NOVPUB
Chapter 349: Chapter 339: I Want to Take the College Entrance Examination
Shen Yunfang spent a full two months on her confinement after giving birth, and as June of ’77 arrived, she was finally "released from prison," heading straight to the bathhouse for a thorough scrub that left her skin raw and red before she stopped.
When she came out of the bathhouse, she saw Li Hongjun waiting for her outside.
As soon as Li Hongjun saw his wife emerge, he stood up and promptly draped a scarf over her head, then wrapped it around her snugly.
"What are you doing? I’m out of confinement already, and besides, it’s so hot in the summer, wearing this is too warm, you know." Shen Yunfang struggled in vain under his large hands.
"Behave yourself, don’t you know you’ve just finished your confinement?" Li Hongjun was unmoved, his wife’s health was more important than anything else. Besides, his wife had just taken a bath; she was like a fresh lotus flower emerging from the water, her whole body tenderly pink. How could he be at peace without covering her up?
"I’ve been in confinement for two months, that hardly counts as just finishing." Shen Yunfang was not convinced. Others didn’t have the same treatment she did. The wife of Zhao, the regimental commander in the front yard, had given birth a few months ago, and because she had no one to take care of her, it was said she started doing chores three days after the birth, cooking and washing clothes and everything, which made her the model for the new era woman among the military wives in the family quarters. She could just imagine the military wives in the family quarters must be disparaging her behind her back, calling her pretentious.
"Hey, stop fidgeting, it’s all wrapped up nicely now, let’s go." Li Hongjun paid no mind to her complaints, "Don’t move." Even with his back turned, he timely stopped his wife’s hands that were trying to pull at the scarf.
Deflated, Shen Yunfang dropped her hands and followed Li Hongjun home.
You wouldn’t know Li Hongjun would dare to personally put a scarf on his wife; that was when no one was looking. Now, as the two walked along the street, they maintained a clear distance, one in front and the other behind.
At that time, even married couples had to keep a distance when out in public.
After greeting n number of people, Shen Yunfang called out to the person in front, "I think Mrs. Wang is homesick. Since I am out of confinement now and can do everything myself, why don’t you find someone to help buy a sleeper ticket and send Mrs. Wang home?" Although Mrs. Wang hadn’t said anything these days, she could tell she was thinking about home. Now that Shen Yunfang herself was out of confinement and could handle cold water, it was time to send Mrs. Wang back, so the old lady wouldn’t have to endure the hardship any longer; she felt uneasy about it.
"Hmm, I’ll have someone buy the ticket tomorrow, and then I’ll send a telegram to Dashuan right away." Li Hongjun could obviously tell; watching over his family’s two treasures every day, who wouldn’t miss their own grandchildren? If Mrs. Wang hadn’t been in a hurry to go home, he would have liked his wife to stay in confinement for three months.
"Right, we should send Dashuan a telegram to pick up Mrs. Wang on the other end. Otherwise, I really wouldn’t feel at ease with her—an old lady—going back alone." Shen Yunfang also remembered that Mrs. Wang had never traveled far in her life and had been brought here by Dashuan when she came. She had to be sent off properly as well.
"What do you think we should take back for Mrs. Wang?" Shen Yunfang was a bit worried; Mrs. Wang had been serving her these days, and the hardships, let alone leaving her business for so long, deserved some sort of token of gratitude.
They had already bought her clothes, but what else could they send with her this time?
"Do you think it’s tacky to just give Mrs. Wang some money?" In fact, Shen Yunfang thought giving some money was the most practical thing, but under normal circumstances, Mrs. Wang wouldn’t be likely to accept the money she offered.
Li Hongjun glanced at her and said, "I’ll handle this, don’t worry about it."
In the end, Li Hongjun somehow convinced Mrs. Wang to reluctantly accept the hundred yuan they offered her. Then, with a wave of her hand, she was sent off by Li Hongjun on the train home.
"Mom, Mom, Pang~~ is back~~." Pangpang, the little fellow, wobbled from the courtyard gate into the house and, seeing his mother sitting in front of the stove, happily threw himself at her.
"Oh, my big treasure is back, huh? How was your day? Did you have fun?" Shen Yunfang pulled her son in front of her and planted a big kiss on his cheek.
Pangpang laughed out loud from his mother’s kiss.
Pangpang was already about a year and a half old; he could walk and talk now, although he wasn’t very nimble on his feet, and his speech wasn’t very clear. But he could express the basic gist of what he meant.
"You just relax. Your son is thriving at the daycare. He’s got more face than his dad," Li Hongjun said, putting away his bicycle and entering the house.
Every day when Li Hongjun went to work, he would take Pangpang to daycare, and he’d pick him up on his way back home.
"Exactly, didn’t you see whose son he is?" Shen Yunfang was proud that her son was popular.
Of course, there were good reasons for her son’s popularity. For starters, he was probably the cleanest kid at the daycare. Given the general conditions, Shen Yunfang didn’t dare dress up her child too much, but she made sure his three sets of clothes were always washed clean for him to wear to the daycare. The aunties at the daycare once asked Li Hongjun when picking up his child, "Your child’s clothes don’t last very long, do they? They’ll wear out from being washed before they’re ever worn out."
Additionally, her son was truly endearing. His fair little face lacked the rural redness of other children, and as long as no one provoked him, his temperament was very good. He greeted everyone with a smile. What adult wouldn’t like a child who smiles more than he cries?
Also, Shen Yunfang had visited the aunties who looked after her son, each with children of their own, right after her confinement. She brought them packets of biscuits and fruit candies. Having eaten the treats she brought, of course, they would be especially diligent with her Pangpang.
Li Hongjun chuckled and went to check on his precious daughter.
Initially, the couple did not know the sex of their second child, so while the girl was still in Shen Yunfang’s belly, they called her Erpang. However, once she was born and they saw she was a girl, Li Hongjun was the first to object. "Why would we call our beautiful little girl Erpang? It doesn’t suit her at all. We need to change it," he insisted. Therefore, just two days after making her entrance, Erpang was quickly gifted with a formal name and a nickname. Her formal name was Li Yuman (the girl’s middle name doesn’t need to follow the generational character), and her nickname Manman.
As September arrived, Shen Yunfang became somewhat restless because she knew that this was the time when the Chinese Ministry of Education in Beijing would convene a national higher education admission conference to decide to resume the National College Entrance Examination, which had been suspended for 10 years.
However, the public wouldn’t know about this until the article was published in October’s newspapers.
It’s not far off now, Shen Yunfang silently reassured herself. Although she had reviewed her textbooks from primary school to high school multiple times, she had never worked this hard when initially taking college entrance exams. Therefore, she believed participating in the upcoming entrance exam should not be a problem, yet there was still a sliver of uncertainty in her heart. To ease her mind, she tried to find as much time as possible to revise in the coming month. 𝓃𝓸𝓋𝓅𝓾𝒷.𝒸ℴ𝓂
Not until October 21, when the major Chinese media outlets announced the resumption of college entrance examinations and revealed that this year’s exams would take place in a month nationwide, did Shen Yunfang’s heart finally settle.
"I’m going to take the college entrance exam," Shen Yunfang said to Li Hongjun, pointing at the newspaper. It was not a question but a statement.
