Chapter 32: The Restoration of the College Entrance Examination

“◎ Sweet garlic, La Ba garlic, pickled mustard greens, sauerkraut ◎

Once only the three members of the Jiang family remained in the living room, Jiang Che asked his father, “Dad, do you still have any industrial vouchers? Could you give me a few?”

“Why do you need them?” Jiang’s father replied.

Jiang’s mother, not in the mood, retorted, “The kid finally spoke, and you’re asking so many questions!” Then she directly said to Jiang Che, “I have some, if your dad won’t give them to you, I will. Wait, I’ll go get them from the room.”

Jiang’s father: …

He didn’t say he wouldn’t give them; it was just a reflexive question! Besides, didn’t he give her the tickets in the first place?

The couple actually had quite a few industrial vouchers, mainly because they hadn’t bought anything new for the house recently, which allowed them to save up some.

Jiang’s mother handed the vouchers to Jiang Che, but not before secretly asking, “Do you have enough money? If not, Mom can give you some.”

“Mom, I don’t lack money, just the vouchers.” Jiang Che took the vouchers, counted them, and was pleased to find that there were thirty-two in total. That should be enough.

So, he looked up at his mother and beamed a big smile. “Thanks, Mom!”

Seeing her younger son so happy, Jiang’s mother smiled too. “No need, if you need anything next time, remember to come to me.”

“Mm!” Jiang Che nodded enthusiastically, signaling that he’d remember.

Jiang’s father watched the exchange with a sour expression.

The day after he got the industrial vouchers, Jiang Che went to the department store and bought an electric fan.

Wei Xuan was overjoyed. Jiang Che plugged the fan in, and Wei Xuan enjoyed the cool breeze for a while before asking, “How many vouchers did you use?”

“Ten, it cost one hundred and eighty-six yuan.”

Wei Xuan was shocked, that’s expensive! But well, they could afford it now; they had two thousand five hundred yuan saved up!

Thinking of this, Wei Xuan happily enjoyed the electric fan.

After a while, she asked Jiang Che, “Do you think we should buy an electric fan for Mom and Dad too?” After all, the vouchers were from them!

Jiang Che thought for a moment, then shook his head. “Forget it, what if Mom and Dad ask where the money came from? But now that you mention it, we could buy one for your parents.”

Wei Xuan shot him a glance. “The village doesn’t even have electricity, would it just be for show?”

Ah, right. Jiang Che realized he had gotten overly excited.

The couple couldn’t help but laugh at themselves, thinking about their savings.

After their silly laughter, they realized they hadn’t eaten yet. Wei Xuan rubbed her flat stomach and sighed, “If only I wasn’t hungry, then I wouldn’t have to cook.”

Jiang Che, reluctant to leave the cool breeze, said to Wei Xuan, “How about we skip dinner tonight?” After all, missing one meal wouldn’t hurt.

“No, the vegetables are all cut. If we don’t cook tonight, they’ll spoil.”

“Alright then.” They turned off the fan reluctantly and went to the kitchen.

Later that night, lying in bed under the electric fan, they both sighed in relief. “This is the life!”

Before they had the fan, they didn’t realize how hard it was. But now, with the fan, even their workdays seemed unbearable without it.

It wasn’t until October, after the National Day holiday, that the weather gradually began to cool down.”

“This October was destined to be an eventful month.

On October 21st, the country announced the major news of the restoration of the college entrance examination.

On this day, the streets outside were filled with cheers from everyone.

Wei Xuan specifically went to the post office to make a call home.

To her surprise, the one who answered the phone was Wei Xiaolong.

“Xiaolong, why are you home at this time?”

“Sis, as soon as the news about the college entrance exam came out, the teachers at school lost their focus, and everyone started preparing for the exam in a month. The school gave us all time off. Sis, I can take the college entrance exam now too!”

Hearing the lump in his voice, Wei Xuan could really understand. With such a major shift in the environment, even she, who wasn’t planning to take the exam, felt excited. How could Wei Xiaolong, the one directly affected, not feel this way?

This decision could change many people’s fates, especially for rural kids like Wei Xiaolong who are good students. The college entrance exam is a path that can allow them to leap from the ordinary to the extraordinary, transcending social classes.

So Wei Xuan expressed her support: “Xiaolong, you’re a good student, you’ll definitely make it to university. I can’t help you much, but if you need anything, just tell me. It’s definitely easier to find resources in the city than in the county.”

Wei Xiaolong thought for a moment. He was only in his second year of high school, so the exam was still a year away, and he wasn’t too worried about it yet.

Moreover, with the exam just being reinstated, a lot of people would be rushing to get books and materials. He didn’t want to compete with those people. So he told Wei Xuan, “Sis, I don’t need anything for now. I haven’t finished going through the materials you brought last time. Once I get those figured out, if I need anything, I’ll let you know.”

“Alright, as long as you know what you’re doing.”

After talking with his sister and hanging up, Wei Xiaolong realized he had forgotten to ask why his sister called in the first place.

He looked at the phone that had already hung up and scratched his head, wondering if she would still be there if he called back.

In the end, he didn’t call back, because he realized he hadn’t brought any money with him. He would need to pay for the call.

When he returned home, Wei’s mother, who was about to go to the team office to answer a call, asked him, “Why are you back so soon? What did your sister want when she called?”

Earlier, when the loudspeaker at the team office called for someone, Wei’s mother had been in the bathroom. So she had asked her younger son, who was reading at home, to answer the phone. She didn’t expect that by the time she rushed out of the bathroom, her son had already returned.”

Wei Xiaolong didn’t want to admit that he had forgotten to ask, so he just vaguely said, “Nothing much, just talking about the college entrance exam.”

When Wei’s mother heard the mention of the college entrance exam, she became interested. This was a big matter concerning her younger son’s future, so she immediately started asking her son about it seriously.

