Cheng Rushan didn’t explain why they couldn’t play with the balloons; the authority of a father is simply that when he says no, it’s no.

Although he dotes on them, the children understand that when their father says something isn’t allowed, it’s not up for discussion.

They know not to test limits or fuss, and if something is taken away, they accept that it’s not for playing with.

Well, without balloons, they’ll just find other things to play with.

They still have slingshots, toy guns, toy cars, and other fun stuff.

When Cheng Rushan went inside, Jiang Lin pulled him aside and quietly asked how he would explain what the balloons were and why they shouldn’t play with them.

Cheng Rushan looked at her and asked, “Do you want to know?”

Jiang Lin nodded, curious, “Yes, I want to see how you teach the boys.”

Cheng Rushan replied, “It’s quite a complicated matter.”

Seeing his serious demeanor, Jiang Lin looked at him, eager to learn his secret.

Cheng Rushan smiled at her and, leaning down, gave her a kiss, “I’m not telling you; this is a man’s business.”

“Wait, what’s this man’s business?” Jiang Lin tried to tickle him, but he held her in his arms, teasing her until she couldn’t stop laughing.

---

The entire lunar New Year was filled with eating, drinking, visiting relatives, stilt walking, singing opera, and socializing.

Everyone was looking forward to the brick kiln and embroidery workshop reopening, and the gambling that usually happened during this time had disappeared.

Since sewing wasn’t allowed during the New Year, the embroidery workshop couldn’t operate.

Jiang Lin designed some new patterns and planned to have the women start working on them after February 2.

These would then be sent to the provincial capital for testing.

After the Lantern Festival, Jiang Lin and her family returned to the provincial capital.

Meanwhile, everyone back home was getting ready to resume work and school.

When the university semester officially started, the city’s Intermediate People’s Court also concluded the trial and verdict of the case involving Yao Zhenyu and others for illegal exam cheating.

Yao Zhenyu was expelled from school and prohibited from taking the college entrance exams for three years.

She was also required to compensate the school for a year’s worth of losses, totaling 498 yuan.

The village secretary and the brigade leader of Yaojia Village were removed from their positions for failing to prevent the exam cheating and assisting in transferring household registration and grain rations.

Due to the distance, no one from Yaojia Village attended the hearing except for Yao Zhenyu and her father.

After the verdict, Yao Zhenyu’s father paid the fine, and they were allowed to leave with Yao Zhenyu.

In the afternoon, after having lunch, Jiang Lin and the others returned to the dormitory to rest before classes resumed.

At this time, Yao Zhenyu and her father came to collect their belongings.

Yao Zhenyu appeared much more haggard. She had previously seemed like a quiet girl, but now her face was swollen, her eyes were vacant, and she was timid.

Standing in the dormitory, she bowed to Jiang Lin and said, “Jiang Lin, I’m sorry.”

She had reported Jiang Lin, hoping to prevent Jiang Lin from joining the party so she could have a chance.

She thought that if she could join the party, even if the cheating was discovered, it wouldn’t be a big deal because party members had protection.

However, she never expected that her greed would end up causing her own downfall.

She regretted her actions deeply and felt that she shouldn’t have reported Jiang Lin. She blamed her bad luck for her current situation.

Jiang Lin was lying on her bed reading. Since Yao Zhenyu apologized and showed remorse, whether genuine or not, Jiang Lin decided to offer forgiveness and encouragement.

Seeing Yao Zhenyu’s remorse, other classmates also offered their well wishes, hoping she would learn from her mistakes and do well in her studies, aiming to pass the exams and achieve her academic goals in three years.

They encouraged her to study hard and achieve success through honest means.

Zhu Caiping sat on the top bunk, watching Yao Zhenyu coldly.

She didn’t believe that Yao Zhenyu had truly reformed, thinking it was just a ploy to gain sympathy.

Yao Zhenyu packed her things while two other female classmates helped her.

Yang Lu sat by Jiang Lin’s bed.

She didn’t help and felt no sympathy for Yao Zhenyu.

Instead, she was concerned that Yao Zhenyu might try to harm Jiang Lin again unexpectedly.

Yang Lu felt that although Jiang Lin wasn’t particularly warm towards her, she wasn’t bad either.

At least she felt better treated than by others.

This New Year, Jiang Lin had brought back gifts for everyone—a simple yet elegant embroidered coin purse.

For Yang Lu, the color, style, and pattern were all to her liking.

Yang Lu thought Jiang Lin was really nice to her.

As Yao Zhenyu was finishing packing, she pulled out her small wooden box and said to Zhu Caiping, “Why did you pry open my lock and go through my things? And why did you take my twenty yuan?”

Zhu Caiping immediately became furious, “Stop accusing me falsely. Who cares about your twenty yuan?”

Yao Zhenyu, holding the box, threw it at Zhu Caiping.

Zhu Caiping couldn’t dodge in time and was hit on the forehead, causing a cut and bleeding.

Other students quickly stepped in to stop the fight and prevent further conflict.

Yang Lu urged, “You should leave. Stop making a fuss or the police might come and take you away.”

Yao Zhenyu’s father, looking upset, urged his daughter to stop causing trouble and hurry home.

But Zhu Caiping was relentless, insisting on filing a complaint because her appearance was ruined, which could affect her chances of getting married.

