Chapter 95

The trade fair was very lively and bustling with people. Dozens of booths were displaying all kinds of products. Three employees from the Hongqi Fan Factory in City D had just put four fans in place when they saw the director coming over.

"Director Sun, take a look, is this place in good condition?" The young man named Jiang Zhiming saw the director of his factory coming over and hurriedly took credit, "The three of us worked really hard to get it fixed."

"You are the poorest." Director Sun glanced at him.

The two young female comrades Niu Lili and Qiu Cuiping standing nearby also smiled.

The Hongqi Fan Factory in City D is a small state-owned factory that started late. Fortunately, thanks to the concerted efforts of all the factory staff, it has achieved considerable success in recent years.

Small factories like this were not originally invited to this trade fair, but Director Sun used several connections to get a spot and came with three young employees.

"Someone will come and ask you to perform well. I heard that experts from Country D will come the day after tomorrow and we need to learn from them. If you perform well, I will pay for you to eat at the state-owned hotel."

"Okay!"

"Thank you Director 1"

Rewarding people for eating well is naturally inspiring, and Niu Lili and Qiu Cuiping should also be good.

After a while, some people came to the Hongqi fan factory, asked how to use it, and felt the wind force and speed.

Jian Lu and Cai Xiujuan watched the excitement in front of the washing machine display for a while, and then walked inside. Cai Xiujuan was curious about everything. Now that her wallet was full, she wanted to buy one of each.

"I just don't have industrial coupons." At this point, Cai Xiujuan remembered that some people bought things on the black market, but she was always unwilling to do so. "If I were brave enough, I would buy them on the black market."

"You're being cautious, which is a good thing." Jian Lu knew that Cai Xiujuan, thinking of her daughter, definitely didn't want anything to happen to her, lest the child be left without support.

"Hey, there's a fan factory over there, let's go take a look." Cai Xiujuan became interested again when she saw a few small fans a few meters ahead, "I've never used a fan before."

"Okay, let's go take a look."

The two continued walking forward, and just as they were about to reach the fan display stand, they suddenly heard a commotion behind them, even mixed with English.

Jian Lu turned around curiously first, and saw two foreigners and some people who looked like trade fair staff were communicating about something.

"What's going on?" Cai Xiujuan didn't understand, but she knew that two blond-haired and blue-eyed foreigners were chattering.

Jian Lu overheard that one of the foreigners said that his invitation letter was lost. Could it be that these two people were the owners of the watch?

"Let's go and take a look!" Maybe there really is a chance.

Jian Lu took Cai Xiujuan back and walked to the gate of the trade fair. A group of people had already gathered there. Because the two foreigners did not have a translator and none of the staff at the trade fair knew English, both sides were talking at cross purposes.

"Comrade, you can't come in without an invitation." The staff at the trade fair were impartial and did not show any leniency because we were foreigners.

However, these two foreigners could not understand Chinese at all.

Jian Lu looked at the two foreigners, a man and a woman, who should be a couple. The woman rummaged through her exquisite handbag for a long time and repeated in English that her invitation letter was missing.

Seeing that no one on the other side understood her, she became even more dejected and talked to the man next to her.

——"Did you fall on the train, dear? Oh no, we are so unlucky."

——"Oh, Darling, maybe it's just like your poor watch, left on the train or somewhere." The man shrugged and prepared to go out. "I'll go out and call Mr. Yang. After all, he invited us here."

——"Go ahead, dear."

Watch? Invitation?

Jian Lu was now certain that these two people were the owners of the watch picked up by Kong Liu, and they were also Sam and Mary who appeared on the invitation letter.

Jian Lu took a few steps forward, called the two of them, greeted them in standard English, and then took out a watch, a booklet and a pen from her bag.

The foreign woman Mary recognized the watch in Jian Lu's hand at a glance. It was the watch she had lost more than a week ago.

She tried to ask the woman in front of her in Chinese, but this time she only said hello and thank you. Jian Lu still saw her confusion and took the initiative to explain her origins.

