Chapter 149 Chapter 149 End of the text

After hearing the news from Pang Youhua, Xia Qinqin immediately rode home excitedly.

Meng Yufei had already returned home from get off work. Xia Qinqin hurriedly parked her bicycle in the yard and shouted into the house, "Mom, Mom! The college entrance examination has been resumed!"

She rushed into the house while shouting. Meng Yufei's voice came from inside the house, with a happy tone: "I heard it. The exam will be in December this year. You can prepare well now."

"Yes!" Xia Qinqin nodded vigorously, and then became a little worried: "But I have graduated for more than a year, and I will take the exam in two months. I don't know if I can come to review."

Meng Yufei comforted him, "This time, the college entrance examination includes not only people like you who have graduated a year ago, but also high school students who graduated ten years ago. Compared with them, you still have a great advantage."

Xia Qinqin nodded and said, "That's true. Fortunately, my high school textbooks are still at home."

Meng Yufei said, "I will call your grandfather tomorrow and ask him to send over the college entrance examination textbooks that your uncle and I used to take, so that you can study together."

Xia Qinqin suddenly thought: "Oh, I wonder if Brother Yannan will take the exam together. He didn't bring his textbooks to the army. Well, I'll write a letter to ask him now."

After Lu Yannan settled down in the army, he would send a letter almost every month. Sometimes it was just a simple greeting or two, and sometimes he would talk about interesting things happening around him.

Xia Qinqin is the same, she will write back seriously after receiving a letter.

In this era of inconvenient communication, we can only keep in touch in this way. However, even though we can’t see each other or hear each other’s voices, we can still express our longing for each other through text.

Even because we can't see each other, it seems that we can discuss more things through words, carefully writing down what is in our hearts word by word.

The resumption of the college entrance examination is a major event for the whole country. Many old leaders of the Cultural Palace are intellectuals who attended university in those days. They are very supportive of Xia Qinqin's decision to take the college entrance examination. The team leader even reduced the work she was doing and encouraged her to concentrate on reviewing.

Pang Youhua and Pang Youcheng, a brother and sister, were also going to take the college entrance examination this time, so the three of them decided to get together after get off work and on weekends to review, help each other and make progress together.

On this weekend, Xia Qinqin went to the post office and mailed the letter she wrote to Lu Yannan.

There is a post office in the family compound, not far from the supply and marketing cooperative, and it only takes a few minutes to get there by bike.

After sending the letter, she rode her bicycle out of the family compound, intending to go to the used book stall to buy two review books.

Since the announcement of the resumption of the college entrance examination, high school students who graduated within ten years across the country have become excited. Whether they are those who stayed in the city and have already worked, or those who have gone to the countryside, they all actively signed up to participate.

Most of the students who graduated in the last two years still have their textbooks, but few who graduated before that still have them.

As a result, used book stalls became popular. They were originally set up by the government to dispose of books that had been confiscated in previous years and had been checked and found to meet the regulations.

In the past, you could buy a stack of books for a few cents, but now you can’t even buy a high school textbook for a dollar.

From a distance, she saw a crowd of people crowded in front of the used bookstall. Xia Qinqin stopped her bike and frowned as she watched the noisy crowd scrambling for books in front of her.

Why not go home first? There are so many people and I don’t know when I can squeeze in.

"Xia Qinqin, you're here to buy books too!" A loud female voice rang out, "I just snatched a set of math test papers and I'll lend them to you to copy."

Xia Qinqin looked at the person who walked up to her with a smile and asked in surprise, "Sun Wenli! Are you here to buy books too?"

The person in front of me is my junior high school classmate Sun Wenli. Since her home is in the residential compound of the arsenal across the street, the two of them often run into each other.

"Yes, I fought for a long time to buy a few papers." Sun Wenli nodded.

Xia Qinqin asked: "Are you also going to take the college entrance examination?"

"Yeah, I just signed up."

"Ah? But doesn't it mean that only high school graduates can take the exam?" Xia Qinqin was puzzled.