“If you hadn’t tried to steal from me, I wouldn’t have pried into your things,” Zhu Caiping’s main grievance was with the man, Guo Gang, not the anonymous letter.

If Yao Zhenyu hadn’t exposed Guo Gang, Zhu Caiping wouldn’t have been so angry and wouldn’t have tried to open Yao Zhenyu’s box just because of an anonymous note.

After a heated argument, the dorm manager had to step in and ask them to leave.

As Yao Zhenyu and her father left with their luggage, Zhu Caiping sneered, “Don’t be fooled by her. She’s not going to change—don’t expect the sun to rise from the west!”

The roommates helped her apply medicine to the wound.

It wasn’t serious, just a scrape near the hairline, which would be less noticeable because of the hair covering it.

She was frustrated and asked, “Jiang Lin, you really forgave her?”

Jiang Lin replied, “Does it matter whether it’s genuine or not? Am I supposed to hold a grudge forever?”

Jiang Lin was the type who never let past grievances trouble her.

Once a problem was resolved, she moved on and didn’t dwell on it.

Even someone like Bian Haitao, who had wronged her, was kicked out of her mind without a second thought.

Yao Zhenyu, who was barely involved with her, didn’t warrant any more of her attention.

Zhu Caiping, having been more personally affected by Yao Zhenyu’s actions, found it harder to let go.

Zhu Caiping looked at her with a smirk and said, “Fine, with her household registration back to normal, Yao Zhenyu will definitely fail the exams in three years. Yao Zhenyu’s sister might even pass next year! That will drive her crazy!”

By the afternoon class, Jiang Lin packed her books into her brown leather bag and headed to class.

The first class of the afternoon was taught by Liu Jianwu.

As soon as he entered the room, he smiled and said, “We have a ready-made internship opportunity for you all. Everyone should be prepared.”

The students eagerly asked what the good news was.

Liu Jianwu said with a grin, “The school needs to expand and build a new teaching building since the current facilities are insufficient.”

“Teacher, that’s great news! We won’t have to fight over study rooms anymore.”

Liu Jianwu indicated for everyone to quiet down. “The better news is that our school leaders have decided to let the students design it themselves instead of hiring outsiders. The Civil Engineering Department can all take part in the design. Each class should submit their design proposals. The selected design will have its name on the construction base!”

“Teacher Liu, is it true?” The students were excited.

Being able to have their names associated with a project was a big deal.

Even if they couldn’t name the building after themselves like the masters, having their names engraved on the base as contributors to the design would be impressive.

Moreover, having such a distinction would also help with job placement after graduation, which was definitely a plus.

Liu Jianwu confirmed, “Yes, it’s true. Our class will be divided into four groups. Each group will design a proposal, and we’ll select the best one to compete with designs from other classes.”

The class was already divided into four study groups for various tasks like surveying, modeling, architectural drawing, and sketching.

Jiang Lin, Su Xingyun, Ren Bocheng, Yang Lu, and Zhu Caiping were in one group.

The students asked Liu Teacher about any specific requirements from the school, such as design styles or features.

The more information they had, the better their chances of winning.

Liu Jianwu said, “Keep an eye on the school bulletin board for updates. There will be more information coming soon. We’ll also have a discussion meeting in a few days involving our civil engineering department, as well as the School of Arts and the Fine Arts Academy.”

Naming the building and choosing a meaningful quote were tasks for the School of Arts, while the Fine Arts Academy would be involved in interior decoration and design.

The school was eager to give students opportunities to participate and showcase their talents.

Yang Lu nudged Jiang Lin and asked, “Do you have any ideas?”

Jiang Lin looked out the window at a red brick, three-story building across the street.

It was very plain, resembling three stacked houses with tiny windows, cramped interiors, and poor space division.

Both the structure and appearance were limited by existing building materials.

The current design focus was less on aesthetics and more on building safety, strength, and durability.

The goal was to avoid problems like crumbling walls, leaking roofs, or any other issues that could arise within a few years.

Looking at the school buildings, it was evident that while the old buildings designed by masters were both beautiful and sturdy, the quickly constructed buildings during the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution had fallen into disrepair.

Some had been repurposed, and others had collapsed into disarray.

Some foundations were poorly done, hastily filled with sand and mud, and various construction accidents were all too common.

These were rushed projects meant to meet quantity targets rather than quality.

In Jiang Lin’s view, the primary requirement for the new building was durability.

As for appearance, even minor improvements in design could result in a better-looking structure than the previous ones.

After Liu Jianwu made his announcement, he divided everyone into groups for discussion.

Jiang Lin was surrounded by her peers, and they shared their ideas freely.

Su Xingyun summarized the discussion, eliminating impractical suggestions.

Jiang Lin’s proposal for reinforced concrete, however, was unfamiliar to most of them.

Although reinforced concrete had been used internationally for some time, it was still a new concept in their area.

Research on it had only recently begun, and they had not yet reached this stage.

Jiang Lin said, “I don’t remember which book I read it in.”

Since starting university, many students had spent a lot of time in the library, reading extensively.

Sometimes they knew about certain topics but couldn’t recall the details, which was normal.

Upon hearing this, someone mentioned they had also seen similar information and referred to a few book titles.

They suggested that everyone could look up these books for more details.