[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-the-romantic-path-to-success":3,"chapter-the-romantic-path-to-success-the-romantic-path-to-success-chapter-138":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","The Romantic Road to the Top",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":20,"prevChapterSlug":21,"totalChapters":22,"novelImage":23},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":16,"volume":17,"translator":18,"content_hash":19},2146329,3567,"Chapter 138","the-romantic-path-to-success-chapter-138",138,"\u003Cp>In that era, the obsession farmers had with shedding their rural household registration was hard for later generations to imagine. For a long time, the only ways to jump out of the \"rural gate\" were to pass the university entrance exam or be recruited by a factory. The difficulty was immense—one could say it was one in a hundred. If one could understand this obsession, it wouldn't be hard to understand why farmers spent so much money to buy a household registration.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hearing his mother's words, Su Xinghui was truly speechless. Nothing had even begun yet, so how did she end up talking about buying household registrations and having children?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Guo Suhua said to Su Wenjun again, \"You still discriminate against rural people. Didn't you come from the countryside yourself? Didn't I?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Su Wenjun was from the suburbs of Jiangcheng and originally had a rural household registration; he only transferred to an urban one after getting into university. Guo Suhua was from Baota Township, Yulin City, the seat of the Yulin Region, and also originally had a rural household registration; she transferred to an urban one after getting into the regional finance and economics school.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Su Wenjun said, \"I am not discriminating against rural people. I have never discriminated against rural people; I am just stating an objective fact.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Guo Suhua was still about to bicker with Su Wenjun when Su Xinghui said, \"Mom, that's enough. Aren't you tired? I'm still very young, why talk about dating so early? I want to take advantage of my youth to accomplish more in my career. Would you be happy if I spent all my time revolving around a wife and children so early?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Seeing that her son was a bit unhappy, Guo Suhua nodded and said, \"Fine, then you focus on your career first. But if you find a girl you like, there's no harm in dating. If you have children, Mom will raise them for you; you won't have to.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Su Xinghui shook his head incessantly and said, \"Alright, alright, I promise you. Once I have a girl I like, I'll date, okay?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Only then did Guo Suhua nod happily and say, \"That's good, Mom will wait for your good news!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After saying this, Guo Suhua hummed a tune while clearing the table. Su Xinghui was quite familiar with this song; it was called \"Our Life is Full of Sunshine.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After Guo Suhua went into the kitchen, Su Wenjun looked up, met Su Xinghui's eyes, and the father and son shared a wry smile.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Guo Suhua was certainly a good wife and a good mother, but sometimes she worried too much and nagged too much. However, this was a common ailment for women of her age, and sometimes one just had to go along with her.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Guo Suhua entered the kitchen and called out again, \"Xinghui, come here for a second.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Su Xinghui went into the kitchen, and Guo Suhua pointed at the two pheasants and two bamboo rats, saying, \"How should we handle these? Mom doesn't know how to slaughter them. Besides, there are several already frozen in the fridge; we won't be able to eat these anytime soon, right? How about we take them to your maternal grandparents when we go to pay them a New Year's visit?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Su Xinghui's maternal grandparents, that is, Guo Suhua's parents, lived in Baota Township, Yulin City. That was to the southeast of Shangjun County, more than forty kilometers away. Su Xinghui would definitely go to pay them a New Year's visit during the holiday.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Su Xinghui thought for a moment, nodded, and said, \"Let's do this: we'll take one of each to my grandparents when we visit. As for the remaining two, I have to go to Jiangcheng on the fifth day of the New Year to visit an elder, so I'll take them to him then.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The elder Su Xinghui spoke of was, of course, Lu Zhenghong. He had been worrying about what to bring as a gift for Lu Zhenghong. Ordinary things were too common, and buying something too expensive would change the nature of the gesture and be counterproductive. These two wild game animals were just right—neither common nor expensive, and quite meaningful. Presumably, Lu Zhenghong would gladly accept them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Guo Suhua nodded and said, \"Fine, but you'll have to feed them for a few days.