Chapter 69

After Zhang Qiaoer returned to the village, Jiahui really worked hard. She had to prepare for the final exams, cook their three meals, and prepare the foods that they were going to sell.

But the good thing is that Shen Nianru wholeheartedly helped them to take care of Fang Fang, which saved her a lot of worries.

In July, primary students, secondary students, and college students began a happy and long summer vacation. At the end of July, the college entrance examination, which carries the happiness of millions of people, also opened its curtains.

The day before the exam, Zhao Donglin rushed back to the village to cheer his brother on.

“There are too many things to do in the city. Your sister-in-law can not come back. She asked me to give you a message.” Don’t pressure yourself and do well in the exam. “

Zhao Donghe nodded, the corners of his eyes slightly sour.

Zhang Qiao’er was also very happy to see his eldest son back, which parents do not hope that their children’s relationship is harmonious?

Because the high school has returned to normal order, this year’s college entrance exam is naturally more formal than last year, and the exam questions are more complex than last year.

Donghe chose the science subject and took five subjects: politics, language, mathematics, physics, and chemistry, and Zhao Donglin accompanied him.

After the exam, it was inevitable to check his answers. Donghe calculated that his score was about 270. This score is similar to last year’s Mei Xiang’s college entrance exam result. Donghe was very apprehensive. He was afraid that his own results were not enough for this year’s standard.

“Relax. I heard that other people’s scores are not as good as yours, so let’s not confuse ourselves.

The exam is over, and overthinking was not beneficial. Donghe naturally understands this, but he had hoped too much. He was afraid he would disappoint himself.

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Wearing a straw hat and a hoe, Jiang Liang turned over the ground at the gate of her yard and was ready to open another vegetable field to sow vegetables.

The neighbour, Aunt Hua, swayed over and shouted from a distance, “Liang, yesterday I accompanied Yun Yun to the county for an examination. Guess who I saw?”

Aunt Hua’s daughter, Yun Yun, is a freshman in senior high school. She is expected to take the college entrance examination. Jiang Liang stood up straight with a hoe and wiped the sweat off her head. She didn’t want to guess or couldn’t guess. She directly asked, “Who did you see?”

In a mysterious voice, Aunt Hua said, “Your son-in-law, Donghe.”

Jiang Liang turned around.

Zhao Donghe is a name she has not heard for too long, or rather she has been deliberately avoiding it, because every time she thinks of it, she always has a stomach full of regret.

Aunt Hua knew she was interested when she saw her like this and continued to say, with a smile, “His brother accompanied him, the former village clerk of Shanghe village, the one who went to university.”

Everyone knows that Zheng Yuefen has divorced Zhao Donghe. Not long after her divorce, she was married to a man in another commune. In fact, when Aunt Hua said this to Jiang Liang, she didn’t have any good intentions.

The subtext is: look, your former son-in-law went to take the college entrance examination. There are so many college students in his family. It’s not impossible for him to enter the University. Your daughter divorced him. After his family developed, your family can’t touch it.

Jiang Liang knew Aunt Hua’s intention. It was because she knew that she regretted it in her heart.

She does not need to inquire more; the news of the Zhao family from time to time will come to her ears. She knows that the Zhao family is getting better and better. There are three college students in the family, which is the first one in the commune. If Donghe passed the exam, they could really walk sideways in the Shengli commune.

After her remarriage, her daughter Zheng Yuefen didn’t go back to her mother’s house once, nor did she send a letter. The two communes are not close to each other, and frankly speaking, she was not quite sure whether her daughter was doing well or not.

Why didn’t Zheng Yuefen go back to her mother’s house? First, she didn’t want to be in a scene that recalled past memories. She was afraid she would think of Donghe and Shitou. Second, she always remembered that her eldest brother, Zheng Songnian, was indifferent to her. When she divorced Donghe, he not only didn’t accept her to go back to her mother’s house, but he also let her live in the pigsty, from that time on, she’s dead to her mother’s family.

She often wondered if she could have waited for Donghe to change his mind if her family had accepted her to live in her mother’s house. But the result was that Donghe was dead set on getting a divorce, and her mother’s family did not want to accept her and wanted her to get married.

The divorce was delayed for half a year with Donghe, and after the divorce was finalized, the family matched her with a widow who had lost her husband. They married not long after.

The new in-laws are not as good as the Zhao family. Her husband is usually quite good to her, but when he’s drunk, he will hit people. When he sobered up, he would admit his mistakes.

Whenever she was beaten, she missed Donghe’s goodness.

She thought of Donghe, of Shitou, of the days of the Zhao family, and often asked herself why she had come to this point. Why was Donghe unwilling to give her a chance to change? Why was he so determined to get a divorce?

