I Got Rich in Period Fiction-Chapter 544 - 538 Old Place

The pond was almost one meter deep.

The railing surrounding it was topped with steel bars sharp as javelins.

Moreover, they were closely spaced, making it difficult for even a fifteen-year-old lad to climb over.

But then again, danger is everywhere, isn’t it? When you cross the road, you still have to watch for traffic lights, right?

The pool was naturally formed. This place used to suffer from droughts and was short on rainfall. These years, with the implementation of widespread greening, droughts and limited rainfall had disappeared, but that was no reason to carelessly fill in the pond.

Fortunately, there were fewer children in the eastern district. Mostly it was Rongrong and Xiao Hu who ran around here, plus Daji, and then also Zhao Yuan.

But these kids were both clever and obedient.

So at this moment, they were standing by the concrete pillars, with Xiao Hu and Rongrong keeping a keen eye on Little Chaoxuan, who was gripping the steel bars and staring at the pond.

This was Zhou Zijiao’s first time coming here to catch fish.

She was using a net.

Once she put it into the water, she could see fish as big as a palm swimming around the edge of the net. Zhou Zijiao moved quickly, eyeing a fish that was close to the net and scooped it up with force, and then a fish was caught in the net. Zhou Zijiao shouted excitedly.

Zhou Pengcheng had come here often to play, but he never caught fish because Liu Ying didn’t know how to cook them.

Even if he did catch fish, he would take them to Dashun’s house.

Qiao Qingyu paid extra attention to Zhou Pengcheng, thinking that the boy was different from her first impression, showing that he was also growing up.

Each family had one net, fair and impartial, only Little Chaoxuan didn’t have one.

He simply squatted beside the bucket, and when no one was paying attention, he pushed the bucket over.

Water spilled everywhere, and then the larger and smaller fish inside the bucket started jumping on the grass.

The child first calmly stood the bucket back up, and then, unafraid, he dashed towards the biggest fish. With his little chubby hands, he grabbed the fish and pinned it under him, then lifted his head and called out with a childlike voice to Qingyu, who was rushing over, "Mommy, Mommy, I caught a fish, I caught a fish."

Qiao Qingyu watched her son helplessly. Good grief, if you weren’t allowed to catch fish in the water, you’d think of this trick. You sure are capable.

Zhou Pengcheng was the tallest here, with long arms to match. He put the bucket in the pond and brought up nearly half a bucket of water.

Then everyone gathered on the grass to catch fish again, and the biggest one was the one caught by Little Chaoxuan.

Rongrong shamelessly praised her brother for being smart, capable, and impressive, causing the child to puff out his little chest proudly.

After Qiao Qingyu returned home, for safety’s sake, she processed the big fish into fishballs and used the rest of the meat to make dumplings for the kids, filling them with fish without bones, so by the end of lunch, half a bucket of fish had been devoured.

Especially the fishballs, they were distributed per person, or else there wouldn’t have been enough for Zhou Pengcheng alone.

There’s a saying that a growing boy can eat a full-grown man out of house and home, and it couldn’t be truer.

Even Xiao Hu’s appetite was more than double that of Rongrong’s.

Time flew by in the blink of an eye, and the high school exams arrived.

Zhou Pengcheng woke up this early for the first time, but he had only sprung out of bed after seeing Uncle He get up.

The food was just like always, nutritious, healthy, and light to the taste.

Qiao Qingyu and Zhou Pengcheng took Zhou Zijiao to the examination hall.

This time, the National College Entrance Exam venue was set in Yushu County.

Shen Fen had prepared several large buses early on.

Today was the first time for the comprehensive school of Tenghai Research Base to send students to the Gaokao, which held extraordinary significance for the school; it was very important for the students and even more so for the parents.

Therefore, Old Xie had arranged for four additional large buses to transport the parents accompanying their children to the examination hall.

Some knew about Zhou Hai and Liu Ying rushing back to Beijing, and others did not. They were surprised to see Zhou Pengcheng and Qiao Qingyu escorting Zhou Zijiao, but Qiao Qingyu didn’t plan to dwell much on this matter. Smilingly, she skillfully changed the subject.

Once at the examination hall, the parents gave their children advice over and over again, telling them not to be nervous, to take it as a normal test, to perform as usual without pressure, and so on.

After all, they were all educated and from the research base, and none of them said harsh words to their children like, "You’d better do well, this concerns your whole life" or "If you don’t get in, what will you do with your life?" and such.

Nowadays, the notion of taking over the family business was no longer relevant.

Workers in the base’s workshops were either admitted through examinations or assigned by technical schools.

Because whether it was technical school, junior college, or university graduates, the state had job assignments for all of them.

Those from technical schools were assigned worker status, while those from junior colleges and universities were considered national cadres, and this status would follow them for life.

Some parents decided not to go back at all, while others hurried back either to work or to prepare lunch for their children.

It only took half an hour to reach Yushu County from Tenghai Research Base by large bus.

So everyone had to go home after the exam.

Moreover, the road conditions were good now, with either willow trees or barley grass or lush crops planted on both sides of the cement road—the scenery was simply beautiful.

At this moment, the whole West City, except for the famous desert, had turned from barren wastelands into green mountains and clear waters. No longer could one see the scenes of dusty faces and desolate lands filled with yellow sand—so, this trip also served to relax the students.

Qiao Qingyu took Zhou Pengcheng and rode the bus back.

She visited her workplace for a while, then hurried home to prepare lunch.

Meanwhile, far away in Beijing, Zhou Hai took Liu Ying to the club next to the compound.

Next to the club was an activity room, which used to be where they and their friends would gather, but it had been locked up ever since that incident.

The old place mentioned was a movie screening room inside the club.

Zhou Hai arrived early, and Zhang Zening hadn’t yet arrived when he got there.

Zhou Hai checked the time; his elder daughter had already entered the examination hall and started answering questions. He didn’t know how she would perform and whether his absence would breed resentment, possibly affecting her emotions and causing her to underperform.

This was the national unified college entrance examination. He could feel the atmosphere just walking down the street, especially near the school gates where some areas were already closed to traffic. He saw many parents accompanying their children, showing the importance now placed on the Gaokao.

Zhou Hai clenched his fists, a feeling of irritability rising within him.

At this moment, rushing to the movie screening room besides Zhang Zening was Xiao Wei.

Xiao Wei had arrived with Secretary Chang by plane, and then Secretary Chang had helped with her luggage and personally drove her home.

When Secretary Chang knew Xiao Wei had to come to the movie screening room for some matter, he volunteered to drive her there.