The foreign woman was surprised that Jian Lu could speak English. When she heard her talk about the watch and the invitation letter and how the money was left at the guesthouse where she and her husband had stayed more than a week ago, she suddenly realized what was going on.

——"So that's it. We thought the watch had fallen on the train. Oh, dear, thank you very much for helping me buy this watch back. You know, this is a gift for my husband and I on our tenth wedding anniversary. It means a lot to us."

Noticing the strange expression on the man's face, the foreign woman tilted her head and looked at Jian Lu with a smile on her face. "Well, as you can see, it means a lot to me. My husband doesn't have many romantic cells."

Obviously, Mr. Sam was more concerned about the invitation letter in Jian Lu's hand. After thanking her, he took the invitation letter and showed it to the staff of the trade fair. The staff then agreed and asked Jian Lu to help translate and explain that the two of them could enter.

"Mr. Sam, Ms. Mary, the staff of the trade show said they are glad that you have found your invitation letter. They are sorry for the misunderstanding just now, but they are just doing their job and hope you can understand."

"Oh, of course, this might not be a good thing." Sam smiled at them.

Mary took out a big group of coin from her bag and wanted to return it to Jian Lu. She and her husband had exchanged for a big group of coin when they came to China, which made it easier to buy. She expressed her gratitude again, "Dear Ms. Jian Lu, thank you for your help. I hope you will accept this money."

"You're welcome. It's a piece of cake." Jian Lu only took ten big group notes and put the rest of the money back. "This is exactly the price for buying the watch back."

They exchanged a few more pleasantries, and Mary and Jian Lu had a great time chatting about everything from college to their daughter. They had a lot of common topics until Sam next to them urged them to leave. Mary said goodbye with regret this time.

"We are staying at the Red Star Guesthouse and will be at the trade show for the next few days. If you need any help, you can come to me. It's nice to meet you."

Jian Lu didn't mention what she needed help with, but just said, "I wish you a pleasant trip to the trade fair."

"The same to you."

After finishing her work, Cai Xiujuan watched the two foreigners leave, and then she whispered to Jian Lu, "Lulu, why didn't you tell him that we sell pearls?"

Cai Xiujuan thought, didn’t Jian Lu want to do business with foreigners before? This was a good opportunity.

"No hurry. If we say it directly now, it will seem too deliberate. People may think our purpose is too obvious. Besides, whether we can make a deal depends on fate. It's good to leave a good impression. Everything is difficult at the beginning. Let's take the first step first."

"What you said makes sense." Cai Xiujuan thought about it and decided that she shouldn't be too hasty.

Because of this matter, they were delayed for some time. It was almost noon and the two had made an appointment with Yang Binghua to have dinner. They wanted to inquire more about the situation of the pearl booth, so they turned around and walked out and met someone at the entrance of the trade fair.

At the dinner table, Yang Binghua listened to Cai Xiujuan excitedly talking about the origins of Jian Lu and the two foreigners, and then pondered their names.

"Sam and Mary..." Yang Binghua recalled what his colleagues at the institute had said, "Sam seems to be from a jewelry company in Country R. I didn't expect you guys have this connection with them."

"Jewelry company?" Cai Xiujuan and Jian Lu didn't expect it to be such a coincidence. They originally thought that the two were foreign businessmen, but now they are professional counterparts!

In the afternoon, Jian Lu and Cai Xiujuan did not go to the trade fair, but followed Yang Binghua to meet their colleagues from the research institute. They talked about the technical issues of pearl cultivation for a while and each gained a lot.

On the second day of the trade fair, the two went to join in the fun and see some of the fabric factory's exhibits, and then went to their own booth in the afternoon.

On the third day of the trade fair, Jian Lu and Cai Xiujuan stood in front of the pearl booths assigned to them. Cai Xiujuan placed the pearls on a beautiful jade plate. The bottom of the white jade plate was printed with light green patterns, which wrapped around the pearls, which were sparkling and had a faint luster.

On the other side, Jian Lu was posting the brand logo, which she had drawn in the past few days and then cut out when it arrived. It was interesting to look at because of its fine workmanship and good painting skills.

