Lin Atai put down her paper cutting and went into the kitchen to help start the fire.
"Ayan, your college professor came to the village again? Does he want you to go back to school?"
Lin Ziyan, while cutting vegetables, casually said, "No, he probably just came to check on the shrimp seedlings."
"Professor Shen is an exceptionally skilled expert in aquaculture."
Grandma, "Even highly skilled experts come to the village to check on the shrimp fry?"
"Ayan, if he really tries to persuade you to go back to school, why don't you go back?"
Lin Ziyan put down the knife and poured hot oil into the heated pot.
She was making braised fish today, and she got a craving for seafood when she saw it at the market.
"Grandma, I really don't want to go back to school right now..."
Lin Ziyan put the fish into the smoking hot oil and covered it with a lid for a while to prevent it from being splattered with oil.
Less than twenty seconds later, she lifted the lid and turned the fish over.
The aroma lingered in the air, making one's mouth water.
After that, she picked out the oyster meat and prepared to cook a loofah and oyster meat soup.
The chubby girl's favorite food is braised pork belly, so she turned back halfway through and cut a piece of pork belly.
"Alright, think it over carefully. Anyway, you're on leave of absence now, so you have two years to think it over." Lin Atai sighed.
When her son-in-law was alive, his greatest pride was that his eldest daughter had been admitted to university and had even become the top scorer in the college entrance examination.
"Grandma, if I have the chance, I'll go back and get a university degree, but I probably won't go to university," Lin Ziyan said casually.
"Grandma, you're just trying to fool me!"
Lin Ziyan raised an eyebrow slightly. This was no joke. Anything was possible.
She runs a shrimp farm, and much of the knowledge she uses in aquaculture comes from university.
If Professor Shen were observant enough, he should have noticed it, but he just didn't say it out loud.
After plating the fish, she sprinkled it with chopped scallions and drizzled it with hot oil, the aroma of fresh fish filling the air.
Lin Atai's lips twitched. She thought to herself, "Luckily, Ayan doesn't cook every day, otherwise the oil can at home would be empty in just a few days."
Later, I stir-fried sweet potato leaves and made braised pork...
The aroma wafted from between the tiles…
Grandpa Lin, who lives in Lin Ziyan's backyard, swallowed hard when he smelled the aroma.
He suddenly found the plain porridge and pickled chili peppers in his bowl no longer appealing.
"Old woman, go buy some meat tonight too." Old Man Lin put down his bowl, smelling the aroma, wishing he could eat right now.
"Why eat meat? It's not like it's a holiday."
“If you follow the capitalist’s ways, be careful someone doesn’t report you…” Wei Atai muttered before taking a big gulp of porridge.
"It's fine if you don't want to eat, I'll cook meat for myself tonight," Grandpa Lin snorted.
Did he think he didn't know what she was thinking?
She was being very frugal, saving money to send back to her parents' home to help her younger brother.
Mr. Lin's retirement pension is all in his savings account; he didn't give it to his wife.
My son and daughter provide me with living expenses now.
He guessed that his wife would take the money back to her parents' home, which is why he didn't tell her about her retirement pension.
“You…” Wei Atai glared at him, feeling guilty but not daring to curse.
Grandpa Lin put his hands behind his back, walked out the door, and smelled the aroma in the yard, swallowing hard.
…
Lin Ziyan had just set the dishes on the table and was about to go to the shrimp farm to call someone back for dinner.
Fatty and Professor Shen returned one after the other.
"The shrimp farm is locked. Let's come back for lunch and then go there." After saying that, the chubby girl looked at the dishes on the table and ran to wash her hands.
Shen Hai thought he would say something and then walk to town for lunch.
Smelling the fragrance, he stubbornly refused to step out of the courtyard.
"Professor Shen, please don't be shy, come in and have lunch."
“It takes half an hour to walk from here to town…” Lin Ziyan guessed what he was thinking.
Grandma Lin stepped forward to close the door, urging, "It's just simple food, please don't mind."
Shen Hai didn't stand on ceremony any longer. After washing his hands, he sat down gracefully.
He looked at the dishes on the table and finally understood why they smelled so good.
Braised pork belly, the aroma of which is irresistible.
There was also fish, pan-fried until golden brown, then braised...
The chubby girl looked delighted and said, "Delicious."
She ate the white rice, then picked up a piece of braised pork, which was fatty but not greasy, with a rich meaty aroma, and then drizzled some sauce over it...
Lin Ziyan didn't eat much braised pork; she preferred seafood.
Shen Hai took a bite of the braised pork and kept praising it, saying, "This tastes even better than what I had at the Haicheng Restaurant."
Fatty: "Right? Ah Yan's braised pork... is absolutely amazing."
After spending the morning together, she became much more familiar with Professor Shen and no longer felt the awkwardness of a student meeting a teacher.
Lin Ziyan said, "I've made a lot, and I've already set aside some for Jiaojiao and my second sister."
"Try to finish these, and we'll make something else for dinner."
After the meal, the group became more relaxed and comfortable talking.
Shen Hai chatted with them about the shrimp farm situation and sighed, "The slogan of 'applying what you've learned' that we shout every day in class is something that I, as the teacher, have failed to achieve."
Lin Ziyan: "Why didn't you do it? Aren't you here to put it into practice now?"
Shen Hai gave a bitter smile. He had visited many fishing villages, but the guidance he provided was not precise enough, and its implementation caused many problems.
"I just took a walk around the shrimp farm and looked at your notes."
Have you considered returning to school this semester to take your graduation exams?
Shen Hai offered his suggestions.
Based on her notes and knowledge of shrimp larvae cultivation, he felt that Lin Ziyan would definitely have no problem taking the undergraduate graduation exam.
He had studied abroad, but after returning to China, he was immediately imprisoned in a cowshed, far away from the sea.
In overseas laboratories, the shrimp larvae he cultivates do not have as many problems.
That's why he was working himself to the bone in the lab, feeling that all his learning had been wasted and experiencing a strong sense of frustration.
"Do you think this is acceptable?" Lin Ziyan asked doubtfully.
There shouldn't be any precedent for this...
As Lin Atai sat listening, her heart began to race.
Can I get my diploma just by going back to school to take an exam? Is this teacher a scammer?
“There are always exceptions. We’ll see if it works once we apply to higher authorities.” Shen Hai had high hopes for Lin Ziyan.
There is no precedent for this in schools now, but that doesn't mean it can't happen.
He imagined Principal Chen's expression after hearing this, and suddenly felt a sense of anticipation.
Lin Ziyan: "Okay, if possible, I'll go back to school to take the exam."
Grandma Lin's eyes welled up with tears; her granddaughter's failure to graduate from university had always been a source of heartache for her.
However, she began to worry again, since her granddaughter had only studied there for a year. Could she really take the graduation exam?
Shen Hai nodded. "I'll have someone send you review materials when I get back to school. You should start preparing for the exam soon."
He always felt that Lin Ziyan must have studied university courses on her own.
The notes reveal that the data and detailed rules are written in the style of a research paper.
I have a solid grasp of the basic knowledge and can apply it in practice.
He couldn't guarantee that the current graduating class would be as adept at applying textbook knowledge in practice as Lin Ziyan.
“Okay, I’ve been reading books too,” Lin Ziyan said frankly.
Shen Hai nodded. "Could you show me some books?"
Lin Ziyan got up and went to the room, intending to take out the book for Professor Shen to look at.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com