It's the morning of the second day of class, and we're introduced to the narrator. He's super excited about the day's events, but he's also a little worried about what's going to happen to his roommate, who has been sick with a cold. He coughs and sneezes and gets headaches all the time. The narrator tells us that he caught a cold, too, and that he brought his roommate some medicine to take with him. He also tells us about his mother's ballet performance, which is happening during the winter break. He says that this is the first time he has ever seen a performance, and he also introduces us to his classmate, "qiao yi" . She's a classmate of the narrator's, and the two of them are going to choose a new seat in the chemistry lab for the upcoming semester. The students are supposed to pick a seat based on the assignment they've been given for the previous semester, and they're supposed to write down their favorite teacher, subject, and favorite subject in an anonymous questionnaire. The anonymous questionnaire is supposed to be filled out by the students themselves, but the students don't have time to fill out the questionnaire.