As a student retaking the entrance exam, Chen Qing lived quite far from Qi Jing Village in An Qing County. Xia Xiao Lan had thought he wouldn’t return until next weekend at the earliest, so she was surprised to see him again tonight.

“You didn’t go to school today?”

In the darkness, it wasn’t obvious whether Chen Qing was blushing. He handed Xia Xiao Lan a large package: “Remember I said I’d borrow books for you? These are from my classmate who got into university this year. He doesn’t need his high school books anymore, so I borrowed them.”

Chen Qing made it sound easy.

In reality, it had taken him an entire day to secure these books. While borrowing a regular set of used textbooks wouldn’t have been difficult for Chen Qing, textbooks from someone who’d gotten into university were highly sought after because they contained the university student’s notes. Reading these notes might help clarify difficult concepts and improve test scores – potentially changing one’s destiny.

This set of textbooks was actually what Chen Qing had borrowed for himself.

His classmate had already left for university, and Chen Qing had only gotten the textbooks from his classmate’s family today. However, after consideration, he chose to lend these textbooks with university student notes to Xia Xiao Lan. Since she wanted to attend university but hadn’t attended high school, she needed these annotated textbooks more than he did.

After his initial surprise, Chen Qing didn’t think Xia Xiao Lan was being unrealistic – he admired her drive to improve herself.

Xia Xiao Lan didn’t know all the complexities involved in obtaining a set of textbooks, but Chen Qing’s quick delivery showed he took her needs seriously. They didn’t have much of a relationship before – even when Xia Xiao Lan visited Qi Jing Village previously, they hadn’t necessarily met. They’d only really gotten to know each other over the past half month.

Touched by his thoughtfulness, Xia Xiao Lan said:

“Brother Chen Qing, I don’t know what to say…”

Chen Qing stood with his back to the light, while the Liu family’s lamplight spilled over the courtyard wall, illuminating Xia Xiao Lan’s fair face.

Chen Qing felt his entire face burning and quickly steadied himself to continue discussing business:

“I asked around for you today. County First High School does accept transfer students, but with only a middle school education, you’ll need to pass their exam. Whether you choose arts or sciences, you must score above last year’s ‘technical school’ cutoff line for them to accept you.”

Chen Qing kept his head down, his tone anxious and defeated.

He was worried, feeling he hadn’t handled this matter well.

Current high school students taking the college entrance exam could aim for four tiers: key universities, regular universities, vocational colleges, and technical schools.

To maintain their college admission rate, County First High School had score requirements for transfer students. But reaching last year’s technical school cutoff wasn’t easy. Chen Qing ranked in the top 15 of his class, and though he performed steadily last year, he’d miscalculated his estimated score and missed his desired school. Even with his top 15 ranking, his total score hadn’t reached the undergraduate cutoff… How could Xia Xiao Lan, with only a middle school education, reach last year’s technical school cutoff in the entrance exam?

As a student himself, Chen Qing lacked the connections to handle this differently and could only follow school rules.

After Xia Xiao Lan’s long silence, Chen Qing grew anxious:

“Don’t worry, I’ll talk to my grandfather at home – he might know someone in the county. Even if you can’t get into County First, County Second will surely accept you.”

County Second High School’s teaching quality was somewhat inferior to County First.

But without other options, County Second was still an option.

Xia Xiao Lan snapped back to attention and quickly explained:

“You misunderstand, Brother Chen Qing. I don’t want to trouble Grandfather Chen with this. It’s not that I’m being distant – I just think if I can’t even reach the technical school cutoff, there’s no point in transferring to take next year’s college entrance exam… By the way, what was our province’s science stream technical school admission score this year?”

Was it his imagination?

Or was it just ignorance breeding courage?

He felt Xia Xiao Lan talked about reaching the technical school cutoff as if it were as simple as selling eggs in town. This wasn’t like selling eggs – business success didn’t guarantee success in studies.

“This year’s science stream technical school cutoff was 350 out of 690 total points. Xiao Lan, I suggest you take the arts stream – it has more memorization subjects, unlike science with physics and chemistry…”

Most girls studying science struggled with subjects like physics and chemistry, their minds going blank like they were coated in lard.

Even Chen Qing himself felt bewildered when facing such problems.

He meant well in advising Xia Xiao Lan, but she didn’t take his suggestion.

“Is there a set time for the entrance exam?”

“Next Monday.”

“Then I’ll study these books and take the exam next Monday.”

Seven days left, and you, a middle school graduate, want to take County First’s transfer entrance exam?

Chen Qing was speechless.

He practically fled the scene. Xia Xiao Lan was too confident, and he feared Monday’s entrance exam would crush her spirits.

Xia Xiao Lan carried the books inside, where three pairs of eyes watched her expectantly.

It was already dark, and Chen Qing had come to find Xia Xiao Lan, the two of them whispering by the wall for quite a while. When Xia Xiao Lan returned inside carrying a large package, her family could hardly avoid misunderstandings.

Liu Fen hesitated to speak.

She felt Xia Xiao Lan wasn’t suitable for a relationship with Chen Qing.

Not because she thought Xia Xiao Lan wasn’t good enough for Chen Qing, but because mother and daughter hadn’t yet established themselves in Qi Jing Village. If Xia Xiao Lan got together with Chen Qing, villagers would surely accuse her of social climbing. Liu Fen didn’t want those rumors haunting Xia Xiao Lan again – they’d finally escaped Da He Village and found a foothold here.

What kind of family was Village Chief Chen’s?

Chen Qing was determined to attend university. If dating Xia Xiao Lan distracted from his studies, even Uncle Da wouldn’t like her, let alone what other Chen family members might think.

Liu Fen was beside herself with worry but didn’t know how to express her concerns tactfully.

Liu Yong gestured to his sister not to worry and asked himself:

“That’s Uncle Da’s Chen Qing, right? I saw him go to school today – why’s he back in the village? What did he bring you?”

Xia Xiao Lan put the large package of books on the table, “Brother Chen Qing is kind. He brought me study materials. Since you’ve all seen it, I won’t hide it – I want to take next year’s college entrance exam, so I asked Brother Chen Qing about transferring to County First High School.”

“What?!”

“College entrance exam?”

“*cough cough cough!*”

Li Feng Mei had been drinking water and choked in surprise.

Her face reddened from coughing. Liu Yong glared at his wife before asking his niece as gently as possible:

“What made you think about taking the college entrance exam?”

How much education did Xia Xiao Lan have? Others might not know, but he, her uncle, surely did. Among other things, Xia Xiao Lan truly wasn’t good at studying. The Xia family had produced Xia Zi Yu, who seemed to have absorbed all the academic talent for miles around – she was the most studious girl Liu Yong had ever known.

He didn’t know what had gotten into Xia Xiao Lan. Perhaps because her business was going well, she wanted to challenge the college entrance exam too.

Xia Xiao Lan replied matter-of-factly: “I still need an urban household registration – it’ll be convenient for buying a house later. Don’t you need to get into university for that?”

My dear girl, is getting into university that easy?

From your tone, it sounds as simple as buying salt. If it were that simple, why did the Village Chief’s eldest grandson fail the exam? Look around – how many university students do you see? No wonder university graduate Xia Zi Yu was so precious!

Others study three years of high school and still need to retake the exam.

Retaking is a long battle, and even a second attempt doesn’t guarantee success. You’re just a middle school graduate… Liu Yong felt a toothache coming on.