Sun Wenli explained: "It was said before that in principle, all high school graduates of all years and the current year would be admitted, but a few days ago, a notice was issued to relax the registration conditions and allow workers and farmers, educated youth who went to the countryside and returned to their hometowns, demobilized soldiers, cadres and other people to participate."

As she spoke, she leaned over and whispered, "I just got promoted not long ago. I work as an officer in our factory women's association. I have the status of an officer, so I meet the registration requirements."

Xia Qinqin nodded, understood what was going on, and said with a smile: "So that's how it is. Congratulations, I wish you success in the imperial examination."

Sun Wenli smiled and said, "I'm taking the exam just for the experience. If I pass, that's even better. If I don't, that's okay."

"That's right. After all, you are a cadre now." Xia Qinqin joked with a smile.

Sun Wenli said, "By the way, I'm not the only one among my junior high school classmates who signed up. There are several others as well. We just formed a study group not long ago. Do you want to study with us?"

Xia Qinqin shook her head: "No, I still like to review at home."

I didn't see many of my junior high school classmates again after graduation. For those who lived close to me, like Sun Wenli, we would just say hello when we occasionally met. We were not as close to each other as we were when we were in school.

Sun Wenli said with some regret: "Okay."

If Xia Qinqin came, it would definitely be a great help to their review, after all, she is a high school graduate. But since Xia Qinqin refused, Sun Wenli didn't say anything.

Without buying the book, Xia Qinqin rode back. Seeing so many people reviewing, she inexplicably felt a sense of urgency. She decided to seize the time and go back to read the book for a while.

Just as she arrived at the gate of her family compound, a jeep stopped beside her and the rear windows were lowered.

"Qinqin, come on, let's go and answer a phone call first."

"Uncle Lu! What call are you answering?" Xia Qinqin asked in surprise.

Lu Shaohuan got out of the car and stuffed Xia Qinqin's bike into the trunk. He said, "Lu Yannan called my office and said he had something important to tell you."

Sitting in the jeep, Xia Qinqin guessed that it might be related to this year's college entrance examination.

Lu Shaohuan said carelessly: "Tell me, what urgent matter could you two have? That brat even ordered me around. If it weren't for my consideration for a little girl like you, I wouldn't have listened to him for fear of delaying your relationship..."

"Uncle Lu," Xia Qinqin said with some amusement, "Brother Yannan probably wants to talk to me about the college entrance examination."

“Oh, about the college entrance examination.” Lu Shaohuan shook his head: “Tsk, I thought there was going to be something interesting to watch.”

Xia Qinqin was puzzled: "What good show can Brother Yannan and I have?"

Lu Shaohuan stroked his chin and smiled, “It was a quarrel. You scolded Lu Yannan and said you wanted to break up with him, and then that guy thought something was wrong and mustered up the courage to call you to apologize and ask for your forgiveness…”

Xia Qinqin interrupted his guess speechlessly: "Uncle Lu, you think too much. Brother Yannan and I can't even see each other, how could we quarrel?"

Lu Shaohuan smiled and said, "That's not necessarily true. Children of your age have emotions that come and go quickly, and this is the time when you are most likely to be impulsive. You might end up quarreling while writing a letter."

Xia Qinqin's eyes suddenly rolled, and a sly smile appeared on the corner of her mouth: "Uncle Lu, you seem to have a lot of experience in quarreling with girls. Who have you ever quarreled with while writing a letter?"

"...Ahem," Lu Shaohuan looked out the window and said, "Oh, we're here, hurry up, get off the bus."

Xia Qinqin shrugged, feeling a little regretful that she couldn't continue asking questions, and got out of the car behind.

As expected, Lu Yannan called to talk about the college entrance examination. He asked, "Qinqin, which school do you plan to apply to?"

A deep and slightly magnetic voice came from the receiver, and Xia Qinqin had a familiar yet strange feeling. It seems that Brother Yannan's voice change period has not ended yet, she thought quietly in her heart.

"I, I will probably choose a school in Hai City. I need to discuss with my family which school to choose." Xia Qinqin answered while unconsciously tightening the heavy receiver in her hand.

