Yan Xiaonan slapped his hand, realizing he'd forgotten the era again: "Grandma, this means there's no problem."
Grandma Yan's eyes lit up. So even the gods are mischievous! They even make hand gestures. She finally learned them and called out loudly to the outside of the main room, "Qiangzi, Qiangzi, come in quickly!"
Yan Xiaoqiang was piling up firewood. This winter seemed even colder than usual. He needed to check if there was enough firewood, as he had two little ones at home. Hearing his mother calling, he quickly ran into the main room.
"Mom, what's wrong?"
"Qiangzi, send a telegram to your older brother tomorrow, telling him that Nannan got into Peking University, and that he should get ready." Grandma Yan said in one breath.
Yan Xiaoqiang was bewildered: "Mom, I just finished the exam yesterday, how did you know that Nannan got into Beijing University?"
"Just go when I tell you to. You're not that old, why do you talk so much? You're so annoying. Go out, go out, don't bother me talking to my baby." Grandma Yan waved her hand as if swatting a fly.
Yan Xiaonan laughed so hard she almost died. She winked at her father, and Yan Xiaoqiang immediately understood. How could he have forgotten that his little daughter was a little genius? Getting into a university in Beijing was just a matter of blinking an eye for her.
Seeing that it was still early, I decided to go now and not wait until tomorrow, so I wouldn't have trouble sleeping at night. I went back inside, put on my beloved military overcoat and the military cap that Yan Daqiang had given me, and strutted confidently onto my bicycle towards the post office.
The post office worker recorded the contents and address of the telegram, his mind filled with doubt. Finally, he couldn't help but ask, "Uncle, what's the deal with your telegram saying you've been admitted to Beijing University? The college entrance exam only ended this morning. How do you know you've already been admitted?"
"What! There's an exam today? How come I didn't know?" Yan Xiaoqiang exclaimed in surprise.
"Your child has a foreign language exam today? Didn't they tell you? Are you still sending the telegram?" The staff member was dumbfounded. What kind of person is this?
"No, no, I have to go back and find out. Why do we have to take a foreign language test? What kind of foreign language is it?" Yan Xiaoqiang hurriedly went home.
"Nan Nan, Nan Nan, why didn't you go to the exam today? Didn't you say there was a foreign language exam too?" Yan Xiaoqiang had forgotten to lock his bicycle as soon as he got home, and kept calling out for Yan Xiaonan.
Grandma Yan got anxious when she heard this: "My dear child, what's wrong with you? Have you forgotten that you have a grammar test today?"
Yan Xiaonan shook her head: "Grandma, today's English test is for people who specifically need to work in this field. I don't need to take it, so I don't have to."
"Won't that affect the score?" Grandma Yan asked anxiously.
"No, four subjects make up 400 points, English doesn't count," Yan Xiaonan quickly replied, worried that her grandmother would be anxious.
"Oh, that's good, that's good. What's with all this talk about rain or shine? Why bother with this exam? You're just wasting your time." Grandma Yan was completely relieved.
"Baby, if no one is taking the exam, why do we have to take it today?" Grandma Yan was confused again.
"Why isn't anyone taking the exam? Ye Chenming took it today," Yan Xiaonan said.
"Oh, what kind of job will he have in the future? He has to take this exam. Is it to manage the weather forecast?" Grandma Yan asked curiously.
"He's not in charge of weather forecasts. Grandma, his grandfather, the one you mentioned who came to my house last time, is a family of shipbuilders. He specializes in ship research. Ye Chenming inherited his family's expertise, so he has to know foreign languages." Yan Xiaonan couldn't understand how Grandma got involved in weather forecasting.
"Aren't ships built by shipbuilders? Do you need to know foreign languages to build a ship? I don't understand." Grandma Yan really didn't understand.
Yan Xiaonan didn't explain; it was too profound, and she didn't really understand it herself, so how could she explain it?
As the Chinese New Year approached, the university allocated a two-bedroom apartment to Dongnan as a welfare housing unit. After all, he had been a long-time employee for ten years, and he deserved some reward for returning from his grassroots work. Therefore, Dongnan registered his household independently and moved the household registrations of Liujin, Fubao, Xuemei, and himself to this apartment in the county town.
From that moment on, Southeast's family could be considered true city dwellers. The house Southeast was allocated was behind the school, and the rows of bungalows were almost full of people, all of whom were school staff.
Xuemei left Liujin in her hometown for the time being, but took her little girl with her to the county town because she needed to breastfeed. She wanted to tidy up the house before the New Year, as they would be living there from then on.
The house isn't big. There's a large room right inside the entrance, about ten square meters. There's a door on the left wall that leads to a smaller room, about eight or nine square meters. The kitchen is opposite the house and is shared by everyone. The toilet is at the far end of the bungalow, so you need to have a spittoon at home.
Showering takes place in the school's public bathroom. The school issues food coupons, oil coupons, and shower coupons every month, but Xuemei doesn't receive any of these coupons, while the two children receive half of them. The same applies to medical care; when a child gets sick, the school reimburses half of the medical expenses.
Xuemei was already very satisfied with these benefits. She looked at the white walls of the house, the dark green paint on the floor, and the rust-red paint on the window frames. The house was clean, but it was completely empty.
Southeast said that furniture and such can be rented at the school. Also, there is no heated kang here, so it might be quite cold in winter. We need to get a coal stove frame to put at home at night to boil water and cook some soups. It's just waste coal.
Xuemei knocked on the door of the house next door and handed over two steamed buns made from two kinds of dough: "Hello, I am Xuemei, Yan Dongnan's wife. I would like to see how a coal stove frame is made. I wonder if it is convenient for me."
The young woman next door saw the two-part steamed buns and her eyes lit up. She quickly stepped aside and said, "Please come in, please come in. It's convenient for you. My surname is Chen, you can just call me Xiao Chen."
Xuemei tactfully called out and went inside. The layout of this family's house was the same as her own, a standard two-bedroom apartment. The furniture was obviously rented, and it even had the words "Agricultural University" written on it.
Xiao Chen's family probably has a lot of people. There was a coal stove frame near the window, with a thin flue sticking out from a hole in the glass window. Next to the frame was a dining table, and several square stools were tucked under the table.
There were two bunk beds against the wall near the door. These beds were probably rented from the school. The room was packed full of them. Xuemei took a closer look at the coal stove rack and had a better idea of what was going on.
I went to check out the kitchen across the street. There were several simple shelves inside, all of which were locked. There was a coal stove with a pot for cooking rice on it. There was an empty space in the corner, which was obviously smaller than the other people's kitchens. This must be the location of my own kitchen.
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