Before the Lantern Festival, Zong Shao went to the photo studio to retrieve the photos, and bought a photo album and several photo frames.
They took three photos in total, but nine were developed. However, there was only one large photo, which was framed and hung on the wall of the living room.
Lin Wei picked out a small family portrait and a photo of Mingming, Ruirui, and Lin Wei holding Beibei, and put them in a small photo frame. Mingming's photo of Ruirui was placed in their room, and the other two were placed in the master bedroom.
Lin Wei put the remaining photos and those taken previously into photo frames. The photo album that Zong Shao bought was very thick, and she planned to fill it up slowly.
…
Lin Wei is busier in the new semester than last year, not because the workload has increased or because Beibei has become more difficult to take care of.
Although as the months go by, Beibei's sleep time has gradually decreased from more than 20 hours to more than ten hours, and his wakefulness time is getting longer and longer, he is indeed more difficult to take care of than before.
But Ruirui is obviously becoming more sensible and can already help Lin Wei share a lot of things - they now know how to make milk powder for their sister.
Lin Wei has become busier, mainly because she has to find time to study high school knowledge in addition to working and taking care of her children. She plans to take the college entrance examination next year.
Originally, Lin Wei planned to start reviewing after she survived the ordeal, but due to the unexpected arrival of Zong Beibei, she had too many things to do in the second half of last year and didn't pay much attention to this matter.
It was not until after the Chinese New Year that she started to get nervous, thinking that there were less than two years left until the resumption of the college entrance examination.
Although she got a high school diploma, she actually only attended classes for more than a month. In addition, she had been away from school for a long time, so she had not read many books in the past few years. If she had started reviewing after the announcement of the resumption of the college entrance examination, she really wasn't sure what score she would get.
If she had never dreamed and didn't know the trajectory of her future development, she would have had to grit her teeth and do it no matter how difficult it was, or even give up the college entrance examination.
But since God gave her a golden finger and allowed her two more years to prepare than others, it would be unreasonable for her not to cherish this opportunity.
After making up her mind to take the college entrance examination, Lin Wei told Zong Shao about her plan. Although it was her personal freedom, they were a family, and if she was really admitted, she would definitely have to consider how to arrange things for her family.
Zong Shao's attitude will also affect whether she passes the exam or applies for a local technical secondary school.
After learning that this world was a novel and that Lin Wei had dreamt about the entire plot, Zong Shao asked Lin Wei how he and his children were doing in the future.
Lin Wei didn't want to mention the male and female protagonists, so she gave a simple answer, saying only that after she died in the novel, he changed his job and returned to Shicheng, where he joined a state-owned factory. After the reform and opening up, he jumped out and went into business.
Overall, he had a good life in the future, but he smoked too much and got lung cancer, and died relatively early. The two children are also very promising. Ruirui is in a junior class, and Mingming follows in his father's footsteps and becomes a businessman. His personality is becoming more and more like his father.
Zong Shao was silent for a while after hearing this. He wondered if Lin Wei was trying to scare him with lung cancer in order to get him to quit smoking.
But afterwards he did pay a lot of attention to this aspect. In the past, he only quit smoking himself, but other people in the camp continued to smoke in front of him. After that, if others smoked in front of him, he would always offer to pay for them to go to the hospital for lung examinations out of his own pocket. After a few months, those who smoke in the camp now avoid him.
It was obvious that he was becoming more and more like him, but after observing him for half a month, he still couldn't feel that this boy was in any way like him. But he didn't completely disbelieve it. After all, if things really developed as in the novel, it was possible that Mingming's character would become more and more silent.
He didn't doubt that Ruirui was in the junior class because the child was smart.
As for the story in the novel about him changing his job and returning to his hometown, and later going into business, Zong Shao had no doubts about it, but he didn't think that he would go down that path in this life.
It is a fact that he was born into a military family and has been surrounded by soldiers since he was a child.
Because he grew up under such influence, he later became a soldier himself. Now he loves his career and hopes to stay in the army if possible.
In the novel, he changed his career because of Lin Wei's death, but now she is alive and well. If there is no major change in the future, he probably will not change his career, so he will probably not become a rich man in the future.
Before making the decision, Zong Shao discussed this matter with Lin Wei, and Lin Wei was well prepared and said that it didn't matter, because even without him, Mingming would still take on the burden of the family in the future.
