Rebirth 1977 Great Era

Chapter 995 Postgraduate Entrance Examination Registration, Traditional Working-Class Weddings in the 1970s and 80s (Combined Chapter)
Time flies, and several days have passed in the blink of an eye.

These past few days, Fang Yan hasn't had any morning clinic duties, so she's started going with the rest of the class to Xiyuan Hospital to see other doctors.

There are many experts at Xiyuan Hospital, and I still learned a lot of new things from Fang Yan.

This also proves that when it comes to learning, as long as you want to learn, there will always be new things you haven't learned before. Even people with dialects who have such high learning efficiency thanks to special abilities are no exception.

However, things haven't been peaceful at school these past few days. Ever since Ruan Wenxiong and his friends started causing trouble and were expelled, the other international students around them seem to have been possessed and have started imitating Ruan Wenxiong by causing trouble at school.

He provoked his classmates, then got into a fight, and later turned around and accused them of being treated unfairly.

It made things quite difficult for Professor Tamagawa, who was in charge of this area.

At first, they found a few ringleaders to make an example of and persuaded them to return to their home countries. They thought that would calm them down, but things didn't go as planned, and these people became even more aggressive.

In Professor Tamagawa's words, "It's like provoking a bunch of monkeys. They look like humans, but they don't understand human nature. If you beat one up, a whole bunch of them will come."

They would then target and cause trouble for the people around them.

In other words, the students in the elite class spend relatively little time at school; otherwise, they would have set their sights on coming here.

The homeroom teacher, Liu Duzhou, has already explained the situation to the students. If they encounter any provocation from them, they should avoid it if possible, and if they cannot avoid it, they should go directly to the teacher and not confront them directly.

However, there's a Murphy's Law: what you fear most is what happens most often, and eventually, Fang Yan and his classmates were targeted.

During the lunch break, Yan Yifan got into an argument with a Vietnamese student over queuing while getting water in the water room.

As a native of Tianjin, Yan Yifan is known for his sharp tongue, capable of leaving his opponents speechless with just a few words.

Of course, he knew that the other party wanted to cause trouble for him. After venting his anger, he quickly ran away, abandoning his thermos, and went straight back to his dormitory. Then he told Li Zhengji about what had happened.

Because their homeroom teacher, Mr. Liu, had given prior notice, everyone behaved quite restrained.

Another person went to the water room to retrieve Yan Yifan's thermos, only to find it had been smashed to pieces.

Since the item has already been damaged, the only thing to do is to tell the homeroom teacher.

But it's no use, the other party will definitely not admit it.

They might even turn around and accuse the school of fabricating evidence to cause trouble for them.

As a result, Yan Yifan, a student in Fang Yan's class, also became one of the victims.

In the past, Yan Yifan would have been furious, but now that he'd made money with Fang Yan, he could easily afford this loss. Although his thermos was smashed, he'd also silenced the other person with his witty retorts, so in a way, they were even. However, this incident served as a warning to his classmates; from now on, they should stay as far away from these guys as possible.

Everyone knows that this chaos won't last long, and the school will eventually come up with a solution.

Sure enough, during the sharing session that afternoon, the homeroom teacher, Mr. Liu, mentioned this matter:
The school has begun communicating with Vietnamese students to try to understand their demands and do everything possible to quell the incident.

Judging from the dialect, the school's current strategy is "to value harmony," and it intends to compromise as long as the other party does not make excessive demands.

But he knew in his heart that these people would only respond to force, not gentleness. The more he backed down, the more they would take advantage of him. If he gave in, they would take it as "being scared" and would only become more and more aggressive.

But since the school has already taken action, it's too late for Fang Yan to try to persuade them.

His only hope was that the other party would propose outrageous conditions that the school could not agree to, thus causing the negotiations to fall apart as soon as possible.

……

There was another matter to attend to that afternoon, namely the postgraduate entrance examination registration.

This is my first time applying, so the requirements are relatively lenient.

