Liang Ping wasn’t giving up; he still wanted to fight for it.
Gao Zhiqiang, out of respect for Han Mei, tested him two more times.
Both times he ran over thirteen seconds.
That was fast for an ordinary kid.
But the sports school’s admissions cut-off was usually under twelve-fifty.
Liang Ping still wasn’t good enough.
Wang Xiuzhi was disappointed—if Liang Ping had been a little faster, both kids could have gotten into the sports school, both could have secured stable careers, and their family wouldn’t have had to worry.
Liang Ping was even more disappointed, looking at Han Mei with envy.
Over on the other side, Gao Zhiqiang hadn’t given up on persuading Jiang Chengzhou to join the sports school. Besides that, he also had his eye on Yan Yuan.
He visited several times, but both Yan Yuan and his grandfather turned him down.
Gao Zhiqiang couldn’t figure it out. Grandpa Yan was just a fisherman, out in all weather, with an unstable income.
Yan Yuan had no parents; the sports school was clearly a solid path for him.
He could understand Jiang Chengzhou’s family being well-off and refusing, but Yan Yuan’s rejection truly surprised him.
Of course, Grandpa Yan knew that the sports school was a good opportunity. But he was afraid.
Back in the day, the island was poor, with severe food shortages.
Rumors said that factories and docks in Nanyang hired freely, paying wages in a single day that equaled what mainland peasants earned in dozens of days—and you could eat your fill, with rice and oil at every meal.
Many were tempted back then, including Yan Yuan’s parents.
Both of them had grown up by the sea and were excellent swimmers. They left Yan Yuan with his grandfather, and, under cover of a high tide late one night, they evaded the border patrol boats and searchlights and slipped away.
Grandpa Yan told outsiders they had died in a fishing accident at sea, their bodies never found.
In truth, Grandpa Yan didn’t even know if they were alive or dead.
But that didn’t matter anymore.
Alive or dead, Grandpa Yan’s only worry was that it might implicate his grandson.
He would rather they were truly dead. But he also feared the truth might come out, that someone might find out and report them.
That would ruin the boy.
Grandpa Yan, an old man raising his grandson alone, managed to stay low-key and inconspicuous.
If Yan Yuan entered the sports school and made something of himself, and if someone with jealous eyes happened to know about Yan Yuan’s parents...
Grandpa Yan dared not take that risk.
Whenever Gao Zhiqiang came by, they simply said that Yan Yuan’s family was too attached to his grandfather, and he couldn’t bear to leave the old man, so he wouldn’t go to the sports school.
The one who regretted this most was Liang Ping.
Jiang Chengzhou and Yan Yuan had the opportunity but didn’t take it. He desperately wanted to go but couldn’t—he sighed all day at home.
His sighs weighed heavily on Commander Han and Wang Xiuzhi’s hearts.
Other people’s kids were reluctant to leave home; theirs just wanted to run far away.
When Han Mei left for the trial training, Commander Han and Wang Xiuzhi gave her twenty yuan in small bills to use at school.
Han Mei didn’t want to take it. “Teacher Gao said the school provides a stipend, covers meals and lodging; I won’t have any need to spend money.”
More than eager to make a mark at the sports school, Han Mei was desperate to start earning her own money.
Wang Xiuzhi still stuffed the money into her luggage. “Keep it as backup, just in case of an emergency.”
Han Mei didn’t refuse further, but in her heart, she vowed not to spend it unless absolutely necessary.
Han Mei entered the sports school and passed the trial training smoothly.
She could have come home to rest for a couple of days, but she thought the round trip would waste too much time. So she called home and settled in at the school.
Wang Xiuzhi had been feeling unsettled, but after receiving that call, she finally relaxed and went back to work as before.
Liang Ping was no longer as withdrawn as before, often hanging around with Jiang Chengzhou and Yan Yuan.
However, Li Xuan didn’t like him much.
That was because Liang Ping didn’t perform well in his studies.
Li Xuan had a somewhat proud personality, and he only cared about those he deemed worthy.
In his eyes, Liang Ping seemed a bit slow and uninterested in learning. Every time Li Xuan saw him, he would frown.
Liang Ping noticed this and kept his distance from Li Xuan, just as he would avoid his father, Commander Han.
Since Li Xuan and Jiang Chengzhou were always together, Liang Ping stuck close to Yan Yuan instead.
