I was married off to a disabled hero in lieu of marriage; my in-laws doted on me and I aspired to gr

To make it easier for the three of them to study, Zhou Wenhui brought back two old desks from his workplace, and the three of them studied in the same room, each with their own desk.

There was no heating in the newspaper's staff quarters, so Zhou Wenhui bought high-quality charcoal at a high price and burned it from morning till night, so the study was not cold at all.

Qiaoqiao's mother works the hardest. Besides taking care of the children and doing housework, she also has to cook for the family of five.

For convenience, noodles became the family's staple food.

When he was too busy, Zhou Wenhui would buy food from the canteen to eat. In order to let Qiaoqiao's mother get a good rest, Zhou Wenhui would take care of the child at night, and Qiaoqiao would sleep in the same room with her mother.

This was a period of intense passion, and everyone was exhausted, including Zhou Xiaowei, who was only three months old.

Zhao Jintao and Yang Zheng often discussed a topic until dawn, yet they never felt tired, especially Yang Zheng, who didn't sleep all night and still had to go to work the next day.

Of course, Chen Yan also gave his apprentice the greatest support. He did the work that Yang Zhengqian was supposed to do, and when he wasn't busy, he simply let Yang Zheng go back to the dormitory to sleep.

Many young workers in the workshop were preparing for the college entrance examination, and they helped each other out. As long as the workshop was running normally, Tang Ping turned a blind eye to their problems.

All the hard work has finally paid off; it's time to prove ourselves.

Zhao Jintao was going back to Tonggang County to take the college entrance examination. Qiaoqiao's mother made a big pot of meat dumplings, and the family gathered together for a normal meal.

"I've seen all your hard work. Don't feel pressured; you'll definitely pass the exam," said Zhou Wenhui, the head of the family.

"Teacher Zhou, I will never forget this past month. Thank you for your support. I, Zhao Jintao, will always remember it."

After Zhou Wenhui became the editor-in-chief, outsiders respectfully called him "teacher".

"Jin Tao, that's going too far. Calling me 'teacher' has distanced us. I'm older than you, call me Brother Zhou."

Zhou Wenhui knew that Zhao Jintao liked Qiaoqiao, and was initially jealous, but after spending more than a month together, he accepted him.

"Alright, then I'll call you Brother Zhou. Brother Zhou, there will be many days to come, and I won't thank you enough for now."

"I've been very moved during this time. We've come together for our ideals. I wish you all the best and hope you make outstanding contributions in your respective fields. I won't drink alcohol; I'll offer you tea instead."

May all our wishes come true!

Everyone raised their glasses, and Qiaoqiao's mother was so relieved that she almost cried again.

On December 10, Zhou Wenhui took leave and personally escorted Qiaoqiao and Yang Zheng into the examination hall.

The crowds of test takers and their families were enormous, and the military was on hand to maintain order.

The candidates were also quite unique, ranging in age from fifteen or sixteen to nearly forty.

This is a college entrance examination that will go down in history. Outside the bustling examination hall, everyone is filled with anticipation for the future.

After watching Qiaoqiao and Yang Zheng enter the examination hall, Zhou Wenhui rushed back to help Qiaoqiao's mother prepare lunch.

For lunch, they had pork ribs stewed with radishes. Qiaoqiao's mother was going to make braised pork. Zhou Wenhui was worried that they would get an upset stomach from eating it, so he said that pork rib soup was nutritious and warming to the stomach.

Qiaoqiao's mother also cooked several dishes: glass noodles and cabbage, pan-fried fish pieces, and stir-fried eggs with chives. The dishes were nutritionally balanced and each one was very light.

After returning from the first exam, Qiaoqiao and Yang Zheng were both very happy. Qiaoqiao was the best at Chinese, and she hadn't expected the college entrance exam questions to be so easy.

Zhou Wenhui forbade them to discuss the answers. After lunch, he urged Qiaoqiao and Yang Zheng to take a nap, while he kept watch over the time, waking them up and taking them to the afternoon math exam.

Zhou Xiaowei was hungry all morning, but at noon she drank milk and ate her fill, and then took a nap with her mother.

When Qiaoqiao got home that evening, her smile vanished. Needless to say, she hadn't done the last math problem worth 18 points.