After working on the brand logo, Jian Lu also came to help with the pearl display.

In addition to the jade plate, she and Cai Xiujuan also prepared velvet boxes. In each box was placed a carefully selected, brightly colored pearl of the finest quality. The white pearl was as smooth as jade, and against the dark blue velvet cloth, it looked even more dazzling.

The three pearl booths that came to the exhibition this time were arranged in one place. They were the Jinbu Pearl Farm in E City, the Qianjin Pearl Farm in F City, and the Jiefang Pearl Farm owned by Cai Xiujuan and her colleagues in H City.

Jian Lu's booth was the one at the back. The other two booths simply used boxes to pack a bunch of pearls. The pearls were of good quality, but they were placed too randomly.

Many people were walking around the trade fair, visiting one store after another. Several representatives from medical stores looked at the pearls from City E, praised them, and continued walking inside. The pearls from City F were not much different from those from City E, except for the average quality. As they walked, they saw the third pearl booth and their eyes lit up.

"Comrade, your pearls are beautiful."

The pearls from other stores looked good, but when I suddenly saw the display stand that Jian Lu and her team had carefully decorated, I felt that the pearls seemed more beautiful.

"Comrade, our pearls are cultivated at the Jiefang Pearl Farm in H City. They are of good quality and large in size. You can take a look."

Jian Lu knows that the quality of everyone's pearls is similar, but sometimes what is needed is packaging, which can make the difference.

Sure enough, those people had never seen such exquisite pearl packaging, and their attention was immediately attracted. They took the pearls and looked around, and it seemed that it was better than those of other brands.

"Comrades, don't be fooled. This is a small place, unlike us, which has been a time-honored brand for many years." Song Qinghe, director of the E City Jinbu Pearl Farm, came over and started to criticize the representatives in front of them.

"This little place only knows how to do some fancy things, but they are not very useful. Sometimes the things are not good and nothing works no matter how hard you try." Song Qinghe spoke with great force.

"Comrade, we are all pearl farmers, why are you still talking bad about us?" Cai Xiujuan got angry and turned to introduce the pearls in her farm to others, "Comrade, you can see what our pearls look like, there is no bad one, look at the color and the head, how shiny it is."

"What did I say wrong? It is like that." Song Qinghe took a glance and saw that the pearls in this small farm were well-raised, especially when displayed like this, which made people unable to take their eyes off them. He was worried that these representatives would place orders with them and buy pearls in large quantities to make pearl powder, and his own factory would suffer a loss.

"Comrades, the difference between large and small sites is very important. If the production volume cannot keep up and the workers' skills are not good enough, the pearls we can produce for you will not be very good."

"Hey, how can you talk like that?" Cai Xiujuan had never seen such a shameless person who actually came to her own booth to cause trouble.

"That's right. How can a small workshop like yours have any security?"

He Jun, who was entering the pearl farm next door, also came over to help Song Qinghe, "Yes, Director Song is right. When placing orders for business, you must choose professionals with good quality. Look at how many of us have come. All of them are skilled. Comrade, they have two female comrades here. It's obvious that they want to deceive people."

Song Qinghe glanced at He Jun. For the first time, the two rivals reached a consensus in each other's eyes that they could not let the small workshops of the three parties steal the limelight.

The Jinjin and Jinbu pearl farms have been competing with each other for many years and regarded each other as competitors, but now they are unable to unite against the outside world.

Jian Lu stopped Cai Xiujuan who wanted to go up to argue, took out a brochure from the back of the booth and handed it to a few people, "Comrades, you can take a look. This is the introduction of our pearl farm and the introduction of various types of pearls. I believe it will allow you to feel the professionalism of our pearl farm."

Jian Lu had also asked Cai Xiujuan to prepare the well-made brochure. Jian Lu had drawn the main design and sent it to Cai Xiujuan, who then took the manuscript to a printing factory for printing and publication.

A few people were about to start arguing when they got confused. What was the brochure? It was made in the shape of a clam. Opening the brochure was like opening a clam. The cover page was a picture of pearls. All the pictures were taken by Jian Lu with a camera, and she specially made the composition and design.

