Chapter 40

After saying “Add oil,” Ge Yuan suddenly remembered something and pulled a rather finely packaged box out of his trouser pocket.

“Put this on so you can look at the time inside.”

“What is this?” Ye Wanqing asked instinctively, already half-guessing.

Sure enough, when she opened the box, a ladies’ wristwatch lay inside—Plum Blossom brand.

A Plum Blossom watch was a rare and excellent thing at this time.

On the jade-white dial the black-gray markings were arranged clearly; the hour, minute and second hands of the same color series were slender and pretty. Paired with two strips of brown-red calfskin watchband, it looked high-class and exquisite, beautiful like a work of art.

Ye Wanqing was surprised. “This is for me?”

“Yes.” Ge Yuan pulled over her hand, lowered his head, and while carefully fastening the watch for her said, “Tin alarm clocks are so bulky; you can’t take one into the examination hall to look at the time. I heard people say that for exams having a watch makes it convenient to calculate time. To test well, you also need to have one.”

Whatever other people had, his little woman had to have!

After putting it on, Ge Yuan looked at the watch on Ye Wanqing’s wrist and discovered that this watch made her wrist appear even fairer and more slender—extremely pretty. His expression was blatantly smug. “My eye is truly good!”

“Yes, your eye is the best!” Ye Wanqing was moved in her heart. She blossomed a brilliant smile, turned and hugged her family’s tall man. Seeing people around casting surprised glances she particularly cleverly added one sentence, “Thank you, Ge-ge.”

Ge Yuan: “……”

He had been looking forward to, after his little woman’s admission notice came down, quickly upgrading himself to “husband,” “beloved,” “that damned fellow” or “that one of mine.” He never expected that suddenly he had become Ge-ge?!

He really was……

Alright, he still quite liked it!

If this person later, while being affectionate, could also call him that a couple of times, he would like it even more!

Thinking of this, the tension in Ge Yuan’s heart also dispersed. He even urged Ye Wanqing, “You quickly go in. I’ll wait for you outside. Until you come out I won’t go anywhere. You can rest assured!”

“Alright.” Ye Wanqing waved once and turned toward the school gate.

The two of them smiled more brilliantly than each other—only one heart full of gratitude and the exam, the other full of colored nonsense. In other people’s eyes it still looked especially harmonious.

“This brother and sister’s feelings are truly good.”

“If only I had such a good older brother……”

“Why isn’t my little sister this cute and pretty?”

“……”

Ge Yuan’s black eyes slanted a glance at these people. One hand casually inserted in his trouser pocket, he leisurely stood in place thinking: Ignorant people, you know nothing at all!

—

Ye Wanqing carried her admission ticket and stationery bag into the examination hall. Inside the satchel on her body was also a glass bottle of water and an aluminum lunch box filled with small snacks—these had also been prepared for her by Fatty Wang’s mother at Ge Yuan’s request.

Arriving at the examination room, Ye Wanqing first found her own seat.

The first exam was Chinese. Taking advantage of the time still being early, she first went to the restroom once. After returning she took out the classical poetry Jiang Lili had prepared for her and silently began reciting.

Very quickly the examinees had mostly arrived. Two invigilators carrying sealed test papers walked into the classroom, swept a glance around, and one of the male invigilators stood on the platform.

“Alright, quiet!”

“The exam is about to begin. Put all the textbooks in your hands onto the platform. Once cheating is discovered you will be immediately driven out of the examination hall!”

“The college entrance exam is a major checkpoint in life. I hope you can treat it seriously and solemnly and bring out the level you ought to have!”

At the invigilator’s words the students one after another began to move.

Ye Wanqing also followed and stood up, placing her satchel on the platform. Even for a brief departure from her seat she did not forget to take the stationery bag and admission ticket; she did not want even the slightest accident.

When the examination bell rang and the papers were distributed, Ye Wanqing first quickly scanned the questions once, forming a clear idea in her heart, only then carefully and meticulously filling in the examinee information on the paper.

Two and a half hours of examination time passed very quickly.

This exam Ye Wanqing treated extremely seriously. Although her problem-solving speed was fast she was not impetuous; instead she checked back and forth several times. Only when the bell rang did she finally check the examinee information one last time and sit in her seat waiting for the teacher to collect the papers.

