Era: Starting with the struggle to refuse being taken advantage of

Chapter 18 Xia Zhiqing

A hint of disapproval flashed in Xia Mingyue's eyes, and she murmured:

"Comrade Wang is indeed quite good, but Comrade Liu doesn't seem to be as simple as he appears."

“If those two really get together, Comrade Wang will suffer a great loss.”

"Forget it, it's someone else's business after all. Why should I get involved? I might end up pleasing neither side."

Xia Mingyue went out earlier than the other two female educated youths, so she naturally saw more.

In addition, due to the angle, she was able to take in Liu Yanran's entire performance.

After witnessing Liu Yanran's incredible ability to change her expression, she was not so optimistic about Liu Yanran.

However, as a sent-down youth, she needed to be careful with her words and actions, and thus did not reveal her true thoughts.

Thinking this, Xia Mingyue turned to the next page of the book in her hand and continued reading by the moonlight.

After a long day of work, she finally had time to read.

Her love of learning was completely out of step with the gossiping educated youth around her.

Most of the educated youth were probably enthusiastic about learning when they first arrived, looking forward to the day they could go back.

But after a period of reflection, realizing that it was impossible to return in a short time, and given the need for a lot of physical activity every day,
After a busy day, all they want to do is rest, and few are as self-disciplined as Xia Mingyue.

That's why she only had An Qiuyun as her one and only good friend.

However, Xia Mingyue didn't care. Sometimes, having more friends isn't necessarily better.

Moreover, compared to those boring people, Xia Mingyue found the world in books much more interesting.

……

As soon as Wang Chengpeng stepped into the house, he was met with the judgmental gazes of his family. Wang Meiyan, in particular, couldn't wait to say:
"Brother, how was your chat with Sister Liu?"

Not only in the eyes of the Liu family, but even the Wang Chengpeng family believed that Wang Chengpeng was marrying above his station with Liu Yanran.

That's why they had no objection to the Liu family's exorbitant demands; all they could think about was how to scrape together this hefty dowry.

Otherwise, even if they doted on Wang Chengpeng, they would at least have gone to the Liu family to negotiate a lower price.

It's no wonder they would have such thoughts. Liu Yanran is extremely good at disguising herself. Wasn't Wang Chengpeng in his previous life just as easily fooled by Liu Yanran?

If Wang Chengpeng hadn't known what kind of person Liu Yanran was beforehand, he would have been completely fooled by her even if he had a second chance.

A wedding? I'm really looking forward to it.

Many people will definitely come then, and I will definitely ruin Liu Yanran's reputation!

Thinking this, Wang Chengpeng smiled knowingly and said, "I'm so outstanding, Liu Yanran would naturally never agree."

"Not only did she agree, she practically threw herself at me. Otherwise, why do you think she would come to see me in the middle of the night?"

Wang Chengpeng was telling the truth, but his family saw it as vanity. Wang Meiyan was even more blunt, saying:

"You should be grateful that you were able to marry someone as wonderful as Sister Liu."

Wang Tieshan looked pleased and said, "Good, good."

"My Wang family finally has a daughter-in-law."

Shaking his head slightly, Wang Chengpeng thought to himself that he might be letting his parents down.

However, he had no regrets. As long as he studied hard and became more outstanding, others would only say that Liu Yanran was not good enough for him, rather than that he was not good enough for Liu Yanran.

Thinking this, Wang Chengpeng subconsciously looked in the direction of his room.

There were some good things he had gotten from the scrap yard that day, and since it was still early, he had to tidy them up properly.

After a quick wash and saying goodbye to his parents, Wang Chengpeng returned to his room.

Without hesitation, he pulled out the four radios that Ji Yongyue had given him from under the book.

Whether from the perspective of making money, building a good relationship with Ji Yongyue, or continuing to acquire more books, repairing these four radios is of paramount importance.

Unfortunately, Wang Chengpeng wasn't as lucky this time.

