The exams lasted only three days. After the intense period of testing came the anxious wait for results.
This wait continued until spring arrived once again.
As the snow melted, the older of the twins at home was already eager to go out and play.
Of course, he never forgot to bring his younger brother and his little friends along.
Xiaobei wasn’t particularly active; he preferred reading.
At his age, of course, he was looking at picture books with illustrations.
Though he couldn’t read the words yet, he could sit quietly for a long time just looking at the pictures.
He never cried or made a fuss—a truly well-behaved child.
Xiaonan, on the other hand, was overly active with highly developed motor skills. He couldn’t stay still at home and was always looking for something to do.
Even the animals at home were having a hard time keeping up with him.
The two brothers were complete opposites.
The younger brother was emotionally stable; even if he didn’t feel like going out, he would still follow his older brother.
The early spring weather was still quite cold, and the two little ones were bundled up in thick clothing, making it a bit difficult for them to walk.
But this didn’t dampen Xiaonan’s enthusiasm for exploring the outside world.
“Slow down!”
“Mom, hurry up!”
Song Wei quickened her pace to keep up with them.
Children this age could easily wander off if left unattended, their short legs moving surprisingly fast.
The ground was still wet and muddy—what could they possibly find to play with?
The two little ones went to the brigade leader’s house to play with Fuwazi and Lewazi.
Song Wei took the opportunity to chat with Aunt Xinghua.
Lin Zhen and Jiang Wenwu worked together at the transport station, looking out for each other, and the relationship between the two families had grown closer.
“I wonder when Wenwu will be back.”
Both Lin Zhen and Jiang Wenwu were on a long-distance trip.
This time, Lin Zhen was leading the way, with Jiang Wenwu following along.
The two young men were bold, with Lin Zhen being more experienced and cautious, while Jiang Wenwu simply followed his lead obediently.
Song Wei asked, “I heard Wenwu found a girlfriend from the city. Have you met her yet?”
At the mention of this, Aunt Xinghua couldn’t hide her smile.
“I think that girl is quite nice. She has a round face and looks healthy—definitely seems blessed. She came to our house with Wenwu once before the New Year and was very polite to us…”
Aunt Xinghua went on and on about her younger son’s girlfriend.
“Have you found out about her family situation?”
“Wenwu said she has only one brother, and both her parents are factory workers. They don’t object to the two of them being together.”
Being a truck driver was a prestigious profession at the time. Jiang Wenwu himself was good-looking and full of energy, and the girl’s parents were quite satisfied with him.
Aunt Xinghua said, “Once Wenwu returns from this trip, our two families will discuss the engagement.”
Aunt Xinghua was proud. In the past, many people had called her younger son lazy and unpromising. But now, matchmakers proposing marriages for him were almost wearing out her doorstep.
Her son had also made something of himself and found a girlfriend in the city on his own.
Song Wei could tell that Aunt Xinghua was genuinely happy, as she enthusiastically shared many details about Jiang Wenwu’s girlfriend.
Jiang Wenwu had joined Lin Zhen on this long-distance trip to earn money for the “Four Big Items”—a symbol of prosperity at the time.
In the past, he hadn’t had the means, but now that he had the ability and opportunity, he was naturally going all out.
In the afternoon, when Song Wei brought the twins back home, her face was dark with anger.
The two little rascals had managed to cover themselves in mud.
Faced with Song Wei’s simmering rage, the troublemaking twins hugged their tiny hands, trying to make themselves as inconspicuous as possible.
Song Wei was so furious she gave each of them a smack on the bottom.
“You’re something else! I took my eyes off you for just a moment, and you turned yourselves into mud monsters!”
The two little ones immediately and very tacitly clung to her legs, whining and acting spoiled.
“Mom, we’re sorry.”
“We won’t do it again.”
“Mom, don’t be angry.”
“We’ll be good from now on.”
These two were exactly the type to apologize sincerely in the moment but wouldn’t hesitate to do the same thing again in the future.
Seeing her own two plump, fair-skinned children looking up at her with such pitiful expressions, how could Song Wei not soften?
But even if her heart softened, she still had to teach them a lesson.
“Is this weather suitable for playing in the mud? If you want to play, wait until it gets warmer. Do you want to catch a cold and have to take medicine?”
At the mention of medicine, the two little ones immediately scrunched up their faces like bitter gourds and shook their heads in unison.
The twins were generally healthy and rarely got sick.
But they had fallen ill once during the winter.
It was also because they hadn’t listened—they’d taken advantage of the adults’ inattention to run outside and play in the snow.
Old Man Ji had come to examine them and prescribed traditional Chinese medicine, as he didn’t have any Western fever-reducing cold medicine in the depths of winter.
Traditional Chinese medicine was just as well—it would teach the twins a lesson.
During those few days, the twins had been so traumatized by the medicine that they would start fussing as soon as they caught a whiff of it.
“We’re sorry.”
Under the threat of having to drink medicine again, the twins’ apologies became even more earnest.
…………
As the postman entered Ping’an Brigade, one piece of good news after another began to arrive.
Those who had passed the exams received their admission letters.
What was astonishing was the group of educated youths—more than half of those in Ping’an Brigade had been admitted to universities.
Only three, who had consistently ranked at the bottom in their studies, hadn’t made it into their ideal universities. However, their scores were enough to get them into specialized colleges!
Even these results had been achieved with help from others.
Despite this, they were overjoyed to the point of tears.
At the very least, they had schools to attend and could leave the countryside to return to the city.
By this count, almost all the educated youths in Ping’an Brigade had been admitted to universities.
This outcome not only caused a stir in Ping’an Brigade but also sent shockwaves through the surrounding brigades.
Educated youths from neighboring brigades came to ask how they had managed to study so effectively.
A few particularly jealous individuals, who couldn’t bear to see others succeed, came to accuse them of having known in advance that the college entrance exams would be reinstated and keeping it to themselves.
These were the ones who hadn’t passed the exams.
For such people, Liu Linlin and the others directly grabbed brooms and chased them out.
They were in high spirits and weren’t about to let these kinds of people ruin their mood!
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