Reborn in 1977

Chapter 403: Mutual Needs

Chen Fan sped across the river in his yacht, the plump hull cutting through the waves, the bow rising high like a tadpole forging ahead.

Little Mare galloped wildly along the riverbank, not even having time to complain.

Riding a horse here, taking a boat back, and running so fast – was he afraid I wouldn't be exhausted to death?

Fortunately, Chen Fan remembered his mare. After speeding for a while to get his fill, he steered the yacht to the shore, let Little Mare climb aboard to lie down in the back, and then continued his wild ride with her.

The yacht drew a white line across the river's surface, the water parting on both sides, unable to calm for a long time.

Chen Fan felt like no time had passed before he steered the boat to the Sixth Team's dock.

Little Mare was tossed around on the boat. When she disembarked, her legs were a little weak. She stumbled and staggered with great difficulty onto the bank and then bolted towards the levee.

When Chen Fan climbed up, she quickly said, "I'm never taking a boat again."

Chen Fan was in a great mood at this time, hugging her neck and laughing, "Okay, okay, no boat. How about a car?"

Little Mare followed him down, "No way, I'll walk myself."

When they arrived at the educated youth compound, Little Mare quickly ran into the stable. She needed to eat a few more mouthfuls to soothe her wounded soul.

Chen Fan then crossed the yard and went to the new house in the back. Duoduo and Qiuqiu ran around him, and when they reached the door, they obediently lay down under the covered corridor, gently wagging their tails.

In the living room on the first floor, three girls were buried in their studies. Yang Ju was hugging a physics book and gnawing on it, Liu Dan was closing her eyes and silently reciting history, while Huang Ying was propping her chin with one hand, listlessly copying an English essay. None of them even noticed Chen Fan walking up to them.

It wasn't until Chen Fan circled the tea table that Huang Ying suddenly woke up with a start. She looked up at him with a cry of "Ah!" Then she let out a long sigh, patted her chest, and said, "You scared me to death! When did you get here?"

This scream startled Yang Ju and Liu Dan as well. When they saw it was Chen Fan, their tense spirits immediately plummeted, and they slumped wearily on the table.

Chen Fan clicked his tongue and shook his head, "It's only morning. Look at yourselves. This won't do."

Huang Ying lay on the table and looked up at the wall clock. "Uh, we've been studying continuously for almost three hours."

Chen Fan raised an eyebrow. "That's even worse. Studying also requires a balance of work and rest. After a certain amount of time, learning efficiency will decline. At that point, even continuing to study is futile. So you should get up and move around to relax your body and mind."

Yang Ju looked up at him. "How do we relax?"

Chen Fan pointed outside. "Go feed bamboo to Gun Gun."

As soon as they heard this, the three girls were instantly revived on the spot. They jumped up and ran outside, their laughter gradually fading away and disappearing into the panda enclosure.

Chen Fan shook his head with a smile. He checked the content they were studying and found that the progress was within expectations. Then, he turned and went upstairs to the second floor.

As soon as he entered the study, Jiang Lili stopped painting, looked at him with a smile, and said, "I heard Xiao Ying and the others' voices, so I knew you were back."

Chen Fan walked closer and looked at the easel, nodding slightly. "Yes, not bad."

Then he looked at her. "How long have you been painting? Do you want to take a break?"

Jiang Lili shook her head and said with a smile, "No need. I read some math downstairs first, and I only came up here recently. When I get tired of studying, I paint for a while. When I get tired of practicing, I go downstairs to read. It's quite good."

Although it was only the second day of learning to paint, under Chen Fan's guidance, she could already draw some simple line patterns. Watching small things come to life under her hands felt particularly interesting, so she didn't feel bored.

Hearing her words, Chen Fan frowned slightly. "It's not good to always do this. You still need to move your body and relax your mind."

Jiang Lili smiled and put down the paintbrush in her hand. "It's just studying, not doing farm work. How tired can I get? It's already very good now."

Seeing her like this, Chen Fan could only shake his head helplessly. "Starting tomorrow, you will practice boxing with me, three times a day."

Jiang Lili's eyes widened instantly. "Ah?"

Practice boxing?

She hadn't thought about that.

