I Love You, My Amiable Senior! 我爱你，我和蔼可亲的前辈

Chapter 1 📃🖊️

2009 年 9 月 13 日
September 13, 2009.

My first day of Senior Secondary School, officially speaking. For those of you who do not know, 10th Grade marks the beginning of Senior Secondary Year here in China. I am fifteen years, nine months, and eighteen days old. The 26th of November 1993 was the day I came into existence.

I gazed around my bedroom, which is painted a cottage yellow. Following a shower, teeth brushing, face washing, and hair brushing... I get off the bed that I'm sitting on. I'm smiling at myself in the full body mirror next to the white door of the room, as if it's adorable. I turned to face my malachite green-and-white-coloured tracksuit. While almost everyone at my School views it as just another uniform, I see it quite differently.

Rising to my feet was the strong aroma of my Mother's Steamed Stuffed Buns outside my room, which are made with wheat flour and leavening substances that leave a spongy feel to the touch. I made the decision to assist my mother as she steamed it on a sizable steel tray with perforations in it. One by one, the buns are placed in the steamer. It was my way of letting her know that I was already awake before my alarm clock could even startle my body to shreds.

She eventually noticed me. With an awkward smile on my face, I asked her, "Mom, for how long have you been awake?"

"I was literally about to ask you the same thing. It's just that I'm not going to call you "Mom" because you are obviously my child.", She irritably answered, bearing the pot with caution from which she placed the boiling water. "You know, kids these days... They pretend to have woken up at an earlier time, when in reality, they've never slept a single hour for texting their closest friend all night long. I mean, why don't you take a look at those DARK CIRCLES under your eyes? Eh?" She gestured towards me.

"Huh? Mom, don't drag my best friend into this. She is absolutely in no fault for that. I was literally reviewing and advanced studying the practice test papers I bought over the course of last month...! But, that was only until 11 PM."

"Were you really advanced studying OR were you just advanced thinking on what moves you were going to make on your crush that doesn't even think a millisecond about you?", She deflected. Oh my, what a horrible morning it was.

I sealed my lips shut afterwards. I was about to touch the dough on the tray when my mother intervened to save my hand from coming into contact with it.

"Xiu, you're officially a Senior Student. Be more responsible in terms of how you manage your time now, okay?" She was making her way from the dining room to the kitchen. From that moment on, I sat on the table and made the effort to chew more slowly. She stopped diagonally across from where I was sitting. Scowling at the food while I sank my teeth into it.

"It's not what you liked, is it?", She queries with suspicion. My gaze shifted from side to front. Silence prevailed the room. My munching picked up speed. In our country, eating loudly and quickly indicated that you were enjoying your meal. When I bit deeper into the filling, I felt as though there were peppercorns within, which really repulsed me in the depths of my throat. I carried on swallowing my food as rapidly as I could, despite the bumps in my mouth signaling otherwise, just to avoid getting on my Mother's "bad" side (though she's not inherently evil). She turned her body away from me and crossed her arms. "Please remember to prepare your own breakfast next time." She faced me again. "Given the increased exposure to junk or processed food, teens don't seem to be appreciating their mothers' cooking these days. I may not be a skilled chef, but..." She used a kitchen towel that was hanging on the hook on the wall next to the faucet to dry her hands after washing it.