Some of the later, more stringent requirements had not yet appeared at this time. Of course, the political vetting was also quite strict at this point. Some people who would later be able to go to university did not meet the requirements at all and were directly barred from entering.

For students like Fang Yan who are still in school, applying for postgraduate studies is relatively simple because they have already gone through the screening process.

You'll need a letter of approval from the school, and then you can register.

The registration location was also inside the school, where we registered with Secretary Wang Enhou.

After registration, the next month will be your review period.

1978 marked the first year of the resumption of postgraduate enrollment, and the education system needed to quickly implement the policy to make up for the ten-year gap. The selection criteria were strict and the timeline was highly compressed, with only one month from registration to the exam, highlighting the urgency of the "pilot program first" approach.

It can be said that this first cohort of graduate students was experimental in nature.

As one of the first pilot units, we need to quickly verify the feasibility of the postgraduate training model.

Similar to the resumption of the college entrance examination (December 1977), postgraduate enrollment, as a key measure to correct the wrongs in the education field, needed to be implemented in a very short period of time, and was characterized by a transitional period of "exploration and correction".

In any case, the tight schedule is a key feature of this session, and only elites from various professions can stand out in such a short time.

After registration closed, everyone's attention quickly shifted from the controversy surrounding international students to the postgraduate entrance examination.

Everyone knows that memorizing one more point of knowledge now will allow them to surpass a number of competitors in the exam.

However, most people are unaware that in addition to the preliminary examination, there will be a more rigorous re-examination for this year's postgraduate entrance examination, which will make the competition even fiercer.

However, Fang Yan knew in her heart that even knowing the cruelty of the re-examination, her classmates would never back down. Those who could get into university and enter the elite class were already the best of the best, and studying was the focus of their entire lives.

Compared to other test takers who are working while preparing for the exam, they have unique advantages: ample study time, systematic course guidance, and a strong learning atmosphere.

These conditions are enough to create a significant gap. If one still misses out on graduate school under such circumstances, then one can only blame one's own laziness.

As a result, the atmosphere of studying for the test became even stronger in the class in the following days.

The only person who looked truly relaxed was Fang Yan. Even the class leaders, who had seemed relatively calm before, had started studying intensely.

It has been proven that the surrounding environment does indeed have a significant impact on people.

Even someone like Li Zhengji, who had nothing to worry about, started reading books like the "Huangdi Neijing" and "Shanghan Lun" that he could recite from memory.

Although I remember it, seeing everyone else working hard makes it seem abnormal if I don't.

Only the dialect remained relaxed, seemingly unaffected, almost like someone who had given up on taking the postgraduate entrance exam.

But anyone who thinks that way is truly foolish.

Everyone knows that Brother Fang has a photographic memory.

And so, in this atmosphere, May arrived.

May 1st, Labor Day.

The 25th day of the third month in the lunar calendar.

Have a holiday.

Today is also a big day for Xiao Zhang.

Fang Yan and his wife arrived at Xiao Zhang's place early in the morning.

Also accompanying them were the eldest sister's husband and his family, who had also received an invitation.

Xiao Zhang is a technical police officer at the Municipal Public Security Bureau. His residence is a dormitory building assigned by the bureau, located in a cluster of red brick and gray tile buildings deep in a hutong (alleyway).

This typical Soviet-style apartment from the 1950s features long, narrow corridors on each floor, with bamboo or cloth curtains hanging in front of each household's door to cover a space of less than thirty square meters.

My brother-in-law was also allocated a dormitory room like this, and the couple originally planned to move out and live in a bigger place.

Fang Yan disagreed. Firstly, the house was too small. As Zhengyi and Mingzhu grew up, the four of them were increasingly cramped in a space of less than 30 square meters. Secondly, her brother-in-law was busy with work, and her older sister lived at school. They rarely had a few days together each week, and the two children relied almost entirely on Fang Yan and his family to take care of them. Moving out would make it even more difficult to take care of them.

