My era, 1979!

Chapter 95 What do you know? (Bonus chapter 15 for Alliance Leader Zuo Xianyouyu)

Qian Ming held the book with shining eyes, but his expression was hesitant.

"How much is this? I need to pay you."

"Don't talk about money. It's good that you got into university and achieved some results. I'll be counting on you to help me a lot in the future."

No sooner had she finished speaking than someone coughed at the gate of the courtyard. Xinghua's mother stood outside the fence with a basket on her shoulder, the sweet potatoes in the basket steaming: "Chengjun is back? Auntie saved two roasted sweet potatoes for you."

"Thank you, Auntie." Xu Chengjun took the sweet potato.

Xinghua's mother's eyes lingered on the fabric, and she said with a smile, "It's so different since you came back from Shanghai. Even the fabrics are so fashionable. Unlike my Xinghua, who's so unfashionable."

"Auntie, you're joking." Xu Chengjun stuffed the milk candy into her hand. "Try this Shanghai milk candy."

"I heard Fudan University is in Shanghai? Aren't the Western-style buildings there taller than our county auditorium?"

"More or less," Xu Chengjun replied vaguely, "but big cities are nowhere near as welcoming as our Xujiatun."

“Auntie, please take this fabric and face cream. I bought a piece of fabric for Xinghua and you in Hefei, and the face cream is from Shanghai.”

Xinghua's mother looked a little uncomfortable: "How can this be, Chengjun! These are worth a lot of money! I can't accept them."

"Take it, Auntie. You and Xinghua have been so good to me. I treat Xinghua like my own sister, and you are my own aunt. This is nothing."

"Eh, this?"

Xinghua's mother didn't refuse in the end and accepted it. As she walked out, she kept muttering to herself, "My dear sister."
Inside the house, Xu Chengjun had just peeled a sweet potato when he heard the women talking outside the courtyard wall.

"I heard he brought a lot of industrial vouchers, and even a Shanghai brand watch!" It was the voice of Wang Laosi's wife.

"Maybe she's climbed the social ladder and forgotten where she came from." That's what the leper's mother said.

"He's an educated man now, why would he even look at a country girl like us?" someone remarked, followed by a burst of laughter.

Zhao Gang was so angry that he was about to rush out, but Xu Chengjun stopped him: "Don't bother with them."

"These village women are ignorant and only know how to gossip! They can't stand to see you doing well!"

"Why don't I see any apricot blossoms?" Xu Chengjun glanced around the yard.

"Apricot blossoms"

Zhao Gang and Qian Ming stammered, and Xu Chengjun frowned, too lazy to press for details.

To be honest, although he didn't have any romantic feelings for Xinghua, he truly treated this simple and honest girl like a younger sister.

In fact, he knew that for Xinghua, it might not be romantic love for him, or rather, it was far from romantic love.

When he first arrived, he was like a traveler carrying a secret, always cautious in his interactions with others. Now that he could handle things, his priority was to avoid hurting the girl. His simplest thought was to make life better for those who were kind to her. Whether it was the impulsive Zhao Gang, the stubborn Qian Ming, or the star-like Xinghua, they all managed to live fulfilling and stable lives amidst these turbulent years.

This is not some grand ambition, but a truth he only understood after weathering the storms: the most precious thing in the world is never a fleeting glimpse of brilliance, but the gentle, enduring kindness.

After exchanging a few words with Qian Ming and Zhao Gang, Xu Chengjun picked up a rag and a pack of cigarettes and went to find Xu Laoshi.

The old man smiled, his eyes narrowed: "Chengjun, you're back."

Xu Laoshi squatted on the stone mill under the old locust tree, his pipe making a "clattering" sound against the sole of his shoe, having just finished calculating the team's work points.

When Xu Chengjun handed him a pack of Shanghai brand cigarettes, the words "filter" printed on the kraft paper packaging gleaming in the sunlight, he quickly tucked the pipe into his waistband and rubbed his rough hands against his trouser leg. "You rascal, why are you carrying such expensive stuff!"

