User:)biyibiyibiyi(/grad project/xuanxuan

How I met Xuanxuan

It's much worthwhile to look for repeaters on sale on Xianyu, a Chinese second hand exchange app, than to buy them new. The repeaters are phasing out but have not yet become precious collectibles.

On Xianyu, I become intrigued by how people are personifying their own repeaters with stickers. I looked for keywords "repeater" + "stickers", and one particular repeater stood out. It was decorated with playful stickers in the most extravagant way. I immediately put an order on it.

The repeater came with English tapes from Grade 9. I asked the seller if they are free. The seller said yes, and, out of expectation, encouraged me for me studies (by assuring me of the high school entrance exam). I've been mistaken as a final year middle school student.

The package was sent to my parents' house in China first, and they found a letter for me, written by the seller herself. It is a she, now a high school student living in Chongqing (SW city in China), whom the repeater held tremendous significance for. She wrote about her coming to age experience in the letter:

"Ever since growing up, I have been labelled as one of those “terrible” children. I was the ones who never finish their home work, never recited the texts, whenever my primary school pushed me, I procrastinate. I never committed disastrous mistakes, but full of small mis-behaviors. I was very naughty by nature. During class, my good friend is my badly damaged eraser; after class, I chat and gossiped with my good friends."

Her life changed when she discovered her motivation for learning English:

"I came to enjoy the feeling of speaking English. I started to catch up with my English fervently, as much as reciting word lists during break times and meals. I have to admit that the effort was partly driven by my wish to make it up for myself, but it was nonetheless effective."