Traveling back to 1977

Chapter 405 I Need to Review
After leaving the health department, Chen Fan boarded a bus heading to the north of the city.

The purpose of this trip is naturally to find Jiang Tiantian.

As before, there was no direct "meeting". Chen Fan simply passed by the entrance of the supply and marketing cooperative's store, glanced inside, and exchanged a look with her.

Ten minutes later, he waited in the woods by the river for Jiang Tiantian, who came running towards him.

As soon as she ran up to him, Chen Fan said directly, "The news is confirmed, the college entrance examination will be officially reinstated this year."

Before Jiang Tiantian could catch her breath, her eyes widened abruptly. "It's really true?"

Although Teacher Guo and Teacher He had talked about this matter in a serious manner before, she didn't have much hope in her heart.

Even when Chen Fan asked her to buy books and study, she only did so because of his request. Except when she tossed and turned in bed late at night and thought about the possibility of resuming the college entrance examination, she never dared to think about it at other times.

But now Chen Fan is telling her that the college entrance examination is really going to be reinstated!
Chen Fan nodded slightly and smiled at her, "I can see you're feeling very uncomfortable at the supply and marketing cooperative. It's time for you to seize the opportunity to change your environment."

Jiang Tiantian stared at him blankly for several seconds before unconsciously lowering her head and whispering, "Can I sign up too?"

The college entrance exam also requires a political background check, right?

Chen Fan smiled. "Lili asked the same question this morning."

Jiang Tiantian suddenly raised her head and stared at him intently.

Chen Fan looked into her eyes. "My answer is that even if there is only a one in ten thousand chance, I will put in a hundred times the effort."

Hearing this, Jiang Tiantian finally came to her senses and slowly nodded, "I understand."

She turned to look at the river in the distance. "My father often tells us that all our efforts will not be in vain. Even when we are at our lowest point, we must be prepared to climb to the top at any time."

She then pursed her lips, turned to look at Chen Fan, and smiled broadly, "Thank you."

Chen Fan shrugged and smiled, "No need for formalities. But how's your study progress?"

Jiang Tiantian smiled and said, "It's alright. I'll take your advice and not look at the difficult problems. I'll start with the simple ones and then gradually move on. I'll try to finish reading algebra and geometry. If there's still time, I'll learn more."

Chen Fan nodded slowly, "I went to the Education Bureau this morning and found out that the scope of registration for this year's college entrance examination is very broad. Anyone under the age of 30 can apply, so there should be a lot of people taking the college entrance examination this year."

Jiang Tiantian frowned slightly. "In that case, the competition will be very fierce."

She paused for a moment, then smiled and said, "But that makes sense. I wonder how many people are waiting for this opportunity. No one would let it slip by easily."

Chen Fan smiled and said, "You don't need to worry too much. I heard from Teacher Guo that the best high school graduates nowadays are only at the same level as first-year junior high school students in the past (the vice president's words), especially in mathematics, where they are far behind. So your chances are not small."

Jiang Tiantian rubbed her nose and smiled at him, "You forgot, I only graduated from vocational school four years ago. I studied the same textbooks, so my academic level isn't much higher than theirs."

Chen Fan, however, was somewhat dismissive, saying, "If you come from an ordinary family, that's certainly possible. But your aunt and uncle are both highly educated; I don't believe they didn't teach you more than what's in textbooks."

Jiang Tiantian pursed her lips, her eyes sparkling, but she remained silent with a smile.

Seeing her appearance, Chen Fan knew that her level of knowledge was definitely not as simple as she claimed.

This can actually be seen from Jiang Lili.

Jiang Lili hadn't touched a textbook for three years, and her only reading material was Mr. Li's collected works. However, after Chen Fan brought back the textbooks and self-study books on mathematics, physics, and chemistry, she was able to quickly get the hang of them.

At first, he thought it was because Jiang Lili had a solid foundation, but after realizing that the knowledge points in the textbook were far behind those in the old textbooks, he knew that she must have studied them before.

If you already have a foundation, learning from scratch will naturally be faster.

