1978: Female educated youth, don’t want an illiterate husband

Chapter 267: Making a long distance call home, there are a lot of variables (please order the whole thing)
If it weren't for the Chinese New Year, there wouldn't be many calls coming to the post office.

When Cheng Xuemin arrived here, he could make the call directly without having to queue up, and the transfer time was also very fast.

After waiting for a few minutes, Cheng Xuemin got through and the call was made to their commune in northern Shaanxi.

"Hey, is that Xuemin?!"

As soon as the phone was connected, he heard his uncle's hearty laughter, which made Cheng Xuemin smile slightly. It had been a while since he heard his uncle's voice.

And judging from my uncle's mood, it is obvious that my cousin Qin Xiaolian's estimated score should be out soon.

You must have done well in the exam, otherwise my uncle wouldn’t be so happy.

"It's me, the uncle, Xuemin!"

"Xiao Lian, my sister, and my brother-in-law are all here, right?"

Cheng Xuemin then spoke and replied to his uncle.

"It's Xuemin, it's Xuemin! I said the long-distance call from Beijing must be from my Xuemin!"

The voice of my uncle talking to someone came from the other end, emphasizing that the call was from Yanjing, so it must be his eldest nephew.

Apparently!

That day, my uncle and his friends were all waiting for Cheng Xuemin's call. My uncle couldn't help but brag to the cadres in the commune.

Cheng Xuemin did not interrupt, but waited for his uncle to speak.

There were also faint shouts from other people over there, and Cheng Xuemin seemed to hear the voices of his parents.

Then he asked, "Uncle, who are you talking to? My parents? Are they here too?"

"Yes, yes, Xuemin! You and your mother are waiting for you at the commune!"

"And your sister and brother-in-law Xiaolian have just returned from the county and are waiting for your call here!"

Soon, the uncle followed Lian Lian and Cheng Xuemin and said, "Xuemin, wait, I'll let your mother answer the phone!"

"No, no, no, uncle. Long-distance calls are expensive. Just talk to Xuemin!"

As soon as my uncle finished speaking, Cheng Xuemin's mother's voice of repeated refusing came from the other side. It was obvious that she felt sorry for the expensive long-distance calls and asked my uncle to keep the conversation short.

Right!

In this day and age, who would make a long-distance call?

It's all about writing letters, okay!

Cheng Xuemin who was listening here didn't know what to say. With their family's current situation, how could they not afford such a small long-distance call?

Cheng Xuemin doesn't care, but the problem is with his uncle's mother. Even answering the phone has to pay.

Moreover, in this era, the phone bills for incoming and outgoing calls are the same.

That is to say, Cheng Xuemin made a ten-yuan phone call, and the call back home also cost ten yuan, so it is normal for his mother to feel bad about the phone bill.

"Take it, take it! If you don't have time to refuse, you can talk to Xuemin!"

There came the sound of excuses between my uncle and my mom, and it was exactly as my uncle said. If they continued to be polite, they would actually be able to say a few words to each other!

Cheng Xuemin did the same and shouted, "Mom, answer the phone, it's okay!"

"Here, answer the phone quickly, Xuemin is calling you on the phone!" I heard my uncle's voice again.

"Hello, is this Xuemin?"

Then, my mother Qin Guilan's weak and timid voice came from the phone. This was her first time to make a phone call.

"Yes, yes, Mom, it's me, it's me, can you hear me?"

When Cheng Xuemin heard his mother's voice, he was so happy that he kept shouting.

"I can hear it, my son, I can hear it!" The mother's trembling voice came from the other side, and then she shouted again and again, "He da he da, old man, old man, listen, it's Xuemin's voice, it's Xuemin's voice!"

"Let's get down to business. If you keep wasting time, I'll beat you to death!"

It was the voice of Cheng Xuemin's father. As expected, he still had that hot temper and was ready to beat you to death.

The "da" my mother mentioned actually means his father. The old man also calls Cheng Xuemin "laozi". In the Shaanxi dialect, "da" means father and "laohan" refers to husband.

Before, when Feng Jiayou was happy, he often jokingly called Cheng Xuemin "old man".

"Kid, why didn't you tell me and your parents? You scared me to death!" Mother Qin Guilan's voice came from the other side again.

However, these words confused Cheng Xuemin. His father was worried about the phone bill and urged his mother to get down to business, but why did his mother suddenly say this?

For a moment, Cheng Xuemin was completely confused.

"Mom, what's wrong?"

"Why are you telling this to a kid? Believe it or not, I'll beat you to death."

Cheng Xuemin asked doubtfully, and at the same time, he heard the explosive words from his father Cheng Youben next to him.

"I'm going to tell you, I'm going to tell you, even if you beat me to death!"

"My dear, why didn't you tell your family about going to the front line in the south? When your sister came back and told me, you know how scared I was!"

After the mother on the other end had a stubborn argument with his father, she shouted towards the phone.

Hi, so that’s what it is!

After hearing this, Cheng Xuemin suddenly realized that it was his elder sister who told his family about his performance in the south in the first half of the year after she returned home.

