Chapter 2: I Truly Want to Repeat a Year and Retake the College Entrance Exam

A boy who was passionate about skipping classes and fighting said he wanted to repeat a year to retake the university entrance exam?

Second sister was astonished. She looked at Liang Jiyong, then quickly caught on.

“Liang Jiyong, have you lost your mind? Don’t think I don’t know what you’re really thinking. Just go and serve in the army obediently!”

“What… what am I thinking?”

“I really want to go to university.”

“Dad, second sister, I know I wasn’t very sensible before, but this time, I’m serious. I want to study, get into university, and truly learn some useful knowledge!”

Liang Shaoping walked over, sat beside Liang Jiyong, and reached out to touch his forehead.

“No fever… did you hit your head? Or do you think these excuses can fool us? Little Third, I know you like that girl Wanqing and want to be her protector, but you’re just acting on your own feelings. Never mind the grudges between our Liang family and the Su family, you’re just fooling yourself.”

Protector of the flowers?

A memory stirred in Liang Jiyong’s mind: Su Wanqing, Su Wanqing...

In his mind appeared the image of a girl in a pure white dress, untouched by the mundane world.

Was that the white-dressed woman who entered the ward in his previous life’s final moments?

The images seemed to overlap, but Liang Jiyong quickly shook his head in denial. No—it wasn’t her, because Su Wanqing was a distant memory to him, a lifelong pain.

Su Wanqing’s father, Su Kui, was from the same hometown as Liang Jiyong’s father, Liang Dahong, and was even assigned to the same company.

At that time, Liang Dahong was a company commander, and Su Kui was eight years younger, so the father took good care of the younger man.

Liang Dahong’s family was poor, and he hadn’t had much schooling until he studied in the army.

If it weren’t for his lack of education, with his military merits, he wouldn’t have remained a small company commander for so many years.

Su Kui was a university graduate, and educated soldiers advanced quickly then.

Not to mention university graduates, even high school graduates were few.

So, before he was twenty-five, Su Kui had become the company’s political instructor.

But only Liang Dahong and a few old comrades survived the battles.

Su Kui escaped the worst and also retired from the army, coincidentally assigned to the same factory as Liang Dahong.

Su Kui was educated and adept at handling affairs, so he thrived at the Red Flag Factory, eventually becoming deputy director in charge of sales, and rumors said he was a top candidate to replace the factory director.

Years ago, Su Kui and Liang Dahong had a good relationship, and Liang Dahong never mentioned Su Kui’s affairs.

Perhaps Su Kui was grateful for Liang Dahong’s care; Liang Dahong’s straightforward nature often offended people, and Su Kui smoothed things over for him, allowing him to remain head of logistics for a long time.

But five years ago, the Red Flag Factory declined steadily, with production and sales faltering.

There were also frequent cases of collusion with outsiders and thefts.

Because Liang Dahong was in charge of logistics, he was furious and worked hard to find clues. Signs pointed to collusion involving Su Kui.

Though they had decades of friendship, Liang Dahong confronted Su Kui bluntly.

Su Kui denied the accusations.

Eventually, Liang Dahong caught the thief, who turned out to be related to Su Kui’s brother-in-law.

Whether Su Kui was involved was unclear.

But Su Kui’s brother-in-law resigned and went into business, avoiding jail.

Still, Liang Dahong believed Su Kui was complicit or at least shielding criminals and cut ties with him.

Su Wanqing was Su Kui’s only daughter, the same age as Liang Jiyong, and they had been classmates since kindergarten.

Su Wanqing embodied every ideal that a man could desire in a young girl.

Beautiful and ethereal, gentle and quiet.

From a good family, good-looking, excellent student, and kind personality.

From middle school on, boys pursuing Su Wanqing never ceased.

Liang Jiyong was one of them, but more often just played the role of her protector.

However, Su Wanqing seemed indifferent to boys like Liang Jiyong, at most seeing him as a childhood friend.

Yesterday, Liang Jiyong had fought fiercely to protect Su Wanqing from harassment. Though outnumbered, he drove the troublemakers away but was struck on the head and fainted.

Su Wanqing was a strong student; though slightly behind the two Liang siblings, she could easily qualify for a top university.

Unfortunately, she caught a severe cold during the college entrance exams and performed poorly, missing the admission line by three points—an unfortunate failure.

No doubt, Su Wanqing would retake the exam next year.

So Liang Shaoping naturally thought Liang Jiyong wasn’t avoiding the army but planning to repeat the year to continue being her protector.

Previously, Liang Jiyong hadn’t considered this.

Su Wanqing seemed like a distant memory indeed.

But now, mentioning her stirred uncontrollable excitement within him.