Looking at Jiang Tiantian, Chen Fan smiled and said, "This year's college entrance examination will normally test five subjects: politics, Chinese, and mathematics are common subjects, then science students will take physics and chemistry, and humanities students will take history and geography."

Since you've chosen a humanities major, you don't need to worry about physics and chemistry. It's difficult to get exceptionally high scores in politics and Chinese, but with a little study, it's also difficult to get very low scores, so you don't need to spend too much effort on them.

As for history and geography, just read them through twice in your spare time to reinforce your memory. The key subject for the exam is mathematics, which is also the focus of differentiation.

Jiang Tiantian pursed her lips and nodded vigorously, "I will study hard."

She paused for a moment, then unconsciously glanced back. There was no one within two hundred meters, so she whispered, "My parents are both college graduates with science degrees. I'll ask them if I don't understand something. As for Lili, I can only rely on you."

Chen Fan chuckled and said, "Don't worry, she's making great progress right now. You'd better not let her overtake you."

Jiang Tiantian smiled and said, "I just hope she can get the highest score, the higher the better, and preferably much higher than mine!"

Chen Fan looked at her for several seconds before saying softly, "Your father is right. All your efforts will not be in vain. You will definitely be able to seize this opportunity."

Jiang Tiantian nodded gently, looking at Chen Fan curiously, "What about you? Will you also register for the college entrance examination?"

He paused for a moment, then continued, "I know you want to take a correspondence course, but if possible, I suggest you reconsider. University isn't just about learning knowledge; there are many other things involved, not just future career development and benefits, but also interpersonal relationships, ways of thinking, and even..."

After she finished speaking, Chen Fan smiled and shrugged, "Professor Guo said that the postgraduate entrance examination will be reinstated, so I plan to go straight to postgraduate studies after I get my correspondence bachelor's degree."

Jiang Tiantian was stunned and stared at him blankly with wide eyes.

Can you do this?

……

After saying goodbye to Jiang Tiantian, Chen Fan carried his backpack and took a bus around Yunhu City for more than an hour, mailing all of his dozen or so manuscripts through different post offices. Finally, he returned to the passenger terminal, picked up his small boat, and sailed back to Lujiawan.

The mighty Yangtze River flows eastward, its surface teeming with boats racing against each other.

The small boats slowly weaved through the large and small ships, attracting countless admiring glances.

It's like a small boat, but it even has a boat handling machine.

It's called an assault boat, but it's probably more like a fat version, isn't it?

With that round head, how can this thing possibly get going?

Amidst the watchful eyes of the crowd, Chen Fan carefully avoided the large ship, then found an opening, increased his horsepower, and with a whoosh, broke through the waves and rushed into the Liuhua River.

Back at Lujiawan, before even getting close to the riverbank, we could see a person sitting on the dock in the distance.

As the boat drew closer, Chen Fan realized it was safe.

By this time, Anquan had already stood up impatiently. As soon as the boat docked, he immediately asked, "How is the situation?"

Chen Fan turned the turntable to lower the anchor and threw the mooring rope onto the shore. Anquan immediately grabbed the rope and tied it to the wooden stake.

He didn't stop talking at all, "I received a call from Sanhu this morning and rushed over immediately. I've been waiting for you here for most of the day. What did the Education Bureau say? Can someone like me apply?"

Chen Fan jumped onto the dock, looking at him speechlessly, "Aren't you going to wait for me at my house?"

She secured the rope tightly, took a few quick steps to his side, and said, "Your house is full of girls, how can I stay there? Hey, can you be more direct? Am I even qualified?"

Chen Fan nodded directly, "Yes, you're qualified."

Anquan grabbed his arm in a flash, her nervousness evident. "Really?"

Chen Fan patted him on the shoulder and said with a smile, "This morning, Secretary Yang and I had a meeting to discuss that we should only say to the outside world that the college entrance examination is about to be reinstated, and that we know nothing else."

Anquan nodded immediately, "I understand, I understand, I won't tell anyone."

He added as soon as he finished speaking, "Except for my wife."

Chen Fan smiled and said, "My sister-in-law is family, so of course it's different."

Only then did he say, "There are two conditions for registration: first, you must be no more than 30 years old; second, the registration fee is 5 cents."

