"Sister Hongmei, are you going to high school in the city?"

Do you want to go to university?

"So you're going to live in the city? Will you come back?"

"Hehe, I want to live in the city to go to high school, so of course I want to go to university."

"Sister Hongmei, I want to go to university in the future too."

“You are ambitious. Remember to study hard. I will be working when you go to university. If your family has any difficulties, I will pay for all your university expenses.”

Go home and tell your family that you're going to university.

"Understood, Sister Hongmei."

Liu Jingze returned on the ninth day of the twelfth lunar month.

Zhang Hongmei was telling the children a story when she saw Liu Jingze return, and she was quite puzzled.

"Jingze, you've finished your exams? Weren't you supposed to go to the provincial capital to take them?"

"Yes, the exam is over. I took it at school, not in the provincial capital."

"Judging from your performance, you must have done well on the exam, right?"

"There is no problem with Capital University."

"Hehe, Brother Jingze is just like his great-grandmother, so confident."

Some of the children recognized Liu Jingze, but most did not. They were all very reserved when they saw him, so Zhang Hongmei had no choice but to play the radio for them.

“Hongmei, I brought all my textbooks and notes with you. I can stay at home for ten days, and I'll help you go through all the key points. Also, you'll be adding a political class this year, and the teacher doesn't have a textbook yet, so the teacher cut out all the political news from the newspapers for me to bring to you.”

"I'm so touched, my teacher is so kind to me."

"From now on, you must watch the news every morning, noon, and evening. I'll figure out a way to get you the newspapers."

"Okay, I can ask a colleague at the post office about the newspaper. I helped him buy meat in our village last December. I wonder if he can help? I'll go to the county tomorrow to ask."

"Should I go with you?"

Zhang Hongmei wondered what he was going to do, but she didn't object. "Okay, we'll take the bus tomorrow."

"Are you finished talking? Shall we go back to my house together and I'll get the documents for you?"

"You can listen to the radio here, but you can't fight over station selections. You need to discuss it beforehand."

"We understand, Sister Hongmei," the children said in unison.

The two walked side by side toward the old lady's house, looking remarkably harmonious from behind.

The old lady smiled broadly when she saw the two of them come in together. "Hongmei, your aunt is making pancakes for Jingze. You can have some too."

"I'm not hungry. I'm not used to eating at this time of day."

"Just eat what I tell you to eat, you talk too much nonsense."

Zhang Hongmei helplessly shrugged at Liu Jingze.

Liu Jingze just smiled. He didn't want to offend either of them, so he just watched.

"Grandma, I brought back all the books and notes for Hongmei. Let's go to my room to get them."

"Go ahead, tell Hongmei about it while you're at home."

The two arrived at Liu Jingze's house. Unlike other people's houses, there was a large bookshelf filled with all kinds of books.

Seeing Zhang Hongmei drawn to the books, Liu Jingze smiled slightly and said, "You can read any of the books here."

Zhang Hongmei was a little embarrassed. "I was shocked. I didn't expect so many books."

"Come here, all the materials are here, and this is the newspaper clippings your teacher gave you. You need to look at them carefully."

"No problem, don't worry! Jingze, your handwriting is really beautiful."

"Your handwriting is even more beautiful. Come on, I won't go into detail about math and Chinese. I'll just show you the test paper from this exam. Look, this is what I wrote from memory. Do you want to try?"

"Okay. Let's do math first." Zhang Hongmei finished in forty minutes, and Liu Jingze watched with delight, nodding. "Hongmei, you can take the exam with me now, no problem at all."

"Forget it, I'll just do Chinese instead. I hate memorizing the most."

After finishing the exam in an hour, he handed it to Liu Jingze, saying, "Your Chinese isn't good; I'm not sure about a few questions."

"Your answer was a little worse than mine, but you should still get 90 points."

"You two come out to eat. Read your books after you finish eating."

The old lady called out to them from outside.

"Let's go, let's eat something together, otherwise Grandma will start nagging you again."

"Sure. Something good to eat is better than the cafeteria food."

There was a pancake with shredded radish and stir-fried eggs, and another dish of stir-fried pickled cabbage with chili peppers.

The three of them ate together. The old lady ate one pancake, Zhang Hongmei also ate one pancake, and the rest were given to Liu Jingze.

Liu Jingze didn't usually talk while eating, but he became more talkative when he was with the old lady. "Grandma, Hongmei is amazing. She'll definitely pass the exam this year if she takes it with me. Our scores will be neck and neck."

“Of course my Hongmei is fine. You spend all your time in school, and even after class you're still reading books. You're not as good as a girl who doesn't go to school and does farm work.”

"Yes, I am ashamed of myself."

"You two, that's enough. I'll get embarrassed and blush if you keep praising me like that."

"Give me a break, you think you'd be embarrassed?"

"Of course I'd be embarrassed, being a girl? That's really not endearing."

Liu Jingze sighed helplessly. How did things end up like this again, with them playfully teasing each other? But listening to their bickering was quite amusing; at least Tai Nai was very energetic.

After the meal, Zhang Hongmei helped clear the table, but the old lady refused, saying, "You never come here. Can't you stay with me a little longer?"

"You're really hard to please. I'm doing my homework in your room, and you're watching me, and you keep watching until you get annoyed with me, and that's not enough?"

"I don't need you, I need to take a nap. Hurry up and study, so you can look after Jingze when you go to the same university."

"Yes, Your Majesty! This servant takes his leave!"

"Strange thing!"

I spent an hour on history and geography, so I can only get 80 points.

"Hongmei, your humanities subjects are too weak. The good thing is you don't have to take geography anymore. You'd better work hard in your second year of high school."

"Well, I'd be quite satisfied with an 80. What's the admission score for Capital University?"

"Three hundred and seventy."

"That's quite high? But it's okay, I'm sure I can pass the exam."

"I'll be waiting for you in the capital."

"Sure. Let's look for a house near the school. If we can buy, we will; if not, we'll rent."

"You're quite wealthy, aren't you?"

"Yes, the one-time compensation is two thousand, plus the three thousand they left behind. Do you think I have enough money?"

"That's great! Don't worry, I'll help you find a place to live once you go to school."

I trust you to handle things!

"Thank you for your trust! I will certainly live up to your expectations!"

"Alright, I should go back now. I'll take all the books with me without being polite."

"Let's go, I'll take you. This book is quite heavy."

Having free labor was certainly a good thing, Zhang Hongmei happily followed Liu Jingze home.

The children dispersed when they saw Zhang Hongmei return.

After Liu Jingze left, Zhang Hongmei sorted out all the materials and sat on the doorstep reading. Liu Jingze's notes were extremely detailed, with all the key points highlighted.

I spent the whole afternoon reading.

After meeting for dinner, the two agreed to go to the county post office the next day.