LAVW – Chapter 109 The College Entrance Exam Is Here

However, Chen Niu still discovered that on that same day, Shi Qian had gone to the cowshed to eat grass.

He might be obsessed with studying, but he still kept an eye on Shi Qian’s daily routine, and he was just about to head to the cowshed to bring back some grass.

This year, Shi Qian had worked in the fields quite a lot, and the work points he’d accumulated were enough to feed himself.

Thinking about how Qian Niuhua had moved even faster and solved the problem on his own, Chen Niu felt a little guilty and asked, “Qian Niuhua, didn’t you say you don’t like going to the cowshed? Aren’t you afraid Brother Aigang will keep thinking about you?”

Shi Qian: “Moo moo.”

Now he’s the one afraid of me.

Shi Qian wrote the words “fight,” “water buffalo,” and “I won with one move,” briefly describing his battle achievement today.

Chen Niu: ……

“Wouldn’t that make him think about you even more?”

“Moo moo.” Shi Qian wrote—“Then you’d better work harder.”

Chen Niu nodded. “I will.” Then he asked, “Qian Niuhua, where do you think I should apply?”

“Moo moo.”

Anywhere is fine, it’s up to you.

Shi Qian painstakingly wrote in the sand tray.

Chen Niu muttered, “Nanyin must be going back to Beijing, but I want to apply to the Southern Agricultural University in the neighboring province. Yuan Zhuanjia’s rice research institute is right next to it.”

This “next to” meant the next province.

And from Beijing—given the era’s transportation—it was extremely far.

But from the way Chen Niu spoke, it was clear he’d already made up his mind.

He wanted to go to Southern Agricultural University, even if it meant being far from Lin Nanyin, even if it meant the two of them would be separated by thousands of miles with no possibility.

In life, there were things he cared about more deeply than love.

Those years of hunger shaped his past, his present, and would determine the direction of his future.

Shi Qian nodded sincerely, expressing his support.

Receiving Qian Niuhua’s approval made Chen Niu feel more settled.

It was the first time he had made such a major decision on his own. He just needed someone to talk to, otherwise something always felt off.

When it came to matters involving Lin Zhiqing, the best person to talk to was, of course, Qian Niuhua.

After combing Qian Niuhua’s fur twice, he returned to studying overtime.

Before long, the weather became too cold, frost formed, and it caused issues with the county’s power supply. For a while, candles were sold out everywhere, and even kerosene lamps and other lighting tools became hot commodities.

Chen Niu went to the county’s black market again and bought a few flashlights and a lot of batteries at high prices.

Shi Qian looked at the iron-lump-looking old flashlights and felt relieved that flashlights of this era weren’t rechargeable.

Otherwise if the power went out, they’d be done for.

With flashlights, nighttime studying could continue.

In the production team, the number of people asking for leave wasn’t too high, so production wasn’t affected. Most were locals—sons and daughters of the village—so Xu Youguang pinched his nose and tolerated it.

But he never expected that a few days later, someone would come crying and ask to do daily labor.

When asked why, they said the pressure was too much, and they came to farm the fields to relieve stress.

Xu Youguang was baffled. “There’s even something like this? Studying so hard they want to farm?”

Shi Qian confirmed that such a thing definitely existed.

Not to mention others—even Chen Niu, when stressed, liked to tinker around in his own plot.

Given Chen Niu’s personality, he didn’t even feel pressure as intensely as others. If even he felt it, no wonder some people were studying to the point of tears.

The last college entrance exam had been ten years ago.

Ten years away from a learning environment. Returning suddenly to studying again, with such limited time—the pressure was imaginable.

What Shi Qian could do for the family’s examinee was simply to take good care of himself.

While Chen Niu was studying hard, Shi Qian wandered around with Xu Aigang.

The best time was when they took the cows out to graze—they could roam across mountains; if they stayed in the village, Shi Qian walked around listening to gossip; if there was work, he helped with field labor. But since autumn harvest had long ended, people were more relaxed, and the cows didn’t have much to do—the main task was to eat and grow fat.

When hungry, he knew to go to the cowshed to graze; when it rained, he knew to run home. Shi Qian took excellent care of both his body and mind.

One day, Xu Aigang took out his tools to “trim the cows’ nails,” and Shi Qian watched with great interest.

The lowest layer of a cow’s hoof was essentially its nail.

It got easily dirty from stepping on the ground, and without proper cleaning and care, it could develop problems.

Since Xu Aigang was diligent in his care, Shi Qian saw beautiful “milky white with a hint of pink” freshly trimmed hooves, and very few spoiled ones.

After finishing, the panting Xu Aigang squatted down.

