RYEY -Chapter 280 Recognizing Family

At the same time, the two of them admired Cheng Qiao’s judgment even more. Just as Han Chunmei was about to suggest going to find Cheng Qiao, Qian Longxin had already grabbed a Chinese textbook and announced that she was going to see her.

Except for some educated youths who had come in previous years and weren’t very close to Cheng Qiao, everyone else nodded in agreement. Over the years, without Cheng Qiao’s discreet help, these people would have found it extremely difficult to make progress in Xiangyang Village.

Li Huan was summoned to the commune again. When he received the notice of the reinstatement of the college entrance exam, excitement flashed in his eyes. His wife really was a fairy—she could even foresee something like this.

First, he went to see Shouhou and Qiu Min. Now they were parents of two children, but that didn’t mean they couldn’t take the college entrance exam.

Unexpectedly, Shouhou flatly refused. He didn’t even know what a function was—how could he possibly take the university exam? Besides, he was already a father of two; apart from earning money, he had no other ambitions.

Qiu Min shook her head even more. She was completely stretched thin with everything at home and had no time to study. But when she heard that Cheng Qiao was also going to take the exam, she hesitated noticeably.

“Qiu Min, you’re not bad—you at least finished middle school. If you can take it, go ahead. Being with Cheng Qiao later, I’ll be at ease. As for the kids, I’m here, and if necessary, my parents can help too.”

During this period, Shouhou’s parents were very supportive, often coming to help at their home. Since Shouhou was rarely around, leaving Qiu Min with their two young children, they couldn’t leave things entirely to her.

“Let’s go, all of us to Xiangyang Village.”

Li Huan made the decision. He wanted Qiu Min to take the university exam too so Cheng Qiao wouldn’t be alone. But he forgot one thing: the university Cheng Qiao aimed for was far beyond Qiu Min’s reach.

Upon returning to Xiangyang Village, Li Huan struck the gong. When everyone gathered at the grain-drying yard, he announced the exciting news. Everyone cheered.

Auntie Wang spat on the ground toward them. If it weren’t for Huanzi running the literacy classes and a small school in the village every year, you peasants who can’t read much wouldn’t even dare think about taking the college exam.

Nonetheless, those who could register did so. Seeing the registration list with over fifty names, Li Huan was a little surprised. Could these people really get into college?

He went to the cowshed and found Zhao Guoliang. He was a professor at a university in the capital. Having him and his wife teach some basic knowledge to the villagers should have been easy.

But Li Huan had overestimated the villagers’ academic foundation. Besides Han Chunmei, Zhang Yuefang, and the two sibling pairs Qian Longkun and Zhao Xiaobao, the rest were basically reading a foreign language.

Some immediately lost their tempers, pointing at Zhao Guoliang and Xiao Aiqin, calling them troublemakers, complaining that instead of teaching proper lessons, they were giving impossibly hard questions.

Zhao Guoliang and Xiao Aiqin felt helpless. These were ninth-grade questions—difficult? Looking at their own children’s and Cheng Qiao’s perfect scores, they finally understood the gap.

Cheng Qiao got angry. She strode over to the loudest shouting man and kicked him to the ground.

“If you don’t work hard yourself and still insult others, who would tolerate this bad habit?”

“The village chief’s wife hit someone! I’m going to report this! And the village chief let two troublemakers teach us—he wants to ruin Xiangyang Village!”

Ermao got furious and stomped on the man’s head. “Tie Niu, if you dare slander my Huanzi brother or bully my second sister-in-law again, I’ll flatten you.”

Wang Xiangdang and Wang Xiangjun ran over, each grabbed an arm of Tie Niu, and threw him outside the ancestral hall. Tie Niu’s face was battered as he ran home crying.

Soon, Fenqiu arrived. His youngest son Tie Niu was his precious treasure. How could a father not intervene when his son was bullied?

But seeing that those who bullied his son were Cheng Qiao, Ermao, Wang Xiangdang, and Wang Xiangjun, Fenqiu could only turn his anger on his own son’s backside. Lack of awareness! Huanzi could even blow up his kitchen—what couldn’t he do?

They cursed at the gate, while the postman rode into Xiangyang Village.

“Zhao Guoliang, Xiao Aiqin, mail!” Cheng Qiao’s eyes lit up. She looked at them with hope. The couple glanced at each other, sensing that the moment to change their fate had come, and hurried out of the ancestral hall.

“Mail from the capital! Looks like you can go back now.”

The postman had been delivering similar letters lately and, familiar with the route, cheerfully reminded them to get the village chief’s stamp. With the introduction letters, they could leave.

They hurriedly opened the envelopes. Sure enough, there were two bright red appointment letters and a sincere reply letter, urging them to return to their original schools promptly for end-of-year college exam grading.

“Dad, Mom, you can finally go back! I can finally call you Dad and Mom!”

Zhao Xiaobei saw the letters and hugged Xiao Aiqin, crying. Zhao Xiaobao hugged Zhao Guoliang. Though not as unconstrained as his sister, his eyes were red as well.

The family could finally recognize each other openly. Everyone present was astonished. So the Zhao siblings were the children of troublemakers all along.

The enemy had indeed hidden deeply. Tie Niu wanted to speak but Fenqiu immediately covered his mouth. Ancestor! Even if you want to curse, pick the right moment—it’s clearly not suitable now.

Tie Niu understood this but felt extremely frustrated. Why could these city-educated youths know so much, while he lagged so far behind?

He forcefully removed Fenqiu’s hand and was about to curse when he saw Cheng Qiao also hugging Xiao Aiqin and calling her “aunt.” His mind went blank.

At this point, Qian Longkun became the narrator: Cheng Qiao’s mother was Zhao Guoliang’s cousin, which is why Cheng Qiao called Xiao Aiqin “aunt.”

Everyone’s expressions showed understanding. No wonder Zhao Guoliang and his wife had been transferred here—they were protected.

This was also why Yuan Mengzhi had been frustrated. When they first arrived, they suffered many grievances. But Zhao Guoliang’s family not only didn’t suffer but received Uncle Niu’s utmost concern.

“Dad, Mom, you have to leave soon—hurry.”

Zhao Xiaobei was anxious that something might change. Zhao Guoliang shook his head bitterly. The little girl had been frightened these years, but this was also an opportunity that promoted her growth.

“Beibei, don’t rush. The earliest you can leave is tomorrow. Review well. I think your foundation is decent. Aim for the school where Dad works.”

Cheng Qiao nodded. The school where Zhao Guoliang worked was prestigious. Getting in meant a bright future. Unfortunately, she was aiming for the University of Chinese Medicine—her own path.