Chen Qing didn’t drink alcohol, so he was arranged to sit at a table with his aunts and sisters-in-law.

When Xia Xiao Lan stood up, Chen Qing was still staring dazedly at her. Fourth Aunt Chen, who had more interactions with Xia Xiao Lan, teased him: “What’s this, ready to find a wife?”

“Fourth Aunt, nothing like that!”

Fortunately, Liu Fen and Xia Xiao Lan weren’t there as Chen Qing hastily defended himself.

Fourth Aunt Chen chuckled, “When your Fourth Uncle was your age, we already had children! There’s no shame in wanting to get married!”

Chen Qing’s face turned bright red. He knew the village aunts loved to tease young men, though there was no real malice in it. Chen Qing gradually calmed down, “I still need to study. I won’t look for a partner until I get into university.”

University entrance wasn’t easy.

The 1983 college entrance examination had only been reinstated for a few years. During the years when the exam was suspended, students had no heart to study, and teachers had no heart to teach. The overall educational level across the country had regressed. In the first few years after the exam’s reinstatement, the weak foundation in teaching resources couldn’t be immediately remedied. In places like An Qing County, very few students could enter undergraduate programs each year.

Chen Qing himself was a repeat student.

He had to compete with fresh graduates and those who had already repeated for two or more years.

This year, 1.67 million people nationwide took the college entrance exam, with 390,000 spots available for both specialized and undergraduate programs. The admission rate of 23% seemed quite high – meaning 23 out of 100 test-takers could enter university. Yet Chen Qing had still failed, his scores truly weren’t good enough.

This admission rate had a catch. After the implementation of the pre-selection system in 1980, candidates who didn’t pass the “pre-exam” couldn’t even register for the formal entrance exam, regardless of whether they were fresh graduates or repeat students. The pre-exam had already eliminated over 60% of candidates, which led to the 23% admission rate.

An Qing County was a small county in Yu Nan Province, a province known for its fierce competition in college entrance exams. With many candidates and low admission rates, the competition was brutal.

Under these circumstances, rural students who could enter university were as rare as phoenix feathers and unicorn horns. This was why Xia Zi Yu was so precious, and why Chen Qing immediately decided to repeat the year after failing… Either continue until getting into university or return home to be a farmer – these were the only two choices Chen Qing had now. These days, even technical secondary school graduates are assigned jobs, not to mention college diplomas and undergraduate degree holders. Only high school graduates were stuck in the middle, neither here nor there, like stepchildren.

Those with urban household registration could still find factory work if they didn’t get into university, but Chen Qing had no such choice.

Hearing him talk about the exam, Fourth Aunt Chen didn’t dare joke anymore.

Chen Qing was Village Head Da’s promising student. If she said something crude that dampened his study spirit, not only would Chen Wang Da react, but her husband wouldn’t let her off either.

Thinking about the entrance exam, Chen Qing’s youthful romantic thoughts faded somewhat.

After finishing his meal, he put down his bowl intending to go home and study, but remembering Xia Xiao Lan’s earlier request, he patiently waited for her.

Xia Xiao Lan had also been thinking about it and found a gap to speak with Chen Qing.

It turned out she wanted to ask about the college entrance exam.

“You want to take next year’s entrance exam?”

Chen Qing was very surprised, he thought Xia Xiao Lan would continue being a private merchant.

“Yes, but I only finished middle school. I don’t know if I can join the third year of high school. Brother Chen Qing, could you help me ask the school about it?”

Xia Xiao Lan’s age wasn’t a problem – many fresh graduates were older than her, not to mention repeat students. However several years had passed since the reinstatement of the college entrance exam, and now more people followed the regular path of completing high school before taking the exam. Xia Xiao Lan hadn’t touched a book for two or three years since graduating from middle school, and her grades hadn’t been good then. For her to suddenly want to take the college entrance exam… Chen Qing didn’t want to discourage her enthusiasm – wanting to improve oneself was certainly good.

“I’ll ask at school for you. Even if you can join the class, they’ll require you to take an exam.”

Chen Qing didn’t want to discourage Xia Xiao Lan, so he mentioned this in advance to prepare her. Seeing Xia Xiao Lan looking troubled, her misty eyes glistening with moisture, indescribably moving, Chen Qing’s feelings of pity surged, and he blurted out:

“Let me help you borrow a set of high school textbooks first. You can look at them in advance, so if the school requires an exam, you’ll be better prepared.”

