Chapter Thirty-two: Xu Lan's Aspiration

  As June approaches, both Xu Shaojie and Xu Yijie start paying attention to Xu Lan in the small county town, who is about to take the college entrance exam. There are not many things to do in the provincial city, so Xu Yijie plans to return home before the exam, mainly to accompany his mother and help take care of Xu Lan. Xu Shaojie agrees, as he cannot leave.

  Han Qing'e had long since gone through the formalities of retiring due to illness. Recently, she received some news: Liu Xiaomei was pregnant, and it was still early days. Han Qing'e's heart was burning with anxiety. All matters at home were well taken care of, and Xu Lan's grades in school had always been good. This time, as long as he didn't perform abnormally on the college entrance exam, there shouldn't be any problems. Therefore, Han Qing'e could only endure her anxiety and carefully take care of Xu Lan's daily life.

  Han Qing'e had once considered holding a wedding ceremony for Xu Yijie and Liu Xiaomei in the county, but Xu Yijie refused. He and Liu Xiaomei discussed it and decided not to hold any ceremony. The two had already obtained their marriage certificate. Han Qing'e scolded Xu Yijie, knowing that he still had a knot in his heart because of concerns about reputation, and was unwilling to hold a wedding at home. But doing so would be unfair to Liu Xiaomei.

  So, Han Qing'e insisted on holding a wedding ceremony for Xu Yijie and Liu Xiaomei, which would take place after Xu Lan finished the college entrance exam and Xu Shaojie returned home from his break.

  Time flew quickly to July, on July 3rd, Xu Yijie and Liu Xiaomei returned home. Zhang Shaocai left the sedan in the provincial city and bought a double-rowed small truck, which was relatively cheaper and more convenient to use. Xu Yijie drove the sedan with Liu Xiaomei back home.

  As soon as they entered the house, Han Qing'e pulled Liu Xiaomei aside and repeatedly reminded her that she had been pregnant for over a month and there were many things to pay attention to. Such a long car ride was not good in the first place. Han Qing'e also scolded Xu Yijie, saying he didn't know that women needed extra care and love during pregnancy, yet he dared to let her take such a car ride.

  There are only three days left before Xu Lan's college entrance examination, and Xu Yijie knows that he can't help much, so he doesn't bother Xu Lan too much. Liu Xiaomei has experienced the college entrance examination and knows that when facing the exam, the pressure is huge, so it's necessary to relax. Han Qing'e mainly helps Xu Lan improve her life.

  Xu Shaojie also had trouble sleeping at school, the weather was hot and he couldn't stop thinking about Xu Lan, so he often didn't fall asleep until late at night. Zhang Shaocai had already prepared everything, he and Yan Yuhuan rented a house in the provincial city, after moving to Huaiyang City, they still kept renting this house, everything inside was ready, it was all prepared for his mother Han Qing'e to come and live in the provincial city. Now, Xu Yijie and Liu Xiaomei lived there. But all these arrangements depended on Xu Lan's college entrance examination results, if Xu Lan failed the exam, then everything would have to be re-planned. Xu Lan was among the top 20 students in the school, going to university in Xilin City was not a problem, even if she failed, she could still go to a second-tier university. However, Xu Shaojie didn't want Xu Lan to attend university in the provincial city, it would be better if she went to Beijing instead. Xu Shaojie had a vague dream, someone in his family must work in Beijing or Shanghai, he and Xu Yijie no longer had this possibility, so now it depended on Xu Lan. If Xu Lan attended a normal university or a medical university, the chances of being assigned to a big city would be much higher. Of course, Xilin City was also not bad, his mother and brother's family were all here, life could be taken care of, very convenient.

  These two days, Xu Lan seemed very relaxed, occasionally chatting with Liu Xiao Mei and often talking to her brother Xu Yi Jie. Xu Lan knew all about the situation at home, her father's death three years ago had a great impact on her, she once doubted reading books, her father was a university student, and in an era when knowledge was valued, but life was not very easy, he passed away too early, now in this era, things are changing fast, Xu Lan also felt it in the small county town, not all classmates could take the university exam, some classmates whose parents had power and influence were already thinking about getting a job or entering government work, with the current situation, as long as you have power at home, these things are not very difficult. But later Xu Lan changed her mind, to have a good future, ordinary families can only rely on reading books, every time brother Xu Shao Jie answered at home, the first thing was to care about her study situation, as long as there were places she didn't understand, Xu Shao Jie would not eat or sleep until he helped her figure it out, Xu Lan knew that her family's hope was for her to take a good university exam, so Xu Lan studied very hard. Brother Xu Shao Jie's help was huge, Xu Shao Jie also read liberal arts, and knew many rules, every time Xu Shao Jie came back from school, he would bring back a set of carefully organized materials to help Xu Lan review and consolidate her memory, liberal arts are mostly about memorization, mastering the rules can have twice the effect with half the effort.