The memories of two lives overlapped; Su Wanqing’s shadow, faint yet persistent, seemed to take root in his heart.

In his previous life, Liang Jiyong joined the army.

Three years later, he returned home for the first time, by which point Su Wanqing had vanished from his life.

In his memories, Su Kui was investigated for economic and conduct issues and sentenced to seven or eight years. Su Wanqing left Yunzhou. Though Liang Jiyong had searched, he never found any trace of her again.

That beautiful girl who had marked his first twenty years became an eternal mystery.

It was easy to imagine that with her father in prison, Su Wanqing’s life could no longer be calm and free as before.

“Going to the army is non-negotiable!” Liang Dahong seemed to think Liang Jiyong’s desire to repeat was because of the Su girl.

Though he thought she was nice, he doubted Su Kui’s future and didn’t want his son involved with Su Wanqing.

Joining the army was impossible for Liang Jiyong because he understood its limited future significance.

He didn’t want to be a peacekeeping soldier all his life without any real battle experience.

“Dad, second sister, let’s put Wanqing aside for now. I really want to repeat the year and go to university!”

“Hmph!” Father snorted, clearly unconvinced; the old beliefs ran deep.

Liang Shaoping studied her brother carefully, feeling that something had changed this time after he had woken up.

He seemed steadier, more mature than before.

If it were before, he would have already argued with their father or even left home.

By nature, he was stubborn like their father, impossible to pull back once set.

Because of Su Wanqing, Liang Jiyong had fought many boys and often suffered their father’s beatings but never yielded.

He was unyielding on the matter of Su Wanqing.

“Little Third, since you say don’t mention Wanqing, let me ask you: with your foundation, do you think one year of repeating can get you into university? Have you thought about why you want to go to university?”

Liang Shaoping had graduated from graduate school last year and taught at Yunzhou No.1 High School.

She had studied Chinese at Peking University, so teaching high school students was easy for her.

As an excellent teacher, she knew how to gently guide students.

“My foundation isn’t great, but I’m in the humanities. I think I can improve a lot in a year. My middle school foundation is okay.”

Liang Shaoping looked at her brother thoughtfully, unsure if he was seriously talking nonsense.

“Your college entrance exam score was 275 points, math 26, English 20. Let’s not talk about the others now, but how much can you improve in these two subjects in a year?”

Liang Jiyong blushed hearing his score.

The humanities full mark was 640; he didn’t even get half.

His sister scored 615, top humanities student in Yunzhou.

His elder brother was even better—710 full marks in science; he scored 701, top provincial science student.

So as the youngest brother, Liang Jiyong felt the pressure.

This was the story of the genius eldest brother, the brilliant second sister, and the underachieving youngest brother—unfortunately, Liang Jiyong was the latter.

Though he had decades more experience, he had basically returned his middle school knowledge to the teachers.

However, English, which once troubled him the most, now seemed less problematic.

In his later life, he had studied English to get a diploma and spent several years living abroad for business.

Though he couldn’t say what score he could get now, his speaking and writing were not too bad. With some grammar review, his foreign language scores could quickly rise.

As for math, he would take it steady; business only required basic elementary math.

Other humanities subjects were mostly rote memorization and flexible application, which could be managed with effort in a year.

Liang Jiyong’s learning ability was no worse than his siblings’, only he hadn’t applied himself before.

“My math foundation is weaker, but I’ve kept learning English, mostly speaking. If I work on grammar a bit, my scores should rise.”

“Yes, no, okay?” Liang Shaoping naturally knew her brother’s English level.

“On the third day of their separation, they should look at each other with new eyes...”

Liang Jiyong said a long sentence in English, leaving Liang Shaoping stunned.

He grinned, “Need a translation?”

“I’m an English major with Level 8 certification!” Liang Shaoping said proudly.

“‘After three days apart, one should look at another with new eyes!’ Not bad! Let me test you more…”

Liang Shaoping asked several questions in English, from simple to progressively harder.

After seven or eight questions, she was certain he wasn’t just reciting a memorized phrase to show off.

“Are you really my brother?” Liang Shaoping asked in disbelief.

“Heh, absolutely. Not just this life but the last one too—I’m your brother!” Liang Jiyong said seriously.

Father was also stunned. Though he didn’t understand English, the elder brother and sister had practiced it at home, and he could say a few words now.

But he knew well the level of his youngest son.

“Dad, I think Little Third has really been working hard secretly. His spoken English is basically passing at the high school level.

I think we can consider letting him repeat. University is an important stage in life, and missing it would be regrettable.”

Second sister seemed moved by Liang Jiyong’s change and spoke up for him.

“The army trains people better. With those scores, how can you get into university!” Father was still uneasy and preferred Liang Jiyong to enlist.

