Chapter 98: Ongoing

The day Wen Jiajia left the hospital, the weather was sunny, just like when she first arrived. 

She packed up her personal belongings, handed some important information and documents to Director Gao, and locked the rest in the cabinet. After tidying up, the room was spotless and bright, as if no one had ever worked there.

“Jia Jia, do you really want to take leave?” Liang Mu, coming out of the office, was puzzled by her decision.

Wen Jiajia nodded. “There’s no other way; it’s a fight to the death!”

Liang Mu sighed. “That’s understandable. Several people in our group want to take the exam, but no one is willing to set aside their work to focus on it.”

This was normal. Participating in the exam is one thing; passing it is another. Compared to the educated youth who went to the countryside, these factory employees often lacked the determination to fight to the end.

As Wen Jiajia left the hospital, she attracted a lot of attention. Despite many people disapproving of her decision, they all wished her success in the college entrance examination two months later.

Lin Yunfei accompanied her out, kicking at the grass in silence. When they reached the door, she hesitated and asked, “Do you think I should take leave to review?”

Wen Jiajia shook her head. “I can’t answer that because it depends on your situation.”

She didn’t know Lin Yunfei’s grades and couldn’t make decisions about significant life events for her.

Lin Yunfei leaned against the doorframe, not caring about the dust, and said, “There’s so much work at the factory. If I don’t take leave, I won’t have much time to review. But if I do take leave… my chances of passing the exam aren’t high. When I return, the leaders might not value me anymore.”

Wen Jiajia spread her hands. “You’ll have to make your own choice. But remember to decide quickly, and don’t let the decision torment you. Time is running out; the exam is in two months. Analyze your situation and remember that you can’t have the best of both worlds.”

Lin Yunfei took a deep breath. “I’ll think about it for two more days, just two days.”

The sun was shining, the sky was blue, and clouds floated slowly over the hospital like fluffy cotton.

Wen Jiajia rode her bike away from her second workplace after traveling through time. Unlike when she took maternity leave, she would not return as an employee this time.

Two days is not a long time. Wen Jiajia was already reviewing at home. Lin Yunfei sent her a message saying she had decided not to take leave.

She also sent a letter saying: My grades are average. I tried to review and do practice papers over the past two days, but I found that I’m no better than my sister, who graduated from junior high school.

The letter continued: No one in my family supports me taking leave to review. My parents said that if I take leave, I might as well give the job to my sister-in-law.

After reading the letter, Wen Jiajia folded it and sighed. Full-time studying was indeed a difficult endeavor that troubled many people.

She thought for a moment, then tore off a piece of paper and wrote: “Since the college entrance examination has resumed, night school will probably be available again in the future. You will still have a chance, so don’t forget to study.”

Wen Jiajia vaguely remembered that in the future, companies could recommend employees for further education, and the factory would recognize the academic qualifications they obtained.

After writing the letter, she asked someone still at the hospital to deliver it to Lin Yunfei.

Lin Yunfei gave up on the college entrance examination, but Sha Yue showed remarkable courage and took a two-month leave to prepare for the exam, just like Wen Jiajia.

Wen Jiajia immediately gave her the math and Chinese practice questions she had accumulated over the past two years. Sha Yue lived in the research institute’s dormitory, where there were many science experts, so she should have no shortage of help with her review.

As for Hao Qingying, she was as conflicted as Lin Yunfei. However, with her good academic performance and supportive family, she also decided to take leave to prepare for the exam after careful consideration.

For a moment, Wen Jiajia thought that many people had taken time off to prepare for the exam. But when she inquired at the staff quarters, she found that she was the only one who had given up her job for this purpose.

Wen Jiajia went home again.

The preparation period for the exam passed quickly, and by November, the autumn chill was already felt in the staff quarters. The leaves had started to turn yellow, and osmanthus flowers were blooming abundantly.

Due to the college entrance examination, Wei Dai had decided not to shake the osmanthus flowers this year, claiming that he had won first place in the imperial examination.

Well, osmanthus is a symbol of academic success and, in ancient times, signified winning the imperial examination.