"Brother Yannan, what about you? Are you going to come back to take the college entrance examination?"

"I have been selected to attend the military academy and will not take the college entrance examination."

Xia Qinqin was surprised and said, "Really? Congratulations! Brother Yannan, you are amazing. You went to college before everyone else."

There seemed to be a faint smile coming from the other end of the phone, "After the exam, remember to let me know which school you applied for."

Xia Qinqin lowered her head and kicked her toes, saying, "I don't know if I can pass the exam yet."

Lu Yannan on the other end of the phone said firmly: "I believe in you, you will definitely pass the exam."

"Well, I will study hard." Xia Qinqin nodded vigorously and suddenly smiled: "Brother Yannan, when I get admitted to university, you have to give me a gift, and I will also give you a gift to celebrate your admission to the military academy."

"Okay. What do you want as a gift?"

"The gift is a surprise. It's up to you to decide, but you can guess what I'm going to give you."

"Anything is fine."

"Are you sure? Then I'll give you a bag of candy. Fruit candy!"

“…You can change it.”

"Haha, you can say anything."

…

After hanging up the phone, Xia Qinqin walked out of the office with a smile on her face.

Lu Shaohuan sent someone to drive her back home.

After arriving home, she ran to her room upstairs and took out a photo from the drawer of her dressing table. It was taken at school when she graduated.

The photo taken with Lu Yannan had been sent to him before, and this was a solo photo of herself.

Xia Qinqin looked down at the girl with frowning eyes in the photo. She suddenly ran to the mirror and looked at herself carefully in the mirror.

Well, it seems a little different.

Girls change a lot when they grow up. In a year, Xia Qinqin's appearance has changed a little. Her childish face has become brighter and her facial features have become more three-dimensional.

After thinking for a while, she looked down at her watch. This was the Longines watch that Meng Yufei took her to buy in a department store when she was working last year. It cost more than 500 yuan.

Meng Yufei thought that a watch could be worn for many years and was very practical in daily life, so she bought a better watch for her daughter.

The watch hands showed that it was four o'clock, and there was still an hour before the photo studio closed.

Xia Qinqin immediately stood up, opened the closet, changed into a white shirt, re-combed her hair, picked up her backpack and went out.

She went to the photo studio to take a new solo photo.

After the photos were developed, she took out her newly bought black wallet. It was a gift for Lu Yannan. She bought it at a friendship store and they said it was imported from Country F.

She opened her wallet and put the photo inside.

She patted her wallet, took it to the post office and mailed it.

After giving out the gifts, Xia Qinqin secretly made up her mind that she had to study hard, otherwise she would not be able to get into university and would not have the nerve to ask for gifts.

The college entrance examination in 1978 was held in December, just two months after the announcement of its resumption. This large-scale examination that changed the fate of countless people was held at the end of the year.

Because the news came out suddenly and the review time was very tight, many people did not have enough time to prepare for this exam.

A total of more than 5.7 million people across the country took the exam, but less than 300,000 were finally admitted. It was truly a struggle like a million men trying to cross a single-plank bridge.

The college students selected in this exam are of great quality.

After finishing her exams, Xia Qinqin continued to work until the end of January, when she received an admission letter from Haishi University.

The notice was delivered directly to the family compound. When Xia Qinqin came back from get off work, she heard congratulations before she even entered the family compound.

"Qinqin, the postman delivered your college acceptance letter this afternoon!"

"Congratulations! Our school has also produced a college student."

"You really made your parents proud! I heard it's very difficult to get into university this time."

"Qinqin looks smart and has the potential to be a college student."

"Yes, Qinqin is pretty and smart. How did Teacher Xia and President Meng give birth to such an excellent child?"

"That's nothing. Their parents are excellent. They are both good-looking. It's normal for them to have a good-looking child. Besides, President Meng was also a college student before."

"No wonder."

…

People along the way smiled and congratulated her when they saw her. They were also very proud that their family school had produced a college student.