Looking at Chen Fan's serious face, Jiang Lili guessed that he should be serious, but she still wanted to struggle a bit, weakly asking, "Can I not learn?"

Chen Fan glared. "No."

Then he grinned. "Because next, you will enter hell mode for studying. You'll get up at 6 in the morning and study until 11 at night. If you don't exercise, your body may not be able to handle it. If it's serious, it will affect your condition during the exam."

Jiang Lili looked at him in confusion. "Are the students in the brigade's study class progressing much faster than us?"

Chen Fan smiled slightly, gently shook his head, looked directly into her eyes, and said softly, "Listen, your chance to leave Lujiawan is coming."

Jiang Lili's expression changed drastically. She looked at him intently, feeling her mind buzzing, unable to say a word.

She only heard him continue, "Just this morning, Teacher Guo from the Jiangnan University correspondence point called me. The college has approved the Ministry of Education's reported document. Starting this year, the recommendation system for going to school will be abolished, and the national college entrance examination will be fully restored."

Hearing this, Jiang Lili's body shook, her eyes filled with disbelief, her voice even trembling, "Re-restore, the national college entrance examination?"

Chen Fan nodded gently, the smile on his face gradually disappearing. "Actually, the day I went to register for the correspondence university, I already knew about this. Your sister went with me at the time, and she also knew.

But because even Teacher Guo and the others were not sure, and this matter was too big, if it spread and caused a stir, it might affect the above decision, so we all agreed not to tell anyone."

Jiang Lili suddenly thought of something. "So, after you came back, you accelerated our learning progress?"

Chen Fan nodded. "Until today, it has been basically determined. I only told you this news after it was officially announced to the public."

As he spoke, he walked to the window, looking at Huang Ying and the others playing with Gun Gun in the panda enclosure, and said softly, "You should go play with them too. After today, you will start hell-style training."

Jiang Lili was still stunned, not having recovered. After a few seconds, she suddenly looked up, walked quickly to Chen Fan's side, and looked straight at him. "Do I, also, have the qualifications to register?"

Chen Fan turned to look at her, smiling slightly. "Even if there is only a one in ten thousand chance, you must put in a hundred times the effort, because you have no other choice."

Jiang Lili stared at him blankly, stunned for a long time before nodding vigorously. "Understood, I will definitely work hard."

Then she turned to look at Huang Ying and the others. "It would have been fine if I didn't know, but now that I know, neither I nor they will be in the mood to play at all."

She took another deep breath. "I'll go call them back to study together."

She was about to go down when Chen Fan quickly stopped her. "What are you rushing for?"

Jiang Lili turned to look at him. "Ah?"

Chen Fan took a few steps forward. "When it comes to studying, do you understand or do I understand?"

Jiang Lili pouted. "You understand."

"Good that you know."

Chen Fan pointed outside. "Listen to me, everything stays the same today. Let you go play, you go play. When I come back from the prefectural committee, I'll make a study plan for each of you. As long as you strictly follow the plan, I guarantee that each of you can be in the best condition to take the exam."

Jiang Lili pursed her lips and nodded gently. "Oh."

After a pause, she asked again, "You're going to the prefectural committee?"

Chen Fan, "Yes, I didn't explain clearly on the phone just now. I'm going to the education office of the prefectural committee to ask Teacher Guo about the details."

Jiang Lili's eyes rolled slightly, and she said hesitantly, "Then, can, can you, can…"

Chen Fan looked at her and smiled. "Can you go find your sister and tell her the news too?"

Jiang Lili smiled awkwardly, chuckled twice, and didn't speak.

Chen Fan smiled. "Of course, there's no problem. It's on the way. Besides, your sister is also considered my friend. There's nothing to be embarrassed about."

Jiang Lili smiled sweetly at him. "Thank you."

Chen Fan waved his hand, saying as he walked out, "I mainly came to tell you this. After I finish, I'll go to the prefectural committee."

Jiang Lili followed closely behind him. "Oh, then I'll go find something to give as a gift."

Chen Fan's small storeroom was managed by them. If he needed anything, he would directly ask Jiang Lili to get it, which was convenient.

