It was already past ten o'clock in the evening when I got home. Tong Youyou heard the sound of a car, immediately put on her cotton jacket, and ran over from next door.

"Sister Fu Yu, you're finally back. I thought you wouldn't come back so late."

"I was supposed to be back in the afternoon, but I didn't expect them to keep dinner for me."

When I opened the door, the warm atmosphere that I had not seen for a few days hit me in the face.

"I heated up the kang at noon and mopped it twice. You can just spread the quilt."

"There's still warm water in the kitchen, and the water in the kettle is also hot. Go wash up, I'm going back to bed."

"Thanks."

"Why are you being so polite to me? I'm going back first. Good night."

After Tong Youyou left, Song Fuyu took out the quilt from the cupboard and spread it out. She also got some hot water from the kitchen, but did not use it. Instead, she went into the space and took a good bath.

It is so comfortable to feel my body wrapped in warm water. All the fatigue from more than ten days is swept away. I will definitely have a good sleep tonight.

When I woke up the next day it was already ten in the morning.

Knowing that she had returned, Xia Lan and Wang Menghan came over to talk to her.

"How was the sea market? Was it fun?"

"I never went to the city. I stayed in a remote place. I was busy every day and had no time to play."

Before she went, she was thinking about whether she could find time to see the mirage of the 1970s. Later, she found that this idea was completely unnecessary and there was no opportunity at all.

"It doesn't matter. There will be another chance in the future."

"Are you two still not going home for the New Year this year?"

"If I don't go back, the round trip fare is too expensive. I would feel embarrassed if I don't buy anything. It's better to save the money and send it directly to my parents."

"I won't go back either. Tong Tao and I plan to go back next year and get married."

"Congratulations!"

"Thank you. I am following your lead."

"By the way, you and your partner are going to Beijing to hold a wedding banquet. Are you still eating in the village?"

"I'm still eating, but I'm only inviting a few people I know well. You two have to come and help me when the time comes."

"Don't worry, I'll be there for you whenever you need help."

"Sister Xia Lan, how about you? How is the situation?"

"I finally chose to reject Comrade Wang Xiaowen."

"Although I have a good impression of him, I don't think it is enough to support me to stay in the countryside for him. I want to wait for another opportunity."

"I heard that each brigade has an opportunity to recommend students to the Workers, Peasants and Soldiers University. I plan to go to the brigade leader to ask for it."

She asked Wang Menghan and Tong Tao, but there was only one spot available in a brigade, and they were already preparing to get married, so naturally they would not fight for it.

Song Fuyu was also going to join the army soon, so Xia Lan certainly didn't need this opportunity. Therefore, she didn't guard against them and directly expressed her thoughts.

"You want to go to the Workers, Peasants and Soldiers University?"

This does allow you to return to the city, but after the Chinese New Year it will be 1975. If you hold on for another two years and wait for the college entrance examination to be resumed, you won't need this quota at all and can return to the city.

The levels of students at the Workers, Peasants and Soldiers University are uneven, completely different from the students who take the college entrance examination and go to university two years later.

"I heard that if you don't get a job after graduation, you still have to go back to where you came from."

It is called recommendation, but in fact it is very complicated and it is difficult to get opportunities without strong connections.

"That's true, but I still want to try."

As long as there is a chance to return to the city, she doesn't want to give up easily.

Seeing how determined she was, Song Fuyu said no more.

She had said before, intentionally or unintentionally, that they could look at the old textbooks if they had nothing to do, but whether they would read them or not depended on themselves.

Even if she said directly now that the college entrance examination would be resumed after two years, they would probably think she was crazy and would not believe her.

..........

After lunch, she was about to start working on the coat that Andrew had bought when she suddenly saw a little head peeking in at her door.

"Ayuan? Why are you here?"

"Come in first, it's cold outside."

After Gu Yuan entered the room, he kept pinching the corner of his clothes, obviously looking like he had something to say, but he never opened his mouth.

"Do you want to talk to me about something?"

"Go ahead, there's no one else here."

"Sister Fu Yu, I heard that you are going to join the army after the New Year. Is that true?"

"Yes."

"Can I ask you a favor?"

Gu Yuan hesitated for a long time at home, and finally decided to muster up the courage to find Song Fuyu.

"You have to tell me something first. After I hear it, I can decide whether to agree to it or not. If I can't do it, even if I agree to it, it's just to coax you."

She doesn't like to brag, and when she promises something to others, she will decide based on the circumstances.

"After you go to the army, can you help me find out if my father is still alive?"

"Is your father still alive?"

As soon as he said this, Song Fuyu realized that he had said the wrong thing.

"I'm sorry, I thought..."

Everyone in the village was saying that the male head of the Gu family had passed away, but she hadn't asked Aunt Fang about it, for fear of touching on someone else's sad story.

"I don't know if he's still alive. I haven't seen him for a long time. He didn't come back when Xiaodie was born."

"The adults in the village all said that my father had passed away. But when someone in other families died, they would go to the grave, but my father didn't have a grave."

"Is your father a soldier?"

"Yes."

"I think it would be better for you to ask your mother about this matter."

"I asked her, but she always said that my father went to a faraway place, but she never told me where that place was."

Song Fuyu was deeply touched by this sentence, because the original owner often heard it when he was a child.

When the original owner's mother died, she was only three years old and was still ignorant about life and death.

At first, when she asked Song Hao, he would just perfunctorily tell her that her mother had gone to a far place. Later, after Liu Qiaoyu came in, when she asked again, they would impatiently tell her directly that her mother was dead.

After asking too many questions, she was not allowed to mention it again, otherwise she would be beaten.

"Ayuan, you will be ten years old after the Chinese New Year. You will be a little adult."

"About life and death..."

"You mean to say that my father is dead?"

Although Song Fuyu didn't want to be so direct, he still nodded.

"I used to think so, but after I learned to read, I thought my father might still be alive, because sometimes someone would send money to our family, and I secretly read the receipt."

"Every time my mother received a remittance slip, she would hide it. At night, when we were asleep, she would hide outside the room and cry secretly."

"I once heard her crying and whispering, 'Why don't you come back?'"