"Shut up. What's the point of griping over that right now? Why didn't you stop me back then!" Lin Qingyu blamed Jiang Kuo.
The man was speechless.
Satisfied with what she heard, Su Hanyan smiled and walked away leisurely.
Sorry about that Lin Qingyu. Who asked you to do all those nasty things first? I'll let you have a taste of being thrown into a ditch!
She guessed that Zhu Lin had already returned to the dormitory, so she headed back.
She saw Niu Hongxia from afar again. She was talking to another leader. Su Hanyan could not hear her clearly, so she moved forward.
The voices became clearer.
"That Lin Qingyu isn't a good person. How could she be so vicious at such a young age? Look at how angry you are! I'm telling you; what's the point of keeping such a person? She wants to be selected as this year's outstanding employee? Her moral character isn't even passable. I think that you should give this spot to someone else!"
Niu Hongxia did not say anything which was equivalent to her tacitly agreeing to those words.
After the two left, Su Hanyan resumed her walk toward the dormitory. As she walked, she hummed a small tune. It really was not her who was being vicious. After being stabbed in the back, there was no way that she could forgive her colleague easily.
She followed a principle: 'Don't offend me, I won't offend you! If you treat me well, I'll treat you well!'
Su Hanyan wanted to share what had just happened with Zhu Lin, but the moment she pushed the door open, she was greeted with the sight of a mess. Her friend was sitting in front of a desk, and exercise books lay scattered all around her.
"Eh? What's with this?" she asked. "Did you encounter a problem when studying?"
She knew that Zhu Lin had been studying for the past few days, evidently preparing for next year's entrance exams.
"Don't talk about it! I'm about to die from anger!" Zhu Lin's voice sounded as if she were about to cry. "Isn't this too much? Will I be able to take the exams next year?"
"Which question is difficult?" She stepped forward and bent down to pick up an exercise book from the floor. "English?"
"Mm," Zhu Lin said with red rimmed eyes, "Hanyan, can't we just do well in Chinese? We also must learn English! I heard that the subject will be included in the college entrance examination next year!"
It was the winter of 1982. From 1983 onward, the English language would be officially included in the college entrance examination.
To people like them who had never learned English, the combination of these letters was like a foreign script beyond their comprehension.
Furthermore, the current society was lacking in educational resources in both teachers and teaching materials.
It was already the case in universities, let alone people like them who had to self-study for the exams.
"Don't worry!" She smiled. "It's not that hard to learn. Listen more, watch more, and read more! It'll get better with more practice!"
"That's easy for you to say. I don't know anything at all, so how can I not be anxious?" Zhu Lin had made up her mind to enroll in a university this time. Some of her friends had also been very passionate about their studies recently, wanting to use this opportunity to change their fate in life.
In society, the trend of studying to acquire a diploma was booming. She agreed with Su Hanyan's assessment. In the future, everyone's thirst for knowledge would increase, so it was better to get a degree as soon as possible.
"Take your time. There's no point in being anxious."
"You're not anxious at all?" Zhu Lin looked at Su Hanyan in surprise.
"Not very. I guess."
"Why? English is so difficult. I've never used it before… Aren't you afraid? Don't tell me… that you know English?"