He Dongchuan and Su Ting were indeed busy for a long time that night, until late at night.

As expected, Su Ting woke up late the next day, and He Yan even brought her breakfast. Eating the already cold salted vegetable buns, Su Ting was so moved that she decided to go to bed early tonight.

Tomorrow is the entrance exam from primary school to junior high school, she must get up early to cheer He Yan up and buy breakfast!

As for why she bought instead of making it, well, it was mainly because she hadn't cooked in the past two years and had no confidence in her cooking skills.

After breakfast, Su Ting tidied up the house. During that time, she heard some children playing hopscotch downstairs, and they pestered her to go out and play too.

When I lived in the city, I gradually went back and forth between the nursery, my home, and my mom's school every day. Although I had plenty of playmates during school, I really didn't go out to play much after school. I was very restricted.

Su Ting keeps such a close eye on Man Man, firstly because she is very busy every day and doesn't have much time to stay at home, and secondly because she is afraid that there might be kidnappers and something might happen to the child.

After returning home, Su Ting no longer had to be so nervous. This was their residence, and kidnappers generally didn't dare to come here. As long as the children didn't run away and commit suicide, it would be fine.

Therefore, after instructing her not to leave the compound, Su Ting waved her hand and let her go.

After walking slowly, Su Ting went into the kitchen to wash her hands, dried them, and returned to the master bedroom. She opened the closet and took out the iron box inside.

Although she moved to the city, she did not carry much money with her. Her passbook and valuables were all at home. Whenever she ran out of money, she would ask He Dongchuan to get some for her from home.

Although all the people living in Sanyang Lane are employees of state-owned factories, Su Ting is more willing to believe in the public security in the Navy Compound and that He Dongchuan is not someone who would spend money recklessly.

Of course, it didn’t matter even if He Dongchuan spent money recklessly, she would keep a record of the account and would know whether there was any money missing or not when she came back to count it.

Su Ting first counted the money in the iron box, and when it basically matched the money in her account book, she counted the money she had on hand.

He Dongchuan gave her money three times this semester. The first two times were in the first month of school, when they bought two big items: furniture for the rented house and a bicycle and various clothes. The last time was in May, when they also bought clothes for the changing seasons, which cost a lot of money.

There were no major expenses after that, and she barely touched the money she had.

It’s not that Su Ting is particularly frugal, but the school gives out subsidies every month. The money is not much, less than 20 yuan, but the food in the school cafeteria is very cheap. Even if she and Man Man eat breakfast outside, this subsidy is enough for their daily expenses.

In the other four, five and six months, Su Ting had an article accepted every month. The lowest fee was 18 yuan and the highest was 50 yuan. This money could cover her expenses for buying fruit snacks for her home.

No, there are more.

After buying clothes in May, she had 68.37 yuan left. As of today, she has received two subsidies, all of which she has spent. She has also received two royalties, a total of 82 yuan, and she has spent part of it. Now she has 123.56 yuan left.

After counting the money, Su Ting took out ten large bills from the money, rolled them up, tied them with a rubber band and put them in an iron box. She then closed the iron box and stuffed it into the closet. She took the rest to the chest in the living room for daily expenses.

Just after locking the closet, there was a knock on the door. Su Ting went to open the door and asked with a smile, "Why are you here?"

Standing outside the door were Meng Xiuzhen and He Cuixia. The latter said with a smile, "You've been away at school for several months. It's not easy for you to come back. Of course we have to come and see you. Are you gone?"

"He went downstairs to play. He should be downstairs, right? Didn't you see him?" Su Ting said as she walked to the balcony and looked down. After looking around, she saw Manman on the left.

Maybe because they thought it would be too sunny, they drew the house on the left side of the road, which was just blocked by the shadow of the nine-building house. Because the game started from the nine-building direction, the children gathered at the other end and were blocked by the nine-building house. They could only see it when they walked to this side.

When Su Ting looked over, it was Manman's turn to jump, so she didn't see her at first, but when she jumped to the back, she appeared in her sight.

Su Ting felt relieved and went back to the living room and said, "She is playing hopscotch downstairs. What would you like to drink?"

