This week's balance: 98.79 yuan.

He meticulously recorded his weekly expenses. He was quite the butler.

However, Gu Chong avoided mentioning his income and other sources in writing, perhaps to avoid scrutiny of his correspondence.

It only says in a small line, "I have saved xx yuan this month."

When Xue Fu saw the number on the notebook, her fox-like eyes widened in surprise.

Gu Chong is really good at making money and has a lot of ability.

He's such a good man who knows how to save up for his wife!

Besides the ledger, the second sheet of paper was like a primary school student's diary, in which Gu Chong wrote down in detail what he did every day of the week, and occasionally mentioned what Gu Fei did or what pranks he played.

His letter was unadorned and lacked artistic rhetoric; it was simply a diary-like account. Yet Xue Fu read it with great interest, preferring such simple writing.

The imagery is immediately striking.

He could picture the scene from Xue Fu's simple description.

The letter Xue Fu opened today was the same as always: a weekly expense ledger and his daily diary.

Xue Fu glanced at the numbers in the ledger and clicked her tongue inwardly. He's really getting better and better at making money.

Xue Fu couldn't help but wonder how much money Gu Chong would make once the market truly opened up and he was given free rein.

Anyway, she believed in him; a determined person like Gu Chong would succeed no matter what he did.

As Xue Fu unfolded the second sheet of paper, she looked at it and smiled gently, her lips curving into a smile.

Gu Chong didn't say anything about missing you, but his longing for you was everywhere.

In his letter, he said that the water cup she gave him was very useful and punctual.

He said he'd been wearing a hat diligently while working in the fields for the past few months, and he hadn't gotten much of a tan this summer. Last time, Zhou Zhi even commented that he seemed to have gotten a bit lighter in color.

Xue Fu felt a sweet warmth in her heart. She used her lunch break, which she had originally planned to use for studying, to write a reply to Gu Chong.

Xue Fu's words were entirely heartfelt.

He wrote a piece of plain, nonsensical language with overflowing emotions, completely lacking any literary merit.

The whole thing is filled with saccharine, sugary phrases like "Gu Chong, I miss you so much," "Do you miss me?" and "I like you so much, what about you?"

Xue Fu laughed as she wrote, her laughter making her blush with shyness.

As soon as Chen Zhu entered the room, he saw his little assistant writing something, her face flushed and attracting attention.

Chen Zhu asked instinctively, "What's wrong? What good thing happened? Why are you laughing so happily, Comrade Xiao Xue?"

"Ah, Editor-in-Chief Chen, I'm fine, I'm just happy."

Xue Fu realized what was happening and touched her face embarrassedly; it was indeed a little hot.

"oh oh."

Chen Zhu looked away, nodded, then casually placed the tea he had just brewed on the desk and went to the bookshelf to look for some documents.

October arrived in the blink of an eye.

In October, the resumption of the college entrance examination was officially announced, along with the examination date.

This December.

The announcement caused an uproar.

In Haicheng, this topic is being discussed everywhere.

Time is tight and the task is urgent, but all the high school students who have been delayed for the past few years want to take the college entrance examination.

When Xue Fu returned to her high school to register for the college entrance examination, the number of test takers had reached an alarming level.

The competition was, as you can imagine, incredibly fierce.

When the news came down, Xue Fu immediately wrote to inform Gu Chong.

When Gu Chong received the letter, the commune also announced the resumption of the college entrance examination.

This became the fastest shortcut for educated youth to return to the city.

During those days, everyone at the educated youth settlement was beaming with joy.

However, there was no time to be happy for long, because time was too tight and the study tasks were too heavy.

When they were sent to the countryside to work, they had no time to think about their past knowledge. When they tried to recall what they had learned before, they could only remember bits and pieces.

In comparison, Liu Ling and Zheng Peipei, who lived with Xue Fu, had a head start from the very beginning.

Similarly, there's Li Jing.

But for educated youth like Li Jing who married villagers, the situation was somewhat different.

Their household registrations were completely moved to the countryside.

To register for the college entrance examination, you need a household registration.

Many educated youth had their household registration certificates seized, preventing them from taking the college entrance examination.

Because the examples of abandoning wives and children in the past are still vivid in our minds.

Li Jing also encountered this situation.

Half of the He family members agreed, while the other half did not.

He Luosheng's parents both supported that faction.

After all, their own son, He Luosheng, is also promising; he is a high school student and can take the college entrance examination.

They all believed in their son, thinking that he was so outstanding that he would definitely get into university.

If my daughter-in-law could also get into university, we'd have two college students in the family, how impressive that would be!

Graduating from university with a university degree guarantees a government job, making you a city dweller with access to government-subsidized food rations. Compared to farmers toiling in the fields, the status of an educated person is far superior.

Respectable and superior.

Not to mention, once the young couple has children, their grandson will have nothing to worry about.

They support it, they absolutely support it as parents.

Moreover, their previous ideas about encouraging childbirth have all been postponed.

It's better to have a baby now than to go to university and have a baby after graduation.

The grandson in her belly has a mother who received a university education; perhaps he'll be more outstanding than other children even while still in the womb.

Those who disagree also have their own reasons.

Those who disagreed were mostly He Luosheng's uncles and elders.

The reason for disagreeing is simple: going to university is fine, but what about the money?

Does their family have the money to support two college students?

How much money can a farmer save in his lifetime?

This problem is as real as it gets.

They simply cannot afford to support two college students.

So when He Luosheng came to his door, Gu Chong wasn't too surprised.

He reached out and pushed the door open wider, letting He Luosheng into the courtyard to talk.

"I'd like to partner with you in business."

He Luosheng got straight to the point, stating his purpose directly.

If you spend more time paying attention and thinking, you can discover what Gu Chong is doing in secret.

He Luosheng had noticed this before.

However, he doesn't want to make enemies or report others.

He Luosheng himself despises the underhanded practice of sniping and whistleblowing.

Fortunately, he hadn't made any enemies, otherwise he wouldn't be able to go to their door to discuss this matter now.

He Luosheng also felt that he was being a bit shameless. He and Gu Chong didn't have much of a relationship, yet Gu Chong immediately asked someone to take him into business. In that light, he really was being a bit too forward.

However, Ho Lok-sing is indeed short of money.

The fastest way to make money is through black market speculation.

With only him and Zhou Zhi working together, their business scale was indeed not large enough to expand the market. The profit from each batch of goods was at most around four hundred yuan.

Gu Chong wanted to make more money, so he wanted to find partners to expand the business.

But you can't just find anyone; there aren't many people Gu Chong can trust.

Gu Chong had been observing the black market for a while, but hadn't found a suitable candidate.

When He Luosheng offered himself up this time, Gu Chong thought about it for a moment and wasn't too surprised.

He Luosheng married a former educated youth, and right now he must be worrying about the college entrance examination.

Inevitably, Gu Chong thought of Xue Fu; he missed her terribly.