Volume One, Chapter Two: A New Respect

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Forget it, might as well treat a dead horse as if it were alive. No matter what, a child with such determination deserves encouragement. Although I don’t have high hopes for Gaoyuan’s exam results, Gaoyue Min can’t crush his enthusiasm now.

“Then just give it a try,” Gaoyue Min forced a smile and continued, “Speaking of your sister, she just sent a letter recently. Don’t worry about her—she’s more thoughtful than you. After the news about the college entrance exam was confirmed, she began preparing early. I also sent her quite a few study materials.

She wrote that she’s following her study plan and will be taking the exam in Beidahuang.”

Gaoyuan suddenly remembered that his sister was indeed diligent in her studies. In her previous life, she returned to the city through the college entrance exam.

Moreover, her grades were quite good, and she was admitted to Beijing Normal University.

As for himself, he never took the college entrance exam. Instead, he joined the material supply system through recruitment, idling away his days in a timber company under the district’s material bureau. Later, because of his entanglement with Qiao Shan, he provoked Qiao Yuannan’s wrath and was expelled from the revolutionary ranks with a black mark against him.

Later, his eldest uncle Gaoyue Hua resumed work and arranged for Gaoyuan to work at the city library. But after less than two years of settling down, Qiao Yuannan found a reason to kick him out again.

That was a deadly grudge.

From then on, Gaoyuan gave up on the idea of a secure government job and started doing business with his younger uncle Gaoyue Lin.

Unable to survive in the capital, the uncle and nephew headed south to the forefront of reform and opening up. With their silver tongues, they made some money, but never as much as they spent. Life was a constant tug-of-war between poverty and wealth.

Gaoyuan swore he would never endure the miserable life of his previous life again.

This time, besides working hard, he had another goal: to earn more money and provide a comfortable life for his family.

But he understood clearly that now was not the time to think about making money.

Especially in these times, barely clothed and half-starved, with a terrible commercial environment, anything done was branded as “speculation and profiteering.”

Gaoyuan’s cautious nature would never let him risk everything for money.

Right now, the most important thing was the college entrance exam. The money-making plans could wait and be approached gradually.

“Dad, let’s not be so unfair. You collected plenty of study materials for my sister. Don’t you think it’s only fair to prepare a few books for me too?” Seeing his father’s expression lighten somewhat, Gaoyuan made a timely joke.

Gaoyue Min laughed as well and pinched Gaoyuan’s nose. “I suspect you’ve been in high school for two years but have you even opened the textbooks I gave you? Forget the study materials for now. You should first understand the problems in your textbooks.

Son, you have to know: don’t bite off more than you can chew.”

Those words hit a nerve, and Gaoyuan smiled awkwardly, scratching his nose. “Actually, I’m not that irresponsible. Don’t look at me as a troublemaker—I haven’t neglected my studies. Please have more confidence in me.”

Gaoyue Min laughed heartily, stood up, and patted his shoulder encouragingly. “Then go study. Master the knowledge in your textbooks first. If you don’t understand anything, ask me anytime. I’ll go make you dinner.”

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Gaoyuan replied, “Okay.” He nearly forgot that his father was a professor of advanced mathematics at the Capital Steel Institute, with abundant teaching experience.

The Capital Steel Institute was the predecessor of the University of Science and Technology Beijing.

In his previous life, he was guarding a treasure trove of knowledge but never made use of it, which embarrassed Gaoyuan.

But in this age when “the more knowledge, the more reactionary,” his father had been sent to Shougang for labor reform, and everyone gradually forgot his identity as a teacher.

However, Gaoyuan knew his father never abandoned the ideals of teaching and nurturing students.

Watching his father stoop as he left the room, Gaoyuan’s nose tingled inexplicably. Years of hard labor had bent his father’s spine.

He turned away, suppressing both the sting in his nose and the ache in his heart.

The flickering kerosene lamp cast a soft, wavering glow.

Gaoyuan walked to the three-drawer desk, brightened the lamp, and pulled out his high school textbooks on politics, Chinese, and mathematics. He started reading the math textbook carefully from the beginning.

He was instantly absorbed.

He found that after being reborn, his memory had improved. Not perfect recall, but he could grasp the textbook problems with ease.

This discovery exhilarated Gaoyuan. He took up his pen and feverishly worked through problems.

He was still immersed in the sea of knowledge when his father brought over two bowls of noodles.

Gaoyue Min put the noodles on the table and leaned in for a closer look. “Huh…”

You actually can do this?!

He picked up the math book and checked the solutions to the equations—every one was correct!

He looked at Gaoyuan in disbelief at first, then his eyes brightened.

This was truly a pleasant surprise.

Gaoyue Min exhaled and said, “Son, you weren’t bragging. You’ve made me see you in a new light. One last question—have you registered for the college entrance exam?”

Gaoyuan was stunned.

After thinking carefully, he recalled, scratched his head, and said, “I have registered. The school handled the registration uniformly. Whether you participate or not, every student was registered.”

Gaoyue Min asked again, “Which institution did you register for?”

Gaoyuan blushed deeply and whispered, “Renmin University… Department of Chinese.”

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Gaoyue Min pushed the bowl of noodles toward Gaoyuan, sighed, and said, “Eat while it’s hot.”

What does that mean?

Don’t you have that little faith in me?

Looking at the bowl of noodles in front of him, Gaoyuan knew that no matter what he said now, his father wouldn’t believe he would be admitted to Renmin University.

Only when the acceptance letter arrived could he prove to his father that his son was not a useless layabout.

His father’s distrust only fueled Gaoyuan’s competitiveness.

He quickly devoured the bowl of cabbage noodles, satisfied, and burped loudly. He gave his father a thumbs-up and praised, “When it comes to noodles, your cooking is truly unmatched. This is so delicious. I’m full now. Please take care of the dishes. I’ll continue studying.”

Gaoyue Min smiled and said okay, brightened the kerosene lamp a bit more, quietly cleaned the dishes, wiped the table, and left for the kitchen, leaving the small room to Gaoyuan.

Looking around the room, Gaoyuan sighed softly. The cramped twenty-square-meter room was divided into two spaces: the inner room was his parents’ bedroom, and outside the wall was a narrow outer room of less than eight square meters.

The outer room contained a bunk bed, a desk, and two round chairs.

The top bunk was his own bed, and the bottom was his sister Gaoya’s.

This was a compound courtyard where four families lived.

Influenced by his eldest uncle, after moving out of the faculty dormitory on Xueyuan Road, his family moved into the ancestral house left by their grandfather.

The harsh conditions weren’t the worst part. The biggest problem was that the ancestral house had been reclaimed by the neighborhood committee a few years ago for being unoccupied for too long.

If his family hadn’t been truly homeless and if his father hadn’t humbled himself to plead everywhere, the neighborhood committee leaders would not have relented and allowed them to move into the dark southern room, giving their family of four a temporary place to live.

Glancing at the empty room, Gaoyuan thought, this is what it truly means to be destitute.

Then he thought, his father’s reinstatement couldn’t be far off.

He recalled that before the new year, policies were to be issued. With the restoration of the college entrance exam selection system, major universities were resuming classes fully. A group of veteran teachers with rich experience would be reinstated.

Not only would the withheld wages be compensated, but the housing assigned by the school to his father would be returned as well.

The good days at home were clearly just around the corner.

Thinking this, Gaoyuan clenched the pencil in his hand and fixed his gaze on the textbook once more: from here on, it all depended on himself. He must get into a good university and prove his worth!