When the exam dispersed it was only half past ten—not yet the hottest time of the sun—yet the scorching heat of the sunlight was already enough to make one’s head ache. Fortunately Ye Wanqing had brought an umbrella. Although the cloth umbrellas of this time had no sun-protection function, something was still better than nothing.

Ye Wanqing glanced at the sun outside while picking up her satchel from the platform and preparing to leave when she was suddenly tugged by the sleeve.

She turned her head and looked. Standing behind her was a girl with an oval face smiling sweetly at her.

“This classmate, shall we walk together?”

Ye Wanqing was a bit surprised yet did not refuse. “……Alright.”

After walking a stretch of distance out of the teaching building the oval-faced girl began to introduce herself lively. “Classmate, my name is Ye Xiaomei. I’m a student from First Middle. During the exam I sat behind you. You’re truly amazing. I saw you solving problems so fast you didn’t even need to think. Your usual scores must be very good?”

Ye Wanqing lightly smiled. “They’re alright.”

“What ‘alright’? I just feel you’re definitely very capable!” Ye Xiaomei giggled and linked arms with her. “Are you going home for lunch? Is your home very far? My family booked a table at a nearby restaurant. How about you eat together with me? Anyway it’s just one extra pair of chopsticks—not the least bit of trouble. Eating well will also give you energy for the afternoon exam.”

At this moment one sentence floated up in Ye Wanqing’s heart: Unsolicited kindness—either traitor or thief.

She believed in hitting it off at first sight, yet at this extremely important moment of the college entrance exam she always felt this “kindness” must have another purpose.

However she was not so foolish as to ask more about it for this reason. She only lightly shook her head. “Thank you for your kindness, but no need. I have family coming to pick me up, and home isn’t far either.”

Ye Xiaomei still did not give up and continued to persuade, yet Ye Wanqing never loosened her mouth. She also had no way to deal with Ye Wanqing.

Walking to the school gate, Ye Wanqing at a glance saw the tall man waiting outside the school.

Outside the sunlight was so scorching, yet he was truly that foolish—actually standing in place the whole time without moving. From far away she could already see the crystal-clear beads of sweat densely covering his forehead and short hair.

This fool!

“Classmate Ye, my family is outside. I won’t walk together with you anymore. Goodbye.” Finished speaking, Ye Wanqing decisively pulled back her own arm and smiled as she bid Ye Xiaomei farewell.

Ye Xiaomei’s hand suddenly empty, she frowned looking at Ye Wanqing’s back and annoyedly sighed once.

—

“Why did you come out so slowly? Was the exam……” Just speaking to here Ge Yuan suddenly stopped, afraid of affecting Ye Wanqing’s exam mood, and forced himself to change the topic. “Are you hot? Eat a popsicle.”

At this time the sunlight was glaring white. Heaven and earth were like one large steamer—stuffy and hot. Coming up with one popsicle truly relieved the heat a lot.

There were people selling popsicles at the school gate. The popsicles of this time were either mung-bean or red-bean; there weren’t many other varieties. Yet because the ingredients were solid they were not hard to eat either.

Countless examinees poured out of the school. Parents who ordinarily could not bear to spend money buying popsicles now also could bear to buy for their children. For a time the popsicle sellers’ business was very booming, surrounded by several layers of people.

Ge Yuan’s figure agilely squeezed toward the popsicle sellers and very quickly bought one back, eyes bright as he handed it in front of Ye Wanqing. “Quickly eat. After eating you’ll feel comfortable.”

“Why didn’t you buy one for yourself?”

“……Ah.” Ge Yuan wiped the sweat on his forehead. “Forgot.”

He had only cared about buying a popsicle for the person to relieve the heat and simply never thought he himself also needed one. With so many people he was too lazy to squeeze again and just “hehe” raised a silly smile.

Ye Wanqing shot him a sideways glance. “Are you foolish or not?”

Taking the popsicle she first bit two mouthfuls herself to feel the rare coolness, then stuffed it into Ge Yuan’s hand. “Two bites are enough for me. You help me finish the rest.”

“You eat ah!”

“Girls can’t eat things that are too cold. You eat. I’ll just drink water.”

Hearing this Ge Yuan also did not push further. Taking the popsicle he bit down more than half in one mouthful, yet was still curious. “Why can’t girls eat things that are too cold? Bad for the body?”

