Chapter 83

Go to university?

These three words were pronounced most clearly by Zhou Tingting. The educated youths at the settlement were stunned when they heard it, but it didn’t cause much of a stir; they all kept busy with their own tasks.

Someone started to discuss it: “Comrade Zhou is so happy—was she recommended to go to university this year?”

Another person sneered: “How could she possibly go to university? All these years her class status has been holding her back; she can’t even get nominated in a public selection. Where would she get a chance to attend university?”

As the echoing voice from the mountains grew closer, Zhou Tingting’s frantic figure came into view at the educated youth settlement.

She pushed open the door, threw her head back, and shouted with all her strength:

“They’re going to restore the college entrance exam!”

“We can take the university entrance exam!”

What was she saying?

The person scooping water from the vat dropped the ladle in shock.

The one eating suddenly choked violently, unable to swallow.

The one squatting by the stove roasting sweet potatoes burned his hand.

For two seconds, the settlement fell silent—so quiet you could hear a pin drop. But soon, the place erupted:

“Restore the entrance exam?”

“What, say that again?”

“Comrade Zhou, what did you just say?”

“Tingting, are you trapped in some nightmare, spouting nonsense?”

Restore the college entrance exam—every word was familiar, but strung together it sounded utterly unbelievable.

Really restoring the college entrance exam?

What did being a university student mean in these times?

Those workers, peasants, and soldiers who were recommended to attend university would, upon graduation, be guaranteed jobs: become technical backbones in factories, get posts at work units with rationed grain, and after enough years even be allocated welfare housing. From then on, their lives would be secure, their destinies rewritten.

No matter if one held a rural registration—once admitted to university and placed in a unit, it all turned into an urban registration. Urban registration was precious in these days: monthly grain rations, distribution of various coupons by headcount, children able to study in city schools. It was the one reliable path for poor students to leap out of rural life.

Otherwise, why would the yearly quota of just one worker-peasant-soldier student spark such fierce competition?

In Ye Family Village alone, hundreds of educated youths had to compete with the entire county’s youths. Red Flag Commune only recommended fifty each year. It was no exaggeration to say it was one in ten thousand.

Dozens of burning gazes fixed on Zhou Tingting, their intensity almost boring a hole through her.

Her face flushed from running, Zhou Tingting was so excited she couldn’t form her words. After catching her breath, she finally managed to say:

“News came from the capital—our country may restore the college entrance exam!”

“It was Comrade Xie’s grandma who wrote in a letter to tell him this! We must seize this opportunity!”

Many of these educated youths were from all over the country, but only those who had come in recent years were from the capital. Those from the capital knew that Educated Youth Xie’s family background was solid; if his grandmother said it, it had to carry weight!

“Really?” someone murmured in disbelief.

“The world is really changing!” another pinched himself hard.

“Is this news true?” someone asked. Even if it was false, it was enough to bring tears to one’s eyes—he wiped at the corners of his eyes.

If the entrance exam were restored, they could compete fairly, and openly attend university!

Zhou Tingting nodded. “Right now it’s only a proposal to restore the entrance exam…”

Once everyone calmed down, Zhou Tingting faced ridicule from most of them.

“So it’s just a proposal, not actually restored. Comrade Zhou, why make such a fuss?”

“Yeah, getting us all stirred up for nothing.”

“Tch, get back to work. Don’t spend all day thinking about far-fetched things.”

Clenching her fists, Zhou Tingting said: “Comrade Xie’s grandma said, ‘On August 4, the capital held a symposium on science and education work, where the proposal to restore the entrance exam was put forward.’ That shows the country hasn’t forgotten our generation. I believe one day it will be restored. I believe it!”

She bit her lip, her eyes reddened, brimming with hot tears.

As long as there was a sound, day after day, year after year, it would build up, and one day it would come true. If not this year, she would wait until next year, the year after, the year after that…

Such an opportunity was rare beyond belief. If it turned out to be true, every minute and second from now on would be precious. They had already fallen behind in cultural knowledge—without seizing time to catch up, how could they possibly pass the exam?

The settlement split into two camps. A small group immediately supported Zhou Tingting:

“I believe too!”

“Old Yu, where’s my high school textbook?”

“Da Hong, help me review—I want to go to university!”

Sun Lingyu looked at these people, then at Zhao Yan and the others in her dorm, who clearly didn’t believe it. She herself didn’t either, but she asked:

“Was it Ye Qingshui who told you this?”

Zhou Tingting nodded.

Sun Lingyu immediately believed. She began digging through her old stack of books. Quietly, she thought: Ye Qingshui always seemed uncanny—this time, following her might not be wrong.

*

In the capital, at the military family compound.

After returning home, Xie Tingjue quickly re-enrolled in high school. He told his parents that he had been studying in the countryside too, but dropped out before finishing middle school.

Hearing this, Wen Zhihua’s eyes reddened at once. She thought of how her younger son had already finished middle school two years ago, while her elder son had been held back in the countryside. She immediately decided: “Juejue must make up for his studies…”

Xie Tingjue curled his lips faintly.