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Su Xinghui said, \"It's fine, Director Zhao also brought some feed, so they can be fed for a few days. If the feed runs out, feeding them other things will work too.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Guo Suhua said, \"That's good.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\u003Cp>The New Year's Eve of that year was on the thirtieth day of the twelfth lunar month. Early that morning, Su Xinghui got up to help his mother prepare the New Year's feast. Because Su Xingyun's family was coming over to eat the New Year's meal here early before going to Tan Mingcheng's house for another, the meal had to be prepared early today.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>By just past eight o'clock, Su Xingyun's family had returned. As soon as she got home, Su Xingyun had her mother leave the kitchen, and she and Su Xinghui prepared the meal together.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Both siblings were very nimble in the kitchen, but in Shangjun County, there were many dishes to prepare for the New Year's feast, and some were quite complex. Therefore, the meal would take at least two or three hours to prepare.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Su Xinghui cut the meat, Su Xingyun picked the vegetables, one stove simmered pheasant soup, and another used a large steamer for various steamed dishes. This followed the principles of coordination, maximizing time efficiency.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>While picking vegetables, Su Xingyun asked Su Xinghui, \"Xinghui, I heard from Mom that two girls like you?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Su Xinghui said, \"When did Mom tell you that?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Su Xingyun laughed, \"Mom called me early this morning, urging us to hurry over. She even whispered to me on the phone that two girls like you and asked me to help you weigh your options.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Su Xinghui was truly between laughter and tears. His mother sometimes worried too much; why tell his sister about such things?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Su Xinghui said, \"Sister, don't listen to Mom. Nothing has even begun yet.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>How could Su Xingyun believe that? She asked, \"Xinghui, tell your sister about those two girls.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Su Xinghui said, \"Sister, I already said nothing has even begun.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Su Xingyun said, \"Mom wouldn't make something out of nothing, right? There must be two such girls? Tell me about their situation.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Su Xinghui could only say helplessly, \"Fine, I'll tell you. One of these girls is my classmate, Xue Qin, whom you've met. The other is named Xia Zhu, a girl from Wild Boar Gully Village in our Menghuling Township. She came to our house yesterday; that bamboo-woven painting hanging on our living room wall was woven by her.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Su Xingyun said, \"Is that so? Then I have to go see it.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Su Xingyun put down the vegetables, took a look in the living room, and returned saying, \"This painting is woven really well. Is that the girl named Xia Zhu who wove it? Her hands are truly skillful.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Su Xinghui said, \"Yes, she wove it. In craft shops, one such painting can sell for one or two thousand.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Su Xingyun said in surprise, \"Really? This painting is that expensive? That's really good. By the way, I've met Xue Qin; she's quite pretty. Is this Xia Zhu pretty?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Su Xinghui nodded and said, \"She's quite pretty.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Su Xingyun nodded and said, \"I knew it. With our Xinghui being such a handsome young man, there must be many pretty girls who like him.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Su Xinghui could only shake his head and continue cutting the vegetables.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After a while, Su Xingyun said again, \"Xinghui, you must be mindful. Don't take it lightly. You must ask your own heart which girl you really like and make your choice as soon as possible. Don't delay the girls and end up hurting others and yourself.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Su Xingyun's words made Su Xinghui pause. He asked himself in his heart, which girl did he really like? The images of Xue Qin, Xia Zhu, and Lu Xiaoya rotated in his mind like a revolving lantern, but he could never settle on one.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After a long time, Su Xinghui shook his head and continued cutting the vegetables. He said to Su Xingyun, \"Sister, don't worry, I will handle it myself.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After all the vegetables were picked, washed, and cut, Su Xinghui began to stir-fry. After a round of frying, sautéing, and braising, a table full of dishes was laid out in a dazzling array.\u003C\u002Fp>",1436,"2026-06-16T17:50:40.887Z","2026-06-16T17:54:29.625Z",1,"Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite","bf6a3624f617b20be34cd6946d41476d42b1bd9a94ec808640291f1805c9cd74","the-romantic-path-to-success-chapter-139","the-romantic-path-to-success-chapter-137",572,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fthe-romantic-path-to-success-cover.jpg"]