"I think it's good to keep this knowledge in my head. What if, what if one day... I can go to university again?"

She didn't want to lie to him.

Gu Chong mumbled two words in his throat: "University..."

Xue Fu didn't quite hear what he said, so she continued, "My parents sent me a lot of books, the same package you picked up from the post office last time. They want me to take another look at them."

"Don't overthink it, Gu Chong. It's really not like that. Besides, what's wrong with dropping out of junior high school these days? A few years ago, highly educated people were the dangerous ones; the more you studied, the more dangerous you were."

"Besides, I think you're very smart. Whether you study or not, you'll do very well. Studying is just one path, and not everyone has to rely on it. You're doing great as you are now, and I like that very much."

Xue Fu said a lot, but her last sentence made Gu Chong the happiest. His slightly curved eyebrows lowered, and he returned to the man who often smiled in front of her.

The next morning, Xue Fu went to the Gu family's house.

Gu Chong had already gone to the commune, leaving Gu Fei alone at home.

Xue Fu reminded him to pack his things, especially his summer homework.

"Have you packed everything? Don't forget which items you need to hand in to the teacher?"

"Everything's packed, don't worry, sister!"

Gu Fei patted his backpack to make sure nothing was missing.

After hearing his confirmation, Xue Fu looked at her wristwatch; it was already eight o'clock.

So she led Gu Fei out to register at the village primary school.

Today is the first day of school. When Xue Fu and Gu Fei arrived, they encountered many parents dropping off their children.

When some people saw Xue Fu and Gu Fei together, they made a few more sarcastic remarks.

It seems like Xue Fu and the eldest son of the Gu family are getting married soon, and now she's taking on the role of a sister-in-law.

Xue Fu blushed upon hearing this, chuckled awkwardly a few times, and then quickly pulled Gu Fei forward.

The school gate was bustling with activity early in the morning. Several teachers arrived early to register, carrying tables and chairs out of the classrooms and placing them on the playground to facilitate student and parent registration.

Li Jing was also there at the moment. She was organizing and confirming the student roster, afraid that some students might have been forgotten and not written down.

Li Jing loves being a teacher. When she stands on the podium teaching and nurturing students, she feels that she has realized her own value in life.

She had been looking forward to the new semester for a long time.

Xue Fu wasn't among the first group of parents to arrive. By the time she and Gu Fei reached the school gate, a crowd had already gathered.

Xue Fu thought she had things to do at the fishpond later and couldn't waste too much time, so she hurried over and joined the queue.

When Xue Fu saw Li Jing, her eyes widened slightly. She stared at Li Jing intently for a long while, looking at her from behind the people in front of her.

Come to think of it, she realized it had been a long time since she had seen Li Jing.

It seems that after Li Jing and He Luosheng got married, the two main characters from the original book officially faded out of her life.

Xue Fu was now certain that the ending that belonged to the "Xue Fu" in the book would no longer occur.

She stared at Li Jing, feeling a mix of emotions.

Li Jing, whom I hadn't seen for a long time, looked like she was doing well. Compared to her thin appearance when she lived at the educated youth settlement, she was now a bit plump and had a very good complexion with rosy cheeks.

They look like they're living a very comfortable life.

Xue Fu thought, "As expected of the protagonists in the original book, the chosen one and the chosen one fall in love and get married, of course they'll be happy."

Xue Fu had no other intentions, and she wouldn't actively seek out others to annoy them. She just wanted to maintain the status quo and quietly remain a passerby or background figure in the original novel's protagonist's life.

More than anyone else, she wanted Li Jing and He Luosheng to be happy. If they were unhappy, it would be the other people and the world who would suffer.

When it was Xue Fu and Gu Fei's turn to register, Li Jing looked up and realized it was her.

Li Jing was somewhat surprised. She looked up at Xue Fu and paused for two seconds before smiling slightly and greeting her: "Ah, it's Xue Fu, you've arrived."

Her tone carried a hint of familiarity and nostalgia: "You're here to help Gu Fei register, right?"

Li Jing glanced at Gu Fei, the elementary school student standing next to her, and smiled at him: "Did you bring all your homework? Just put it on this table. After paying the tuition, you can sign the registration form."

"Okay, okay." Xue Fu nodded in response and quickly completed the registration process as Li Jing instructed.

However, she hesitated for a moment when signing the registration form.

In the end, he signed his own name instead of Gu Chong's.

After writing the name "Xue Fu", she handed the registration form back to Li Jing.

Li Jing looked down to confirm, paused when she saw the name "Xue Fu", and then glanced at Xue Fu again.

Since marrying He Luosheng, Li Jing has followed the custom of "marrying a chicken, following a chicken; marrying a dog, following a dog," and she is now considered a member of Qingtang Village.

After the wedding, the villagers no longer avoided talking to her as much as they had when she was still living in the educated youth settlement.

Li Jing had heard many rumors, both true and false, about Xue Fu and Gu Chong.

She was also secretly keeping an eye on their relationship.

After all, she was the first educated youth in Qingtang Village to get married.

Therefore, she naturally paid more attention to Xue Fu's affairs.

She wondered if Xue Fu would marry Gu Chong like she did.

Thinking about this possibility, Li Jing felt much closer to Xue Fu.

However, Li Jing was too embarrassed to directly ask Xue Fu about her plans, as it would be too presumptuous and also carry a sense of coercion.

But with school registration today, Li Jing feels she has figured out quite a bit.

Don't look at what a person says, look at what they do.

Xue Fu has already come to sign the parent's consent form for Gu Chong's younger brother, Gu Fei. Hasn't the missing stroke in the character "八" (eight) already appeared?

Li Jing felt she had seen through it all. She smiled at Xue Fu again and said, "Alright, that's it. Register now."

Before leaving, Li Jing, as the teacher, gave Gu Fei some more instructions: "Gu Fei, don't be late tomorrow morning, remember to be on time for school."

Gu Fei nodded obediently: "Mhm."

After finishing her business at the school, Xue Fu went back to the fishpond to feed the fish.

She didn't restrain Gu Fei. It was his last day of freedom before the start of the semester. Xue Fu only told him to be careful when he was playing and not to go to the river to play in the water, as he would easily catch a cold.

"Okay, okay! Bye-bye, sis!"

Gu Feiru opened the cage and ran towards the free bird, together with the other children who had also registered, and ran towards the empty field ridge.

On her way from the elementary school to the fishpond, Xue Fu passed by the supply and marketing cooperative.