Reborn in 1977

Chapter 431 Not for Publication

In the courtyard of the Lujiawan Brigade headquarters, dozens of people sat chatting on benches.

Lü Yanan linked arms with Ding Qian and whispered, "How about it? You were right to listen to me. Even though we only reviewed for a little over a month, we still passed, right? We have a solid foundation. No matter what, we're better than those who have been studying 'Industrial Basics' and 'Agricultural Basics' all along. Getting into university is about basic knowledge."

Ding Qian raised her head and forced a smile, "Yes, you're the smartest."

Lü Yanan looked at her helplessly, "Why do I feel like you're just humoring me? Aren't you happy to have gotten into university?"

Ding Qian sighed, "We've only just submitted our applications. It's still a long way off before we actually go to university."

Lü Yanan glared at her, annoyed, "What's so long about it? I think it's practically a done deal. Today, a total of 198 people are participating in the physical examination and submitting their applications. Your score should rank in the top 40…"

Ding Qian tugged at her, "Hey, this is just our own estimated score, not the real score."

Lü Yanan rolled her eyes, "You don't even believe the standard answers Chen Fan gave? How can you be like this?"

Ding Qian was speechless for a moment. After a few seconds, she said, "No, I'm just thinking, what will happen to my family when I go to university?"

Hearing this, Lü Yanan couldn't say anything either.

She herself had married an educated youth from Shanghai, and her situation was similar to that of An Quan and his wife. They both took the college entrance examination this time, and they both did well with the help of An Quan and Chen Fan.

Just to be on the safe side and not miss the opportunity to return to Shanghai, they both applied to ordinary undergraduate programs, and directly filled in junior college for their second choice. With their high scores of over 400, and after discussing with other educated youths to stagger the schools they applied to, the hope of being admitted was very high.

In fact, when these educated youths from other places filled in their application forms, they made choices similar to theirs. Almost no one dared to apply to key universities.

Except for An Quan and his wife, who were the boldest, the others all applied to universities in their hometown cities.

Unlike the 23 children in Lujiawan, who were fearless, with Chen Fan's words, they either applied to Peking University and Tsinghua University, or Jiangnan University. Everyone chose key universities, or "gold mine schools" like the University of Foreign Trade, and they were not afraid of failing.

The educated youths' dream was to return to the city, but not all educated youths were like Lü Yanan and An Quan, marrying educated youths from their hometowns. More people chose to form families with locals for life or other reasons.

Ding Qian belonged to this category.

When she was sent to the Hongxing Brigade, she married a young farmer from the team where the educated youth center was located. Now she has two children. If she chooses to return to Shanghai, whether this family will still exist is a big question mark.

The TV series "A Debtor of Love," which was broadcast on Shanghai TV and set a super high ratings record, told the story of Yunnan educated youths returning to the city and then reorganizing their families, which triggered a series of chaotic stories.

The reason why this TV series caused such a big sensation and was watched by nearly half of the families in Shanghai was because there were too many such situations, so many that almost everyone had a prototype of the characters in the play around them.

The two were silent for a while. Lü Yanan pulled Ding Qian and asked in a low voice, "Which school did you apply to?"

Ding Qian lowered her head and bit her lip, "The first choice is in Shanghai. If I'm not admitted… my second choice is Yunhu University of Finance and Economics."

Hearing this, Lü Yanan breathed a sigh of relief, "That's right. With your score, as long as it's not too outrageous, you'll definitely be admitted."

She asked again, "Which university did you apply to?"

Ding Qian didn't dare to look up at her, "T-Tongji University."

Lü Yanan rolled her eyes, not even in the mood to scold her.

…

On the other side, An Quan was surrounded by a circle of people, each with a cigarette in their mouth, puffing out smoke.

He flicked the ash and said, "Place your bets, leave your hands. Whether it's good or bad depends on this one shot."

One person next to him looked at him, "Lao An, you're really brave. Among so many of us, you're the only one who applied to a key university."

Another person laughed, "Two people. Didn't Lao An's wife also apply to the same one?"

An Quan exhaled a puff of smoke and chuckled, "Life is a rare opportunity to gamble a few times. Since I got a high score this time, the opportunity is rare, so of course I have to be a little bolder."

After a pause, he laughed again, "If I'm not admitted, isn't there a second choice? Universities are also admitted in batches. Key universities pick first, then undergraduates, and finally junior colleges. I shouldn't fail."

