Chapter 55 Resumption of the college entrance examination
Xu Shiyan took his wife to the Qianchuan ginseng market to see ginseng, but happened to miss an important event.
On October 21st, superiors announced a policy to resume the college entrance examination this year, and all qualified candidates can take the exam.
Once the news was announced, it immediately attracted the attention of countless people.
Especially among the educated youth who went to the countryside, many of them had their minds wandering and began to think about applying for the exam.
On the Xu family side, Xue Xiulin and Wei Mingrong were both educated youths who went to the countryside.
However, both of them graduated from junior high school, and their studies were not very good at first. Now they are married and have children. Even after knowing the news, they did not even think about signing up.
Xu Shixiang, on the other hand, immediately expressed his intention to sign up after hearing the news.
It had been several years since Xu Shixiang graduated from high school, but he had never been willing to work in the agricultural team to earn work points. After finally getting this opportunity, he naturally couldn't miss it.
If he had put aside his previous temper, Xu Chenghou would probably have cursed again when he heard that Lao Wu was going to take the college entrance examination.
This year's college entrance examination is in early December, and time is very tight. If Xu Shixiang wants to take the exam, he must start reviewing immediately.
You must know that Xu Shixiang is still highly regarded in the team and earns a lot of work points.
Xu Chenghou felt very distressed when he thought that his son could not earn work points while preparing for the exam.
However, since the third son made a fuss about the separation of the family, and the young couple went out to live alone, life got better and better. Xu Chenghou had nothing to do and reflected on himself.
The more I think about it, the more I feel that he may be old and cannot keep up with his thinking and vision.
So this time when Lao Wu said he wanted to take the college entrance examination, Xu Chenghou didn't say anything and just sat there smoking for a long time.
Xu Chenghou didn't speak, and the rest of the family couldn't speak rashly. However, Xue Xiulin and Wei Mingrong were both unhappy.
There are more than a dozen members of the Xu family living together, and only a few men can earn work points. If Xu Shixiang registers for the college entrance examination, there will be one less laborer.
The two sisters wanted to say it, but they didn't dare, so they reached out and stabbed their respective men.
Xu Shixian and Xu Shi'an knew in their hearts what their wives wanted to do, but they couldn't tell them directly, so they could only wink at their respective wives.
"Okay, you don't have to wink at me one by one. I'm not so dim that I can't see anything clearly."
Zhou Guilan has been in charge of the family for so many years, but she still can't guess what her son and his wife are thinking? He immediately spoke up.
"Lao Wu is applying for the college entrance examination. I agree. This is an opportunity, a rare and good opportunity."
Although Zhou Guilan is illiterate, she is very knowledgeable, much better than the average rural old lady.
"If I can really get admitted to go to university, I will be a person who eats public food from now on, and I will no longer be a mud-legged person.
Being able to leave the countryside and not have to work in the fields all day long and sit in an office to collect wages is a good thing that others can only dream of."
"Lao Wu, you go to the commune tomorrow morning to ask for the registration form, and then tell your Uncle Zhao, then go home to read and review.
Work hard, if you can get into college, our old Xu family will be considered a proud ancestor."
The real head of the Xu family is Zhou Guilan. With the old lady's words, the matter is settled.
"You guys don't have to feel like you're at a disadvantage.
I said before that when the fourth child gets married, we will separate and live separately in the spring of next year."
Without waiting for the daughters-in-law to make a fuss, Zhou Guilan directly made the point clear. Now, both daughters-in-law lost their temper.
Xu Shiyan on the mountain didn't know what happened at home. Even if he knew about the resumption of the college entrance examination, he didn't have the heart to take it.
At the moment, he is on the mountain, guarding the pit and burning walnut and pine cones for Su Anying.
In the afternoon, while Xu Shiyan was digging traps and placing guns outside the field, he picked up some walnuts and shot a few pine cones.
That's the best thing about the mountains. It's far away from the village, there are few people coming, and there are a lot of various kinds of mountain products.
Su Anying is pregnant. It is said that pregnant women eating more nuts is good for their children.
So when he was cooking just now, Xu Shiyan buried two pine cones in the stove pit. When the pine cones were cooked, he pulled them out. The charcoal in the stove pit was still quite strong.
So Xu Shiyan grabbed a large number of pecans, dipped the front tips in cold water, and inserted them vertically into the charcoal fire.
Not long after, a snapping sound was heard, and the front tip of the walnut cracked.
When the pine cone is cooked, stand it upright, lift up your feet and kick it hard, the pine nuts inside will burst out, and use your hands to pry open the remaining ones to look for them.
A large pine cone can produce almost two taels of pine nuts, and two pine cones are enough for Su Anying to knock for a whole night.
Fresh pine nuts have a sweet aroma when cooked, which is more delicious than dry and fried ones.
Su Anying took a pair of pliers in her hand, pinched them open one by one, took out the pine nuts inside and piled them together.
When Xu Shiyan wasn't paying attention, he stuffed a handful into his mouth.
"I don't want to eat, you can just eat." Xu Shiyan was stunned for a moment, then smiled.
"It is good for your health if you eat it, especially for your children. It is said that if you eat more nuts, your children will have bright eyes and be smart."
He has no craving for snacks and will eat them if they are available. If not, he will forget about them.
For him now, nothing is as important as Su Anying and the child in her belly.
"There are so many, and you even burned the walnuts. If you eat them this way, I will probably be a ball before the baby is born."
Su Anying took a look at her slightly protruding belly. It had only been a few months and she felt like she had gained a lot of weight.
"It's okay, even if I become a ball, I will still be the most beautiful one."
Xu Shiyan smiled, picked out the walnuts from the stove pit, picked up the knife and chopped it down the opening, splitting the walnuts in half.
"Get an awl and you can pick out the walnuts and eat them yourself. I'll go out for a walk."
After all the walnuts were split, Xu Shiyan got up and went out for a walk with his gun on his back.
The venue of the big house is not big, and with the new planting in autumn, it is only about 2,000 feet.
In those days, the horse trails were wide, so it only amounted to fifty or sixty acres of land.
Xu Shiyan carried a gun on his back and a flashlight in one hand, walking around the venue. From time to time, he used the flashlight to shake the grass outside, and then looked at whether the sticks clamped around him were damaged.
When visiting the ginseng in the evening, you need to take a walk. Basically, you have to go around the ginseng site and some of the main places inside.
Especially those places that are more convenient for people to come in, or where there are tall trees that can hide people, you need to check carefully.
Prevent someone from sneaking into the ginseng field and stealing ginseng in the middle of the night.
Although Xu Shiyan set up various traps around the venue, he did not dare to be careless. He would wander around wherever he should go.
It would be a great disgrace if he lost the mallet in his hand.
Xu Shiyan wandered around the venue for more than half a circle, and everything was normal. Xu Shiyan felt relieved and walked back around the other side.
Just as he was wandering to the southeast corner of the venue, he suddenly heard a bang, followed by a howl like a killing pig.
A gunshot was fired. From the sound, it seemed that the wild boar had been wounded.
Xu Shiyan jumped up and immediately ran towards the place where the gunshot was heard.