“Dad, it’s a peaceful era. The army doesn’t see real combat now, so it’s not meaningful. If a war breaks out someday, hand me a gun—I’ll go to the battlefield and won’t let you down!

My foundation is weak. If one year isn’t enough, then two or three years—I must get into university.

By the way, I heard at Yunzhou No.1 High School there’s a repeat student who’s been at it for eight years. She was classmates with second sister and fell short again this year.”

Hearing this, Liang Dahong shot Liang Jiyong a sharp look. Liang Shaoping sighed, thinking of an old classmate with sympathy.

“Zhu Qianyun is too stubborn and has poor psychological resilience. I’ve told her many times, but some things can’t be let go in a few words.

The college entrance exam became a hurdle in her life. If she can’t overcome it, she’s in trouble for life.”

Zhu Qianyun was Liang Shaoping’s classmate and once a shy, pretty girl next door.

She had visited their home before and had been seen at school a few times, but now she always walked with her head down, looking very insecure.

“Are you really going to repeat?” Father looked at Liang Jiyong, still doubtful.

Liang Jiyong nodded. “Dad, I know your worries. I promise, this year I won’t cause trouble, no fighting, no skipping classes, just studying hard and improving every day!”

“No dating with the Su girl!” Liang Dahong sighed but set a condition.

“No dating. I promise, no romance this year. We’ll talk about the future later!” Liang Jiyong didn’t want to lie to his father. For Su Wanqing, he couldn’t just ignore her.

Between this life and the last, Su Wanqing was an unforgettable feeling in his heart.

But those matters were to be dealt with after getting into university.

Father reached for a cigarette.

Liang Jiyong immediately took it away. “Dad, I won’t date this year and will study hard. You quit smoking. We’ll supervise each other and improve together!”

Liang Dahong had smoked all his life and felt uneasy without a cigarette.

He shot Liang Jiyong a glare, but Liang Shaoping supported him. “Little Third is right. One quits smoking, the other quits lust!”

Liang Jiyong glanced at his sister. What did ‘quit lust’ mean? Was he lustful?

“Dad, eat an orange. Buy more fruit and gum. When you want to smoke, just keep your mouth busy…”

The whole family agreed on quitting smoking.

Liang Dahong didn’t say anything but took the half orange from his daughter.

He didn’t eat it immediately but said to Liang Shaoping, “Girl, call your brother and ask his opinion!”

In father’s eyes, the person with the most say was eldest brother Liang Shaoan.

Because he was mature and steady, never causing worry.

Though second sister never worried father academically, her work was always a concern.

She had a fighting spirit and, after graduating from Peking University’s Chinese department, went to Lingnan University at the forefront of reform to study economics.

If not for father’s firm stance and threat to cut ties, Liang Shaoping wouldn’t have obeyed the assignment to teach Chinese at Yunzhou No.1 High School.

She might have already been in a private company as a fashionable financial white-collar worker.

In Liang Jiyong’s memories, second sister seemed to be preparing to join the financial wave.

In his previous life, shortly after he joined the army, second sister resigned and went to Lingnan, not returning home for three years.

It was only after his visit and negotiations with elder brother that father and second sister reconciled.

Her struggles at Lingnan were never spoken of, but as a girl without background and not the type to follow the rules and be a small white-collar worker, she must have faced many setbacks.

He only knew that later she participated in founding San Zhu, but during its peak, she saw its risks and decisively sold her shares and withdrew.

She later worked across many industries—commercial development, chain sales, real estate, internet, and finance—with both successes and failures.

In ten years, her assets exceeded one billion. Later she stepped from the front stage to the background, founding several investment companies with modest shares but significant influence, though not widely known outside the industry.

In Liang Jiyong’s previous life, his business success owed much to second sister’s help.

If not for her influence, he might have fallen victim to political schemes and ended up in jail.

He owed her too much in his past life, and in this life, he hoped to repay her and prevent her from walking so many detours.

The home phone was installed only a couple of years ago.

After university, eldest brother and second sister had scholarships and part-time jobs, barely spending family money.

Father was logistics chief at Red Flag Factory, never abusing power, but with good wages and benefits. Mother was a primary school teacher at the factory’s school, so finances were comfortable.

The phone installation cost 3,000 yuan, but father’s monthly salary was only about 200.

Second sister earned 400 a month at Yunzhou No.1 High School, making father sigh that his ten years in the army and thirty in the factory didn’t match her diploma—a true testament to the value of knowledge.

The call went through quickly. Elder brother had his doctorate and was still considering his future.

After second sister explained Liang Jiyong’s situation, elder brother agreed with the idea of repeating, though he shared the father’s doubts about Liang Jiyong’s motivation.

In the end, he still supported Liang Jiyong studying more. University was a must.