Volume 1, Chapter 50: Issuing Admission Letters

After two hours of bumpy travel, Li Yan finally returned to Ziwei Town.

When getting off the bus, Li Yan exchanged contact information with Shu Qin and Shen Cuicui, agreeing to meet up in Yuncheng after the semester started.

"Xiao Yan, over here." Suddenly, a familiar voice called out.

Li Yan looked up and saw his father, Li Jianguo, sitting on a red Jialing motorcycle and waving at him.

Li Jianguo was wearing a black helmet, his trousers were stained with a bit of mud, and he wore a slightly weathered and faded T-shirt.

He hadn't shaved for a few days, making him look rather unkempt.

Yet, in Li Yan's eyes, he looked remarkably young.

Dad, you actually work so hard.

Only those who have been beaten down by life truly understand how not easy it is for parents at home.

It was already commendable that his mom and dad managed to support him through university; they truly did their absolute best.

A myriad of emotions surged within Li Yan's heart.

However, he quickly composed himself.

"Dad," he called out.

Then, carrying his duffel bag, he straddled the back seat of the motorcycle.

Li Jianguo asked with concern, "Are you carsick?"

"No, I slept on the ride over and we were here."

Conversations between the father and son were actually quite brief.

This was probably the typical dynamic between many fathers and sons in China.

All the way home, Li Yan was in a very good mood.

The feeling of returning home was truly wonderful.

Arriving home at four in the afternoon, Li Jianguo rested briefly before heading back out to continue tending to farm chores.

Only his grandfather and Li Yan were left at the house.

At that moment, Li Yan's grandfather was playing Chinese chess with another old man.

"Old Wu, my grandson got into a tier-two university! The very first college student in our village!" His grandfather proudly boasted about his grandson's achievement to the old man opposite him, looking very pleased.

The old man opposite him twisted his mouth in frustration: "Old Hai brother, are you going to make your move or not? This is the fourth time you've said that today. Yes, I know your grandson got into university, alright?"

Li Yan's grandfather put on an innocent, dawning expression and said, "Oh, have I said that already? I thought I forgot to mention it."

Li Yan stood nearby, leaning against the wall, a smile playing at the corners of his mouth.

Actually, the competitive streak among old men was also quite fierce.

He and Old Wu's grandson had been classmates in elementary and middle school, but that guy's academics were truly subpar.

He dropped out in the second year of middle school to go work outside, and Li Yan hadn't paid much attention to him since.

Checking the time, Li Yan walked toward the kitchen, taking the initiative to cook dinner.

By around six o'clock, his mom and dad would be back.

To be honest, it was rather shameful; in his past life, Li Yan rarely took the initiative to cook at home.

He might have helped out with farm work occasionally, or hidden away under the pretext of studying to read web novels or do other things.

It seemed the family had hired laborers today, so he cooked a large pot of rice.

Getting busy in the kitchen.

He certainly knew how to cook, and quite well at that.

No kidding, cooking was an essential skill for rural children of that era.

At a little past six in the evening, his mother, Liu Tong, returned home and saw Li Yan bustling away at cooking.

Looking very surprised, she said, "My, oh my, the young master has actually taken the initiative to cook today."

Li Yan chuckled, walked over to his mother, and wrapped an arm around her shoulder. "Mom, did you miss me?"

In his heart, however, Li Yan added a silent phrase: *Mom, I missed you so much.*

Liu Tong laughed heartily, "Missed you? I missed you coming back to help us with the farm work. Now that your gaokao is over, we have one more laborer."

In truth, she would never actually make Li Yan do heavy labor. He remembered that after his gaokao in his past life, Li Yan had plenty of leisure time.

Liu Tong rolled up her sleeves and walked toward the kitchen. "Go pour some tea for your Third Uncle and the others. I'll take care of this."

Li Yan nodded and went to brew the tea.

Today, Third Uncle and Third Aunt from the lower village had come to help out at their home.

There were two others whose names he couldn't quite recall off the top of his head.

Third Uncle took the tea Li Yan poured and smiled, saying, "My, let me taste some tea brewed by a college student."

"Indeed, tea brewed by a college student just hits different."

The others chimed in with good-natured banter.

Li Yan smiled and responded politely.

By now, practically the whole village knew that Li Yan had been accepted into university, after all, this was the very first college student from their village.