The people around him shook their heads with wry smiles. One person said, "We don't dare to gamble. If we lose the bet, it's not certain whether we'll be qualified to apply next year."

An Quan smiled, lowered his head and smoked. No one noticed that his eyes were full of worry.

It was quite cool to fill out the application form. Others filled out ordinary undergraduate or even junior college, but he filled out a key university, Shanghai Jiao Tong University. Why didn't he think about what to do if he wasn't admitted at the time?

If Chen Fan saw him now, he would definitely laugh at him like crazy.

Isn't this a typical college entrance examination syndrome? Worry before the exam, depression after the exam, and even more severe is autism. It will only be relieved when the dust settles. No matter how others try to persuade him, it's useless.

An Quan rubbed his face irritably, threw away the cigarette butt, and lit another one. Then he heard the person next to him ask, "Lao An, you said that the application forms have been filled out. When will the college entrance examination scores be announced?"

Hearing this, An Quan turned to look at him and shook his head blankly, "I don't know."

…

Inside the brigade headquarters office, Chen Fan sat on a long chair, sitting sideways, taking up half the chair by himself.

He looked at Zhang Wenliang, who had just asked the question, and Zhang Cuie, who was outwardly calm but obviously uneasy, and snorted softly, "Announce the college entrance examination scores? You can forget about that."

Secretary Yang, who was sitting at the desk, was slightly stunned. He didn't even smoke his cigarette. He raised his head and asked, "You took the exam and you're not telling us the score?"

Chen Fan shrugged, "Anyway, the Education Department said so, saying that college entrance examination scores are top secret and must not be disclosed."

Faced with this situation, they still didn't understand it. Xiao Liewen couldn't help but ask, "The exam is over, and the application forms have been filled out. Why are the scores still top secret?"

Chen Fan's mouth twitched slightly. After a pause of two seconds, he said,

"This year's theme is 'Resuming the College Entrance Examination'. The focus is on the word 'resume'. The higher authorities have not formulated very detailed regulations on the college entrance examination process, so all localities are referring to the college entrance examination system 12 years ago.

At that time, many places regarded the scores as top secret and did not announce them to the public. Now they have continued this practice."

As for why the college entrance examination scores were not announced during that period? Ahem, don't talk about this!

In fact, many provinces continued the previous method in this year's college entrance examination and did not announce the college entrance examination scores. As for whether some were announced or not, Chen Fan said he didn't know.

It wasn't until the following year, 1978, when the "Opinions on the 1978 National Higher Education Enrollment Work" were released, that the document explicitly stipulated that the results of the college entrance examination must be made public, thus plugging this loophole.

Not announcing the scores was considered good; in some places, even the enrollment policies disregarded the higher authorities' explicit requirement of "selecting the best candidates," continuing the policies of a certain period ten years prior, categorizing and treating all candidates differently.

For example, in Fujian, all candidates were divided into four categories: current students, general previous graduates, old educated youth still in the countryside, and older on-the-job students.

Even if the latter scored higher than the former, they would have to wait until the former were fully enrolled, and only if there were vacancies would the next category be considered.

Moreover, even if admitted, it wasn't necessarily to the major they had applied for.

The Admissions Committee would categorize candidates into four levels based on their family background: eligible for top-secret majors, eligible for secret majors, eligible for general majors, and not suitable for admission.

Therefore, for a long time, the so-called cancellation of review was just empty talk.

(The 1979 college entrance examination review form shows the candidate's family background was outstanding.)

Of course, all regulations depended on who was involved.

For example, if Chen Fan wanted to know their scores, he could find out, and even after everything was settled, he could retrieve their college entrance examination papers. (The previous college entrance examination papers were obtained in this way.)

It just wasn't necessary for a single college entrance examination score.

The 23 candidates from Lujiawan all participated in the examination through Nanhu High School as current graduates, and all had clean backgrounds. Furthermore, with connections in the Education Department, as long as they weren't crazy, they wouldn't squeeze out their quotas.

Moreover, when Chen Fan went to the Education Department that day, Jiang Lili had already revealed to him that their college entrance examination results had alarmed the Provincial Education Commission, a semi-public matter. Who would dare to tamper with it?!

Not only would theirs be safe, but the safety of this group of educated youth from other places and those in the Nanhu High School study class would also be greatly reduced, as they were tied together.

This was something Chen Fan hadn't anticipated.

But it was a good thing, so he was happy to watch from the sidelines.

