This batch of courtyard houses were originally only sold to high-ranking insiders, so Li Muwen quickly helped Zhenzhen to complete the formalities. However, he didn't know how the clever little girl from his hometown was going to tidy up this courtyard house, so he didn't make any decisions on his own. He just sent someone to clean up the dust inside, and kept everything else as it was.
Zhenzhen knew that her grandmother had handed the matter of buying a house over to Li Muwen, so she put her mind at ease and read books attentively. In her previous life, there was a post on the Internet titled "1977 College Entrance Examination Paper, See How Many Points You Can Get". She was still in college at the time and followed suit and did it. Although she can't remember all the questions now, she still has an impression of what types of questions there were.
By June, Zhenzhen basically never left the house, doing exercises and reading books from morning till night every day. Mrs. Li then realized that Mingnan never talked about reviewing every time he came home. She felt a little suspicious and went to ask Zhenzhen when no one was at home during the day.
Zhenzhen felt a little sad when she thought of Mingnan giving up the college entrance examination. After all, from the perspective of future generations, being a worker for a lifetime really has no future. Unless one dared to quit his job and try his luck in the early days of reform and opening up, he would have to eat a fixed salary for a lifetime and would not be able to buy a house when he retired.
Zhenzhen put down her pen, turned around and rubbed her brows: "Third brother said he was afraid that he would not be able to take care of the family after he passed the college entrance examination, and no one would take care of you, so he thought about not taking the college entrance examination."
"Oh. How did he come up with such a big idea without telling me? You said they didn't live at home, and I didn't care, and they almost missed something important." Old Mrs. Li slapped her thigh in frustration and looked at Zhenzhen with a worried look on her face: "Zhenzhen, tell grandma, is it too late for them to review now?"
The college entrance examination was resumed in winter in 1977, which is still five or six months away. Zhenzhen had already classified the same type of questions during her review, and copied out the key points and articles that needed to be memorized for Chinese according to her memory of her previous life. With Mingnan's foundation, it would not be a problem to review for a few months. Thinking of this, Zhenzhen nodded: "My brother has a good foundation. If he can study hard for a few months, he will definitely be able to get into college."
"That's all." Old Lady Li slapped her thigh and made a decision: "I'll tell them about this when I send the dumplings back tonight. If not, leave the sesame cakes and dumplings at our house at night. Your mom and I will look after them and let them review their lessons."
That night, Mrs. Li thought it was time to get off work, so she and Wang Sufen took Jiaozi to Mingnan's house in the back. Meng Xiaoxi was cooking in the kitchen. When she saw Mrs. Li and Wang Sufen coming, she immediately stood up with a smile: "Grandma, Mom, you are here. Mingnan is helping Shaobing change his clothes and is going to pick up Jiaozi in a while."
Wang Sufen let go of her hand and let Jiaozi go back to the house to play with his brother. She went into the kitchen to help Meng Xiaoxi light the fire. "It's not just to send Jiaozi. Your grandma will talk to you and Mingnan later."
Meng Xiaoxi didn't know what was going on, so she quickly prepared the food and put it on the table for the brothers, Shaobing and Dumpling, to eat first. Old Lady Li and Wang Sufen sat on the kang in the east room waiting, and soon Mingnan and Meng Xiaoxi came in.
Old Mrs. Li was sitting on the kang and asked Mingnan straight away: "I heard from your sister that you don't want to go to college. Is that true?" Hearing this, Meng Xiaoxi turned around and looked at Mingbei in surprise, as if she had just heard the news.
Mingnan sat on the edge of the kang, with a helpless look on his face: "My eldest brother's family is in Anbei, Mingxi and his wife are doing scientific research in the imperial capital, Mingbei and Zhenzhen both want to go to college, we can't leave you old people without anyone to take care of you after we all leave."
"What are you waiting for? Are we that old?" Old Lady Li knocked on her pipe angrily. "I went to the mountains to farm this year."
Wang Sufen lowered her head silently, not daring to expose the old lady. She had only walked up the mountain and came back without even bending her waist. Over the years, Zhenzhen had cultivated the family's land with her supernatural powers, and she had almost forgotten how to farm.
