The day before the high school entrance exam, Da Wa went to check out the exam venue with Zhao Qinglan.

The exam venue wasn't far from their house; it only took about ten minutes to get there by bicycle.

Zhao Qinglan had experienced Wang Xiaofei and Wang Xiaoyan's middle school and college entrance exams in her previous life, but she never felt as nervous as she does now.

The eldest child, on the other hand, seemed very calm throughout.

After inspecting the examination venue, they went home.

Sun was also at home. As for Erwa and Xiaoduo, school had already let them go on holiday, but Zhao Qinglan didn't let them come over because she was afraid they would affect Dawa's high school entrance exam.

Because their child has an exam tomorrow, Zhao Qinglan and her mother dared not watch TV or listen to the radio. They did other things to pass the time and also had to check if their eldest child needed anything.

That evening, after Da Wa finished washing up and went to bed early, Zhao Qinglan went to the door of the children's room and only returned to her own room after hearing the even breathing inside.

Actually, Da Wa's mood wasn't that calm, but thinking about the exam tomorrow, he quickly calmed himself down and fell asleep.

Zhao Qinglan got up to cook breakfast before dawn.

She didn't let her mother help her, and when she saw that it was almost time, she quickly went to wake up her eldest child.

After the eldest child finished washing up and sat down at the table, a sumptuous breakfast was served.

After he finished eating, Zhao Qinglan rode her bicycle to take her son to the examination hall.

Cheng Tao was very disappointed that he and Da Wa were assigned to the same school for the exam, otherwise they could have gone together.

"Mom, actually I can go to the exam hall by myself," the eldest child said on the way.

As Zhao Qinglan pedaled her bicycle, she laughed and said, "What's wrong? You think Mom can't handle you?" To be honest, her eldest son is in his third year of junior high school now, and it's actually quite a struggle for her to take him on her bicycle.

However, it would be a great pity if neither parent was present for such an important life event for their child.

My husband's job is special and he can't be perfect in every aspect, but I will definitely try my best to do it myself.

What other children have, she wants her children to have too; what other children don't have, she also hopes her children will have.

"No, Mom, I'm worried you'll get tired."

"Don't worry, Mom isn't tired."

Seeing his mother pedaling hard ahead of him on her bicycle, the eldest child smiled. His mother was so good to him.

When we arrived at the exam venue, there were still many parents who had brought their children to take the exam.

After instructing her son to check the items one last time, Zhao Qinglan watched him walk inside.

“Big brother, don’t be nervous, Mom is waiting for you here,” she called out.

The eldest child turned around and smiled. "Mom, I'll make you proud of me." With that, the eldest child turned and left.

Many parents and students in the vicinity turned their attention to Zhao Qinglan.

Why is this kid suddenly getting all sentimental? He's made a mess of himself. Zhao Qinglan looked up at the sky.

Zhao Qinglan personally accompanied her son to every exam, and then took him home after the exam.

After finishing an exam, Zhao Qinglan wouldn't ask her son how it went; she would just quickly take him home for dinner and rest.

Even though her eldest child usually has excellent grades, she is afraid that asking too many questions will put pressure on her child.

During the days that her eldest child was taking exams, Zhao Qinglan completely ignored the shop's affairs.

Wu Mei and the others knew what she was busy with and wouldn't bother her.

It must be said that after the implementation of specific management systems and reward and punishment measures, the employees in the military and civilian stores have changed.

Wu Mei and several store managers also took on their due responsibilities.

This is the ideal state that Zhao Qinglan wants.

Although Li Huai continued to work in the army, he always kept his son's high school entrance exam in mind.

He felt somewhat guilty about not being able to be with his son, but thankfully he had a good wife.

He also called the military-civilian joint store during this time, but Zhao Qinglan never went to the store, and he couldn't talk to his wife either.

Xiao Duo and Erwa are also worried about their older brother's high school entrance exam.

"Sis, do you think our brother will do well on his high school entrance exam?"

Xiao Duo almost rolled her eyes at her younger brother. "You can talk, right? It'll definitely go smoothly."

The second brother, who had so much to say, could only look at his younger brother again. Then the third brother simply got up and left. The second brother…

The only good thing about Zhao Qinglan's mother not being home is that they can watch TV as they please without anyone interfering.

Finally, the eldest child finished his last exam.

When he came out of the examination room, Zhao Qinglan felt a great sense of relief. Being a parent is really not easy at all.

Afterwards, her eldest child had to take the college entrance exam, and several other children had to take the middle school and college entrance exams. She suddenly felt that having too many children wasn't so wonderful.

Since the exam results wouldn't be available anytime soon, Zhao Qinglan asked her son what his plans were for the future.

She has always respected the children's ideas.

After thinking for a moment, the eldest child said directly, "Mom, Cheng Tao said before that he was going back to his hometown after finishing his exams and wanted me to go with him."

Haishi, to be honest, Zhao Qinglan has never been there in her life.

"Just the two of you?"

The older child nodded. "My aunt and uncle still have to work, so Cheng Tao went back by himself."

"Big brother, let's talk about something."

Actually, Da Wa and Cheng Tao are not young anymore, but Zhao Qinglan is still worried about the two children traveling far away by car alone.

She's never been to Haishi in the 1980s either, so why don't we take the kids there together for a summer vacation?

At first, the eldest child thought that his mother wanted to go because she was worried about them, and immediately said that he could not go. But after seeing that his mother really wanted to go, he agreed.

Actually, he was a little unsure about going to Haishi alone with Cheng Tao.

No matter how mature he is, he has never traveled far from home alone.

Since Zhao Qinglan was also going, she took the opportunity to visit the Cheng family with her eldest child.

This can also be seen as a response to Cheng's mother's invitation last time.

Upon learning that she was also going to Haishi, the Cheng couple were overjoyed. In addition to inviting Zhao Qinglan to their home for a meal, they also gave her the contact information of many of their family members.

The Cheng family has lived in Haishi for many years. If Zhao Qinglan goes to Haishi and needs any help, the Cheng family, being a local power, would be a perfect fit.

Although Zhao Qinglan didn't necessarily intend to contact the Cheng family, she left their contact information, just in case, right?

After visiting the Cheng family, she and Da Wa returned to the provincial capital.

The family members who stayed behind were already overjoyed to see them return, and when they learned that they would be going to Haishi together in a few days, they were ecstatic.

Although they had visited big cities like Beijing several times, Shanghai still held a great attraction for them.

When Li Huai learned that his wife and children were going to Haishi together, and that his wife hadn't even included him in the trip, he felt a little uneasy.

"Let me talk to my boss, maybe I can go with you this time."

Hearing this, Zhao Qinglan wasn't particularly surprised and just nodded perfunctorily. "It's alright, if you can't get leave, you don't need to. I'll take the children."

Li Huai's face darkened even more. No, just because his wife said that, he was determined to go this time!

Why does it feel like he's becoming less and less of a presence in this family? No, he has to change this situation.