Although he had no plan to go into business, Zong Shao did not skip the major event of reform and opening up. By asking about it, he learned that a lot of things would happen in the next few years.
For example, the land reform carried out in 1977 and 1978, the great movement that will end this year, and the great man who will pass away in September this year.
The first two were good news, but after learning the last thing, Zong Shao was depressed for a while. He wanted to do something, but in the end he found that he could do nothing.
In the family, he is Lin Wei's support and the father admired by the children, but in terms of the entire country, he is too insignificant and he can only watch the wheel of history roll forward.
Although Zong Shao learned a lot about the future from Lin Wei, Lin Wei did not mention the resumption of the college entrance examination. Therefore, when he learned that Lin Wei planned to take the college entrance examination next year, Zong Shao was stunned and asked, "Will the college entrance examination be resumed next year?"
"Well, the time should be around October next year. I'll take the exam at the end of the year, and those who pass will go to college in early 2017 or 2018." Because the novel did not mention the specific time, Lin Wei's response was rather vague.
“Can you sign up?”
"The rule is that all former junior high and high school graduates who are no older than 30 years old can apply."
The novel also talks about some special situations. For example, if there is a problem with the background, those whose family has not yet been de-labeled may not be able to report. Even if the label has been removed, the leader's approval is still required. But Lin Wei felt that there was nothing wrong with her background and her approval would not be blocked. Even if she really encountered such a situation, she could find a way out when the time came. It was too early to worry about those things now.
"Then go ahead." Zong Shao nodded and asked, "Which university do you plan to apply to? What major do you plan to study?"
"I haven't thought about the details yet. I've been away from school for too long, and I don't know what I can learn. I'm thinking that if I do well in my review, I'll apply to Yangcheng. If not, I'll apply to a technical college in the city. If I go to the state, it will be closer to home..."
Before Lin Wei finished speaking, she heard Zong Shao say, "Go to Yangcheng and report."
"What?" Lin Wei thought she had heard it wrong.
"Since you want to take the exam, then try to get into a good university. You can apply to Yangcheng, and I will also find a way to transfer to Yangcheng in the next two years."
The two of them talked about this matter at night. Lin Wei was leaning against the head of the bed. When she heard Zong Shao say this, she immediately sat up straight and asked, "Are you serious?"
Zong Shao analyzed, "Well, the state is not close to us. Even if you enroll in a technical secondary school in the state for us, you will probably only have time to go back during the winter and summer vacations and holidays. Instead of that, you might as well enroll in a school in Yangcheng. After all, we are in the same city, and maybe you can go home on weekends."
Lin Wei had never really considered this, but after hearing what Zong Shao said, she felt it was feasible. The question was: "Can you transfer there?"
"It's a matter of time. I'll start preparing now and it should be about the same next year."
If Lin Wei said she wanted to go to the capital to attend university, it would be difficult for Zong Shao to be transferred there, mainly because they belonged to different fleets. However, both the Yangcheng Base and the Sanlin Base belonged to the South China Sea Fleet. Although the transfers of officers between them were not frequent, there were always one or two every year. It was not impossible for Zong Shao to be transferred there.
With Zong Shao's words, Lin Wei made up her mind to stop considering the local technical secondary schools and focus on taking the entrance exam in Yangcheng.
In order to support his wife, Zong Shao asked someone to get two sets of high school textbooks, covering the high school content before and after the suspension of classes, taking a two-pronged approach to avoid omissions.
When Lin Wei received the box of books, her mood was extremely complicated.
Although she was very happy and relieved that Zong Shao supported her to take the college entrance examination, but... this was a bit of excessive support.
No matter how complicated her mood was, Lin Wei still opened the textbook and started studying. She couldn't let his good intentions go to waste.
…
Just when Lin Wei was busy studying, working and taking care of the children, something happened in the Zhou family and Chen Bamei's parents came to see her.
But those days were the midterm exams, and Lin Wei was extremely busy. She went between the school’s state-owned restaurant and home every day, so when she found out about this, the matter had already been settled.
"Eighth sister's parents just went back like that?" Lin Wei couldn't believe it. Although Lingnan was not far from Yazhou Island, it was not easy to come here. How could they be sent away so easily?
Deng Xiangyun sighed and said, "He took the money and left."
"Why did they give the money back?" Lin Wei asked, "Eighth sister is already an adult. Even if they want to take her back, as long as she doesn't want to, there shouldn't be anything they can do, right?"