"I don't have any other requirements, just cold tea is fine." Meng Xiuzhen said. It was already hot in Shanghai in early July, and she really couldn't drink hot tea.

Su Ting said helplessly: "Your request is just too difficult for me."

She had just finished breakfast, so she had no time to make tea to cool down. She said, "I'll pour each of you a glass of boiled water. Let it cool down before drinking."

"All is fine." said He Cuixia.

After pouring the water, Su Ting placed it on the tea table. Thinking that her family would also want to drink some, she took the teapot into the bathroom to fetch water and rinse it clean. She then poured hot water into the pot, put tea leaves in it, poured in boiling water, covered the pot, and then returned to the living room to sit down.

"You two did your hair together?"

After sitting down, we started by talking about hairstyle, because the biggest change in Meng Xiuzhen and He Cuixia in the past few months was that they had their hair permed, and their hairstyles are quite similar, except that the former's is shorter and the latter's is longer, covering her ears.

Meng Xiuzhen said: "That's not the case. I went to get my hair permed with Xiao Li from Building 6. Cuixia came because she saw how well we permed our hair. But she and I went to the same barber shop."

"Sister Meng introduced me to this place." He Cuixia then asked, "Xiao Su, do you perm your hair? Curly hair is in fashion this year. Many military wives in our compound have permed their hair."

"I don't perm my hair. I don't have time to do it. I'm also planning to get a haircut."

Ho Tsui-ha's reaction was similar to Meng Xiu-zhen's. She asked in surprise, "You have such good hair, why do you suddenly want to cut it off?"

"I don't have time." Su Ting repeated the problem of the difficulty of washing hair.

He Cuixia sighed: "You have to go to school, you really can't care so much, when are you going to get your hair cut?"

Su Ting said, "Maybe in a few days. I want to wait until Xiaoyan finishes the exam."

He Cuixia's son Sun Lin is in the same class as He Yan, and he also has to take the entrance examination from primary school to junior high school this year. When she thinks about this, she is much more worried than Su Ting.

Among the children of the same age in the compound, He Yan can be considered a child of other families. Not only is he good-looking, but he is also very well-behaved.

During the past six months, Su Ting was not at home and there was no one to watch over him. Not only did He Yan not skip school, he also got up very early every day, ran, ate, and went to school, and arranged his schedule very well.

Not to mention his grades. Except for the time when he just transferred to Shanghai and ranked second in the midterm exam because of the slower teaching progress at Pingchuan Island, he has always been the top student in the grade.

Because of He Yan, kids of his age in the compound got beaten more often than kids of other age groups.

Comparing yourself to others will make you feel thief!

In this primary school to junior high school entrance examination, all the military wives in the compound were very confident in He Yan. They felt that even if he could not get first place in the county, he would definitely be in the top three.

Compared with He Yan, Sun Lin is much more ordinary.

He is not a sensible person, just an ordinary boy in his teens. He is not very motivated in his studies. He will study hard for a while when his parents are watching him closely, but will play around secretly when their parents are not watching him closely.

After entering the fifth grade, Sun Lin's best grade was 15th in the class, and his worst time was when he was last in the class. That time, He Cuixia was so angry that she beat him severely with a branch.

Until now, every day when Sun Lin comes home from school, the first thing He Cuixia does is to ask him what homework the teacher has assigned him, and then she watches him finish it.

Under He Cuixia's close supervision, Sun Lin achieved a good result, ranking 15th in the class in the last midterm exam.

This result is good for Sun Lin, but it is not outstanding in the whole school. If it is ranked together in the whole county, it is in the middle and lower level.

Although junior and senior high schools across the country have been recruiting more students after the movement, schools still have requirements for admission, and the better the school, the higher the score required for the child.

With He Yan's grades, he will definitely be able to enter the best high school in the county, but Sun Lin may not be able to do so. He may only be able to go to the worst junior high school.

Before the college entrance examination was resumed, He Cuixia had never worried about this problem, because at that time, sending children to school was mainly because she didn't want them to be blind, and after entering junior high and high school, it would be easy to arrange for them to find a job or join the army.

But to say that they care much about their children's grades, that's really not the case. After all, getting into high school depends on indicators rather than grades.

