"Sister Qingqing! It really is you! You're finally back!" Qin Chuxin excitedly hugged Xia Qingqing.

Xia Qingqing gently patted her back: "It's been a year since we last met, Xinxin has grown taller again."

Last summer, Qin Chuxin looked a little shorter than her, but now she's about the same height.

Qin Chuxin smiled slightly: "You've grown a little taller, but you're still much shorter than your brother. Qingqing, why did you suddenly come back? My brother and I even wrote you a letter, which should arrive in the next couple of days."

"I wanted to give you a surprise. The letter shouldn't be lost. I'll pick it up when I get back to Beijing," Xia Qingqing said as she followed Qin Chuxin into the house.

After entering the main room, he casually placed the watermelon he was carrying on the table: "Xinxin, this is for you and Xiaoan."

"Thank you, Sister Qingqing. I'll go to the kitchen to get a knife to cut the watermelon," Qin Chuxin immediately ran to the kitchen.

"Xinxin, don't bother. I'm not eating now. You can soak the watermelon in water later and eat it with Xiao'an."

"By the way, where's your brother? Isn't he home?" Xia Qingqing asked, glancing into the house.

“He went to the countryside early this morning to collect things. He said he wanted to earn more money to save for our college education. He’s been working hard outside from dawn till dusk these days,” Qin Chuxin said with a touch of heartache.

The brother and sister had just finished their college entrance exams. After studying so hard for so long, Qin Chuxin really wanted her brother to rest at home for a while.

But Qin Chuan couldn't stay idle. Whenever he had free time, he would go to the countryside to collect agricultural products, transport them back to the county town, and resell them to earn a small profit.

Although Qin Chuxin helped her brother a little, she was in poor health and couldn't be overworked, so her brother ordered her to stay home and rest.

Xia Qingqing took the cup Qin Chuxin handed her and asked with a smile, "The college entrance exam scores were released a few days ago, right? How did you and Xiao An do? Were you confident?"

Speaking of her college entrance exam results, Qin Chuxin smiled brightly: "I did pretty well. If nothing unexpected happens, my brother and I should both get into our ideal universities."

Both siblings in the Qin family applied to schools in Beijing. Qin Chu'an had better grades and applied to Beijing North University as his first choice. Qin Chuxin's grades were not as good as her brother's, so she applied to Beijing Normal University as a safe choice.

Qin Chuxin was very envious of her older brother. If he could be admitted to Beijing University, he would be Qingqing's junior and would see her often at school.

"That's great, then congratulations in advance!" Xia Qingqing was genuinely happy for them.

Two children who lost their parents at a young age, who depended on each other for survival, were still able to get into their ideal universities, so their future lives will definitely not be too bad.

Qin Chuxin's eyes narrowed with laughter: "Thank you, Sister Qingqing. After my brother and I receive our acceptance letters, please come to our house for dinner to celebrate together, okay?"

Xia Qingqing mentally calculated when they would receive their admission notices. By then, she probably wouldn't have left for Beijing yet, so she readily agreed.

After chatting for a short while, Xia Qingqing said goodbye: "Xinxin, my dad is still waiting for me at the supply and marketing cooperative. I'll come to see you again next time."

Although Qin Chuxin was a little reluctant, she nodded and said, "Okay, Qingqing, I'll take you there."

Xia Qingqing quickly waved her hand and refused, "No need for that trouble, it's not like this is my first time here."

After leaving the Qin family, Xia Qingqing found a secluded spot, took two watermelons from the system warehouse, and headed towards the supply and marketing cooperative.

When she arrived at the supply and marketing cooperative, Xia Heping was already waiting for her at the entrance.

Seeing his daughter carrying two large watermelons, Xia Heping immediately stepped forward and took them: "Hey, these two watermelons are quite big. Qingqing, where did you buy these watermelons? Do you have any more? Let's buy a few more to take home and eat slowly."

On such a hot day, soaking a watermelon in well water for an hour or two makes it incredibly refreshing to eat.

Xia Qingqing said in a serious tone, "There aren't any left. When I went there, there were only two left, so I bought them all."

"Alright, two is better than none," Xia Heping said with a smile as he put the watermelons into his basket.

When Xia Qingqing saw that he wanted to put the basket on his back, she immediately stopped him: "Dad, let me carry it. You still have to ride your bike later, it will be too tiring to carry such a heavy thing."

Xia Heping wouldn't let go: "Dad isn't tired, you're the one who's tired from carrying it."

“Why should I, a passenger, be tired? I’ll carry it,” Xia Qingqing said forcefully, taking the basket from her back.

Xia Heping couldn't persuade her otherwise: "If you're tired, just tell Dad, okay?"

As soon as the bicycle arrived at the door, Gou Dan rushed out of the house: "Sis, you're back! Did you buy a watermelon?"

"Here it is, catch it, it's very heavy," Xia Qingqing handed the basket to Gou Dan.

Even though Gou Dan was mentally prepared, he still almost dropped the basket his sister handed him; the contents inside probably weighed fifty or sixty pounds.

He struggled to carry the basket to the main room before letting out a sigh of relief: "Sister, what else is in this basket besides watermelon? Why is it so heavy?"

"Open it and take a look. There should be some rice, flour, seasonings, and other things." These were the things Zhang Hongyan had asked Xia Heping to buy when she was wearing the clothes.

After Xia Heping parked his bicycle, he took a bucket and a carrying pole to fetch water. The water for soaking watermelons had to be freshly drawn well water; that's what makes it truly refreshing.

......

Meanwhile, Qin Chuan rushed home for lunch and heard from his sister that Xia Qingqing had come to their house that morning.

Qin Chu'an was very annoyed: "Ah, why didn't you invite Qingqing to have dinner at home?"

They hadn't seen Xia Qingqing for a year and really missed her.

Qin Chuxin sighed, "I want to stay too, but Sister Qingqing has things to do, and I can't delay her."

"It's okay, I've already arranged with Qingqing that we'll invite her over for dinner once our acceptance letters arrive."

Qin Chu'an's eyes immediately lit up: "That's good. It should be ready in about half a month."

"Brother, are you going out this afternoon? It's so hot, why don't you stay home and rest?"

"Qingqing brought a watermelon over this morning. Let's cut it up and eat it after lunch," Qin Chuxin said with a smile.

Qin Chuan shook her head: "No need to go out this afternoon, the vegetables and eggs we collected this morning have all been sold."

As he spoke, he pulled out the money he had earned from selling vegetables that morning from his pocket—a large pile of small bills, some one or two cents, and occasionally a few one-yuan notes.

Qin Chuxin started helping to count the money. It totaled 3.8 yuan, of which 2 yuan was the initial investment.

Qin Chuan was quite satisfied with the 1.8 yuan he earned in the morning: "If I earn more this summer, our lives will be more comfortable when we go to Beijing."