All the heavens begin with the love in the courtyard.

Han Chunming could almost imagine what Cheng Jianjun would face next.

Han Chunming was detained until the morning of the next day, when he was finally released.

As for Cheng Jianjun and his family, they are still inside.

When Han Chunming returned home, he saw that Cheng Jianjun's house had been sealed off. He immediately walked to his own house with a sullen face.

When they arrived at the house, Han's mother looked haggard. Her older brothers and sisters, who had also taken the day off, were overjoyed to see Han Chunming return home safe and sound.

Han Chunming quickly reassured everyone, saying that they were just asking questions as usual, and that the other party had arrested the wrong person; the person they really wanted to arrest was Cheng Jianjun.

The older siblings were somewhat relieved, but Han's mother still sensed something was amiss. She merely glanced at her son and then stopped asking questions.

My son is alright, that's the most important thing. Everyone else is unimportant!

After returning home, Han Chunming immediately made an excuse to leave.

After spending the night in the room, Han Chunming suddenly realized there was a loophole in the system that he had to fix.

The loophole is that old scoundrel. That old scoundrel has seen both me and the ragpicker. If we get caught, and the evidence is compared, then it will be hard to explain.

Previously, Han Chunming hadn't sensed any danger and thought that investigations in this era wouldn't be so rigorous, so he spared the old rogue's life. However, after spending the night in the small room, he suddenly felt that something was still amiss. If something happened to him, many people would be heartbroken.

Han Chunming first went to the ragpicker and told him what had happened. The ragpicker nodded with a sullen face, indicating that he understood.

Three days passed in the blink of an eye. During this time, Cheng Jianjun's house was searched again, and Han Chunming's house was also searched once. On the fourth day, Cheng Qinghua and his wife were released.

After the couple was released, they were naturally frowning and started looking for connections everywhere. However, this time the person Cheng Jianjun offended was no longer the deputy director of a food factory two years ago, but Director Lin, whom Cheng Qinghua referred to as "Little Cheng" in front of others.

After Han Chunming finished his business, he acted as if nothing had happened and resumed his usual routine of leaving early and returning late every day. However, he no longer planned to collect scrap. For the last month, he and Qi Siqiao spent every day together studying and preparing for the college entrance examination!

Chapter Twenty-Nine: Getting into University

In a dimly lit, cramped single room, Cheng Jianjun sat listlessly against the wall.

A ray of white sunlight shone through the large window directly in front of him, and in this winter day, this ray of sunlight made him feel particularly comfortable.

Cheng Jianjun looked at the sunlight, his eyes half-closed, enjoying this rare warmth.

Today marks his thirty-third day here. He's been keeping track of the days; the college entrance exam should be in a week!

At this moment, all that remained in Cheng Jianjun's heart was despair and numbness, and of course, hatred. These past few days, he had finally come to understand that he had truly fallen!

After all, he was still young. Although Cheng Jianjun was a cunning young man, he had no idea what it meant to be lenient for confessing and to serve his life in jail. After being interrogated for a week, he finally broke down and suffered a real beating from society.

He has confessed everything he needed to, including all his plans, from stealing the blue and white porcelain vase to framing Han Chunming.

His only wish now is to drag Han Chunming down with him, because Han Chunming bought those five blue and white porcelain vases. Once the old scoundrel is found, the truth will be revealed.

To frame a neighbor he grew up with, Cheng Jianjun went to such lengths. Even the interrogators thought it was all absurd, but regardless of whether they believed it or not, they had to keep investigating this lead.

A month has passed, but there is still no news. Cheng Jianjun is getting a little anxious, but all he can do now is wait.

He hoped to drag Han Chunming down with him before the college entrance exam, so that even if he went to jail, he would have someone to accompany him!

The hatred in his heart sustained him, and the resentment in his heart had long since turned into regret. He hated himself for falling into Han Chunming's trap once again.

These past few days, he had been thinking about where Han Chunming had started his scheme. After much deliberation, he finally guessed that he might have fallen into Han Chunming's trap the moment he saw Han Chunming on the street after making the phone call to his cousin.

He deliberately pushed his bicycle and carried a burlap sack past me. Yes, that's where it all started!

As Cheng Jianjun was thinking, suddenly a shout came from outside.

"Number 7757, Cheng Jianjun!"

Upon hearing his name called, Cheng Jianjun numbly responded, then struggled to his feet, leaning against the wall for support.

