Chapter 429 - 154: The Green Tea Female Supporting Character in a Period Novel (41)

Chapter 429: Chapter 154: The Green Tea Female Supporting Character in a Period Novel (41)

It came with a letter and a corresponding answer key, requiring the recipient to fill it out like a formal exam to test their own level. If their score was good enough, they could then come and register in person for the actual test.

The exam was divided into a written test and an interview, and candidates would be accepted in descending order of their scores.

For the sent-down youths who weren’t accepted, if their final score was close to their self-assessment score, the general hospital would reimburse their round-trip travel expenses. However, if there was any suspicion of cheating, they would have to bear the loss themselves.

The round-trip fare wasn’t cheap. As soon as everyone saw this rule, they suppressed any clever little schemes they might have been hatching.

They understood that if they couldn’t get a decent score on their own, even if they cheated to barely snag a chance to take the exam, they would just end up making a contribution to the national transportation industry.

Besides, ever since they’d caught wind of the recruitment exam back in June, they hadn’t stopped studying. No matter how exhausting the farm work was during the day, they would grit their teeth and persevere, channeling the spirit of ancient scholars who would tie their hair to a beam or poke their thighs with an awl to stay awake.

It was just like the words of wisdom, the chicken soup for the soul, that filled the letters they received from their families in the Capital City:

How many chances do you get to fight for your life?

If you don’t suffer the hardships of studying today, you will suffer the hardships of life tomorrow!

The stars don’t ask travelers about their destination, and time does not fail those who are determined...

These words were like shots of adrenaline, instantly reviving this group of young people whose sharp edges, once full of passion and ambition, had been worn down by farming. (They were back at full health, get it?)

Three or four months of studying their hearts out, working themselves to the bone, had paid off handsomely. At the very least, their self-assessment scores proved their efforts had not been in vain.

Many of the sent-down youth delightedly sent telegrams home, announcing they were taking leave to return to the city for the exam.

Among them was Jiang Zishi!

These past few months had been particularly hard on him. He had staked his future on a major life event, only to come away with nothing. Worse, he’d drawn the ire of the Zhang Family and was now forced to face his "unclean" wife every day.

He was still in Bian Family Village. To make his life a little more bearable, he had swallowed his disgust and officially become Bian Yumin’s husband.

After that, he made studying his top priority. He avoided touching her as much as possible, unless he was particularly desperate.

He didn’t know what Jiang Yihua had told their parents after returning to the Capital City, but in any case, his family had stopped sending him money. They didn’t even send fabric or food anymore. It was as if he’d been completely forgotten!

He wasn’t as smart or talented as Jiang Yihua and Chi Yun’er, but he was fiercely competitive, and his grades had always been near the top of his class.

But he spent all his time scheming this and plotting that. With his focus divided, and on top of the heavy manual labor in the countryside, he had forgotten everything he’d ever learned in school.

Even though he was disgusted by his wife’s loss of virtue and reduced the frequency of their intimacy, he was still a hot-blooded young man, and newly married at that. It was impossible for him not to be affected.

In short, his studying hadn’t been thorough. The self-assessment test he’d borrowed from someone else showed he was nowhere near meeting the requirements.

Nevertheless, he lied to the Bian family, telling them his score was pretty good. Since he couldn’t get one of the worker-peasant-soldier university slots, he wanted to go to the Capital City first to take the recruitment exam.

While he was at it, he also planned to go home and remind his dear old parents of his existence. They had more than one son, after all, not just Jiang Yihua!

"Zishu," Bian Yumin said. She was wearing a sleeveless, floral-print top that revealed her smooth, lustrous arms, and one could even glimpse the beautiful curve of her bust.

She wrapped her arms around the neck of Jiang Zishi, who was reading, and settled into his lap. Her fingers traced the new stubble on his chin. "Do you really have to go back?"

"I heard a lot of people are taking the exam this time. Not just from your general hospital in the Capital City, but other sent-down youth from the Capital City and from other places, too. They’re all flocking there to fight over just a few spots."

"I... I don’t want you to go. Tell me, if you leave... you won’t just stay there, will you?"

Jiang Zishi’s whole body tensed.

’He never knew he could be aroused so easily.’

How could he have known that the woman in his arms had been reborn? In her past life, she had been an expert at pleasing men, sleeping her way up the ladder all the way to the Capital City, only to fall into misery when her looks faded with age.

With just a few of her little tricks, she could make him surrender completely.

"Of course not," Jiang Zishi said, gritting his teeth to resist her seduction. He gave a light chuckle and patted her shoulder. "Be good and go help me pack. I’ll come back as soon as the exam is over and the results are out."

"We’re legally married. What are you afraid of?

"Besides, your father knows where my family lives. If I don’t come back, you can always find your way there, can’t you?"

As he said this, all sorts of thoughts began to rearrange themselves in his mind.

’Perhaps letting the Bian family deal with those two old fools would be an even better way to get what I want!’

’My parents care a great deal about face. They would definitely try their best to appease their in-laws, who would throw tantrums and make a scene whenever they were dissatisfied, embarrassing everyone in the process.’