Meanwhile, Wei Xuan had already finished her call and settled one matter. She had originally called home to discuss this news, but now that she could talk directly with Wei Xiaolong and know his thoughts, it was even better.

That night, after finishing their activities, Wei Xuan and Jiang Che lay in bed and talked about the matter. Wei Xuan asked Jiang Che if he wanted to take the college entrance exam.

Jiang Che looked at Wei Xuan with a shocked expression. “Wife, you don’t mean you want me to take the college entrance exam too, do you?”

Wei Xuan laughed at his expression. “No, it’s just that since we’re talking about it, I wanted to ask you. Why are you so worked up?”

Jiang Che patted his chest. “You scared me! You don’t know, today at the factory canteen, I ran into my older brother. He said I’m still young, don’t have kids, so I should try it. If I pass, it would be a great honor for the family. The way he said it, he looked serious. I was so scared that I didn’t finish my meal and just ran off.”

Wei Xuan imagined the scene and burst out laughing. She comforted him with little sincerity, “Your brother is just looking out for you.”

Jiang Che made a face. “Even if he’s looking out for me, it’s no good! All the knowledge I learned in school, I’ve already returned to the teachers. Now, asking me to go back is just asking me to embarrass myself. Besides, I already have a job and money. Why would I want to torture myself like that?”

Then, he suddenly thought of something and asked Wei Xuan, “Hey, wait a minute, wife, you asked me if I wanted to take the college entrance exam. Could it be that you want to take it yourself?”

Jiang Che recalled that his wife hadn’t done particularly well in school, just like him—barely passing and getting through the days.

So, he started to persuade Wei Xuan. “Wife, don’t tell me you’re jealous because our little brother is going to take the exam, and now you want to try it too? Let me tell you, we’re really not cut out for studying. Honestly, let’s not waste time on this! We could be making more pastries to sell and make money instead!”

Wei Xuan saw Jiang Che looking at her with a suspicious expression and, in frustration, yanked the blanket and turned her back to him. “Sleep!” she snapped.

Jiang Che, thinking that he had hit the mark and made his wife angry, chuckled twice. Ignoring Wei Xuan’s struggles, he wrapped his arms around her and closed his eyes to sleep.

The weather gradually grew colder. Unlike last year, when she had just gotten married and had no preparations, this year Wei Xuan had planted a lot of vegetables in the yard. In the summer, she dried a lot of vegetables to keep for winter, planning to use them when cooking stews!

Now, in November, the snow vegetables (snow chrysanthemum) in the yard had grown, and she wanted to make some sauerkraut and dried plums. The dried plums could be used to make braised pork with preserved vegetables and dried plum cakes. The sauerkraut could be used to make dishes like sauerkraut fish, stir-fried sauerkraut with meat, or sauerkraut stew with vermicelli. Every dish was a perfect accompaniment to rice, and just thinking about it made her mouth water!

To make either the sauerkraut or the dried plums, the first step was to wash and dry the snow vegetables.

Wei Xuan specifically took a day off, and together with Jiang Che, they pulled up all the snow vegetables in the garden.

However, even though they pulled up all the snow vegetables, it wasn’t that much, since the garden wasn’t very large.

After washing and drying all the snow vegetables, it was still early. Wei Xuan thought for a moment and instructed Jiang Che to peel some garlic. She wanted to pickle some sweet garlic and garlic from the Laba Festival to eat with porridge in the morning. The flavor would be amazing.

She then went to the garden and pulled up a few white radishes, washed them, and cut them into strips to dry. Once they were dried, she would store them. In winter, she could soak them in water and mix them with chili to make another tasty side dish.

Jiang Che looked at the yard full of dried vegetables and then glanced at the garlic in his hands. He raised his head and called out to Wei Xuan, “Wife, come take a look—do you think we’ve done enough? If we make too much, we won’t be able to eat it all.”

Wei Xuan placed the last strip of radish out to dry and walked over to Jiang Che. She glanced at him and said, “Alright, that’s enough Laba garlic. Peel some more; we need it for the sweet garlic later.”

“More peeling?” Jiang Che had been working all morning and was already tired. He just wanted to go inside and lie down for a bit.

Wei Xuan gave him a look and coaxed, “Just a little bit more. You don’t have to peel all of it, just remove the outer skin and leave the innermost layer.” As she spoke, she squatted down and peeled one clove to show him.

It looked much easier now, and Jiang Che sighed, resigned to the task, and continued working with his head down.

Wei Xuan saw that he was working with care and nodded to herself before taking the peeled garlic cloves into the kitchen.

The garlic cloves were washed clean with saltwater and dried before being placed directly into the jar. To prevent the garlic from spoiling, Wei Xuan first poured a small amount of white liquor into a clean jar to sterilize it, then added the garlic cloves.

Finally, she poured in rice vinegar, sealed the jar, and it was ready.

Making sweet garlic was a bit more complicated. The garlic cloves needed to soak in saltwater for a few hours. Seeing that it was getting late, Wei Xuan instructed Jiang Che to wash the garlic cloves and soak them, while she began preparing lunch.

After a morning of pickling vegetables, Wei Xuan was feeling a little hungry by noon.

After some thought, she went to the garden and pulled up two white radishes, then cut them into thin strips and salted them to draw out the water. While waiting, she used the stove to prepare the seasoning liquid, which was simple—just vinegar, white sugar, and salt.

Once it was boiled, she let it cool, and after the radish strips had released some water, she washed them and poured the cooled seasoning liquid over them to soak.

After the radishes were soaking, Wei Xuan went to cook the rice and then quickly stir-fried two other dishes. She called out to Jiang Che, who was sitting outside in the yard enjoying the sun, “It’s time to eat!”