“What’s this about repeating a grade?” Lin Guodong came back at this moment.

“Dad, we were talking about Mom’s university exam,” Erbao said. “I told Mom that if she gets into university, she can wait for us there, and when we also go to university, we’ll be classmates. So, if Mom is waiting for us, doesn’t that mean she’ll be repeating a grade? Hahaha… It’s so funny that Mom will become a repeating student and still be my classmate.”

In this era, a repeating student is equivalent to a student with very poor grades.

Some people might ridicule them behind their backs, while others might not openly mock them but still look down on them.

Repeating students generally appear among those who have failed.

Ning Shu recalled that in her previous life, when she was in first grade, there were two repeating students in her class, both girls, and they sat at the back of the room.

She was a bit scared of one of them because she was the tallest.

As for the other student, she wasn’t afraid because her family had a good relationship with Ning Shu’s family.

Of course, when Erbao mentioned that his mother had become a repeating student, he didn’t mean to ridicule her; he just found it amusing and fun.

Ning Shu and Lin Guodong were quite helpless; their child was making jokes at his mother’s expense.

However, Lin Guodong said, “You said you didn’t want to take the college entrance exam before. I think you should reconsider.”

When the college entrance exam was reinstated, Lin Guodong had mentioned it to Ning Shu, but she had rejected it.

He always respected her and knew she was very opinionated, so he hadn’t brought it up again.

But now that their child was mentioning it, he also started to persuade her again. “I think this time, the kids’ suggestion is very good. You might want to reconsider the college entrance exam.

Or, you could register first.

There is still some time from registration to the exam to think about it.

If you don’t register now, you won’t have another chance to register for this year’s exam and will have to wait until next year.”

Ning Shu was silent.

Originally, she was a firm opponent of the college entrance exam, but now that both her child and husband were persuading her, she seemed to be wavering a bit.

Did she have any regrets about the college entrance exam in her previous life? Certainly not, as she knew her own abilities well.

“There’s one more thing…” Lin Guodong continued, “With the changes in policies, many departments are starting to conduct audits. If there are any relatives or people with dirty hands in the family, it will affect the political review.

As a result, many people in the military have been dismissed or are under review, and many positions need to be filled.

The people who fill these positions need to have no direct connections with various parties, and in the end, I was recommended.”

There were reasons for this recommendation:

He graduated from a military academy and has a clean political record.

Since he started serving in the military, he has achieved outstanding results and had excellent performance.

He graduated from the military academy, and although…

Though he came from a peasant background, he had connections, and his family relationships were harmonious.

Ning Shu was not surprised by what Lin Guodong mentioned.

After ten years of hardship, various investigations were to be expected, as everything needed to be rectified.

However, she was surprised that Lin Guodong would be promoted.

This seemed like something that wasn’t in the plot.

But the plot of the novel did not revolve around Lin Guodong, and perhaps this event did happen at that time, but because his son was getting along well with the Yang family, and Lin Guodong was worried about his son adapting to a new environment, he declined the promotion.

Ning Shu didn’t know the specifics.

Now that Lin Guodong had brought up the topic, Ning Shu was inevitably curious: “Where is the promotion to? It’s rare that the children have good friends here, and I’ve also gotten along well with Aunt Yang and others.

If we just leave like this, it would be somewhat disappointing. Adapting to a new environment and not knowing anyone could be lonely.

But compared to Lin Guodong’s career, Ning Shu felt it was not a big deal.

Moreover, they have a house in their hometown and a house here.

If they could be transferred to another place, they might buy another house, which wouldn’t be bad.

Furthermore, such a promotion would only be upward, not downward, so the place Lin Guodong would be promoted to would definitely be better than here.

So… where would it be?

“To the capital,” Lin Guodong said.

Upon hearing that it was the capital, Ning Shu’s eyes lit up.

Has the grand fortune finally arrived?

If Lin Guodong was promoted to the capital, she could naturally buy a house there.

Courtyards, western-style houses… those are symbols of wealth, that’s money.

Lin Guodong raised an eyebrow.

He could clearly sense his wife’s joy and was curious about what she was so happy about, though it didn’t affect his curiosity: “Do you like the capital?”

Like?

Not really.

But she did like it.

“As a person from Huaguo, of course, I want to see the capital. I also want to climb the Great Wall,” Ning Shu said sincerely.

However, her happiness was genuine, and Lin Guodong didn’t see through her sincerity.

“Mom, what is the Great Wall?” asked the curious Erbao, who hadn’t learned history yet.

Since it’s where his mom wants to go, it must be a great place.

Ning Shu replied, “Let your dad tell you about our country’s history.” Then she turned to Lin Guodong and said, “Start from the Qin Dynasty.”

Lin Guodong: “…Tell them after dinner. What about your college entrance exam? You could consider studying at a university there.”

Ning Shu thought about it for a while: “Forget it.”

