When Zhao Rui heard the amount, he laughed out loud, mocking: “Cen Jingqiu, what era do you think you’re living in?”
Cen Jingqiu lowered her eyes and said softly, “Of course I know. Otherwise, I’d be asking you for a hundred million, a billion, or even half your assets!”
Zhao Rui sneered. “I don’t have it.”
His fishpond plus work points only brought in five to six hundred yuan a year. How could he possibly have ten thousand?
Cen Jingqiu had guessed he didn’t, but she was only testing him. In the past, she hadn’t cared what Zhao Rui did outside, as long as he handed her money. As a result, she now had no idea what he actually did or how much he had saved. So she lowered her demand a little. “Eight thousand—no less. Whether you borrow, steal, or rob, as long as you give me the money, I’ll leave immediately.”
Zhao Rui grew impatient. “One thousand yuan. Take it and go, or wait two years. I can wait—you can’t.”
He had only about 1,800 yuan in savings. Giving her half was fair enough for their years of marriage. With that, he turned and left, leaving Cen Jingqiu gnashing her teeth.
Afterward, Cen Jingqiu stayed quiet for two or three days, waiting for Zhao Rui to renegotiate. She didn’t believe he would easily give up the chance to drive her out.
But to her surprise, Zhao Rui truly ignored her. At first, he occasionally came home to eat, but in recent days he hadn’t even stepped through the door.
Cen Jingqiu panicked, but thought it was psychological warfare, so she forced herself to stay calm. After a few more days, she realized Zhao Rui really wasn’t paying attention to her anymore. She secretly went to the Li household to snoop around, but was caught once by Aunt Jiang, who told her, “He’s not here—he’s working in the fields. Go look there.”
Cen Jingqiu was furious. Work, work—was he really going to be a mud-legged farmer for life? Back home, she began to consider the possibility of one thousand yuan. To be honest, that was not a small sum in this era. If she lived frugally, it could support her alone for three or four years. But it was nowhere near enough to build wealth. So one evening, she had Zhao Chuanze call Zhao Rui back and stated her bottom line: “Two thousand. Just give me two thousand.”
At that, Zhao Rui laughed in anger. “Cen Jingqiu, what do you think this is—buying vegetables?”
Then he grew serious. “One thousand yuan. Not a penny more. Agree, and we’ll go register at the police station. Refuse, and you’d better start thinking about how you’ll feed yourself.”
Cen Jingqiu still wanted to haggle, but Zhao Rui made as if to leave.
“Fine!” Cen Jingqiu took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and agreed.
That very day, the Zhao family had finished eating the vegetables from their private plot. Mother Zhao went to Uncle Zhao’s house to exchange for two bundles, but didn’t give Cen Jingqiu any. At that moment, Cen Jingqiu realized that even if she stayed in the countryside, she would only consume without producing. Since that was the case, why not go somewhere more comfortable? She would return to the city!
To be honest, Zhao Rui was a little surprised at her decisiveness. But agreeing was still a good thing.
The next day, the two quickly went to the brigade committee to get an introduction letter, then to the police station to first collect their marriage certificate, then their divorce certificate. The divorce agreement listed every clause clearly, leaving Cen Jingqiu no room to cause trouble later.
Clutching the divorce certificate, Cen Jingqiu fumed. She had originally planned to exploit loopholes, using the fact of their marriage to later threaten or demand favors from Zhao Rui. But Zhao Rui had cut off her escape route completely!
During the divorce process, neither mentioned their son Zhao Chuanze. It was tacitly agreed that Zhao Rui would raise him.
Cen Jingqiu chose once again to abandon her son. She thought to herself that her son loved her enough to understand, and would surely accept her again in the future. Besides, leaving the boy behind meant Zhao Rui’s vast future wealth wouldn’t all fall into outsiders’ hands.
After finishing the paperwork and returning home, Cen Jingqiu sold off the grain she had been allotted. She hugged Zhao Chuanze tightly, showered him with affection and farewell words, then left with all her clothes and daily necessities—without looking back.
Zhao Rui thoroughly cleaned the room she had lived in and the things she had used before moving back from the Li household.
Seeing the untouched math, physics, and chemistry self-study books on the table, Zhao Rui gave a self-mocking laugh. He had overestimated Cen Jingqiu. Then he picked them up and went straight to the educated youth station. The educated youths were overjoyed, pooling together twenty yuan to give Zhao Rui, thanking him profusely.
Zhao Rui waved it off and left, hearing their cheers from afar.
Meanwhile, on the train, Cen Jingqiu did not return to Ningcheng. She was going to find Cheng Yixin. Her in-laws had built their fortune from nothing in the previous life. With her foresight in this life, they could surely rise even higher. She wanted to invest early, join forces with them, and build a business together—so that Zhao Rui would regret it. Her life would never again be as poor and miserable as before.
After Cen Jingqiu left, the whole village knew Zhao Rui had successfully divorced. Only Zhao Chuanze was sad for a long time, clinging to his mother’s promise to visit him. Mother Zhao and Zhao Rui remained cold and indifferent, carrying on as usual.
Every day after finishing work, Zhao Rui and Li Xu went up into the mountains, scouting several spots suitable for scattering seeds. They were busy, waiting only to compare and confirm before taking action.