Mingnan was scolded by Old Lady Li and quietly moved away: "I can't leave them at home either. Look at my two children. If I pass the entrance exam, Xiaoxi can't handle these two naughty monkeys by herself."
Old Lady Li glanced at Meng Xiaoxi who was a little confused and said, "Xiaoxi, aren't you going to take the exam?"
"What are you testing for?" Meng Xiaoxi looked at Mingnan and said, "Mingnan didn't mention this either."
Old Lady Li rolled her eyes at Mingnan angrily, kicked him to the ground, and dragged Meng Xiaoxi to sit next to her: "It was your uncle who came back during the Chinese New Year and said that the college entrance examination would be resumed this year. Zhenzhen has prepared a lot of information and is thinking of studying for the college entrance examination with you. I'm thinking that you two young people's future should not be delayed by us old people, so I came to ask again."
Meng Xiaoxi lowered her head and thought for a while, with some hesitation on her face: "I went to medical school after graduating from junior high school, so my foundation is not good enough. Why don't we let Mingnan take the exam? I can do it by myself at home. When my eldest brother went to college, my eldest sister-in-law was at home, so it's nothing."
Seeing that the couple still had some concerns, Mrs. Li placed the books and exercises she brought in front of them and said, "These are the study materials compiled by Zhenzhen. It's up to you to read them or not. As for me and your parents, you don't have to worry about us. Maybe in two years we will go to the capital to accompany Zhenzhen. By then, there will be only your family of four left at home. Don't send a telegram to urge us to come back."
After saying that, Old Lady Li got off the kang, put on her shoes and was about to go home. Mingnan and Meng Xiaoxi stopped her and said, "Grandma, you guys can eat here. Everything is ready."
"No need. We've prepared dinner at home. I just came to talk to you because I'm afraid it will affect your future. You should think about it carefully." After saying that, Mrs. Li and Wang Sufen went out with a flashlight. Seeing that the lights were on at Mingbei's house, Mrs. Li said, "Since we're out, let's go check on Mingbei and his wife."
It was not time to go to bed yet, so the door was open. Old Mrs. Li and her husband went straight into the house and saw Mingbei and Wang Xinwen working on their homework.
Mingbei was not particularly fond of studying. He originally wanted to study only until junior high school. Later, because of his secret love, he worked hard and passed the exam to the hydrolysis plant. Now he is exhausted from work during the day, and he doesn't even want to move when he lies on the kang at night. But Wang Xinwen is a hard-working person. Even with a big belly, she persists in doing exercises and reviewing every day. Mingbei sees that his wife is so hardworking even when she is pregnant, so he feels embarrassed to be lazy. The couple lights up the lights and sits together to study at night. It feels a bit like school days, and they both enjoy this little fun.
Seeing that both of them were working very hard, Mrs. Li didn't sit for long. She told Wang Xinwen to get up and turn around twice every once in a while to avoid straining her waist.
In the blink of an eye, it was August, and there was still no news about the college entrance examination. Mingbei was a little distracted. Seeing that Wang Xinwen was still ten days away from the due date, Mingbei could not read any books. The best hospital in Beicha was the Hydrolysis Plant Hospital. Seeing that Mingbei and his wife were uneasy, Mrs. Li went to visit Lao Wang's house with gifts to see if they could let them live in the Hydrolysis Plant first, so that they could go directly to the hospital when the baby went into labor.
Wang Xinwen's parents only have this one daughter, so naturally they were not unhappy. Nowadays, houses are small, and Wang Xinwen has two younger brothers at home. After the two families discussed it, they decided to let them go home with Old Lady Li and live in Mingbei's house.
Wang Xinwen went into labor after staying at her parents' home for a week. In less than half a day, she gave birth to a big fat boy weighing more than seven pounds. She stayed in the hospital for three days. Mingbei borrowed a big car from a neighbor to take Wang Xinwen and the child home directly from the hospital. While watching Wang Sufen cooking chicken soup, Old Lady Li couldn't help but mutter, "Why is our family still so prosperous? When I was making osmanthus peanut candy, I thought our family's feng shui had changed.
Wang Sufen smiled and put a handful of firewood into the stove: "Other families want to have sons, but you are different."
Old Mrs. Li took a puff of her cigarette and said, "That's because they don't know the benefits of raising a daughter."