Xia Qinqin thanked everyone for their congratulations with a smile. After returning home, she couldn't wait to run into the house. Xia Junshan and Meng Yufei had already returned and were sitting on the sofa in the living room, looking at the notice on the coffee table.

"Dad, Mom, I'm back."

Xia Junshan stood up excitedly, picked up the admission letter on the table and ran over: "Qinqin, look, your admission letter! It's amazing, you got into university! Aurora University!"

He couldn't suppress a smile on his face, and said with emotion, "I never thought that our family would have another college student."

As he said this, his eyes became moist. He was an orphan. When he was a child, he worked as a cow for a landlord. He hid outside the school and listened to the sounds of reading inside. He was very envious. At that time, he would never have thought that one day his daughter would walk into a university classroom.

Meng Yufei walked over, gently took Xia Junshang's hand, and said with a smile: "Congratulations, you have raised a college student daughter, a college student father."

Xia Junshan smiled and shook his wife's hand, saying gently: "The main credit goes to you, a college student mother. Marrying you is the greatest fortune of my life."

Mr. and Mrs. Meng looked at each other and smiled.

Xia Qinqin held her father with one hand and her mother with the other, and said coquettishly: "Thank you great father and mother, thank you for always supporting me."

Meng Yufei stroked her daughter's hair and smiled, "The most important thing is your own hard work. Hurry up and take a look at the admission letter. We don't even know which department you were admitted to."

Xia Junshan nodded: "Yes, open it quickly and take a look. I have never seen what a university admission letter looks like."

After the notice was delivered to their home, the couple never opened it.

Xia Qinqin nodded, looked down at the acceptance letter in her hand, opened it and took a look, and said happily: "Oh, it's the Department of Economics, my first choice."

Meng Yufei glanced at it and nodded, "That means you scored very high."

The results of this college entrance examination were not announced. Xia Qinqin didn't even know how many points she had scored. She only found out that she was admitted to the university today when she received the admission letter.

The application form was filled out after the college entrance examination. At that time, Xia Qinqin felt that she had done well in the exam. When Meng Yufei asked her which university she wanted to go to, Xia Qinqin chose Tongji University in Hai City. She wanted to go to the university where her mother had studied before.

But after communicating with Meng's father, he suggested that Xia Qinqin go to his former alma mater, Aurora University.

"Some time ago, I received news that one of my old classmates will be the president of Aurora University. With him here, I believe the teaching atmosphere at Aurora University will be even better." This was the advice given by Meng's father.

After careful discussion, the family decided to follow Mr. Meng's advice and finally chose Aurora University as their first choice.

After going to college, Xia Qinqin left her parents for a long time for the first time and embarked on a new journey in life.

At the train platform, Xia Junshan and Meng Yufei looked at the train going away and took a long time to look away.

"Qinqin probably won't be back until summer vacation." Xia Junshan murmured, with some sadness in his tone.

Meng Yufei said in a deep voice: "Well, there are still more than four months."

Xia Junshan sighed and couldn't help but say, "If Qinqin didn't get into college, would it be nice to work and live with us for the rest of her life?"

Meng Yufei smiled and said, "Qinqin has grown up and needs to walk her own path. As parents, we also need to learn to let go."

Xia Junshan nodded: "Yes, Qinqin will have a bright future. But I don't know if she can take care of herself."

Meng Yufei fell silent. Since Xia Qinqin was born, she and her daughter had never been apart for a long time. Although she was very reluctant in her heart, she still smiled and said, "I believe she will take good care of herself. Besides, my parents are also in Haishi, so if anything happens, there are elders to support her."

Xia Junshan put his arm around Meng Yufei's shoulders and said with a smile, "Now, we are the only two old people left at home."

Meng Yufei raised her eyebrows: "Why, do you think I'm old?"

Xia Junshan said hurriedly: "How could that be? In my heart, you have always been the same as when I first met you. No, you are even more beautiful than then."

Meng Yufei smiled and patted him, "Slippery tongue, still the same as before."

"No way, everything I said came from my heart."

The couple held hands and slowly turned around and walked home.