Meanwhile, at home, Mother Zhao suddenly received a visit from a matchmaker. She invited the matchmaker to sit down, poured her a glass of water, and said uneasily, “My son Zhao Rui just got divorced. Isn’t it a bit early to think about this? It doesn’t sound good to spread around…”
The matchmaker disagreed. “What’s wrong with that? The previous one is divorced, not dead. Does he have to wait a year like mourning? Zhao Rui is a fine young man—handsome, hardworking. Is he supposed to waste his life on that woman?”
Mother Zhao thought about it. True enough. Her son wasn’t the one at fault—why shouldn’t he remarry? So she agreed, asking the matchmaker to keep an eye out for suitable candidates.
That evening, Mother Zhao told Zhao Rui about it. His first reaction was to refuse—he wasn’t in the mood. But then he recalled his previous life: not remarrying had seemed foolish, even earning criticism from his own son. After some thought, he agreed, telling his mother to take her time, as he wasn’t in a hurry.
Mother Zhao was overjoyed, promising to find him someone truly suitable.
Time moved into May. Jiang Nan took a break to visit Cheng Hao. She heard that Cheng Denglin was strictly supervising his studies, rewarding him with good food and fun treats. Cheng Hao was constantly swinging between suffering and happiness. Jiang Nan found it amusing.
As for his relationship with Lu Mingsheng and Lu Xiaoxiao, Jiang Nan didn’t ask—that was Cheng Denglin’s responsibility to handle. As usual, she took Cheng Hao out to eat at a restaurant, then to the zoo to see lions and tigers.
In those days, lions and tigers were kept in cages with limited space. The smell of their waste and body odor was overwhelming. Even so, Cheng Hao watched with fascination all afternoon, unwilling to move an inch.
Jiang Nan borrowed two newspapers from the gatekeeper and sat at a distance, keeping him company.
Before leaving, Jiang Nan told Cheng Hao she wouldn’t visit in June, and bought him a tin toy motorcycle as compensation.
The closer the college entrance exam came, the more Jiang Nan avoided the Cheng household, afraid of unexpected complications.
At first, Cheng Hao was unhappy. But once he had the toy in hand, he quickly forgot, joyfully hugging the motorcycle as he went home.
Jiang Nan returned to school to continue her review. As the college entrance exam date drew closer, the study atmosphere grew increasingly tense. The more knowledge points Jiang Nan mastered, the more relaxed her mindset became—while Teacher Zhu was the opposite. It wasn’t that he lacked confidence in his learning, but rather that he feared unexpected mishaps.
According to gossip among the teachers, the educated youth who passed last year hadn’t performed as well as Teacher Zhu. But during the exam, Teacher Zhu’s hands had been frozen stiff from the cold weather, and once inside the exam hall he grew nervous, leaving the politics paper unfinished. The next morning, after the first session, he nervously drank cold water, which gave him stomach pain in the afternoon, again leaving the paper incomplete. Otherwise, he would have passed last year.
Watching Teacher Zhu fuss over mistakes and repeatedly warn her not to drink cold or raw water, Jiang Nan suggested: “Teacher Zhu, during the exam days, we could stay at a guesthouse near the exam site. They’ll have hot water, we can rest at midday, and most importantly, we won’t have to commute back and forth between the commune and the exam hall. No worrying about being late in the morning, and more time to review at night. What do you think?”
This modern exam strategy made Teacher Zhu’s eyes light up.
So, two days before the exam, they asked Principal Yang for an introduction letter and checked into the guesthouse early the next morning.
Since reservations weren’t common in those days—and even if they were, they wouldn’t get priority—they worried that other candidates might have the same idea, or that the guesthouse would be full. By arriving early, they could still find alternatives if needed.
Fortunately, there were vacant rooms. Though the receptionist was puzzled by the “study and preparation” reason on their letter, once she saw their work permits, she gave them rooms.
With keys in hand, the two went straight to their rooms for final cramming.
The next day was the college entrance exam.
After the first politics exam, Jiang Nan was immensely grateful she had been reading newspapers and works of great leaders—otherwise, she wouldn’t have been able to answer more than half the questions!
The math exam, and the physics and chemistry exams on the second day, were much easier for her. She had graduated from a top university with a master’s degree in her previous life, ranking in the top 5%. She already had a strong foundation, and with months of review and practice, her accuracy was assured.
During the three exam days, Jiang Nan and Teacher Zhu didn’t meet. Only after the final exam did they both feel relieved, light as air, and compared answers together on the bus back to school. They made preliminary estimates of their scores—both were full of confidence.
Back at school, Principal Yang led the congratulations. Though results were still far off, he was certain they would succeed. He even showed support with action—the very next day, the school posted a recruitment notice for teachers.
Jiang Nan and Teacher Zhu barely rested two days before throwing themselves into the recruitment work.
Because the education system had been reformed earlier that year, changing middle school to a five-year system (three years junior high, two years senior high), Hongshan Middle School would add a grade. Besides recruiting three grades’ worth of English teachers, other subjects would also need more staff.
Principal Yang still used the method of written exams plus trial lectures. At the start of the year, Jiang Nan had skipped the written exam thanks to an introduction. This time, she helped invigilate, grade papers, and then joined Principal Yang and Teacher Zhu in scoring the trial lectures of English teacher candidates.
By the last day of July, with no more English trial lectures, she finally went to see Cheng Hao. When she took him out to eat and saw him wolfing down food, she asked why. It turned out his grandmother had burned her hand, and he had been eating at the school cafeteria for half a month.