Chapter 069

Before early summer, I had never paid much attention to or thought about the neighborhood relations in the courtyard.

She only knew that the three families in their courtyard had a good relationship. They had lived in the same courtyard for more than 20 years without any major conflicts or any unpleasantness.

If one family has problems and needs help, the other two families will help to the best of their ability.

But combining it with the content of the novel, she could naturally see that the Jiang family actually looked down on her family and the Han family from the bottom of their hearts.

The main reason lies in the work and cultural level of the three parents.

Jiang Jianping and Xu Lihua both have better and more respectable jobs and are more educated.

At Chuxia's home, Tang Haikuan works as a worker in a pickle factory and Wu Xuemei works as a salesperson in a grocery store.

Han Qingtian of the Han family rides a tricycle, and Wang Cuiying doesn't even have a job, so she does some side business at home.

They are not as good as Jiang Jianping and Xu Lihua in work and cultural level.

In the eyes of Jiang Jianping and Xu Lihua, they were all rough people with low education and ideological level.

A family like theirs naturally cannot raise any model children.

Therefore, under the education and influence of Jiang Jianping and Xu Lihua, Jiang Guanjie and Jiang Shan did not get close to other children in the courtyard, and never played with them since childhood.

The Jiang family abides by rules in all aspects, and Jiang Guanjie and Jiang Shan have been strictly disciplined since childhood.

Jiang Shan had her moments of rebelliousness and mischief, but Jiang Guanjie never had that. He was not only the most obedient child in their yard, but also in the entire alley.

Xu Lihua has always been proud of Jiang Guanjie's obedience.

In her eyes, all the kids in the whole alley were not as obedient and promising as her Jiang Guanjie.

Jiang Shan is no good either, because she doesn't listen to her as much as Jiang Guanjie does.

Jiang Guanjie said those words to Chu Xia just now. Although his tone was very calm and there was no contempt or disdain in his voice, he actually had a natural look of disdain in his voice.

There's nothing wrong with not wanting to answer or not wanting to lend, but she has to say that she doesn't understand.

Even if she only studied up to the second grade of primary school, it is impossible for her not to understand what the college entrance examination is.

Chu Xia stood there, took a deep breath, pursed her lips and thought to herself - No, she couldn't keep being looked down upon by others like this, she had to work harder.

So she stopped wasting time standing in the yard.

She said to Tang Haikuan and Wu Xuemei, "Mom and Dad, I have something to do so I'll go back to my room first."

Tang Haikuan and Wu Xuemei naturally responded, "Go and do what you want."

Chuxia responded and ran back to the house. Xu Lihua and Li Lan came out with basins and went to the faucet to wash dishes. They started talking to Tang Haikuan and Wu Xuemei, laughing from time to time.

Chuxia returned to the room and sat down at the desk.

She took the schoolbag, opened the lid, took out the two review materials she had just bought from the Xinhua Bookstore, turned on the desk lamp, calmed down and slowly entered the study state.

She still had to go to work in the factory, and the time she had for review was limited, so she had to race against time and make full use of all the available time.

She was not 100% sure that she could be admitted to university, so she did not plan to quit her hard-earned job, but planned to study while working.

Chuxia studied very hard. Even when Tang Haikuan and Wu Xuemei had washed up and were ready to go to bed, she was still lying in front of the desk lamp, writing and drawing on the reference book with a pen in her hand.

Wu Xuemei didn't know what she was busy with. Seeing that she had no intention of stopping, she came over and knocked on her door, pushed it open and said to her, "You have to get up early to report to the unit tomorrow. Wash up early and go to bed early."

Chu Xia came back to her senses and turned around, saying, "Okay, I'll go to bed right away."

Wu Xuemei asked curiously, "What are you busy with?"

Chu Xia smiled and said, "Reading, a habit I developed in the countryside."

Wu Xuemei didn't have any opinion on this matter. She just said, "Don't be too tired. Go to bed early."

It was getting a little late, and after Wu Xuemei gave her instructions and left, Chu Xia didn't look at her again.

She packed up her books and put them aside, washed up and went to bed.

I was running around outside all day today to handle formalities, and I studied for a long time in the evening. I was a little tired both physically and mentally, so Chuxia fell asleep soon after lying down on the bed.

This night was dreamless.

When I woke up, it was already early morning the next day.

I get up quickly in early summer, wash up, have breakfast, put on my schoolbag and rush to report to the unit.