Yang Zheng did well on the exam, but he didn't dare show his joy, afraid that Qiaoqiao would be upset. He kept comforting her, saying, "Your math is the worst subject. It's okay, you still have two more exams tomorrow."

"That's so difficult, I wonder who came up with the question."

"It's very difficult; even my brother doesn't know how."

"Brother, you didn't do it either?"

"I...I did it, but I don't know if I did it right."

"I'm so scared! If I don't pass the exam, it's because I'm not good enough. My brother has to pass."

She couldn't do it herself, and she wouldn't allow her brother to not know it either.

Qiaoqiao gets angry if her brother can do everything; women's emotions are truly unpredictable.

Fortunately, the politics, history, and geography sections on the second day went well, and Qiaoqiao's confidence returned.

After the college entrance exam, Qiaoqiao really wanted to burn all the materials, but Zhou Wenhui said that if she didn't pass this year, she would have to take it again next year, so she couldn't burn them.

Will I have to take the exam again next year?

Qiaoqiao cried with a heavy heart. Studying was too difficult. This year, she started studying when she was pregnant and continued until the end of the college entrance examination. It felt like she had gone through a long march of 25,000 li.

No, Qiaoqiao did the Long March twice, and giving birth counts too.

With the heavy burden lifted from Qiaoqiao's mother's shoulders, Zhou Xiaowei could finally cry.

The family returned to normal. The first thing Zhou Wenhui did after getting off work was to hug and kiss his six-month-old son, and he also tried his best to teach him to say "Dad". Zhou Xiaowei responded every time, babbling in baby talk and spitting his dad's face with urine.

Zhou Wenhui didn't mind his son's urine and would always happily shout, "Qiaoqiao, our son peed, he peed!"

Waiting for the scores was agonizing; Qiaoqiao never mentioned it, and Zhou Wenhui dared not bring it up either.

Finally, the scores were released: Qiaoqiao got 252 points, and Yang Zheng got 258 points.

Qiaoqiao is a liberal arts student; at best, she can get into an ordinary university.

Yang Zheng, a science student, scored 260 points, just two points short of the admission cutoff for Tsinghua and Peking Universities.

The Huailin City Machinery Factory was abuzz with excitement; Yang Zheng had ranked third in the entire city.

Zhou Wenhui was also thrilled. He hugged and kissed Qiaoqiao repeatedly, praising her incessantly: "My wife is the best. She actually got into university."

However, Yang Zheng was unhappy, and Qiaoqiao was unhappy too.

Yang Zheng was not accepted into Tsinghua or Peking University, while Qiao Qiao wanted to attend university in the city, but her score was not high enough.

She couldn't bear to leave her son behind when asked to go to another place. It only took three days for Qiaoqiao's mother to go from crying with joy to crying with sorrow.

Learning is important, and so are children.

If she goes to study in another city during her four years of university, will her son still recognize her as his mother?

As for Yang Zheng, Qiaoqiao's mother wasn't worried. She was fine with any university, as long as he got in.

Since the scores came out, Qiaoqiao hasn't smiled once. She held her son Zhou Xiaowei with tears streaming down her face, while Xiaowei excitedly shouted and kept talking, though it was unclear what he was saying.

On Sunday, Zhou Wenhui got up very early, took a copy of "The Silent Hero" and went out.

Qiaoqiao asked, puzzled, "Where are we going?"

Zhou Wenhui is a very low-key person; he never flaunts his books. Why is he doing this today?

Zhou Wenhui found out through his colleagues that the president of Huailin University lived in the cadre compound on the university campus, Building A-1, and he was going to find the president.

Zhou Wenhui was also worried about Qiaoqiao's situation. Someone told him that the principal had special privileges and could admit the student even if her score did not meet the school's cutoff score, as long as he was willing to accept her.

The prerequisite is that the student must have made a special contribution.

Qiaoqiao came from the countryside and had no great achievements. The greatest thing she did was to give birth to a son for Zhou Wenhui.

In addition, he helped Zhou Wenhui proofread and transcribe "The Silent Hero".

At the time, in order to acknowledge Qiaoqiao's contributions, Zhou Wenhui specifically mentioned his wife Yang Qiao's support and dedication in the book's preface.

The words that were mentioned in passing have come in very useful today. Zhou Wenhui will use this book to persuade the president of Huailin University to overstep his authority and admit Qiaoqiao.