Now that the college entrance examination has been resumed, the high school admissions policy has also changed. It no longer looks at indicators, but at students' academic performance. The same is true for high school graduates taking the college entrance examination. Universities will select the best candidates.

As policies changed, parents' thinking also began to change. In particular, as Su Ting and other military wives were admitted to universities one after another, the educational atmosphere in the compound became increasingly strong, and the military wives became more concerned about their children's education.

After listening to it many times, He Cuixia gradually figured out a pattern.

A good junior high school not only has abundant teaching resources, but also a strong learning atmosphere. Children will be more motivated to learn and have a greater chance of being admitted to a good high school, forming a virtuous circle.

In poor junior high schools, not only are the teachers mediocre, but the learning atmosphere is also bad. Children have no interest in studying, and even if they are admitted to high school, their performance will not be very good. It is a vicious cycle.

Everyone hopes that their children will have a bright future, go to a good junior high school, a good high school, and be admitted to a good university, but when thinking of Sun Lin’s grades, He Cuixia was worried!

Meng Xiuzhen could understand He Cuixia's worries very well. Although her daughter had excellent grades and was admitted to a prestigious university, she still had two little children to take care of.

Although her second child's grades were not terrible, they were almost there, in the middle and lower levels of the class, and it was still unknown whether he could be admitted to high school.

The two sighed to each other, and Su Ting had to comfort them: "In fact, the children are still young. If you work hard now, there will be opportunities in the future."

Meng Xiuzhen said: "If my second child knew how to work hard, I wouldn't have to worry."

"Yes." He Cuixia agreed.

"Then you should keep a closer eye on them," Su Ting thought for a moment and said, "In fact, I think if you are ruthless enough, you can rent a house near their school and keep an eye on them every day. If you are willing to spend money, you can hire a tutor for them."

He Cuixia asked: "What is tutoring?"

"It's about tutors. Go to key high schools and ask if there are any children with good grades but poor family conditions. Hire one and give them daily tutoring. After a year or so, I can't say that they will be 100% able to get into high school or college, but the chances will be better than they are now."

Meng Xiuzhen thought for a moment and asked, "How much does it cost to hire this tutor per month?"

"If you ask me now, I can't tell you." Su Ting threw her hands helplessly. If it was a few decades later, she would still be able to give you an idea of ​​the price of a tutor, but these days no one is hiring a tutor, so how would she know what price would be enough to hire one?

But seeing the two of them looking confused, Su Ting thought about it carefully and said, "I think no matter how high the price is, it shouldn't be higher than the apprenticeship of a state-owned factory."

A few decades later, the salary of a tutor was not low. If a student graduated from a good university, he or she could earn over 10,000 yuan. But this was the late 1970s, and there were few parents willing to pay for a tutor. In addition, there were no technical secondary schools or universities in the county, so only high school students could be hired. Su Ting said this, but she was actually overestimating.

So after she finished speaking, she hesitated for a moment and said, "Of course you guys have to negotiate the price yourself. Maybe you can get a very low price."

He Cuixia heaved a sigh of relief when she heard this. The first year salary for an apprentice in a state-owned factory was generally 16 or 17 yuan. If she was paid, she would not think the money was a lot. But she was reluctant to spend more than ten yuan a month to hire someone to tutor her child.

Meng Xiuzhen was not that worried. Anyway, her daughter would come back during the winter and summer vacations, so she could just let her help her younger brothers and sisters with their homework. If she hired a tutor, she would only have to attend classes four days a month at most, which was not that expensive.

Noticing the expressions of the two people, Su Ting said, "I think when you hire a tutor, the first thing you should consider is not the price, but the teacher's grades and whether he can teach students. If the teacher has good grades and teaches well, it doesn't matter if the price is a little expensive. If the teacher has good grades but can't teach students, it's probably useless to hire him cheaply. If the teacher has poor grades, it's better not to hire him."

The two nodded thoughtfully: "You are right."

…

Although she doesn't have to worry about He Yan's studies, Su Ting is still very nervous when she thinks about tomorrow's quiz.