“Mm, thank you so much, Brother Chen Qing!”

“No- no problem.”

Chen Qing ran away as if being chased by dogs.

Xia Xiao Lan had taken the college entrance exam before.

Her academic performance hadn’t been bad then. Although she hadn’t gotten into what would later be called a top 10 university, it was still a first-tier university. She could have done better, but her parents had passed away early, and she had to worry about tuition and living expenses while studying. Without being able to focus entirely on studying, she had only managed to enter an ordinary first-tier university. Even more unfortunate was that she had no guidance when choosing her major, so she selected the cheapest but unpopular major. After graduation, finding employment was difficult, forcing her to start as a salesperson who couldn’t be picky about products. She took many detours before finally working her way up to become an executive at a multinational company – there was no choice, she had entered university in ’95, and in 1996 the state abolished the policy of guaranteed job assignments for university graduates, so Xia Xiao Lan had to find her way.

Xia Xiao Lan planned to take the 1984 college entrance exam, but she couldn’t even remember her exam questions from ’95, let alone questions from 11 years earlier! If she had known about reincarnation, she would have memorized every practice test she had ever done!

After her reincarnation, Xia Xiao Lan tried to avoid remembering her previous life.

This timeline was indeed the same as her previous life. At least the national leaders and various backgrounds hadn’t changed. So in this timeline, was the original her also living somewhere?

This “Xia Xiao Lan” was 18 years old, born in 1965.

She herself was born in 1977, only 6 years old now, the same age as Tao Tao. Following the trajectory of her previous life, her parents would have already passed away, and she would be living with relatives. Xia Xiao Lan suddenly felt an urge – she should go look as soon as possible. If she could find “herself,” she would take care of her!

That evening, Liu Fen carefully stored away her divorce papers. Xia Xiao Lan had been comforting her all day, and Liu Fen seemed quite natural now.

“Later when you go to the city, I’ll go elsewhere to collect loaches. Let’s save money quickly and build our own house.”

Farmers relied on land for food. While Xia Xiao Lan’s plan to settle in Shang Du City was still uncertain, Chen Wang Da had agreed to transfer the mother and daughter’s household registration back from Da He Village, register them, and allocate farmland. Surely getting approval for a small plot to build a house wouldn’t be difficult. With a house and land, they would have their foundation. Liu Fen couldn’t even think about whether divorce was shameful – her heart was full of thoughts about mother and daughter earning money together, and having their own home soon.

That would be her home, where she wouldn’t have to watch her in-laws’ faces.

Where she wouldn’t have to lower her voice for fear of being overheard.

Liu Fen felt full of anticipation just thinking about it.

Xia Xiao Lan didn’t argue with her. It was good to give her mother something to do. The late summer heat wasn’t so fierce anymore, and I though walking around collecting loaches would be tiring in this weather.

“Then let me give you some money.”

Xia Xiao Lan took out all her savings.

Initially, she had only had a little over 70 yuan as capital.

After doing business for over ten days, her biggest expense was buying a schoolbag for her cousin, followed by the eggs that were broken when three thugs harassed her. Selling eggs earned an average of 10 yuan per day, and she had only gone to the city twice to sell loaches, each time profiting over 20 yuan. Buying household necessities like oil, salt, and sauce didn’t cost much, and occasional meat purchases were only two or three yuan.

Xia Xiao Lan was not stingy, but she had turned small money into big money. Including principal and interest, she now had 156 yuan. This didn’t even count the loaches and eggs she had on hand – just tomorrow she would take nearly 60 jin of loaches and 300 eggs to Shang Du City.

Her total assets exceeded 200 yuan.

Her risk resistance was still too weak, so Xia Xiao Lan only kept 50 yuan for herself and gave the rest to her mother.

“As long as the purchase price doesn’t exceed 0.9 yuan per jin, we can make money. I think by the end of the month, we can repay Uncle’s money.”

They could repay now, but Xia Xiao Lan wanted to keep substantial working capital, as she planned to bring other things back from the city to sell. Hearing her calculate the profits, Liu Fen was already amazed – earning so much money in just over ten days, money seemed too easy to make… but Xiao Lan was working too hard, and as her mother, she couldn’t hold her back.