Jiang Nan returned to school and continued devoting herself to work and study.
In the blink of an eye, it was late April. Two months had passed since she left the Cheng household. Newspapers announced that the year’s college entrance exam syllabus had been released. Jiang Nan and Teacher Zhu were worrying about how to get a copy when Principal Yang brought back a photocopy from the Education Bureau. The two were delighted and immediately used the school’s mimeograph machine to print two copies.
After that, outside of teaching, they threw themselves wholeheartedly into filling knowledge gaps and practicing exam questions. The teachers in the office voluntarily created a quiet environment for them—voices of laughter and discussion about students’ learning were unconsciously lowered, so as not to disturb them.
Of course, not everyone understood. Just as Aunt Jiang had initially failed to understand selling tomatoes to buy sweet potatoes, some thought that if one passed into a normal university, the assigned job would still be teaching. Even if one taught at a better school, salaries were the same, the nature of the work unchanged, so four years would be wasted—completely unnecessary.
If Teacher Zhu took the exam to return to the city, that could be accepted. But Jiang Nan taking the exam, in some people’s eyes, was just being willful, making pointless trouble. After all, even as a substitute teacher, with her excellent teaching ability, she had a chance to be made permanent—no need to go through the college entrance exam. Especially after Cheng Hao had come to the school, all the teachers knew she was divorced.
Divorced and taking the college entrance exam—there was always a sense of instability, a risk of sudden scandal. So teachers interacted with her more cautiously.
Jiang Nan also kept a certain distance—it couldn’t be forced.
“Teacher Jiang, someone’s looking for you at the school gate.” One day, a female teacher carrying a bag returned from outside and told her.
Jiang Nan was busy working on exam questions. After a few seconds, she thanked her, stood up, and went out.
At the gate, she saw Li Xu holding a bundle of books tied with hemp rope. Seeing her, he excitedly lifted the books and shook them, as if presenting a surprise.
Jiang Nan walked closer, took them, and looked—self-study series for math, physics, and chemistry, and the college entrance exam syllabus?
Jiang Nan was astonished. “Where did you get these?”
It was said that even queuing all night at the Xinhua Bookstore didn’t guarantee getting this set. And the exam syllabus—without connections, it was impossible to obtain.
Li Xu grinned proudly and glanced not far away.
Jiang Nan followed his gaze—it was Zhao Rui. His long legs straddled a bicycle, with another identical bundle of books hanging from the handlebars. Seeing them look over, he nodded, smiled, and greeted them.
Jiang Nan smiled back politely, then turned to hear Li Xu explain: “Today, I went with Brother Rui to the city bookstore to buy agricultural books. We saw crowds of people lining up for these exam books, nearly fighting over them. I instantly realized they were valuable and had to get a set for you, Sis. But the bookstore sold out. I told Brother Rui, and he took me to a seed seller and got two sets.”
The other set was for Cen Jingqiu. Li Xu was baffled—wasn’t his Brother Rui supposed to have broken off with her? Why was he still thinking of her?
Brother Rui said that if Cen Jingqiu wasn’t given a way out, she could cling to the Zhao family forever—and then he himself might end up living at the Li household for the rest of his life. Yes, Brother Rui was still squeezing into Li Xu’s little single room with him.
After Li Xu explained this, he noticed that his sister’s face showed only mild surprise, not delight. Why was that? Could it be…
“Sis, don’t tell me you already have them!” he squeaked.
Jiang Nan just looked at him with a smile. *What do you think?*
These books were essential for college entrance exam candidates, and with less than three months left until the exam, how could she not have them?
In fact, she had owned the set even earlier. The original Jiang Nan had bought them years ago while self-studying high school material. Because of health issues, she couldn’t take the exam last year, so she lent the set to Cheng Yixin. After the exam ended, the books were returned, and Jiang Nan took them with her when she divorced.
Li Xu scratched his head in frustration, while Jiang Nan lowered her eyes to flip through the bundle. She found that although the books were second-hand, they were clean—better than her own set.
The originals she had lent to Cheng Yixin were scribbled all over. Combined with the original host’s notes and problem-solving steps, some questions were obscured, and their thought processes interfered with hers.
As for the exam syllabus, Jiang Nan was currently using a photocopy of a photocopy. Some ink was unclear, especially in mathematical formulas. She often had to compare with the first copy, and sometimes she and Teacher Zhu bumped into each other, which was inconvenient.
All in all, the set of books and the syllabus Li Xu brought were genuinely useful to her.
So Jiang Nan happily accepted them, explained the situation, thanked him, and asked how much money he had spent. She told him to come with her to the dormitory to get the money, since she hadn’t brought any when she came out.
Li Xu, still disappointed that his good deed seemed unnecessary, muttered gloomily, “Didn’t cost anything. Brother Rui knows the shop owner. He just gave them to us.”
Jiang Nan fell silent. That meant it was a favor owed—harder to repay. But money still had to be given.
The math, physics, and chemistry self-study series cost nearly twenty yuan—a sum greater than her current monthly salary. She couldn’t not pay. So she called Li Xu to come with her to the dormitory.
Li Xu refused. “Sis, really, it didn’t cost anything!”
Jiang Nan insisted. “Then wait here. Don’t move. I’ll go get the money.”
At the moment she turned around, Li Xu wanted to run. Jiang Nan had already anticipated it—quickly grabbed him and said helplessly, “This money isn’t for you. You don’t have the right to refuse on someone else’s behalf.”
Li Xu immediately protested, “Brother Rui doesn’t want it either!” As he spoke, he was about to turn and call Zhao Rui over to ask his opinion.
