The 70s Novel: The Supporting Character Just Wants to Lie Down-Chapter 46: Rising to Fame with the High School Entrance Exam
With a prospective brother-in-law in the family, their father and mother grew increasingly fond of their soon-to-be son-in-law. Their elder sister was all smiles, proving the saying that a woman in love is like a blooming flower to be absolutely true.
Wang Miaomiao, however, had no time to inquire about their progress because she was about to take the middle school entrance exam.
It was another sunny day, with the weather cooperating beautifully.
Early in the morning, Liu Yulan got up and personally prepared breakfast for everyone—one youtiao and two boiled eggs each.
The meaning was simple, "You two eat up, finish everything, and score a hundred in every subject. I’ll take you to school later."
"Mom, you don’t need to take us; we know the way to school, we go there every day." Wang Miaomiao, looking at Liu Yulan’s earnest expression, felt touched. No matter the era, all parents escorting their children to exams share the same hope that their children will perform splendidly and achieve their best.
But in the end, Wang Miaomiao could not persuade Liu Yulan.
During the two-day exam, Liu Yulan insisted on escorting them both days. Each time they came out of the exam hall, they would see her standing at the gate with a water bottle in one hand and either an egg tart or a pork bun in the other. Her motherly love moved Wang Miaomiao deeply, prompting her to silently vow never to let her parents down in this lifetime.
After so many days of intense studying, once the exams were over, Wang Miaomiao immediately relaxed. As the days grew hotter, entering July, every heavy rain was followed by heat, with flies and mosquitoes everywhere, leaving Wang Miaomiao feeling irritable and restless.
While waiting for the admission letters, Wang Miaomiao and Wang Pandi spent all their time in Wang Jia Bao’s room, except for cooking and sleeping in their own rooms at night.
This room was more spacious and well-lit than the rooms at the back. The two of them worked on clothing and painting, enjoying a leisurely life, rarely stepping beyond the front door.
Seeing this, Liu Yulan, with a decisive gesture, announced a room switch. In one afternoon, several of them worked together to move the beds and cabinets, switching rooms.
After finishing his exams, Wang Jia Bao completely let loose, playing wildly with his friends all day long. It wasn’t until he came home for dinner in the evening that he realized his room had been completely taken over by his two sisters. There was nothing he could do... he just shrugged it off with a few grumbling sounds and accepted reality.
With Zhou Fengjuan spreading the word, Wang Pandi’s sewing skills had been recognized by the villagers. Recently, she started receiving some orders. Summer clothes had the most patterns, and Wang Miaomiao had drawn a booklet of design sketches for her.
People could bring fabric and choose a style from the booklet to make clothes. This made the customers more satisfied. Looking at the designs, they wanted this one and that as well. In the end, one set of clothes wasn’t enough, so they reluctantly bought more fabric to make another set in a different style to wear alternately. Business improved, and Wang Pandi’s reputation started to spread, attracting people from other villages.
Wang Miaomiao had learned drawing techniques during her time in the art club at university, and although she hadn’t drawn much in the past ten years of work, she had the foundation. What is learned stays with you, ready to be used when needed, without any difficulty.
Seeing that the business was really taking off under her daughters’ management, Liu Yulan felt increasingly proud, thinking to herself: See, it was her foresight and determination.
She did not take the pocket money her daughters earned, allowing them to keep it and save it as a dowry, though this comment was mainly directed at Pandi.
Wang Pandi made the clothes, while Wang Miaomiao drew the designs. They agreed to divide the pocket money they earned, seventy percent to Pandi and thirty percent to Miaomiao.
Of course, this profit distribution was primarily insisted upon by Wang Miaomiao. Pandi had proposed a fifty-fifty split, which Miaomiao disagreed with.
After all, she was only drawing some designs, whereas making the clothes relied mainly on Pandi’s skills. More work deserved more pay, distributing based on work done. She also specifically pointed out that if Pandi came up with her designs, she wouldn’t take a share and didn’t need any commission.
Among siblings, clear accounts make for good friends. She believed that this way, no grudges would form over trivial benefits, preventing conflicts and ensuring harmonious relationships wouldn’t strain and turn into lifelong estrangement...
Pandi, on her part, couldn’t immediately tell how much she could earn from the commissions, plus she’d eventually get married, and at that time, her focus would be on her new family. She had thought about starting a clothing factory with her sister once the opportunity arose after the economic reforms. Still, given the uncertainty of the future, many ideas had to be put on hold.
She needed to find ways to earn money for herself too. She’d soon head to the city for high school and would have to stay in a dorm. She couldn’t simply rely on her parents’ hard-earned money. After all, could she use the money they earned with their hands in the dirt and back to the sky without guilt?
Given the limitations of the current era, she pondered thoroughly, aligning with her situation, and came up with an idea—drawing comic strips and writing storybooks.
It’s said that after reading three hundred Tang poems, you may not compose poetry, but you can at least recite it. Having read so many novels and having decent drawing skills, why couldn’t she compose and draw them herself?
On a visit to the bookstore, the idea hit her, and she bought some paper and crayons. After the exams, she began her creations whenever she had time, not worrying whether it would succeed—if you don’t try, how will you know?
"Miao Miao, Jia Bao, come out quickly; your admission letters are here." Liu Yulan rushed home excitedly; she had been uneasy over the past few days at work, constantly watching for the postman at the intersection, and today, she finally got what she was waiting for.
"Miao Miao, quickly, your admission letter is here." Wang Pandi put down her work, surprised and joyous, saying, "Let’s go see it."
With that, she tugged the still lazily nestling Wang Miaomiao out of her chair and ran outside...
"Sis, no need to rush, take it easy..." Wang Miaomiao couldn’t help but smile as she saw her sister even more excited than herself. She wasn’t worried at all; based on her performance at the exam, she was confident of getting into a high school. She just didn’t know which one.
"Mom? Which high school is it?" Wang Pandi leaned toward Liu Yulan, looking at the letter in her hand.
"Miao Miao did exceptionally well, getting into J City’s best Provincial High School, and Jia Bao did alright, getting into the Number One High School. As for Jia Bao, that rascal, who knows where he’s run off to again." Liu Yulan was overjoyed, and not seeing Wang Jia Bao around, she just teased him with a laugh.
Wang Miaomiao took the admission letter, and a faint smile appeared on her lips.
Their overachievements were a sensation since they were the only two in their cohort in the village who got into high school. That evening, villagers came over to congratulate them upon hearing the news.
These days, supporting a high schooler in the family was quite an accomplishment, leading to better job prospects post-graduation. The Wang Family had two high achievers, sparking envy.
While they thought they were already in the limelight, the next day, unexpectedly, representatives from the town Red Star Commune and Red Star Middle School came over.
It turns out that Wang Miaomiao was not only the top in the school but also ranked first in the entire city across all subjects. Amazingly, she had swept all the number one spots...