But this time, Chen Fan shook his head. "Usually, taking something over there is to build relationships. At this critical moment, bringing something over seems too distant. I won't take anything. I'll go directly. When everything settles down, I'll treat them to a meal to thank them."

Jiang Lili didn't understand these things, so she watched him leave.

As Chen Fan passed by the panda enclosure, he waved at the three girls who were happily playing inside through the fence.

Huang Ying and the others immediately ran over.

Chen Fan pointed at them and said with a smile, "Today is the last day. Have fun and enjoy yourselves. Special training will start tomorrow, so work hard."

Huang Ying blinked rapidly, "What do you mean?"

Chen Fan pointed at Jiang Lili, "Ask her."

After saying that, he left gracefully.

Huang Ying and the others quickly ran out from the entrance, also conveniently pushing the '滚 滚' (panda), who was trying to escape, back inside. Then, they surrounded Jiang Lili, "What did Teacher Chen mean?"

Jiang Lili grinned, grabbed her hand, and happily said, "Xiao Ying, we have a chance to go to university!"

......

Chen Fan drove his small boat towards the district committee. Arriving at the passenger terminal, he parked the boat at the scattered boat dock, registered with the administrator, and then ran up the river embankment to take a car straight to the Education Office.

When he arrived at the correspondence education center, Teacher Guo and Teacher He were busily working with great intensity.

The resumption of the national college entrance examination was a major event. From setting the questions, printing the test papers, to the selection of invigilators and graders, as well as the arrangement of the registration process, the management of student information, and so on, a series of tasks were waiting to be determined and completed.

At the same time, the universities also had to prepare for welcoming the new students.

Times were different now. How should this batch of new students be managed? How to strive for high-quality students when filling out the application forms? Would there be internal conflicts due to the different ways in which new and old students were admitted?

These also needed to be considered beforehand.

As the correspondence education center of Jiangnan University in the Yunhu area, it naturally transformed into the enrollment point of Jiangnan University in Yunhu at this time.

Teacher Guo and Teacher He also logically took on the enrollment work.

It wasn't too different from the previous correspondence education enrollment, so they were quite familiar with it.

Seeing Chen Fan arrive, the two teachers were exceptionally enthusiastic, repeatedly inviting him to sit down and brewing their treasured tea.

Chen Fan was a potential graduate student that the two of them had already internally decided on. They had even reported to the leaders of the university headquarters. When the leaders heard that it was Chen Fan, who had a special feature in "Jiangnan Literature", and whose academic performance was very good, having completed all the correspondence education entrance examination papers and confident in passing all the correspondence education courses in one go this year...

What else was there to say?

Of course, they strictly ordered the two to keep Chen Fan at Jiangnan University, absolutely not letting him get away!

Otherwise, why would Teacher Guo have notified Chen Fan about the resumption of the national college entrance examination and the resumption of graduate student enrollment at the first opportunity? Wasn't it just to build a good relationship?

That's how it was. Without Chen Fan having to actively ask, Teacher Guo and Teacher He poured out all the information they knew.

After listening, Chen Fan verified it with his memory and felt that there were no discrepancies, so he breathed a sigh of relief.

In general, there were two points.

First, the age was limited to under 30 years old.

Anyone who met the age requirements and believed that they had reached high school academic ability could register. Other than that, the document did not make any other requirements.

Ignoring the implementation level, at least the document required it this way.

Moreover, for this point, the original 16-character policy of "voluntary application, unit agreement, unified examination, merit-based admission" formulated by the relevant group was canceled by the Deputy Director by one sentence.

The canceled sentence was "unit agreement", which greatly cleared the obstacles for candidates to register.

However, in order to verify whether the registered candidates really had high school academic ability, except for a very few provinces with not many registered candidates, most provinces decided to organize a preliminary examination. Only candidates who passed the preliminary examination could enter the real application process, and then participate in the examination and be admitted based on merit.

Second, the national college entrance examination registration fee was 5 Mao!

It was said that it was originally going to be set at one Kuai, but a leader said that the higher-ups were not relying on this to make money. Collecting 5 Mao would slightly offset the cost of the test papers and the meals for the staff, which would be enough.