Cheng Xuemin had been out of contact at the front line for more than two months and had not written to tell his family about this.

When the elder sister went back, she forgot to tell her to only report good news and not bad news and not to tell her family. Now it is obvious that she has told them everything.

"Mom, isn't it all right?"

"Stop saying these things. Give me the phone. Give me the phone. Believe it or not, I will beat you to death!"

Then there was another sound of fighting over there, which made Cheng Xuemin, who was listening here, really not knowing whether to laugh or cry.

His parents were like this, worrying about the long-distance phone bills while arguing and wasting time.

"Xuemin, your mother is worried about you! You went to do such a big thing, and you didn't even write a letter to your family!"

The phone was snatched away by his father, and he spoke the same words as his mother, with a lot of trembling in his voice. I don't know if it was because he was excited to answer the phone for the first time, or because he was scared.

"Dad, it's okay now, it's all over!" Cheng Xuemin couldn't help choking up after hearing those heartwarming words.

A mother worries about her son even when he is far away, let alone such a big thing as going south to the front line. I didn't dare tell my family at the time because I was afraid they would worry!

"Yes, yes, it's all over, it's all over!"

"How's the little squirrel? How's Jiayou? Now that the college entrance examination is over, are you and Jiayou bringing the little squirrel back for the summer vacation?"

It can be seen that Cheng Xuemin's father is more emotional than his mother. He keeps urging him to get down to business, but when he grabs the phone, he is actually more nagging than his mother.

"Dad, I discussed it with Jiayou. The weather is too hot. The little squirrel is just one month old and Jiayou is just out of confinement. It's not suitable for us to travel far, so we won't go back during the summer vacation!" "Yes, yes, Xuemin, you are right. I would have told you even if you didn't say it. The little squirrel is just one month old. Don't rush to bring him out!"

As soon as Cheng Xuemin finished speaking, his father nodded in praise, but Cheng Xuemin could hear some disappointment in his tone.

After all, I've been looking forward to this for a long time. How long have you been looking forward to it?

Ever since Cheng Xuemin came to Beijing last year, his family has been looking forward to the early birth of their eldest grandson so that he could be brought back home to recognize his ancestors.

"That's it! Dad, talk to Mom too, wait a little longer!"

"When the little squirrel grows up a little, during the winter vacation this year, Jiayou and I will take him back home to celebrate the New Year, and it will be a good opportunity to enroll him in the family tree!"

Cheng Xuemin knew what his father was worried about. He was afraid that his eldest grandson would not be able to return for a while, and after a long time he would become the grandson of the old Feng family.

So when they returned from Yanjing, they told Cheng Xuemin that if the child was born and it was an eldest grandson, he should be brought back as soon as possible to be included in the family tree.

"Okay, okay, that's right!" After hearing this, Mr. Cheng on the other end of the phone nodded repeatedly.

"The whole text, the whole text, you tell your brother, you tell your brother!"

After Mr. Cheng finished his business, he didn't say anything else. He was still worried about the phone bill, so he handed the phone directly to his brother-in-law Wang Quanwen and asked him to talk to Cheng Xuemin.

"Ahhhh, okay, da!"

Brother-in-law Wang Quanwen and Cheng's father were talking over there, and soon his voice came over the phone, "Hello, hello, Xuemin, it's me!"

"I just came back from the county with your sister and Xiaolian! Both your sister and Xiaolian did very well in the exam. Your sister estimated that she scored more than 450 points, and Xiaolian estimated that she scored more than 440 points!"

Without waiting for Cheng Xuemin to greet him, his brother-in-law Wang Quanwen on the other end of the phone excitedly spoke in one breath.

This is getting straight to the point, without any nonsense!
Cheng Xuemin over here also heard it and was in a very good mood. His elder sister and cousin did just as well as his sister-in-law and second sister-in-law in the exam.

The next step is to guide them to fill in their applications!
My cousin Xiaolian must be studying at Yenching University. When she went back before, she made an appointment with her sister-in-law Feng Jiamo and Zhu Shan to take the entrance exam for Yenching University together.

My elder sister Cheng Wenxiu definitely wants to apply to Yenching University, but she has to first see how her brother-in-law Wang Quanwen, who is reviewing at home, did in the exam.
If my brother-in-law can get into Yenching, then my sister will definitely go to Yenching University. If he can't get into Yenching, we can only stay in the provincial capital together.

However, there are also some good universities in the provincial capital. Xi'an Jiaotong University is actually very good, and Northwestern Polytechnical University is also not bad.

of course!

Cheng Xuemin and Feng Jiayou must be hoping that their elder sister and her friends can pass the exam and return to Yanjing, so that the little squirrel will have an aunt to take care of it.

"Sister estimated that she got more than 450 points? Xiaolian also got more than 440 points? That's not bad!"

"Brother-in-law, what about you? How many points did you estimate?"

After hearing the estimated score, Cheng Xuemin responded and then asked his brother-in-law how many points he estimated.

Now it all depends on my brother-in-law. He shouldn't be too disappointing.