When the chicken soup was about to be cooked, Wang Sufen took out a small steaming pot, filled it with the chicken soup, and brought it to Wang Xinwen.
Although Wang Xinwen is not fat, she has very good milk. The fat boy gulps down and sleeps for half the night. Old Mrs. Li said that she has never seen such an easy-to-feed child, almost catching up with Zhenzhen when she was a child. The son is easy to take care of. When Wang Xinwen has nothing to do, she asks Mingbei to read to her. When Wang Sufen went there, she heard Mingbei and Wang Xinwen reciting the text. She quickly went to the kitchen to cook a bowl of noodles for Wang Xinwen with chicken soup and a big chicken drumstick.
"Wenwen, stop working so hard. You can't be too stressed out during your confinement." Wang Sufen asked Mingbei to set up a table on the kang and put the noodles on it. "Mingbei, go to the front and have dinner with your grandma. I'll take care of Wenwen and the baby for you."
Mingbei responded, poured a glass of water for Wang Xinwen and placed it on the table. He took two steps out and came back to ask, "Mom, what's my son's nickname?"
"Whatever you want to call him is fine. Just pick whatever you want. Anyway, your sister has given the younger generation in our family nicknames that refer to food. So you can call him whatever you like." Wang Sufen replied without even raising her head.
Mingbei looked at Wang Xinwen expectantly: "Wife, what do you like to eat?"
"Let's order noodles." Wang Xinwen sipped the noodle soup: "My mom's noodles are so delicious."
Wang Sufen was immediately delighted and said quickly, "If you like it, eat more. Mom has cooked a big pot of chicken soup for you. We also have noodles. If it's not enough, we can cook more."
"Noodles..." Mingbei repeated several times, turned around and walked out: "Noodles sounds okay, luckily I didn't come up with it. My favorite is Lu Gaozi, oh, it's so delicious."
***
After about a month, exciting news finally came on the radio that the country had decided to resume the college entrance examination, which had been suspended for ten years, and would be held one month later.
The Li family was delighted to hear the news. Even Mingnan and Meng Xiaoxi, who had been studying but had not decided whether to take the exam, made up their minds the moment they heard the broadcast. They had to give it a try no matter whether it worked or not. One third of their lives had already passed, and if they didn't have some courage and determination, they would really fall behind their younger siblings.
So Mingnan and his wife, Mingbei and his wife, and Zhenzhen all signed up and received their admission tickets. In the final month of the sprint, Mrs. Li brought Mingnan's sesame cakes and dumplings, and Mingbei's noodles to the front yard. Mingnan, Meng Xiaoxi, and Mingbei all took a long vacation, and everyone stayed at Mingbei's house during the day. Zhenzhen led them to do exercises together, repeatedly practicing the college entrance examination questions she had memorized.
The day of the college entrance examination finally arrived. Wang Sufen got up in the middle of the night to make chicken soup. When she heard Mingbei and the others got up and washed, she quickly cooked a pot of noodles with the chicken soup, tore up a lot of chicken and put five poached eggs in it.
Mingnan and his friends each took a big bowl of noodles and ate it up. Zhenzhen asked everyone to check their admission tickets and pencil cases to make sure they had everything they needed for the exam, and then they rode their bikes to school together.
In the first year when the college entrance examination was resumed, only four subjects were tested: mathematics, Chinese, and politics. In addition, the liberal arts subjects tested history and geography, and the science subjects tested physics and chemistry. The full score for each subject was 100, and the total score was 400.
It was the first time for Mingbei and Mingnan to sit on the exam table in so many years. Not only were their hands shaking, but even Zhenzhen was a little nervous. However, compared to other candidates who had only reviewed for more than a month, the Li family had started reviewing since the Chinese New Year last year. Not only had they read through the textbooks, but Zhenzhen had also done dozens of exercises that she had obtained from various places.
After finding the test paper, they quickly followed Zhenzhen's instructions and wrote down their names and test numbers before starting to do the questions. After a quick glance at the test questions, Mingnan and the others breathed a sigh of relief. They had reviewed these questions with Zhenzhen before, so they shouldn't have any problems. At this time, Zhenzhen had already been writing furiously. In the eyes of others, some math questions that looked like incomprehensible books were not much different from addition, subtraction, multiplication and division in Zhenzhen's eyes.
