[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-1987-my-era":3,"chapter-1987-my-era-1987-my-era-chapter-89":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","1987: My Era",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2259249,4409,"Chapter 89: Patience Is Great Wisdom (Please Subscribe!)","1987-my-era-chapter-89",89,"\u003Cp>Liu Li ultimately couldn’t hold out—her fever spiked to over 39 degrees, and she proudly got an IV drip.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It really proved true: what you fear is exactly what comes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sure enough, later that evening, Zou Ai came too.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This guy was amusing—the doctor said no injection was needed, but he insisted on one, claiming he wanted company, leaving the doctor both exasperated and amused.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But everyone present knew Zou Ai was doing this deliberately to annoy their homeroom teacher, Wang Qi; all of them silently understood without saying a word.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>During dinner, the English teacher also showed up, carrying a bowl—she’d just returned from the staff canteen.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She’d originally planned to go up to the third floor to her own home, but couldn’t resist the doctor’s enthusiasm: “Runwen, my family sent over some vegetables—let’s eat together.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wang Runwen walked in, crossed his legs, glanced meaningfully at Li Heng, then turned his gaze to Song Yu beside him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He just kept staring…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Until Song Yu’s cheeks flushed slightly, when he gently adjusted his glasses with the tip of his chopstick and smiled:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Chicken, meat, fish—Li Heng, you’ve got good food here. Song Yu really cares.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The remark was ordinary enough—the English teacher didn’t know the food came from Sun Manning’s home.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But to Xiao Han, who’d just returned with a can of tangerine syrup, it sounded twisted, sharp as glass.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Leaning against the wall outside the window, Xiao Han suddenly felt her legs go weak, her feet dragging like lead across the cement, emitting a heavy, mournful sound.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She thought bitterly to herself: trying to steal a chicken and losing a handful of rice—my life is truly miserable.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She’d wanted to muster courage and test Song Yu’s feelings toward Li Heng.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But now those words shattered her heart into pieces.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Unlike her earlier act of calm composure, hearing those words left Xiao Han enveloped in a musty fog, deflated like a punctured balloon.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She said nothing, silently handed the tangerine syrup to Yang Yingwen, and left without even entering the infirmary.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If it were only that he liked Song Yu, she could still overcome it. Song Yu was beautiful, elegant—it was natural someone would like her.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But if they felt for each other, it would be a replay of Chen Zijin’s romance—she’d remain an outsider for a long time to come.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She loved him, true—but she refused to live like a pig or dog for that love.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Because she understood one truth: once you become a pig or dog, you lose the right to love him, and the equal right to be loved.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Patience is a great wisdom.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Once his heart found a new home, she would automatically retreat back into her old state of silent endurance.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Alright, Xiao Han admitted to herself—in matters of love, sometimes she acted like a madwoman, but when faced with setbacks, she turned into a coward.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Her contradictions were extreme, always finding excuses to justify her erratic behavior.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Inside the room.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Just as Song Yu was about to tell the English teacher, “This food came from Manning’s,” Yang Yingwen walked in and placed the tangerine syrup on the table before him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Heng looked up and asked: “Where’s Xiao Han? Where is she? Why didn’t she come?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Because of Chen Zijin, Yang Yingwen and Song Yu were friends too, and she held no strong prejudice—she smiled at Song Yu and said:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Xiao Han had some last-minute business. She asked me to bring the syrup.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His gaze swept past the old rag, then to the window—he instantly understood what had happened.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That sly girl must’ve overheard the English teacher’s words outside the window, so she didn’t come in.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Heng picked up the syrup and told Yang Yingwen: “Thank Xiao Han for me. When I’m better, I’ll treat her to dinner.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Alright, I’ll pass it on.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Since learning Li Heng was emotionally promiscuous, Yang Yingwen had always looked down on him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But just now, those words changed her impression of him—she felt for the first time that he was actually a man.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He hadn’t ignored Xiao Han’s feelings just because Song Yu was present. Merely for that courage, Yang Yingwen was willing to label him: this guy may be a flirt, but he’s not without responsibility.