Chapter 35: Brother-in-law, Sister-in-law, and Little Sister All Together—Can Anyone Handle This? (Please Keep Reading)

After finishing the topic of the debt collector, Mrs. Feng brought up the matter of her second daughter-in-law, Sun Juan. Having retreated to her parents’ home to prepare for exams, Mrs. Feng, as the mother-in-law, felt it was inappropriate to comment much, so she merely asked with concern whether Sun Juan would be interested in joining the repeaters’ class at the affiliated school of Yan University, which was currently recruiting students. If Sun Juan decided to attend, the family would provide funds for her to take the supplementary courses. The principle was fairness: daughter, son-in-law, daughter-in-law—all were treated equally. Whichever of the three had the ability to pass the entrance exams, the family would support them together.

In the end, Mrs. Feng made the decision: the house had a strong academic atmosphere with three members preparing for next year’s college entrance exam. It would be better for Sun Juan to move back home, so they could exchange ideas and strive for progress together, rather than Sun Juan secluding herself at her parents’ house, working blindly on her own.

With this arrangement, the accommodation situation needed to be reorganized. The room of the eldest brother-in-law and his wife remained unchanged, as did the side room of Cheng Xueming and his wife. The main change concerned Sun Juan’s original room. Previously, when she moved out, it had been given to the youngest daughter-in-law, but later the youngest daughter, Feng Jia Mo, stayed there with her two children. Now, the two younger ones would be moved out, leaving the room for the two exam candidates.

The youngest, Feng Liwen, would continue to sleep with Mr. and Mrs. Feng, while the older child, Feng Liqin, would use a bamboo bed set up in their parents’ room. This was the state of their accommodations—all the family awaited the allocation of new housing from Mr. Feng’s workplace.

“The debt collector has suddenly become enlightened—Old Liu said her manuscript revision was excellent!” Before bed, Mrs. Feng closed her book and mentioned this to her husband.

“Really? If it’s that good, I’ll take a look myself. If it’s truly impressive, I’ll let Old Li and the others read it too!” Mr. Feng was surprised—it was the first time his wife had recognized the youngest daughter’s writing ability.

“Yes! If it could be translated into a foreign language and published in your ‘Chinese Literature,’ who knows how far she might go!” Mrs. Feng murmured, imagining if the debt collector’s work were published internationally—it would be like soaring into the heavens.

“Actually, Xueming isn’t bad either. I read his political exam paper; he’s a young man with opinions and ideas!” Mr. Feng spoke of his country-bred son-in-law. From that political paper alone, he truly didn’t seem like someone raised in the countryside. His insight into politics perhaps even surpassed the children of cadres in the compound. With just one exam paper, Mr. Feng glimpsed his son-in-law’s exceptional qualities.

“Well… Let him get into Yan University first!”

Speaking of her son-in-law, Mrs. Feng honestly didn’t think much of him—even if he got into Yan University, he’d still be a rural boy by birth. Having grown up steeped in petty bourgeois values, Mrs. Feng carried an innate pride and prejudice.

“At his current level, getting into Yan University shouldn’t be a problem, but he can’t slack off. Let the youngest daughter keep an eye on him!” Mr. Feng nodded, then asked, “Did you bring this up with the eldest?”

“How could I dare? You know the debt collector’s temperament—last week I mentioned to her that after the child is born, it could be given to her eldest brother to raise. But she pretended not to understand and didn’t give a clear answer. How could I promise anything to the eldest’s family? If I tell them now, and the debt collector refuses after the baby’s born, wouldn’t there be a huge argument?”

“True, best not to promise the eldest’s family anything yet. We’ll see when the time comes.” Mr. Feng agreed—it wouldn’t do to raise their hopes and end up with nothing. Both sides were equally dear, and it would be impossible to explain.

“We’ll wait and see.”

“Today, Li Qingquan from Yan Jing Literature suddenly called Old Liu out of the blue to express their gratitude. Old Liu suspects our editorial department missed a manuscript and Yan Jing Literature lucked out. Have I been too strict with the youngest daughter lately, scaring all her classmates from the Chinese department to submit their work to Yan Jing Literature instead?”

Mrs. Feng still fretted about it, sharing her concerns with her husband, hoping for his insight.

“There’s really such a thing?” Mr. Feng, who maintained great dignity in front of the children, was eager to hear about his wife’s little dramas.

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“In the five subjects besides Chinese, he only scored 410. Didn’t your sister say he was guaranteed to get into Yan University?” In the room of the younger sister-in-law, Feng Jia Mo, and the second sister-in-law, Sun Juan, there were hushed whispers.

Feng Jia Mo, with a look of admiration, talked about Cheng Xueming’s score in five subjects—over 410. Sun Juan was surprised and asked: With Chinese not counted, the others—Math, Physics, Chemistry, Politics, English—totaled 520, but he only scored 410, losing more than a hundred points! If you added the points deducted for Chinese, it would be at least 130 or 140 points lost! With such grades, could he really get into Yan University? Was the youngest daughter-in-law exaggerating? That day, in front of everyone, she boasted her wild man would surely get into Yan University next year. How could her mother-in-law’s casual test result in such a low score?

Of course,

To score 410 in five subjects, excluding Chinese, was still impressive—Sun Juan herself couldn’t manage that. But who claimed it was a guaranteed admission?

“Second sister-in-law, it is guaranteed! Five subjects, over 410! Add even sixty points in Chinese, and getting into Yan University is easy!” Feng Jia Mo was surprised at her sister-in-law’s reaction—410 in five subjects, and yet such a mild response? Wasn’t this the reaction of a candidate preparing for the college entrance exam? Didn’t she realize how remarkable 410 in five subjects really was?

“Easy? Those five subjects lost over a hundred points, lose another twenty or thirty in Chinese, and he’s guaranteed to get in?” Sun Juan was baffled by her sister-in-law’s words—with so many points deducted, how could he possibly make it?

Nonsense!

“Who said he lost over a hundred points in five subjects?” Feng Jia Mo was confused by her sister-in-law’s reasoning—did he really lose over a hundred points?

Right then, she calculated in front of her: “Old Cheng scored 118 in Math, 97 in Physics, 98 in Chemistry, 92 in Politics, and 94 in English. Total score…”

Math 118?

Sun Juan listened as her sister-in-law muttered—her brother-in-law scored 118 in Math, only lost two points, that strong? Then hearing the other scores—Physics 97, Chemistry 98, Politics 92, English 94—she was completely bewildered!

This… No matter how you add it up, it’s much more than just 410 points!

“Wait, second sister-in-law, did you think Old Cheng’s 410 total included the full 94 points from English? English only counts for ten percent, just nine points. No wonder I was confused—the score didn’t add up!”

Now it made sense: the five subjects really were just over 410, not a hundred points lost! But Sun Juan still couldn’t process it, remaining bewildered, overwhelmed by the sudden pressure.

The youngest daughter-in-law hadn’t exaggerated—her husband truly was guaranteed to get into Yan University. The youngest daughter’s grades were also good; with effort, she too could make it. But as the sister-in-law, all the pressure fell on her, and she suddenly felt out of place and unwilling to struggle anymore.

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