“The hardships of foraging for wild vegetables, the struggles of digging for bamboo shoots, and enduring the lack of air conditioning and mobile phones, but I can’t bear the hardships of studying.”

Lin Guodong saw her furrowed brow and decided not to continue with this topic.

He knew that his wife really couldn’t handle the pressure of college entrance exams. “Alright then. Regarding my promotion to the capital, what are your thoughts?”

Ning Shu certainly had thoughts about this. “We’ll need to buy a house, won’t we? Where else would we live?” It would be better to buy now while housing prices were still relatively low.

The only concern was whether their savings were sufficient.

Over the years, the rent for the three small courtyards in their hometown county town was only 15 yuan per month.

Her salary from the nursery was about 10 yuan left over each month after expenses, so they had about 25 yuan a month, totaling 300 yuan a year.

Additionally, the design fees from the garment factory brought in another 200 yuan a year.

In total, she earned about 500 yuan a year, amounting to around 2,000 yuan over four years.

The bulk of their savings came from Lin Guodong.

He was promoted to deputy regiment commander two years ago, so his salary had increased.

Over these years, his salary and bonuses had accumulated to around 8,000 yuan.

Adding her 2,000 yuan and the savings from the previous years, they had a total of 12,000 yuan.

It was uncertain if this would be enough to buy a small villa or a traditional courtyard house in the capital.

Also, they needed to know if they could get a loan for buying a house.

With the college entrance exam reinstated and the country’s open reforms, private development was being promoted, and loans during that period were quite accessible.

If loans for business were easy to obtain, could the same be true for buying a house?

Loans for buying houses at that time had very low interest rates, so it might be feasible.

Ning Shu had many calculations running through her mind.

Lin Guodong naturally didn’t know her thoughts. “The government will arrange housing.”

Ning Shu replied, “We don’t know what kind of housing the government will arrange. We can also buy our own. Since you’ve been promoted to the capital, it’s unlikely to change in the short term. This means that the three children will also study and grow up in the capital and even find partners there, so we need to buy four houses in the capital.

One for us, and one for each of the three children when they marry.”

Lin Guodong: “…”

He swallowed, feeling a bit of pressure.

Would their money be enough to buy houses?

Moreover, his wife wanted to buy four. “Will we have enough money?”

Ning Shu rolled her eyes. “Definitely not enough. Buying one house would be difficult, let alone four. But don’t worry, we’ll take it slow.”

Lin Guodong thought for a moment. “We can sell the houses in our hometown and here. Selling them now should be higher than the buying price.”

Lin Guodong wasn’t foolish, although he hadn’t studied real estate prices.

But given the state of the country…

You can see some patterns.

When they bought houses, the situation was chaotic with many city dwellers being sent down, and there were many houses in the city, so naturally, prices were low.

Now, with the country gradually opening up, people who were sent down and intellectual youths are returning to the cities, leading to a rapid increase in the urban population.

In this situation, the supply of city houses cannot meet the demand, and prices naturally rise.

“Let’s not rush. We’ll decide after we get to the capital and see the housing market. By the way, when will you be transferred?” Ning Shu asked again.

Lin Guodong said, “The higher-ups contacted me today. I said I needed to think about it and discuss it with you. If you think the capital is good, I will comply with the arrangement. If there are no surprises, the transfer order should come soon, as everything is quite chaotic right now.”

“Also, if I’m transferred, I’ll be promoted directly to regiment level.”

“Doesn’t that mean another level up?” Ning Shu was very happy.

When they moved with the army, Lin Guodong had just been promoted to a regimental commander, and now, after six or seven years, with evaluations every three years, if his performance is average, he would have to wait for the next opportunity.

If his performance was outstanding, he would be promoted after three years.

Given Lin Guodong’s performance, it was indeed time for another promotion.

Without this transfer order, he would have had to wait a bit longer.

Ning Shu couldn’t help but smile. Lin Guodong was 33 years old this year, and a regiment-level officer at 33 was quite rare.

Even with a high starting point from military school, most of it was due to his own efforts.

To ensure his physical fitness for tasks, Ning Shu had put a lot of thought into his dietary supplements.

Seeing her happy, Lin Guodong felt that all his efforts were worthwhile.

His efforts were for the country and for his family.

If the country is stable, he is content.

If his family is happy, he is content.

Lin Guodong said, “Well, I’ll respond to the leaders this afternoon and agree to the arrangement.”

“That’s fine.”

The three children listened to their parents and understood that their father was being promoted again, but the key point was that he might be transferred to another place, meaning they would have to leave here as well.

When they were three or five years old, they didn’t fully understand the nature of moving with the army, but now they understood it well.

The thought of moving again made the three children a bit sad.

From 1971 to 1977, it had been seven years, and this place had become their second home.

They had friends and classmates here, and respected teachers.

Moving to another place made their young hearts feel a bit confused.

“Mom, do we have to go with Dad too?” Erbao asked.