Looking at Zhang Cuie, who still seemed anxious, Chen Fan said unhappily, "What did I teach you? Stay calm in the face of big events. Regardless of your exam results, now that you've filled out your application forms, what's the use of looking at the exam scores?"

Zhang Cuie pouted, "Oh."

Zhang Wenliang quickly winked at her, "Aren't you going to keep an eye on the broadcasting room? You've only taught your sister for a few days, and you're letting her broadcast alone."

Zhang Cuie was afraid of her master but not of him. She immediately glared, "I started after my master taught me for half a day. I've been teaching Sister Yue for two months, and she could have been broadcasting alone for a long time."

Zhang Wenliang rolled his eyes in annoyance. He shouldn't have covered for her.

Chen Fan grinned and chuckled, but his tone was serious, "How are you talking to your brother? Be polite."

Zhang Cuie immediately put on a smiling face, "Got it, Master. Then I'll go to the broadcasting room."

After speaking, she turned and ran out cheerfully.

Zhang Wenliang shook his head repeatedly, "This girl is hopeless."

Chen Fan waved his hand and smiled, "She's not like this to everyone. Aren't you her dearest third brother? If she's too polite in front of you, wouldn't that be treating you like an outsider?"

Zhang Wenliang was immediately choked with anger, realizing that she was just bullying him.

Captain Zhang nodded repeatedly from the side, "Xiao'e is quite sensible and has never been impolite in front of outsiders. She's just young, a bit hot-tempered, and competitive."

He said, looking at Chen Fan, "You, as her master, must teach her more."

Before Chen Fan could speak, Zhang Wenliang immediately sat up straight and looked at him, smiling, "Right, right, according to the old rules, once someone has a master, even their biological parents can't interfere. What Xiao'e becomes in the future depends on how well you manage her. Don't blame me for causing trouble if you teach her wrong."

Chen Fan glanced at him, "Cause me trouble? Can you beat me or scold me?"

Zhang Wenliang's breath caught in his throat again, and he couldn't say a word.

He originally wanted to lose his temper, but seeing his uncle sitting next to him, he obediently swallowed his anger.

… …

Today was the day to fill out the application forms, and all the candidates related to Lujiawan had gathered together. After they filled out their application forms, Zhang Wenliang and An Quan, on the orders of Secretary Yang and others, invited them to a dinner.

Compared to the dinner after the college entrance examination, these people were one step closer to the threshold of university.

Okay, it was actually just the same people as last time.

Before noon, the banquet was already on the table.

Secretary Yang, holding a wine glass, didn't refuse any of the educated youth who came to toast, pouring out flattering words without hesitation.

Chen Fan had hinted to him privately that there was a high probability that this group of people would be admitted to university, so of course he had to try to make connections.

Now that Lujiawan was developing smoothly, he still wanted to continue expanding his business and open L湾熟食店 (L湾 Delicatessen) outside of Yunhu. Who knew when he might need these people!

Besides Secretary Yang, Chen Fan received the most toasts.

Lü Yanan, pulling Ding Qian, walked up to him, holding a wine glass and said, "Teacher Chen, we won't say much in the way of thanks. Regardless of whether we can get into university this time, as long as you have any instructions, we will definitely do our best to carry them out!"

Chen Fan also stood up and smiled at her, "Sister Nan, you're being too polite. When I was studying at the health center before, you took care of me a lot. Shouldn't I toast you two glasses of wine too?"

Lü Yanan laughed loudly upon hearing this, "I knew you weren't that kind of person."

She didn't explicitly say what kind of person, but everyone knew.

It was nothing more than "Don't forget your friends when you become rich and powerful."

Chen Fan drank a glass with them, and immediately others came up, determined not to let him go until he was drunk.

He wanted to find An Quan to help him fend off the drinks, but when he turned his head, he saw that An Quan was already tipsy and unable to protect himself.

Just as the drinking was in full swing, the sound of a car came from outside the courtyard, along with the barking of dogs rising and falling.

Hearing the sound outside, the courtyard quickly quieted down, and everyone turned to look towards the gate.

A few seconds later, a jeep stopped at the door, the door opened, and a group of people got out one after another, walking inside.

Secretary Yang immediately greeted them, "Yo, Police Officer Zhu, you've come at just the right time. Have a drink together."

As he spoke, his eyes were still on the car outside the door, his gaze extremely bright, "Your police station has struck it rich? You're driving a jeep now, changing from shotguns to cannons!"