Several medical representatives nodded frequently as they flipped through the brochure. They had not expected that a small farm could do things so meticulously and creatively. It included an introduction to the technical training of female clam farmers and photos of them at work, as well as an introduction to the work of female pearl extractors. Basically, all aspects of pearl cultivation were displayed.

"Comrades, you guys are doing a great job. After reading this brochure, I feel that although your site is small in scale and started a little late, it is still quite standard."

Song Qinghe, who was standing nearby, got anxious when he heard someone say this, "You want to set the standard based on just this crappy book?"

He Jun glanced at it, his eyes flashing with surprise, but he didn't spare anyone's words, "What's the point of making some brochures? You still have to look at more practical things."

"Comrade, they are doing a good job. I have seen their pearls and they are not inferior to yours." A medical representative could not stand it any more.

"No, comrade, you just said you were going to place an order with us."

"How about this, let's discuss it. You can all write down the field's phone number and give it to me. We'll call them after we've thought it through."

"Okay." Cai Xiujuan reacted very quickly and took out a square business card. This was also what Jian Lu asked her to prepare in advance. She didn't expect it to come in handy.

Song Qinghe and He Jun had no choice but to go back to get paper and pen to write down the phone number, then go back and come back again before handing it over.

The medical representative left. They had large orders to place and could not make a decision quickly. Jian Lu was not in a hurry and just asked Cai Xiujuan to rest for a while.

"This time we came here mainly to raise awareness, so that more people can know more routes. We can also visit other booths and give out business cards to people later."

Cai Xiujuan responded and hurriedly went to visit the surrounding booths with the business card. They chatted for a few minutes and praised each other's exhibits in a very friendly manner.

When she came back, Cai Xiujuan saw two foreigners standing in front of her booth. They were Sam and Mary whom she had seen the day before.

She couldn't read English, so Jian Lu probably taught her her name, and Cai Xiujuan could pronounce it almost like this.

When she went over to listen, she found that Jian Lu and the two parties were both talking in a gibberish that was hard to understand. Not only did she not understand, but the people from Jinbu and Qianjin Pearl Farm also came over and neither of them understood.

Just now, when they saw Director Yang, who was in charge of the trade fair, personally accompanying the two foreigners and showing them around, they knew that the two men were not ordinary people.

"What did they say?"

"I don't know. I don't understand."

Song Qinghe and He Jun were completely confused and went to the translator, "Comrade, please translate for me."

Fang Minghai was the translator hired by the trade fair director for Sam and Mary. Because of the trouble the day before yesterday, he had been following them closely for the past two days.

But why does he translate for others?

"They can understand each other when they speak, so who should I translate for?"

Song Qinghe clapped his hands on his chest, "We."

Fang Minghai was speechless and ignored them.

Song Qinghe and He Jun watched as the owner of the small pearl farm had a pleasant conversation with the two foreigners. Suddenly, the exhibition director next to them spoke something in Chinese, which they understood.

"Comrade Jian Lu, I have to thank you for helping me find the invitation letter the day before yesterday. Otherwise, it would have easily caused misunderstandings."

Jian Lu was naturally polite, "Director Yang, don't say that, it's just a matter of convenience."

Then, several people started chattering incomprehensible words. Song Qinghe and He Jun were confused. Just as they were about to look for the translator again, they saw Jian Lu handing a business card to the foreigner and showing them the pearl.

Jian Lu naturally knew that it was difficult to do business with foreigners, so she introduced it in English.

"This is our most beautiful pearl, with a beautiful name."

Mary became interested. "What's the name?"

Jian Lu introduced the pearls in the velvet box to them, "This kind of pearl is called Emerald Tears. Legend has it that thousands of years ago, a newly married couple lived by a lake. They loved each other very much. Later, the husband became seriously ill, and they had no money to see a doctor. Seeing that the husband was dying, the wife cried in front of him all day long and was almost going to die with him."

"Oh my God, this is such a sad story." Mary was moved and her face was full of regret.

