A foreign city, dear you

The winter vacation time passed day by day, and it was almost the New Year.

Cao Xueqin also has the Spring Festival holiday.

Ye Lian took Cao Xueqin to buy some New Year's goods and decorate the house for the New Year. Ye Lian wanted to decorate the house to be festive and auspicious, hoping that Cao Lanshan could be admitted to the good school in his mind in the college entrance examination next year.

On the side of the road in the market, there is a long row of stalls selling couplets, which are very eye-catching and red.

As Ye Lian and Cao Xueqian visited each store, they saw a couplet like this:

Going to a prestigious school, tempered into steel, singing about youth without regrets;

It takes half a year of hard work and three years of waiting to realize your life dream.

Horizontal banner: Pass the imperial examination

Ye Lian thought this couplet was good as it just reflected Cao Lanshan's current situation. She wanted to buy it and paste it on the door frame of the rented house. It would not only have a good meaning but also be an encouragement to Cao Lanshan. But she changed her mind and thought that once the couplet was hung up, Cao Lanshan would feel the high expectations of the adults, which would invisibly increase his pressure.

After thinking this over, Ye Lian decided to forget it and bought a common couplet:

Spring brings good luck and prosperity; success will bring prosperity to everything.

Ye Lian thinks this is good.

These couplets also contain blessings and expectations, but they are not so obvious.

*

It was the twenty-ninth day of the lunar year, at night.

Cao Lanshan came back from the library. Ye Lian heated up a pumpkin pie for Cao Lanshan and poured out a bowl of yogurt. Both the pumpkin pie and yogurt were homemade by Cao Xueqin.

Ye Lian also cut half an apple for Cao Lanshan.

Cao Lanshan didn't like eating fruit. If you gave him one, he would refuse to eat it. Ye Lian, his old mother, had no choice but to break the whole fruit into small pieces, giving him half in the morning and half in the evening.

Ye Lian and Cao Xueqin watched Cao Lanshan eat while chatting with him casually.

"What are your plans for tomorrow?" Ye Lian asked Cao Lanshan after chatting for a while.

Cao Lanshan answered without thinking: "Go to the library."

Ye Lian couldn't help but be surprised: "You're going to the library tomorrow? Tomorrow is New Year's Eve. Tonight is New Year's Eve."

"What's wrong with New Year's Eve? Can't we go to the library to study?" Cao Lanshan found it strange.

"That's not what I meant," Ye Lian explained, "Mom meant that it's New Year's Eve, and it's time to relax. After a busy year, you need to take a break."

Cao Lanshan looked indifferent and said, "It's okay, I've already made an appointment with Liang Ziyang."

"Is Liang Ziyang going too?" Ye Lian asked.

Cao Lanshan nodded. He had finished his pumpkin pie and started to eat the apple.

"Will the library be open tomorrow?" Ye Lian asked again.

"Open," Cao Lanshan said with certainty, "It will just close earlier."

Ye Lian said "oh" and stopped asking.

"Mom, please write down some words on your phone for me."

After hearing this, Ye Lian handed the phone to Cao Lanshan. Cao Lanshan took the phone, opened Baidu App and started memorizing words. He set a goal for himself to memorize thirty English words every day.

Ten minutes later, after Cao Lanshan finished memorizing the words, he picked up his things and went into his room.

"Going to the library tomorrow? Are you really mad?" Seeing Cao Lanshan enter the room, Ye Lian said to Cao Xueqin in a questioning tone.

Cao Xueqian smiled and said, "That's good. He works hard and strives for success. He has his goals."

Ye Lian was both proud and distressed: "It just feels too hard."

Cao Xueqian smiled at Ye Lian: "There is a kind of suffering that makes your mother feel that you are suffering. If you don't suffer when you are young, you will have to suffer when you are old. He and Liang Ziyang have ideals and ambitions. They don't feel suffering. Instead, they have a sense of pride and accomplishment because they work hard towards their goals."

"You're right," Ye Lian said, "Speaking of goals, every time we asked him which university he wanted to go to, he said he hadn't decided yet. Do you think he really hasn't decided yet or is he just pretending?"

"I think he should have had a clear goal a long time ago. But if he doesn't say it, we shouldn't keep asking."

"Hmm. Maybe he set his goal too high and is too embarrassed to say it?" Ye Lian said with a smile.

"You're just guessing. It doesn't really matter what the goal is, because it may or may not be achieved. What matters is that he knows how to work hard to achieve it."

"Okay, let's not talk about him, let's talk about you. Have you and Cheng Yufei decided to start a company?"

“Still considering it.”

"Well, I hope to see you make a comeback soon."

*

Although Ye Lian is not superstitious, on this year's New Year's Eve, when the New Year's bell rang, Ye Lian still prayed devoutly:

The most important thing is that Cao Lanshan can be admitted to an ideal university, because Cao Lanshan's college entrance examination is the top priority;

Secondly, I hope Cao Xueqin can regroup with Cheng Yufei. They are both capable people and deserve better achievements.

I also have a small secret wish, which is that I hope my novel can be successfully signed.

With the ringing of the New Year’s bell, the singing and dancing of the Spring Festival Gala, and the sounds of firecrackers and fireworks coming from all directions outside, the year 2018 has officially arrived.

This year, Ye Lian will be forty-three years old, Cao Xueqin will be forty-two years old, and Cao Lanshan will be eighteen years old.

For Ye Lian's family, 2018 is a very important year, as it is related to Cao Lanshan's future in the college entrance examination.

Cao Lanshan relaxed on New Year's Eve, and went to the library again on the first day of the Lunar New Year. Ye Lian and Cao Xueqin did not go to other busy places, they went shopping in the mall near the library, and when Cao Lanshan came out of the library at around 4 or 5 pm, the family went to see a movie.

God rewards hard work, the harder you work, the luckier you will be.

Come on, Cao Lanshan!

************************

It's time to make lunch again.

Ye Lian walked into the kitchen, put on an apron, and started washing the rice pot.

How much rice should I cook? Don't you know Qian will come back for dinner?

Ye Lian then picked up her phone and sent a message to Cao Xueqin, asking him if he would go home for lunch.

Cao Xueqin replied that he was going home for dinner.

Ye Lian was just about to measure the rice when Cao Xueqin sent her another picture. It was an envelope with a stack of banknotes in it, with the caption: Wife, I have money again.

Ye Lian didn't understand at first. Where did the money come from? Didn't Qian quit his job at the robot company? Where would the money come from?

Ye Lian replied in disbelief, "You cheated me of my money, it's not yours."

Cao Xueqin replied: Why would I lie to you?

Ye Lian asked: Where did you get the money?

Cao Xueqin explained that a friend asked me to help him draw a structural diagram of a product and paid me for it.

Ye Lian believed it and became happy. She said, "Really?" My wife was very happy. My wife was a person who was greedy for money.

Haha.

Because Cao Xueqin has resigned and is preparing to set up a company with Cheng Yufei, during this period, the family has no chance to get food except for rent.

So when Ye Lian suddenly saw food coming in, she was naturally very happy.

Ye Lian sent a very happy expression and praised: My husband is so great.

Cao Xueqin replied with a few words in seconds: Call me Shengbao and let me hear it.

When Ye Lian looked over, she saw someone laughing out loud.

This Cao Xueqin always finds opportunities to make her call him treasure.