"Xuemin, I'm not bad, all thanks to you. I estimated that I scored more than 370 points, and my county high school teacher also said that I should have no problem getting into Xi'an Jiaotong University in our provincial capital!"

My brother-in-law also estimated it to be more than 370. This score is indeed very good. Even in Yenching, except for Yanda University, Huaqing University and Renmin University, I should be able to get into other key universities.

But from what my brother-in-law said on the phone, it seemed that his county high school teacher suggested that he apply to Xi'an Jiaotong University in the provincial capital?

This is completely different from the previous plan.

Yes!
If my brother-in-law can't get into Yanjing University, Huaqing University or Renmin University, going to Xi'an Jiaotong University is indeed the best choice with his score.

But Xi'an Jiaotong University is not in Yenching, it's in their provincial capital!
If my brother-in-law applies to Xi'an Jiaotong University, then my elder sister Cheng Wenxiu, even if she has passed the admission score of Yanda University, may just follow suit and apply to Xi'an Jiaotong University.

It's impossible to let the couple go to college separately, right?

Of course, even so, Cheng Xuemin still hopes that his brother-in-law can apply to a university in Yenching.

Don’t worry about the university rankings for now!
I'm not expecting my brother-in-law to apply to a university in Yanjing, so my sister will come along to take care of the little squirrel.

It's all for their future development.

Xi'an Jiaotong University is indeed better than other universities in Yenching, but there is an absolute advantage in applying to universities in Yenching.

This advantage is actually not obvious in this era.

But in the next ten years or so, it becomes extremely precious.

This advantage is the Yanjing household registration.

If my brother-in-law and his family are admitted to Yanjing, they will automatically obtain Yanjing household registration, and their agricultural status will be converted to non-agricultural status. If they can stay in Yanjing to work after graduation, their household registration will not be returned to their hometown.

However, in the eyes of my brother-in-law and his friends, being admitted to Xi'an Jiaotong University can also allow one to obtain an urban hukou and change from a farmer to a non-farmer.

As long as they change from rural to non-rural, it doesn’t matter which city their urban household registration is in, it will be the same for my brother-in-law and his family.

Of course, Cheng Xuemin thought so in his heart, but it was not easy for him to say it directly to his brother-in-law on the phone.

Anyway, my brother-in-law and his family decide where to fill in the form, and Cheng Xuemin can only provide some suggestions and guidance.

So after a flash of thought, Cheng Xuemin congratulated his brother-in-law on the phone and said, "Brother-in-law, you also estimated more than 370 points? Then congratulations to you, brother-in-law!"

"Xuemin, what are you talking about! Isn't this all thanks to you, Xuemin?" Brother-in-law Wang Quanwen was obviously very happy over there. After all, among the educated youth of this era, who doesn't want to go to college? Who doesn't look forward to going to college?
They were a generation that was delayed. My brother-in-law Wang Quanwen had taken the exam once before, but unfortunately he failed.

I had accepted my fate and was content to be a private teacher in the brigade primary school.

Who knew there would be another chance to change my destiny!

The estimated score is more than 370 points!
When the scores were estimated, my brother-in-law Wang Quanwen himself couldn't believe that he could get such a high score.

With more than 370 points, according to last year's college entrance examination results, not only can I go to a key university, but I also have many, many choices.

This is all thanks to his brother-in-law, Cheng Xuemin.

"That's not what I meant, brother-in-law. That's not what I meant. In fact, it's you who have a solid foundation!" How could Cheng Xuemin take credit for it? They were all family.

"Xuemin, I won't be polite with you on the phone. We can talk about this when you come back!"

"Your sister estimated that her score was over 450, and Xiaolian's was over 440. They both said they would apply to Yenching University. Do you think that's okay?"

The brother-in-law over there also spoke briefly and got straight to the point when talking to Cheng Xuemin. It was also the elder sister next to him who urged him to get down to business, and Cheng Xuemin overheard it vaguely.

"Xiao Lian has no problem applying to Yenching University. Yenching University in our area only recruits students from three majors: Chinese Classics Literature, International Politics, and Journalism. I suggest that she consider the Journalism Department!"

There were several volunteers at home, but Cheng Xuemin had already considered it in his mind.

My cousin Qin Xiaolian is positive and optimistic. She applied to the journalism department. In the future, she will have a very good career, whether working for the provincial TV station or staying in Yanjing Broadcasting Media as a reporter or host.

My sister-in-law Feng Jiamo was nagging about studying Chinese with her sister, but Cheng Xuemin thought it would be better for her to major in international politics.

Her father, Mr. Feng, has connections in the Foreign Languages ​​Bureau, so whether she follows in her father's footsteps or goes directly to the National Academy, her future is bright.

In fact, Cheng Xuemin also considered my elder sister Cheng Wenxiu. As her name suggests, she is quiet and gentle, which makes her suitable for the classical literature of the Chinese Department. After graduation, Cheng Xuemin will help her stay in school and do literature research on campus, which is very suitable for her!

But in the current situation, my sister may not be able to get into Yanjing, so I can only give up!

……

Asking for a monthly ticket!
(End of this chapter)