That night, Chu Wan went to sleep at Feng Luxi’s place. She took out the three Han Dynasty jade gui she had bought and fiddled with them. They felt moist and smooth, elegant with an ancient charm. These were all good things. If they could be kept for a while, they would probably be sold for hundreds of thousands in a dozen years.

Since she was not particularly short of money now, it was okay for her to keep some of her purchases. It would not be easy to make a living for the meantime anyway. She still had 150 or 160 yuan on hand, which was enough for her to spend for a while.

Or if ever she sees something good, she could just buy it, anyway, she won’t end up being short of money.

For a moment, she thought about her plan to take the college entrance examination.

She had brought it up tonight and said that she planned to go to the bookstore tomorrow. The Old Man asked Lu Jianzhao to accompany her.

The next morning, Lu Jianzhao came to have breakfast with Old Master Lu. He happened to sit opposite Chu Wan. Lu Shoujian, his wife, and Lu Shouyan were also there.

Mr. Lu smiled and told Chu Wan to eat more, saying that Chu Wan was too thin. He then asked Lu Jianzhao about the college entrance examination. “Please help Wanwan with some advice.”

Hearing this, Lu Jianzhao looked at Chu Wan and said, “Which university does Wanwan want to apply to?”

Chu Wan also glanced at Lu Jianzhao. In front of the Old Man, he was obviously restrained.

She thought for a moment and said, “I want to study archaeology or history. It doesn’t matter which university I go to. I’ll take whatever I can get into.”

Lu Jianzhao considered, “Today, I’ll go buy you some high school reference books and practice exams. You can do them over the next couple of days and I’ll test you later. Then I’ll see about enrolling you in a tutoring class. Besides the ones run by the Beijing Federation of Trade Unions, there are also some private tutoring classes available. You can sign up for them.”

Old Master Lu listened and said, “Jianzhao, I’ll leave this matter to you. Help Wanwan get into college. If she fails, you’ll be the one to blame.”

When Lu Jianzhao heard this, he chuckled and glanced at Chu Wan. “Okay.”

Chu Wan said, “Grandpa, Eighth Brother is so knowledgeable, so he’s naturally the best. But I also know my own limitations. I don’t have a good foundation, so it’s not Eighth Brother’s fault whether I pass the exam or not.”

Lu Jianzhao said confidently, “Don’t worry, I’ll help you with some advice. If you don’t have any requirements for the school, it shouldn’t be a big problem.”

Old Master Lu was naturally satisfied after hearing this. Lu Jianshi did not get into university and only worked in the Foreign Trade Bureau. Lu Jianzhao was a college student and often wrote articles for publication. His talent was praised by everyone. Lu Jianzhao was still more promising than Lu Jianshi.

It would be great if Lu Jianzhao could marry Wanwan.

Old Master Lu was happy and couldn’t help but say a few more words, but as he said this, Lu Jianzhao felt very uncomfortable. Feng Luxi noticed it and interrupted him, talking about Lu Shouyan’s career change.

After Lu Shouyan retired from the army, he was immediately transferred to an important department. Now he was just waiting for the transfer order. There were naturally many things involved, including the transfer and appropriate grading.

Chu Wan listened without much interest and just concentrated on drinking the millet congee.

The Lu family’s millet congee took a long time to cook, and the grains were good, so it tasted delicious.

Several elders were discussing the matter, while the younger generation remained silent. Who knew that while they were talking, the Old Man suddenly remembered Lu Shouyan’s relationship and asked, “What are your plans for marriage?”

Lu Shouyan said nonchalantly, “Let’s talk about it later.”

Feng Luxi frowned when she heard this. “Let’s talk about it later? What does this mean? What about the girl from the Sun family that Political Commissar Wang introduced you to last time? Aren’t you two dating right now?”

Feng Luxi was 50 years old, and her brother-in-law Lu Shouyan was born when the Old Man was already old. Lu Shouyan was about the same age as Feng Luxi’s son. Lu Shouyan lost his mother when he was 3 or 4 years old, and Feng Luxi took care of this brother-in-law growing up. As the eldest sister-in-law, she treated him like a mother, like her own son, so she paid special attention to Lu Shouyan’s affairs.

When Chu Wan heard the surname ‘Sun’, she immediately guessed it was Sun Xueya, and she subconsciously glanced at Lu Shouyan.

Who knew that Lu Shouyan noticed it keenly and looked her way in confusion.

