The nervous and busy monthly exam has ended for two days, and the test results for each subject have also been released one after another. Today is Friday, and it is almost three o'clock in the afternoon after class. Because of the three-day holiday, most of the students have gone home one after another.

Nishino's home is more than 90 miles away from the county town, and it takes five or six hours to go back on a bicycle. I could have asked for leave first, but when I thought that I had not obtained the transcript, I could only wait for tomorrow to go back.

The campus was empty and there were no people. He Yan and Xu Xiaoqiao also went back. Only Nishino and Yan Ling were left in the dormitory. Yan Ling's home was further away from the county town, and there was no bus back at this time.

"How about we go out for a walk?" Nishino didn't want to read a book any more when there was a rare day of rest.

"Okay, I'm just about to go out and relax. This time I'm so successful, I don't know how to go back and hand in the job." Yan Ling put down what he was in his hand.

"You did a good job this time, and you've improved a lot compared to when you entered the school." Nishino remembered that when he was in the cram school, Yan Ling ranked in the class in his forties, and this time he got up to 31st.

"But I am still in more than 30. How can I get into college with such grades? You also know that my family is so remote, it is not easy to come to the county town. In that place where I am at the end of the countryside, I can have a way out without studying. I really don't want to go back to the countryside and be a farmer facing the loess and facing the sky. I'm unwilling to give up, really!" Yan Ling replied dejectedly.

Xiye once visited Yanling's hometown once, one of the poorest places in the county, a poor village with many mountains and few lands and a difficult life. There is very little arable land there, high altitude, and a very large temperature difference between day and night. Even in summer, you wear short-sleeved sleeves during the day and have to cover a quilt at night. In such high-altitude climates, the yield of various crops is very low.

Due to these geographical factors, many ordinary people in Yanling’s hometown lack food at home. Whenever the weather is out of reach in May and June, many people are unable to sustain their food rations and can only rely on government relief or work in short-term labor to earn money to buy rice to make a living.

"I'm not going well with each other. I'm very myopic. I don't have to wear glasses to go up the mountain to chop wood or go down the fields to cultivate the land, right? There is no way to go except for the road to study!" Nishino originally wanted to comfort Yan Ling, but when he thought of his situation, he felt uncomfortable.

Although Nishino's monthly exam improved in total scores this time, and his scores were several tens of ten than the previous monthly exams, there were no particularly outstanding subjects. He ranked more than a dozen in the class, and the school ranked exactly 100 in the liberal arts. Compared with those "academic top students", there is still a big gap.

The two walked and talked, and before they knew it, they arrived at the foot of a small hill near the school. The hill was not high, but it was one of the few famous peaks in the county. Standing on the top of the mountain, you can see the entire county town at all. It is said that Zhuge Liang was still sitting on the top of the mountain, shaking his goose feather fan to train the Shu navy in the river below the mountain.

The two of them slowly climbed up the winding stone road. The weeds were desolate along the way, and from time to time, some birds resting in the bushes were startled. There were not many trees on the mountain. Except for the ever-green pine and camphor trees, most of the other trees were left with bare branches. The stone road was covered with thick leaves, soft, and rustling sounds when stepped on it, as if walking on a carpet.

Not long after, the two of them climbed to the top of the mountain and stood on the top of the mountain and looked south. The winding Wushui River slowly came from the southeast. After a large C-shaped character at the foot of the mountain in the south, they slowly walked towards the southwest of the canyon.

On the other side of the river is a rice field that has been harvested, with several villages scattered in between. Looking at other aspects, there are high and low residential houses nearby. Although there are still many factories in between, most of them have gone bankrupt in recent years, leaving only old factories, which seem to be telling people the feeling of changing things and desolate world.

"Lao Yan, the scenery here is nice. You can see the distance from the sky and have a wide view. It really feels like you are 'seeing all the mountains at a glance'!"

"Yes, no wonder the ancients like climbing so much and wrote so many masterpieces that have been passed down through the ages."

"The kind person enjoys the mountains, and the wise person enjoys the water. Lao Yan, do you like more mountains or more water?" Xiye found a clean stone, sat down on it, and looked at the endless mountains in the distance, without looking back at Yan Ling.

"I like all the mountains and rivers. As long as I can truly walk out of the mountains of my house, go see the outside world, and let my parents live a better life, no longer as hard as I am now, I will be satisfied." Perhaps because of the scenery in front of me, Yan Ling's originally depressed mood was obviously much better.

