When Cen Zhengnian returned to the base, he immediately got busy without even putting down his luggage.
He first dealt with the issues in the project, and even after solving them, he continued to be busy. It's only now that he can consider his work for this phase complete, and he finally has some free time.
Now it's already mid-November.
The letters and things sent by Chu Xia and Cen Huai'an had actually been placed there for several days. Now he finally had time to sit down and read them.
Chu Xia's letter was still lengthy, with details about Cen Huai'an's autumn outing, her worries at work and the problems she encountered in her studies.
Among them, she wrote a whole page just about making bookmarks, which made Cen Zhengnian can't help but chuckle, and he even considered going outside to find some ginkgo leaves to make a few bookmarks himself.
An'an's letter had a mix of Chinese characters and pinyin, not too many, and it felt like he was writing a diary.
Dad, after you went back to work, mom and I went to class and worked every day. There hasn't been much change.
On Tuesday, we went on an autumn outing, and I picked ginkgo leaves. I made bookmarks with Mom. It was quite difficult. Mom did a better job, but I broke a lot of them.
Mom said you sent a lot of things that grandma asked you to send, so I sent the bookmarks I made to grandma.
Mom also said that great-grandpa in the capital helped her a lot, so I sent him bookmarks too.
Dad, are you busy at work? If you are, you can send a letter later.
Yours sincerely!
Cen Huai'an
In addition to the letters and bookmarks, Chu Xia's package also contained some winter clothing, all of them being sweaters and woolen pants meant to be worn underneath, except for a black double-breasted overcoat intended for outerwear.
Chu Xia mentioned in her letter that she happened to come across this overcoat and thought it would suit him well, so she bought it, thinking it would be just right for wearing in the northwest now.
Cen Zhengnian touched the clothes and felt as if his weary body had been infused with warmth. He was about to take off his clothes to try them on when the door of his dormitory was suddenly pushed open from the outside.
"Zhengnian, I just thought of a new idea for an experiment..."
The voice that spoke came to an abrupt end, and Yu Tian saw Cen Zhengnian's coat spread out on the bed.
Cen Zhengnian calmly adjusted his clothes and was about to put away the overcoat and woolen garments from the bed.
Yu Tian quickly stepped inside, with a mischievous smile: "Zhengnian, this coat of yours is nice, is it a new one you bought?"
Cen Zhengnian ignored him, hung the clothes in the wardrobe, and then turned around with a gentle smile, saying, "My family sent it."
The smile on his face astonished Yu Tian; he had never seen Cen Zhengnian this affectionate before.
Normally, Cen Zhengnian was serious and dedicated to his work, with little leisure time. He often spent his free time reading and doing calculations alone in his dormitory or office.
This kind of gentle smile without the slightest sense of distance is rarely seen.
Yu Tian smiled even more ambiguous, "Looks like it's from your sister-in-law, no wonder I see you in such a good mood today."
Cen Zhengnian didn't respond; he got up and headed out. The gentle smile on his face faded a bit, indicating that he didn't want to discuss family matters with Yu Tian.
"My dormitory is not the place to talk about work, let's go to the lab and talk."
Yu Tian saw his meaning, no longer prying more, and he walked outside while talking.
However, Cen Zhengnian was usually too dignified, and now that he saw him descending into the world. He couldn't help but tease him a bit more.
Fang Lingling just happened to pass by the two, and heard Yu Tian say that Cen Zhengnian's wife had sent something. He was asking Cen Zhengnian what she had sent, and if she had sent a lot of it to make Cen Zhengnian seem to be in such a good mood.
Listening to these words, she couldn't help but feel a sourness in her heart. She jokingly remarked, "It looks like Mr. Cen and his wife have a very good relationship. I used to see that it's always Mr. Cen who sends money and things to his home, and thought that Mr. Cen's wife doesn't know how to be romantic, but I never thought his wife would be so affectionate."
Cen Zhengnian glanced at her, and Fang Lingling's smile froze on her face as if he could see right through her thoughts.
Cen Zhengnian retracted his gaze and said lightly, "The base is a place of work, I hope that my personal matters will not become the focus of everyone's discussion."
