"Dad, Mom, I've finished my exam! The questions weren't hard at all, I could do them all!" Nian'an ran up to Lin Wanqiu and Shen Tingzhou and said excitedly. Lin Wanqiu hugged him tightly, her eyes reddening with emotion: "That's great, Nian'an, you're amazing!" Shen Tingzhou also smiled with satisfaction and patted Nian'an's head: "Come on, let's go home. I'll make you your favorite sweet and sour fish today."

A few days later, the admission notice from the county experimental primary school arrived in the village. When Lin Wanqiu received the notice from the postman, her hands were trembling. She carefully opened the notice and saw that it read, "Chen Nian'an, after assessment, you have been admitted to our school's first grade. Please report for duty before September 1st." Her heart was filled with joy and excitement.

"Tingzhou, Nian'an got accepted!" Lin Wanqiu rushed into the courtyard, holding the acceptance letter, and shouted loudly. Shen Tingzhou was chopping wood in the yard. Hearing her shout, he immediately put down his axe and ran over. He took the acceptance letter, looked it over carefully, and a happy smile appeared on his face: "That's great, Wanqiu, all our efforts have paid off!"

Upon hearing the news, Nian'an ran out of the house. He took the admission notice, looked at it again and again, his little face full of pride. He knew that he could finally go to a good school in the county town, and he could finally live up to his parents' expectations.

In the days that followed, Lin Wanqiu and Shen Tingzhou busied themselves preparing for Nian'an to go to school in the county town. Lin Wanqiu tidied up the house, packing all the clothes, books, stationery, and other necessities Nian'an would need. Shen Tingzhou, on the other hand, was busy cleaning the rented house in the county town and buying some new furniture and household items, making the house warm and comfortable.

Business in the workshop was booming. As the reputation of "Late Autumn Food Workshop" grew, more and more merchants came to place orders, not only from the village and commune, but also from many counties and neighboring counties. Looking at the increasingly prosperous business, Lin Wanqiu had a bold idea in her mind—to expand the scale of the workshop and open a branch in a neighboring county.

She told Shen Tingzhou about her idea, and Shen Tingzhou immediately expressed his support: "Wanqiu, I think this is a great idea. Our food is very popular in the market now. Expanding the scale and opening branches will not only increase our income, but also allow more people to eat our food. Moreover, after Nian'an goes to school in the county town, we will need more income to support his tuition and living expenses. Opening branches can solve this problem perfectly."

Lin Wanqiu nodded, her heart filled with confidence: "Then let's start preparing. First, we need to expand the workshop's production scale and hire some more workers; second, we need to go to the neighboring county to investigate the market and choose a suitable location to open a branch; finally, we also need to develop a complete management system to ensure that the branch's business can operate smoothly."

Shen Tingzhou grasped Lin Wanqiu's hand and said with a firm look in his eyes, "Okay, let's work together and we'll definitely be able to make the workshop business bigger and better, and we'll definitely be able to let Nian'an study in the county town with peace of mind and have a bright future."

One day in late August, Lin Wanqiu and Shen Tingzhou took Nian'an on a horse-drawn carriage to the county town. As the carriage slowly drove away from the Hongqi Production Brigade, Nian'an sat in the carriage, looking back at the familiar village and workshops, feeling both reluctant and expectant. He knew he was about to begin a new life, and he knew his parents had sacrificed so much for him. He secretly resolved to study hard and repay his parents' kindness in raising him.