Jiang Nan hurriedly stopped him. Forget it—she couldn’t give the money today. After the college entrance exam, she would personally deliver it to his family.
Dropping the subject of money, Jiang Nan asked Li Xu about something else. “Didn’t you already plant tomatoes in the private plots? What seeds did you buy to plant elsewhere?”
At this, Li Xu perked up, smiled mysteriously, and leaned close to whisper in Jiang Nan’s ear: “Chinese medicinal seeds—planting them in the mountains.”
Since his sister had persuaded their mother to follow Zhao Rui’s plan of planting tomatoes, Li Xu naturally trusted her judgment. For this new venture, he also hoped for her approval.
Private plots were always too small. Relying only on tomatoes wouldn’t build capital. Zhao Rui had thought of another way: scatter medicinal seeds in the mountains and harvest them later.
Jiang Nan frowned. “Can that really work?”
Li Xu replied, “That’s why we bought books to study! Researching what environments are best for germination and growth, how to manage them with less time and effort but still get yields.”
The original Jiang Nan had once earned money collecting wild herbs, but her knowledge was extremely limited. Everything she knew came from village herb traders, who never revealed their core secrets. So she only gathered dandelions, *xxx* (a plant name obscured), kudzu root, caught centipedes and snakes, and collected cicada shells and snake skins. Beyond that, she knew nothing. Even if ginseng grew under her feet, she wouldn’t recognize it.
Jiang Nan truly didn’t know if Zhao Rui’s idea was feasible. But one thing she was sure of: “If you really manage to grow them, be careful when delivering to the purchasing stations. Wild herbs and cultivated ones are different. If someone notices, it’ll be trouble. And since cultivated yields will be larger than wild collection, with the market not yet open, you must be cautious.”
Li Xu listened, grateful to his sister, but didn’t take it too seriously—because they could sell the goods without going through the purchasing stations.
Jiang Nan didn’t know his plan. Seeing him nod, she asked about his family’s situation. They chatted for a while. Since it wasn’t mealtime yet, she couldn’t even invite them to eat. She could only watch Li Xu jog a few steps, jump onto Zhao Rui’s bicycle, and ride off into the distance.
On the way, Li Xu repeated Jiang Nan’s words to Zhao Rui, marveling at how much his sister loved to worry. But he didn’t notice Zhao Rui’s eyes flicker when he heard the phrase “the market hasn’t opened yet.”
Li Xu’s cousin really was unusual. First, her divorce was different from the trajectory of the previous life. Li Xu had once casually guessed that his sister might have discovered her husband’s affair—unable to tolerate betrayal, she divorced. So in the previous life, had she not discovered it, or had she discovered but endured it? And in this life, what triggered the explosion? He had suspected this was a parallel world—perhaps different in some aspects. But he had studied newspapers, researched policies, interacted with both ordinary and important people, and found no anomalies. In other words, within the scope of his observation, apart from himself, Cen Jingqiu, and Jiang Nan, nothing had changed.
If Jiang Nan had divorced after he and Cen Jingqiu were reborn, Zhao Rui might not have cared—he would have simply assumed it was a butterfly effect caused by some of their unintentional actions. But Jiang Nan’s divorce came first, and their rebirth came afterward. Now, hearing Li Xu casually blurt out words like “market” and “opening up,” Zhao Rui became even more certain that Jiang Nan knew about future policies. Very likely, she too had been reborn, just like him and Cen Jingqiu. Following this line of thought, he wondered: what had caused their rebirth? And why was it only the three of them, not others?
As for commonalities among the three, Zhao Rui currently knew of only one: all of them had known and been connected to Lu Xiaoxiao. So what was special about Lu Xiaoxiao?
The more Zhao Rui thought, the deeper he sank. On the way home, he didn’t even hear Li Xu talking to him. Only when he arrived did he snap back to reality, knock on Cen Jingqiu’s door, and place the stack of books in front of her.
“You’ve already taken the college entrance exam twice. Even without memory, you should have experience. I’ve heard the first two years’ questions aren’t too difficult. If you work hard, you can seize the opportunity. Otherwise, do you plan to waste away in the village for the rest of your life?”
Cen Jingqiu was first delighted by Zhao Rui’s approach, but then wounded by his words. She stared at the pile of books for a few seconds, her face showing pain and struggle. Was it that she didn’t want to take the exam?
She had tried hard in her previous life, but the college entrance exam wasn’t her path! And now, she hadn’t touched these subjects in twenty years. After rebirth, she had completely abandoned study and given up on the exam. With only three months left, how could she possibly pass?
Thinking this, she glared at Zhao Rui with resentment. “We were husband and wife—why are you so heartless!”
Ignoring all the things that hadn’t happened yet, couldn’t they just live peacefully together for a lifetime? Why force her to divorce, to leave?
Zhao Rui coldly ignored all her reactions.
Cen Jingqiu’s heart chilled, filling with hatred, yet she was powerless. Her situation in the Zhao household grew more difficult. After Mother Zhou had come to make trouble, her mother-in-law no longer softened toward her. Recently, her son had secretly brought her food cooked by his grandmother, and the old woman had turned a blind eye. But now, no matter what the boy said, his grandmother refused.
The village was full of people laughing at her. She didn’t want to work the fields, but she couldn’t avoid it. Without working, she earned no work points. Her grain might not run out immediately, but it wouldn’t last long.
If Zhao Rui continued to ignore her, she really might starve to death in the Zhao household. But if she chose to leave, then Zhao Rui’s countless future assets would truly have nothing to do with her.
Cen Jingqiu thought furiously, then after a long time seemed to make up her mind. Gritting her teeth, she said: “Give me ten thousand yuan, and I’ll agree to the divorce!”