Back to 1984: Earning Money, Raising Kids, and Keeping the Household Busy

In the evening, the six of them went to a small restaurant outside the school. This time, they had money in their pockets, so they splurgeed and ordered all the expensive dishes in the restaurant.

They agreed to split the bill, but Gao Lei came to pick up Bai Junjun and settled the bill directly, and also took Lin Qin back to Nanxi on the way.

When Lin Yi saw Lin Qin's luggage, he scolded her, "Why didn't you call to let me know? I could have come to pick you up."

The seafood restaurant installed a telephone this year, and Lin Qin calls back to let them know if anything happens.

"No need, Gao Lei drove and gave me a ride back."

Lin Yi paused for a moment and asked, "Gao Lei and Junjun should be getting married soon, right? I see that the land in Dongyu has been almost cleared, and the houses are big and beautiful."

The so-called Dongyu is the closest deserted island to Nanyu. It is smaller than Nanyu, with small hills on one side and wasteland on the other, so it is not as private as Nanyu.

Ever since Gao Lei took over Dongyu, he had people design it to resemble Nanyu. Since there were no natural barriers on the wasteland, high walls were built. With strong financial support, he managed to build the entire Dongyu like a Western palace.

Every time Lin Qin and the others returned home, they could see that magnificent roof from afar.

Lin Qin nodded slightly, "It's about time. They'll get their marriage certificate after Junjun officially graduates, and they'll probably get married around the Mid-Autumn Festival."

"Oh my! Will they live here? If they do, we'll have neighbors!" Lin Yi grinned from ear to ear.

Lin Qin smiled and said, "Dad! What are you thinking! The Gao family and the Bai family both have villas in the city. This place is just a villa or something, where they come to visit occasionally. How could we possibly live here!"

"That's such a waste!" Lin Yi couldn't understand.

Lin Qin knew that the old man's deeply ingrained ideas could not be changed, so she simply changed the subject, "The high school entrance exam results should be out soon. I wonder which school A-Jian will get into! My sister said that A-Jian's cousin is repeating his third year of junior high school and will also be taking the high school entrance exam this year. I wonder how it goes."

Last year, Xu Jie, the eldest grandson of the Xu family and Wang Fengying's only son, took the college entrance examination. The couple firmly believed that even if their son did not go to study in the city, he could still get into a high school in the city based on his own abilities. For this reason, they spread the word throughout the village early on and even prepared a celebration banquet in advance.

Wang Ximei would boast about her eldest grandson to everyone she met, implying that Xu Jie was her most promising grandson and that the others were useless.

The villagers of Xujia Village were quite tactful and didn't discourage the couple; instead, they praised Xu Jie enthusiastically.

However, Xu Jie did not get into Anshi High School as everyone expected. He even missed the county's No. 1 High School, where Xujia Village is located, by a few points and only got into the county's No. 5 High School.

In the eyes of Wang Fengying and her husband, the No. 5 Middle School in the county was a trash school, one that anyone could get into without taking an exam.

The two couldn't accept this fact, and even went to great lengths to inquire at the county education bureau and school. Only then did they learn that Xu Jie's grades were not as good as they thought, and that in the third year of junior high school, Xu Jie had developed a dislike for school and often lingered outside the school.

Wang Fengying was so angered by these truths that she fell seriously ill. After waking up, she gritted her teeth and bought a small, dilapidated house in Anshi. She then transferred her own and her child's household registration to the city and used many connections to get Xu Jie into a junior high school in the city for a year of repeat study.

At that time, Wang Fengying wanted Xu Jie and Xu Jian to go to the same school, so she bought things to please Lin Ying, hoping that Xu Jian could take care of Xu Jie.

Lin Ying refused, so Wang Fengying asked Xu Dashan to go find Xu Dahai.

As a result, Xu Dahai knew nothing when asked and pushed all the blame onto his father-in-law.

Xu Dashan couldn't possibly go to Lin Yi, so the couple, holding their breath, sent Xu Jie to the No. 7 Middle School in the city to repeat his senior year. Lin Ying didn't know the specifics of how it was done, and Lin Qin knew even less.

However, she did remember this incident. Putting everything else aside, just because of Wang Ximei's words, Lin Qin hoped that Xu Jian would prove himself and give Xu Jie a good beating. Furthermore, she also hoped that all the effort she had put into her two nephews over the years had not been in vain.

Lin Yi helped Lin Qin carry her luggage inside. "I asked him, and he said he's definitely going to get in. He's not sure about No. 1 High School, but he's sure he'll get into No. 2 High School."

The best middle school in Anshi is No. 1 Middle School, followed by No. 2 Middle School, and then No. 3, No. 5, No. 6 and No. 7 Middle Schools.

Lin Qin breathed a sigh of relief, "It would be great if I could get into No. 2 High School, at least I'd have one foot in university."

If she remembered correctly, the job assignment system was abolished starting in 1996. Xu Jian missed the last train, but fortunately, he had learned to play the saxophone quite well in the past few years, played ball in his spare time, and was also good at sports. His grades were above average. If he worked hard during his three years of high school, he would definitely have more options than others in the future.

After talking for a while, Lin Qin started to go upstairs to pack her things.

A few days later, her job assignment came down, and when it was confirmed to be a television station, she was so excited that she set off a long string of firecrackers at home.

As Zhou Shuifang's five-awning boat passed by, the people on board looked at Nanyu with suspicion.

"What happy event is happening at Wenjun's house again? It's so lively!" Zhou Shuifang craned her neck to look.

Chen Yongding took a sip of water and let out a comfortable sigh. "We'll find out when we go and see. We'll also tell Wenjun about the government's news and see what he thinks."

Zhou Shuifang hesitated for a moment, but still agreed.

When the couple arrived at the gate of Nanyu Huokou, they called out twice before Lin Qin heard them.

When she opened the door and found Zhou Shuifang's family outside, she was stunned for a moment. She quickly invited them in, "Uncle and Aunt, please come in and sit down. I'll make some tea."

Chen Yongding waved his hand, glanced at the firecracker debris on the ground, and asked, "Is Wenjun home?"

Lin Qin shook her head. "He's busy outside and won't be back until after six. Does Uncle need to see him?"

Chen Yongding pondered for a moment and said, "A few days ago, a group of leaders came to Nanxi for inspection. They said they wanted to plan a piece of land so that all the Tanka people in Nanxi would move ashore and no one would be allowed to live on the water anymore."

"This is great news!" Lin Qin paused for a moment and then smiled. "Uncle and Aunt had always wanted to build houses on this land, but they put it off because the Wenhai and Wenjiang brothers weren't in Anshi. Now that the government is willing to give us a piece of land, we won't have to worry about being looked down upon by other villagers when we build houses on this land."

Chen Yongding thought so too, but he still had some worries: "What if the government won't let us fish after we move ashore?"

Lin Qin laughed, "That's definitely not possible! But since the government is allocating land to everyone, there must still be fields. In the future, we can grow our own grains and vegetables, raise chickens and ducks, and occasionally go fishing. Life will get better and better."

Besides, we don't make a living by fishing, so what's there to be afraid of?

When she was first reborn, there were still some Tanka people on Nanxi who made a living by fishing. But in recent years, their numbers have dwindled, and this year it seems there are only one or two left.

It's not that these one or two families are unwilling to change, but various reasons prevent them from leaving, just like she and Chen Wenjun in her previous life.

"That's true!" (End of Chapter)