Many people were quite surprised; if it had been Li Yan's younger sister, everyone would have considered it completely normal.

Li Yan had a younger sister named Li Ping.

Ever since she was little, Li Ping's grades were top-notch.

From elementary school through middle school, she was consistently ranked first or second in the school.

She could be considered the nightmare of many children in their village and the surrounding villages.

Because whenever parents scolded their kids, they would say: "Look at Li Ping from the upper village, how well she studies! Why can't you learn a thing or two from her?"

"Look at how diligently Li Ping does her homework the moment she gets home, and she even helps around the house. Now look at you—you can't study well, and you're useless at chores..."

In short, Li Yan's sister, Li Ping, was the bogeyman of many children in the village.

Because getting scolded inevitably meant being subjected to comparative psychological warfare.

As for Li Yan himself, opinions were mixed.

If you said his studies were bad, they really weren't, but he wasn't top-tier either.

If you said he was well-behaved, he wasn't particularly obedient either.

All in all, most people in their village and among their relatives were dazzled by Li Ping's halo.

It made Li Yan's presence seem rather faint by comparison.

At that moment, Third Uncle suddenly spoke up, "Xiao Yan, you're the first college student in our village. Shouldn't you host a celebration banquet for entering university?"

A celebration banquet?

Li Yan hurriedly shook his head.

"Let's skip it. It's not like I got into Tsinghua, Peking University, or a Project 985 institution, there's no need for that." Li Yan directly vetoed the idea.

He had zero desire to throw any celebration banquet because it was completely unnecessary.

One had to realize that academic credentials would drastically devalue in the future, leaving countless university graduates struggling to find jobs.

Especially those born in rural areas without any family background or connections.

Their plight was truly miserable.

If you threw a flashy celebration banquet now, the villagers would keep a close eye on you. The moment you didn't do well for yourself after graduation, it would be a slap right across your face.

You wouldn't even have the face to face your elders and townsfolk back home.

Many rural kids who went away to college chose never to return home if they didn't make something of themselves.

He could not set this precedent.

Once this precedent was set, it would坑 (harm/screw over) a lot of people.

Bro is doing this for the sake of the younger brothers and sisters in the future; you guys will thank me later.

Spending more than five peaceful days at home, Li Yan found out that he had indeed been officially admitted to Yunnan Agricultural University, majoring in Economics.

Just as he had anticipated.

Luo Jiazhuang called him.

"Li Yan, I was accepted into Yunnan University of Finance and Economics, majoring in Finance. What about you?"

Li Yan replied, "Not bad, I got into Yunnan Agricultural University, majoring in Economics."

Hearing that Li Yan was admitted to Yunnan Agricultural University, Luo Jiazhuang's pretty face instantly fell.

"Ah, I thought we would be at the same university. If I had known, I would have put Yunnan Agricultural University's Economics major as my second choice too." She felt deeply disappointed in her heart because she had originally planned to attend the same university as Li Yan.

Actually, given her test scores, she could easily have gone to a much better university in another province.

However, none of those options were within Luo Jiazhuang's consideration.

If blame had to be laid, it was all the fault of this sly fox Li Yan for sending her the wrong signal.

She had assumed Li Yan would apply to Yunnan University of Finance and Economics, but in reality, Li Yan had applied to Yunnan Agricultural University.

Li Yan comforted her, "Maybe the admission score for Yunnan University of Finance and Economics went up this year. But it doesn't matter, we're both in Yuncheng anyway."

Luo Jiazhuang said in a dejected tone, "But there's still distance! Yunnan University of Finance and Economics is over ten kilometers away from Yunnan Agricultural University. I just wanted to be at the same school as you."

"That's not far either, just a cab ride away."

To be honest, Li Yan didn't want to attend the same university as Luo Jiazhuang.

Because this girl was terribly clingy, and with even more free time in university, Li Yan could already guess that Luo Jiazhuang would undoubtedly hound him every single day.

How on earth was he supposed to appreciate the blossoming flowers of the outside world then?

Besides, he had far too many things he wanted to accomplish, and he couldn't let romantic entanglements hold him back.

After comforting Luo Jiazhuang, Li Yan looked up at the sunset glow on the horizon.

"I wonder what kind of life the future holds? Perhaps it will be quite wonderful."

From the moment his university acceptance was confirmed, Li Yan had completely broken away from the trajectory of his past life.

The gears of fate had shifted their notches.