A heavy responsibility weighed on Zhou Cheng’s shoulders.

He couldn’t explain everything clearly to Wei Juanhong due to her limited experience, so he had to consider many things for the Shi family himself.

Zhou Cheng took Mother Shi to the hospital for examination. Her vision loss was primarily due to cataracts, complicated by other eye conditions.

“Surgery can treat cataracts, but given the patient’s complex condition, we recommend treatment at a higher-level hospital.”

This was already the provincial hospital in Botong County’s jurisdiction. In Zhou Cheng’s view, the next level up would mean going to the capital for treatment.

“He wanted Mother to go to the capital for treatment earlier, but she said I had just given birth, to wait a while…”

As a result of waiting, Wei Juanhong had her first daughter, then became pregnant and gave birth to her younger son. Over these two to three years, the Shi family revolved around Wei Juanhong’s pregnancies, while Mother Shi’s eye condition continued to worsen. Now that Shi Kai could never take his mother to the capital for treatment, Wei Juanhong felt like crying again.

After someone’s gone, you only remember the good things. Shi Kai had supported the family alone for many years, proving himself a reliable husband. She hadn’t married wrong, just had bad luck.

Mother Shi hadn’t recovered from the grief of losing her son. She only agreed to the hospital examination after Wei Juanhong’s persuasion, explaining that the state would arrange work for both Shi Ping and herself and that if Mother Shi’s eyes were treated, she could help look after the children.

Wei Juanhong had knelt and promised not to remarry, saying she just wanted the family to work together to raise Shi Kai’s two children. Only then did Mother Shi agree to have her eyes examined.

Now hearing that even the provincial hospital couldn’t treat her condition and she needed to go to the capital, Mother Shi’s clouded eyes glistened again.

Even crying was difficult for her – she had nearly exhausted all her tears these past days!

Zhou Cheng held Mother Shi’s hand, “Auntie, don’t worry. We’ll go to the capital for treatment, and if that doesn’t work, we’ll try elsewhere. Medicine is advanced now, your eye condition isn’t too serious.”

The provincial hospital could perform the surgery – cataract surgery was quite mature now.

The recommendation to seek treatment at a higher-level hospital was only to ensure better surgical outcomes. As China’s political and cultural center, the capital had the best medical facilities. Treatment there would reduce the chance of complications.

Zhou Cheng planned to take Mother Shi back to the capital for treatment.

After completing his mission, he would have leave time, and could also see his wife and family in the capital.

Zhou Cheng knew his emotions were unstable, and he was trying to adjust.

…

Thanks to Ning Xue, Xia Xiaolan had early exposure to architectural floor plans.

She spent the weekend taking measurements of Grand View Garden. Some details would need to be confirmed when actually drawing, meaning Xiaolan would need to keep visiting Grand View Garden until the drawings were complete.

Now she could envision the architectural layout of Grand View Garden with her eyes closed.

After following her class schedule, Xiaolan spent her time drawing.

What Ning Xue taught wasn’t enough – she had to research on her own and ask teachers when she didn’t understand something. What else could she do?

When Room 307 pooled money to buy things, Xiaolan appreciated the gesture. Yang Yonghong, their eldest roommate, wasn’t well-off – it pained Xiaolan to see her spend even one yuan. But she couldn’t just return the money to Yang Yonghong, so Xiaolan decided to bring food for everyone in Room 307.

She brought eggs – not raw ones, but tea eggs.

The weather wasn’t hot yet, so a bag of tea eggs could last two days. Xiaolan could make them at home. Yunan Province was a tea-producing region, but with three women at home who didn’t drink tea, Xiaolan used the tea leaves to cook eggs instead.

Her mother had gone to Yang City for stock, leaving only Grandmother Yu at home. Though she didn’t sleep at home at night, Xiaolan still went back when she didn’t have classes.

The shop assistants were still in training, so Xiaolan had to spend an hour teaching them daily. Between that and Ning Xue’s assignments, Xiaolan’s evening rest time was compressed to the extreme. She was usually the last to return to the dormitory. Though the second year had just begun, Xiaolan’s intense effort made everyone in Room 307 nervous.

Nobody wanted to be responsible for dormitory cleaning next semester!

On Tuesday, the eagerly anticipated Chenrong Scholarship list was published.

Three students from the Class of ’84 Architecture Department received first-class Chenrong Scholarships, worth 240 yuan per semester, including Xia Xiaolan!

Naturally, Ning Xue was also among them. Counting her published paper, her comprehensive score was even higher than Xiaolan’s – it would have been unreasonable for her not to receive first prize. Besides Xiaolan and Ning Xue, the third recipient was a male student from Class One.

In Room 307, Yang Yonghong from the Civil Engineering Department also received a first-class Chenrong Scholarship. Yang Yonghong had excellent academic performance, was enthusiastic towards everyone, had high conduct scores, and had joined several school clubs. With all the bonus points combined, plus her homeroom teacher’s determined advocacy… Room 307 produced two first-class Chenrong Scholarship recipients.

Yang Yonghong was the happiest – these 240 yuan could cover all her expenses for the entire semester!

With the monthly living allowance from school and the yet-to-be-announced national scholarship, given Yang Yonghong’s frugal nature, she could save considerable money to support her family.

Xiaolan felt relieved. She didn’t need the 200-plus yuan, but other students did.

Whatever Du Zhaohui’s motives for donating several million to Huaqing University, this action genuinely benefited some students. Students from poor families needed this money – this was truly doing good!

“Xiaolan, you don’t need to bring tea eggs to the dorm anymore. It must be tiring for you to run home every day.”

The Chenrong Scholarship funds were abundant, and the money reached the winning students quickly. Yang Yonghong’s additional two years of age weren’t for nothing – children from poor families mature early, and she understood Xiaolan’s intentions in constantly bringing eggs to the dorm.

Smacking her lips thoughtfully, Yang Yonghong added: “…Though they’re really tasty, we can’t eat two eggs every day. It’s hard to go back to simple living after getting used to luxury – we can’t shake our resolve!”

After experiencing a better life, it becomes harder to live simply again.

Everyone had seen Xiaolan’s house – who didn’t know her family was wealthy? Compared to Yang Yonghong’s family, they were more than just ordinarily well-off.

Precisely because of this, Yang Yonghong was even more reluctant to take too much advantage of Xiaolan.

Xiaolan admired self-respecting and independent girls, nodding vigorously: “Then I’ll bring you something else later. Grandmother Yu makes delicious buns, though she rarely cooks. My mom can steam them too – when she returns from the capital, I’ll treat everyone.”

Yang Yonghong didn’t refuse this offer, happily accepting.

Now that she had more money, she could properly reciprocate Xiaolan’s care for everyone. Unlike a few days ago when visiting Xiaolan’s home – after buying the train ticket from Ji Bei to the capital, Yang Yonghong had less than 10 yuan left. Though she could spare one yuan, spending all her money might mean going hungry… Fortunately, the school quickly distributed the Chenrong Scholarship. With 240 yuan in hand, Yang Yonghong could focus on her studies for the next semester!

In Room 307, there was also a second-class Chenrong Scholarship recipient – the usually quiet Chen Yiyi.

Everyone had witnessed how hard Xiaolan and Yang Yonghong worked, but Chen Yiyi had quietly won the scholarship, earning somewhat fearful respect from her roommates – she was truly the epitome of being fierce without saying much!