Tang Haikuan and Wu Xuemei's workplaces are relatively close to home, so riding a bike is a little faster, but walking doesn't take up much time either, so Chuxia is allowed to ride the bicycle at home.

After greeting people along the way and riding out of the alley, Chu Xia thought to herself - the money she had was enough to buy a new car. If she had a chance, she would see how to get a ticket and then buy another car.

Of course there is no rush.

She has to report to the factory now.

Yesterday, when Chuxia was strolling around the city after completing the grain supply procedures, she went to the factory she was going to, so now she just had to follow the route she had found.

The place we are going to in early summer is a food factory.

This was decided when I filled out the application form in the countryside.

There were two jobs at the time, one in a food factory and the other in a watch factory. Lin Xiaohan took the one from the watch factory without hesitation, and Chu Xia naturally took the one from the food factory.

The two factories are not close to each other, but not far away either, and are on the same street.

Chuxia had also looked at it yesterday. In addition to the food factory where she was going and the watch factory where Lin Xiaohan was going, there was also a stamp factory and a textile factory on that street.

These four factories are relatively large and have a large number of workers.

So even though they worked in a factory on the same street, Chu Xia felt that if it was purely by chance, it would be difficult for her and Lin Xiaohan to run into each other again in the future.

Of course, this matter has no effect on her now.

In early summer, I rode my bike to the food factory and stopped outside the gate.

It was just before work, and people were entering the factory gate one after another. Chuxia pushed her bicycle to the gatekeeper, showed him her letter of introduction, and asked him where to report.

The old man guarding the gate had not answered after reading Chuxia's letter of introduction when another girl came over and asked the same question. She also took out a letter of introduction and said that she was there to register.

The old man then read the girl's letter of introduction, and then gave directions to Chuxia and her, telling them where to park their bicycles after entering the gate and where to report.

Chuxia and the girl thanked the old man together.

The two of them entered the factory gate together, and Chuxia parked the car under the carport first.

The girl stood and waited for her for a while, then went with her to report to the information room.

When walking from the carport to the information room, Chuxia chatted with the girl for a while.

The girl's name is Feng Jingzhi. Like her, she had just returned from the countryside and reported to the factory today.

After getting to know each other's situation.

Feng Jingzhi looked at Chu Xia and said in disbelief: "You don't look like you came back from the countryside at all."

Chu Xia smiled and explained to her: "I was lucky. Not long after I arrived in the countryside, I was selected by the brigade to be a school teacher. So I did less farm work and was not exposed to the wind and sun."

Feng Jingzhi nodded after hearing this, "No wonder."

As they were talking, they found the information room and went in to fill out the employment documents.

After filling in the entry information, I went to the factory clinic for a physical examination according to the procedure, and then went to the office building to find the director of the publicity department to learn about some of the factory's conditions.

After completing the entry procedures, staff members took them to get bedding, towels and other daily necessities, and finally took the daily necessities to the staff dormitory to settle down.

After settling into the dormitory, I started working directly with the old employees in the factory.

Their food factory mainly produces snacks such as canned food, biscuits, and candies.

Chuxia and Feng Jingzhi were both assigned to work as filling workers on the canning production line which was short of staff.

The work on the production line was not difficult and they learned it all in half a day.

After get off work at noon, Chu Xia and Chen Jingzhi still followed other old employees to the cafeteria to eat, and then went to the dormitory to rest until the afternoon work and continued working on the assembly line.

After get off work in the evening, Chuxia did not stay in the factory.

Having had the experience of living in a youth education center in the countryside, she is now a little afraid of living in a dormitory, so she only goes to the dormitory to rest at noon and goes home directly after get off work in the evening.

Feng Jingzhi's family had many people and a small house, so she just lived in the dormitory.

So after get off work in the evening, Chuxia would carry her schoolbag and go to the bicycle shed to push her bicycle. Then she would follow other workers leaving the factory, follow the crowd out of the gate, and ride her bicycle home.

After returning home, Chuxia was not idle. After dinner, she immediately went back to her room and sat down to review.

She doesn't think about or care about other things now. She just works peacefully during the day, doing work that doesn't require her to use her brain. When she gets home from get off work, she immerses herself in review materials, using her brain to the fullest.

After a few days like this, Wu Xuemei and Tang Haikuan both found her strange.