“Qian Niuhua, lift your hoof so I can take a look.”

“Moo.”

Alright.

Shi Qian lifted his hoof for inspection.

Xu Aigang took one look and knew it was extremely clean—likely because Chen Niu took even better care than he did.

“Good, the cleanest one. Next year when it grows out, just trim a little.”

Just like people’s fingernails, when they grow out, they need trimming.

Shi Qian nodded in understanding and retracted his hoof neatly.

Standing on three legs felt very strange.

Shi Qian couldn’t help wondering—when he returned to having two legs someday, would he feel unaccustomed?

Thinking about his stable, lifelong profession—the “iron rice bowl”—he put down the worry.

If he couldn’t walk well, he could just find a “poop scooper” to help him!

After watching the “show,” he checked himself over and then happily wandered back home.

Seeing he had gone out playing again, Chen Niu became worried about the prodigy’s future. “Qian Niuhua, do you want to review on your own?”

Shi Qian had long prepared a solution. He acted disappointed and sighed.

Chen Niu didn’t understand at first, but in the middle of the night, he suddenly shot up in bed and smacked his forehead.

Sigh, he was really hopeless.

How could he forget—no matter how well Qian Niuhua learned, he could never show much in front of others, nor could he, like humans, take the college entrance exam to prove his academic ability.

Chen Niu was deeply regretful. The next morning, he secretly ran to the county to buy Shi Qian all his favorite dishes.

Shi Qian: His conscience twinged ever so slightly.

But the food was really delicious.

After eating, Shi Qian happily rubbed against Chen Niu, telling him to go study with peace of mind.

He wrote to Chen Niu—“Playing is also fun.”

He could’ve added the word “even,”

but that was something he couldn’t say, so he had to keep it from Chen Niu.

Chen Niu hugged the Qian Niuhua cow with heartache, grateful that he was still young—still just a child.

For a naive child, simply playing was enough to make him happy.

But this hardworking young man didn’t know that some grown-ups actually liked playing even more. Take Shi Qian for example—someone whose true nature was pure salted-fish laziness.

All that talk about loving to study? Pure nonsense.

While Shi Qian shook off physics-chemistry-biology and happily wandered around the village, the study days of the exam candidates flew by, and soon it was mid-December.

The province’s exam dates were set for December 17th, 18th, and 19th.

Chen Niu and Xie Guoan were unlucky—their designated exam site was quite far away.

Fortunately, Xu Youguang had the ability to arrange lodging for them in advance, so they could go early and simply wait for the exam.

On the 14th, the day before departure—

Xu Guozi came to the Chen house holding a head of cabbage. “Chen Niu, I’m here to bring you vegetables! Remember to stir-fry this ‘high-seed’ cabbage for lunch.”

Shi Qian heard clearly—Xu Guozi used the fourth tone, the tone for “seed.”

Chen Niu also asked, “What do you mean high seed?”

Xu Guozi laughed, “I planted it on the wall. Isn’t that just the symbolism of ‘high school’?”

Shi Qian: Big sis is awesome!

“It’s a good blessing, thank you.” Chen Niu glanced at Xu Guozi’s rounded belly, then at the rest of the cabbages in her basket—those were clearly meant for the others.

He worriedly said, “You’re still delivering more, right? Be careful when you walk.”

“Aiya, you’re getting naggy.” Xu Guozi said disdainfully, “Old Xie has nagged my ears into calluses already. Now you too? So annoying. I’m leaving.”

She turned and headed off to deliver her “high-seed” cabbages to the other families.

At noon, Shi Qian helped Chen Niu finish eating the “high-seed” cabbage.

Maybe because it was grown on the wall, it tasted a bit different from usual.

In the afternoon, Shi Qian put on the cart harness. Led by Xu Youguang, he brought Xie Guoan and Chen Niu to the exam site ahead of time.

Along the way, villagers from nearby villages who were heading to distant exam sites were picked up whenever the route matched.

After settling in, Xu Youguang took Shi Qian out for a walk, telling the two young men to stay put, not to wander, and definitely not to eat random things.

While packing, Xie Guoan said with envy, “Qian Niuhua is really something. Even Uncle Xu spoils him now.”

Chen Niu: “You saw it. He spent the whole journey clinging to Uncle Xu. With those big pleading eyes—if you don’t take him out, it feels like a crime.”

“I think Qian Niuhua has turned wild. Let’s see how you manage him later.” Xie Guoan laughed helplessly.

The harder they studied, the happier they saw Qian Niuhua playing on the side. Sometimes, they really wanted to secretly beat him up.

But unfortunately—they couldn’t beat him.

And Chen Niu wouldn’t help; he even pretended not to see it while advising them—“Qian Niuhua is not even two years old, of course he loves to play.”