After dinner yesterday, He Dongchuan prepared to teach his son martial arts as usual. Su Ting was afraid that He Yan might accidentally sprain his hand or foot during the practice, which would affect his exams, so she quickly stopped the activity.

Less than half an hour after dinner today, Su Ting urged He Yan to take a shower, and before 8:30 she urged him to go to bed, fearing that he would be distracted by reading too late.

In order to let He Yan have a good sleep, Su Ting specially carried Man Man to the second bedroom to prevent her from disturbing her brother's sleep.

Both father and son have their own ideas about this.

He Dongchuan felt that they didn't communicate enough last night, and didn't want to just chat with his wife under the covers tonight.

He Yan said that he also wanted to sleep with his father, mother and sister!

After learning about the father and son's idea, Su Ting's reaction was completely different. She flatly refused He Dongchuan, but explained to He Yan, "You have an exam tomorrow, and sleep is very important. If you want to sleep with us, but our bed is so small, it will be difficult for four people to sleep together. If you really want to sleep with us, wait until you finish the exam before talking to us. What do you think?"

He Yan accepted Su Ting's reason and asked, "Is tomorrow night okay?" There are only two subjects in the transition from primary school to junior high school, and they can be completed in one day.

But as soon as he said that, He Dongchuan rejected him: "Not tomorrow night."

Su Ting glared at He Dongchuan, but did not argue with him. She said, "I have something to talk to your father about tomorrow night. Let's do it the night after tomorrow."

He Yan thought, what can't be said now? Must it be said tomorrow night? However, there is only one day difference between the day after tomorrow and tomorrow, so he doesn't care about it and happily agreed: "Okay."

He Yan's sleep quality was okay at night, but Su Ting couldn't fall into deep sleep because she was thinking about tomorrow's exam.

The next morning, as soon as He Dongchuan made any movement, she woke up, opened her eyes and asked, "What time is it?"

"It's still early, you should sleep a little longer." He Dongchuan said as he got dressed.

Su Ting hummed and closed her eyes, but her mind was extremely clear. She lay in bed for ten minutes without feeling sleepy at all, so she simply turned over and sat up.

He Dongchuan had already washed up and was standing by the bed buttoning his military jacket. Hearing the voice, he asked, "Are you not going to sleep?"

"I can't sleep. I'll make up for it later." Su Ting sat on the edge of the bed, rubbing her face and said.

"That's fine." He Dongchuan said, turning on the light in the room, and walked up to Su Ting and said, "Help me button my shirt."

Su Ting put down her hands that were rubbing her face, looked up at him, and said unhappily, "It's not like you don't have hands."

"How can the buttons I button myself be the same as the ones my wife buttons?" He Dongchuan said as if it was a matter of course. He stood in front of Su Ting with his collar open and his chin raised. "We've been married for so long, and you've never buttoned my clothes."

"No?"

He Dongchuan was very sure: "No."

But Su Ting didn't feel guilty at all: "You've never buttoned my shirt, have you?"

"I'm happy to help you, it just depends on whether you are willing to let me serve you." He Dongchuan said readily.

Su Ting laughed: "Don't give me that, the clothes I'm going to wear today don't have any buttons at all." In fact, it wasn't true. She originally planned to wear a shirt with a long skirt today.

It's just that the weather is hot in July, so people don't wear too many clothes, usually just one piece. Women may wear a bra inside, and Su Ting is no exception. She even has less fabric in her bra.

People these days are more conservative. What they wear inside is called underwear, but in fact it is just a suspender top. Ten years later, it can be worn as outerwear.

Su Ting was more accustomed to wearing bras. Compared with a few decades later, the styles of bras at that time were also very conservative, but they could cover less areas than underwear and had the effect of lifting and gathering the breasts.

Therefore, although Su Ting felt that the bras she bought were very conservative in style, He Dongchuan, a native, did not think so.

Even though she was wearing a bra, He Dongchuan only helped her button up her outer clothes. But if she really did that, Su Ting could guess what the outcome would be without having to think.

So when Su Ting heard He Dongchuan's words, she knew that he definitely had bad intentions.

Sure enough, as soon as she finished speaking, he said, "If there are no buttons, I can help you put on your clothes."

