liu Yiyi replied.
The girl introduced herself, "Hello, my name is Shang Hui (Chinese name), Economics freshman, class A1. I noticed you back at the assembly point. Hey, your eyes are black, unlike ours—they're so pretty!" Shang Hui said cheerfully, pointing to her own brownish eyes.
"Hello, I'm Liu Yiyi, class E1," Liu Yiyi said, looking at the lively girl before her.
"Wow, you're in class E1! Grad school entrance exams must be exhausting," Shang Hui said excitedly, sitting down next to Liu Yiyi. "Are you waiting for the seniors to get out of class? It's not a great spot to wait here; it's a bit out of the way. I'll take you somewhere with more people."
Liu Yiyi asked dubiously, "Did you come up straight from the affiliated high school? You know this campus really well."
"Yep!" Shang Hui said with a cheeky grin, instantly standing up and pulling Liu Yiyi forward by the hand.
Liu Yiyi hurried along with her belongings. Shang Hui was a very bubbly girl who chattered incessantly—one moment introducing which shop had the most delicious food, and the next talking about which professors were strict and prone to failing students.
Amidst all her chatter and commotion, the two of them walked all the way to the seating area beside the sports field. She told me that because several handsome seniors played basketball there, a large number of fan girls gathered around, meaning we could easily score at least 30 signatures.
Liu Yiyi followed her and sat down on the bleachers to wait for the class bell to ring.