Every day, aside from going to school, Yan Yuan would spend his time at home cleaning fish and drying them. On weekends, he even set up a stall near the supply and marketing cooperative.
Originally, Liang Ping had to follow Wang Xiuzhi to work in the fields.
But ever since Han Mei had spoken a few pointed words, Wang Xiuzhi no longer insisted that Liang Ping accompany her to the fields all the time.
With nothing to do, Liang Ping would go help Yan Yuan clean fish.
Yan Yuan tried to shoo him away a couple of times, but when that didn’t work, he simply let him stay.
When Liang Ping found out that Jiang Chengzhou had once gone fishing at sea with Yan Yuan, he kicked up a fuss, insisting on going too.
Yan Yuan refused firmly. “I said no means no.”
“Then why could Jiang Chengzhou go with you?” Liang Ping protested, unconvinced.
Yan Yuan raised an eyebrow and reminded him, “Jiang Chengzhou and I are close—much closer than you and I are.”
Liang Ping didn’t care. He just latched onto Yan Yuan, even going so far as to recognize this boy, who was a few years younger than him, as his boss.
“From now on, I’ll follow you. Whatever you tell me to do, I’ll do it. Is that okay?”
Yan Yuan didn’t need that. Frowning, he said, “Going out to sea is dangerous. Your family won’t agree. Hurry up and go back.”
“Then if my family agrees, will you take me?”
“No. You don’t know how to swim.”
Unable to go to the sea, Liang Ping didn’t give up.
Whenever he had free time, he’d run over to Yan Yuan’s house and help him clean and dry fish.
Even Yan Yuan’s grandfather felt a little embarrassed by it and sometimes offered to let Liang Ping take some seafood home, but Liang Ping always refused.
By the time winter break was approaching, Yan Yuan’s attitude toward Liang Ping had softened a little.
Commander Han and Wang Xiuzhi never stopped Liang Ping from spending time with the boys.
Since Yan Yuan, Jiang Chengzhou, and Li Xuan all did well in their studies, Commander Han and Wang Xiuzhi had hoped that being around them would encourage Liang Ping to become more interested in learning.
But it clearly didn’t work. When the final exams came, Liang Ping still ranked only in the middle-to-upper tier of the class.
In November, the elementary school officially started its winter break.
This period also coincided with the harvest of sweet potatoes and potatoes.
The island had limited farmland. Over the past few days, instead of fishing, Yan Yuan and his grandfather joined the production team to rush the harvest—digging up crops, weeding, and turning the soil.
The work was finished in just two days.
Commander Han had been sent on a mission at an inconvenient time—precisely during the busiest season, he was away from home.
That was a soldier’s duty, so no one could blame him.
But it meant Wang Xiuzhi and Liang Yuan had their hands full.
When they first arrived, Wang Xiuzhi had been overjoyed to hear that the army allocated plots of land to military wives. She applied for as much as she could get.
Liu Chunhua had also applied for land, but since she had to focus on work, she let Wang Xiuzhi take over most of her plot.
Wang Xiuzhi was naturally thrilled and worked tirelessly. But the land wasn’t great—mostly sandy soil with a thin layer of topsoil and plenty of crushed stones.
From the very beginning, she had brought Liang Yuan and Han Mei to pick stones and turn the soil, planting the entire plot with sweet potatoes and potatoes.
Now it was time to harvest the potatoes and cut back the sweet potato vines.
With Commander Han away, Wang Xiuzhi had no choice but to bring Liang Yuan to the fields.
Even in November and December, the weather on the island was still hot.
Liang Yuan hadn’t been fair-skinned to begin with, and after being out in the island sun every day, he had become as dark as charcoal.
Lin Zhilan's belly was already visibly pregnant, yet she continued to go to work as usual.
Following last year's routine, the Traditional Chinese Medicine department still prepared herbal teas and mung bean soup to supply the military.
This year, however, they also included the military wives in the arrangement.
Although everything was done under the name of the TCM department, everyone knew that this benefit had only been available since Lin Zhilan arrived. Whenever it came up in conversation, people always praised her for it.
During winter break, aside from practicing calligraphy and exercising, Jiang Chengzhou had nothing to do during the day, so he would run wild and play with the other kids.
Whenever he heard people praising Lin Zhilan, he felt happy.