Su Ting raised her eyes and glared at him: "Do you still want to go out today?"

Of course he didn't want to leave the door, but he had to. He Dongchuan sighed, retreated and asked the next best thing: "Will you help me button it?"

Seeing that he was so persistent, Su Ting compromised, stood up and stretched out her hand, starting from the button on his waist and buttoning all the way up.

The summer uniforms of naval officers are all made of Dacron. They are pure white in color, thin in material, and look very good on the body. They look upright and energetic.

But white clothes are more transparent, especially for some people who sweat a lot and are afraid of heat, so they only wear one top in summer. Once soaked with sweat, the unspeakable part of the chest will become very prominent.

But He Dongchuan would never put himself in such an embarrassing situation. No matter how hot it was in the summer, he would always wear a vest under his military jacket.

At this time, he was wearing two clothes. The military jacket on the outside was very loose, but the white vest inside was very close-fitting, and you could almost see the shape of his abdominal muscles.

Even though she couldn't see anything, Su Ting couldn't help but look inside when she was buttoning her clothes.

He Dongchuan's abdomen became even tighter after being watched, and he said in a low voice: "If you keep looking, I may not be able to go out today."

"Who looked at you?" Su Ting denied it flatly, "I was concentrating on buttoning your shirt."

He Dongchuan agreed seriously: "Yeah, you are buttoning my shirt very attentively, one button per minute."

Su Ting's face froze, she looked up and said sinisterly: "If you are not satisfied, you can button it yourself?" As she said this, she fastened the buttons above his abdominal muscles.

Seeing his daughter-in-law was embarrassed, He Dongchuan said tactfully: "My daughter-in-law is willing to help me button my clothes. I couldn't ask for more. How can I be dissatisfied?"

"You're such a snob!" Su Ting snorted, quickly buttoned his shirt to the top, straightened his collar, patted his shoulder and said, "Okay, let's go to work."

He Dongchuan responded and lowered his head to kiss Su Ting, but she dodged him and said, "I haven't brushed my teeth yet."

"I don't mind."

"I do."

"Then kiss on the cheek." He Dongchuan said, and without waiting for Su Ting to answer, he kissed her on the cheek, "I'm leaving?"

"Hurry up, we're almost late."

Su Ting followed He Dongchuan out. She originally wanted to go to the bathroom to brush her teeth, but somehow she followed him to the door. He Dongchuan opened the door and was about to go out, but suddenly remembered something and said, "Remember to catch up on sleep during the day."

"knew."

Su Ting found it funny: "You get up at this time every day, and I haven't heard that you take a nap during the day. I only get up early once, why do you worry so much?"

He Dongchuan laughed and said, "Aren't I just worried that you'll get sleepy at night?"

What else can you do at night without feeling sleepy?

Su Ting could figure out the answer with her toes without asking. She rolled her eyes at him and said, "Get out of here!"

"Let's go." He Dongchuan smiled and walked out of the house. He took a few steps down and realized that Su Ting hadn't returned yet. He turned around and emphasized again, "Remember to catch up."

"Fuck you!" Su Ting said, and slammed the door shut.

Lin Weiyong was just walking out the door and was startled by the clanging. He came to his senses and asked, "Old He, did you and Comrade Su have a fight?"

"No, we were just joking." He Dongchuan said as he went downstairs.

Lin Weiyong followed closely, and after going downstairs, he walked out side by side with him, saying, "She slammed the door so loudly just for fun? What did you say?"

He Dongchuan frowned and said, "Don't ask about the conversations between husband and wife."

Lin Weiyong said in a low voice: "I am worried about you too."

He Dongchuan thought to himself, instead of worrying about us, you should think more about yourself. The relationship between him and Shen Xuan has not been very good in the past six months.

Shen Xuan's school also started in March, but she did not rent a house outside the school like Su Ting. She moved directly into the dormitory after school started.

Actually, this is nothing. Although the school requires students to live on campus, college students still have a certain degree of freedom. As long as your home is in Shanghai, it is not difficult to apply to go home on Saturdays and Sundays.

