Once the festive celebrations continue until the Lantern Festival (January 15th), the New Year celebrations are considered over.

After everyone calmed down from their playful mood, they started working diligently again, repeating the cycle endlessly.

The joyful atmosphere in Li Jin's family didn't fade with the passing of the New Year; on the contrary, it grew even more vibrant. The reason was simple: Li Zhen's college entrance exam results were in!

Li Zhen scored 367 out of a possible 400 points in this year's college entrance examination!

Unlike later generations who apply to universities after receiving their scores, people now fill out their applications in advance based on their interests and projected grades. Li Zhen applied to China University of Mining and Technology, majoring in geophysics.

With this score, I'm definitely in!

Sure enough, less than half a month later, the acceptance letter arrived!

The admission notices were delivered by the postman. In addition to Li Zhen's university admission notice, the other four candidates from Lijiapo were also on the list. One was admitted to Dongfang Normal College, and the other three were admitted to junior colleges.

With five college graduates emerging at once, Lijiapo became an overnight sensation.

To reward these five students and to further encourage other children to study hard, Lijiapo has implemented a policy: any Lijiapo villager who is admitted to a four-year university will receive a one-time reward of 500 yuan, and any Lijiapo villager who is admitted to a junior college will receive a one-time reward of 200 yuan.

As soon as the policy was announced, families with children urged their kids to study hard and strive to get into university.

Look, as long as you get into university, you can get a reward of several hundred yuan. Not to mention, as soon as university students graduate, the state will assign them jobs, and they will have cadre status and a secure job!

For a time, a strong atmosphere of encouraging learning swept through the entire village of Lijiapo. Some mischievous boys would skip school to steal bird nests and come back to be beaten by a mixed-gender group of boys and girls until they cried and howled like ghosts.

Even old-fashioned parents who usually say that it's useless for their daughters to go to school have agreed to let girls who have dropped out of school carry their schoolbags again.

To celebrate his daughter's outstanding achievement of being admitted to university, Li Jin openly hosted a one-day banquet. No gifts were accepted; the banquet was simply a celebration of his daughter's success.

Liu Junbo was also admitted to Yenching Normal University, a prestigious century-old university, and Li Xiangdong and the others were happy for him.

Because Liu Junbo was an orphan who grew up relying on the kindness of many families. Although she had worked as Liu Donglai's secretary for several years and received a salary, Zhao Sufang still felt sorry for him and prepared an extra set of bedding, a washbasin, a mosquito net, and other necessities for his school and dormitory life.

Liu Junbo's eyes welled up with tears with emotion. "Thank you, Auntie, for taking care of me."

Since he grew up, no one has cared for him as meticulously as Zhao Sufang. This feeling is like that of a mother, a warmth in the little things of everyday life.

Zhao Sufang patted his hand, "Why are you crying? When you and Zhenzhen arrive in Yanjing, please help your aunt take good care of Zhenzhen."

Liu Junbo nodded emphatically, "That's for sure."

After having dinner at Li Jin's house, he made an appointment with the Li family to leave for Yanjing City at eight o'clock the next day before getting up to go home.

Guo Daming and Liu Junbo bumped into each other as they entered and exited, exchanged greetings, and then Liu Junbo left.

Guo Daming looked at Liu Junbo, who was taller and fairer than him and had been admitted to university, and felt a pang of jealousy. If he were Li Jin, he wouldn't have given up Liu Junbo as a son-in-law to choose himself.

He sniffed, swallowed his melancholy and sadness, and then went inside.

"Uncle Jin, Auntie!"

Zhao Sufang lifted the curtain and greeted Guo Daming with a smile, "Your uncle has gone out. Come in and sit down."

Guo Daming sat on the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed) and took out a small rectangular cardboard box from his pocket. "Is Li Zhen home? I bought her a fountain pen to celebrate her getting into university."

Zhao Sufang made him a cup of sugar water. "Oh dear, why are you going to such trouble! Zhenzhen and your uncle just went out. Wait a moment, they might be back soon."

Guo Daming had no choice but to sit down and wait, chatting idly with Zhao Sufang.

He drank three bowls of sugar water, but Li Zhen and Li Jin still hadn't returned. He couldn't sit still any longer. "Auntie, could you give the pen to Li Zhen for me? I'll head home now. Oh, and please congratulate her for me!"

Unable to refuse, Zhao Sufang had no choice but to accept the pen and see Guo Daming out.

Not long after he left, Li Jin, Li Zhen, and Li Xiangdong returned, chatting and laughing. They had gone to exchange for national grain coupons, and because it wasn't a legal channel, they had gone in the dark.

"Oh dear, you're back as soon as Da Ming left! This child has been waiting for you all night!"

Sometimes, things just happen to be unfortunate.

Just like Guo Daming and Li Zhen, if Li Zhen hadn't gotten into university, Guo Daming would really have been a good match for her.

But now Li Zhen is clearly going to have a different life than other ordinary rural women, and Guo Daming is no longer a good match for her.

Of course, some people will say that as long as there are feelings between the two parties, this is not a problem.

However, the key issue is that Guo Daming hasn't even had a chance to develop a relationship with Li Zhen yet.

From then on, the two will likely have little contact again.

Thinking of Guo Daming's thoughts, Li Xiangdong sighed inwardly.

The next day, Li Jin's family and Liu Junbo met at the train station and boarded the train bound for Yanjing.

The scenery outside the window kept changing, and the rumble of the train rang in her ears. Li Zhen's chest was filled with a variety of emotions: excitement, reluctance, anticipation, unease, and so on, too many to list.

When the group arrived in Yanjing, since the South Railway Station was closer to Liu Junbo's Yenching Normal University, they first took Liu Junbo to register.

Liu Junbo and others were busy queuing up to complete enrollment procedures, find dormitories, make beds, and so on. Li Lan and others, who were just there to broaden their horizons, were bored, so Li Xiangdong led them to stroll around the campus.

Li Ping held Li Jiabao and Zhang Huan's hands, while Li Lan carried Li Yan. They watched the young people hurrying to and fro in the huge campus, their vibrant spirit and refined scholarly air rarely seen in the village.

Not to mention the ancient trees that can be seen everywhere on campus, the banana trees and bamboo that remain green and swaying in winter, and the wintersweet with its pale yellow flowers that emit a sweet fragrance.

Zhang Huan couldn't help but exclaim, "This place is absolutely gorgeous!"

Li Jiabao agreed, "It's even prettier than the garden in the county town!"

Li Ping was more interested in the school library. "Second brother, why are there so many books in here? Will Junbo be able to read all these books freely in the future?"

Li Xiangdong nodded, "That's right, you can see it as long as you have a student ID."

Li Ping said enviously, "I want to go to university too!"

"I want one too!"

"Me too!"