After much thought, Fang Yan decided to dissuade them from moving and let them continue living in the front yard of Fang Yan's courtyard house. Although her mother had said that her eldest sister shouldn't live there indefinitely, Fang Yan knew her eldest sister and brother-in-law's character after spending so much time together.

Zhengyi and Mingzhu are also well-behaved and intelligent, not the kind of bratty kids.

So they settled down there, and Fang Yan even thought about buying a few courtyard houses nearby later.

We'll use it to store cars or something.

Anyway, I've been making more and more money lately.

Today, the Huo family just transferred $10,000 to Fangyan Hong Kong's account. Combined with the $10,000 from last month, there are now $20,000 in the overseas account.

Fang Yan even thought about whether he should buy an apartment in Hong Kong and become a landlord in the future...

Carrying the wedding gift for Xiao Zhang, Fang Yan and her brother-in-law walked in front, followed by Zhu Lin, her older sister, and Zhengyi Mingzhu.

Today's wedding will be held at Xiao Zhang's place.

Go up to the third floor. Xiao Zhang's wedding room is on the east side of the third floor.

As soon as they went upstairs, someone recognized Fang Yan and her brother-in-law.

Greet them.

These are all my colleagues from the technical department.

"Instructor Fang! Come in and sit down!" Everyone was very enthusiastic when they saw Fang Yan arrive.

Pushing open the mottled green-painted wooden door, you are greeted by a small room of less than ten square meters. The walls are painted with yellowish lime water, and a white incandescent bulb with an iron shade hangs from the ceiling, with red paper strips tied to the bulb as they were hung during the Chinese New Year.

To the right is a bedroom partitioned off by wooden boards. A 1.2-meter wooden bed is placed against the wall, covered with a "囍" (double happiness) quilt cover bought from the supply and marketing cooperative. The quilt is folded into neat squares and is covered with two new towels printed with peony patterns. Xiao Zhang specially went to the department store and queued for two hours to buy them the day before the wedding.

Unlike Fang Yan's wedding, his wedding with Sun Xiaolian was very simple.

The kitchen and bathroom are shared by each floor. Xiao Zhang set up a honeycomb briquette stove at the end of the corridor, and braised pork was stewing in an aluminum pot. The aroma mixed with the smell of coal smoke wafted into the room.

They still have some food left, which is being cooked on the stoves of other families.

This place is small, so everyone has to help each other out.

Justice and Pearl looked at everything before them with astonishment in their eyes.

I used to live in yurts, then in courtyard houses, but this is my first time living in a tenement building like this.

If it weren't for Fang Yan's uncle, they would indeed be living here right now.

Actually, this place is not bad; at least the conditions are much better than Sun Xiaolian's home.

The eldest sister and Zhu Lin began to look around the new house.

In the corner, there was a half-sack of flour and several bundles of firewood. Next to it, a bamboo basket contained an enamel basin, an aluminum lunchbox, and a thermos wrapped in newspaper. These were the "big items" that Xiao Zhang had bought.

On the wall of the main room are two yellowed copies of the People's Daily, with a large red "囍" character pasted in the middle with rice paste. Each of the four corners of the "囍" character is decorated with a five-cent coin, symbolizing "stability and security".

Paper-cut window decorations made of red paper are pasted on the window glass. The clumsy "Mandarin Ducks Playing in the Water" pattern is copied from a New Year picture. In the lower left corner, there is a vigorous calligraphy that reads "May you be forever united in heart". It looks like it was definitely not written by the same person.

The only piece of furniture was a five-drawer chest with a Red Lantern brand radio on top, playing folk music. Next to the radio was the couple's wedding photo.

Xiao Zhang was wearing a police uniform, and the bride, Sun Xiaolian, had short hair that reached her ears. The two sat side by side in front of the backdrop in the photo studio, with Tiananmen Gate Tower behind them.

