Time passed quickly. In the blink of an eye, more than a month had already gone by since the National college entrance exam ended.
On a morning in late August, Zhou Yu finally received the admission letter she had been hoping for from the most prestigious medical university in the capital.
She was not surprised by the admission letter.
After all, when the National college entrance exam had ended, she had already estimated her score to be exceptionally high, enough to get into any university in the capital.
And that was exactly how things turned out. Zhou Yu’s exam score was nearly perfect. Without any suspense, she took first place in the entire province. Moreover, she was a full twenty to thirty points ahead of the second- and third-ranked students.
Now that she had received her admission letter, Zhou Yu felt it was finally time to set off for the capital together with Ji Jing and the others.
Speaking of which, ever since the day after the National college entrance exam ended, when Ji Jing had brought up how inconvenient it was for him and Zhou Yu to continue sleeping in the same room, Zhou Yu had casually found an excuse and sent him back to the neighboring courtyard where he used to live.
Although the excuse of “I need to study, and having someone around will distract me” clearly sounded like something Zhou Yu had made up on the spot, Lu Cheng could see that she had already made up her mind and did not dare say anything more.
And this time, it was not only Ji Jing who no longer shared a room with Zhou Yu. Zhou Yu even had Ji Jing move Lu Cheng’s little bed into the neighboring courtyard as well.
As a result, from that night onward, the father and son happily shared the same room.
Mom had not only kicked Dad out, she had actually kicked him out too.
Lu Cheng truly felt as though he had tried to steal a chicken only to lose the rice used to lure it. He had suffered entirely because of someone else’s actions.
Fortunately, Lu Cheng had no idea that it was his father who had taken the initiative to suggest living separately. Otherwise, there was no telling what kind of fuss he would have made.
“Yu’er, you’ve received your admission letter. This is wonderful news!” Madam Chu was also extremely surprised that Zhou Yu had managed to get into the capital’s medical university. After all, she knew how difficult the National college entrance exam was. In this era, university students were still exceedingly rare.
“It’s nothing special,” Zhou Yu replied calmly.
Before transmigrating into the novel, she had already been an outstanding student and had achieved exceptionally high scores on her own National college entrance exam. Therefore, being able to earn another top score after entering the novel world was not something she found particularly remarkable.
Seeing Zhou Yu remain so calm, Madam Chu found herself growing more and more satisfied with her daughter-in-law. Not only had she achieved such an outstanding score, but she was also neither arrogant nor impetuous.
Madam Chu then thought that getting into university was a tremendous occasion worthy of celebration. She immediately began making arrangements to take Zhou Yu to a restaurant for a lavish meal.
Zhou Yu tried to decline several times, but Madam Chu remained insistent. Not wanting to disappoint her kindness, Zhou Yu could only nod and agree.
As for Zhou Yu receiving her admission letter, it was not only Madam Chu and Ji Jing who were delighted. Even Lu Cheng was extremely happy about it.
In truth, Lu Cheng had always wanted to see a major city like the capital for himself. However, because he did not want to put any pressure on his mom, he had never shown it.
After finding a restaurant, Madam Chu ordered a large spread of dishes. Once Zhou Yu, Ji Jing, and the others had finished their meal, Ji Jing took advantage of a moment when everyone was resting and said, “Now that Yu’er’s admission letter has arrived, we should head back to the capital as soon as possible. What does everyone think?”
“We can spend the next couple of days packing our things, then take the train to the capital,” Zhou Yu suggested after giving it some thought.
The other three all approved of her proposal and nodded in agreement.
“I don’t actually have that much luggage. Tomorrow I’ll go settle things with the landlord, then bring along some clothes and daily necessities. As for the things that are useful but inconvenient to carry, I’ll pack them up and mail them to the capital from the post office. Other than that, there’s not much else,” Zhou Yu continued after thinking it over.
When he heard Zhou Yu mention the landlord, Ji Jing smiled somewhat awkwardly before saying, “Actually, I bought the courtyard you’re living in several months ago.”