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yang Yingwen left.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Later, their homeroom teacher, Wang Qi, arrived.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Upon entering and seeing Li Heng, Liu Li, and Zou Ai lined up for IV drips, Wang Qi stood frozen like a statue for a long moment before asking about their conditions.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The doctor was loyal—he didn’t expose Zou Ai’s trick, instead helping to bamboozle Teacher Wang:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Li Heng’s fever reached 39.6 today. I don’t know if it’ll spike again tonight—if it does, he’ll need to go to the People’s Hospital.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wang Qi frowned deeply: “That serious?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wang Runwen chimed in: “Who made you punish so harshly? Now you’re worried?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wang Qi paused, then said to the three receiving injections: “Rest well. Don’t go back to class tonight—head straight to your dorm.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then he turned to the doctor: “Charge everything to me. Don’t bill them.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The doctor smiled, dragging out his reply: “Alright.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wang Qi went outside and bought dinner—meat, vegetables, and soup.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He also brought fruit.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The English teacher sighed: “Old Wang, you’re not heartless—you just pretend to be. Aren’t you tired?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wang Qi pulled out a box of matches, lit a cigarette, and took two deep puffs: “You talk easy standing there. Put yourself in my shoes—you’d have cried and quit long ago.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wang Runwen tilted her head, then flicked her long hair: “True enough.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That night, Li Heng, feeling somewhat better, still went to class.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Liu Li and Zou Ai, arriving late, remained in the infirmary for their drips.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Actually, when Zou Ai saw the lavish dinner Nine Thousand Years received, he regretted it and told the others: “I shouldn’t have done this.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But the needle was already in—no turning back. He had to swallow his tears and finish the act.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>During three evening self-study sessions, Li Heng kept grinding problems and memorizing. Just before class ended, his beautiful desk partner slipped him a note.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It read: Are you feeling completely better?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Heng’s heart warmed. He wrote back: Yes, thank you for staying with me today—I’m almost fully recovered.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Song Yu read it, then wrote: Try not to shower tonight, or you might relapse.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Heng replied: Okay, I’ll listen to you.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Those three words—“I’ll listen to you”—made Song Yu swallow the rest of what she’d planned to say.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She dared not show concern openly anymore—she feared he’d take it as an opening to move closer, and she wouldn’t know how to stop him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>For a moment, she considered asking Xiao Han’s feelings on Chen Zijin’s behalf.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But recalling the tangerine syrup that went nowhere, she abandoned the thought: that woman, too, had spent years quietly enduring for love.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Thinking of Xiao Han, who classmates saw as her equal, having endured so long for one boy, Song Yu quietly studied his profile, feeling a strange, indescribable ache in her chest.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Time is beautiful precisely because it must pass—suddenly, the brilliant May days arrived.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The pre-exam system began in 1981 and ended in 1989, designed to ease the immense pressure of the college entrance exam.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Put simply: after the chaos, the country was rebuilding, and too many people wanted to climb the only ladder available—the college entrance exam. It was the sole narrow bridge offering a path out of poverty.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But so many crowded toward it, and state institutions couldn’t handle the volume—hence this cruel pre-screening system.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In places like Hui County, where Li Heng lived, at least half the students were filtered out after the first pre-exam round.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Imagine: years of studying, family selling pots and pans to fund education—all for a child’s future—only to fall at the final step. Isn’t that heartbreaking?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Heartbreaking.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But no one could help it—everyone suffered.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That’s why college graduates in this era held such high value: few spots, low acceptance rates, brutal competition—each graduate was handpicked, and upon graduation, they received a job assignment.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But this cruelty rarely touched Shaoshan No.1 High School, let alone Class 204, where the city’s top students gathered.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They’d already won at the starting line during the middle school exam—the pre-exam was as easy as eating and drinking, just a formality.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After the pre-exam, Li Heng received his final month-long holiday of high school.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As he stepped out of the exam room, Yang Yingwen from the next room called out:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Li Heng, are you going home tomorrow?