It was only 5 Mao, using 5 Mao to gamble on a chance to change one's destiny. How many people would not be willing?

Chen Fan seemed to have already seen the scene of countless people squeezing into the registration points. That scene was quite spectacular!

After finding out the situation, Chen Fan prepared to leave.

Teacher Guo quickly called him to stop again, with a kind smile on his face, and asked, "Xiao Chen, I want to ask you something."

Ask me about something?

Chen Fan blinked, "Just tell me what you want to say, I guarantee to tell you everything I know!"

"Hahahaha, with our friendship, I definitely believe that."

Teacher Guo handed him a cigarette and asked with a smile, "In your place, are there any good seedlings with particularly good academic performance?"

As soon as he heard this, Chen Fan understood what he meant.

So there was already enrollment competition in this era?

Moreover, all along, he had thought that he was asking the two teachers for help, but only today did he realize that they were mutually seeking something!

In the blink of an eye, Chen Fan understood the trick, and then said, "There are definitely good seedlings, what, do you want them to apply to Jiangnan University?"

Teachers in this era, especially university teachers, still had a bit of "aloofness". This straightforward way of speaking, at first glance, was still a bit unaccustomed to.

However, after saying it bluntly, some things could be said openly.

Teacher Guo paused for two seconds, then said with emotion, "You don't know, how the teachers in the school have been teaching the students these years. Of course, there are students with good grades, but the teachers can't ignore the students with poor grades, right!

But, what kind of people are entering the school?

Some people are actually graduates of literacy classes, who only know a few hundred words in total, and can only do four arithmetic operations in mathematics, but they have to study mechanics and electronics. That's still considered good, at least they are from poor backgrounds, willing to endure hardship and able to settle down to study.

What's scary are those people who have poor grades but outstanding family backgrounds! They have no basic knowledge, and their attitude is terrible!

We are a university. Which of those teachers is not knowledgeable and erudite? But on the one hand, they have to be like elementary school teachers, tutoring the students, and on the other hand, they have to deal with the accusations of some students who are unwilling to study.

What can they do? What can we do?"

He said, pointing to Teacher He, who was smoking a stuffy cigarette beside him, and smiled miserably, "Lao He and I were originally professional course teachers, but just because we said something we shouldn't have said when teaching students, we can only say goodbye to the podium and stay away from the school to do some odd jobs."

He sighed again, remained silent for several seconds, and then reluctantly raised his head, looked at Chen Fan, "The university has suffered from naughty students for a long time. Now that the national college entrance examination has resumed, we hope to be able to teach talented people, so as not to waste our knowledge."

Chen Fan blinked rapidly. His keen mental strength told him that what Teacher Guo said was all true.

It's just that the slightly exaggerated performance is also difficult to hide.

After a pause of two seconds, Chen Fan's face also became dim, and he said in a deep voice, "Teacher Guo, I completely understand what you said, and I also understand your position very well, and I do have a few students who have fairly good grades. But..."

The most feared thing in a conversation is the 'but'.

Teacher Guo looked at him intently, "But what?"

Teacher He next to him also stopped pretending to be profound, and looked at him without blinking.

Chen Fan raised his head, "But everyone has their own aspirations. Those students who still study hard in the dark night where they can't see hope, they all have their own firm ideals. Although they respect me very much, I can't control their lives. They should fight for their ideals, and they must!"

Hearing this, Teacher Guo couldn't help but feel awe, couldn't help but hold Chen Fan's right hand, and said with a serious face, "A teacher is one who imparts knowledge, imparts skills, and resolves doubts. Resolving doubts is inferior, imparting knowledge is superior. Although you are young, I am not as good as you in this regard!"

Chen Fan blinked, did he overact?

Fortunately, at this moment, Teacher He next to him said in a low voice, "Teacher Chen, I don't know what the ideals of your students are? Perhaps our Jiangnan University has advantages in this area?"

As soon as Teacher Guo heard this, he immediately reacted and nodded immediately, "Yes, yes, yes, I don't know what their ideals are? Our Jiangnan University is a comprehensive university with many majors, maybe it coincides with their ideals."

Chen Fan didn't dare to act anymore at this time, so he raised his head to look at the two and asked, "How many do you want?"