But isn’t the focus on the word “break”? Wen Jiajia decided to wait until the osmanthus flowers were in full bloom, then climb the tree and break off a branch full of flowers.

When Wen Jiajia was at home, Xiaomei was the happiest and most delighted. Every day she would run from the house to the outside, and then from the outside back to the house, always laughing.

Sometimes she would lie on Wen Jiajia’s legs, curious about what her mother was mumbling about. More often, however, she would be taken out of the room by the aunt to avoid disturbing Wen Jiajia.

Wen Jiajia usually reviews in her room, sitting at the desk by the window. Outside were green mountains, rivers, flowers in the yard, vegetables in the garden, and an osmanthus tree with branches reaching up to the window.

She could smell the refreshing scents of mint, fragrant wood, and other plants, as well as the strong fragrance of osmanthus, which made her feel her trachea was fragrant and sweet.

It reminded her of her high school days in her previous life, where osmanthus flowers were planted outside her high school classroom window.

Wen Jiajia suddenly felt as though she was preparing for the college entrance examination in her previous life, and the road to preparation no longer felt lonely.

She flipped through the books page by page until there was nothing left to read and could even memorize the examples in the math book.

Then there was politics. She finally managed to let the political knowledge of this life overshadow the memories of her previous life.

This was the hardest part of preparing for the exam, but she handled it perfectly.

When filling out the application form, Wen Jiajia felt confident that she could achieve good grades.

She worked through high school papers and found that her grades were consistently ranked first in her school’s grade level. It seemed she was stronger than she had anticipated.

That night, Wen Jiajia thought for a while and decided on her first-choice university.

In their room, the lights dimmed again. Wei Dai considered replacing the light bulb the next day. The current brightness was fine for him, but with Wen Jiajia reviewing so diligently, he wanted to create the best environment for her.

As he thought about it, he placed a plate of cut apples on the desk. He had asked someone to buy these apples for him. A comrade-in-arms had recently visited a major apple-producing province, and Wei Dai had shamelessly requested a box of apples to provide nutrition for his wife.

“Wei Dai, I have decided on my choice,” Wen Jiajia suddenly said.

“What school?” Wei Dai asked.

Wen Jiajia replied, “My first choice is F University.”

Wei Dai was momentarily stunned. This was a prestigious school, well-known even to someone like him who wasn’t particularly interested in academics.

“Are you sure? I’ve heard that applying to colleges is crucial. If the application isn’t done well, it’s easy to be rejected. Of course, I don’t mean to imply you can’t get into F University,” Wei Dai said after a moment of silence.

Wen Jiajia shrugged. “I wouldn’t dare apply if I wasn’t sure, but there are no guarantees in this world. So, I’ll give it a try. My second choice is our provincial capital university, and my third choice is the provincial capital normal school. It’s basically among these three schools.”

Wei Dai found it hard to stay calm. He knew his wife was a good student, but he hadn’t expected her to aim for such prestigious schools.

He rubbed his face and said, “It’s okay. Just focus on the exam. I’ll take care of things at home.”

Wen Jiajia smiled and said, “You’re so busy with work. It’s all thanks to Auntie.”

The decision about the university choice was made, and Wen Jiajia didn’t mention it further. Wei Dai also kept it private; only the couple knew about it.

While concentrating on her review in the staff quarters, Wen Jiajia found it hard to sense the tense atmosphere before the college entrance examination.

She had been sending review materials home for a while, and Wei Xin’s letter finally arrived before the end of the month.

The wind outside was a bit cold. Wen Jiajia held a cup of hot milk tea in her hand, not drinking it but warming her hands.

Wei Dai opened the letter. He sat on a chair outside, unfazed by the wind, and read it.

Wen Jiajia asked, “Will the little sister^[1]refer to Wei Xin. take the exam?”

Before Wei Dai could answer, a furry head popped out of the kitchen. “Mommy, are you looking for Little Sister(Xiaomei)? Little sister is here!”

“…”

When the little girl woke up, no one had tied her hair because the aunt went out to the market.

At that moment, she was happily holding a fried cake. Wen Jiajia scolded gently, “Put that back. Don’t eat it anymore. Come out!”