These four radios, which were obviously much older, had many more problems. Just checking the condition of one radio was enough to exhaust Wang Chengpeng.

However, knowing the cause of the first radio's malfunction did not mean that Wang Chengpeng could fix it immediately. He still needed to restore the circuit, replace the damaged components, and perform a series of other operations.

This is undoubtedly a time-consuming, laborious, and thankless task.

That's why they end up being sent to scrap yards, since repairing a radio for a few dollars is much more cost-effective than buying a new one.

Rubbing his eyes, which were a little swollen from excessive concentration, Wang Chengpeng looked at the books placed beside him.

Sharpening your axe won't delay your woodcutting; perhaps you can draw nourishment from these books to become stronger.

Unlike books in later generations, books in this era were simpler and more direct, mostly telling people what to do in various situations, even textbooks.

After a brief look through the document, Wang Chengpeng was quite disappointed.

Although Ji Yongyue gave him several textbooks, they were all for lower grades and not very useful for him at his current level.

However, they are not entirely useless; they can be used as learning materials for Wang Meiyan, the younger sister.

Moreover, this is merely a stepping stone for Wang Chengpeng to unlock the treasure trove of knowledge.

Through this back-and-forth exchange, Ji Yongyue might be able to gift him some more advanced books.

After all, in this era, knowledge also has certain taboos.

After hesitating for a moment, Wang Chengpeng finally decided to open a book that recorded the principles of simple machines.

Although the knowledge recorded here is simple and rudimentary, it forms the foundation of all advanced theories, and there is no harm in learning more about it.

With this in mind, Wang Chengpeng began to read under the dim light, just like Xia Zhiqing in a distant place.

……

The same light that was always on in Wang Chengpeng's room was in his parents' room.

Today is the first day of the family separation, and with Wang Chengpeng's wedding just around the corner, how could they possibly sleep?

After cleaning up the mess from the day and quickly washing up, the two lay on the bed and whispered to each other.

Liu Chunhua's eyes were full of uncertainty about the future. She sighed and said:

"Old Wang, tell me, was our decision to split up the family property right or wrong?"

The thought that she had been separated from Wang Degong's family and was now left with only four lonely people filled Liu Chunhua with uncertainty about the future.

Wang Tieshan was also unsure, and he sighed, saying, "I'm also unsure."

"But since the division of the family is a done deal, why should we make trouble for ourselves?"

"The most important thing is to provide a good life for our two children."

The uncertainty about the future kept the couple tossing and turning, unable to fall asleep.

Finally, Wang Tieshan spoke again, his tone somewhat uncertain:

"Actually, I think it's good to separate the family, especially this afternoon. I feel that it's better than when we lived together before."

"Perhaps our lives will be harder without our parents, but I believe that as long as we are together as a family and work together, our lives will get better."

Thinking back to what happened this afternoon, Liu Chunhua smiled knowingly and said:
"That makes sense. It seems like splitting up the family isn't such a bad thing for us."

"This time, Cheng Peng, that rascal, actually made a good decision for our family."

As she said this, Liu Chunhua's eyes were filled with light, a light called hope.

While we were still living at Old Wang's house, life was passable, but it was like stagnant water, with no hope in sight.

On the contrary, the very first day after the family separated, they saw hope.

Wang Tieshan nodded in deep agreement, saying, "It was just a lucky accident."

"We still need to prepare for Cheng Peng's wedding tomorrow, and we need to find a matchmaker to propose marriage. We should go to bed early."

In any era, marriage is a major event that cannot be taken lightly.

Moreover, Wang Chengpeng is marrying Liu Yanran, so if he doesn't make proper preparations, she might not be willing to marry him.

"Yeah, we should go to bed early."

"I need to earn back the work points I wasted these past few days as soon as possible."

As the lights went out, soon the room was filled with the sound of even snoring.

There are still things to work hard on tomorrow!

(End of this chapter)