Xie Yuyao looked at the white-haired, aged-faced old man, and her eyes welled up with tears. "Please take good care of yourself; dawn will come soon."
"Don't worry, I'm used to staying here, nothing will happen. When you're out and about, take good care of yourself, and do everything within your capabilities. If you really face the worst outcome, don't give up on yourself. Qingshan Village needs you very much," Old Sun earnestly advised.
"Yes, I will," Xie Yuyao replied solemnly.
That night, after dinner, the educated youth gathered in Xie Yuyao's main room in the backyard.
Facing her worried and reluctant teammates, Xie Yuyao joked, "What are you all doing? It's not like I'm not coming back."
"Are you going back to Beijing to ask your family for help in getting in touch with Zhao Honghui?" Bei Xiao asked, her words quick and to the point.
Xie Yuyao smiled slightly, "Let me see first, I'll know how to do it when I get there."
Ren Fei suggested, "You rarely do things without a plan. Why don't you call and inquire first? If there's hope, then go back, so you don't make a wasted trip."
“Yes, this train journey of dozens of hours is very grueling,” Wu Lihong agreed.
Xie Yuyao shook her head. "I already have a train ticket and I'm leaving tomorrow. Since everyone's here, I'll say a few words that's been on my mind."
The room fell silent instantly.
"Since the collapse of the Digital Gang, the gloom that had been hanging over us has gradually dissipated, and justice and truth have begun to shine."
"In recent years, there have been more and more rumors about the resumption of the college entrance examination. As the saying goes, there is no smoke without fire. I hope everyone can be prepared to go to the examination room at any time."
"To put it bluntly, your current jobs are only temporary. Getting into university through the college entrance examination is the most important thing. If anyone feels unsure, I would suggest that they find an easier job that takes less time, or even take a leave of absence to attend high school in the county town, or hire a tutor."
If history doesn't follow the same trajectory, the suggestion to reinstate the college entrance examination will be proposed at the national work conference this August. And just a few months later, students will be taking the exam.
Xie Yuyao wasn't sure when she would be able to return, nor did she know if she would be able to take the exam. However, she hoped that the other educated youth with the same goal would be fully prepared so as not to be caught off guard.
Although they haven't put down their textbooks in recent years, their schedules are no longer as consistent as when they were working in the fields. They each have different responsibilities, and sometimes when they get busy, they might forget about this most important thing.
Therefore, Xie Yuyao went to great lengths to ensure that they would keep this in mind. The more prepared they were, the more options they would have. At this stage, the college entrance examination has become almost the only bridge for ordinary working-class people to reach the other side of their dreams.
This served as a wake-up call for Li Weidong. Since taking on the role of director of the dried fruit factory, he had devoted himself entirely to the business and had long since forgotten about his studies.
Although he has a high starting point in his current job, he is still an outsider. As long as he doesn't get married and have children locally, his position will be difficult to secure.
After becoming the factory manager, many locals tried to set him up with potential partners, but he refused them all. While Xie Yuyao played a part, deep down he still preferred to return to a big city to develop his career.
The National College Entrance Examination (NCEE) is an extremely important way to return to the city.
Xie Yuyao added, "There's another idea: set up a high school tutoring class in Qingshantun, and invite Professor Feng and Teacher Chen to be tutors, specifically for those with a junior high school education or above to tutor them in high school knowledge. Do you think that's necessary?"
"Yes! We desperately need it!" Li Weidong immediately agreed. "If it can be established, not only people from our Qingshan Village, but also educated youth from other production brigades might come for tutoring."
"Then you should have a good talk with the brigade leader tomorrow. The work that Professor Feng and Teacher Chen are doing can be done by pooling money to hire someone. You can also subtly tell the brigade leader and Secretary Liu about the college entrance examination. I think they will support you."
As everyone was leaving, Xie Yuyao asked Li Weidong to stay for a moment.
During the day, she sorted out the books she had collected in the commune, county town, and city over the past few years.
After Yang Shumei picked through the remaining items, the rest were put into sacks and placed in the corner of the main room.
Now, Xie Yuyao pointed to the sack and said to Li Weidong, "This contains books related to high school subjects that I have collected in recent years. If the tutoring class is established, you can choose one and give it to Professor Feng and his wife. If it is not established, you can arrange them all. Just one thing: these books are hard-earned, and I hope they can be used as much as possible through borrowing and copying, and not given away casually."
Li Weidong was deeply moved by Xie Yuyao's trust and kindness: "Don't worry, I'll make all the arrangements. I hope your trip goes smoothly and you return soon."
On the way back, Li Weidong's heart was pounding: Zhao Honghui, Yaoyao has gone to so much trouble for you, you absolutely must come back alive. Otherwise, I want to take your place and take care of her for the rest of my life!
Having once been down on his luck, he knew he couldn't compare to Zhao Honghui and lacked the confidence to provide Xie Yuyao with a better life, so he personally extinguished his own hopes. At that time, he never imagined that Zhao Honghui would one day be in danger. If he frequently took risks, how could Yaoyao feel at ease?
If he hadn't backed down back then, perhaps Yao Yao wouldn't be where she is today!
Seeing the once cheerful and outgoing girl suddenly shrouded in sorrow, Li Weidong was filled with regret.
*
In the early morning, a light drizzle began to fall.
As soon as Xie Yuyao opened the door, she saw that the fine rain was like a vast net, falling from the clouds all the way to the ground.
After she finished washing up, she ate breakfast without any appetite, and then Yang Shumei came over to help her pack.
The two had just started chatting when Wu Lihong's voice rang out from outside the courtyard gate.
It turned out that she and Li Weidong had come to bring Xie Yuyao some food for the journey.
Once inside, the two put away their umbrellas. Wu Lihong said, "You left in a hurry, so we only had time to prepare these things. We hope you don't mind."
"How could that be?" Xie Yuyao smiled and took the bag, finding that it contained several multigrain pancakes, as well as pastries, candies, biscuits and other snacks.
The other bag was heavy, filled with fruits such as apples, oranges, pears, and nectarines, presumably purchased by the dried fruit factory as raw materials.
Not long after, Yu's mother and Yu Wenjiang arrived, bringing fine grain pancakes, white flour steamed buns, and beef jerky. Yu's mother smiled and said, "Take these to eat on the road, and be careful."
Upon seeing this, Xie Yuyao hurriedly said, "That's too much! I still have food that the educated youth gave me; I can't eat that much."
These were clearly items beyond Yu Jia's means of consumption, and Xie Yuyao didn't want to accept them all.
But since Mother Yu had already brought it, she wouldn't take it home. Yao Yao was a great benefactor to their family; these things were nothing to them.
Yu's mother said, "You're a young lady traveling alone on the train for so long, it must be boring. If you really can't eat, share some with the kind-looking person next to you, so we can look out for each other."
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