Bincheng, research room.

Looking at the picture of Zhan Chunlan holding a bamboo-woven "Sandalwood Jade" in the newspaper, Wang Wenchuan proudly introduced her to the others in the research lab: "This is my third sister-in-law, my own sister!"

When his classmates saw that a relative of his was in the newspaper, they quickly gathered around to watch. He was also feeling a bit tired because his research had hit a bottleneck.

This is a report by a journalist who visited Zhan Chunlan at the Spring Canton Fair – titled "Small 'Sandalwood Jade' Leverages a Big Economy." In the article, the journalist provides a detailed introduction to the history of "sandalwood jade," the symbolism of its shape, and the significance of its patterns.

Most importantly, it was well-received by foreign friends at this spring's Canton Fair. Zhan Chunlan introduced it to foreigners under the name "Tan Yu," which helped the country generate hundreds of thousands of foreign exchange earnings. With this small piece of "Tan Yu," a bridge of friendship was built between countries.

Once published in the newspaper, it caused a sensation on a wider scale, and allowed people who had only seen the verbal battles to learn the full story.

Although people may not know what "sandalwood" is, just by looking at the picture, even those who can't read will know what this article is about.

When everyone saw that their spittoons had been sold for a high price of 5 yuan, it was as if they had also bought their spittoons for 5 yuan, and placing them in their homes made them look more luxurious than usual.

In the team, a female educated youth named Ye Qing happened to know a little about the inside story: "I heard that many of the exported items were sold at a loss before. For example, the cost of an enamel basin was 1.2 yuan, but it was exported for 0.8 yuan." As she said this, her tone was full of admiration: "Your third sister-in-law is really amazing. Not only did she sell the 'sandalwood jade,' but she also sold them for a high price of 5 yuan each. Moreover, the bamboo-woven 'sandalwood jade' that she designed herself was even more expensive. Amazing! Truly amazing!"

Initially, everyone was somewhat dismissive, with science students generally thinking that humanities students were just all talk and no action, especially Zhan Chunlan this time, who simply changed the wording of a product.

But they never expected that simply changing the way it was written would allow something that Chinese people rarely mention to be sold overseas.

Looking at the reports again, it turns out that spittoons can actually be used to hold flowers and fruit. No one had ever thought of this before. Perhaps Chinese people will not use them like this in the future, but it seems to look quite nice in foreigners' homes.

This is what many people thought after seeing the report, and even more people saw the bamboo weaving and said: "I can weave these things myself, how can they be sold for such a high price?"

"I don't know what those foreigners are buying those things for, but my uncle, who knows bamboo weaving, said that as long as he looks at the real thing carefully, he can weave it."

"I may not know how, but my grandpa does. He sells them for such high prices and even sells them overseas. Is it too late for me to go and learn from him?"

"You wish! It's only so expensive because it's sold to foreigners. If you sold it to us for that price, you'd probably get beaten to death!"

...

Although the incident has once again sparked widespread discussion, it has not had a significant impact on Zhan Chunlan herself. People in Beijing already knew about it beforehand, and they treated this report as just something to watch for entertainment. No one would bother to trace the source or find out who it was; her name was simply listed at the school and the Ministry of Foreign Trade.

Because of this opportunity, she got the chance to intern at the foreign trade department during the summer vacation. Her mentor revealed in private that if she performed well, she could continue interning until graduation, and then directly join the foreign trade department as a full-time employee.

Zhan Chunlan called Wang Wenfeng and said, "I'm sorry, I can't go back to see you and Mom this summer."

"It's alright, this is a rare opportunity. Ms. Fang Li has already prepared me mentally, saying that while you're working hard on the front lines, I need to guard the rear and take good care of Zhan Xiaoman. I absolutely cannot cause you any trouble or make things difficult for you." Wang Wenfeng leaned back in his chair, gazing absently at the ginkgo tree that had grown to the window.

"So what do you think?" When Zhan Chunlan heard him relay Ms. Fang Li's thoughts, she felt infinitely sweet. Look, "Zhan Chunlan," you should have held on a little longer. Once you leave the Zhan family, you'll find that there is no rain in this world!

“Me?” Wang Wenfeng paused for a moment, thinking seriously. “I also hope that you can shine in your field. You just need to forge ahead without any burden. I’ll always be there for you. I will definitely keep up with you. We can fight side by side.”

Upon hearing his words, a thought flashed through Zhan Chunlan's mind: Only if the original is correct can the copy be correct.

Growing up in the presence of someone like Ms. Fang Li and being taught by her, Wang Wenfeng couldn't be too bad off.

After hanging up the phone and returning to her dormitory, Zhan Chunlan noticed that the atmosphere was a bit strange: "What's wrong?"

Xia Zhao, who was sleeping on the lower bunk of the first bed on the left side of the entrance, explained in a low voice: "Wu Xue wants to stay at school during the summer vacation. She wants to learn more, but her family doesn't support her. Her husband called and asked her to go back to take care of her sick mother-in-law."

Zhan Chunlan was a little confused: "Is her mother-in-law paralyzed? Can't she be left alone?"

Xia Zhao found it hard to accept Zhan Chunlan's blunt words, so she gently nudged her to stop talking nonsense: "Nothing of the sort. She's in good health. I heard she's just a little tired from taking care of her grandson."

Zhan Chunlan: "So what? Wu Xue didn't have children before, did she?"

Xia Zhao: "They belong to her husband's eldest brother and third brother. The eldest brother's family has three, and the third brother's family has two."

Zhan Chunlan: "It's not like her child wore her mother-in-law out, so why should we send her back?"

Ma Lingling, who had been silent until now, spoke up. She slept on the lower bunk of the first bed on the right. She was married with a five-year-old child and was the eldest sister in the dormitory. She was very loyal and had a lot of life experience. She often helped the girls solve their problems: "It's not that we want her to go back to take care of her mother-in-law. It's that her in-laws are worried that she's become too ambitious outside and won't come back. So they want her to go back. We don't even know if they'll let her come back next semester."

Is that so? The other girls looked at each other in confusion.

Ma Lingling shook her head helplessly: "Ever since I got into university, both my family and my in-laws have suddenly become friendly to these girls, making them lower their guard and forget their previous situation: "We know about Wu Xue's situation because we have a good relationship and trust each other, so we basically know each other's situations. But what if we didn't know each other so well? When Wu Xue came back, she said that her family asked her to go back to take care of her mother-in-law during the summer vacation. If we hadn't asked, we might have thought that her mother-in-law was really unwell and it was understandable that she couldn't come next semester."

"But we know each other's situation, and we care about each other. So we know that she has an older sister-in-law, a younger brother's wife, and two younger sisters-in-law. Most importantly, there are three grown men in her family. Can't so many people take care of an old woman? Why does she have to send a college student back to serve her personally? Does she think she's the Empress Dowager?"

After hearing her analysis, several girls felt a chill run down their spines: "Why is that? Having a college student in the family is a very important thing. They're about to graduate, why are they doing this?"

"Because he knows he's not good enough for Wu Xue, and more importantly, he doesn't want to try to be good enough for her. He just wants to drag her down and keep her stuck in the mud so that there's no difference between them." Zhan Chunlan said this in a somewhat eerie tone, which sent chills down the spines of the unmarried girls in the dormitory.

Ma Lingling nodded: "That's right, it's the same principle as destroying what you can't have, so especially for you girls." She stared seriously at the unmarried girls: "From now on, be careful when choosing people. Cut ties with anyone who tries to drag you down. Those who truly care about you and love you will always support you and lift you up!"