After confirming that his wife would go with him, Lianshan began to prepare in earnest.
Clothes, luggage, enough tickets, and so on. After all, it’s another hundred days of good, but everything gets difficult when travelling, especially since they have a little one who isn’t weaned yet. Just figuring out how to safely have the child with them without missing classes was a major issue to be solved.
No matter how obedient the child, it was still a few months old and didn’t understand anything. Crying and fussing were instinctual, needing someone to watch. Since both parents needed to attend classes and didn’t want to leave the kid at home, they had to find a reliable person to help take care of the child. Right now, Lianshan was mostly considering this issue of choosing the right person.
Meanwhile, what Shuzhen urgently needed to solve was how to justify their family taking two out of the three available spots, so that all the villagers would accept it willingly without any ripples.
She was lucky, just like a pillow arriving when someone was about to fall asleep.
An outstanding provincial-level village cadre award, a few commendations for her double handheld approach to productivity, all indications that she had a rightful claim to one of the spots, provided she intended to attend university at all. Otherwise, even if there was only one spot, it would undoubtedly still be hers.
Still, Shuzhen publicly declared that she would fairly and justly participate in the exam along with all the young men and women aspiring to bring glory to the Liu family division from going to university.
This announcement got her endless praise.
Because with such honor in front, even if Shuzhen directly secured the three spots for her family, including Accountant Liu, no one could say a word.
After all, this university recommendation was supposed to be fair and just, but who had actually seen an open selection?
Is it not about having good ties with the squad leader or being willing to put in money, tickets, or gifts to speak on one’s behalf?
However, ever since the quotas were given, their team leader didn’t accept even half an onion or a pin’s worth of gifts. Like Bao Zheng from an opera, he was truly impartial! Look, even if she and her husband wanted to attend this university, they formally participated in the exam with no special treatment at all.
With such a fair, un-corrupt leader, the villagers of the Liu family felt they were really fortunate.
Keeping negative rumors to a minimum unexpectedly built her a reputation for integrity. Shuzhen found it amusing, knowing she wasn’t as selfless as people said. She was just an early riser studying in advance, feeling confident in her own abilities.
After all, the environment was like that; rural areas weren’t placing much emphasis on education.
The whole village couldn’t count a handful of middle school graduates, and the education level of herself and her three siblings was considered top-notch. Oh, and their brother-in-law Ning Jianshe, who also only had a middle school level.
But her elder brothers showed little interest in going to university, and Ning Jianshe was concerned about leaving his wife and kids alone.
The most competitive ones opted out, and the newly arrived educated youths were not eligible due to a short residency.
To Shuzhen and Lianshan, taking this exam was just a formality!
The aim was simply for the sake of fairness.
Sure enough, when the middle and high school level test questions, specially prepared by a few high school teachers from the county, were issued, both Lianshan and Shuzhen scored top marks, taking first and second places respectively, with the third spot going to Li Hai, a retired soldier.
When the test papers, scores, and rankings of more than thirty candidates were directly posted on the announcement board at the village committee set up by Shuzhen, everyone praised the literacy level of the Lianshan couple, blaming their own children for not studying hard and getting flustered during exams.
There were a few who doubted the fairness of the exam, calling it unnecessary to even bother.
But as soon as these small doubts arose, they were met with scorn and ridicule from everyone.
Because to have the quota increased from one to three was the result of Leader Shuzhen’s efforts. If she directly secured it for herself and her husband, who would dare accuse her of abuse of power?
Moreover, from the beginning of the official registration, Leader Shuzhen had stated: the candidates selected would represent the Liu family brigade in further education, reflecting the brigade’s image. It wouldn’t make sense for an illiterate person to go to university; not only is it absurd, you’re wasting national resources!
With the great leader’s words that ’corruption and waste are great crimes’, who would dare associate themselves with ’great crimes’ even if they were ideologically pure and devout?
Furthermore, the criteria for assessment combined factors such as background, character, usual performance, and educational level. Not only the final three qualifiers, but all thirty candidates eligible for participation, were known as praiseworthy individuals.
In sum, amid harmonious and warm congratulations, the Liu family village welcomed three new university students.
After determining the spots, Lian Hai and Lian Yue joined forces to prepare a feast. They invited Shouren, Shouyi, and the eight champions of the Su family, insisting on celebrating for them.
As Lianshan and Lian Yue put it: having two university students in one family should involve visits to ancestor’s graves, burning paper offerings, or setting off firecrackers if it wasn’t strictly regulated above! How glorious is that? A celebration is definitely in order.
The invited Su family champions not only accepted the invitation happily but also brought the couple a small gift — an exquisite, multifunctional stroller crafted by Su Yanshou that acted as a disassembled vehicle, bed, and walker, likely useful until the child was three years old.
"Third Brother, you’re amazing. This craftsmanship is just incredible!" Admiring the stroller, which had a wooden frame, and though it may not be as lightweight as the models a decade later, its design and workmanship surpassed those of modern prams. Shuzhen sincerely praised and eagerly applauded Su Yanshou.
"Hehe, I’m glad you like it, sister. I got inspired by you when I came up with the idea for this stroller. With this and a few furniture designs you mentioned to me, we’ve actually made a decent profit. Since we’re family, we don’t do the formality. It’s just a small gesture as you two will be leaving soon. Accept this stroller and the few things for use as a token of our sentiments.
If you think the brothers are worth considering, just accept it without ceremony and focus well on your studies. Then we can boast to others that the most accomplished university couple in Liu family village is our very own sister and brother-in-law!"
Seeing that although the stroller was finely made, it essentially involved home-grown wood and craftsmanship, with not much more than waterproof canvas for the canopy and mosquito nets for covering, and iron wheels with rubber casters for improved stability and comfort, Shuzhen nodded and accepted it without appearing overly courteous.
Hardly had she nodded when the eldest and second brothers of the Su family beamed like cats that had succeeded in capturing a little mouse, turning around and hauling in two sacks from outside the house!