  Xu Lan still made up her mind to take the teacher's college entrance exam, which was a carefully considered decision. Of course, Xu Lan would not choose to return to the small county town to teach, she wanted to stay in the big city. Xu Lan was clear that after she was admitted to university, her mother would leave the small county town and from then on, the small county town where she had lived for many years would slowly disappear from her memory. She would only return to the county town during Chinese New Year to pay respects to her father, and otherwise would have no connection with the small county town. When she received the admission notice, it was time to leave the small county town, and from then on, her home would be in Xilin City.

  The time for the college entrance examination has arrived, and Xu Lan is already familiar with the examination room in the county's No. 1 Middle School, where she spent three years studying. However, Han Qing'e, Xu Yijie, and Liu Xiaomei still escorted her to outside the security line. During the exam, her mother Han Qing'e will be waiting outside, while Liu Xiaomei is cooking at home. Thinking that her pregnant sister-in-law is still cooking for her, Xu Lan made up her mind to do well on the exam.

  After three days of exams, Xu Lan felt extremely good about herself and performed outstandingly. When comparing with the standard answers, Xu Lan was pleasantly surprised to find that she had performed much better than usual this time. With only a few days left before filling out the college application, filling out the application is very important, and the only one with experience is Xu Shaojie.

  The day before Xu Lan was to fill out her college application, Xu Shaojie returned home. Not a moment was wasted after school let out, and he set off immediately. Xu Shaojie knew that filling out the application was complicated for Xu Lan - aside from the teachers' recommendations, she had to accurately estimate her scores. Sometimes, even if one's score was high enough to get into a top-tier university, they would have to settle for a second-tier school because their application was too ambitious. Some of these intricacies were already clear to Xu Shaojie, including how the county's filing system worked and how it could affect things. Everyone wants to attend a good university, but if your score is low or you're delayed by the filing process, you might not get into your first-choice school, and if your second-choice school has already reached capacity, you'll have to face random assignment - a truly unfortunate situation.

  After Xu Shaojie returned home, he didn't rest and asked about Xu Lan's scores and volunteer situation in detail. He made a decisive decision that Xu Lan's first volunteer was Beijing Normal University. Nowadays, the normal profession is not too hot, and Xu Lan's grades are still very confident to enter North Normal University. As for Peking University and Tsinghua University, don't think about it for the time being. With such scores, although there is a possibility of going up, the difficulty is too great and the risk is too great. If not handled properly, even the second volunteer school may not be admitted. The second volunteer chose China Agricultural University. Such schools can guarantee that as long as the professional choice is good, it doesn't matter. Xu Shaojie didn't care about the rest of the volunteers. Generally speaking, if you miss the first and second volunteers, you can only follow the assignment.

  Xu Lan didn't hesitate and directly filled in the application according to Xu Shaojie's suggestion. Xu Lan's class teacher was very appreciative of her choice, as many students overestimated themselves and only had their eyes on the top three schools, ending up with a crushing defeat. Xu Lan's choice was extremely accurate, but what surprised the class teacher was that her first choice was Beijing Normal University, which is one of the top normal universities in the country. Students who graduate from there are unlikely to be assigned to small towns, and with some effort, they have a good chance of staying in Beijing; at the very least, they will be directly assigned to the provincial capital.

  Xu Lan's matter has come to an end, and the admission notice will take some time, but it won't be too long. Because Beijing Normal University is a first-class university in China, along with Peking University and Tsinghua University, they will send out admission notices at the same time, which means she will receive the admission notice by the end of July. After finishing filling out her application, Xu Lan started helping out at home, preparing for Xu Yijie's wedding.

  Han Qing'e had discussed with Xu Shaojie long ago, now Xu Shaojie is the backbone of the family, Xu Shaojie fully agrees to hold a wedding in his hometown, this is to prove to everyone that Xu Yijie has stood up, not only can he be self-sufficient but also support his family, people's understanding has improved a lot, although there are still some old ideas, the view of rich people has changed for the better.

  On the issue of receiving guests, Xu Shaojie believes that there should not be too many guests. The people from his father's unit, his mother's unit, relatives and friends, and some people who need to maintain social relationships, inviting these people is enough.

  The wedding is scheduled for July 25th.