At first, she thought Donghe had fallen in love with someone else, but in the past two years, she hadn’t heard of him getting married to anyone.

Zheng Yuefen has resentment, hate, love and confusion in her heart, but what should happen and what shouldn’t have happened has happened, and thinking about it again won’t make any difference.

After one year of marriage, she didn’t get pregnant. Yuefen was ignored by her husband’s family. Fortunately, she was pregnant the next year. Now the baby in her stomach has been six months old.

For the sake of her children, she decided to forget the past and start a new life.

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The children had a happy summer vacation. There was a park near the house where many children played in the morning and evening, and Jiahui gave the task of taking care of Heidan to her younger sister-in-law.

Zhao Donglin brought Shitou for the summer when he returned from the village, and on the first day in town, Shitou announced that he never wanted to go back.

“There are delicious popsicles here, chicken soup every day, and brothers Heidan, sister Yingbao, and Fang Fang, and I have nothing to go back to.”

“Then when your dad gets into college, let’s live together in the city, okay?”

“Yes, my dad will definitely pass the exam.”

Zhao Donghe listed all the provincial schools where he would do volunteer work, and even the normal specialized training school had a guaranteed minimum of volunteers. 

Donghe doesn’t have a big wish. He just wants to have a degree and a decent job. He doesn’t have to work in the field every day and hopes he can let Shitou live well with himself.

After the summer vacation, more people went to the movies, and business got better. President Zhu came to the door and begged for a long time, and after much persuasion, Jiahui agreed to increase the quantity. From 200 tea eggs to 300 tea eggs, 15 pounds of chicken rice flower to 20 pounds, chicken wings and chicken claws also increased to 50 pairs each.

And Jiahui also agreed with Director Zhu that if they failed to sell it, Director Zhu would have to subsidize the cost for her.

Director Zhu lamented more than once that Jiahui was too shrewd, too calculating and simply didn’t give others a little cheap dip.

“Director Zhu, you are a big boss. You are doing great things. We do small business. We don’t have to say how hard it is.” You can see it for yourself.

“Yes, you have a point. Anyway, I can’t say anything about you.”

He was surprised when he found out that the couple were students at Wudong University. Later, he thought, “It’s no wonder the couple’s calculations were so well thought out. Who made them smart?”

In the heat of August, Jiahui had been busy with a lot of things in the morning. At more than nine o’clock, Jiahui sent some vegetables to the backyard. She didn’t see Shen Nian sitting in the yard as usual. She knocked at the door. Zhong Soomin bent slightly and came out.

“I haven’t seen your Aunt today, Uncle.”

Zhong Daomin’s face, with a lingering sadness, pointed to the house and said, “Your Aunt had a cold and fever last night, and now she is lying in bed after taking medicine.”

A summer cold is the most distressing, and older people are more concerned with maintenance. Moreover, this weather is not a cold day. There was no air conditioning in this era. How can you easily catch a cold and have a fever?

When Jiahui heard that Shen Nianru had a fever, she immediately asked worriedly, “Auntie has a fever? Can I go and see her? “

Zhong Daomin nodded, “Yes, she is in the inner room. She fell asleep after taking the fever medicine.”

It was hot and stuffy in the room, and Shen Nianru was lying on the bed with a thin blanket over her stomach.

When Jiahui walked over, she saw Shen Nianru had a red face. She then touched her forehead. It was hot. The temperature was definitely higher than 38 degrees. She’s sure it could reach 39.

Once she saw such a high temperature, Jiahui became anxious and turned back to Zhong Daomin and said, “Grandpa, Aunt’s body temperature is too high, so lying at home won’t work. We have to send her to the hospital.” At her age, her resistance is declining, and her body will not be able to withstand a bit of wind, so we should be more cautious and take it seriously. “

Shen Nianru is different from her mother-in-law, Zhang Qiaoer. She is already weak. She suffered some hardships a few years ago and has a severe physical deficit. It is difficult for many young grandmothers of rich families to have children, but women who work all year can bear the burden of having children on the ridge.

Zhong Daomin also panicked. He did not expect his partner’s fever to be so serious. In fact, he got up in the morning and advised his partner to go to the hospital for a check-up, but she said it was no big deal, just take some medicine and lie down.

Jiahui rushed home and called Zhao Donglin, Zhao Donglin carried Shen Nianru to the hospital. The doctor checked that it was not a common cold and fever, but the flu, which would kill people. Everyone was afraid after listening to it for a while.

Sickness comes like a mountain, sickness goes like silk.

Shen Nianru’s illness recovered intermittently after staying in the hospital for a week. Jiahui cooked porridge and soup every day to see her in the hospital. Shen Nianru was very moved.