Their eyes met, and Chu Wan lowered her head and continued to drink the millet congee.

Lu Shouyan held the chopsticks in his hand and said calmly, “I don’t know either.”

Old Master Lu also frowned. “You don’t know what it means?”

After all, there were younger generations present, so Lu Shouyan didn’t say much. He just said vaguely, “We still need to confirm it.”

Seeing Lu Shouyan like this, Feng Luxi knew that he couldn’t say much in front of the juniors, so she had to put it aside for the time being and find something else to talk about.

…  …

After dinner, Lu Jianzhao was going to accompany Chu Wan to go shopping and buy books. Chu Wan saw Old Master Lu, Lu Shoujian, and his wife talking to Lu Shouyan; they seemed to be questioning them.

Chu Wan guessed that they must be talking about Sun Xueya.

She wanted to hear what was going on and see if there was any chance to take action. Unfortunately, she was a generation younger and was not really a child of the Lu family. She couldn’t shamelessly get involved when people talked about such topics, so she had to give up.

Lu Jianzhao took Chu Wan out to take the tram, but as soon as they went out, they happened to meet Lu Jianshi.

When Lu Jianshi saw Lu Jianzhao and Chu Wan walking out, his eyes kept looking towards Lu Jianzhao, and he was very wary.

Lu Jianzhao curled his lips and smiled, a hint of mockery in his eyes, as if he didn’t care at all.

Chu Wan also ignored Lu Jianshi.

Lu Jianshi looked at them but said nothing.

After walking a distance away from Lu Jianshi, Lu Jianzhao said to Chu Wan, “Let’s go to the Xinhua Bookstore first.”

Chu Wan nodded, “Okay.”

Lu Jianzhao glanced at Chu Wan. Although she was wearing Third Sister’s old clothes this time, the clothes were a little big. She looked like a child who had secretly put on adult clothes. Perhaps it was because of his preconceived notion, but he felt that Chu Wan was shabby by nature.

But Grandfather actually wanted to match her with him.

He sighed, suppressing his resentment, and earnestly instructed, “If you want to study history or archaeology, which are liberal arts subjects, it’s actually not that bad. The key is to put in the effort and memorize more.”

Chu Wan also said, “Actually, I’m pretty good at Chinese, history, and geography. I can just cram for politics later. But I’m really worried about math right now. There’s really no way around it. I’m starting over from the basics of junior high math.”

Lu Jianzhao laughed when he heard this. The little girl was quite arrogant. He smiled and said, “Wanwan, you may not understand the situation in the city. You have to understand that you are not taking the university entrance exam in Changping, but in Beijing. Children in Beijing learn things more deeply and thoroughly than those in the countryside. You think you are good at Chinese, history, geography, etc., but in fact, compared with the city, you may not be able to do well. After all, city kids have libraries and read a lot. You are in the countryside and don’t have those resources!”

Chu Wan nodded. “That makes sense.”

Lu Jianzhao: “Hey, if you ask me, you have been delayed. If you had come to our house a few years earlier and let my grandfather arrange a good school for you, would it be like this? Look, a good girl like you has been delayed like this. At the age of 19, you want to go to college, but—”

He sighed, curled his lips, and shook his head. “I don’t understand your family’s situation, so I can’t say for sure. This is not something I can say. Anyway, you’ve been in the countryside for a long time, so you’re not very experienced.”

Chu Wan understood what Lu Jianzhao meant but didn’t want to discuss it with him.

Seeing her silence, Lu Jianzhao assumed she was upset by what he said, and he felt a little guilty. After all, they had known each other since childhood, so he tried to make amends, saying, “Don’t be too sad. You said you’re not good at math, but math is hard for a girl. If a woman isn’t good at math, she’s just not cut out for it! Take your time. If you really can’t do it, you can ask me if you have any questions. Even though I’m a liberal arts major, I’m not bad at math. I’m better than you anyway.”

Chu Wan said expressionlessly, “That’s not necessary. I have to go back to Yongling Village to accompany my great-grandfather. You can help me find some information and I’ll review it at home. There’s a high school math teacher in our village. I can ask him if I have any questions.”

Lu Jianzhao raised his eyebrows and said in amusement, “The teacher in your village? That’s fine too, just learn slowly.”

He felt that Chu Wan was somewhat ungrateful. He didn’t want to say anything about the teaching level of the village teachers.

Pearls and Jade Beside Me in the ’80s translated by Maela @ whitemoonlighttranslations.com

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