For ten years, too many people have focused their energy on the fields or factories. Now that the policies have come, when they want to follow the policies, they find that they have fallen behind a lot.
The examination room was so quiet that the only sound could be heard was the rustling of pens on paper. Wang Sufen, like many parents of examinees in later generations, was waiting anxiously at home. When Mingnan, Zhenzhen and the others came back, she did not dare to ask too many questions and quickly served them the braised pork, rice, and stewed beans so that they could eat their fill before taking the next exam.
After handing in the last test paper, Zhenzhen walked out of the examination room. She was looking around for her brother and sister-in-law when she saw Mingbei rushing out of the classroom with joy, jumping and skipping with Wang Xinwen who had just come out. Zhenzhen pressed her throbbing temple, hurried over to pull him, and said helplessly: "You have been calm for a few years and you are not calm anymore. Are you afraid that others don't know that you can pass the exam?"
Mingbei burst into laughter, looked at the eyes of the people around him, quickly let go of Wang Xinwen's hand, and said in a low voice: "I think I can get into NUS."
Wang Xinwen couldn't help but smile: "I think it's about the same. When I was in school, the textbooks didn't have much content, and the teachers didn't teach seriously. After graduation, I went to the youth center for three years. I almost forgot everything I learned in school. If Zhenzhen hadn't dragged us to study hard for a year, I don't think we would have been able to finish the math test."
Mingbei thought about the questions on the math test paper. They were basically the same questions Zhenzhen had explained to him. He immediately patted Zhenzhen on the shoulder and said proudly, "I have to reward you well. Tell me what you want to eat and I'll go hunting for you in the mountains."
Zhenzhen looked at Mingbei and smiled sweetly: "Then go and catch the wild boar and bring it back."
Mingbei's legs went weak and he almost knelt down to Zhenzhen: "Sister, I think it's not good for people to eat meat all the time. It's easy to gain weight. How about I buy you some clothes? Let's go to the big supply and marketing cooperative of the hydrolysis plant tomorrow. I'll buy you whatever you like, okay?"
Zhenzhen smiled and patted Mingbei's chest: "Save the money you earn to buy milk powder for my nephew Noodles." The brother and sister were chatting and laughing when Mingnan and Meng Xiaoxi came out. One of them applied to Forestry University and the other applied to Medical College, both of which are schools in Bingcheng.
"How did you do in the exam?" Mingbei asked.
Mingnan glanced at Meng Xiaoxi, his face full of smiles: "I don't think it's a big problem." Meng Xiaoxi said a little embarrassedly: "I haven't done two math problems. Zhenzhen clearly explained them at the beginning, but I forgot them in a hurry. I did all the others."
Zhenzhen smiled and patted her schoolbag: "Okay, the exams are over, let's not think about these things anymore. We have to go home and discuss how to celebrate."
Mingbei burst into laughter: "Of course."
In the first year of the resumption of the college entrance examination, the country attached great importance to it from top to bottom. Zhenzhen originally thought that the results would be released after the Chinese New Year, but she received the admission letter just after her birthday. Zhenzhen was admitted to the Journalism Department of the Department of Literature of Imperial Capital University with the first place in the province and almost a perfect score. Mingbei received an admission letter from the Department of Civil Engineering of National University, and Wang Xinwen was admitted to the Law Department of Imperial Capital University. Mingnan and Meng Xiaoxi both received admission letters from Bingcheng, one went to Forestry University and the other went to Bingcheng Medical University.
Five children of the Li family were admitted to universities, three of them were admitted to the two best universities in the country. When the news came out, the whole Beicha was shocked. The hydrolysis plant held a special celebration party to send off Mingnan, Mingbei, Meng Xiaoxi and Wang Xinwen. Many neighbors and colleagues came to the Li family to ask for review materials, and specifically asked for things used by the top scholar Zhenzhen, because they were all blessed. If you touch them more, you may be able to get into university.
When Liu Xiulan heard from her neighbor that her niece had passed the imperial examination and won the first place, she didn't even have time to cook. She trotted all the way to Li Muwu's house, panting and holding Zhenzhen's hand, not letting go: "Zhenzhen, Third Auntie is telling you that you must give your textbooks to Mingrong and Mingguang. Why didn't they believe in the resumption of the college entrance examination? If they had studied hard with you this year, could they have gone to college together?"
