That year, two members of the Wang family had to study for the college entrance exam: Zhan Chunlan and Wang Wenchuan.

Zhan Chunlan's main concern was the anxiety of those around her. Because she knew the specific timeframe, she had been reviewing steadily, and this year was mainly a final push.

Wang Wenchuan really did start from scratch, but he knew about it earlier than many others, giving him a time advantage.

The only one whose emotions were not entirely consistent was Tan Shuang.

She was secretly pleased to learn that Zhan Chunlan was going to take the college entrance exam and would not have children for the time being, feeling that she was still the most special person in the Wang family, the greatest contributor to the Wang family, having given birth to three children for them.

But when she learned that Fang Li would cook delicious food and personally deliver it to the courtyard, saying that Zhan Chunlan had to work and study, which was too mentally taxing, and needed to replenish her brain, she wondered why Fang Li hadn't known to replenish her brain when she was pregnant.

“When I was pregnant, I wanted to eat this, but my mother wouldn’t allow it. I wanted to eat that, but my mother wouldn’t allow it either. Now Zhan Chunlan isn’t even pregnant yet, and she’s already starting to supplement her diet? I think she just doesn’t respect me!” Tan Shuang looked at the dishes on the table and thought of the scene when she was pregnant and her mother-in-law stopped her from eating braised pork. Tears fell from her eyes.

Wang Wenshan was not going to pay attention to her at first, but seeing that she was getting more and more upset, he was a little helpless: "I have told you so many times, it is not that your mother does not allow you to eat, but you are pregnant, you eat too much, your weight is increasing too fast, and the baby in your belly is growing too big, which is not good for delivery."

"These are all excuses. Go out and ask around. Which wife isn't eating chicken, duck, fish, and meat when she's pregnant? As for me, I still have to eat bland food." Tan Shuang didn't listen to Wang Wenshan at all and was only immersed in her own thoughts.

"Don't you think about it? When you first got pregnant, you said you wanted to eat braised pork, and didn't Mom make it for you? You wanted to drink chicken soup, and Mom personally went to buy an old hen to cook it for you. There were also braised pork belly and white jade pig's trotters that you wanted to eat, but didn't I make them for you? It's because you gained weight too fast that Mom was worried the baby was too big, so I changed your diet."

Wang Wenshan was furious. Ever since his third brother got married, Tan Shuang had to compare herself to Zhan Chunlan in everything. Whatever achievements Zhan Chunlan made, she said it was because the people in Changli were trying to curry favor with the Wang family and deliberately created hype for her. If her mother was even slightly nice to Zhan Chunlan, she would complain. He didn't know what was going on in her head.

"Besides, those weren't just plain soup; she specially found ingredients that pregnant women could eat and made soup especially for you. But you wouldn't listen and insisted that our family didn't treat you well."

“That’s the truth. The three children are all so old, and they’ve hardly ever eaten Grandma’s cooking.” Seeing that Wang Wenshan didn’t react when she talked about herself, Tan Shuang brought along a few of the younger children, hoping to elicit a response from him.

It would have been better if we hadn't talked about these things. Just mentioning the child made him furious. He put down his chopsticks, looked at her, and said seriously, "I'm only saying this one last time. You better listen carefully."

He paused here to make sure Tan Shuang was really listening.

"If you have such a big problem with Mom, you can go back to your parents' house. I'll raise my three children on my own."

Tan Shuang was stunned: "What do you mean?"

“It’s exactly what you mean.” Wang Wenshan didn’t avoid her question, his eyes full of seriousness: “Back then, because of Mom’s job, she was causing trouble at home all the time. I moved out with you, not because I thought what you did was right, but because I didn’t want Mom to be sad for me and the children.”

“I know it’s pointless to talk to you, and I know you didn’t have a good childhood, so I wanted to treat you even better, hoping you could truly understand what it means to be good for you. But you’ve only gone further, always only seeing the benefits others receive and never seeing the sacrifices they make.”

“Back then, your mother raised Zhiyuan to be the way he was. I was afraid you would feel guilty, so I didn’t blame you. But you’re still at ease with yourself and have maintained contact with them all these years.”

Tan Shuang was genuinely frightened and cried, "That's my mom. What's wrong with me occasionally going to see them?"

"Fine, you don't even complain about how your mother raised your child to be like that, so how can you blame my mother for not sending you any supplements? We've been married for so many years, and Zhiyuan is already 12 years old. Have you ever given her anything?"

"I……"

“Before, I always thought that the children were still young and couldn’t be without their mother. I thought you just didn’t understand because no one taught you. I never thought that even after teaching you step by step for so many years, I still couldn’t teach you. I’m tired. I don’t want to come home from work every day and not only have to take care of three young children, but also take care of you, a big child!”

Tan Shuang shook her head, crying, "No..."

Wang Wenshan: "Anyway, after all these years, your salary is still with you. I'm responsible for all the household expenses every month. Whether you want to go back to your parents' home or whatever, it's up to you. Just tell me when you've thought it through. There's only one thing: you can't take any of the children with you."

Tan Shuang held his hand tightly: "No, I won't go, I won't go!"

Wang Wenshan ignored her and took the child to wash up and go to bed, leaving her alone in the living room, lost in thought.

While tensions were high on one side, the courtyard had a strong academic atmosphere.

Although Zhan Chunlan had no shortage of textbooks, she still felt overwhelmed by the difficulty of self-studying mathematics, physics, and chemistry. Wang Wenfeng, a doctor known for his academic excellence, became her personal tutor, responsible for helping her with the subjects she struggled with most.

She even entrusted him with the responsibility of walking the dog, and all she did every day was go to work and study, her days were so boring that there was absolutely no hope for her.

Fortunately, Wang Wenchuan moved in later, mainly to take advantage of Wang Wenfeng's private tutoring lessons.

Then Ms. Fang Li also came over.

She took charge of the meals and housework in the courtyard, and often bought old hens to make chicken soup, which made the students and teachers gain several pounds.

Now, only Comrade Wang Shuo is left at home. When he returned home from get off work and looked at the empty room, he was somewhat puzzled. Isn't it supposed to be about raising children to provide for you in old age? He raised three sons, so why is there no one at home now?

In October, the news of the resumption of the National College Entrance Examination (Gaokao) spread throughout China via radio, causing a nationwide uproar. People no longer greeted each other with "Have you eaten?" but instead asked, "Are you taking the exam?" "Is your son taking the exam?" "Is your daughter taking the exam?"

The factory also compiled a list of people who took the college entrance examination and specifically reduced their workload. Many positions were allowed to work only half a day, and the rest of the time could be spent studying in the self-study room that the factory had set aside.

As early as the beginning of this year, Zhan Chunlan wrote to Li Xiuxiu and Fan Hongying, subtly informing them of the college entrance examination and sending them several review materials.

Although the two of them couldn't figure out the reason for the resumption of the college entrance examination at first, Fan Hongying, relying on her luck as the favored daughter of the heavens, felt that she should do as Zhan Chunlan said, and even forced Li Xiuxiu to study together.

When the news of the resumption of the college entrance examination was announced, the two were simply stunned. If Zhan Chunlan hadn't been there, they would have wanted to pick her up and spin her around.

However, the only regret is that the two women not only got married but also had children. For the sake of their children, they didn't want to go too far away. They would probably go to university in Jiangcheng. Zhan Chunlan's dream of the three of them attending the same university was shattered.