Comrade Huang Guixiang only stayed in the hospital for a short while before leaving, hoping to give Lin Wan and Huo Xiao some time to develop feelings.
After finishing her IV drip and being discharged, Lin Wan’s first action upon returning home was to hand over several packs of noodles she had smuggled out from her system space to Huang Guixiang.
She also stuffed 100 yuan and 100 jin of grain coupons into her hands.
She said it was given by Huo Xiao.
Huang Guixiang grinned so widely her teeth showed.
She immediately declared that if you want to find a man, you should find someone like Huo Xiao—someone generous enough to spend money on his partner.
He wasn’t even married yet, and he was already this generous. That young man had a future!
Huang Guixiang tightly held Lin Wan’s hand.
“Logically, I shouldn’t take your money, but we’re short on cash right now. I’ll treat this as a loan and pay you back slowly in the future!”
It was all her own fault for being too foolish. The moment she heard someone was selling a job, she got excited and ended up being scammed out of 800 yuan.
That was the entire savings of the Zhang family.
Don’t let her catch that damn swindler—if she did, she’d tear her apart alive.
Her Wanwan truly had good fortune. So considerate too—bringing everything back for her mother and solving their urgent needs.
With money, grain coupons, and noodles, their food crisis for the next few months was finally resolved.
The heavy stone pressing on Huang Guixiang’s chest was finally lifted.
All she wanted in life was to raise her daughter well.
Now Wanwan had secured a postal job and even found such a good partner.
Life was finally looking hopeful.
So good!
For the first time in a long while, Huang Guixiang felt truly happy.
Lin Wan thought to herself that the money was originally meant to patch up Huang Guixiang’s problems anyway. For now, it would solve the family’s food shortage; later she would go to the black market and properly stock up on grain again.
She hugged the smiling, delighted Huang Guixiang and rubbed her shoulder lightly.
“Mom, you raised me and protected me until adulthood. Now it’s my turn to take care of you.”
“Don’t talk about borrowing money. It makes me feel like an outsider.”
“If you say it again, I’ll be angry.”
Huang Guixiang was completely softened by her words.
“Alright, alright, I won’t say it anymore. Mom’s going to wash your clothes—go rest quickly!”
After she left, Lin Wan quickly took out paper and pen to write her situation report.
She bit the pen cap, racking her brains over how to write it—it felt almost like writing a graduation thesis.
Huo Xiao hadn’t yet given her a death sentence. She still felt she had a chance to save herself.
After finishing the report, she took it out again and memorized it.
Even if she was going to die tomorrow, she would still do what needed to be done today.
She thought she would feel anxious, but once she started memorizing, she became completely absorbed. Even the system was surprised by her mental stability.
Too steady.
Not only did she memorize the answers, she even spent 50 system points to exchange for extended exam content and memorized that as well.
She didn’t just want to know the answers—she wanted to know why, the sources, and all related knowledge.
Death was not frightening.
What was frightening was abandoning one’s own life.
Only by immersing herself in study could she forget the embarrassing scene from before.
The effects of the medicine were terrifying.
It amplified her courage beyond control.
So much so that she even dared to pounce on Huo Xiao.
That night, after falling asleep, Lin Wan had an extremely vivid dream.
In the dream, she really pounced on Huo Xiao.
Her tongue pried open his thin lips, and her hands even pulled off his belt.
What failed during the day still failed in the dream…
The next second, just as she pulled down his trousers—
Huo Xiao pulled out a gun and shot her.
A spring dream turned into a nightmare.
When she woke up the next morning, she still felt shaken just remembering it.
Even her strongest courage had shattered into pieces.
But thinking about the “yellow” parts of the dream still made her face burn so hot it felt like she could fry an egg.
“Wanwan, are you still running a fever?” Huang Guixiang asked worriedly when she saw her.
Her daughter’s face was flushed red, and her eyes were dark with exhaustion.
“It’s nothing, Mom. I’ll go to the hospital again later,” Lin Wan said.
Huang Guixiang felt both heartache and guilt and quickly handed her some money.
The two sisters-in-law saw this and exchanged looks, whispering among themselves—clearly not saying anything good.
Lin Wan saw it but ignored it.
She quickly washed up, ate breakfast, and left with the working adults in the family.
“Mom, I’m going to see Huo Xiao,” she said.
Huang Guixiang immediately replied, thinking about their plan to get married.
“Hurry up, don’t delay anything. Bring Xiao Huo back for lunch!”
“Alright!” Lin Wan nodded.
When Zhang Hongqiang heard this, he clapped happily.
“Great! Brother-in-law is coming for lunch again!”
Whenever his brother-in-law came, there was meat at home.
And white steamed buns too!
Hehe~
Huang Guixiang slapped him on the back of the head.
“What are you so happy about? The rice jar and flour jar are already empty, and you still don’t worry!”
Sigh…
Her eldest had gone early in the morning to queue for grain but came back empty-handed again.
Now that they had money, she would have to secretly go to the black market.
Zhang Hongqiang stuck out his tongue.
“Mom, do I still go pick up coal slag today?”
“No need. Stay home and help with chores at noon when your brother-in-law comes.”