  Xu Yijie seemed to be nonchalant, but Liu Xiaomei was different, looking extremely delighted. Initially, Xu Yijie had said they wouldn't hold a wedding ceremony, and the two had already obtained their marriage certificate, just living life like that. Although Liu Xiaomei hadn't said anything, she still felt uncomfortable in her heart - which woman doesn't want to have a dignified wedding?

  On July 20th, Zhang Shaocai and Yan Yuhuan returned to the small county town.

  Preparing for a wedding is still tiring, Han Qing'e was in charge of receiving guests, Xu Shaojie was in charge of contacting the restaurant, Xu Lan was in charge of taking photos with Xu Yijie and Liu Xiaomei, arranging hair and makeup places, everyone had things to do, but there were many small things that Xu Shaojie wasn't familiar with, so he was a bit worried. After Zhang Shaocai and Yan Yuanyuan returned, all the problems were solved, Yan Yuanyuan took charge of everything, Zhang Shaocai suggested what to pay attention to according to local customs, Xu Shaojie listened vaguely, how would he know so many things?

  The wedding was held as scheduled, and Liu Xiaomei's family arrived in the county town a day in advance. Her brother had returned, and her parents had also come over. The two places were too far apart to go pick up Liu Xiaomei, so this step was skipped. All the ceremonies were arranged according to high standards, and Liu Xiaomei's family was very satisfied. Several sisters-in-law envied Liu Xiaomei, a girl who had the best conditions after marriage.

  Han Qing'e didn't have many guests, so when Xu Shaojie contacted the restaurant, he didn't book a lot of tables. Zhang Shaocai found out later and thought there were too few tables. He believed that the guests who came might be families, and once they arrived, they would want to eat. That's how it is in rural areas. Xu Shaojie explained that the county and countryside are different, but Zhang Shaocai said Xu Shaojie was unmarried and didn't understand such things, so Xu Shaojie could only follow Zhang Shaocai's arrangements.

  It wasn't until the day of the wedding that Xu Shaojie understood what Zhang Shaocai had meant by arranging things this way.

  A large number of people rushed to the county town, all of whom were technicians brought by Zhang Shaocai in the past. Some had already become masters and brought their apprentices. There were also many contractors and bosses in the construction industry who drove themselves to the county town. Many people from Huaiyang City also came, but Xu Shaojie didn't know them. On the day of the wedding, Xu Shaojie and his relatives and friends who had come to help were busy and flustered. They couldn't imagine that so many people would come. The restaurant owner smiled and proactively took charge of receiving guests in front of the restaurant. During the banquet, the restaurant owner secretly instructed his family members to add dishes, give gifts, and buy vegetables on the street. The staff at the wedding scene kept counting the number of guests, and the boss knew that the originally planned wine table was not enough.

  Xu Yijie's wedding, due to the large number of attendees, caused quite a stir. Some people who owed favors to the Xu family didn't receive an invitation from Han Qing'e, but came anyway, making it seem like there were even more guests.

  What delighted Liu Xiaomei the most was that she had originally thought there wouldn't be many people, but who would have known that the wedding would be so grand, with countless guests. What made her family the most envious was that they thought to themselves, "The county town is indeed different."

  Xu Yijie and Liu Xiaomei went back to their own homes, Zhang Shaocai and Yan Yuhuan were exhausted and planned to rest at home for two days. Xu Shaojie didn't need to be mentioned, after the wedding ceremony ended, he slept for a whole day. Han Qing'e and Xu Lan were fine, they didn't have much to do anyway.

  During this time, Xu Shaojie did not forget to ask about the admission results. He already knew that the first batch of admissions would be announced in these two days, and Xu Lan should be within the scope of the first batch of admissions.

  July 27th, early in the morning.

  Xu Lan's head teacher came knocking on the door early in the morning. Xu Shaojie saw Xu Lan's head teacher and knew that Xu Lan had been admitted. Indeed, the head teacher congratulated Xu Lan on being accepted by Beijing Normal University. The news had already spread within the school, and the admission notice would arrive soon. Upon hearing the news, the whole family was overjoyed. Zhang Shaocai immediately handed over 3,000 yuan to Xu Lan, saying it was for university expenses.

  The whole family arrived at the cemetery, and Xu Lan knelt in front of her father's grave, telling him that she had been admitted to Beijing Normal University. Many people in the county town envied them - the Xu family had one son at Xilin University, one daughter at Beijing Normal University, and another son who didn't seem promising but had such a good wedding and such a beautiful wife. Everyone was talking about it, saying that Old Xu must have done many good deeds to be blessed with such children, and the Xu family became an example for many people in the county to motivate their own children.