"That's what they say, but we can't chase them away because their eighth sister stays on the island. The eighth sister is not a military dependent, so the army can't interfere in this matter." Deng Xiangyun said helplessly.
Lin Wei thought about it and sighed and asked, "How much did you give?"
"One hundred, from Eighth Sister's salary. They agreed that after they get the money, they will treat Eighth Sister as married and won't bother her anymore."
When Chen Bamei stayed to take care of Xiao Shitou, Deng Xiangyun said that she would pay her monthly according to the average salary of a nanny.
Although Chen Bamei was determined not to accept it at that time, Deng Xiangyun said that she would save it for her and give it to her when she left or got married. Later, Chen Bamei followed Lin Wei to learn to read, and the purchase of books, pens and notebooks increased a lot of expenses, so she began to receive monthly pocket money from Deng Xiangyun.
Chen Bamei came to the Zhou family in the summer of 1974 and has been working there for almost two years. Excluding the monthly pocket money, Deng Xiangyun still has more than 300 yuan in salary.
Although the money was not much, Lin Wei doubted whether they could keep their promise. The round-trip fee for them was at most ten or twenty yuan, and they would earn a hundred yuan each time and make a net profit of more than eighty yuan. Wouldn't they have to come back to pay when they ran out of money in the future?
"That won't happen. Eighth sister has decided to leave our home. Ah Hai has made an agreement with the nearby agricultural brigade to let her settle down there," Deng Xiangyun explained when she saw Lin Wei's puzzled expression. "This time they actually came here on a supply ship in the name of looking for their daughter. They took the money and left. They also have a good way to get by in the army. When Eighth sister settles down in the agricultural brigade, they can only come here on their own."
Since they couldn't take the military supply ship, they could only take a detour from Zhan City and take a civilian ship. However, they were all ordinary farmers and could not read a single word. It was not as easy for them to find a way to come by boat as it was this time.
At least in the next few years, it is unlikely that they will come. By the time they come again, Chen Bamei may have gotten married and will be less constrained by her parents' family.
Although this kind of thinking may be self-consoling, it is also the reality. Although the status of women has improved a lot since the founding of the People's Republic of China, and the saying "obey your father at home and obey your husband after marriage" is no longer important, in rural areas, many women work like slaves for their parents' families before marriage, and devote themselves to their husband's families after marriage, and they have no choice.
Lin Wei asked: "When will Eighth Sister leave?"
"At the end of the month, I plan to treat her to a meal. You guys can come too."
Although the agricultural brigade where Chen Bamei was registered was not far from here, she had her own life after settling there, so she certainly couldn't come to visit often.
Lin Wei was about to agree when she heard Deng Xiangyun say, "By the way, Eighth Sister is planning to change her name."
"Why did you suddenly decide to change your name?" Lin Wei asked reflexively, but after thinking about it, she said, "It's good that she changed her name. Has she decided what to change it to?"
"She has decided to change her name to Chen Lihua."
Hearing this name, Lin Wei almost choked on the water and asked, "What do you think the eighth sister is called?"
"She plans to change her name to Chen Lihua. What's wrong? Do you know someone with the same name?" Deng Xiangyun asked puzzledly.
Lin Wei coughed and said, "I don't know him."
She did not know Chen Lihua in real life, but Chen Lihua appeared several times in the original work.
Once in the mid-1980s, she went to Yangcheng on a business trip and invited Mingming to dinner. When they met the male and female protagonists' son, he thought she was a relative of their family. When he saw Zong Shao, he asked about her, and was told that she was Mingming's friend.
Chen Lihua's second appearance was in the mid-1990s. Mingming had just started his business at that time, and she gave him a few orders as a form of support, so her situation was briefly introduced in the novel.
But in the novel, Chen Lihua's hometown is Yazhou Island. In the late 1970s, she persuaded the brigade to set up a breeding farm and a soy sauce factory. The soy sauce factory expanded rapidly because of the good taste of the soy sauce it produced. In the late 1980s, a large number of enterprises were privatized, including the soy sauce factory. She thus opened up her business empire.
They had different names and different hometowns, so Lin Wei always thought that Chen Lihua and Mingming met later and never connected the two together.
But now, Chen Bamei has changed her name and registered her household registration...
Lin Wei couldn't help but sigh, fate is really a wonderful thing!
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