Get something in the courtyard

Next, the neighbors of the courtyard house were in trouble.

The rumor that Sha Zhu was afraid of his wife soon spread throughout the steel mill and the streets. Whenever Sha Zhu went out, people would point fingers at him.

He knew very well that it was those people who spread the rumor, so he prepared delicious food every day to take revenge on those people.

Jia Zhang wanted to rob, but was slapped twice by Sha Zhu. The couple worked together to break Yi Zhonghai's moral kidnapping before their evil plan could succeed.

Of course Yi Zhonghai would not do anything calculating and continued to use various means to sow discord between Sha Zhu and his wife.

Sha Zhu was not willing to be outdone, so he took revenge on them with delicious food.

Yi Zhonghai and Jia's family were closest to Sha Zhu's house. Whenever Sha Zhu cooked, the aroma would reach their noses.

Jia Zhang's sarcastic curses and Qin Huairu's tearful hints forced Yi Zhonghai to pay money many times.

This made Yi Zhonghai even angrier.

The stubborn Yi Zhonghai gritted his teeth and insisted that he didn't believe that Guo Xianghong would be happy with Sha Zhu eating like this all day long.

In order to take revenge on those people, Sha Zhu specially sent food to Wang Kun and others, making several families feel embarrassed.

Wang Kun did not ask for Sha Zhu's money, and told others that it was Sha Zhu who bought it. Liu Yuhua, on the other hand, often bought meat from outside as a token of her appreciation.

Niu Qian and the others had no choice but to take good care of Sha Zhu's son as a way of repaying Sha Zhu.

After this incident, the relationship between the families became better.

Things continued until September 1977, when Wang Kun finally received news about the college entrance examination. Auntie Tian called him and told him to prepare a tutorial book for Xueer.

When Wang Kun returned home with the news, his family was immediately overjoyed.

Ran Qiuye asked excitedly: "Are you telling the truth?"

"of course it's true."

"Then you've been asking me to teach Xue'er, so you knew this a long time ago."

Wang Kun dared not admit it, so he explained: "I am not a god, how would I know."

"then you……"

"You have read a lot of books, but why don't you think about it carefully? Do you think it is a good thing that so many young people cannot go to school every year? This is inevitable. I am just preparing in advance."

Ran Qiuye rolled her eyes at Wang Kun when she heard this. When it comes to studying, she is naturally not inferior to Wang Kun. She just never thought about it that way.

"You said the college entrance examination will be held only once this year, or will it be held every year in the future?"

"Of course they all are. This matter has not been announced to the public yet, so please don't tell anyone."

Ran Qiuye nodded. This was information she had received privately, so she naturally couldn't say, "When will it be announced?"

"It should be soon. If it is held this year, it will be announced in October at the latest. The number of people admitted this time will not be large. You should spend more time and give them some good tutoring."

Ran Qiuye nodded, and the next day he began to add burdens to Xue'er and the others. Among them, only Xue'er knew about the resumption of the college entrance examination, and persuaded them to work hard.

But judging from He Qiaomei's expression, she should have also received the news.

On October 21, the newspapers indeed announced the news of the resumption of the college entrance examination and revealed that this year's college entrance examination would be held nationwide one month later.

In an instant, thunderous cheers rang out on the street.

When Wang Kun returned home, several people were there excitedly discussing something.

"Okay, the news is confirmed. The exam will be held in about a month. You must work harder. Otherwise, if you fail, it will be embarrassing."

"I know. We will definitely not fail the exam." Xue'er said confidently.

From childhood to adulthood, her academic performance has been very good. She has studied longer than others and is full of confidence.

He Qiaomei, Tian Xiaowei, and Tian Doudou all looked confident.

Ran Qiuye said: "Even if you have confidence, you can't be careless." "I understand, Teacher Ran." Several people shouted in unison.

Before they even sat down, Sha Zhu came in excitedly: "Have you heard? The college entrance examination is going to be resumed."

"It's rare that a cook like you who cooks all day cares about the college entrance examination."

Sha Zhu smiled and said, "Of course I care. Our daughter Qiaomei is going to take the college entrance examination. Qiaomei, do well in the exam and bring honor to your father. Don't let them look down on me."

Guo Xianghong followed in and said to Sha Zhu, "What are you yelling about? The exam hasn't even started yet and you've already made it known to everyone."

"Hey, wife, am I not happy?"

Guo Xianghong glared at him and said, "I warn you, don't delay my daughter's review, or I won't forgive you."

"Don't worry, I won't delay you. I'll take care of the logistics for them. Qiaomei, just tell me what you want to eat and I'll make it for you."

Before He Qiaomei could say anything, Xue'er said, "I want to eat mapo tofu and braised pork."

"Do it. Ask your brother to find a way to get the ingredients, and I'll make it right away."

Xueer ran to the kitchen and took out the meat from the house.

Sha Zhu didn't delay. He took the meat and went home to prepare cooking.

His loud and ostentatious action naturally attracted Qin Huairu's attention: "Shazhu, why are you so happy today?"

Sha Zhu didn't even look at her and walked around her. This was what Guo Xianghong had taught him. When you return to the courtyard, just pretend you didn't see them. This would save a lot of trouble.

Xiao Dang came out of the house and said, "Mom, He Qiaomei from silly dad's family is going to take the college entrance examination."

Perhaps because they were reluctant to let Sha Zhu leave, Xiaodang and Huaihua never changed the way they addressed Sha Zhu.

Qin Huairu went home and asked, "How did you know?"

"This matter has spread everywhere, and I also plan to participate. Give me some money and I will buy reference books." Xiao Dang looked at Qin Huairu with expectant eyes.

Several children in the courtyard who are about her age are all going to take the college entrance examination. If she doesn't take it, she will feel embarrassed.

Huaihua graduated from junior high school but didn’t get into high school. Upon hearing this, she also said, “I want to join, too.”

Qin Huairu said frankly: "Money, money, money, you only care about money. You can't even get into high school, how can you get into college?"

"Whether we can pass the exam or not, we have to try to know. What if we pass the exam? We can become cadres after graduation. If we become cadres, our family won't have to ask for help from others."

Qin Huairu thought about it and decided to give it a try. Just like the two children said, if it succeeded, she wouldn't have to be taken advantage of all the time.

"How much."

"Give us fifty. Those tutorial books are pretty expensive these days."

"How much?" Qin Huairu couldn't help but yelled, "Why do you want so much?"

This price was beyond her expectation. In her mind, she always thought that it could be solved with just a few dollars.

"Oh, Mom, this is really not much. Go to the street and see how long the line is outside the bookstore. So many people want to buy books, do you think the price will not go up? If you go late, you will have to pay more."

Jia Zhang angrily cursed: "Damn profiteers, they make this kind of money. Do you know how many days our family can spend with fifty yuan?
I can’t give it to you. If you want to participate, you can find a way to go. Wang Kun has books at home, you can go and borrow them from him.”

Qin Huairu didn't know what she was thinking and didn't care about what was happening here. Xiaodang and Huaihua looked at the two widows with resentment in their eyes and walked out together.

The two of them graduated from junior high school, but because of the bad reputation of the Siheyuan, the street office had not arranged any jobs for them. They had long wanted to get rid of the Jia family and not be implicated by them.

The college entrance examination is their only way.

"Sister, what should I do?"

Xiao Dang had a bitter look on his face and had no idea what to do. (End of this chapter)