Yu Hongyuan stood at the door, hesitant to step in.

After Shen Mo left, he had been concerned about Shen Mo's news. He had never expected that his daughter, who had been living in the countryside, would be admitted to the Medical University of Japan.

Yu Hongyuan hesitated for a moment, but ultimately did not go in.

Just like Shen Mo said last time, he is no longer qualified.

Ever since Xia Wanfen took the children away last time, he felt that the children were innocent no matter what, so he went to apologize to his wife and daughter, and then took them back.

However, he lost his iron rice bowl and became estranged from Xia Wanfen.

When she got home, Yu Shanshan was disappointed. "I thought I did well in the exam, so why..."

Xia Wanfen comforted her: "If you can't pass the exam, then you can't pass it. You are not young anymore. You should find a reliable man to marry. It's just that your father is not doing his job well. Now he has lost his job. Our family can't find a reliable man for you."

The hustle and bustle of the Fang family courtyard in the district compound isolated Yu Hongyuan.

He stood in the shadow of the wall behind the door, listening to the bursts of laughter and congratulations coming from inside. In the end, he just sighed deeply, turned around and left with heavy steps.

The glory that belonged to Chen Mo, the joy that he could have enjoyed but was pushed away, now pierced his heart like a needle.

He thought of Shen Mo's clear yet distant eyes, and the words "You are not qualified", every word was clear.

He was hunched over, and his silhouette stretched out in the setting sun, looking particularly lonely.

Push open the slightly old door of your house.

Yu Shanshan was lying on the table, her shoulders shaking slightly and her suppressed sobs coming out intermittently.

There was a piece of paper spread out on the table. It was her college entrance examination transcript. The number on it was just short of the admission score.

Xia Wanfen sat on a stool nearby, her face gloomy enough to drip water from it. She was mending an old piece of clothing in her hand.

Seeing Yu Hongyuan come in, she didn't even raise her eyelids, and her cold voice was like ice chips:

"Where are you going? Have you found your job? I haven't seen you all day."

Yu Hongyuan's already depressed mood was further stung by these words. He opened his mouth to refute, but found that he didn't even have the energy to argue. He could only say sullenly, "Say less."

Xia Wanfen dropped the needle and thread in her hand. "Say less? Why should I say less? Yu Hongyuan, if you weren't incompetent and hadn't lost your stable job, would we have to endure this humiliation? I raised my daughter with all my heart, spent so much money on her education, and what's the result? She can't even get into the worst normal school! It's a complete disgrace!"

"Mom..." Yu Shanshan raised her head, her face crisscrossed with tears and her eyes red and swollen.

"I... I thought I did okay on the test. I answered all the questions correctly... Who knew... Who knew the score cutoff was so high..."

Xia Wanfen sneered, "Alright? You call that alright? What's alright about it? What's so alright about not even getting into university? I think you have high aspirations but a fragile life! Just like your worthless father!"

"If I can't pass the exam, then I can't pass! What's the big deal? University isn't the only way out. I... I'm young, well-educated, and not bad looking. Mom, you're right. I should find a reliable partner."

Xia Wanfen was stunned for a moment, clearly not expecting her daughter to suddenly turn to this topic. "Partner? What kind of person are you looking for? With the current situation at home, your dad is just a freeloader. Who from a well-off family would be interested in us?"

Yu Shanshan raised her head slightly. "With my conditions, of course I have to find someone good. At least... at least a cadre, a civil servant who gets paid by the government! Working in an office, respectable and stable. I'm educated and well-educated, so I'm worthy of such a family. Mom, can you ask someone to tell me if there's anyone suitable in our compound, or in your family?"

Xia Wanfen fell silent. Although her daughter's words were spoken in a fit of anger, they were also a way forward.

Find a good husband-in-law family, so that my daughter will have someone to rely on for the rest of her life.

"My dad is my dad, and I am me! I'm not bad! I'm handsome, I've never done rough labor, I have fair skin, and I have a high school diploma! In this whole compound, how many girls my age are better than me? I can even speak Russian fluently!"

Xia Wanfen gritted her teeth and said, "Okay, Mom will ask someone to ask for you, but Shanshan, you have to understand that our family is not the same as before. Your dad is not working and the family is in a tight spot.

If someone is really that well-off, they'll start picking her out, considering the dowry, family reputation... all of which are important. Don't be picky when the time comes, just do what you want!"

"I know you can rest assured. As long as she's a good person and behaves decently, I'll definitely treat her well. When I marry into a good family, we'll see who dares to laugh at us!"

"Well, at least he's more promising than your father."

Yu Hongyuan opened his mouth, thinking that his daughter was still young and there was really no need for her to get married so early.

"Shanshan, you can still take the college entrance examination tomorrow, so try again." He pushed up his glasses and said.

"Take the test again, and it'll cost me another round. What if I fail again? I don't want to be like you, living at home and eating free meals."

Yu Shanshan looked down on her cowardly father.

These words stabbed Yu Hongyuan's heart like a knife. He froze in mid-air while trying to push up his glasses, his face pale.

The naked disdain in his daughter's eyes made him feel even more ashamed than Xia Wanfen's scolding.

He opened his mouth, but in the end he just lowered his head dejectedly, his shoulders slumped, and he retreated into the shadow of the corner in complete silence.

Xia Wanfen snorted coldly, ignoring Hongyuan's embarrassment and taking her daughter's words at face value:

"That's right! Shanshan is right! We can't afford to waste time. Your dad's condition now..."

She glanced at Yu Hongyuan and said sarcastically, "If it weren't for my brothers from my mother's family who helped me out from time to time, we wouldn't even have enough to eat porridge! As for the future of this family, I have the final say!"

Xia Wanfen's brothers are quite well-connected, but when things get to this point, she can only rely on her mother's family.

As for the friends that Yu Shanshan had made reluctantly in the past, she now wanted to make some more friends and ask them to introduce some reliable men.

One of them is Fang Xiaojing.

Although I had less contact with Fang Xiaojing later, her husband worked in the Grain Management Office and her father was the director of the office.

Yu Shanshan thought of her first.