Xiao Zhang was also wearing his police uniform today, with a red silk flower pinned to his chest and a large floral ball adorned with the words "Groom," making him look particularly spirited.

The bride, Sun Xiaolian, wore a pink dress.

They were also adorned with red silk flowers.

Her hair was neatly combed with hair oil and clipped with a plastic hair clip; she wore a pair of black leather shoes.

Xiao Zhang brought his wife over to greet Fang Yan and the others.

There weren't many people there today; they were mostly Xiao Zhang and Sun Xiaolian's colleagues. Fang Yan pulled Xiao Zhang aside and took out their wedding gifts.

A black and white Panda television set.

There were also some wine, cigarettes, and tea from home, as well as shopping vouchers and gifts from three work units that Fang Yan received for May Day. Fang Yan didn't know what to give as a gift, so she just took some of them.

Although not everything, these items are enough for Xiao Zhang to furnish his home.

"Brother Fang! This...this is too valuable, I can't accept it!" Xiao Zhang looked at the pile of things, especially a large cardboard box that, when opened, revealed a television set inside.

In the other box were Xifeng liquor, foreign cigarettes, and some teas that I had never seen before.

Fang Yan patted him on the shoulder and said:

"Just take it. Remember when I was on the kill list? You were in charge of protecting me, always by my side, watching over my safety. So, you could say we've been through thick and thin together, right?"

"You call me 'brother,' so can't I, as your older brother, give you something?"

“But…” Xiao Zhang tried to refuse, but Fang Yan said again:
"Besides, you only get married once in your life. After the wedding, it's just the two of you living together, which requires a lot of things. I hope my little bit of help can make your life a little easier."

"If your life is a little easier, you can work harder, and then we, the people, will be safer, right?"

Xiao Zhang opened his mouth, and realized that the dialect made a lot of sense...

He said:
"Brother Fang, I can't argue with you... so thank you!"

Fang Yan smiled and patted him on the shoulder:

"Don't be so polite! Just catch a few more bad guys in the future, and that will be your way of thanking me."

"Yes!" Xiao Zhang nodded vigorously.

To be honest, getting married did reduce Xiao Zhang's finances, but with Fang Yan's support, things will be much easier for him going forward.

Others also give wedding gifts, but compared to the "big items" in the local dialect, they are really just a token of affection.

Sun Xiaolian's colleague, Sister Wang, gave her two pairs of towels tied together with red string and a small note attached to each: "New towels, new face, may your days be bright and cheerful!"

A thermos is considered a rather "high-end" gift.

Xiao Zhou, who had just started working at the Municipal Bureau, was Xiao Zhang's apprentice. When his master got married, he gritted his teeth and spent a few yuan to buy a thermos with a bamboo woven shell. The thermos had a red sticker that read "Eternal Union" on it. When he handed it to his master Xiao Zhang, his palms were still sweaty.

Grain coupons, cloth coupons, and sugar coupons—these are the most "hardcore" blessings.

The brown paper envelope given by my father-in-law, Old Sun, contained 5 jin of grain coupons, 3 feet of cloth coupons, and 2 jin of sugar coupons—all "goods" that I had saved up for half a year.

A colleague put 5 jin (2.5 catties) of Erguotou (a type of Chinese liquor) in a glass bottle, with red paper pasted on the bottle cap and a few red dates soaking in the liquor.

Of course, everyone has the same intentions, but when Brother Fang makes a move, people who don't know better might think they're brothers.

Of course, this is not really anything special when it comes to dialects.

After discussing it with his family, they realized that given his current financial situation, giving too little would seem rather insincere.

The combined salaries from just three units in a month wouldn't even cover the cost, yet they still insist on sending porcelain basins and towels?
Anyway, I can't make dialects myself.

Moreover, Xiao Zhang did indeed faithfully protect Fang Yan during the most dangerous time.

A life-or-death friendship is no joke.

