Han Musheng understood Jiang Hui's meaning. Although these people had been exonerated and given important positions, they had also become obstacles in the way of many others.

"I know, I'll be careful." Han Musheng looked at his daughter standing behind the door and beckoned, "Lingling, come here. It's been years since you've seen your father. Don't you miss him?"

Han Ling ran over crying and threw herself into her father's arms, sobbing just like she used to do more than ten years ago when she would go home and complain to her parents after being wronged.

Han Musheng stroked his daughter's head, feeling a surge of emotion: "Alright, don't be angry or sad. From now on, just live your own life well. Your mother and I don't need to worry about you."

His daughter has grown up in the blink of an eye. She is now married with her own children, a wife and a mother. But he, her father, has been absent from every important moment of her growth.

The father and daughter chatted for a long time, and only then did Han Musheng remember to ask them about the exam: "Tell me about your answers. I've graded a lot of papers this time, and all I can say is that this year's college entrance exam was very difficult. The difficulty wasn't the exam itself, but the extremely low chance of being admitted."

Jiang Hui and Han Ling explained their answers to the questions. After listening, Han Musheng thought for a long time before comforting them, "In my opinion, you did very well in Chinese. If you don't make any major mistakes in the other subjects, you will definitely get good results."

Looking at his son-in-law's confident demeanor, Han Musheng sighed inwardly. His two sons had made one wrong step after another. This Jiang Hui's future was definitely bright. Moreover, as far as he knew, Jiang Hui's younger brother was already a battalion-level officer. How old was he? The Jiang family would only be stronger than theirs in the future. It seemed he had to find a way to cultivate his grandson. His sons' personalities were already set in stone, so he could only start from a young age.

Jiang Ruyu was unaware of what had happened at Jiang Hui's house. She only knew that Jiang Hui's family hadn't stayed at his mother-in-law's house for long, returning after about half a month. Jiang Ruyu knew something must have happened, otherwise, why wouldn't Han Ling stay at her parents' house a few more days?

It's worth noting that the round trip by train from Yanjing to Guangcheng takes more than ten days, and this family of four only stayed at the Han family's house for about two days before returning home.

Now that her younger brother is a parent, Jiang Ruyu doesn't allow him to interfere too much in his affairs, lest she put Jiang Hui in a difficult position and upset her sister-in-law.

If Jiang Hui wanted to tell her, he would naturally take the initiative to do so.

Several members of their family took the exam this time. Sun Chang and Sun Li from the Sun family in the compound also took the exam. The youngest daughter of the Yang family, who is not yet married, also took the college entrance exam. All the families in the backyard who could register took the exam.

This is a great opportunity, and many people dream of getting lucky and passing the university entrance exam. As a result, the number of applicants is extremely high, and the quality varies greatly.

The wait was the most agonizing. On January 16th, the neighborhood committee came to the door: "Jiang Hui, you and your wife both need to go for a physical examination."

Sun Changhe from their compound and Sun Li, who got married, also received a notice to undergo a physical examination. What does receiving a physical examination notice mean? It's the precursor to a university admission notice.

Jiang Ruyu looked at her younger brother and sister-in-law, who were so excited that they hugged each other and cried and laughed: "Alright, calm down quickly. This is a good thing. Why are you crying? Have a good meal today and go to bed early so you can be in good condition for your physical examination tomorrow. Don't regret it if you fail the physical examination after finally getting into university."

Jiang Hui and Han Ling both nodded: "Yes, we'll listen to our older sister."

Some were happy while others were sad. Fifty or sixty people in the entire alley passed the preliminary exam, but only six people received the physical examination notice. The youngest daughter of the Yang family in their compound did not receive one and cried sadly in her room.

Aunt Yang looked at her daughter and comforted her, "Why are you crying? If you don't pass the exam this year, there's always next year. You can't just take the college entrance exam once. Study hard this time and try your best to pass."

The next day, Jiang Hui and his wife went to the hospital for a physical examination. The examination was very strict, including blood tests, chest X-rays, and so on. Those who passed the physical examination also had to undergo a political background check, which was even more rigorous. However, this was easy for Jiang Hui. Jiang Lin had passed the political background check when he joined the army, let alone Jiang Hui who was going to university.

Han Ling should be fine too, since her father has already been exonerated.

Soon, they passed the physical examination and political review, and they also filled out their college application forms. Students who passed the unified college entrance examination this year could fill out three applications, but undergraduate and junior college applications could not be filled out at the same time. Jiang Hui filled out three colleges in Beijing. Her top choice was the Physics Department of Yenching University, which was Jiang Hui's dream school. Her other choice was the Physics Department of Renmin University of China, and her last choice was the Mechanical Engineering Department of Yenching University of Aeronautics and Astronautics.

Han Ling's three choices were: the Chinese Department of Yenching University, the History Department of Yenching University, and the Chinese Language and Literature Department of Yenching Normal University. Han Ling was very confident. She had a solid literary foundation and had been sending articles to newspapers during her years in the countryside and had published many articles and received royalties.

Everything is ready except for the final push; all they need to do is wait for the acceptance letter.

In 1977, there was no Lunar New Year's Eve; the 29th day of the twelfth lunar month was the start of the new year.

This year was a landmark New Year, and Jiang Lin also returned home with his wife Guan Jin and their twin nephews who were not yet two years old to celebrate the New Year.

The New Year's Eve dinner was eaten together by both families. Jiang Lin brought back a lot of things, so Jiang Ruyu hardly needed to buy any New Year's goods. The Jiang family's kitchen and the Zheng family's kitchen cooked together.

Jiang Lin brought back some items that he had signed for, some that he caught himself on the mountain, and some seafood that he bought from fishermen.

Guan Jin's cooking was so-so. She wasn't very familiar with her husband's family except for her sister-in-law, Jiang Ruyu. To be honest, she didn't want to come back, but Jiang Lin insisted on coming back, saying, "If you don't want to come back, I'll bring the child back by myself."

After getting married, the couple's feelings, which were as pure as when they were dating, have now become more platonic. With their child together and the fact that Guan Jin lives close to her parents' home, she inevitably leans more towards her family.

It's not that she looks down on her in-laws, but Jiang Lin's unwavering practice of sending things to his sister-in-law every month always made her feel unbalanced. Jiang Lin has never cared for her like that.

Jiang Lin wasn't unaware of Guan Jin's inner turmoil, but he couldn't tell her about it. The things he sent back were mostly from the sign-in rewards, and he hadn't spent much of his own money. But Guan Jin didn't believe him. All she knew was that Jiang Lin was endlessly subsidizing his family, neglecting his own.

When Guan Jin returned this time, her expression towards Jiang Ruyu revealed her resentment, and her words carried a hint of grievance.

"Jiang Lin is so good to my sister. He sends her things every month, and he treats me better than he treats her."

These words were spoken in a joking tone, but Jiang Ruyu was such a perceptive person. Since Guan Jin had brought it up, it could only mean that Jiang Lin and she had not reached an agreement on this matter.

Jiang Ruyu didn't know how she should feel. Logically speaking, Guan Jin grew up in a good environment. Her family were all doctors, so their economic conditions should be very good. How could she be so short-sighted?

Jiang Ruyu didn't want to become a source of conflict in her brother and sister-in-law's relationship or life, so she thought for a moment and looked at Guan Jin and said, "You have to trust Jiang Lin's principles. He has his own ideas. You should communicate more about things. Don't focus on small gains in front of you. You should have a long-term perspective."