Fang Lingling's face turned red in an instant, and she felt so embarrassed that she wanted to hide. She knew Cen Zhengnian was talking about her. She couldn't help but feel resentful. They had grown up in the same family compound, so why did he show no concern for their childhood friendship?
She had heard that his wife was forced upon him by the family, a girl from a working-class background who was far from sophisticated, a bit naive. She wondered why he cared so much about her.
Unfortunately, Cen Zhengnian finished speaking and left with Yu Tian. Yu Tian realized his words had caused trouble and didn't dare say more, focusing on discussing work matters with Cen Zhengnian.
***
Northwest Army.
Jiang Shengnan finally caught her husband when he had some free time and eagerly showed him the things that Chu Xia and An'an had sent.
"I've sent so many things to Liangzhou. I was worried that Chu Xia might feel wronged marrying our family, Zhengnian, especially since he can't come home often. This is the first time I've received something she sent."
The original owner, apart from sending a letter to Cen Zhengnian once every few months, mostly focused on her family. Wang Yulan never taught her about the etiquette of reciprocation, so she didn't understand these things.
She was even afraid of Jiang Shengnan and Father Cen, thinking that they were both officials and too majestic so she wanted to stay as far away as possible, let alone take the initiative to send a letter.
Therefore, Jiang Shengnan did not know anything other than that she and An'an were doing well from Cen Zhengnian.
Now that Jiang Shengnan had received something, although not much, including bookmarks, scarves, medicinal wine and other things, it also represents her heart.
Jiang Shengnan was overjoyed: "Old Cen, look at this silk scarf, it's just to my liking. How do you think Chu Xia knew that it's windy here, and that I like dark green scarves. And this medicinal wine is just right for you, don't you think you're not feeling well lately, I will use this medicinal wine to give you a massage. Do you think she specifically asked Zhengnian to prepare these for us?"
Father Cen: I think you're overthinking it.
However, he smiled with a contented expression and nodded, "I think so. My back isn't feeling too good right now; could you give me a massage?"
Jiang Shengnan immediately put down the scarf she was examining in the mirror and said, "Sure! Where is it uncomfortable?"
After massaging his back, the air was filled with the scent of medicinal wine. Jiang Shengnan finally calmed down her excited mood and continued to read the letters.
"An'an also wrote us a letter! These bookmarks were made by An'an and Chu Xia as a gift for us!"
Jiang Shengnan shouts in surprise, overjoyed.
Father Cen looked at the bookmarks, somewhat hesitant to touch them, and asked, "Which ones were made by An'an? Which ones were made by Chu Xia?"
"I'm keeping the ones Chu Xia made, and I'll give you two of An'an's."
Father Cen looked at Jiang Shengnan in disbelief and said, "So many bookmarks! You're only giving me two? No, give me two more."
Jiang Shengnan looked at the bookmarks with 'Peace' and 'Happiness' written on them and couldn't bear to part with either of them.
However, under Father Cen's strong insistence, she gave him one of An'an's bookmarks with 'Peace' written on it.
"Alright, I'll keep the rest carefully. Giving you three is quite generous. Just don't lose them, or you won't get any in the future."
Father Cen furrowed his brow, feeling a bit dissatisfied, and said, "How could I possibly lose them!"
Zhengnian's Grandfather in the capital was the first to receive the items. However, Cen's grandmother had passed away long ago. He had the highest seniority in the capital, and no one dared to compete with him. He happily held onto all the items.
Then began to show off in the circle of friends who are still alive.
"These bookmarks were made by my great-grandson. They might not be as finely crafted, and the writing isn't perfect, but he's just a five-year-old child. It's still a heartfelt gesture. I, as his great-grandfather, am happy to receive them.
After saying this, he carefully closed the box with the bookmarks, and none of his friends were allowed to touch them.
"Old Shen, don't get your hands on it. The leaf bookmarks are delicate, and I don't want them to get damaged."
"Old Li ah, your great-grandson I remember is seven years old, right? send you anything yet?"
"Old Gu..."
These 'elderly children' were so angry that they went home and called their children over to scold them for being unfilial. They had so many great-grandsons and great-granddaughters, and yet none of them had made something by hand to give as a gift.