Jian Lu changed the subject, "One day, the tears shed by his wife turned into pearls, which fell to the ground one by one, making crisp sounds. The pearls were round and plump, and extremely beautiful. His wife took the pearls to the market to sell them for money, and then she invited a doctor to come back to see the patient. Just like that, her husband's illness was cured, and the couple lived happily together again."

"Wow." Mary exclaimed, "That's really amazing. Your country is really mysterious. There is such a story."

Mary looked down at the pearls in the velvet box again. They really seemed to look like tears and were suddenly different from the other pearls.

Fang the translator translated Jian Lu's story to the director, and naturally others also heard it.

"What's the point? Do you still want to sell pearls to foreigners?"

"That's not enough, can that person buy it?"

Song Qinghe and He Jun thought about this and were not willing to be outdone. Since the person who could have the director accompany him must be very important, they had to fight for it. They both brought their own pearls over to show them to others.

This time, Fang's translator helped tell the two people the purpose of their visit, but Mary showed no interest.

Mary asked the translator to convey, "Ask them if their pearls have nice names and special stories?"

Song Qinghe and He Jun were both stunned after hearing the translation. "What else can a pearl be called? And what story can it have?"

They were also completely confused by what Jian Lu said just now.

The translator answered truthfully. Mary shrugged her shoulders and said nothing. She turned to her husband and praised him, "My dear, I think this pearl is the most beautiful pearl I have ever seen. It would be great if you could make it into a necklace or a bracelet. It would be a perfect gift for our 20th wedding anniversary. How romantic."

Sam also found the story interesting, especially since his wife liked it so much, so he decided, "Okay, let's buy some first."

A group of people watched Sam and Jian Lu talking, and Mo Ming started taking out paper and pen and writing something.

The exhibition director did not understand and asked the translator, "What is this for?"

The translator answered truthfully, "Mr. Sam said he wanted to buy a batch of pearls called Emerald Tears, of the best quality, and the price [see novel: this novel is so good] is three times the current domestic pearl purchase price."

Song Qinghe: ???

He Jun???

What was even more shocking was Cai Xiujuan. How could she suddenly start doing business with foreigners and even pay a high price? !

After the group of people left, Cai Xiujuan was still holding her chest and gasping for breath, "Lulu, did the foreigners really buy our pearls?"

Jian Lu smiled and said, "Yes! An order worth two hundred thousand."

This is a huge sum of money. She is not only happy about this order, but also that as long as she gets started, there will be plenty of opportunities in the future.

"Oh my God, is it that simple?" Cai Xiujuan muttered, her hands shaking. "But I don't know what you just said about emerald tears and stories from thousands of years ago. Where did you hear them from? We don't have emerald tears."

Jian Lu curled her lips, moved closer to her, and answered softly, "I made it up."

The quality of everyone is similar, and even the pearl cultivation technology abroad is more advanced, so our own pearls need additional packaging.

For foreigners, fantasy and beautiful love stories with an oriental touch of mystery are very attractive.

Ms. Mary is a good example.

"When the time comes, you will go back and personally supervise the selection of pearls. This is the critical moment for our first release, and the quality must not go wrong."

"Okay, okay, don't worry! I'll keep an eye on it." Cai Xiujuan had never sold pearls to be made into necklaces. Before, they were all ground into powder for medicinal purposes. The requirements for appearance of the two are definitely different.

When Song Qinghe and He Jun heard that this small place had signed an order worth two hundred thousand in a short time, they were so shocked that their eyes almost popped out. Just as they were about to go over, they were glared at by Cai Xiujuan and driven away.

After signing the order, Jian Lu still had to check the contract details with others, so she took a pen and paper and started to list the points to note in the contract. Foreigners are shrewd and she didn't want to be let down.

I was writing and drawing when suddenly a few strangers came over.

"Comrade, your English is very good." Jiang Zhiming and several colleagues had just watched the excitement from a distance. When they saw the female comrade at the pearl booth talking fluently with two foreigners, they could not help but marvel at it.

Wait until most people have left before coming over.

"Comrade, who are you?"

"We are also participating in this exhibition, from the Hongqi Fan Factory in City D."

