Chapter 64: College Exams

Chapter 64: College Exams

"Good news, Qian Fenfang has really been expelled from the school."

"Come and see, this incident even made the newspaper."

Everyone looked, and there it was in the newspaper: a teacher from Baichuan No.1 High School pressuring a student to jump from a building, and the students' spontaneous protest.

Scenes like this were quite common seven or eight years ago.

But since the complete dismantling of the top four groups, no school had seen students organize large-scale protests.

So this incident quickly caught the attention of provincial leaders.

Lately, Yu Deshui's office phone has been ringing non-stop.

He was very glad that he acted decisively and expelled Qian Fenfang before the situation escalated.

"Don't worry, leader, the student who jumped has been promptly sent to the school for treatment, and the subsequent treatment costs will be borne by the school. If the student is willing to repeat a grade, Baichuan No.1 High School will cover all his tuition, accommodation, and other expenses.

As for the teacher involved, the school has already expelled her, and I will also hold a meeting for all teachers to ensure such incidents never happen again."

The leader on the other end of the phone added a few more instructions, and Yu Deshui hung up the phone with trepidation.

Finally, the matter was under control.

Soon, the annual college exams began.

The news quickly shifted to this year's college exams.

From July 7th to 9th, the exams spanned three days.

The subjects included Chinese, Mathematics, English, Physics, Chemistry, Politics, History, and Geography.

Initially, English scores only made up 30% of the total score, but starting from 1983, English scores also became 100 points.

For children from rural areas, studying was even more challenging.

But English was a strength for Ye Xiaoxiao, though she was slightly weaker in other subjects, especially in the humanities.

Because when she took the college exams, they were split into arts and sciences, but this policy wasn't yet in place; it would not be officially divided into science and humanities until 1987.

The night before the college exams, a light rain cooled things down.

The next morning, as they headed to take the exams, the ground was still wet.

Ye Xiaoxiao's exam room was at Baichuan No.1 High School, and she walked step by step into the campus, locating her exam room.

During the process of answering the papers, she gradually calmed down.

She completely immersed herself in this world.

The three-day exams passed in a flash.

After the last exam, Ye Xiaoxiao walked slowly out of the campus, with some boys and girls who were more anxious to hand in their papers running out of the campus, marking the end of a chapter in their youth.

After the college exams, Ye Xiaoxiao should have returned the rented house.

But thinking that she still needed to come to the school to check her results, she rented it for one more month.

No matter how the tests turned out, everything is settled now.

Ye Changyuan and Ye Changsheng were both packing up things, preparing to return to Baichuan Village.

This time, they would finally be able to stay at home properly for a while.

Ye Xiaoxiao had already prepared a surprise for Miao Cuifang.

It was a sewing machine that she had been planning to buy.

Sewing machines were a rare item in stores, but Ye Xiaoxiao had asked Wang Ying for help. Wang Ying's mother was in charge at the fabric factory, which had a channel to purchase sewing machines.

Because Ye Xiaoxiao had helped Wang Ying before, her mother had a good impression of her and was willing to help with this small request.

The sewing machine was delivered by the factory's transport workers.

"Mom, guess what I bought?"

Ye Xiaoxiao shouted from the yard.

Miao Cuifang was getting ready to take the bedding home to wash and dry, but when she heard Ye Xiaoxiao calling her, she poked her head out of the window to look.

Ye Xiaoxiao waved, "Mom, come down."

Miao Cuifang had to go downstairs, and when she opened the cardboard box and saw what was inside, she covered her mouth in shock.

"Oh my god, Xiaoxiao, did you buy this?"

Ye Xiaoxiao said, "Yes, it will make sewing and mending clothes much easier."

Miao Cuifang was both excited and worried, "A sewing machine must have been expensive."

Ye Xiaoxiao replied, "I got someone to help me get it, so it wasn't as expensive as the ones in the store."

Miao Cuifang touched the sewing machine, feeling it carefully, and said, "Xiaoxiao, ever since you came to our family, we haven't been able to take good care of you. Instead, you've been spending money on us. It's because I'm not capable enough as a mother..."

Ye Xiaoxiao said, "Don't say that. I know how good you've been with me. I just want to make life better for the family."

Ye Changyuan and Ye Changsheng also ran out to see the sewing machine.

Ye Changyuan said, "We have a sewing machine at home!"

Sun Yuzhen popped her head out from upstairs, "The family has gotten a big item, how enviable."

Ye Xiaoxiao nudged Miao Cuifang's back, "Mom, let's try this machine to see if it works well."

Miao Cuifang said, "There's no fabric around..."

Ye Xiaoxiao said, "There is. I'll find it for you. There's some scrap fabric that the second sister-in-law brought over."

Scrap fabric was also a good thing; some people relied on it to mend clothes.

Ye Changsheng and Ye Changyuan first carried the sewing machine upstairs to the room, while Miao Cuifang organized the thread and scrap fabric, then started operating the sewing machine with a "dada" sound.

Miao Cuifang had used a sewing machine before, so she quickly got used to it. The scrap fabric turned and was sewn together within seconds.

"It's indeed much faster."

With the sewing machine, Miao Cuifang was also happy, thinking that since they had already bought the machine, it would be inexcusable not to make some clothes for the family.

However, she had to go out and buy the cloth herself, as she was worried that Xiao Xiao would pay if she brought her along.

Miao Cuifang: "It's not easy to get this stuff home."

Ye Xiaoxiao: "I'll check tomorrow if there's a car in the county seat, and I can send you back together."

Miao Cuifang: "Honey, aren't you coming home?"

Ye Xiaoxiao: "Of course, I'm going home, but I need to visit my master first. Before, because of school, my master didn’t make me help at the pharmacy and even gave me a monthly salary. Now that it's vacation, I naturally need to go to the pharmacy first."

Miao Cuifang nodded: "You’re right. They’ve treated us well, and we should show our gratitude. I feel at ease knowing you're learning medicine with your master."

Miao Cuifang told the kids to stay home while she went out to get some things.

Ye Xiaoxiao wanted to go with her but was turned down.

"What’s Mom going to get?"

Ye Changsheng shook his head: "I don't know."

Ye Xiaoxiao didn’t press the matter.

The next day, Ye Xiaoxiao and the others found a tractor in the county seat. It was a feed factory truck, coincidentally heading to Baishicun Village to drop off feed, so it was going their way.

But they couldn’t hitch a ride for free; they had to chip in for the extra load.

Before hopping on the tractor, Miao Cuifang took Ye Xiaoxiao’s hand and said, "Xiao Xiao, come home in a couple of days, and we’ll send your big brother to get you."

Ye Xiaoxiao: "Okay."

Since Ye Xiaoxiao was heading back to Songlin Town, which was easier than going to Baishicun Village, she didn’t join them.

Mostly because there wasn’t any room left on the tractor.

Right after seeing Miao Cuifang and the others off, Ye Xiaoxiao heard a honk behind her.

Well, look who’s here... a free ride.

As Ye Xiaoxiao approached, the driver’s window rolled down, revealing Lu Hanchuan’s sharp, chiseled features.