These children were admonished and felt wronged because they had actually sent many gifts to the elderly during the holidays, yet they were accused of being unfilial.
But since the old father wanted it, they still had to quickly ask the younger generation to make something for the elders. After all, could they afford to be scolded at their age?
For a while, the ginkgo leaves, maple leaves, poplar leaves, and plane tree leaves in the capital all suffered.
But it wasn't the first time they had to do this.
Only the younger generation of one family put their hearts into it, and they wrote a long piece of calligraphy that made their great-grandfather happy. Then, a new wave of showing off followed.
Of course Liangzhou's Chu Xia and Cen Huai'an didn't know what was happening in the northwest and the capital.
At this time, Chu Xia is going through the monthly exam at the end of November.
Every month, the capital would send exam papers. Chu Xia was quite stressed about her studies, spending her evenings either solving problems or studying.
Cen Huai'an would watch cartoons with the volume turned down low so as not to disturb his mother.
The cartoon he was currently watching was called "The Nine-Colored Deer," a popular show among kids. Sometimes, when Chu Xia was tired from her studies, she would glance at it, and it was quite enjoyable.
Cen Huai'an watches it every day.
He didn't have a lot of homework, and he had already finished most of it at school. When he got home, he would practice calligraphy and study Go. There was still enough time for this after watching the cartoon.
Chu Xia doesn't insist that he spend all his time studying. As long as he manages his play and study time well and doesn't get addicted to the TV, she won't bother him.
Cen Huai'an is very self-conscious and turns off the TV after watching.
Because he had been deducted from the little red flower when he was unconscious. He had learned his lesson by being deducted once. The back of the TV gets hot, so he can't hide it from his mom.
Chu Xia's grades were steadily improving, and she had a fixed seat in the first examination hall, which she kept moving forward.
At this time, she was seated in the third seat, with two classmates in front of her.
Now the entire No. 9 High School sophomore class knows that there's a transfer student named Luo Chu Xia who's very good. Her grades are still improving even when she's not at school, and she's learning better than they are at school.
Everyone agreed that she must have a secret to learning.
Therefore, when Chu Xia was taking exams in the examination hall, more than one student passed by her, hoping to see how she prepared for the exams.
Unfortunately, Chu Xia didn't bring anything except paper and pens. She only brought books for the Chinese and politics exams, but everyone had those books.
Only the last English exam was left, and everyone knew that Chu Xia would hand in her paper early. English was her strong suit, and she had never scored below 100.
Her English essays have been used as examples by teachers throughout the year.
Therefore, as soon as Chu Xia returned to her seat after going to the restroom, the first place girl walked up to Chu Xia.
"Student Luo, hello, I am Wang Chaoxi."
Wang Chaoxi furrowed her brow, as if she had encountered a very difficult situation. She opened her mouth several times but couldn't speak.
Chu Xia was much older than Wang Chaoxi in both actual age and emotional maturity, she looks at a classmate like she is like a little sister.
Moreover, she didn't sense any malice from Wang Chaoxi; she only felt a sense of determination and competitiveness.
She smiled and said, "Hello, what can I do for you, Student Wang?"
Wang Chaoxi gritted her teeth and finally closed her eyes as she spoke her intention, "Student Luo, I want to know how you study. Do you have any study secrets? Of course, this is your personal matter, and you don't have to tell me. I'm sorry for being too pushy, you don't have to say anything."
Wang Chaoxi spoke particularly fast, and when she finished she was about to leave with her face reddened.
She was at her wit's end because no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't score 100 in English. Although she was ranked first, she watched Chu Xia get closer and closer to her.
She felt a huge crisis, she always felt that the next time Chu Xia would surpass her and then she would never catch up.
This made her run out and ask Chu Xia for tips on how to study. But after asking she felt that she was doing it wrong.
Students in their class were very secretive about their study methods, and nobody shared their secrets
Sometimes, when someone asked her questions, she didn't want to answer either. Why should she think that Chu Xia would be willing to share? Therefore, her apology came later in the conversation.
Chu Xia pulls her back who wants to run and hesitates and says, "Actually I don't have any secret, it's just doing more problems and memorizing more books."