"Do you know? I have had a wish since I was a child to be a traveler like Xu Xiake, take the people I like to see the vast grasslands of Inner Mongolia, the steep Tiger Leaping Gorge of the Yangtze River, the magnificent sunrise of Mount Tai, and the white silver beach of the Beihai..." Xiye became more and more excited as he spoke, and actually stood up, stretched out his hands and waved in the air, which was quite a bit of a guide to the country.

Nishino was full of energy, and Yan Ling suddenly remembered something and couldn't help laughing: "The 'she' in your heart refers to He Yan, right? If that's true, you two are handsome men and women, and you will be a bit like a fairy companion when you go to travel together."

"I don't know. He Yan is just a good friend. I'm not sure. I'm the son of a farmer, and no one will take a fancy to him." Looking at Yan Ling's half-joking and half-serious look, Nishino thought of his current situation and felt confused.

"Don't be so unconfident. You have good academic performance. When you get into college and find a good job in the future, all the problems will be solved."

"But I have nothing now!"

"I'm not asking you to marry her now, don't forget that we are still students. You just want to think, it's impossible. What I mean is that if you really like others, then you should be nice to others. Don't be half-hearted, otherwise it will be of no benefit to both of you. Work hard to get into a better university first, and she will naturally be better for you." Yan Ling comforted while advising.

"Well, I will. Even for He Yan, I will work hard for myself and my family." Nishino stared forward, his eyes full of determination.

The cool mountain breeze blew, raising the clothes of the two people and messing up their hair. The two young people looked at the undulating mountains in the distance together, with a lot of thoughts, and a passionate passion from youth that came from their hearts couldn't help but rise from the bottom of their hearts.

"Ivory Tower, wait for us! In half a year, we will definitely come to you!" The two of them shouted loudly in the face of the mountain wind.

The mountain wind is speechless, but it only brings this crescent vow to the distance; the earth is speechless, but it only remembers this crescent vow in my heart. Please forgive their impulse, which young man is not passionate, which youth has no dreams, this is the indomitable desire for a bright future from the soul, and this is the unblocked desire for a bright future. If in young life, there is no passion, passion, and desire, then what is the difference between it and a dead body?

The next morning, just as dawn, Nishino couldn't wait to carry his schoolbag and board the bicycle to get on his way home.

I haven't been home for three months, and I don't know how my home is now. The familiar hills, the familiar rivers, the familiar fields... Everything that is familiar should be a different look in this deep winter.

During school days, Nishino was nervous about studying and was accompanied by friends, but Nishino didn't miss home. But once the holiday was really on, Nishino's heart would have flew to the side of his relatives who were connected to his bloodline.

The mountain road is not easy to walk, and some places are riding riders! In the deep winter, the morning in the mountains is particularly quiet. There are almost no pedestrians coming and going on the winding mountain roads. There are only a few tits that are occasionally startled by Nishino's footsteps and flew into the sky.

The rising sun slowly climbed up from the gorgeous morning glow, stretched out a gentle hand, and gently stroked the earth. The dewdrops on the leaves and grass tips on the roadside were like naughty children, reflecting colorful light under the sunlight. With an occasional "click", it jumped down from the leaves and grass tips, leaving deep and shallow watermarks on Xiye's trousers or shoes.

I don’t know how many ditches and ridges I have climbed, nor do I remember how many ridges I have climbed. When it was nearly two o’clock in the afternoon, Nishino finally saw the familiar valley, saw the small river behind the house full of childhood memories, and saw the sparse houses scattered by the river and at the foot of the mountain.

Finally, I was about to get home. When I thought of the warm feeling at home and the loving relatives at home, Nishino's heart was inexplicably excited and quickly accelerated.

Just when he was about to reach the doorstep, Nishino suddenly heard a fierce quarrel, and he remembered that it was almost the end of the year.

"Do you pay the money today? This is a tax stipulated by the state. You have to pay it, and you have to pay it if you don't pay it!" The voice of a strange middle-aged man rang in the house.

"Yes, farmland water conservancy fees and education surcharges are taxes stipulated by the state. If you do not pay taxes, we will sue the court. At that time, let the police station arrest you and throw you into the cell, which will be even more troublesome." Another middle-aged man echoed.
Chapter completed!