Tonight, Wu Xuemei went to remind Chuxia as usual to go to bed early because she had to go to work tomorrow.

After the reminder, he returned to his room.

Tang Haikuan sat on the bedside and asked her, "What is Xia Xia busy with every night? Why does she hide in her room after dinner and never come out?"

Wu Xuemei told him: "I'm reading."

Tang Haikuan didn't quite understand, "What kind of book are you studying so hard for?"

Wu Xuemei said, "There are all kinds of books, including novels, Tang and Song poems, Chinese, mathematics, and a variety of other books. She said that this is a habit she developed in the countryside."

Tang Haikuan sighed softly and said, "She works a whole day at the factory, and then comes home to read books until this late. It's like this every day, without a break. Isn't she tired?"

Wu Xuemei said: "Anyway, I feel very tired."

However, the children are older now, and they can’t control them too much. They can only remind them.

It was getting late, so the couple chatted for a few sentences and then stopped talking.

Tang Haikuan reached out and turned on the light, the room fell into darkness, and the couple lay down together to sleep.

***

The lights in other rooms in the yard were off, but the light in Chuxia's room was still on.

She sat in front of the desk lamp, raised her hand to cover her mouth, and couldn't help yawning.

Feeling sleepy, Chuxia stopped reading.

She closed the book in front of her, put it aside, and put the pen into the pen holder.

Then she took the alarm clock on the table and set an earlier time to wake up.

Tomorrow is a very special day. It is the day mentioned in the novel when the media announces the official resumption of the college entrance examination. She is worried about this, so she has to get up early and go to the newsstand to confirm the news.

She had already washed up when Wu Xuemei reminded her.

So after setting the alarm, she turned off the desk lamp and went to bed.

I am tired from working during the day and studying at night.

He lay down on the bed and fell asleep in less than three minutes.

The next day, Chuxia woke up to the sound of the alarm clock and decisively opened her eyes and got out of bed.

When Tang Haikuan and Wu Xuemei got up, she had already cooked breakfast.

Tang Haikuan asked her in confusion: "Why did you get up so early today?"

Chu Xia had already sat down to eat, and replied to Tang Haikuan, "There are some things to deal with at the factory."

Since there is something going on at the factory, we naturally cannot delay it.

Tang Haikuan and Wu Xuemei didn't ask any more questions. They went to the yard to wash up leisurely.

Then before they finished washing up, Chuxia had already finished breakfast.

She put down her chopsticks and came out with her schoolbag. She greeted Tang Haikuan and Wu Xuemei as she passed by, and then went straight to the front yard to ride her bike.

He rode his bike out of the alley and headed straight for the post office.

Nowadays, everyone's salary is low, and few people have spare money to subscribe to newspapers. Generally, it is the work unit that subscribes to newspapers and magazines.

If you don't subscribe to newspapers but still want to read them, you can go to the newsstand in front of the post office.

Because early summer arrived early, there was no one else at the newsstand, but the newspaper had already been changed to today's.

Chuxia suppressed her heartbeat and reached out to take down the newspaper.

The newspaper was folded in half. She wondered which edition and page the news about the resumption of the college entrance examination was on, and wondered whether she should look for it.

As soon as she unfolded the newspaper, she was suddenly stunned.

Because the news of the resumption of the college entrance examination was on the front page, the title was very large and took up a large space.

This sudden visual impact made her heart beat faster.

It’s the same as getting the application form to return to the city before.

Although she had known it for a long time, she still couldn't help but feel excited when she actually saw it.

If she wasn't standing on the street, she would have wanted to shout out excitedly.

She couldn't suppress her excitement, so she read the words on the newspaper carefully.

As she read it, she thought to herself – the original novel is so amazing, all the major events are accurate.

Since the newspaper couldn't be taken away, Chuxia read it twice.

She waited until other people came to read the newspaper before putting the newspaper away, then she felt relieved, got on the cart happily and left.

She had just taken a few steps with the cart and had not yet stepped on the pedal to get on the cart when she heard a surprised voice coming from the newsstand: "Oh my! This is huge news today. The whole country must be going crazy!"

Hearing this, Chu Xia couldn't help but laugh.

Then she stepped on the pedals and rode her bike towards the factory, facing the wind. She felt that the wind was warm.

***

The courtyard in the evening.

Wu Xuemei, Wang Cuiying and Li Lan were picking celery by the sink.