Wang Chaoxi's eyes brightened briefly but then dimmed instantly, "I've also done a lot of practice questions. I've completed all the ones the teachers assigned."
Chu Xia actually did not only the ones sent by her teacher, but also the ones sent by Zhengnian's Grandfather in the capital, and the questions sent by her mother-in-law in the northwest.
She didn't know where they found the various questions. Anyway, every time the questions for each subject had the name of a different high school written on them.
Those questions are of various types, and many of them are deeper and cover a wider range of knowledge than those from the teachers of No. 9 high school.No. 9 high school alone, allowing her grades to improve faster and her knowledge to be grasped more deeply.
When she was talking to Wang Chaoxi, she also noticed that many of her classmates around her were looking over, and their gazes of thirst for knowledge made Chu Xia unable to resist the urge to say more as well.
However, these questions were specially provided by her grandfather in Beijing and her mother-in-law. If she had purchased them herself, she wouldn't mind sharing them with classmates who loved learning.
Nevertheless, exams mainly depended on one's abilities. Simply doing practice questions wouldn't guarantee an improvement in grades.
Even though they were helpful, doing too many without proper absorption wouldn't be beneficial.
Chu Xia looks at Wang Chaoxi, then looks around at the gazes looking at her expectantly, and says, "Then you have to see if you've absorbed all the questions you've done."
Wang Chaoxi wanted to ask more, but the exam proctor entered, so she had to return to her seat.
After returning to her seat, Chu Xia couldn't help but think about the looks of her classmates. The teachers at No. 9 High School had also helped her a lot. They not only shared their knowledge with her but also provided her with practice papers generously.
First, she called Zhengnian's Grandfather to ask him if he minded her sharing the papers with her classmates, and then she called her mother-in-law.
No one answered the call to Jiang Shengnan, but in the evening she received a call back from Jiang Shengnan.
Zhengnian's Grandfather and Jiang Shengnan both meant the same thing, the test paper was given to her to do with as she pleased, and she could share it with whomever she wanted.
They highly praised her selfless spirit, which made Chu Xia feel a bit overwhelmed. She couldn't help but think, 'Am I really that selfless? Why do they make me sound like Lei Feng?'
In fact, it's just sharing test papers with her classmates, isn't this a normal thing in the previous life? Everyone who did well on their exams would even be invited by the teacher to share their learning experience on stage.
However, practical experience showed that even if top students taught others how to study, the top students remained top students, and weaker students remained weaker. No matter how many secrets and experiences were shared, those who didn't want to study still couldn't score well.
Chu Xia organized the test papers sent from the capital and the northwest and took them to the school.
Of course, she didn't give it to the students, but gave it to her homeroom teacher, and then returned it to her after the homeroom teacher finished photocopying it.
The happiness of the homeroom teacher and the teachers of the No. 9 High School naturally needless to say, even the director of the Academic Affairs Office ran to praise Chu Xia for being such a good student.
"The best thing I've ever done in my life was agreeing to let you take the transfer test!"
The director of the Academic Affairs Office even wanted to praise her widely, including at the level of the whole grade, but Chu Xia declined, saying, "I don't want too many students to know that I shared the test papers."
She just wanted to quietly finish her sophomore year at No. 9 High School. Sharing the test papers only occurred to her because Wang Chaoxi had approached her.
Otherwise, Chu Xia didn't realize so many classmates wanted to know her exam secrets.
"I don't want them to treat me differently. Teachers can just say it was a student who shares like Lei Feng. Let's talk about it after the college entrance exam. Teachers, I just want to be a low-profile transfer student. I hope you can satisfy this request," she said.
Indeed, Chu Xia had originally come to take the exams, and her consistent improvement in grades had already made her quite noticeable. Additionally, sharing the test papers would easily attract a lot of attention from fellow students.
There might be good ones in it, and there might also be bad ones.
Since she had made her request, and it was her test papers she had shared, the head teacher and other teachers had no choice but to agree.
As December came, the weather grew colder, and Chu Xia and Cen Huai'an started wearing winter coats.
On this day, because she had overslept in the morning, she arrived at the factory a bit later than usual and overheard people in the office talking about her.