“Okay, I don’t want to eat it,” she replied obediently. After being put back, she ran out and laid on her father’s lap. “Did you call me just now?”

Wei Dai didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. “I was talking about your xiaogu^[2]refer to a younger paternal aunt, meaning the younger sister of one’s father..”

Wen Jiajia added silently in her heart: She is the younger sister of the previous generation.

However, since the eldest sister-in-law had a daughter, the title “little sister” was passed on to her, only to be returned to her own little sister shortly afterward.

In just one year, the name had been used for three people, showing its popularity.

Xiaomei didn’t know what a “xiaogu” was and didn’t find it appetizing, so she lost interest and ran to Wen Jiajia to ask for milk tea.

“Drink it,” Wen Jiajia said, pretending to pour her a cup, but actually pouring milk with a little bit of honey.

The milk tasted slightly sweet, and Wen Xiaomei sensed something was off but wasn’t picky.

She was actually a very easy child to raise. She would eat anything, and she was not fussy at all. She was also quite easily deceived.

Wen Jiajia used to worry about her IQ, but her language development was advanced. She spoke in long sentences from an early age and occasionally used idioms.

She was also sensitive to numbers; no one could secretly take her building blocks. She checked them daily, and if any were missing, she would search the entire house and even go to Mr. Wang, the logistics manager, to “call the police.”

Since she “called the police,” Wen Jiajia is no longer worried about her IQ. After all, she was not stupid.

After reading the letter, Wei Dai said, “Xiao Xin said she is already preparing for the exam, as is her brother-in-law. Xiao Xin applied to an agricultural university in our province to study veterinary medicine. Her brother-in-law applied to a junior college, also in our province, but his grades were average, so he applied to a teacher training program.”

Wen Jiajia realized that both of their chosen fields were good, and the score requirements weren’t too high.

She vaguely remembered that in recent years, the most popular major had been Chinese. Many liberal arts students applied to the Chinese department.

But Wen Jiajia didn’t do that. She applied for economics as her first and second choices. She didn’t plan to just get through college but hoped to acquire more knowledge.

In her previous life, she had become famous too early and hadn’t focused on her studies, so she planned to study diligently in this life.

As for starting a business… one couldn’t just start a business right after the reform and opening up unless one set up a street stall.

To open a factory, one would have to wait.

It was December now, and the weather had turned much colder, though not as cold as two years ago.

The wind two years ago felt like a hidden knife, cutting into people’s faces.

This year’s cold was milder, and Wen Jiajia didn’t need to move the stove out at the beginning of the month.

Wen Jiajia began her final sprint, reviewing all the key points again.

She didn’t tackle the difficult questions but focused on the basic ones to ensure she hadn’t missed anything.

The aunt was also preparing for her college entrance examination and making delicious food in various ways every day.

She is very happy now because some transactions can be carried out in the nearby villages daily without anyone’s interference.

So, the aunt buys fish today and meat tomorrow, and sometimes she can even buy mutton and beef. Wen Jiajia’s cheeks are rosy from eating so much, which means she has been doing mental activities all day long recently, so she hasn’t gained weight.

The college entrance examination in our province is on December 5th and 6th, which is only two days away.

In fact, the college entrance examination started at the end of November and will last until the 25th of this month. The examination times vary in different provinces. Wen Jiajia was shocked when she saw in the newspaper at the end of November that some places had already started the college entrance examination. What year is it now? She quickly checked the date and felt relieved when she saw that it was still November.

Two days before the college entrance examination, Wen Jiajia stopped reading and instead relaxed and laid around at home, which was the most relaxing way for her.

Xiaomei didn’t come to bother her anymore. Wei Dai was resting these two days, so he took her out to play every day, and they had a lot of fun.

The two days passed in this relaxed manner. Wen Jiajia was in particularly good spirits. She felt eager to go to the examination room and wanted to start the test immediately to satisfy her craving.

At noon, the day of the college entrance examination arrived.

Wei Dai was even more nervous than she was. He woke up at five o’clock and kept an eye on the clock to wake Wen Jiajia up on time.

He also used a hand warmer to warm up the clothes that Wen Jiajia was going to wear so that she wouldn’t feel cold at all when putting them on.