As the first batch of college students after the resumption of the college entrance examination, although there is a big age gap between us, everyone is full of confidence and enthusiasm, and has infinite aspirations for the future.

Xia Qinqin was only seventeen years old after the Chinese New Year. She was the youngest student in the class. Several graduating high school students were older than her, so everyone was quite caring towards this little sister.

"Xia Qinqin, someone is looking for you downstairs in the dormitory." The older sister in the dormitory shouted as she walked in with a lunch box.

Xia Qinqin, who was working in the upper store, poked her head out and asked, "Who's looking for me?"

"A boy in military uniform, tall and young, I don't know who he is."

A thought flashed through Xia Qinqin's mind, and she guessed who it was. She jumped down from the upper floor, put on her shoes, and rushed out the door. She ran to the door, looked back, changed her clothes, and combed her hair before hurried out.

"Who is coming? Xia Qinqin is so anxious." People in the dormitory asked in confusion.

Downstairs in the dormitory, among the crowd coming and going, a touch of military green stood out, causing passers-by to look back curiously from time to time. As the focus, he stood there calmly, his deep eyes under the brim of his hat staring at the staircase, until he saw someone running down hurriedly, his cold eyebrows softened all of a sudden.

Xia Qinqin looked at the tall figure standing not far in front of her and was slightly stunned. The familiar face lost its paleness, and the facial features became more handsome, with a hint of coldness between the eyebrows.

When he saw me, the boy's eyes softened all of a sudden and he showed me a familiar smile.

Boom, boom! Xia Qinqin seemed to hear her own heartbeat.

The last time I had this feeling was probably a few years ago when I saw Brother Yan Nan whom I hadn’t seen for a long time.

It seemed that every time she met Brother Yannan again, her heart would beat faster. The moment Xia Qinqin walked towards Lu Yannan, these thoughts flashed through her mind.

"Brother Yannan, why are you here? Are you on vacation?"

Lu Yannan smiled and said, "I accompanied the leader on a business trip to Hai City. He gave me half a day off, so I came to see you."

"Oh, then your leader is pretty good." Xia Qinqin said with a smile.

Lu Yannan lowered his eyes and looked at the girl in front of him. The girl with the same smile in the photo now appeared in front of him, making him dazed for a moment. He took a deep breath quietly and said with a smile: "Qinqin, congratulations on getting into the university of your dreams."

Xia Qinqin tilted her head and smiled: "Brother Yannan, you have already said this before on the phone."

Lu Yannan said: "I want to tell you again in person."

Xia Qinqin stretched out her hand and raised her eyebrows, "You can't just talk about it. Where's the gift? Did you receive the gift I gave you?"

Lu Yannan smiled and nodded: "I got it, I like it very much."

Xia Qinqin was slightly stunned, looked up at the beautiful face, felt her face slightly hot, and she quickly lowered her head.

Really, how come Brother Yannan has grown taller again? It’s so hard for me to lift my neck just to look at him now, Xia Qinqin thought.

"I don't know if you like it or not, this is a gift from me to you." A voice came from above my head, and if I listened carefully, there was a hint of smile in it.

Xia Qinqin looked at the pink leather armor that appeared in front of her, took it in her hand and looked at it, and said in surprise: "Is it the same as the one I gave you?"

"Yes." Lu Yannan nodded.

Xia Qinqin opened the leather armor and what came into view was a two-inch photo of a person wearing a military green uniform. Although his face was stern, there was a faint smile in his eyes.

Xia Qinqin looked up and asked with a smile: "When did you take this photo?"

Lu Yannan said: "It was just filmed a while ago."

Xia Qinqin lowered her head and glanced at the photo again, then looked up at the person in front of her and nodded, "Yeah, you look quite similar to how you look now. The photo I took in high school looks a little different from you now."

Lu Yannan smiled and said, "From now on, we will take a photo every once in a while."

"We?" Xia Qinqin raised her eyebrows and looked at him.

"Yes, we." Lu Yannan nodded cherishingly.

The two young people have made an agreement now, and they will fulfill this agreement seriously in their future lives.