Anquan followed him up the steps, but suddenly tripped on one of them. Luckily, he grabbed Chen Fan's arm and quickly regained his balance. He then turned around and stood in front of Chen Fan, asking, "Anything else?"

Chen Fan stopped and spread his hands. "That's all."

Anquan stared blankly, "Huh?"

Chen Fan looked at him and smiled, "If you're talking about the eligibility requirements, there are only these two. That's all."

Anquan stared at him wide-eyed. "No more than 30 years old? Registration fee is 5 cents?" Chen Fan nodded. "That's right."

The next second, Anquan's eyes instantly reddened, and he murmured, "They haven't forgotten us, they haven't forgotten us..."

Seeing his expression, Chen Fan felt quite uncomfortable.

People of all kinds are easily found when there are hundreds of them, let alone such a large number of educated youth.

The term "educated youth" is merely a label that the times have attached to them. Once this label is removed, they are, in fact, living, breathing human beings.

There are good people and bad people among them, but most of them are ordinary people who go with the flow.

In the face of the tides of the times, all ideals and pursuits are luxuries; making a living is the reality.

But beyond reality, they also have extravagant hopes: that one day they can be seen by those above again and return to the city to live their former lives, but...

Now, the 30-year age limit has made it clear to the authorities that they are still paying attention to educated youth sent to the countryside.

By this year, the vast majority of them are probably no more than 30 years old!

This is enough!

Anquan wiped his face, his eyes still bloodshot, but his face was full of smiles. "Okay, okay."

He paused for a moment, then continued, "Is there any other information?"

Chen Fan looked at him, forced a smile, and said casually, "Yes, you have to take the exams for politics, Chinese, and math, regardless of whether you're in the arts or sciences. Then, arts students take history and geography, and science students take physics and chemistry."

In addition, applicants for foreign language majors will need to take an additional foreign language test, either English or Russian. Applicants for medicine and biology-related majors will also need to take an additional biology test.

That's all I know; I don't know anything else.

After saying that, he patted his arm to show his safety and continued walking towards the levee.

Safety instinctively led me to follow behind him, head down, muttering to myself, "No more than 30 years old, taking exams in politics, Chinese, math, history, and geography?"

After walking uphill for a while, he suddenly rushed to Chen Fan's side and asked, "I have something to ask you."

Chen Fan glanced at him, but didn't stop walking. "Speak."

Security, "Is finance a humanities or science major? And fine arts, is it a humanities or science major?"

Chen Fan resisted the urge to roll his eyes. "My advice is, instead of worrying about these things now, you should think about how to review first."

Anquan looked up at him, her eyes filled with admiration. "I know you have self-study books for math, physics, and chemistry. I don't need anything else, just lend me the math ones!"

Chen Fan refused without hesitation, "Impossible."

Anquan's face stiffened, and she looked at him in disbelief. Could he really be so heartless?

Chen Fan put his arm around his shoulder and walked upstairs, saying, "If you take your books away, will you still be able to study quietly when the news of the resumption of the college entrance examination is announced?"

Safe blinked and immediately shook his head, "Impossible!"

Chen Fan said, "That's it. I've already thought it through. There are three complete sets of self-study books for math, physics, and chemistry in Lujiawan, as well as a dozen or so scattered math, physics, and chemistry study materials. I absolutely cannot lend out the ones here, but you and your sister-in-law can come here to study. I'll even provide you with two meals a day."

Safety, "Why not three meals a day?"

Chen Fan said, "Any four meals are fine. If you and your sister-in-law can study until 10 p.m., you can have an extra late-night snack. Anyway, there are a few guest rooms on the first floor of my new house, so you can stay here overnight."

"Safety, I understand. I'll bring her over in a bit."

Chen Fan: "You need to pay living expenses."

Safety? "No problem, but you know my salary isn't high, could it be a little less?"

Chen Fan, “…”

……

Two days later, in a corner of the Hongxing Production Brigade, Ding Qian dragged her tired body home and lay down on the bed to rest without even taking off her clothes.

She was really tired, but she was also genuinely happy.