When Jian Lu heard the word D City, she looked over reflexively. Qiu Cuiping was from D City. She had been talking about it a lot recently and was a little sensitive to this place name. However, this was Z City, so there was no need to be surprised.

Before she could reply, this enthusiastic and cheerful gay man began to introduce himself.

"My name is Jiang Zhiming, and this is my colleague Niu Lili and Qiu Cuiping. We would like to ask you for a favor. Can you help us look at the English manual of the fan?"

After hearing what Jiang Zhiming said, Jian Lu didn't react at first. After about one or two seconds, she stood up straight and looked at the two female comrades beside him.

A young female comrade, who looked to be in her early twenties, looked very fresh and did not look like someone who had been sent to the countryside as an educated youth for a few years. There was another female comrade standing quietly next to her, who looked gentle and easy-going, but her eyes had a sense of peace that showed a sense of experience.

Jian Lu took one look at her and was certain in her heart that this person was Qiu Cuiping.

"Are you Comrade Qiu Cuiping?"

Qiu Cuiping originally came with Jiang Zhiming and the others to seek help. The three people in front watched Jian Lu talking to two foreigners. She spoke fluent English and her pronunciation was impeccable. She recalled her own study days. When she heard that the college entrance examination was resumed, she also studied hard, but unfortunately...

When she heard that the person was a college student, Qiu Cuiping became even more envious.

"Yes, hello."

"What are these three words? Can you write them for me?"

Qiu Cuiping was confused, but she did as she was told.

Qiu Cuiping didn't know why the female comrade asked her alone, so she repeated what Jiang Zhiming said.

Jian Lu didn't answer their questions and asked, "Where are you from? Have you ever been an educated youth in the countryside?"

Qiu Cuiping was even more confused. Why did this person suddenly ask these questions? However, this female comrade was beautiful and her eyes were full of kindness. She also told him frankly, "My hometown is City A, and I was an educated youth in City D."

Jian Lu nodded and finally asked her, "Have you taken the college entrance examination in 1977?"

When talking about the college entrance examination in 1977, this is the biggest pain in Qiu Cuiping's heart. A trace of panic flashed in her eyes. This is the helplessness of having her scar mentioned. However, she still said softly, "Yes, but I didn't do well in the exam and didn't get into college."

"Which university did you choose to attend?"

Qiu Cuiping reluctantly said, "H is big."

This was a place she could no longer dream of.

"Qiu Cuiping had excellent grades. I heard that she was always one of the best in high school. We all wondered why she didn't pass the exam. It was really strange." Jiang Zhiming jumped out to speak up for her.

When Jian Lu heard Qiu Cuiping talking in a low voice, she was surprised to find that all the information matched. She was about to blurt out something, but then she found that there were many people here talking nonsense, so she swallowed her words for the time being and took the person to a corner.

=

Jiang Zhiming felt very strange. His factory had come to seek help, but why did the female comrade named Jian Lu take Qiu Cuiping away instead?

Two strangers who met for the first time actually had to whisper to each other?

Jian Lu and Qiu Cuiping were standing in a corner of the trade fair at this time. There was no one within a few meters, so Jian Lu gave her a vaccination first.

"Comrade Qiu Cuiping, what I am about to say may be a little bizarre, but everything is suspicious. If you want to find peace of mind for yourself, you can give it a try."

"Ah? Comrade Jian Lu, what are you talking about? I don't understand."

"I am a student at H University. My roommate in the dormitory is named Qiu Cuiping."

"What?" Qiu Cuiping's pupils dilated and her lips parted slightly, as if she couldn't believe what she had just heard. "There's someone with the same name as me at H University?"

"It's not just the same name." Jian Lu explained to her one by one, "My roommate Qiu Cuiping's file information says that she is from City A and went to Songyuan County, City D as an educated youth. Later, she took the college entrance examination in 1978 and scored 506 points to enter H University."

Every word was like a bolt from the blue. At first she thought it was a coincidence. It seemed perfect that someone with the same name was studying in her dream school.

But after hearing what happened, Qiu Cuiping couldn't believe her ears. "Why, why is this happening?"

