Chapter 96 – Educated Youth Who Abandoned His Wife and Child – 27

Brigade Leader Su had a great attitude about it—if they didn’t want to work, then fine. Since work points were tracked anyway, those who didn’t come wouldn’t get any.

But the other brigade cadres were a mess of anxiety.

If no one worked, who was going to handle all the labor in the fields?

Would their brigade end up dead last this year…?

If they got publicly criticized for it, they couldn’t afford that kind of humiliation.

Looking at Brigade Leader Su, who seemed unbothered by it all, they anxiously blocked his path. “Say something, will you?”

“What am I supposed to say? That they should all stop studying and go back to the fields?” Su took a sip of water. “I couldn’t do it even if I wanted to. If you want to try, be my guest—see if they don’t tear you to pieces.”

“But…”

Su waved a hand. “No buts. If the news turns out to be true, it’ll reach the brigade in a few days. Then it won’t just be our educated youths who’ve stopped working—it’ll be all of them. No one’ll be able to laugh at anyone else.”

“And if it’s false…” He paused in thought. “Then you’d better prepare to do some damage control. I’m worried someone might not be able to take the disappointment. After all, this hope is the only thing keeping many of them going…”

The cadres found this reasonable. One of them couldn’t help but praise him, “No wonder you’re the Brigade Leader—you really see the big picture.”

“Alright, enough flattery. They’re not working, so we’ll have to pick up the slack.”

“True. Let’s go!”

Fortunately, a few days later, the news of the reinstatement of the National College Entrance Examination was officially announced.

All the educated youths breathed a huge sigh of relief and threw themselves into their studies with even more determination.

Before long, registration for the exam began in full swing.

As the brigade leader, Su was naturally in charge of overseeing this important process.

On the first day of registration, the educated youths formed a long queue early in the morning.

Because the registration wasn’t limited to educated youths but also open to farmers and workers, the line included a number of villagers with some schooling who wanted to try their luck.

Many had attended junior high. Since college didn’t cost money and poor families could apply for subsidies, it was worth the attempt.

And once you graduated from college, you could land a government job and live a completely different life.

Shen Xiuyan and Su Mingyue were also in the queue. But because of the crowd, Su Mingyue didn’t particularly stand out.

The line soon reached them.

When Brigade Leader Su looked up and saw who was in front of him, he was totally caught off guard…

Why was his daughter here? Why wasn’t she out in the fields, and instead tagging along with Shen Xiuyan to deal with this kind of thing?

Shen Xiuyan gave him a cheerful “Dad” before pulling out two registration forms and starting to fill them out.

At first, Su kept a neutral expression. But when he saw Shen Xiuyan complete the first form and start on a second, he couldn’t keep it together anymore.

His eyes widened in disbelief—sure enough, the second form had “Su Mingyue” written in bold characters.

Brigade Leader Su: “…”

He shot a look at his daughter. She was just a junior high graduate, and it had been years. Surely she’d forgotten most of what she learned—why on earth was she getting involved in this mess?

And his son-in-law too—what the hell? Instead of stopping her, he was encouraging her nonsense?

But since they were out in public, he had to save face. He didn’t scold them outright.

Shen Xiuyan handed over the completed forms and even winked at him.

The village cadre accepting the forms glanced at them and said to Su with a grin, “Old Su, never thought your daughter had such ambition—she’s jumping in on this, too.”

Brigade Leader Su didn’t want to talk. As if he couldn’t hear the mockery in that tone.

But the forms were submitted, so he just waved a hand. “Let her try. Once she fails, she’ll give up on her own.”

The cadre clapped him on the shoulder. “You’ve got it rough.”

Brigade Leader Su: “…”

Neither he nor Liu Yanyun, her mother, took this episode seriously.

They figured their daughter just didn’t want to be separated from Shen Xiuyan and wanted to follow him to school.

Even when Su Mingyue stopped going to the fields and spent her days reading and writing with her husband, they only frowned and didn’t say anything.

Because they’d heard a rumor: the brigade might be disbanded next year. After that, farmland would be contracted to households. The more you worked, the more you’d earn.

Given that, Brigade Leader Su was even less inclined to force Su Mingyue back to fieldwork.

There were only a few months left—better to conserve strength and work for their own household later.

And so, Su Mingyue spent her days either doing practice exams or on the way to doing them. Even though she worked hard, the two elders still didn’t believe she’d get into college.

Two months flew by. In early December, the National College Entrance Examination officially began.

After three hellish days, it was finally over. Everyone let out a collective breath.

The pressure that had weighed on their chests for months was finally released.

This was the moment that would determine their fate.

The wait afterward was torture. Not everyone could be as calm as Shen Xiuyan.

Su Mingyue paced nervously at home every day, unable to sit still. Even Brigade Leader Su could see how on edge she was.

“Girl, calm down already. You act like you’ve got a shot at passing. Why’re you more anxious than Xiuyan, the real scholar?”

“Dad, how could you say that? I’ve worked so hard,” Su Mingyue said, on the verge of tears. “Why would you assume I’ll fail?”

Seeing how visibly deflated she was, Shen Xiuyan quickly pulled her into a hug and coaxed, “Don’t listen to him. If you ask me, your scores are good enough. You’ll be fine.”

“Really?”

Tears welled up in Su Mingyue’s eyes. What kind of dad says that to his daughter?

“Really.” Shen Xiuyan nodded firmly. “Do you trust Dad’s words or mine?”

Su Mingyue didn’t even hesitate. “Yours, of course.”

Brigade Leader Su: “…”

Thanks. That hurt.

Su Mingyue didn’t stop there—she even shot him a smug little look.

Brigade Leader Su could only think: Girl, do we really need to hurt each other like this…

And what, Shen Xiuyan says it and you just believe him?

Where do you get this much blind confidence?

But looking at his daughter’s undeniable determination to get into college, Su and Liu Yanyun exchanged a glance—worried sick.

If she didn’t pass, she might cry until the sky fell.

They had to start planning now for how to comfort her in case she failed.

After over a month of waiting, their brigade finally received its first acceptance letter.

As expected, it went to an educated youth—someone who’d actually attended high school. No way the villagers could compete.

The youth dropped to his knees, weeping with joy as he held the letter.

At long last, he could finally return to the city…

He’d dreamed of this day for who knew how long.

Everyone genuinely felt happy for him. It was a beautiful thing—after all these years, he could finally go home.

They wanted to go home too…

Maybe it was because someone had gotten their letter, but tension began to build in the crowd.

At home, Su Mingyue tightly held Shen Xiuyan’s hand and murmured, “Forget me—I can accept that. But Xiuyan-ge, you have to pass…”

Shen “National College Entrance Examination Terminator” Xiuyan was being doubted for the first time.

He smiled with unshakable confidence. Don’t worry—he was a sure bet.

In order to complete his mission to become famous in this world, Shen Xiuyan hadn’t held back at all.

Fame? He’d start by blowing up with the National College Entrance Examination.

In this barren era, there was nothing more important than a researcher.

He’s been to so many worlds and lived so many different lives—of course he’s seen all kinds of high-tech stuff. It makes perfect sense that he knows how to make a few things.