At this moment, a tall, thin male educated youth next to Jiang Nuan saw this and quickly turned to Yang Lijuan, forcing a smile on his face.
"Lijuan, when you go back to the city, could you please send a letter home for me? My parents are getting old, and I..."
I'll do my best.
Yang Lijuan responded indifferently, but inwardly rolled her eyes.
Back when she was studying late into the night with Leng Zhaodi, this person was still making sarcastic remarks like, "What's the use of reading so many books?" and "With your brain, you still want to go to university?"
Now you're thinking of asking for favors?
Where's your face?
"Me too, please, Lijuan..."
"I also want to ask you for help..."
The male educated youth who used to dislike Yang Lijuan started talking all at once, their voices filled with a timid, ingratiating tone.
In this godforsaken countryside, there's no money to make phone calls, and sending letters is even slower. It takes three days to get from the brigade to the county post office, on market day, and another ten days or half a month to get there. By the time the letter arrives home, it's too late.
Now that Yang Lijuan has been admitted to university and is returning to the city, it would be best if she could help deliver the message, since they are from the same hometown.
As for seeking Leng Zhaodi...
They have no shame left.
Because of Ye Nian'an's situation, Jiang Nuan led them to almost break off their friendship with Leng Zhaodi.
Seeing her companions groveling before Yang Lijuan, Jiang Nuan trembled with anger, tears streaming down her face like broken pearls.
She stomped her foot and ran out, feeling as if her whole body was being torn apart by the pain in her heart!
"Jiang Nuan has already run away, why aren't you chasing after her?"
Yang Lijuan raised an eyebrow, her tone laced with sarcasm: "It's freezing cold, let's hope nothing else happens."
"They're all grown up, how could something like this happen? They're not children anymore."
"Yes, Lijuan, please help us deliver this message. We're from the same hometown and came from the same high school."
"We were really wrong before, we're so sorry, we apologize here, please..."
The next day.
Before dawn, Leng Zhaodi and the others got up.
After breakfast, when we arrived at the village entrance, Old Ma had already harnessed the oxcart.
"Zhao Di~ Comrade Yang Lijuan~"
Qin Yunze and Meng Sufang were already waiting there.
"Sorry, I didn't keep you waiting long, did I?"
"It's alright, we just arrived too."
A thick layer of dry grass was laid on the cart floor, and Leng Zhaodi and the others wrapped themselves tightly in their cotton-padded coats and sat on it.
The oxcart creaked and groaned as it slowly made its way toward the town.
The town's post office is a small brick building with a faded wooden sign hanging at the entrance.
Because it was cold and it wasn't market day, there weren't many people inside.
The woman in charge of registration smiled so much that her eyes narrowed into slits when she saw that they were college students who had come to share good news.
"Congratulations! Getting into university is a wonderful thing. We'll give you a 50% discount on your phone bill!"
This was a truly unexpected surprise, and everyone expressed their gratitude repeatedly.
What followed was a long wait.
In the 1970s, long-distance calls required multiple transfers.
First, the call goes from the town to the county, then to the regional switchboard, and finally to the post office in Haicheng.
The operator, a middle-aged woman, cranked the old-fashioned switchboard, the copper coil humming as she turned. Occasionally, she would shout into the receiver, "Hello? Looking for the Leng Family Compound in City X! Please hurry!"
Leng Zhaodi and her family waited for a full hour before receiving a call back from their family.
After briefly announcing the good news and mentioning that she would be taking the train back to the city in two days, Leng Zhaodi quickly made another phone call to the post office in Haicheng.
Just then, a roar suddenly erupted from the phone booth next door, shaking the glass.
"What did you say?! Mom's been arrested!"
It was Zhang Qingqing's voice, sharp as a cat being stepped on.
Leng Zhaodi and the others were stunned and subconsciously looked towards the next room.
The door to the phone booth wasn't closed properly, and you could see Zhang Qingqing gripping the receiver tightly, her knuckles white, her face as pale as paper.
She didn't actually perform well in this college entrance exam. During her time in the countryside, she suffered from water and soil incompatibility, which made her sick every month. She even had a high fever before the exam, but she managed to finish it and only made it to the junior college level.
But at least it's a vocational college, which gives me the opportunity to return to the city.
When her college entrance exam results came out, she thought she was finally free, able to escape this hell and go home to go to university.
When he called his family in town, he learned from Zhang Weiguo that Li Dahong had been arrested for feudal superstition and endangering the safety of others.
Zhang Qingqing was on the verge of a complete breakdown.
She worked so hard and finally got into university!
Because Li Dahong was arrested! He couldn't pass the political background check!
If she fails the political background check, even if she gets into university, it's useless! She'll have to stay in this godforsaken place and be a sent-down youth for the rest of her life!
"Qingqing, calm down. Things have come to this, there's nothing else we can do..."
Zhang Weiguo's voice came through the microphone, carrying a deep sense of powerlessness.
Like cotton soaked in rain, it was so heavy it made it hard to breathe.
If possible, nobody wants this to happen.
But it just happened anyway.
Then all we can do is face it.
Zhang Weiguo never dared to tell Zhang Qingqing about this. He knew that his younger sister's dream was to go to university, and the only chance for her to return to the city after being sent to the countryside was the college entrance examination.
The obsession runs too deep, it goes without saying.
But then this happened at home... I was afraid that Zhang Qingqing would lose control of her emotions and do something irreversible if she found out.
Unexpectedly, Zhang Qingqing actually passed the exam this time.
This left Zhang Weiguo feeling incredibly bitter.
At the same time, she felt a growing resentment towards Li Dahong.
If it weren't for her, how could the Zhang family have suffered such a misfortune?
If it weren't for her, how could Zhang Qingqing have gotten into university, only to fail the political review and have to stay in the countryside to suffer?
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