It's possible to have the same name, but how could there be someone with the same life trajectory as me?

Jian Lu held her hand and said, "It's possible that she impersonated you and came to study at H University."

"Impersonation?" Qiu Cuiping had never heard of such a word before. "How is it possible? How could someone do such a thing?"

Qiu Cuiping told Jian Lu that when she learned that the college entrance examination was resumed, she worked in the countryside while staying up late to study. She had always had good grades and was one of the best in her class. More importantly, this was her only chance to return to the city, and she wanted to go back.

After the college entrance examination, she estimated her score to be around 490 to 500, and applied to H University. However, Qiu Cuiping, who originally thought she had a good chance, never received the admission letter.

She went to the commune to inquire every day, and took leave to go to the county post office to inquire, but was always told that she did not have her admission letter. She could only keep comforting herself, thinking that perhaps the admission letters were issued slowly and had not arrived yet. Good things take time, so there was no need to worry.

It was not until September, when she heard that all major universities across the country had already started the new semester, that she finally realized that she had failed the entrance exam and had not even been admitted to her third choice.

Unwilling to give up, Qiu Cuiping went to the Education Bureau to check her college entrance examination scores, but was driven away by a fat director who only gave her a score slip of more than 200 points.

"More than 200 points?" Jian Lu thought about the appearance of Qiu Cuiping in the dormitory. It was reasonable for her to get more than 200 points in the college entrance examination.

"Yes, I have confidence in myself. I really estimated that my score would be around 500. I don't understand why I only got over 200 points."

"Did you go to the Education Bureau to ask? Or call the H University Admissions Office?"

"I don't know. I was thinking about this score at that time. I went to the Education Bureau in our county three or four times. Every time I asked for leave and had to apply for a letter of introduction to go to the city, the captain thought I was causing trouble. I kept begging him before he agreed to issue me a letter of introduction, otherwise I wouldn't even be able to go to the city. When I went to the Education Bureau, I asked too many questions and others also annoyed me. When I went for the fourth time, which was also the last time, I met the director again. He said that if I made trouble again, he would report my name and prevent me from taking the college entrance examination for the rest of my life."

At this point, Qiu Cuiping's voice choked up and her eyes welled up with tears, as if she was thinking of those years. "I was very uncomfortable at that time. I had just finished my work in the fields and worked until late at night. I had to walk a long mountain road to the city. In the end, I was looked down upon. I didn't know what else to do. After I went back, I fell seriously ill. I was so weak that I couldn't walk. I almost thought I was going to die there, so I didn't catch up with the college entrance examination in 1978. Later, I finally got better, and I thought, maybe everything is fate, I can only stay there and never get out."

"Then how did you get into the fan factory now?"

"In fact, the knowledge I learned before was useful. It was the beginning of 1979. It had been a long time since I went to the city to buy things. I met Jiang Zhiming, oh, that's the man I just talked to you. They were studying the English manual of the fan. I happened to have learned a little English and knew some basics, so I helped them with the research. This matter reached the ears of our current director. At that time, they happened to cooperate with Country D and bought a few equipments. They thought I was okay and said they were willing to give me a temporary position. That's when I entered the factory as a temporary worker."

Jian Lu couldn't help but sigh as she listened to Qiu Cuiping's ups and downs in the past two years.

"Comrade Jian Lu, was it really me who was impersonated?" Qiu Cuiping's voice was trembling. No matter what happened now, the college entrance examination and university were painful scars in her heart.

Jian Lu couldn't be completely sure, she just felt that it was almost certain. "Listen to me, it's very likely, but you need to confirm it. Bring all the documents that can prove your identity, your household registration file, and ask the leader of your original commune to issue a certificate of being an educated youth. It would be best if you could find your college entrance examination admission ticket. Bring everything you can find that can prove your identity to H University and ask the admissions office to confirm it. The situation is too coincidental. Do you want to fight for yourself again?"

Qiu Cuiping's heart surged when she heard this. She nodded repeatedly and couldn't help trembling. "Okay, I'll go!"