“Yes ah.” Ye Wanqing slanted a glance at him and said with a half-smile, “I heard that if a girl catches cold it’s not good for having children. Shouldn’t I plan ahead for the future?”

Ha—having children?

Planning for the future?

In an instant Ge Yuan’s face exploded red at a speed visible to the naked eye; even the popsicle emitting cold air could not save him. He was still a bit at a loss, eyes full of bashfulness, yet could not help imagining the future. The person who was ordinarily rough beyond measure also carried a few parts of coyness.

Ye Wanqing looking at this reaction knew exactly what her family’s tall man was thinking. She lowered her head and smiled; her heart was also delighted beyond measure.

However she had not spoken false words either.

In the previous life she and Ge Yuan had married in their thirties. Although at that time the two of them communicated little and the feelings looked a bit plain, she actually was not unwilling to have children. Only at that time her age was already somewhat advanced and she also had a bit of cold womb; she delayed and delayed without conceiving, until before death she still never got her wish.

In this life she was sincerely preventing from now on.

—

The afternoon geography exam began at half past two. In between there were altogether four hours of time—still considered ample.

However if Ye Wanqing wanted to return to the little courtyard, the round trip would take more than an hour, and she would still have to ride a bicycle under the big sun—a waste of both physical strength and energy.

Ye Xiaomei’s family could think of booking a table at a nearby restaurant; Ye Wanqing had naturally long thought of it as well.

Yet what she had not expected was that while eating at the restaurant she actually bumped into Ye Xiaomei’s family again.

Ye Xiaomei’s family should be father and mother accompanying her together for the exams. Father Ye looked as if he carried a superior’s air, while Mother Ye was gentle and virtuous—at a glance a traditional woman who took her husband as heaven.

“Ye Wanqing!” The moment Ye Xiaomei saw Ye Wanqing she smiled and greeted her. “Did you come looking for me? Quickly come, let’s eat together.”

“……No need. We also ordered food.”

They had not only ordered food here but ordered even more sumptuously than the Ye family’s. Originally Ye Xiaomei still wanted to invite them to eat together; seeing the plates of dishes being brought up one after another she also felt embarrassed to open her mouth.

Moreover with Ge Yuan present, five people sitting at one table was actually a bit crowded.

Seeing Ye Xiaomei, Ye Wanqing felt that this noon she would have a bit of small trouble. Sure enough, the moment she and Ge Yuan finished eating, Ye Xiaomei came over with the appearance of wanting to chat with her.

“You did quite well on Chinese in the morning. Do you have confidence for the afternoon geography?” Ye Xiaomei asked, looking for something to say.

“It’s alright—do one’s best and leave the rest to heaven.” Ye Wanqing smiled and answered once, not planning to continue, and directly opened her mouth. “Classmate Ye, there’s still an exam in the afternoon. Let’s not chat. Quietly rest a while to conserve energy, or if you can’t sleep then look at books a while.”

Qingshui County was not considered large. From south to north riding a bicycle took at most one hour—perhaps not even that. At this time people were still not wealthy, plus the time was ample, so the majority of examinees chose to go home to eat and rest; very few people booked a whole table at a restaurant.

Precisely because of this Ye Wanqing and company could, after finishing the meal, not be in a hurry to leave and by spending a bit more money stay resting in the restaurant until before the exam.

Ye Xiaomei: “……Alright.”

After all, Ye Wanqing’s words had been spoken so clearly; if she continued clinging it would be a bit tactless.

Only Ye Wanqing’s lack of approachability seemed to make her mood a bit bad, and correspondingly Father Ye and Mother Ye also frowned and sized up Ye Wanqing a few times, as if somewhat dissatisfied with Ye Wanqing’s attitude.

Ye Wanqing could not be bothered with that many things.

After eating her fill she stood up to walk off the meal a bit, then took out geography and began looking at it.

Although she had already reviewed three or four rounds, at this time another assault would not hurt either. Who knew—perhaps memorizing one more knowledge point could mean two more points on the exam?

However she also did not keep looking at books the whole time. When she felt a bit of sleepiness she put away the book.

“Want to sleep?” Ge Yuan had been watching her the whole time. Seeing this he hurriedly asked.

“Mm.” Ye Wanqing covered her mouth with her hand and gave a small yawn.

