Ji's mother initially wanted to say that it might be inappropriate to ask Liu Zhiqing for the debt, but seeing that her husband had agreed, she had nothing more to say.
She said to her two children with concern, "It's good that you've accepted it. It's so hot today. I left some hot water in the pot for you to wash up and go to bed early."
Upon hearing this, Ji Zhijun stood up and said, "It's too hot. I'll just go wash up by the river. My sister can use the water in the pot."
He glanced at Zhang Hong's belly with concern and said, "You should get some rest, don't wait for me—"
Ji Xia watched her parents and her brother and sister-in-law caring for each other, and felt a little envious.
She won't be as foolish as she was in her previous life. Looks and talent are all fake.
If he treats her badly, what does it matter how capable or wealthy he is?
Most importantly, he has her in his heart and treats her well; that is the key to happiness.
After taking a shower, she breathed a sigh of relief and returned to her room.
The oil lamp in the room was still lit, and a bundle of mugwort was burning on the windowsill to repel mosquitoes. The air was filled with the faint fragrance of mugwort, and wisps of smoke rose in the comfortable breeze of the summer night.
Ji Xia sat at her desk by the window, organizing her junior and senior high school textbooks.
Tonight I told everyone I wanted to take the college entrance exam. Actually, I had this idea as soon as I was reborn this afternoon.
She had attended high school before, but only took the college entrance exam once and gave up after failing.
Because she had a job and her family was relatively well-off, she didn't have a strong desire for success or further education.
Having lived a lifetime, she finally understood that reading more books is beneficial.
Read more books, and you'll have a higher starting point than the average person in terms of knowledge, perspective, and connections.
College students in the 1980s may have been similar when they first started working, but after 2000, the backbone of various industries were almost all college students from the 1980s.
Of course, Ji Xia dared to boast about getting into university because she had accompanied her daughter through more than ten years of schooling in her previous life.
After her divorce in her previous life, her daughter was only eight years old. She was schemed against and looked down upon for half her life. After much painful reflection, she decided to raise a college student.
At that time, she was earning money while accompanying her daughter in her studies. In order to help her daughter with her homework, she had studied almost all of her daughter's textbooks and reviewed them countless times. As a result, her foundation was even more solid than her daughter's.
From third grade to senior year of high school, the mother and daughter did so many practice problems and test papers that filled half a room.
When her daughter took the college entrance examination, she also did all the past years' exam papers herself. She was able to consistently score around 540 points in all six subjects, especially in spoken English, which she was particularly good at, as it required her for work.
She also remembered her daughter's high school teacher telling her that the difficulty of high school knowledge in the 1970s and 80s was only equivalent to junior high school in later years.
However, there were very few teaching materials available in the 1970s and 80s, making it difficult for test takers to practice more questions and do more different types of questions.
Ji Xia recalled the problems and formulas she had practiced in her previous life and felt that she could give it a shot.
However, since she had put down her books for more than ten years, she started reviewing from her junior high school textbooks.
After studying for two hours, she felt dizzy and lightheaded, so she put down her book.
I glanced at my watch; it was already 10 p.m. In my past life in the city, this was just the beginning of the nightlife.
But in the countryside in the 1970s, the entire brigade was pitch black at this time.
Ji Xia rubbed her head, put down the mosquito net, blew out the oil lamp, and went to sleep while fanning herself with a palm leaf fan.
Just as dawn was breaking, she heard Ji's mother's hushed voice coming from the courtyard.
I checked the time; it was already six in the morning. Summer days are long and nights are short, and the temperature is too high at noon. Farmers are used to getting up early to work and resting a little longer at noon.
She got up, put on her clothes, braided her hair into two pigtails on either side, and pushed open the door to leave the room.
A thin mist slowly drifted through the mountains and fields, and the rising sun bathed the fields in a golden hue. Fresh air rushed in, and with a deep breath, one could even smell the fresh scent of water in the air.
Ji Xia brushed her teeth and washed her face with well water, then returned to her mother's side: "Mom, what's for breakfast?"
“I cooked sweet potato porridge, and I’ll give you and your sister-in-law an egg each.”
As she spoke, Ji's mother scooped out two salted melons from the jar and then asked her to pick the water spinach she had picked that morning.
When Ji Xia saw the breakfast her mother had prepared, her eyes welled up with tears. She grabbed two more eggs from the jar, washed them, and put them in the iron pot to cook together.
Mrs. Ji sighed and said, "Your sister-in-law is pregnant, so I specially changed the eggs for her."
“Mom, not only should my sister-in-law eat, but you and Dad should eat too, and so should my brother. The autumn harvest is coming soon, so you should eat well too. Don’t ruin your health just to save money.”
Ji Xia turned around and smiled slightly at her mother: "If the brigade can be replaced, then replace it. If not, I'll bring it back for you when I come back from the city in a few days. Don't be stingy with this little bit of money."
"Use money sparingly and save the rest; you'll have plenty of money to spend later."
"Mom, we just got two hundred yuan back yesterday. It's better to use this money on family members than to let that ungrateful wretch spend it."
After offering repeated words of advice, Ji's mother smiled with great satisfaction.
It was rare to see Ji Xia show such filial piety, and the bitterness I felt for watching her bring food and drinks to Lin Haodong's mother every month for over a year finally dissipated.
Breakfast was simple: sweet potato porridge, boiled eggs, a plate of diced pickled cucumber, and a plate of stir-fried water spinach with minced garlic.
Seeing that there were only four boiled eggs on the table, Ji's mother frowned inwardly. There was one missing. Oh well, she could just not eat it herself.
Just as I was about to suggest that each of them have an egg, Ji Xia had already peeled four eggs and put them into their respective bowls.
Mother Ji waved her hands repeatedly, saying, "I don't like eggs, you eat this."
"Mom, you're so old and still picky about food. How will you be a role model for your sister-in-law when she takes care of her children? You work hard in the fields every day, so you should eat more eggs and meat."
As Ji Xia spoke, she pressed down her mother's chopsticks with her own, and then said to her brother and sister-in-law who were declining, "I have an easy job in the city, and the canteen has meat every day. You work hard at home, so eat well. I'll bring you some more from the city when you're done eating."
In my past life in the city, eggs were the one thing I had no shortage of. Now that I've been reborn, I really don't have any interest in boiled eggs.
Ji Zhijun chuckled and said to his wife, "This time, we can finally enjoy our sister's delicious food."
Mother Ji was about to take the eggs back to her when Secretary Ji chuckled and said, "Daughter knows to be filial to her mother. Here, have them. Didn't you say that when my little sister had something good to eat, she only thought of Haodong's mother and never thought of you?"
"What are you saying? I never said anything like that."
Ji's mother blushed, and Ji Xia's eyes were already red. She called out with a face full of guilt, "Mom, I'm sorry. I was not very sensible before."
"It's alright, don't listen to your dad's nonsense, your mom isn't that petty."
Ji's mother quickly comforted her daughter.
Seeing that both mother and daughter had red eyes, Secretary Ji tapped the table: "Yesterday Zhijun said you were planning to take the college entrance exam. What are your thoughts?"
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