Chapter 1526: Reactions
Li Yungui sighed, filled with gratitude towards the Wei family.
“Dad, all the educated youth in the county took the university entrance exams. Luckily, the educated youth from our village have left.”
“Do the educated youth leave after passing the exams?”
“I suppose so.”
“They really had it tough, coming from thousands of miles away, having to work to support themselves, and without the awareness to study early.
You all must be grateful to your Teacher Jiang for the rest of your lives.”
All four young men nodded. “Yeah, without Teacher Jiang, what would we have done? We wouldn’t have learned much in just over a month like everyone else,” sighed Hongjun.
Cheng Lin snickered, “By then, we wouldn’t even have had the courage to register for the exams.”
Hongling also nodded. “Yeah, I came over from the city and had just started primary school. Without Teacher Jiang, I probably would only know how to write my own name.”
“Yeah, definitely no courage to register.”
“Hence, Teacher Jiang and Master Wei are our benefactors,” said Hongjun.
The other three nodded in agreement.
“Actually, it feels empty talking about it now, but I, Li Hongjun, swear that if, one day, Master Wei’s family needs me, I won’t talk about going through fire and water, but I will definitely give my 100%.”
These words resonated with the other three young men as well. They all felt that way, believing that the Wei family had changed their destinies.
Li Yungui watched as his sons and nephews ate, then strolled out with his first stop being Li Cunshan’s house.
“Brother Cunshan, the kids all scored over 400 points, Hongjun even topped the list,” Li Yungui shouted excitedly.
Li Cunshan stood up with excitement at the news, “They all passed, right?”
“Yes, they all passed. And the five of them are the top five in our city.”
“Yungui, go burn joss paper for your parents and tell them this good news. Our old Li family has produced someone successful.”
To these ordinary folks, getting into college meant making it big.
“Will there be exams next year?” Li Cunshan asked.
“Definitely, from now on there will be every year.”
“Yungui, you must tell the teachers to focus on the kids’ education.”
“If these four can get in, people will naturally envy them and work hard to get into college.”
“Yungui, are we going to hold a banquet for the kids?”
“Sure, this is a happy event. We’ll invite everyone for a meal. I’ve already decided to kill a pig straight away.”
After finishing the talk with Li Cunshan, Li Yungui felt a lot calmer.
He then went to the winery and saw Lv Beiguang working shirtless.
Both in-laws chatted about their kids, proud as can be.
They wouldn’t have to worry about the children in the future, they would all accomplish great things.
Before the night came, the whole village knew that Village Chief Li’s five children had done exceptionally well in the exams. However, since they hadn’t received their admissions yet, people just said they did well.
Over in the Capital, a few people first received their admission notices. The starting date was set for the 20th day of the first month of the year 1978.
Upon receiving the notice, Guodong and the others discussed wanting to visit their elderly family back home, as they wouldn’t be coming over.
They mentioned it to Wei Kaiyun and Han Xiangjun. “It’d be best for you to wait until the summer vacation to go back. The weather’s bad here, and if a heavy snow falls, you might not be able to return.”
“Hongjun and the others also need to get here quickly to avoid any sudden issues.”
In the end, the nine of them couldn’t go back. They all felt a bit down, knowing if there was heavy snow, they’d indeed be delayed.
On the sixth day of the twelfth lunar month, the four young men received their admission notices together, directly delivered by the postal worker.
Although there was no fanfare, by lunchtime, everyone in Li Family Village knew that the four young men had become college students.
In this era, college students were the epitome of success.
Everyone came with money to Li Yungui’s house.
Li Yungui and Qu Xiaoli had already decided not to accept even a penny from anyone. This would make things easier.
But they informed everyone that they would host a meal on the tenth day of the twelfth lunar month.
Li Yunqiang felt a bit down during lunch; while he was thrilled his nephews got into college, none of his own kids attended, and even the most promising Xiang Dong didn’t take part.
At that time, Xiang Dong and Chaoyang were always together. When did things change?
It was after Xiang Dong returned from the Capital that he changed.
Li Yunqiang knew that before the exams, Wei Kaiyun had approached Xiang Dong, but he had no interest, and there was truly nothing to be done.
Nobody could be blamed for this; it was his own choice.
Shuxin and Shu Wen felt down too, mostly out of regret and envy.
Nowadays, Zhang Aiping was particularly quiet, sitting properly and eating, seldom heard speaking.
On the eighth of the month was Shu Wen’s wedding day, and there was indeed going to be a banquet.
So Zhang Aiping was in a very bad mood, feeling it was unfair she only got to have a meal with the Li Family, whereas Tang Lanfang could have such a grand occasion.
But she dared not make a fuss now, as even Li Shuxin wouldn’t sleep in the same room with her.
The rest of the village educated their children, “Others can get into college, and back then, Hongjun had to drive a tractor, yet still came first.
You all go to school every day, so you must get into college too.”
The neighboring villages also heard about the five college students in Village Chief Li’s family from Li Family Village. This news was sensational.
Wang Shulin lamented that now he and Li Yungui were no longer on the same level. His children were indeed impressive, beyond envy.
His cousin no longer needed to worry, as her eldest son’s family was the only one at home now. Not living together, there would be fewer conflicts.
On the eighth, everyone was going to Li Yunqiang’s house to celebrate the wedding, so no outsiders came to Li Family Village, waiting for the next day to visit and congratulate Li Yungui.
The four brothers helped Shu Wen tidy up today, and the tables were set up at the brigade headquarters.
Qu Xiaoli was directing people to cook meat and such, but they didn’t need help from them.
“Xiao Li, you’re so fortunate, marrying a capable man and giving birth to all capable children. In the future, you’re destined to enjoy happiness.”
Qu Xiaoli just smiled. She had been receiving congratulations these few days, and she indeed felt joyful inside.
“Xiao Li, your Changhe isn’t young anymore. Aren’t you finding a wife for him?” Families with marriageable daughters were naturally interested.
“Yes, Xiao Li, Changhe is almost twenty-three, right?”
Qu Xiaoli laughed, “No rush, I heard college students can get married.
They’re all college students now. Let them find partners themselves.”