Tang Haikuan held a newspaper in his hand and studied it with Han Qingtian and Han Lei.

Wang Cuiying said, "Why are you so busy thinking about the college entrance exam?"

Hearing this, Han Qingtian looked at her unhappily and said, "What do you know? This is the biggest news today. People all over Beijing are discussing this. How can there be people in Beijing who can't keep up with current events?"

Before Wang Cuiying could say anything else, the four members of the Jiang family suddenly came back and entered the second door.

Seeing Jiang Jianping and Xu Lihua coming back, Tang Haikuan said hurriedly: "You are back just in time. You know today's news best, so it's a good time for you to tell us about it."

Of course they can understand the general idea.

But if you want to discuss it thoroughly, you still have to discuss it with people who understand it.

Xu Lihua smiled and said, "About the college entrance exam?"

Han Qingtian responded again: "Isn't it? Today's news has really blown up the world."

Since they were stopped, Jiang Jianping and Xu Lihua did not go back to the house.

They gave the bags to Jiang Guanjie and Jiang Shan and went straight to Tang Haikuan, Han Qingtian and Han Lei.

Tang Haikuan handed the newspaper to Jiang Jianping.

Jiang Jianping took the newspaper and explained the news to Tang Haikuan and the others while reading it. Of course, it was not a literal explanation, but a summary and expansion, and it sounded simple and easy to understand.

Why does the country want to restore the college entrance examination?

There are many reasons for this, and there is a lot to say about them.

For example, there are various disadvantages of recommending students to go to university, such as the extreme shortage of talent in the country and the urgent need for talent.

There is also the possible impact that the resumption of the college entrance examination may have on individuals, society and the country.

Regardless of whether they understood it or not, everyone in the yard was listening attentively.

After listening to almost everything, Tang Haikuan asked again: "What are the conditions for enrollment?"

Jiang Jianping looked at him, smiled and said, "You won't need this."

Tang Haikuan looked at him and said, "We don't need it, but our Xia Xia does."

Han Lei also said: "Yes, our San'er should also meet the registration requirements. If he can be admitted to university, then he doesn't have to wait for a place and can go back to the city directly, right?"

After hearing what Tang Haikuan and Han Lei said, Jiang Jianping and Xu Lihua were stunned for a moment, and subconsciously looked at each other, exchanging the same message in their eyes.

Then they quickly looked away.

Jiang Jianping touched his nose with his fist to clear his throat, then laughed and said, "Yes, Chu Xia and Han Ting do meet the application requirements, but this matter is extremely difficult..."

"The application requirements are so loose that there must be millions of people who sign up. It's definitely difficult for thousands of people to cross this single-plank bridge." Xu Lihua suddenly interrupted Jiang Jianping and stopped him from continuing.

She smiled and continued, "But I think that as long as you meet the requirements, it's an opportunity. You can sign up for the exam and give it a try. If you're lucky enough to pass, the state will assign you a job after graduation and you can go directly into government agencies, and you won't have to worry about anything for the rest of your life."

Tang Haikuan nodded after listening to this, "Teacher Xu is right."

Han Qingtian then looked at Han Lei and said, "Then you should also write a letter to San'er and ask him to take the exam as well."

Han Lei thought for a moment and said, "Writing a letter is too slow. I'll just send him a telegram tomorrow. Telegrams are faster. He's in the countryside. If he doesn't have access to information, he might not even have heard the news yet."

Han Qingtian: "Okay, then send a telegram."

Having said this, Jiang Jianping and Xu Lihua no longer stood.

They exchanged a few more words with everyone and then went back to the house to clean up and prepare dinner.

After entering the house, Jiang Jianping whispered, "Why did you interrupt me to persuade them to sign up? Both of them haven't been to school for two years. I don't know what they were doing when they were in school. One was just messing around and the other was just being stupid. There is only a little over a month to review. Chuxia has to go to work in a factory, and Han Ting has no time or conditions in the countryside. He can't pass the exam at all. Asking them to sign up is just a waste of registration fees and time. They also want to be assigned to government agencies directly after graduation and never have to worry about their lives. Is that possible? Do you think these two families can produce college students?"

Xu Lihua also whispered, "Why do you care so much? It's not a waste of your registration fee or time. They obviously want to join in the fun and register, so just go along with them. If you directly say that Chu Xia and Han Ting will definitely not pass the exam and it's a waste to register, wouldn't that offend people?"