Fortunately, Zhan Chunlan had worked as a slave for a while before attending university; otherwise, she would have found it difficult to adapt to university life in this era.
The college students at this time were already taking the exams on their own initiative. In addition, because they were the first batch of students after the resumption of the college entrance examination and entered school in March, in order to catch up with the schedule and not delay the enrollment of the 1978 class, all the teachers were like they were on five times the speed, frantically cramming knowledge into them every day. The students were like a dry sponge, trying their best to absorb knowledge.
This made Zhan Chunlan, who had attended university in modern times, feel somewhat uncomfortable. Was this really university, or was this the final year of high school?
When she was preparing for her senior year of high school, her teachers would urge her on from behind with a whip, while she ran ahead.
Now, the teacher is scattering what he calls "knowledge" everywhere, and the students are like chickens that haven't eaten for days and nights, frantically rushing forward to pick up the scattered grains. In this atmosphere, Zhan Chunlan is like someone who has fallen into a flood, and can only drift with the tide.
At that moment, she truly understood the value of a college degree in the 1970s and 80s.
It wasn't superficial; because there were very few college students at that time, it felt very valuable.
It's because at this time, universities, teachers, and students are all striving to play their part and want to cultivate more talent for the country.
Zhan Chunlan shifted from a passive to an active approach, not wanting to waste a single spare moment.
The same goes for her roommates. Besides Zhan Chunlan, several other roommates are also married and have children. They study like crazy with all their classmates during the day and still work late into the night. Perhaps only in the few seconds before falling asleep do they think of their families thousands of miles away, and then they are brought to sleep by exhaustion.
During summer vacation, Zhan Chunlan returned to Haicheng. Fang Li couldn't hold back her tears: "Chunlan, are you short of money for food? Why have you lost so much weight? When you left, Mom gave you so much money, didn't you see it? I put it in the pocket of one of your favorite clothes."
Zhan Chunlan helped Fang Li up, smiling and shaking her head: "I saw it when I was getting dressed. Mom, you too, why didn't you tell me? What if I hadn't noticed and lost it?"
“If it’s lost, it’s lost. Mom will just give it to you again. What’s the big deal?” Fang Li held Zhan Chunlan’s hand tightly, pushing Wang Wenfeng aside completely. “Then why are you so thin? You have to study so much every day, and you don’t even eat properly. Can your body handle it?”
Seeing that there was no place for him to stand, Wang Wenfeng took the initiative to take the package that Zhan Chunlan had brought back and put it in the room.
"Maybe it's because I exercise a lot at school. I run to class every day and then go to the library. Many times there are no seats, so I have to stand and read." As she spoke, Zhan Chunlan rolled up her sleeves to show Ms. Fang Li: "Look, these are my muscles. I didn't expect to see my muscles just from reading. Amazing, right!"
"Amazing, truly amazing." Ms. Fang wiped away her tears, turned around, picked up her basket, and walked out. "You didn't even write to say when you were coming back. I wasn't prepared at all. I'm going out to buy groceries to make you feel better."
After Ms. Fang Li left, Wang Wenfeng finally had a chance to observe his wife up close: "You've really lost weight. Is the pressure of studying a lot?"
Zhan Chunlan smiled and shook her head: "No, it's just that the teachers at school are teaching like crazy, and as a student, I can only try my best to accept it. The learning atmosphere in the whole school is unprecedentedly strong. I feel like I haven't felt this fulfilled in a long time."
Wang Wenfeng took her hand and led her to sit down on the sofa. He then poured her a glass of water and placed it beside her. "You always report good news and never bad news in your letters. Wang Wenchuan has written several letters saying that the teachers at school teach everything regardless of whether they can understand it or not. When he goes to ask for advice, the teachers even think he is stupid."
“I’m better at humanities, but he’s a science and engineering student. If he can’t learn it, he really can’t. He can’t fake it at all. It’s really tough on him.” Zhan Chunlan found it somewhat amusing to think about how Wang Wenchuan, who was usually quite carefree, had to suppress his temper and try his best to keep up with the teachers and chase after the geniuses in college.
Did he write a letter saying when he would be back?
Wang Wenfeng shook his head: "He said he won't be coming back this summer because he feels he's falling behind, so he needs to study more at school. Several of his classmates are in the same boat."