But because of this, everyone’s mentality stayed positive. Almost no one reached a breaking point while studying. They only occasionally envied the cow enough to want to whack him.

Sure enough, once again Xie Guoan heard Chen Niu say, “It’s fine. Qian Niuhua is very sensible.”

Xie Guoan: …

There it is again—the blind doting.

Meanwhile, Chen Niu sighed inwardly.

People just didn’t understand Qian Niuhua’s suffering.

He was clearly a once-in-heaven, never-on-earth type of super prodigy, yet he could only be an ordinary yellow ox plowing fields.

At that same moment, Shi Qian was exploring the neighboring county.

He also caught the scent of delicious fried food and stood at the shop entrance, reluctant to leave.

Xu Youguang laughed, “Let’s go.”

Shi Qian moved and revealed the little pouch hanging under his neck, showing it to Xu Youguang.

Inside were some money and tickets—prepared by Chen Niu.

But… it was ugly. Because Chen Niu’s sewing skills were terrible. And too lazy to ask someone else, he just made do.

Unaware of this, Xu Youguang opened the ugly little pouch according to Qian Niuhua’s intention.

He saw money and tickets inside.

Xu Youguang: “Want me to buy you something?”

Shi Qian nodded.

Xu Youguang internally disapproved of Chen Niu’s wastefulness, but still bought it for him. After all, this was Chen Niu’s money—if he gave it, it was meant to be spent.

But he bought only one portion. Shi Qian still didn’t leave, continuing to stare.

“You want more? One portion is enough to taste,” he said.

Shi Qian: “Moo-moo.”

Buy some for you all to eat.

Shi Qian ran out on his own, no rope on him. Xu Youguang couldn’t drag him back. In the end, after testing his limits, he bought four portions, and only then did Shi Qian listen.

After buying and leaving the stall, he suddenly realized—four portions. Wasn’t that exactly the number of people in their group?

“Are these for everyone?” Xu Youguang asked again.

Shi Qian, afraid of scaring him, didn’t answer.

But the innocent, pure expression on his face made Xu Youguang think—Even the baby in Guozi’s belly definitely won’t be as cute as this!

Unable to resist, he asked, “Qian Niuhua, when Chen Niu goes to college, do you want to live with us?”

Shi Qian shook his head.

Impossible.

Chen Niu already said he’d find a way to bring him along.

And conveniently, Chen Niu would be going to study agriculture at Nannong. At an agricultural university, raising a cow should be perfectly normal, right?

Shi Qian followed Xu Youguang, watched him scout out the surroundings near the exam site, and ask the gatekeeper grandpa about all the details.

Then the man and the cow headed back.

When they returned, Xu Youguang divided the snacks he bought, and seeing Shi Qian’s non-reaction—acting as if this was only natural—he found him even more adorable.

The next day, Xu Youguang finally took Chen Niu and Xie Guoan to walk around the exam site.

On the way, he even bragged to the two youngsters, “That’s the shop! I was the one who brought Qian Niuhua there.”

Shi Qian: I clearly went myself because I was craving food.

Chen Niu didn’t believe it either. The moment he exchanged a glance with Qian Niuhua, he immediately knew the truth.

But there was no need to expose him. Watching Uncle Xu boast was a good way to relax.

Xie Guoan was even quicker. One look at Chen Niu’s secretive grin and recalling Qian Niuhua’s usual habits, he also figured out what really happened.

Seeing that everyone seemed happy, Shi Qian couldn’t help feeling happy too.

When they arrived at the exam site, the group — plus Shi Qian — made the other early-arrived candidates feel instantly insecure.

Who are these people? How can they be smiling so happily? They must have prepared extremely well!

No, they had to go back and cram the last bit of material!

Unlike them, Xie Guoan and Chen Niu weren’t overly nervous. Their revision had gone well, so they quizzed each other on common mistakes and filled in any final gaps.

The examinees weren’t tense, so Xu Youguang tried to appear calm as well. But when he couldn’t hold it in, he just took Shi Qian out to stroll around.

In Xu Youguang’s nervousness, the college entrance exam began.

Standing at the school gate, Shi Qian heard the whistle announcing the start of the exam and thought, Go on, go on. Once it’s over, everything will be fine.

He believed hardworking people would receive their due reward.

Besides, Chen Niu didn’t just work hard — he truly loved learning.

After the first day ended, neither Xie Guoan nor Chen Niu said much. Both held back and refused to check answers, afraid it would affect the exams still to come.

On the third day, after sending them in for their final subject, Shi Qian and Xu Youguang waited outside. Suddenly, a northern wind howled through, bringing a sharp chill.