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He hadn’t returned since the semester began—he missed home: “Yes, I’m going. What about you?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yang Yingwen said: “You know—I’ve always had a bad relationship with him. Last holiday, we fought again. I didn’t plan to go this time.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“But my third sister wrote me—she’s getting engaged. She wants me home.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The “he” Yang Yingwen referred to was her father.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Yang family had four children—all daughters.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This enraged Yang Fu—he’d even secretly given Yang Yingwen away after she was born.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But her mother refused, claiming she’d dreamed her youngest daughter was the Celestial Star of Literature, destined for greatness. She threatened to slit her throat with a kitchen knife unless he took her back.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It became a huge scandal in the village—everyone laughed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Because of this, Yang Fu, shamed in the village, despised her since childhood—he called her the one who broke the Yang lineage, a curse, a bad omen. All the good food and clothes went to her older sisters; she got nothing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Over time, Yang Yingwen never called him “father”—she always referred to him as “he.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Luckily, she excelled in school. Her mother worked tirelessly, raising six or seven pigs a year to fund her education—never once asking Yang Fu for a single cent.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Heng said: “Then let’s go together—we’ll have company.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He added: “What about Xiao Han? Is she going?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At the mention of Xiao Han, Yang Yingwen’s tone turned instantly biting:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“You haven’t looked for Xiao Han in over a month—now you’ve got time to remember her?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Heng shoved her shoulder: “Can you be a little fair? Is it me avoiding her? She clearly doesn’t want to see me.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yang Yingwen glanced around, saw no one nearby, then spat: “Pfft, you deserve it! Fairness?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Chen Zijin doesn’t cherish you, yet you go provoke Song Yu— isn’t perfect Song Yu enough for you? And now you’re entangled with Xiao Han too! If it were me, I’d have slapped you across the face twice already!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Heng raised an eyebrow: “Old rag, you should piss on a mirror and look at yourself—don’t go slapping gold leaf on your own face.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Someone like you? You actually think you have a chance to slap me? Fine, take off your clothes—I won’t even glance at you, or I’ll gouge out my own eyes and give them to you.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yang Ying cursed loudly: “Son of a bitch!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Heng smiled, unfazed. Ever since childhood, they’d bickered without restraint, saying whatever hurt most—no guilt, no hesitation.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After walking twenty meters forward, just before parting, he said: “Help me out.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yang Ying asked: “You want me to set up a meeting with Xiao Han?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Heng gave a thumbs-up: “That’s why they call you Yang Ying—one word: clever!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yang Ying flatly refused: “No. I don’t see what’s so great about you that you deserve to ruin girls like Song Yu and Xiao Han.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Heng frowned: “You think I’m not good enough for them?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yang Ying sneered: “Do you really think you’re good enough for Song Yu and Xiao Han?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>To be blunt—I don’t think anyone in Shaodong County is worthy of them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Chen Zijin used to be Mianqiang , but now that the Chen family is thriving again, you can’t even reach her anymore.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Heng was speechless. “Old rag, you don’t just kill—you cut straight to the heart.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yang Ying shot back: “If I don’t cut to the heart, what’s the point of killing?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Heng said: “I’ve never once said you have big breasts.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yang Ying retorted: “I naturally have big breasts—do I need you to point it out?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As she spoke, her eyes went wide with rage, and she cursed again: “Son of a bitch!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Heng grinned: “See you at Old Liu’s Restaurant later.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yang Ying walked off without looking back, still sneering: “Got a 200-yuan scholarship and think you’re on top of the world—taking pretty girls out to eat every day, never thinking about your parents.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Heng called after her: “Then where do you suggest we go?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“The dumpling and wonton shop—Xiao Han said she’s eating dumplings tonight.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Fine.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>PS: Yeah, the fever broke completely tonight—tomorrow, ten thousand characters.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>(End of Chapter)\u003C\u002Fp>",2122,"2026-06-19T15:27:33.982Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","085e4b5f069ed4e8bef0e8df473bfd0be3a01e45e58aa476ed8fae181be0e190","1987-my-era-chapter-90","1987-my-era-chapter-88",713,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002F1987-my-era-cover.jpg"]