Chapter 37: The Restoration of the College Entrance Examination

“All sold out. Come back tomorrow,” Zhang Hongxia snapped back to reality.

Mi Xia was amused by Zhang Hongxia’s reaction. It was quite normal; people in the county were paid wages, and there wasn’t much delicious food before.

Now, with the reform and opening up, everyone had money in their hands. So, as long as you sold good things, you could sell them well.

A few days later, Zhang Hongxia was too busy to cope and didn’t know what to do, so she came to ask Mi Xia.

“Little sister, I wash too many things a day, what should I do?”

Zhang Hongxia hadn’t thought of asking her younger sister for help. Her younger sister was still looking after the children and teaching them to read.

She had an idea, wanting to hire someone, but she didn’t know if it was possible at this time.

Mi Xia: “Sister-in-law, let Big Brother quit his job, and you two can do it together. Big Brother has the strength; he can do the dirty and tiring work, and he’s family, so you can use him with confidence.”

Zhang Hongxia frowned: “What about your Big Brother’s job? That’s an iron rice bowl!”

“Sister-in-law, how much money do you earn a day?”

Zhang Hongxia thought for a moment, not hiding it from Mi Xia. Although her younger sister never asked how much money she earned, she didn’t intend to hide it either.

“Little sister, I earn more in a day than you earn in half a month.”

“Exactly! Then why is he still working? Have you noticed that there are many stalls recently, why are so many people setting up stalls? Have you ever thought about it?”

“You’ve earned so much money yourself, they must be earning too. They are also working with their family members. Isn’t it better than a fixed salary?”

Zhang Hongxia thought for a moment: “Tonight, I’ll talk to your Big Brother, and try to get him to work with me. If it doesn’t work, I’ll hire someone.”

The next day, I don’t know how Zhang Hongxia persuaded him, but Mi Qiu agreed. He went to the factory to resign early in the morning and came back to help Zhang Hongxia.

When Mi Xia had time, she would take the two little girls to Grandma Song’s place. When someone was watching the children, she would secretly trade with Zhang Xiaoyu.

Time flew by. One day, Mi Xia received a letter from Mo Haoyue, implicitly mentioning the restoration of the college entrance examination. Mi Xia was very happy and asked Mi Jianguo to read the letter to her parents.

When they heard that the college entrance examination was going to be restored, they were also very happy. Mi Xia told them that the news hadn’t spread yet, so they shouldn’t tell anyone.

Zhang Hongxia and Mi Qiu didn’t let her do anything recently, letting her stay at home to study. Even when they were busy, they kept the two girls close, afraid they would disturb Mi Xia.

Mi Xia was also studying hard.

More than a month passed, and the whole county was in an uproar. People were borrowing and copying books everywhere. Many people cried because they couldn’t borrow books. During this time, Mi Xia carefully redid all the exam papers.

During this period, when Mi Xia went out, she heard many people say that when the educated youths in the countryside heard about the restoration of the college entrance examination, many of them were borrowing books. The families of girls who married educated youth men disagreed, fearing that the educated youth men would leave their rural wives after getting into college.

The same was true for female educated youths who married rural men, fearing that they would not return after getting into college. There were also those who supported their educated youths’ studies and college entrance examinations, only praying that their support would be rewarded with the other party’s unwavering devotion.

In her previous life, Mi Xia had heard many elderly people say that after the 1977 college entrance examination, many educated youths abandoned their husbands and children, or wives and children. However, she couldn’t change this situation.

After that, Mi Xia finished her review. Although Mi Xia had the exam papers for this year’s college entrance examination, she still wanted to see how she was doing.

Mi Xia was taking the science exam, which included Chinese, mathematics, politics, and physics and chemistry.

Mi Qiu and Zhang Hongxia were extremely nervous.

They kept urging Mi Xia to read more, even delivering her three meals a day to her room. She didn’t even have to clean up after herself, which left Mi Xia both amused and touched.

To put their minds at ease, Mi Xia didn’t go out. Thankfully, she had her space; otherwise, she would have been suffocated. During this time, Mo Haoyue also wrote to her, telling her not to be nervous, to study when she should study, and to rest when she should rest.

During this month, except for seeing Mo Zhixia at night, Mi Xia didn’t see anyone during the day, and there wasn’t even a sound in the house. Mi Xia knew this was her brother and sister-in-law’s concern for her, so she didn’t say anything.

Finally, on December 15, 1977, the college entrance examination began. The entrance was filled with people sending their children or wives—a sea of people.

The exam lasted three days, from December 15th to 17th, 1977. Mi Xia felt that the questions were very simple, but after finishing, she still checked them again. She had finished checking while everyone else was still writing furiously.

When she had nothing to do, she translated the exam papers into English on scrap paper.

Every day’s meals were carefully prepared by Zhang Hongxia. She had learned nine out of ten of Mi Xia’s cooking skills, so Mi Xia also enjoyed eating her cooking.

Finally, the exam was over. The next step was to wait for the admission notice. Mi Xia was confident that she would get into Kyoto University, but her brother and sister-in-law didn’t know. They were still going through their anxious days.

One day, Mi Xia went to see Zhang Xiaoyu.

After working together for so many years, Mi Xia was very satisfied with him. He was articulate, could talk the dead back to life, and had a thick skin. Therefore, relying on Mi Xia’s resources, he had become the most powerful person besides the big boss.

So Mi Xia wanted to bring him to Kyoto. Zhang Xiaoyu agreed without hesitation. He went to Kyoto ahead of time. Mi Xia gave him one yuan and asked him to look for a suitable house near Jingqing and buy it directly.

Zhang Xiaoyu looked at the money in his hand in disbelief. Although they had known each other for several years, seeing her give him so much money, he couldn’t help but wonder if she wasn’t afraid he would run away with the money.

Mi Xia saw Zhang Xiaoyu’s doubts and said, “If you doubt someone, don’t use them; if you use someone, don’t doubt them. Since I’ve found you, it proves that you are someone I can trust with my back.”

“By the way, I haven’t asked you for all these years, are you married?”

Zhang Xiaoyu scratched his head embarrassedly, “Yes.”

Mi Xia: “Then bring your wife and children over. Food and accommodation are on me. Move into the house after you buy it. Keep an eye out for a suitable house, and I’ll buy it when I get there.”

Zhang Xiaoyu nodded like a chicken pecking at rice.

Zhang Xiaoyu was completely convinced by this little girl. She was much younger than him, yet so decisive. Many years later, Zhang Xiaoyu was grateful that Mi Xia had found him. He became the most trusted general under Mi Xia, accompanying her from nothing to something.

Soon, it was the end of 1977. Many people in the county had received their admission notices. Zhang Hongxia and Mi Qiu saw that their younger sister hadn’t received hers yet.

They were very anxious, afraid that their younger sister hadn’t passed the exam, and didn’t dare to talk about these things at home. Mi Xia didn’t discover their abnormality until several days later.

Even the children spoke to her cautiously, afraid of saying the wrong thing. Mi Xia was moved by her brother and sister-in-law’s feelings for her, but also amused.

She knew she would definitely pass, but if she told her brother and sister-in-law, they wouldn’t believe her. It was better to wait until the admission notice arrived.

On the 28th day of the twelfth lunar month in 1977, Mo Haoyue had returned, bringing clothes and small leather shoes for everyone. Everyone was very happy.

Mi Xia and her daughter each bought four sets of clothes. The little girl was also very happy. Mo Zhixia had grown up and knew how to appreciate beauty.