Xu Youguang, a seasoned farmer, immediately sensed something was wrong. He looked up and frowned. “It’s going to snow. Might be a heavy one too.”

He called out, “Qian Niuhua, let’s go back and make some ginger soup.”

Shi Qian also felt cold and followed him back.

While Xu Youguang was cooking ginger soup, Shi Qian fetched his own little cotton-padded jacket, holding it out for Xu to put it on him.

The jacket was already too small. But thinking of the winter ahead, Chen Niu had bought extra fabric and cotton and asked Second Aunt Du Chun to alter it.

With Shi Qian’s current size, he and Chen Niu faced the same problem — they consumed a lot of fabric.

Xu Youguang watched in amusement, helping Shi Qian put it on while laughing. “Aren’t you fancy, Qian Niuhua? You even need clothes. My family can’t afford to raise a child like you!”

Shi Qian: “Moo moo.”

I’m going to be a little uncle. I don’t steal from kids.

After dressing Shi Qian, Xu Youguang added another layer for himself.

Once the strong ginger-and-garlic-smelling soup was done, he stepped outside to check the sky again, then quickly packed their things onto the cart.

Shi Qian could tell that he planned to head directly back to Shengli Village afterward.

Otherwise, when the snow got heavier, they might not be able to return home anytime soon.

When Xu Youguang finished packing and carried a big pot of ginger soup toward the exam site, they were delayed a little. By the time they arrived, the exam had just ended, so they witnessed the scene of examinees flooding out of the classrooms like a tide.

Snow had started falling, not too thick, but each flake was large — like feathers drifting down from the sky, landing on the students’ faces.

Some looked numb, some confident and joyful, but most simply relieved that the ordeal was over.

They howled, tossing hats and bags into the air. Then things escalated — clothes and shoes went flying too.

Shi Qian saw one shoe hit someone.

The student who threw it immediately regretted it, meekly going over to “buy back” his own shoe.

The weather was cold, but it couldn’t freeze the fire burning in their hearts.

The fire of hope for the future had been lit by this exam.

Chen Niu had no schoolbag and wore no hat. Swept up in the excitement, he waved his coat high in the air.

Shi Qian: ?

Do you not see it’s snowing?!

Shi Qian bellowed, “Moooo—!”

Chen Niu, you’re drinking at least two bowls of ginger soup!

Hearing him, Chen Niu pushed through the crowds and sprinted over with surprising agility, throwing himself around Shi Qian’s neck.

“Qian Niuhua! It’s over!”

“I did really well! So many things we studied together came up!”

Over the past month, they’d reviewed everything once more. But Chen Niu would never forget that the foundation — the very first round — had been built with Qian Niuhua’s help, allowing a junior-high graduate like him to gain solid high-school-level knowledge.

Shi Qian panicked a little.

Brother, you’re exposing me.

But with everyone so excited — even Xu Youguang was being hugged by Xie Guoan while being screamed “Dad dad dad” at — no one paid attention.

Relieved, Shi Qian nudged Chen Niu and bit into the coat he’d taken off. “Moo—”

Put it back on.

Once Chen Niu dressed again and Xie Guoan released the shaken Xu Youguang, the older man pulled out two bowls and poured the spicy, garlicky ginger soup.

“Come, each of you, have a bowl first.”

Shi Qian: “Moo, moo.”

Add another bowl.

Remembering that Qian Niuhua could do math, Xu Youguang actually understood him. He grabbed the two silly boys who had taken off their coats and made each of them drink two full bowls.

Feeling warm all over, the group suddenly realized someone was taking photos of them.

They recognized him — the young reporter who had visited Shengli Village before.

“I’m here to photograph the college entrance exam.”

Xu Youguang’s eyes lit up at once. He quickly produced another bowl, filled it with ginger soup, and handed it over. “Here, comrade reporter, drink some to keep warm.”

After the reporter drank it, Xu Youguang finally asked, “Comrade, will the photos you take this time be published in the newspaper?”

The young reporter holding a bowl: “……”

The reporter scratched his head apologetically. “Just now when the examinees came out, I took a really good shot, and I might use that one. But it was taken from the side — it got the people coming out, the ones waiting… Uncle, you and Qian Niuhua still stand out very clearly in it.”

Xu Youguang nodded in satisfaction and enthusiastically refilled another bowl for the reporter.

After exchanging a few words, both sides headed home through the light flurry of snow.

On the way back, Shi Qian trotted along with quick da-da-da steps.

Because the cold weather was freezing his four long legs.

Has anyone in this world ever made pants for cows? Shi Qian was perfectly willing to let others use his creative idea for free — as long as they’d give him a pair.