After two years apart, Wang Wenchuan and Ms. Fang Li reunited, but after only having dinner, he urged Ms. Fang Li to go home.

He felt it was too corrupt, a spiritual corruption.

At the dinner table, he listened to Ms. Fang Li talk about Comrade Wang Shuo's recent work arrangements. He was about to retire, and his daily work had decreased significantly. He finally had time to spend with his family and pursue his personal hobbies, such as painting the orchids that his third sister-in-law gave him every day.

The orchid that my third sister-in-law gave me must have mutated. It's growing exceptionally lush. The original pot can no longer hold its abundant branches and leaves, so it's been divided into two or three pots. One pot is in Comrade Wang Shuo's study, one is in Dr. Wang Wenfeng's office, and the other is by Zhan Xiaoman's bedside.

Although those potted plants grew much better than ordinary orchids, they still couldn't compare to the one in the original pot, which had abundant flowers and leaves, a pleasant fragrance, and even plump, white roots.

Ms. Fang Li was very angry when she talked about this. It was clearly agreed that this was a gift from Zhan Chunlan, but now her family members are fighting with her for it. She can only admire it up close when they are not at home. She doesn't know if it's because of the competition, but she always feels that sitting next to the orchid and smelling its fragrance makes her feel lighter.

Occasionally, when she runs into former colleagues, they all laugh at her, saying that she's started enjoying a comfortable retirement and looks several years younger, with many wrinkles on her face.

She took it as just polite talk and never took it to heart. Whether orchids had any medicinal value or not, it didn't affect the status of orchids and spring orchids in her heart.

Ms. Fang Li also said that her third brother has been working very hard lately. He actively participates in any new technologies or equipment, and volunteers to learn new knowledge without needing any assignments from his superiors.

“Your third brother has a strong sense of crisis. I’m just afraid that your third sister-in-law will study hard and achieve outstanding results, leaving him far behind.”

“I think it’s because his third sister-in-law isn’t around, so he has to find something to do himself.”

The two chatted there for a long time, and it wasn't until the staff urged them on that he realized they had been eating at the last table of the restaurant.

Wang Wenchuan escorted her back to the guesthouse and waved for her to go upstairs. Just as she was about to enter, he suddenly turned back for some reason: "Come out early tomorrow, I'll take you to have breakfast, then take a shower and get a haircut."

“No, thank you,” Wang Wenchuan quickly waved his hand to refuse, “Mom, I’m a grown man, I know myself, you don’t need to take me.”

"You knew all along, yet you still made such a mess of things?" Ms. Fang Li tugged at the hair covering his eyes, her eyes filled with suspicion.

"That's because we've been rushing to meet the experimental schedule, spending three months in the lab. Nobody has had time to take care of these things." My hair is so long, it's really not used to. I was so busy with experiments before that I didn't notice, but now I suddenly realize that I have to look at the world through the gaps in my hair, which is kind of funny.

"Nonsense, the man who relayed my message today was all cleaned up."

Wang Wenchuan touched his nose somewhat awkwardly and argued, "That's because he left last night and came back today after finishing his work. I've been staying in the lab for the past few days and only came out of seclusion today."

"Alright, I know, go ahead." Ms. Fang lowered her head sadly and said in a sorrowful tone, "Sigh~ When you get old, you just become annoying. Everyone has told me to leave, so why am I still shamelessly staying here? I'll buy a ticket back to Haicheng tomorrow."

"Mom, what nonsense are you talking about? When have I ever looked down on you?" Wang Wenchuan knew she was doing it on purpose, but he still felt a pang of heartache. Although no one around could hear her, he felt as if many people had heard her, and everyone was whispering in his ear, urging him not to leave, but...

"Mom, our experiment has only just achieved a short-term result, and we are still a long way from our final goal. With you here, I have no interest in going to the lab."

Ms. Fang Li did indeed leave by car the next day, not because she was sad, but because she was happy. She was happy that her child was really studying hard and making great efforts, which was a good thing for herself, the school, and the country.

On September 1, 1979, the new school term began.

Zhan Chunlan resumed her routine of going between school, library, and dormitory. In addition to her professional knowledge, she and her roommates formed a language group, spending one or two hours every day practicing foreign language skills. At that time, the country urgently needed to conduct trade with other countries, and foreign language ability was a "passport".

She had over ten years of English learning experience, and although she had forgotten a lot, reviewing was still much better than learning it from scratch. The main function of this study group was to have conversations in a foreign language.

During foreign language learning sessions, you can't communicate in Chinese. You have to find ways to express yourself in the language you've learned. This learning method improves your speaking skills much faster than simply memorizing vocabulary and doing exercises.

"Today's topic is about international trade," Xia Zhao, my roommate and group leader for this week, began in English.

Zhan Chunlan smoothly replied, "In terms of payment terms, I prefer a letter of credit."

Such dialogue exercises were initially quite difficult, often resulting in unclear expressions, but with persistence, their spoken English improved rapidly. In addition to English, the group also tried discussing product quality in Japanese and simulating business negotiations in German. This multilingual learning greatly enhanced her ability to read foreign language materials.

Besides language, she also paid special attention to the legal aspect. Currently, the country's laws are not very comprehensive, and in many cases, import and export are still subject to the control of others, with others having the final say.

Therefore, she focused on studying international commercial law and practices, such as the Incoterms and the Uniform Customs and Practice for Documentary Credits (UCP). These are still considered "unpopular knowledge" in China at present. Therefore, she had to work hard to find relevant knowledge and textbooks on her own. Although she had the knowledge, perspective and legal common sense of the past, her learning progress was still slow.

But this kind of thing requires rigor and meticulousness. Speed ​​is useless if you don't have the skills. You can only work on it slowly. Fortunately, since she came here, her personality has changed a lot without her noticing. The most obvious change is that she has become more patient and doesn't get angry so easily anymore.

Thanks to her experience at the Spring Trade Fair and her summer internship in the foreign trade department, she was able to enter Huaguo Machinery Import & Export Company for an internship with relative ease. Here, she experienced the entire process of letter of credit operations for the first time.

"You have to be as careful as you are with math problems when reviewing orders," her mentor said. "If even one letter is wrong, the whole shipment might be rejected."

She meticulously recorded every detail: how to prepare commercial invoices, what terms to pay attention to on bills of lading, and how to calculate insurance policy amounts. These seemingly tedious document tasks were fascinating to her—each document was related to the country's foreign exchange earnings.

Only by experiencing this era firsthand can one truly understand the sense of urgency that permeates from top to bottom, from the nation to the individual. Everyone is acutely aware of the gap between themselves and others, and strives to narrow that gap, or even surpass other countries. Therefore, everyone is on a journey. Zhan Chunlan is neither special nor the most hardworking; she is simply an ordinary person running on this track.