The gift from the brother-in-law was relatively ordinary, mainly because the two were just colleagues. However, Xiao Zhang knew that Zhao Yuanchao was the brother-in-law of Fang Yan, so he usually took good care of his brother-in-law.

My brother-in-law also gave two better items than others as wedding gifts.

A box of imported candy and two bottles of Moutai.

The candy was a gift from Sun Jialin, and the Moutai was a gift from his brother-in-law after he solved the case. It even had a red ribbon on it that read "Commemorating the Solving of the XX Major Case".

This is a rare, discontinued bottle of Moutai, much more valuable than the regular kind.

A while later, Qin Nong, a leader from the Municipal Bureau, also arrived.

They didn't live in the tenement building, but they lived nearby, so they came with their families. It was the first time Fang Yan had met Qin Nong's family.

"Director Qin, it's been a long time!" Fang Yan greeted Qin Nong with his wife.

Upon hearing the dialect, Qin Nong quickly greeted them:

"Hey, Fangyan! It must have been several months since we last saw each other, right?"

"Yeah, pretty much." Fang Yan nodded with a smile.

Then Zhu Lin also greeted Qin Nong.

Then he introduced his wife.

Fang Yan then chatted with Qin Nong. There were quite a few cases recently, and Qin Nong often stayed up all night. Now he had a lot more gray hair and wrinkles than when they last met.

Qin Nong clearly values ​​Xiao Zhang highly, as evidenced by their previous conversation.

Qin Nong was supposed to have a good rest today, but he still squeezed out time to attend Xiao Zhang's wedding.

This shows that Xiao Zhang still has considerable influence with Qin Nong.

Later, after inquiring, I learned that Xiao Zhang's father and Qin Nong were comrades-in-arms and had sacrificed their lives a long time ago. Xiao Zhang's mother raised him and later sent him here to find Qin Nong.

Qin Nong treated Xiao Zhang like his own nephew.

Now that his nephew is getting married, he really has to show up, otherwise Xiao Zhang's family will be left without anyone.

Xiao Zhang's mother passed away last year, and now she has an older sister in their hometown. They contacted her, but she couldn't come because the distance is too far.

Now it's up to Qin Nong, the elder and leader, to take charge of the overall situation.

Sun Xiaolian's family didn't look down on Xiao Zhang. They mainly thought the young man was good in every way. Old Sun's stroke had left him unable to speak, and it was Xiao Zhang who found the dialect and cured him.

In addition, as a technical police officer in the city bureau, he doesn't have to go through the dangers that other police officers face.

It looks like it has a very promising future.

Moreover, the death of both parents might be seen as a disadvantage by some, but in Old Sun's eyes, it's all a virtue! Xiao Zhang will definitely take over the responsibility of caring for him in his old age.

……

The wedding officially began at 11:00 a.m.

The crackling sound of firecrackers rang out precisely on time under the shade of the locust tree outside the tenement building.

Xiao Zhang, dressed in his crisply washed police uniform, stood at the end of the third-floor corridor, watching Sun Xiaolian walk down the stairs.

The corridor was crowded with neighbors holding enamel mugs. Some tiptoed and threw candy at the newlyweds, while others held up "firework tubes" made of exercise books and whistled and cheered. Zhengyi and Mingzhu hid behind Fangyan and stared at the scene in front of them with curiosity, finding it completely different from their third uncle's wedding.

The makeshift "ceremonial platform" consisted of two square tables placed side by side, with enamel mugs of orange soda and bottles of Erguotou (a type of Chinese liquor) tied with straw rope on the table.

Qin Nong, as the officiant, held a prepared speech in his hand, stood under the "囍" character, and cleared his throat:

"Today, we are here to witness the revolutionary marriage of Comrades Xiao Zhang and Xiao Lian! This is a union of unity, a union of serving the people..."

Then comes the ceremony of bowing to heaven and earth, bowing to parents, and the couple bowing to each other.

Zhu Lin and her older sister had prepared hot water in advance and poured it into Xiao Zhang's newly bought thermos.