Lin Wan took the bus to the post office. When she entered, she greeted the gatekeeper warmly; he remembered her—a generous little girl—of course he did.
He happily led her to the exam room.
Lin Wan even gave him a few White Rabbit candies as thanks.
“Little Lin is here!” The HR director, Director Tang, immediately smiled when he saw her.
“Go on in quickly!”
“Everyone is basically here!”
“Start the exam on time.”
Lin Wan thanked them.
Sister Gao from the personnel department was also there. She was responsible for invigilation and distributing the papers.
When she saw Lin Wan, she greeted her with a bright smile. After all, Lin Wan had been the only applicant who brought them White Rabbit milk candies when she registered.
And there was also the possibility that someone powerful was backing her. Building a good relationship wouldn’t hurt.
About twenty young men and women were already seated in the meeting room. As soon as Lin Wan entered, they all looked up at her.
Oh!
What a beautiful girl!
The staff at the personnel department were treating her so warmly—whose connections was she using?
Most of the people in the room were children of the same work unit, and they were familiar with each other, but none of them recognized Lin Wan.
So she must be from another unit.
Only ten people were being recruited this time.
With another strong competitor entering the mix, everyone couldn’t help feeling nervous.
A strong sense of crisis rose immediately.
Xu Hui arrived right on time.
She scanned the exam room and her gaze landed on Lin Wan. Their eyes met.
Her heart suddenly jumped.
For no reason at all, she felt a wave of dislike toward this woman.
She didn’t even know her—so why…
Frowning, Xu Hui went to her seat and sat down, glancing at Lin Wan again.
Lin Wan, meanwhile, was also momentarily stunned.
The female lead from the original novel.
She hadn’t expected to run into her so soon.
Tsk.
She had been planning to stay far away from the male and female leads.
Sigh…
This damned sense of fate.
Time was up, and the exam papers were distributed.
Lin Wan glanced at the paper. Good—the system was reliable. The questions were exactly the same as what it had given her.
“Time’s up. You may begin writing!”
“Exam duration is ninety minutes. You may submit after thirty minutes.”
Lin Wan picked up her pen and started writing swiftly.
While others were scratching their heads in frustration, she was almost finished.
Invigilator Tang, the section chief, came over to check on her. When he saw her neat handwriting and perfect answers, he was shocked.
This comprehensive exam paper wasn’t limited to postal and telecommunications knowledge—it also included other subjects.
The questions had been selected jointly by three departments and only finalized that morning.
Even the internally “pre-selected” candidates didn’t have full access to all answers.
So what did Lin Wan getting everything correct mean?
It meant she might have had access to the full answer key.
Otherwise, how could an outsider possibly answer their exam perfectly?
This Comrade Lin Wan’s background seemed far deeper than he had imagined.
Half an hour later.
Lin Wan submitted her paper.
As someone from outside the unit, she had to stand out—so outstanding that anyone trying to eliminate her would think twice.
First to submit. First place.
If anyone tried to suppress her, she wouldn’t hesitate to report them to the committee!
“Oh? Someone’s already submitted?”
Director Zhao arrived with his inspection team just as she turned in her paper.
“She probably couldn’t do it, so she gave up,” said Office Director Xu, Xu Hui’s third uncle, with a smile.
Others chimed in:
“Exactly. The paper was difficult this time—even graduates from the Worker-Peasant-Soldier university in postal studies found it hard!”
“This girl has a bad attitude. Even if she couldn’t do it, she shouldn’t give up. It’s only been thirty minutes—there’s still plenty of time!”
“People like this shouldn’t be hired!”
None of them recognized Lin Wan. The internally selected candidates had already been introduced to them, so they wouldn’t accidentally be eliminated.
Since she wasn’t familiar, she became an easy target to suppress.
Director Zhao’s expression darkened slightly. He seemed to agree with them.
He walked into the exam room and asked Sister Gao for Lin Wan’s paper.
At first glance, he noticed her handwriting—sharp, forceful, and powerful, as if carved into the paper. Not like a girl’s writing, more like a man’s.
Then he looked at the answers.
The more he read, the more serious his expression became.
All correct.
The department had a question bank. This exam was assembled that morning from questions selected by three departments, plus three additional questions personally added by him.
There was no chance of leakage.
Director Zhao placed the paper down and walked out of the room.
Others also took turns glancing at it, and their reactions were the same as his.
Since results and rankings would be announced on the spot, no one left after finishing the exam.
They all waited for the scores.
Lin Wan stood alone in the corridor, with no acquaintances.
Xu Hui stood in a group of girls, pointing and whispering about her.
With visible disgust, Xu Hui went to find her third uncle.
“Third Uncle, there’s a candidate named Lin Wan. I don’t like her. Don’t let her pass.”
“Oh, her?” Director Xu said. “The one who submitted first?”
“I got it.”
Xu Hui finally relaxed. “Good. I was worried she might be some kind of connected candidate.”
Just seeing the name “Lin Wan” gave her a strange, instinctive disgust.
Even she found it odd, but she decided to trust her instincts.
No one wanted to work with someone they felt repulsed by.
Director Xu smiled. “Don’t worry, she won’t pass. Director Zhao’s expression turned ugly after seeing her paper—she must have done terribly.”