Even if Shen Xuan is unable to come back due to some matters, as long as Lin Weiyong is willing to go there on Sunday, the couple can always see each other once a week.

But obviously, Lin Weiyong did not have this intention.

It has been three and a half months since Shen Xuan left home for school, but he has never taken the initiative to visit her even once.

Shen Xuan did come back. Her school had two days off for May Day, and she had planned to stay for two days. But that night, she and her husband had a big fight over something, and she left the compound at dawn the next day with red and swollen eyes.

At that time, the two children of the Lin family cried and chased all the way, but Lin Weiyong himself ate and drank as usual, and his mood was not affected at all.

As summer vacation approaches, the wives of soldiers who go to school away from home come back one after another, but Shen Xuan doesn't know whether the school has not yet closed for vacation or she has no plans to come back, and there has been no movement so far.

Now the rumor in the compound is that the two of them can't make it together and may be getting divorced.

As for Lin Wei-yong, he is not that bad, but if you want to say good things about him, he is indeed quite selfish and is not likely to listen to advice.

Maybe he said a lot of earnest words, but Lin Weiyong thought he was mocking him.

Well, although he did want to make some sarcastic remarks, he swallowed the words that were on the tip of his tongue when he thought about the fact that the two families lived next door to each other and that Lin Weiyong's wife might run away, and said, "Don't worry, we have a good relationship."

…

At seven o'clock, He Yan was awakened by the alarm clock.

He walked out of the room in slippers. When he looked up, he saw Su Ting sitting on the sofa, holding a notebook and writing something. He was stunned for a moment and asked, "Mom, why did you get up so early today?"

In fact, Su Ting didn't always stay in bed. As long as it was not winter or summer vacation and He Dongchuan didn't bother her at night, in most cases, she would get up three to five minutes earlier than He Yan.

But today Su Ting was already dressed neatly and started working with a notebook. It was obvious that she had been up for some time, so it was no wonder that He Yan was surprised.

Su Ting put down her notebook and said with a smile, "You have an exam today. How can I show my importance if I don't get up early? Go brush your teeth quickly. I bought breakfast and it's cooking on the coal stove."

"Oh." He Yan responded and went into the bathroom to brush his teeth and wash his face.

After He Yan finished washing up, Su Ting brought out He Yan's breakfast - noodles with poached eggs - from the rice cooker on the coal stove.

In the past few years, every time he had an exam, he would have noodles with two poached eggs for breakfast, which meant that he hoped he could get a perfect score.

Although He Yan didn't always get 100 points in every exam, his grades were pretty good. So now it's not just his family that keeps this habit. There are many families in the compound who follow his example.

Noodles are fine, and fried eggs are delicious, but... He Yan, who was sitting at the table, asked, "Isn't the amount of noodles a bit too much? Four fried eggs, are all for me?"

"I'm just worried that you won't have enough to eat, and you have two quizzes, so I asked the lady at the counter to order two servings of noodles and four poached eggs, which adds up to two 100s, both subjects!" Thinking that today was a quiz, it would not be good to eat too much, so Su Ting confirmed by asking, "Do you really think the portion is too much?"

"It's not bad actually, except that four poached eggs seem a bit too much."

He Yan's appetite is really big now. He needs a soup bowl to eat noodles. He can really finish this bowl. The main thing is that he doesn't like fried eggs so much now. Two is okay, but four at once is a bit too much.

Seeing what He Yan was thinking, Su Ting said, "You don't have to finish the noodles, but you must eat all the poached eggs!"

Seeing through his little plan, He Yan couldn't help but mutter, "You are a college student of the new era, why are you still practicing feudal superstition? And don't you think there is a problem with your theory just now? Eating two poached eggs is one hundred points, but the average score is only fifty? But the score I usually get in the exam is more than that, right?"

Su Ting snorted coldly: "Why not more than that? Sixty, seventy, eighty points, in fact, they are all less than fifty points!"

The more Su Ting talked, the more she felt that what she said made sense, and she suddenly said, "I was wondering why you always make one or two mistakes in every exam. It turns out that you didn't eat enough fried eggs."

He Yan: “…”

When it comes to the ability to talk nonsense, he admits defeat!