“Hm?” Zhou Yu was momentarily puzzled by his words. She frowned slightly, unable to figure out when exactly Ji Jing had bought the property.
Seeing the strange look she gave him, Ji Jing quickly explained, “Back when we were preparing to move over here and I bought the courtyard next door, I went ahead and bought this one as well.”
“Oh, that’s quite convenient then.” Zhou Yu nodded and did not pursue the subject any further. Since Ji Jing had already purchased the courtyard, things would actually be much easier.
Originally, Zhou Yu had planned to mail some useful but inconvenient-to-carry belongings to the capital, while simply throwing away many of the rest.
But in truth, a lot of those items would be a waste to discard, yet bringing them all the way to the capital would be troublesome as well.
Now things were much simpler. Since the house had already been purchased, anything they could not take with them could simply remain here.
Since it was already afternoon, going to the train station to buy tickets would be rather rushed.
So early the next morning, Ji Jing took Lu Cheng with him to the train station to purchase tickets, while Zhou Yu and Madam Chu stayed home to pack.
Because Ji Jing had already written to his father, Ji Haoyuan, asking him to prepare new bedding and other daily necessities, Zhou Yu and the others only needed to bring some changes of clothes.
Moreover, now that the courtyard belonged to Ji Jing, there were many things Zhou Yu no longer intended to take with her. Leaving them here was perfectly fine.
In the end, it only took Zhou Yu a single morning to finish packing both her own luggage and Lu Cheng’s.
As for Madam Chu and Ji Jing, they had even less to bring. They only packed two sets of summer clothes each, just enough to change into during the journey.
Although Madam Chu was not particularly fond of dressing up, she had a private walk-in wardrobe at her home in the capital, filled with more clothes than she could ever wear.
As for everything else, there was even less reason to worry. Whatever they needed was already available at home, and if anything was missing, Ji Jing’s father would have new replacements prepared.
It was not until the afternoon that Ji Jing and Lu Cheng finally returned to the courtyard. After all, the place they were currently living was still quite far from the train station in the city. Taking public transportation there required two hours, and another two hours for the return trip, not even counting the time spent buying tickets.
“Did you get the tickets?” Madam Chu had finished packing long ago and was now sitting beneath the shade of a tree to escape the heat. During the summer, the rooms were even hotter than outside, which was why she liked sitting beneath the large tree in the courtyard.
“We got them. They’re for two days from now, all soft-sleeper tickets,” Ji Jing replied.
In the 1980s, trains were all the old green carriages, and soft-sleeper tickets were not something just anyone could buy. Not only were they expensive, but they were generally restricted to government personnel or other specially approved individuals.
However, Ji Jing had written to his father long ago, and Ji Haoyuan had already used his connections to make the necessary arrangements. As a result, Ji Jing had not needed to expend much effort to secure four soft-sleeper tickets.
Ji Jing had even gone out of his way to secure all four tickets in the same compartment, which would make the train journey much more comfortable for them.
After all, Madam Chu’s health was poor, and the city they were currently in was extremely far from the capital, over a thousand kilometers away. The train ride would take nearly two full days.
Zhou Yu, however, did not think much about it. In her previous life, she had rarely traveled far from home. Even when she did, she would have taken a high-speed train or an airplane. She had heard of the old green trains but had never ridden one herself, so she did not really understand the difference between soft sleepers, hard sleepers, and regular seats.
Another two days passed, and the morning of their departure finally arrived.
Before dawn had even broken, Zhou Yu, Madam Chu, and the others were already awake.
The night before, Ji Jing had contacted a friend of his father’s and arranged for him to drive them to the train station that morning, sparing them the trouble of taking a bus.
As soon as the courtyard gate opened, they saw a car parked not far from the entrance.
The middle-aged man inside happened to know Madam Chu. The moment he saw Chu Xueyao and the others come out, he immediately stepped forward to greet them.