Back in the interrogation room, Cheng Jianjun's face was already numb. Two uniformed officers sat down opposite him, each took out a notebook, glanced at it, looked up at Cheng Jianjun with a serious expression, and then said.

"Cheng Jianjun, you've got some nerve, daring to mess with even us?"

Cheng Jianjun was a little confused, then looked up at the two of them in bewilderment!

One of the interrogators raised his hand, slammed it on the table, and then shouted.

"Cheng Jianjun, your crimes have now been verified. You stole five cultural relics and then sold them privately. The evidence is conclusive. We are here to inform you that your case has been submitted. As for when the verdict will be delivered, just wait and see!"

Cheng Jianjun was indeed a little confused at this moment. He still had too many questions in his mind. He quickly stood up and asked the two of them.

"Comrade, I confessed to Han Chunming's matter. Have you checked? He's the one who bought the cultural relics! I didn't sell that blue and white porcelain vase. I only stole it! All you need to do is find that old scoundrel from Liujiagou!"

Upon hearing Cheng Jianjun's words, one of the men slammed his hand on the table again. He was furious about it and pointed at Cheng Jianjun's nose, cursing.

“Cheng Jianjun, you have a history of framing and reporting others. We have already investigated and found out. Are you still trying to mislead us?”

Cheng Jianjun retorted somewhat hastily.

"Comrade, I didn't! Everything I said is true!"

The other person, however, spoke up impatiently.

"Cheng Jianjun, stop pretending. We've already found out about that old scoundrel you mentioned, and we've uncovered the whole story. Based on your cousin's description, we searched the old scoundrel's house and found the remaining two blue-and-white porcelain vases. The old scoundrel himself died suddenly from excessive drinking. However, according to his sister's account, he mentioned a young man named Cheng Jianjun before he died, and said that Cheng Jianjun had lied to him. Cheng Jianjun, the evidence is conclusive. Are you still trying to deny it?"

Cheng Jianjun felt utterly dejected. He had so many questions in his mind. Indeed, he still couldn't understand how all of this had happened.

Cheng Jianjun was no longer able to protest his innocence; to this day, he has absolutely no idea what really happened.

Cheng Jianjun was taken away, and his case will soon be closed.

All five of Director Lin's blue and white porcelain vases have been recovered, which is a stroke of good luck for Director Lin amidst misfortune.

The incident was suspicious in many ways, but the police quickly uncovered the "truth," and Director Lin also saw the case file.

The details of the case are clear: the criminal named Cheng Jianjun stole five blue and white porcelain vases and sold one of them privately for 120 yuan. This money was found in the hidden compartment of Cheng Jianjun's bed board, and the evidence is conclusive!

Of the remaining four blue and white porcelain vases, he hid two under his bed at home. As for the other two, he asked his cousin to find an old rogue in another village, intending to bring down his neighbor Han Chunming by luring and framing him. However, before the plan could be carried out, he was caught because the plot was exposed!

All the evidence regarding the cause and effect of the matter is now complete!

Although there are some discrepancies between this account and Cheng Jianjun's, Cheng Jianjun has a prior record of reporting others, so the police did not fully accept his story. At least the evidence at hand is sufficient to prove that Cheng Jianjun lied.

As for other flaws, they are no longer important; at least the current evidence is sufficient to convict Cheng Jianjun.

Cheng Jianjun's only consolation is that all five blue-and-white porcelain vases have been recovered. As for how long he will be sentenced, that depends on his luck.

The impact of Cheng Jianjun's incident was indeed significant. The first person directly affected was his father, Cheng Qinghua, whose work was quickly suspended.

Immediately afterwards, Cheng Jianjun's mother was also suspended from work, plunging the Cheng family into dire straits.

Compared to the Cheng family's predicament, Han Chunming's family has also been caught in turmoil recently. With such a big incident happening to the Cheng family, Han Chunming cannot escape responsibility, and all sorts of rumors are naturally flying around.

However, Han Chunming pretended not to hear the rumors. This was Cheng Jianjun's own fault. He had already given him too many chances, but that old scoundrel still dared to pull this trick. Wasn't this like a blind man with a light bulb looking for shit?

In December 1977, millions of candidates across the country began to enter examination halls that had been closed for ten years.

Han Chunming and Qi Siqiao applied for liberal arts, taking exams in politics, Chinese, mathematics, history and geography, with a total score of 400.