“Girl, thanks to you and Donglin, otherwise, I would be a shovelful of dirt now.”

Shen Nianru held Jiahui’s hand and smiled weakly.

People die when the lights go out. They have experienced so much in their lives. They have already seen the good and the bad. There is no regret if they really die. They just don’t trust them to leave the old man alone.

“The first time I saw you, I felt close.”

Shen Nianru looked at Jiahui as if she were looking at someone else through Jiahui.

“The old man and I have had a daughter in our lives. Since she was born, we have always wanted to give her all the good things in the world. We hope that she will grow up happily. We don’t expect her to become more talented. As long as she was happy, she grew up day by day. She grew up day by day and became a sweet and understanding girl with big, bright eyes. She smiles like her father, with a pair of dimples. Our hearts are really as sweet as eating honey.”

Tears slowly flowing down, Jiahui handed over a handkerchief from her satchel.

“It’s a pity that she has a poor life. She went early. The old man and I always feel sorry for her, for letting her suffer with us. At the same age as flowers and bones, she’s gone. “

After regaining their freedom, they went to Heilongjiang and wanted to bring their daughter back. The poor daughter didn’t even have a habitat. Later, a local fellow pointed them to a high slope and said that there were several cemeteries there, one of which might be Nana’s.

After recalling the past, she can’t help feeling heartbroken. Shen Nianru took a deep breath and calmed her mood.

This was the first time. Shen Nianru had never mentioned these things in front of Jiahui before.

Real wounds cannot be exposed to strangers. No matter how hard it is for them to sleep every night, they will never complain to others.

To them, their daughter was still alive and had not left this world.

“Old Zhong and I thought we were going to end up alone together, but we never thought we would meet your family, so it’s fate. I want to recognize you as my daughter, I don’t know if you are willing to accept it.”

Consanguineous relatives have been a popular custom in China’s feudal society for a long time. There are generally two situations in which you can recognize consanguineous relatives. One is to find a change of fortune that coincides with the eight characters of their children’s birthday in order to avoid disasters for their children.

The other case is to continue the friendship because, once we recognize the close relatives, most of the exchanges between the two sides are more frequent, imitating the way of family communication to form a relatively fixed kinship.

In other words, if Shen Nianru recognizes Jiahui as her goddaughter, no matter where Jiahui goes, she cannot leave this kinship behind, and Shen Nianru was equivalent to Jiahui’s half-mother.

Shen Nianru’s idea was a bit sudden. Jiahui took a few seconds to reflect on it, she was red-eyed and held Shen Nianru’s hand.

“Auntie, naturally I am willing. You and Uncle have been so kind to us. Our relationship has long been better than relatives.”

Shen Nianru smiled gratefully.

“Good, as long as you are willing. When I am discharged from the hospital, we will officially recognize ourselves as relatives. “

“No, everything is as it should be since I recognize you in my heart. You are my godparents.”

Shen Nianru smiled and nodded. For the past couple of years, this had been the most relaxed mood she had had.

Even though Jiahui said there was no need to be so polite, after Shen Nianru was discharged from the hospital, she solemnly hosted a banquet, inviting several of her old friends in addition to the Zhao family, 

She gave Jiahui a jade bracelet and a pair of earrings as an acknowledgement gift and bought Jiahui two new clothes from top to bottom.

The jade bracelet and earrings are old items that were hidden by all means at the beginning to save them from being ruined.

Originally, she wanted to be left by my ancestors. If something really happens, I can change some money to meet my temporary needs. If I can’t use it, I will give my daughter Nana as a dowry when she grows up.

The original thought was that the ancestors would leave it behind as a reminder. But in case something really happens, at least they can exchange some money to solve the temporary needs. If it cannot be used, when their daughter Nana grows, they can give it as her dowry.

It was impossible to give to Nana as her dowry, but now it can be given to Jiahui.

In mid-August, Zhao Donghe found out his college entrance examination results: 294 points, more than 30 points higher than his previous estimated score. According to Zhao Donglin’s analysis, with this score, there won’t be any problems in entering a university. Now he can see which university he was admitted to with the admission notice.

The newspaper said that 6.1 million people took the college entrance examination this year, and the admission rate was 7%, which means that only 420,000 of these 6.1 million candidates got the college admission letter.

Zhao Donghe was working in the field when he received notice that the commune had a copy of his mail and asked him to pick it up himself.

Zhao Donghe’s heart pounded when he heard the notice, foreseeing the good news he had been waiting for.

“I’ve been accepted! I’ve finally gotten into college. “

Ecstasy, excitement, and after the excitement, there were also times when things changed and the rain cleared up.

A new chapter in his life would finally open.

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TL: I’m so proud of Donghe. 💛

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