Chapter 104
According to the current holiday regulations, "work six days a week and rest on Sunday", and there are only two days off for National Day...
Chen Lanjun took two more days of personal leave, including Sunday, for a total of five days, before she boarded the train home.
It was afternoon when they arrived. Chen Lanjun stretched and looked around the small county town which was only a year old.
To be honest, there weren't many changes in the architecture. There was a six-story building in the center of the county, which was the new building of the county hospital donated by Shao Qinghe when he returned home. There were also some more electric poles, which messily divided the blue sky.
There were young people on the street wearing bell-bottom pants and with long hair, walking proudly through the streets in the surprised eyes of some elderly people.
It happened to be market day. Coming out of the train station, the main streets were packed with people carrying baskets selling eggs, side dishes, and sewn cloth shoes... It was extremely lively, and my ears were buzzing with the local accents of people talking about business.
She passed by the street and bought a roasted sweet potato, holding it in her hands and eating it. Halfway through the meal, she passed by a state-owned store and heard someone cursing in the Cantonese dialect.
"You're crazy! It's already autumn and the price of electric fans has been adjusted."
I turned around and saw a big red paper posted in front of the electrical counter, which read, "According to the notice from the superior, the price of electric fans will increase by 5% from today."
Chen Lanjun laughed in silence. On the other side, the vendors were bargaining enthusiastically; on this side, the price changes were still entirely dependent on the "plan" of the superiors. This is indeed a unique landscape in the era of transition.
After filling her stomach, Chen Lanjun bought half a beggar's chicken wrapped in lotus leaf and went straight to the county middle school. Since she was already there, she had to meet her younger sister Zhujun.
It was class time, and the guards were a little reluctant to deal with people: "You can't enter the school during class time."
"I'm here to find my sister." Chen Lanjun took out her student ID and letter of introduction.
Seeing the words "Mingde University", the guard immediately stood up and said with a smile: "So you are a college student. Tell me your sister's information and I will help you talk to the teacher."
Not long after, a small shadow ran over from the teaching building, two pigtails flying in the air, and the person threw himself into Chen Lanjun's arms like a small cannonball.
"Sister! You're back!"
"Wow, little sister, you have grown taller again."
Borrowing two benches, the two sisters sat under the shade of the tree. Chen Lanjun rested her chin on her hand and looked at her younger sister with a smile. The little girl was trying hard to tear a chicken leg and was eating happily.
"How are you? Are you happy at school? How are your studies and life going?"
"All good," Zhu Jun said, puffing up her cheeks, "As your sister, I am no pushover either."
She has good grades and is a stable top student. Because she is gentle and kind, she is well taken care of by teachers and classmates at school.
Listening to her chattering about school matters, Chen Lanjun hesitated for a moment.
If I really change my study environment, I wonder if my younger sister can adapt.
She asked Zhu Jun tentatively: "Little sister, if I take you to Pengcheng City to study, would you be willing?"
Zhu Jun was a little surprised, and tilted his head to think for a while: "I kind of want to go, but... the classmates here are also very good... Sister, what do you think?"
"If it were me, I would go." Chen Lanjun said, "This place is really good, but it's hard to see more interesting things like Pengcheng. Besides, it's a city after all, and the education there is better than in the county."
Another point is that by the time Zhujun took the college entrance examination, Pengda University had already been established. If you have a local hukou, you will have an unquestionable advantage in taking the university entrance examination.
As an older sister, Chen Lanjun hopes that her younger sister can have a better future.
If she had followed the previous path, my younger sister would have worked in a garment factory in the county after graduating from high school. When Chen Lanjun succeeded in her business and had the spare money to support my younger sister to go back to school, she refused.
The younger sister, who had just become a mother, looked down at the baby in her arms and said calmly, "Thank you, sister, but it's not necessary now."
She chose a man who also worked in a garment factory as her husband, got married and had children, and lived close to her parents so she could visit them often. Life was ordinary, but not bad at all.
But Chen Lanjun felt very guilty.
She still remembers the little Zhujun who said in her childhood that she "wanted to see places farther away."
If only I could get rich earlier, I could support my younger sister's education. Chen Lanjun always thought so.
For girls like them who come from rural areas, education is like a stepping stone that allows them to cross an infinite wall and see a wider world.
This is not to say that her younger sister’s trajectory before her rebirth was not good. Chen Lanjun just hopes that her younger sister can see a bigger world before making a choice.
The calmness of making your own decision is completely different from having no choice at all.
Looking at the confused Zhujun in front of her, Chen Lanjun felt a little relieved. At least, now, she could take her sister to see farther places.
Chen Lanjun gently held her little sister's hand and said, "If you ask me for my opinion, I really hope you go."
Zhu Jun smiled and said, "Okay, let's go then."
She put her hands around Chen Lanjun's neck, with complete trust and intimacy: "Sister, I know you love me very much and you are doing this for my own good."
My younger sister was easily convinced, and the next step was to do the work of my parents.
Since the real holiday was still one day away, Chen Lanjun rode her younger sister's bicycle home first and agreed to pick her up the next day.
I rode my bike home in one breath and it was getting dark.
But there was no one at home?
Generally speaking, the doors of houses are not locked before going to bed, so that people from the same village can come to visit.
But Chen Lanjun shook the door twice, but nothing happened. No one responded when she called out to them.
In the distance, I heard the neighbor across the field shouting, "They've gone to town. Is that Alan?"
"yes."
"Come and eat! The meal is ready."
The neighbor's aunt came over along the ridge without saying anything and pulled Chen Lanjun home: "Come, we've got some chopsticks, so our little girl can get some of the literary air of college students."
Chen Lanjun couldn't refuse such enthusiasm. Before she knew it, a pair of chopsticks appeared in her hand and a few pieces of bacon were piled on the bowl in front of her.
Chen Lanjun thanked her repeatedly, took out a bag of biscuits from her bag and stuffed it into the neighbor girl's hand before she was willing to sit down and eat.
While eating, she asked, "Aunt, is there something wrong with my parents?"
"Didn't Zheng tell you?" The neighbor lady sighed, "It's all because of the factory."
"What's wrong? Is business bad?"
"Oh, it's not just that business is bad." The neighbor sneered, "People say that the factory in our village has squeezed the raw material market of state-owned enterprises and is a blow to the national plan! Bullshit."
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