At the beginning of this year, the production team collected all the chicks from each household, saying it was to support Lujiawan in developing aquaculture as a sideline business.

At the time, I didn't quite understand why we needed to support Lujiawan when we could raise chicks ourselves or sell them.

Even though they say they'll give money, it's not paid immediately, it's delayed. What's the difference between that and giving it away for free?
However, the production team leaders had already made their decision, and since her mother-in-law was also from Lujiawan, she could only remain silent and hand over most of the chicks that she had painstakingly hatched.

She was prepared to lose everything, but to her surprise, she received news that Lujiawan had opened a cooked food shop in the county town and the prefectural committee.

Previously, Lujiawan had raised so many chickens, ducks and geese, but it wasn't enough to meet the needs of the cooked food shops. Hongxing and the other three brigades immediately began to collect seedlings and expand breeding.

The chickens, ducks, and geese that had already been raised were all sent to Lujiawan, and the cost of the seedlings was settled in cash along with the money.

By this time, everyone knew that Lujiawan was about to prosper, and Ding Qian resolutely invested all her capital to expand her family's breeding scale.

We're just waiting for these seedlings to grow up so that we can have a prosperous year!
I'm just too tired...

Ding Qian was lying in bed, drifting off to sleep, when she suddenly heard a familiar voice outside.

"Ding Qian, Ding Qian..."

Hearing the shouts, Ding Qian dragged her tired body out of bed, sat down to calm herself for a while, and then stood up and walked outside.

As soon as I stepped out of the room, I saw a woman in a white nurse's uniform enter the house.

Ding Qian forced a smile, "Ya Nan, you're here."

If Chen Fan were here, he would recognize that this person named Ya Nan is the Shanghai educated youth nurse at the Nanhu Commune Health Center.

Lü Yanan strode forward, catching her breath, "This place is too remote, my feet are hurting from walking here."

Upon hearing this, Ding Qian felt a pang of bitterness in her heart. "Do I want to stay in such a remote place? If I could be recruited like you, I would be a proud worker now!"

Seeing her expression, Lü Yanan cursed herself inwardly, then quickly changed the subject, "Let me tell you, Brother An and his wife have moved into Teacher Chen's house in Lujiawan and started reviewing."

Ding Qian looked at her with a puzzled expression, "Review?"

Lü Yanan nodded vigorously and said seriously, "It was Teacher Chen who spread the news. Apparently, a teacher from the Prefectural Education Department informed him that the college entrance examination will be reinstated soon!"

"Reinstate the college entrance examination?"

Ding Qian's eyes immediately lit up with an unprecedented brightness, but the next second, they fell into darkness again. She lowered her head, her mouth full of bitterness, "So what if the college entrance examination is reinstated? I'm married, and I even have two children."

Lu Yanan suddenly grabbed her shoulders, staring intently into her eyes. "Don't you understand?"

Ding Qian looked up. "What do you understand?"

Lü Yanan: "Brother An and his wife are studying together at Teacher Chen's house!!!"

Ding Qian looked at her suspiciously, "Isn't it just Brother An and his wife..."

She was only halfway through her sentence when she suddenly realized something and grabbed Lü Yanan's arm tightly with both hands. "You mean, even if you're married, you can still register?"

Lu Yanan shook her head and said seriously, "I don't know, not even Brother An knows. I went to see him before I came here, and he told me that knowing the college entrance examination is about to be reinstated is enough. If I'm not eligible to register, I can just consider it a waste of time. But if I am eligible to register..."

She paused for a moment, then changed the subject, "Brother An said that the higher-ups won't forget us, so we must be fully prepared and absolutely must not miss the opportunity when it comes!"

Ding Qian stared at her blankly. So, even if it's just inaccurate information, you have to go all out?
Seeing that she remained silent, Lü Yanan became a little anxious. "What are you still thinking about? You, me, and Brother An are all from Shanghai. He and his wife have already started working hard, and I also need to prepare for my exams. What about you? Are you planning to stay here for the rest of your life and never go back to Shanghai?"

Upon hearing this, Ding Qian suddenly raised her head, "Ya Nan, I need to study! I need to study!"

(End of this chapter)