Rebirth in 1980: The Farm Wife Makes a Comeback
Chapter 433: College Graduation

Chapter 433: Chapter 433: College Graduation

"Let’s go, Brother Jian is taking you out for a grand meal, to comfort your injured little heart and your shattered glass heart."

"Did you get paid?" Qin Xiangnuan’s eyes lit up. Despite being quite well-off, she was still concerned about Jian Zhiqing’s salary.

"What do you think?" Jian Zhiqing took out his wallet, "Do you want to count it? It’s freshly withdrawn, I haven’t even warmed up to it yet."

Qin Xiangnuan unapologetically took Jian Zhiqing’s wallet and happily started counting bill by bill. Tsk, fifteen Grandpa Mao notes, not even two thousand years worth and Jian Zhiqing’s salary is already substantial. Back in the day, when she worked at the clothing factory, she only made about 400 yuan a month. There was one time she got 500 yuan and she was so happy she couldn’t sleep. But before the money even had a chance to warm up, it was taken by Wang Dali’s mom. Not a single ten cents was left for her. Can you imagine how she felt then? It was truly disheartening. After working several days and nights in a row without sleep, she had earned that money. She even thought about whether she could buy herself some new clothes or enjoy some tasty food, but what ended up in her hands was just the old wallet she made herself.

Silently, she lowered her lashes and put the money back in the wallet. Those past hardships still lingered in the depths of her heart, after so many years, shockingly vivid to her memory.

She lifted her face, smiled, and placed the wallet back into Jian Zhiqing’s pocket.

"I want to find a man who would give me his wallet, someone who feels content and happy regardless of how much I spend because it’s me spending. It’s not that a woman who spends a man’s money is materialistic, nor is it a given that a man should spend money on a woman."

It’s just one way a man can show his love for a woman.

Love her, and give her your wallet.

Love her, and let her spend the money in your wallet.

Love him, and spend his money.

Love him, and wait for him to give you his wallet.

She’s not materialistic, but she does know this: a man spending money on a woman doesn’t necessarily mean he loves her, but if a man is unwilling to spend money on her, then he definitely doesn’t love her.

Jian Zhiqing just sighed softly. He took out his wallet again and handed it back to Qin Xiangnuan, "Count it again." His wallet is hers now, you understand?

Qin Xiangnuan was momentarily stunned. She gripped the men’s wallet in her hand, then opened it and began to count, bill by bill. What a little money hoarder she is, and such a bitter little hoarder at that.

As promised, Jian Zhiqing took her out for a grand meal that cost over a hundred yuan. The one hundred yuan now is not the same as it will be in the future. Now, one hundred yuan could be worth five or six hundred in the future given inflation; one hundred might as well be the new 10 yuan.

It’s hard to tell if their lives have progressed or regressed.

After dinner, Qin Xiangnuan planned to buy a toy for her little nephew, whose chubby and adorable appearance clearly resembled her brother. Unfortunately, her brother was skinny as a monkey when he was young, nowhere near as good-looking as the little guy now.

The little guy’s official name is Qin Lao Yan, nicknamed Tuantuan, and indeed, he looks plump and fair like a sticky rice dumpling.

Qin Xiangnuan bought a big cloth doll, which was simply too large—she almost dragged it on the ground as she carried it. Jian Zhiqing couldn’t stand watching and decided to carry it himself.

"Are you sure he can play with it?" Jian Zhiqing lifted the doll. It’s what, 1.6 meters or 1.5 meters tall? Tuantuan is only a few months old. Can he play with it?

"He can roll on it."

Qin Xiangnuan grabbed one leg of the doll, "He can also bite," she said, and took a bite herself. She rolled her eyes at Jian Zhiqing. Was he questioning the gift she bought, or doubting her decision?

Jian Zhiqing walked away with the doll. Of course, the doll was ultimately kept by Qin Xiangnuan herself; she could roll on it and bite it, too. Since Tuantuan hadn’t grown teeth yet, the doll, it seemed... also shed its fur.

And now, she was hugging a doll that was nearly the same size as herself, sighing, wondering how she seemed to be regressing with age.

She shook the doll’s hand. No matter what, it was lifeless, couldn’t talk, and in fact, not even as interesting as the System. At least the System would respond to her, even if at times it was like talking to a wall, at least it was somewhat intelligent.

She threw the doll on the bed and went into the System to have a boring chat with it.

"System."

"Hmm..."

"Are you male or female?"

System "..."

"Can you have children?"

System "..."

"What will you do when I die? Will you find another host?"

"Of course."

"What if the host doesn’t feed you?"

"Eliminate them."

"Would you eliminate me?"

"Will you provide me with food?"

"Aren’t you already stuffed?"

System "..."

"Are you alive?"

System, "You really are..."

"What?"

"Annoying."

Qin Xiangnuan’s face instantly darkened. How dare it say she’s annoying. She felt more and more that the System was becoming human-like, sometimes petty, sometimes moved to give her many things, and sometimes greedy, wanting to change things up... But this was the first time she genuinely felt that too human-like a System wasn’t such a good thing, such as starting to despise her as its host.

With a snap, she closed the System’s panel.

"Starting today, you won’t get food for half a year."

The System, after all, is a system, it’s unknown when it came into being, or how it came to be. It seems human, yet it certainly isn’t human; hence, its way of thinking is still rather simplistic, unable to fully satisfy the current host’s abundant complaints.

Qin Xiangnuan retrieved her diploma from the school, and her advisor, who met with her at the school, seemed to cause certain uneasy emotions. In fact, Qin Xiangnuan thought she should hate him, but she really couldn’t. Perhaps because it wasn’t what she wanted. If it had been someone else, maybe a single word from this advisor could have ruined their future and their entire life. Everything is fate, and she, Qin Xiangnuan, wasn’t destined to be a designer at a big company. So she decided to be her own designer, her own boss, to call her own shots.

She smiled at her advisor, perhaps in a few years, she would forget his face altogether. After all, who remembers anyone for a lifetime? Moreover, she really didn’t hate him.

After retrieving her diploma, she’s now officially a university graduate, a college student. It’s 1999, which is quite a pity, since in 1996 the state abolished the unified distribution system and began to expand college admissions.