coobybook Chapter 288 Phoenix Takes Flight
Chapter 288 Phoenix Takes Flight
Zhuang Tunan was unaware that one of the most beautiful girls was missing from the group that went to Yunyao, and he was still hoping that something good would happen to him.
When it was time to set off, they discovered that the person they were looking forward to hadn't come.
"Team Leader Huang, should we wait for Li Jia? She doesn't seem to be here yet."
The chubby and tall team leader, Huang, turned around and said, "Li Jia said she has something to do and can't come! We're all here now, let's set off."
There were already few girls in the architecture department, and without Li Jia, there were only three girls left, all of whom had very distinctive looks. Along the way, no one had any interest in talking.
We encountered two groups of people on the way.
The first group was toll collectors. They had set up an illegal checkpoint, armed with knives, and didn't ask for much—five dollars per person. The driver knew who they were and advised everyone to pay to save their lives.
The second group was forced to buy food; they had to get off the bus and eat. It was still five yuan per person, but each person was given two steamed buns.
Everyone says that this second group of people are truly honorable thieves; they could have just robbed them, but they chose to make a deal instead.
There were indeed robbers, but after searching Zhuang Tunan, they only found a dozen or so yuan that were out in the open, so they took it. Zhuang Tunan hid most of his money in the safest place, just as Lin Dongzhe had told him.
After spending more than twenty days surveying with Teacher Ruan in Yunyao, Zhuang Tunan finally began his return journey. There was no reason to return to Shanghai first, so Zhuang Tunan got off the train directly in Suzhou.
On my way back, I ran into Wu Shanshan at the alley entrance. Seeing the undisguised joy on her face, I smiled and asked her, "Shanshan, what's making you happy?"
Wu Shanshan flashed the admission notice in her hand, "Brother Tu Nan, I got into university!"
Zhuang Tunan took the notification and looked at it. "East China Normal University? That's great, Shanshan, congratulations!"
Back at No. 37 Courtyard, Zhuang Tunan received a warm welcome from the four adults of both families. They kept saying that he had gotten tanned and thinner, and Huang Ling was so distressed that tears welled up in her eyes.
After exchanging pleasantries, Zhuang Tunan recounted his encounter with Wu Shanshan at the alley entrance. Before Huang Ling and Song Ying could react, a fierce argument erupted from Wu Jianguo's house in the South Courtyard.
Listening carefully, I realized it was Xiaomin and Zhang Amei arguing.
"What's wrong with me going to the hair salon? How is that improper?" Xiaomin was protesting.
Zhang Amei got angry too, "I won't allow you to go to the hair salon. I used my connections to find you a job at the Third Factory, why won't you go? Is the path your mother arranged for you too difficult to take?"
Xiaomin smiled, "I'm begging you, Mom, please don't make any more arrangements. You've arranged so many things for me so far, and every single time you've miscalculated! And about Sister Shanshan, you don't agree with her going to university, but I support her! Getting into university isn't easy, please don't stop her anymore!"
With a sharp slap, the argument finally came to an end.
Song Ying and Huang Ling quickly went to the front yard, stopped both groups of people, stopped Zhang Amei who was still about to fight, and also stopped Xiao Min who wanted to run outside.
However, after this incident, Zhang Amei and Wu Shanshan had a falling out, and Xiaomin brought their conflict into the open.
Xiaomin plays the role of "Zhuang Tunan," who strongly disapproves of her mother, even though the mother is advocating for her own interests. While the circumstances differ somewhat, from the mother's perspective, the situation is similar.
Zhang Amei initially had no intention of paying tuition or sending Wu Shanshan to university. She felt that it would be unfair to Xiaomin and would make Xiaomin seem inferior.
Xiaomin's outburst temporarily covered up the problem.
After Zhuang Tunan returned, there wasn't much time left before the start of the new semester. Zhuang Tunan wanted to visit Teacher Ruan a few days earlier, so Huang Ling bought a lot of fish and shrimp to give Zhuang Tunan a special meal.
During his stay in the past few days, Zhuang Tunan took Zhuang Xiaoting to the compressor factory dormitory to visit her grandparents.
The two were very enthusiastic towards Zhuang Tunan, and consequently, they were also much kinder to Zhuang Xiaoting.
Huang Ling did not break ties with the two, and Zhuang Xiaoting's memories of her childhood became increasingly blurred, while her memories of the two's kindness became increasingly clear.
The four of them were having a wonderful time together.
Two weeks later, Zhuang Tunan prepared to travel to Shanghai to join Wu Shanshan. Wu Jianguo approached Zhuang Chaoying, hoping Zhuang Tunan could stay in Shanghai to take care of his eldest daughter. Therefore, Zhuang Shanshan had no choice but to arrive ahead of schedule.
Wu Shanshan walked with her brows furrowed, because she was still in some pain. However, she endured it so that no one would notice.
At the alley entrance, I parted ways with everyone.
Xiaomin hugged Wu Shanshan and said, "Sister Shanshan, I'm so proud of you! You're a phoenix that flew out of a chicken coop! Take care while you're away from home."
Wu Shanshan burst into tears. "Take care of Xiaojun. He's still young and doesn't understand things."
Then he said to Wu Xiaojun, "From now on, listen to your sister Xiaomin!"
He glanced at everyone, then looked at Lin Dongzhe one last time with reluctance before turning around and following Zhuang Tunan with his package.
Shanghai, more than 100 kilometers away.
The Li family is currently experiencing a scene of "family reunion".
Li Jia's parents brought her younger brother, Li Wen, back from Northeast China. Now that the policy allows educated youth to have their children return to the city, someone needs to be there to receive their household registration.
Li Jia's parents hope that Li Wen can return to Shanghai.
But Li Jia's second uncle and aunt insisted on not doing so, and even changed the place where they kept the household registration book.
Li Jia's father opened the wardrobe drawer but couldn't find the household registration booklet. He questioned Li Jia's grandmother, "Where's the household registration booklet?"
Li Jia's grandfather was furious. "I'm not dead yet! How dare you pressure your mother like this?"
Enraged, Li Jia's father kicked the mirror in the wardrobe, shattering it into pieces. A shard of mirror fell and cut Li Jia's father's calf, and blood quickly soaked his pants.
Hearing the sound of breaking glass, Li Jia rushed in and saw the blood on her father's calf. She immediately ran over and pressed the wound on his leg.
The father was still trying to persuade his grandparents to let Li Wen register his household registration, but the two old people refused to budge no matter what they said.
Li Jia suddenly had an idea, "We don't need the house, we just need Li Wen to register his household there. I can write a guarantee, right now."
Ultimately, the guarantee proved effective, and Li Wencai was able to successfully register his household registration.
Li Jia's parents praised her, saying she was a smart child who did well in her studies and didn't need the residency quota.
Li Jia understood the unspoken meaning, but showed no emotion and simply nodded.
The same situation played out in the Zhou family, only the Zhou family was more lenient.
Zhou Qing's household registration was successfully transferred to Shanghai. Wang Fang also planned to send Zhou Qing back to Shanghai to study.
Wang Yong was overjoyed and wanted to take over Wang Fang's house.
But the brother and sister had argued about the house countless times! Wang Fang refused to leave the house to Wang Yong no matter what, so the two argued again.
However, the two argued without reaching a conclusion, and since finding a place to live wasn't a big deal, the matter was eventually dropped.