The more Liu Xiulan thought about it, the angrier she became. "They are already married, so I am too embarrassed to say anything to them. How can they be so careless? It's like they are harming them by letting them go to college. I've seen Mingrong and Mingguang just thinking about the succession."
One's own cousin is definitely closer than an outsider. Zhenzhen sorted out two sets of books and materials and handed them to Liu Xiulan: "Third Aunt, this year's college entrance examination is in winter because of the special circumstances. Normally, the examination would be in July. Now there is only half a year left. You must urge my brothers Mingrong and Mingguang to study hard."
"Don't worry, I will watch them study every day this time." Liu Xiulan held a thick stack of books, and her heart was immediately at ease: "With the exercises that my niece, the top scorer in the imperial examination, has done herself, you can tell me that even if they can't get into Imperial Capital, they can at least get into Ice City."
Zhenzhen smiled and smoothed her hair but didn't dare to promise. Liu Xiulan walked into the room cheerfully and greeted Old Lady Li: "Mom, I'm going to take the book back so that Mingrong and Mingguang can study hard."
"Study hard and get into a good university, and you will never suffer any loss." Old Lady Li took a puff of her pipe and said, "Look, Mingdong was able to earn more than 50 yuan right after graduation, which is better than his father who worked all his life. Why? It's because he went to university. Although things didn't go smoothly for the next two years, you can tell from the radio that college students will be good in the future."
Old Lady Li looked at Liu Xiulan and concluded, "I think your two boys' brains are not working well because they don't listen to the radio enough. Don't save money all day and don't want to spend it. Go back and buy a radio. It won't go wrong if you listen to it more often."
Liu Xiulan laughed awkwardly: "The radio is indeed not cheap, and besides, we don't have a radio ticket at home."
"If you don't have enough money, I'll lend you some." Old Mrs. Li tapped her pipe and said, "But you have to figure out how to get the radio tickets yourself."
Liu Xiulan laughed and said, "Oh, it sounds like I'm asking you for money. No, no, Mingrong and Mingguang have made a lot of money hauling wood in the past two years. Let me go home and discuss it with you."
Old Lady Li nodded and called Ming Bei: "Go get a basket to pack the books, and you ride your bicycle to take your Third Aunt home."
****
Because school starts at the end of February, children have to go to school after the Chinese New Year, and Mingnan and Mingbei both have children, so the family took advantage of the Chinese New Year when there were many people around to sit together and discuss what to do with the children.
Mingnan and Meng Xiaoxi were relatively easier to deal with, as the two schools were not too far away. The Forestry University not only had its own forest farm but also had an affiliated primary school and kindergarten, so they could just send their children there. It was just that it was inconvenient to bring children to live in the dormitory, and the noise would affect the rest of the roommates, which would make them unhappy.
Li Mulin has lived in Bingcheng for more than 20 years and is more familiar with it than Beicha. "The area around Linda is vast and sparsely populated, and there are many vacant houses like ours. You can rent one and live in it. You can give him some cornmeal or something a month. It won't cost much." Meng Xiaoxi was relieved when she heard this. She sent the child to kindergarten in the morning and picked him up after school without any delays.
Compared to Meng Xiaoxi, Wang Xinwen is in much more trouble. Noodles is only five months old and needs someone to take him with him every day. If Wang Xinwen keeps him with her, he will definitely not be able to attend classes. But if she leaves him at home, the mother and son will be separated for half a year, and Wang Xinwen feels heartbroken.
Seeing her grandson's wife holding the child in a panic, Old Lady Li clapped her hands and made a decision: "Let's all go. I've heard about Tiananmen Square on the radio for so many years, but I still don't know what it looks like. Let's follow them and take a look at the capital. Mingdong's mother, are you going?"
"Go!" Wang Sufen responded in a loud voice: "I listen to mother. I will go wherever mother tells me to go."
Li Muwu was sitting next to him, dumbfounded: "What about me? You're just going to leave me at home alone? I can't cook!"
The author has something to say: Recommend the following article by a good friend:
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Shan Zhenzhen: System, I’m not kidding, I can eat you until you go bankrupt, believe it or not!
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