In that poor mountain village, how could there have been any chance for him to study? He was lucky to finish primary school. Education was his weak point. Having impersonated his younger brother for so many years, he had suffered the hardships of being uneducated, and tasted the benefits of higher education.

The knowledge he had learned was his own, but the diploma wasn’t his.

This time, Xie Tingjue was determined to earn his own diploma with his own hands.

In spring, he joined first year of high school. By the height of June summer, he smoothly obtained a high school graduation certificate.

With certificate in hand, he decisively applied for an opening at the Tong County government office.

By autumn, relying on his own ability without using family connections, he passed both written and oral exams, becoming an ordinary clerk at the Statistics Bureau.

The result was plain, unremarkable. But to others, for a boy just retrieved from the countryside to enter a government office at all was already good—at least he now received rationed grain.

Still, the choices and fates of the Xie brothers became a hot topic of gossip in the compound.

“The Xie family is strange. The son raised in the city went to the countryside to be a farmer, while the other, after being a farmer’s son, struggled back to the city only to get such a trivial post. They didn’t even pull strings for him.”

The speaker shook his head regretfully. In a few years, when the Xie family’s old man retired, the situation would change.

The greatest pity, though, was the younger son of the Xie family. Such a promising boy, yet they let him go off to the countryside.

“These two brothers are really something…”

Another person said coolly, thinking privately that the Xie family’s vision was shortsighted.

When it came to educated youths going to the countryside, that was only for those who hadn’t been assigned jobs after graduation, just going along for the ride. With the Xie family’s connections, how could they possibly not find a good job?

Xie Jun could only laugh at that. He wanted to stuff both of his sons into the army, but would they listen?

He worked hard to use connections to arrange good jobs, but the younger son ran off.

The elder son didn’t care for it at all—his ambition was sky-high, and he even turned around and tried to manage him inside and out, making Xie Jun thoroughly uncomfortable.

At this time, only the old couple of the Xie family remained calm.

Facing his colleagues, Grandpa Xie only said lightly:

“Children and grandchildren have their own fates.”

Among the group of old men, subtle looks passed back and forth, each secretly deciding that when they got home, they’d have their own juniors rein themselves in.

Was going to the countryside to support the country shameful? Look up—weren’t the leaders’ children also obediently going to the mountains and the countryside? Who would dare say such a thing, that supporting the country was wrong? Saying that wasn’t insulting others, it was just being stupid enough to run headlong into the gun barrel!

Grandma Xie had a fiery temper. Whoever dared belittle her grandson in front of her would get scolded right to the face.

“Tingjue is a filial child. He has his own ideas, we don’t interfere with him. And what’s wrong with Tingyu going to the countryside? A capable person will succeed even in the countryside. Stop peeking at people through the crack of the door, always looking down on them.”

Her words were rough, but when she cursed someone, it was sharp and straightforward.

Those scolded by Grandma Xie didn’t mind; inwardly they just shook their heads quickly: the Xie family’s current generation was no good.

Nothing worth showing, nothing worth comparing.

They didn’t talk back either, obediently closing their mouths. In their hearts, they only thought: Xie’s younger son went to the countryside, even married a peasant wife, and when they had children, they’d also grow up in the countryside. That line was as good as ruined.

The elder son was still worth watching, but if you put him next to his peers in the compound, he was so ordinary it couldn’t make a splash.

Could Grandma Xie not see what these people were thinking? Calmly, she wrote a letter to her grandson in the countryside.

The letter spilled over nearly a thousand characters. The gist was:

“Tingyu, the news about the resumption of the college entrance exam is true. You must study hard for it! Study like your life depends on it!”

Thousands of miles away, Xie Tingyu, who had already built the biogas digester, opened his grandmother’s letter and almost burst into silent laughter.

The characters in that letter were so sharp and forceful that the strength pierced the paper. Through the pages, one could practically feel the old lady’s transmitted anger.

Ye Qingshui read the letter too and nodded in strong agreement.

She couldn’t just sit by and watch, knowing that in her previous life he had the potential to be a top scorer, but in this one he had only managed an ordinary bachelor’s degree. Though she trusted his ability, right now it seemed he was spending more time on “biogas” than on reviewing.

She grabbed Xie Tingyu’s hand.

“Let’s go read! Grandma really has foresight, she sent us two sets of study guides.”

One set was kept for Zhou Cunren as a keepsake, the other was for the two of them to use. Plenty enough.

Eight books in total, covering math, physics, and chemistry. In a small place like this, it wasn’t easy to get a complete set.

Xie Tingyu never imagined there would come a day when his wife would urge him to study. It felt like the roles from last year had been reversed. He found it both funny and a little exasperating.

Ye Qingshui raised her wrist to check the time. Soon it would be time to head to work, but she quickly and deftly pulled out the books, opened one excitedly, and held it up to him.

Those clear, sparkling eyes brimmed with energy and eagerness. She urged,

“Brother Yu, before work starts, hurry and read a bit. At least read two pages before going.”

Xie Tingyu couldn’t help but laugh.

He took the book, flipped through a little, and said calmly:

“Only two pages? Isn’t that setting the bar a bit low, hmm…”

Then he pulled her close and kissed her.

“This time I can read ten pages.”

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