Ge Yuan looking at her adorable appearance could not help revealing a thread of smiling meaning at the corners of his brows and eyes. He quickly took a clean cloth from the bag he carried with him and spread it on the dining table, then arranged a soft little pillow and patted it—taking care of her extremely thoughtfully.

“Sleep.”

“Mm……” Ye Wanqing narrowed her almond eyes and smiled once, then flopped onto the table and closed her eyes.

Ge Yuan did not sleep.

The restaurant had no fan, and he also could not at this time carry the electric fan from home everywhere. Worrying that his little woman would be so hot she got heatstroke, he could only act as a human fan himself.

Only after Ye Wanqing fell asleep did he use a handkerchief to wipe away the fine layer of sweat on her forehead, then picked up a cattail-leaf fan and slowly fanned wind for her.

Seeing this scene Ye Xiaomei, who had not yet fallen asleep, widened her eyes in surprise; her mouth could almost fit a chicken egg.

“Don’t look!” Mother Ye tugged Ye Xiaomei’s sleeve and somewhat disdainfully glared at Ye Wanqing and company a couple of times, in an extremely low voice saying with contempt, “Truly doesn’t know how to behave properly. Don’t you learn the bad ways!”

Ye Xiaomei hurriedly tugged her sleeve. “Don’t say it!”

What if the other party heard?

In the afternoon she still wanted to rely on the other party to get some points.

—

After Ye Wanqing finished her noon rest well, she had only just rubbed her sleepy eyes when someone sat down in front of her.

“Classmate Ye, can we talk a bit?”

Ye Wanqing looked—it was Ye Xiaomei’s father.

She politely smiled once. “I’m sorry. Please wait a moment while I go wash my face and clear my head.”

“……Alright.”

After Ye Wanqing finished washing her face and came back her spirit was much better. Looking again at Father Ye who still sat steadily on the chair she could not help sighing once in her heart.

First the daughter then the father—looking at it…… this family of people had some determination to succeed at a certain matter.

“Mr. Ye, whatever matter you have, please speak.”

“It’s like this. I know your scores are very good—you’re a top student at Third Middle. You and my daughter are front and back seats; everyone has the surname Ye, and several hundred years ago we were still one family. I hope you can take a bit more care of her.”

Father Ye smiled lightly and arrogantly and continued, “Of course, as long as my daughter’s score is still acceptable the remuneration I give you will not be little either. If she can reach three hundred I’ll give you five hundred yuan; four hundred I’ll give you one thousand; if she can reach five hundred…… I’ll directly package two thousand for you!”

Ye Xiaomei hurriedly nodded. “You also don’t need to pass me the answers. As long as you place the test paper a bit more to the right I can see it myself! You don’t need to worry about the invigilators either—we’ve already spoken with them……”

“Ye Xiaomei!” Father Ye sternly interrupted her. “You be quiet. I’m talking with Classmate Ye!”

“Oh.” Ye Xiaomei responded once and no longer spoke.

This scene at a glance looked a bit suspicious. Ge Yuan immediately furrowed his brows. He wanted to say something, yet Ye Wanqing stopped him.

“I’m sorry. This matter I cannot agree to.” Ye Wanqing refused.

Never expecting to be refused, Father Ye furrowed his brows. “Classmate Ye, you can carefully consider. This is not letting you cheat. As long as when you place the test paper you take a bit of care of my daughter it will be fine. I see you are also a person who does big things—could it be you don’t even have this bit of courage?”

“This is not a matter of courage, but a matter I cannot agree to.”

As a teacher Ye Wanqing had one deeply rooted concept: exams absolutely could not involve cheating. Cheating was not only irresponsible toward others but also irresponsible toward oneself.

Letting her cheat? That was absolutely impossible!

The Ye family’s request she would absolutely never agree to. Even so-called “remuneration” could not move her.

“Exam time is almost here, Mr. Ye. We’ll leave first.” Without waiting for people to react Ye Wanqing pulled Ge Yuan and stood up, quickly leaving the little restaurant.

Actually she had already booked three days of meals at this restaurant, yet if tomorrow the Ye family was still here she truly felt a bit like changing places.

—

The afternoon exam was still very smooth. What somewhat surprised Ye Wanqing was that Ye Xiaomei also did not look for her again—very quiet, as if she had already given up hope on the cheating matter.

