Chapter 62

The next morning, Xiao Fei went to the county post office with his brother to withdraw the remuneration.

This time, there were no major setbacks. Xiao Fei handed over the remittance slip and his ID card, and the female clerk from the previous day didn't cause any trouble, quickly paying him the money.

However, the staff member in charge of savings at the post office then began to smile broadly and try to persuade Xiao Fei to deposit the money with them.

China's postal system resumed savings services in 1986, but by 1996, it was still developing slowly and had not yet formed a large-scale advantage. It wasn't until the new millennium that postal savings began to develop rapidly.

There were still many benefits to depositing money at the post office.

For example, the interest rate on deposits was higher than that of other banks, and they promised convenient withdrawals at any postal savings branch nationwide without any异地取款手续费 (异地取款手续费 means "out-of-area withdrawal fee").

However, the Xiao family was about to build a new house, so the money couldn't be deposited for a fixed term. The interest rate on a demand deposit was much lower than that of a fixed deposit, only a little over two percent (even so, this rate was still higher than the fixed deposit rates in the future). It was more than four times lower.

Xiao Fei still decided to deposit the money at the post office.

There was no other reason; he just wanted the convenience of withdrawing money.

After withdrawing the money, Xiao Fei decided to go to the county town to talk to Yan Zhang's father about the construction of their new house, hoping to get some guidance from him.

Once this matter was settled, he could go to Shanghai with peace of mind.

It was already August 14th, and the senior high school repeat class at Heyang No. 1 High School had started classes 4 or 5 days ago. Xiao Fei went straight to No. 1 High School to find Yan Zhang.

When he arrived at the school, it was 10:30 AM.

The school gate was quiet, as the students were still in class.

Xiao Fei rode his bike to the teaching building where the repeat class was located. He saw that the "1996 Heyang No. 1 High School College Entrance Examination Honor Roll" had already been posted on the side wall of the building.

The blackboard already had over thirty names written in chalk.

Xiao Fei knew that Heyang No. 1 High School would always post the names of all students who received college admission notices on the honor roll, eventually filling the entire blackboard.

The thirty or so names already on the list were the top performers in this year's college entrance examination, with the top twenty or so being admitted to key universities nationwide.

Tian Yongzhi's name was prominently listed at the front.

Liu Xinmei's name was also on the list.

In fact, apart from a few top universities like Harbin Institute of Technology, Xi'an Jiaotong University, and Northwestern Polytechnical University, the most students from Heyang No. 1 High School were admitted to H Province University, a key university, with over ten students this year.

The campus was quiet, with few people moving around.

Xiao Fei stood in the shadow of the building, looking at the honor roll while waiting for the class to end.

At this moment, Li Tangqiu suddenly appeared in front of Xiao Fei, his face full of surprise: "Xiao Fei? You finally came. If you hadn't come, I was planning to go to your house to look for you."

Li Tangqiu was the head teacher of the first-year repeat class for liberal arts this year.

The repeat class had started registration on August 9th and began formal classes on August 10th. On the registration day, Li Tangqiu stood in the office set up by the school administration and watched all day, but Xiao Fei never came to register.

He began to worry.

Could Xiao Fei have gone to another high school?

However, he then thought that perhaps there was something going on at home, and Xiao Fei would be a few days late.

But with Xiao Fei not coming to school, he was always uneasy, fearing that Xiao Fei might be lured away by another high school with super preferential conditions.

That would make him want to cry.

Li Tangqiu was counting on Xiao Fei to bring glory to him in next year's college entrance examination.

He waited and waited, and by August 14th, which was today, he couldn't wait any longer. He planned to ride his motorcycle to Xiao Fei's house in the afternoon to check on the situation.

He didn't expect Xiao Fei to come to school in the morning.

"Hello, Teacher Li." Xiao Fei hurriedly nodded to Li Tangqiu in greeting.

"Come on! Let's go to my office and sit down. It's too hot standing here." Li Tangqiu grabbed Xiao Fei's arm as if afraid he might run away.

This was a bit too enthusiastic.

Xiao Fei's hair stood on end when Li Tangqiu grabbed his arm. Two men pulling and tugging at each other—what kind of decorum was this? He quickly responded, "Okay, thank you, Teacher Li."

When they arrived at Li Tangqiu's office,

Li Tangqiu had Xiao Fei sit in a chair, turned on the fan for him, and brought him a bottle of Laoshan mineral water before sitting down beside him, smiling warmly and asking cautiously:

"Are you here to register today?"

Looking at the bottle of mineral water in his hand—bottled mineral water was extremely expensive in the late 1990s, with a bottle costing two yuan, enough for a meal—and seeing Li Tangqiu's eager face, Xiao Fei thought that Li Tangqiu must be quite anxious.

"Teacher Li, I estimate I'll need to wait another ten days or so before I can come to register," Xiao Fei said.

"Ah? Why? Xiao Fei, the studies are quite intense now, with almost daily progress. If you're late by so many days, it will affect your grades," Li Tangqiu said anxiously.

Xiao Fei made up a reason on the spot: "Things are very busy at home right now, and I need to help out. Teacher Li, I promise that I will definitely come to repeat the class at the end of August or early September, and I won't go to any other school. I can swear to it."

Li Tangqiu was quite helpless; Xiao Fei didn't want to come now.

Could he tie him up and bring him here?

Fortunately, Xiao Fei reassured him again that he would definitely come to No. 1 High School to repeat the class, which made him feel a bit more at ease.

"Alright then. Once your family's matters are settled, come as soon as possible. Everyone is studying hard, and being late by a day might put you behind other students," Li Tangqiu said.

Xiao Fei asked about Wang Lika's situation.

When Li Tangqiu heard Wang Lika's name, he shook his head and sighed, his brows furrowed. He told Xiao Fei that he had taken Wang Lika to the provincial college entrance examination grading center to request that his papers be reviewed.

The reality was harsh.

The papers clearly showed that Wang Lika's scores were indeed that low, and there was no possibility of any mistake.

Seeing this, Li Tangqiu was almost furious.

He had gone through so much trouble in the scorching heat, only to be tricked by Wang Lika, causing him not only to suffer but also to lose face.

Mentioning Wang Lika, Li Tangqiu was still seething with anger, repeatedly saying, "Don't mention him, what's the point of mentioning him?"

As they were talking, a teacher came in and handed a brown envelope to Li Tangqiu.

This was a new admission notice for Li Tangqiu's class.

Li Tangqiu opened it and his eyes widened. The admission notice was for Xiao Fei, and he had been admitted to the provincial commercial higher vocational college.

The undergraduate admission process had ended a few days ago.

Now, the vocational college admissions were underway.

Li Tangqiu knew that this provincial commercial higher vocational college had been a relatively unpopular school in recent years, failing to meet its enrollment targets for several consecutive years. He didn't expect that this year, the school would act so early and decisively, directly taking the files of candidates who had not applied to their school but had passed the vocational college line and issuing admission notices.

A worry crept into his heart. Would Xiao Fei go to this school?