Taozi and Cai Xiaoli applied for science majors, taking exams in politics, Chinese, mathematics, physics and chemistry, with a total score of 400.

As for English, it will not be scored. Of course, if you want to work in diplomacy in the future, you can take the English exam again.

Cai Xiaoli and Taozi included science majors in their studies in order to find a good job.

Their motivation for getting into university is stronger; it's naturally to change their own destiny. The saying "If you master physics, mathematics, and chemistry, you can go anywhere in the world without fear" is not just empty talk.

In the original novel, Taozi and Cai Xiaoli started their business by opening a restaurant a few years later.

However, if they were to get into university, they might embark on a different path in life.

Neither of these two paths in life is inherently better, but if Taozi and Cai Xiaoli had to choose now, they would definitely choose to go to university.

So Han Chunming suggested that they choose science. Taozi is a down-to-earth person who is not good at talking. From now on, he should be a science student!

After more than two years of back and forth, Taozi and Cai Xiaoli finally confirmed their relationship.

Cai Xiaoli may have completely given up on Han Chunming. After spending more than two years with Taozi, she had come to understand this man. So she agreed that as long as Taozi could get into university, they would officially become a couple.

After Taozi set a goal, he spent almost all his free time for the past two years with books in his hands. He relied on the textbooks that Han Chunming had prepared for him and memorized them by rote to complete his high school courses.

Han Chunming believed that Taozi and Cai Xiaoli could both get into university. In 1977, the first college entrance examination was reinstated. Although the admission rate was less than 5%, the questions were not particularly difficult.

The main reason is that most of the millions of test takers have just rushed from the fields to the examination hall, and it is really difficult to ask them to get high scores in such a short time.

In fact, the university admission scores for the class of 1977 were not high. Out of a total of 400 points, many universities only required 180 points to get in, and even key universities had admission scores of over 200 points.

Even Peking University's admission score is only 270, so Han Chunming has no pressure at all!

In this era, besides universities, there were also vocational schools. Before taking the exam, you had to fill out an application form. If you applied to a vocational school, you couldn't apply to a university; it was a choice between two options.

For many rural students, the reason why they choose to attend a vocational school is not only because they lack confidence in getting into university, but also because of other reasons.

That's reality.

In this era, being a vocational school graduate was synonymous with being a high achiever; once someone was admitted to a vocational school, it meant they could secure a government job.

Once admitted to a vocational high school, students are guaranteed room and board and job placement – ​​a lifelong dream for countless rural students.

The 1977 National College Entrance Examination changed the fate of many people. It was from that year that people across the country began to believe in the saying, "Knowledge changes destiny!"

Han Chunming had no expectations for this year's college entrance examination. He treated life as a game and only filled in one application: Yenching University. He believed he could get in.

Qi Siqiao, like him, filled out her application for Peking University, and they were both confident of getting in.

Ever since Cheng Jianjun's incident, people in the compound seem to have some prejudice against the Han family.

Despite the numerous explanations from Han Chunming's older siblings and the residents of the compound, the Cheng family's current predicament has led to much gossip among the neighbors about Han Chunming.

The main reason is that Han Chunming has left a really bad impression on everyone in the past two years. His reputation as a scrap collector is enough to make people despise him.

Coupled with Han Chunming's independent and self-willed personality, and his dislike of trying to please the neighbors as before, the resulting prejudice naturally made everyone sympathize with the Cheng family.

In everyone's mind now, Cheng Jianjun is a weakling. Sympathizing with the weak is the right way for ordinary people to get along.

Han Chunming did not reveal the schemes and plots Cheng Jianjun had committed; in fact, even if he had, no one might have believed him.

All the idle gossip is not as satisfying as one's own strength!

After the college entrance examination, Han Chunming resumed his leisurely lifestyle, going out for a stroll on his bicycle every day.

After Cheng Jianjun's incident, he temporarily stopped collecting scrap and antiques. He would occasionally go to the scrap collector Hou and Grandpa Guan's place for a drink, but most of the time he spent with Xiao Qiao.

After more than two years of relationship, everything happened naturally and naturally. The day after the college entrance examination, Han Chunming stayed overnight in Xiao Qiao's room.

Although they don't know their scores yet, Han Chunming and Qi Siqiao have already planned their future university life.

Qi Siqiao had long since become attached to Han Chunming, a man who seemed to know everything yet care about nothing. The mystery surrounding him always kept her guessing, and everything about him fascinated her.