Chapter 213 Results
Nan Zhiyi felt a little better and shook the letter in her hand: "Yueyue said in her letter that she felt she did well on the exam... but sending letters is too slow. A month goes by in the round trip. If only we could call each other..."
Gu Xiao put his arm around her shoulder and walked towards the living room: "We can install a telephone next spring. The Operations Department is piloting communication reforms in the family residential areas. Our family is on the first batch of installation lists, and the lines have already been reserved."
Nan Zhiyi's eyes lit up, and she quickly asked, "Does it cost money to install a telephone? Is it expensive?"
"The initial setup fee is three hundred, and the monthly rent is ten yuan." Gu Xiao squeezed her palm. "Will you deduct that from your royalties?"
Seeing that she was about to nod, he couldn't help but laugh, "Just kidding, the military region's logistics department will handle the settlement."
She started daydreaming: "Then we can call Aunt Feng directly! If Yueran gets into a school in Beijing, she can contact Aunt Feng every week... Oh, and Xiaoman can call him Grandpa into the phone!"
Suddenly remembering something, she thought, "Could I call Dad's office? Would that be against the rules?"
“Commanders have a special red line.” Gu Xiao smiled and pressed her onto the sofa, hugging her tightly. “But you have to go through your secretary first. Then teach Xiaoman to say, ‘I’m Gu Zhao, looking for Grandpa.’”
Nan Zhiyi laughed at his tone and fell into his arms. She then asked, "Why doesn't Jian'an's family have a telephone? Dad's level should have had one by now, right?"
Gu Xiao twirled her hair with his fingers: "You know Dad's temperament, he's got the old revolutionary's temper. He said, 'What kind of talk is it to have a telephone at home? If we need anything, we'll have the guards run errands.' Once, the logistics department secretly installed one, but he insisted on having it removed and even scolded the office director, saying that there shouldn't be any special treatment."
Nan Zhiyi leaned back into his arms with a sigh: "That's just how Dad is..."
She had a sudden inspiration: "Do you think every household will have a telephone in the future? Maybe even without wires, you can just put it in your pocket and make a call, like the cordless phone described in 'Little Smarty's Adventures in the Future'?"
"Like the interstellar communicator you described in your book?" Gu Xiao played with a strand of her hair. "The U.S. military does have something similar, it looks like a black brick, they say it's a satellite signal converter. But that thing is ridiculously expensive, and the call quality is terrible."
"It can be even smaller!" Nan Zhiyi suddenly sat up straight. "It should be thin, as thin as a playing card, with a touchscreen... not only can you make calls, but you can also see the other person's face, just like talking face-to-face..."
She suddenly broke free from his arm and ran barefoot to the study. "I have to add this to the new book! The fundamental breakthrough of interstellar civilization is long-distance communication... Interstellar colonists used thought waves to communicate, but after their home planet was destroyed, they had to switch to primitive radio. Later, a scientist invented the quantum communicator..."
Gu Xiao carried her slippers into the study, looked at her figure buried in the manuscript paper, and shook his head with a light laugh.
Outside the window, the north wind whipped up snowflakes, while inside, the warmth of the heating made one drowsy.
He gently put slippers on her and then poured her a cup of hot tea.
As he placed the teacup on the desk, he caught a glimpse of newly added words on the manuscript paper:
"In the year 217 of the Galactic Era, when the first interstellar colonists sent back holographic images from Centaurus, the command center erupted in cheers... The images were so clear that even the ice crystals on the colonists' eyelashes were clearly visible... They immediately set off for Centaurus..."
He leaned down and wrapped his arms around her: "Is Mrs. Gu trying to become a prophet?"
Nan Zhiyi continued writing, "...Maybe one day your watch will actually project my holographic image?"
Gu Xiao didn't disturb him any further. He picked up the second volume of "Star Whisperer" from the table, sat down on the sofa, and started reading.
Dusk was falling.
Sister Zhang brought Xiaoman upstairs; she had to go prepare dinner.
Gu Xiao pinched Xiaoman's whimpering little mouth and threatened his son in a soft voice, "Don't make a loud noise, or I'll spank your little bottom!"
Xiaoman stared wide-eyed at her father innocently, as if to say, "He's not making any noise at all..."
The snow in Beijing had not yet melted. In the morning, Nan Zhiyi was engrossed in writing when there was a knock on the courtyard gate.
Soon, Xiao Liu appeared at the study door, straightened his posture and saluted: "Sister-in-law, the results are posted. The minister asked me to take you to the Education Bureau."
The news came as a complete surprise. Nan Zhiyi's hand trembled, and the nib of her pen left an ink blot on the manuscript paper.
She forced herself to remain calm, put down her pen, and instructed Sister Zhang, "I'll be back soon. If Xiaoman throws a tantrum, give her a cookie..."
Sister Zhang carried Xiaoman all the way to the door, smiling and saying, "Don't worry! It must be good news!"
As the jeep rolled over the icy road, Nan Zhiyi's heart pounded the whole way, making her tremble slightly.
This journey was exceptionally long.
When we arrived at the Education Bureau, the area in front of the outer wall was crowded with people.
The long red list hung from one end of the wall to the other, with names and scores densely arranged in ink-stained calligraphy.
Nan Zhiyi wrapped her scarf tighter and squeezed into the crowd, her gaze sliding down the name list. After a long while, it finally stopped in the middle:
Nan Zhiyi's scores were: Politics 89, Chinese 92, Mathematics 73, History and Geography 133, for a total of 387.
She took a deep breath and her steps faltered as she squeezed through the crowd.
Xiao Liu silently handed her the kettle, and only asked after she had recovered her senses, "Sister-in-law, go to the window on the second floor to pick up your report card."
"good."
Nan Zhiyi told him to wait downstairs while she went up to the second floor, waited in a long line to receive her report card—a thin, mimeographed sheet of paper, still warm from the printing press.
The staff handed over the medical examination notice and a bag of materials, explaining carefully: "Go to Peking Union Medical College Hospital for a medical examination tomorrow. Put all the reports in this sealed bag and return them to the admissions office before Friday. We'll notify you about the political review later; someone will come to your home."
Nan Zhiyi quickly accepted it, saying, "Thank you."
On the way back, Nan Zhiyi asked Xiao Liu to take her to the post office.
The telegraph operator handed her telegram paper through the glass window, and she carefully wrote down:
"A total score of 387 is sufficient; no worries about the background check."
The next morning, Gu Xiao took a day off to accompany her to her medical check-up.
The old building of Peking Union Medical College Hospital was packed with test takers. A doctor in a white coat smiled as he took blood pressure: "Your blood vessels are a bit thin. You don't exercise much, comrade."
When Nan Zhiyi was having her blood drawn, she turned her head away, not daring to look. Gu Xiao gently covered her eyes with his hand: "It'll be done soon."
His officer's overcoat stood out in the crowd, and a nurse whispered among herself, "It's rare to see an officer accompanying someone for a medical check-up."
All medical examination reports were sealed in a brown paper bag, and the doctor specifically instructed: "Return them to the Education Bureau's Admissions Office, and do not remove the seal."
"Okay, thank you."
The day after she submitted her medical examination report, she received a call back from Zhang Yueran.
Very brief: "See you in Beijing, sis."
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