Zhan Chunlan nodded: "The major he chose is indeed not to be taken lightly. Our country is in dire need of talent right now, and it's already quite good that he took the initiative to study it."
That evening, the Wang family had another big reunion, except for Wang Wenchuan, who was still in Bincheng.
This family reunion dinner was planned long ago. When we received the admission notices, we planned to have a meal together as a family, but we were too busy preparing materials and various things for enrollment, so we decided to wait until the two of them had their summer vacation before getting together.
Unfortunately, Wang Wenchuan was destined not to have this meal.
At the dinner table, Wang Wenfang raised her glass: "Come on, let's raise a glass together to celebrate that another college student has come from our Wang family, Zhan Chunlan."
Everyone responded enthusiastically, even the children raised their sodas and downed them in one gulp.
Tan Shuang poured more soda for the children and patted Wang Zhiyuan on the shoulder: "Take your younger siblings and go toast your aunt."
Wang Zhiyuan said somewhat reluctantly, "Didn't we just offer a toast?"
Tan Shuang patiently explained, "That was different. You'll be starting junior high this semester, so you're practically an adult now. Your aunt is a college graduate; you should learn from her and try to become a college graduate yourself someday."
Upon hearing what she said, Wang Sumei and Wang Suju quickly declared, "Mom, we'll also take the college entrance exam."
Tan Shuang replied somewhat perfunctorily, "Okay, okay, you guys should also get a college degree for your mother."
On the other side, Wang Wenfang's two children, seven-year-old Hong Yurong and four-year-old Hong Yulin, had already stood up with their drinks when Tan Shuang spoke her first words. Seeing that they were still not moving, they took the lead and walked over: "Auntie, congratulations on getting into university."
"Thank you, Yu Rong and Yu Lin are both wonderful! What grade is Yu Rong in now?" Zhan Chunlan's voice unconsciously became more stern when facing the well-behaved children.
Hong Yurong was very happy to be praised by the adults: "I will be in the second grade when school starts. This semester I got 98 in Chinese and 100 in math. I will study hard and become a college student like you in the future!"
"Wow, your grades are great!" Zhan Chunlan patted her head. "Auntie believes in you. You'll definitely be even better than Auntie!"
Seeing that Hong Yurong had already started chatting with Zhan Chunlan, Wang Sumei and Wang Suju became a little anxious. They each tugged at Wang Zhiyuan's sleeve, signaling him to quickly take them over.
Forced into a corner, Wang Zhiyuan had no choice but to bite the bullet and bring his sisters over: "Auntie, congratulations on getting into university!" His face turned bright red as he said this, and if his sisters hadn't been watching him, he probably would have run away.
"Thank you, Zhiyuan, and also Sumei and Suju." Zhan Chunlan's cup was always full of drinks. She held the cup and bent down to clink glasses with the children one by one.
On the other side, Tan Shuang watched Zhan Chunlan, who was smiling and toasting with the children, and her eyes gradually calmed down.
She used to always want to compare herself with others, especially her sister-in-law. But her sister-in-law had a better job than her, even though she never admitted it. She was also more capable than her. Last year, when she heard that her sister-in-law was going to take the college entrance exam, she secretly laughed at her, thinking that her sister-in-law was just going through the motions.
However, ever since Wang Wenshan mentioned divorce to her once, she has not dared to show any of these dark thoughts to him, and only silently complains in her heart.
When Zhan Chunlan first received her admission notice, she still didn't think it was anything special; she just thought it was good luck.
When people in the neighborhood learned that a college student had come from her family, they started to treat her better than before. They heard that several children in the neighborhood had taken leave from school to study after learning about the college entrance examination, but none of them passed. However, they did not give up and came to her to ask her to ask Zhan Chunlan for some of her study materials and notes.
She was too embarrassed to go to Zhan Chunlan, so she went to Wang Wenchuan instead.
According to Zhan Chunlan, Wang Wenchuan's university seems to be better than hers, which must be because Wang Wenchuan's grades are better than Zhan Chunlan's.
The 1978 college entrance examination was over. The children who had borrowed the notes all said that their estimated scores were okay, and that they would definitely thank her properly if they passed the exam.
It was then that she vaguely realized that college students were already somewhat different from them.
But if you ask her what's different, she doesn't seem to be able to say.
She simply thought that if her child were also a college student, wouldn't she be different?
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