He didn't take it, his brows furrowing into a knot, but his hand couldn't help touching the corner of the cigarette pack. "These cigarettes you brought from Shanghai, right? City officials all love them. Why didn't you save them to give to the professors in Shanghai?"

Xu Chengjun stuffed a cigarette into his arms: "Captain, this was specially saved for you. Without your help these past two years, I don't know how I would have fared. You should have a good smoke to relieve your fatigue."

Xu Laoshi then took it, turned the cigarette pack halfway around with both hands, and touched the glue residue on the seal.

The copper bowl on his pipe was polished to a shine, and the tobacco was homemade, dried tobacco that made people cough. I've never seen such neatly arranged cigarettes before.

“Last year, your father wrote to me mentioning that you were suffering in the team and asked me to take good care of you.”

This kind of thing.

Xu's father would never tell Xu Chengjun this. Sometimes a father's love is hidden in the silence between them, hidden behind the "Don't worry" smudged in ink on the letter paper.

Despite having a thousand words of concern in his heart, all that came out of his mouth was, "Work hard."

Xu Laoshi suddenly sighed, his pipe striking the stone mill and sparking. “Qian Ming told me about your novel, ‘The Granary,’ after he came back. He said it was well-written and very true to life. We farmers don’t understand literature, but we know you haven’t forgotten the days in the fields.”

As he spoke, he stuffed the cigarette into his pocket, leaving a square mark on his close-fitting coarse cloth jacket.

“I’ll keep these cigarettes for now. When we finish harvesting the wheat and distribute the grain, I’ll give a few packs to Old Wang and Uncle Li, who are the hardest working in the team. They’ve worked with me for so many years and they’ve never even seen a cigarette filter before.”

Just as Xu Chengjun was about to speak, Xu Laoshi shoved a roasted sweet potato into his hand. The charred skin was steaming hot: "Your aunt roasted it this morning, it's sweet. Shanghai may be nice, but don't be spoiled like city kids. Our roots are in the soil. When you become a college student, come back to the village often. You haven't finished telling those stories about the sprouting wheat that you wrote."

Ugh! Roasted sweet potatoes again!
He squatted back down on the stone mill, took out his pipe, refilled it with tobacco, and struck the match twice before lighting it.

Amidst the swirling smoke, the wrinkles at the corners of his eyes smoothed out as he gazed at the rolling wheat fields in the distance: "Study hard and bring honor to our Xujiatun village. Remember, this small plot of land in the countryside is your eternal home."

Back at the educated youth settlement, when only Qian Ming and Xu Chengjun were there, Xu Chengjun asked Qian Ming about his college entrance examination scores.

Unexpectedly, Qian Ming said, "It won't be that fast. The earliest it will be posted in the county town is early August!"

In 1979, Anhui Province was one of the provinces that took the national unified examination, and the examination date was the same as the rest of the country. Due to the lack of a standardized marking process, manual marking and score verification were time-consuming, and the release of results in most provinces was concentrated about 40 days after the examination. At that time, the college application process still used the model of releasing scores first and then filling out applications, so Qian Ming was currently in a relatively calm period.

Qian Mingyi explained, but Xu Chengjun was still a little confused. He had forgotten that in this era, manual marking of papers combined with the long distances involved meant that the time required to produce results for the college entrance examination was far slower than in his previous life.

"But what about you? How did your interview at Fudan University go? There were so many people talking earlier that I didn't get a chance to ask."

Xu Chengjun didn't know how to explain, so he just said, "It's alright, waiting for news from Fudan University."

As he spoke, he was still thinking about the village and going home, and his expression wasn't very cheerful.

Unexpectedly, after returning home, Qian Ming had become much smarter and learned to read people's expressions.

Qian Ming frowned, looked at Xu Chengjun's worried expression, wanted to ask something but didn't open his mouth. For some reason, his eyes showed a hint of sympathy: "It's okay, I understand! Your writing is good and your future won't be bad! It's not too late to try again next year!"

What do you know?

Just as Xu Chengjun was about to speak, Qian Ming patted Xu Chengjun on the shoulder and walked out of the educated youth settlement with a heavy heart.

"Eh"

(End of this chapter)