Or perhaps Ye Xiaomei had already found another “collaborator”?

However this was not something Ye Wanqing ought to think about. Apart from testing well in her own college entrance exam she did not want to waste energy on other matters.

The second day of the college entrance exam: morning math, afternoon politics.

This day Ye Wanqing passed very lightly, because math was her specialty item, while politics…… although her political awareness was not considered high, politics was the one among politics-history-geography that she had memorized best, and doing it counted as handy and confident.

Arriving at the third day: morning history, afternoon foreign language.

History Ye Wanqing tested in a middle-of-the-road manner. The questions she could do she finished well; the ones she could not do she still tried her best to fill with answers. As for foreign language she once again performed perfectly.

After finishing the last subject Ye Wanqing’s footsteps were light and quick as she walked toward the school gate, feeling her whole person was about to fly up……

This person of hers could not be said to be fearless in the face of danger, yet she was the type whose temperament grew calmer the more important the moment. This college entrance exam she felt was the time she had performed best while testing—one hundred percent steady!

What remained was only thinking about whether she could enter a good university and the matter of where to go to university.

Originally she had still thought that if this time she did not test in she would just take the exam one more year, yet if this time she could already test in and test well, saving a whole year of time, of course she was even happier!

Moreover, if she remembered correctly, starting from 1981 before the college entrance exam there would still be an added preliminary exam; only senior students who obtained the preliminary-exam qualification would have the qualification to participate in the final college entrance exam.

And the further one went the difficulty of the college entrance exam would also become greater and greater, the competition more and more intense.

Ye Wanqing felt that although she did not fear competition, being able to take it a bit more lightly—who would deliberately go challenge hell-level difficulty?

—

Walking to the school gate Ye Wanqing had thought only Ge Yuan would be waiting outside. She never expected to see several people standing beside Ge Yuan, together looking toward the direction inside the school.

Not only was Old Zhong there, Ge Yue was there, Wei Jun and Wei Hong were there—even Wei Huainong and Liu Lixiu had come. The moment the group of people saw Ye Wanqing they excitedly waved.

“Jie!”

“Over here, over here!”

“Beautiful Sister-in-law, Little Moon came to pick you up!”

“……”

Hearing these calls Ye Wanqing’s face blossomed a brilliant smile. She ran two quick steps to stand in front of them. “Why did you all come? It’s so hot. Waiting for me at home would have been fine.”

Liu Lixiu’s face carried a kind smile as she chided, “The college entrance exam is a major matter of your life. Us coming to pick you up is also necessary. Look—other families are all like this.”

Ye Wanqing looked around and indeed discovered that other examinees also had parents, grandparents all appearing—families lively and noisy.

In the previous life she had never participated in the college entrance exam; at other times she had also never felt this kind of “big-family” warmth. Suddenly coming with this once, her heart felt a bit sour and swelling with emotion.

The lively Wei Hong followed up with another sentence. “We still have to thank Brother-in-law for thinking so thoroughly. Mom and Dad were personally fetched from the village by him.”

Wei Huainong also said, “If not for Ge Yuan we would definitely only be able to arrive in the evening today.”

There was still this matter?

Ye Wanqing smiled looking toward Ge Yuan. Meeting his somewhat uncomfortable expression her lips rose even higher…… Her tall man was truly considerate. Mm, after returning home she could properly reward him a bit.

The school gate was crowded and hot. The group of people hurriedly walked back.

At half past four in the afternoon the sun was still high. Fortunately several people were riding bicycles—much faster than walking—and could suffer a bit less.

Arriving home, Fatty Wang’s mother who had gotten off work early from the shop had already prepared all the evening meal dishes; they only needed to wait until mealtime to put them in the pot and stir-fry. Seeing the people return she hurriedly cut open the watermelon that had been chilled in well water for a good while and brought it up.

“Quickly come eat watermelon. It’s been chilled in well water for a good while—eat and cool off.”

Bright-red juicy watermelon cut into pieces was arranged on plates—looking good and also relieving the heat when eaten.

Just as several people were happily eating the chilled watermelon, suddenly one human shadow rushed in. The moment entering the courtyard the person panic-stricken loudly shouted, “Not good—Zhou Sao ran away!”