Sun Xiaolian, holding an enamel cup, first offered a toast to Qin Nong:

"Uncle, please take care of Zhichao's work in the future."

Qin Nong took the tea and pulled a red cloth bag from his pocket:
"Xiaolian, you have to be careful with money and help Zhichao manage the rear!"

Sun Xiaolian quickly took it.

Then Xiao Zhang served tea to his father-in-law, Old Man Sun.

Old Man Sun wasn't very talkative, but he seemed very happy and encouraged Xiao Zhang in the same tone as Qin Nong.

Let him support his family properly.

After a series of ceremonies, it's time for the wedding night pranks.

It's called "teasing the newlyweds in the bridal chamber," but in reality, it's just about twenty people crammed into a small room and bedroom of less than ten square meters to watch the newlyweds bite apples and sing revolutionary songs.

Xiao Li held up a "microphone" made from waste newspaper and insisted that Xiao Zhang tell his love story.

Xiao Zhang's face turned red as he struggled to speak, and he finally managed to stammer out, "She mended the cuffs of my police uniform."

Sun Xiaolian continued, "He had Brother Fang treat my father's stroke."

Suddenly someone in the crowd shouted, "Give me a kiss!"

Justice and Mingzhu clapped along, and Xiao Zhang's ears turned so red they were almost bleeding. Finally, with Qin Nong's "rescue," Xiao Zhang, blushing, whispered something in Sun Xiaolian's ear, which made her laugh and punch him.

The most exciting part was the "candy grabbing" activity.

Zhu Lin bought two pounds of fruit candies in advance and scattered them on the bed. The children immediately screamed and pounced on them. Zhengyi crawled under the bed and reached for an orange candy. Holding up the candy wrapper, he shouted, "Auntie! I got the biggest one!" Zhu Lin was afraid that he would bump into something and was about to reach out to pull him back when she saw Sun Xiaolian already squatting on the ground, wiping his hands with a handkerchief: "Slow down."

At lunchtime, each household brought out their homemade dishes: stewed meat, stir-fried vegetables, and steamed buns.

Smoke from cooking oil mingled with laughter drifted out of the tenement building's corridor, and chairs and stools were placed all the way from Xiao Zhang's room to the outside.

Fang Yan was invited by Xiao Zhang to the innermost table, where everyone was from Xiao Zhang's family. Fang Yan's presence here was a form of recognition for him.

Sun Xiaolian's father somehow got hold of a bottle of Moutai and insisted on toasting with Fang Yan:
"You saved my life, Dr. Fang, I have to have a drink with you!"

This old man had a stroke not long ago, and now he wants to drink Moutai. Fang Yan quickly waved his hand and said, "Hey, Uncle Sun, you should drink less."

"Hey, I'm happy, let's have a drink today!" Old Sun said with a smile.

Fang Yan finally gave in and took a sip of soda from his enamel mug as if it were wine.

Although the wedding was quite simple, it allowed Fang Yan to experience the unique wedding style of that era.

Our own wedding was indeed a bit too extravagant.

Of course, he was thinking about how he had to go to Hong Kong next week to attend Representative Huo's wedding.

It's hard to imagine nowadays that a wedding with a dowry of ten million Hong Kong dollars, plus all sorts of other expenses, would cost tens of millions of Hong Kong dollars.

Before May Day, Director Liao had already received an invitation from the Huo family.

As if afraid that Fang Yan wouldn't go, the Huo family sent an invitation, and Ms. Lü from the Huo family's eldest branch sent a separate invitation, both inviting Fang Yan to attend.

This was an official invitation, and Director Liao even had a special discussion with people before making the decision.

They agreed to let Fang Yan participate.

I'm flying to Shanghai next Thursday, then to Guangzhou on Friday, then to Hong Kong on Saturday, and the wedding on Sunday.

PS: The basic chapter of 6000 words has been updated.

There will be an extra chapter later.

(End of this chapter)