“Madam Chu, hello.”
“Hello, Mr. Lin. Thank you for taking the time to drive us to the train station today,” Madam Chu replied.
Seeing that the visitor was her husband’s friend, she was not particularly surprised. She knew this was most likely an arrangement made by her husband and son.
After exchanging a few pleasantries, Madam Chu introduced both sides.
“This is my son, my daughter-in-law, and my grandson. And this is Mr. Lin.”
After everyone greeted one another, there was not much more to say. Ji Jing loaded their relatively modest amount of luggage into the trunk before taking the front passenger seat. Zhou Yu, Madam Chu, and Lu Cheng sat in the back.
“Ji Jing has really grown up,” Mr. Lin remarked teasingly as he drove. “I even held him in my arms when he was little. Who would have thought that now even his son is this grown up? Time really flies.”
“Yes, we’ve all gotten old,” Madam Chu replied from the back seat.
Along the way, Madam Chu, Ji Jing, and Mr. Lin chatted intermittently.
Zhou Yu, on the other hand, had little interest in conversation and spent the journey resting with her eyes closed. As for Lu Cheng, he had already fallen asleep in the gently swaying car.
After less than an hour, the car arrived at the entrance of the train station in the city.
After Ji Jing and Madam Chu thanked Mr. Lin once again, they woke Lu Cheng, said their goodbyes, and entered the station together.
“Mom, there are so many people in the train station!” It was Lu Cheng’s first time riding a train, and he was visibly excited.
Zhou Yu, on the other hand, remained calm. Although she had never ridden a train either, she figured it could not be that different from a high-speed train.
“Mhm. Make sure you hold onto Mom and Dad’s hands. Don’t run off on your own,” Zhou Yu reminded him.
After checking their tickets, Zhou Yu and the others waited on the platform for about another thirty minutes before the train finally arrived. Following the carriage number printed on their tickets, they quickly found their compartment.
Ji Jing had booked soft-sleeper berths, and nearly everyone in this carriage was traveling in soft sleepers as well.
Unlike the other carriages, which were packed to capacity, the soft-sleeper carriage was relatively quiet. Aside from Zhou Yu’s compartment, where all four berths were occupied, most of the other compartments were empty, with only one or two passengers here and there.
Zhou Yu quietly breathed a sigh of relief.
She had never liked crowded places. Too many people inevitably meant being jostled and squeezed together, and Zhou Yu especially disliked physical contact with strangers.
Now she no longer had to worry about that.
Inwardly, she gave Ji Jing a silent thumbs-up, though she did not say anything aloud.
“Yu’er, Cheng’er, get some rest first. We’ll be on this train for about two days. I’ll wake you when it’s time for lunch,” Ji Jing said. Worried that Zhou Yu and Lu Cheng might have trouble adjusting to their first train journey, he encouraged them to rest as much as possible.
“Alright.”
Zhou Yu had not expected trains to be this slow, requiring two whole days to reach their destination. But considering this was the 1980s, she did not comment further.
Since it was inconvenient for Madam Chu and Lu Cheng to climb, the two upper berths naturally went to Ji Jing and Zhou Yu.
After casually choosing one of the upper berths and climbing up, Zhou Yu closed her eyes and appeared to doze. In reality, however, her consciousness had already entered the system space, where she began her studies for the day.
Meanwhile, Lu Cheng was far too excited to sleep.
He stayed pressed against the window, gazing outside with shining eyes. He wanted to chat excitedly with Ji Jing, but noticing that his mom seemed to be sleeping, he suppressed his excitement and instead whispered continuously into Ji Jing’s ear.
Ji Jing did not interrupt him.
With a smile on his face, he patiently accompanied Lu Cheng as they watched the scenery rolling past outside the train window.
From time to time, Ji Jing’s gaze would drift toward the resting Zhou Yu and Madam Chu.
The smile in his eyes deepened.
He could not help feeling that a scene like this, a moment like this, was actually rather wonderful…