Cultivation by Trial and Error

"Poof..." came a snicker.

The words of her nephew, Chen Hai, reached the ears of Chen Dongmei, who couldn't help but laugh outright.

"He's 70 to 80 percent sure he can get into college? That's pretty good already!"

"It looks like our Chen Family really might produce a college student!"

With a meaningful glance at Chen Hai, Chen Dongmei's face was laced with mischief as she teased him.

Having heard about Chen Hai's academic achievements, she thought he was just bragging and certainly didn't take his words seriously.

On the other hand, Jiang Meixian glared fiercely at her own son.

This kid, making such bold claims—if his college entrance exam results turned out to be a complete mess, she didn't know how she would explain it to others.

Yanbei Village is part of the suburban area of the county town, which is located only about one or two kilometers from Liuyuan County's Ninth Middle School.

The residences here are all self-built, one house closer to the next, arranged very densely.

Chen Dongmei's place belonged to Group Five, and separated by an earthen road, on the other side was the territory of Yanbei Village's Group Six.

Jiang Meixian and Chen Dongmei were sitting at the doorway on chairs, chatting.

"Auntie, where is Brother Zhong? Isn't he at home?" Chen Hai asked with some disinterest, looking at Chen Dongmei.

The Brother Zhong he mentioned was Chen Dongmei's son, Sun Jinzhong.

Compared with Chen Hai, Sun Jinzhong was two years older and had already dropped out of school in his second year of high school.

These days, with workers in the county town being laid off in large numbers, it was basically impossible for someone like Sun Jinzhong to find a job in the county town.

After dropping out, Sun Jinzhong, mingling with the other youths in the village, naturally became somewhat of a ruffian.

But this guy and Chen Hai got on quite well.

The two of them could easily find common ground and hung out together.

"Over in Group Six next door, the whole Li Tao family... One of their uncles has returned from Tai Island!"

"I heard that their uncle made a fortune in business on Tai Island and is handing out candy and cigarettes to everyone."

"Your Brother Zhong has gone over there to join the crowd, if you're looking for him, just head straight over there!"

Pointing across the earthen road to a direction on the other side, Chen Dongmei explained to Chen Hai with a smile.

"People from Tai Island are here? Okay, I'll go over and take a look too."

Upon hearing this, Chen Hai's eyes lit up.

In his era, people from Tai Island were still a symbol of affluence.

Especially in a small county town like Liuyuan, seeing someone from Tai Island was a rare event.

Chen Hai was also curious to see what these so-called people from Tai Island were like.

"The college entrance exam is tomorrow. At this time, shouldn't you be at home reviewing your studies instead of running around aimlessly?"

Jiang Meixian's expression darkened as she glared fiercely at Chen Hai and scolded him.

"Mom, I've already reviewed almost everything that needs to be reviewed!"

"I'm just going over there to take a look, and I promise I'll come straight back after finding Brother Zhong."

After explaining with a cheeky smile, Chen Hai threw out a remark and ran off, disappearing in a flash.

"This child, he's so grown up, but I don't know when he'll really start to understand!"

With a face of helplessness, Jiang Meixian sighed.

"Children and grandchildren will have their own fortunes, Meixian, why are you fretting over nothing? Hai said he has a seventy to eighty percent confidence of getting into university," Chen Dongmei covered her mouth with a giggle, teasingly said.

"Stop listening to that kid's nonsense, if he really gets accepted into a university, I'll treat him like my own ancestor and worship him..." Mid-sentence, Jiang Meixian's brows knit together in worry, and she started sighing again.

...

Chen Hai had been to Yanbei Village many times before.

Each visit, he loved to randomly follow Sun Jinzhong around, and he was very familiar with the nearby area.

Following the direction pointed out by Chen Dongmei, he walked less than ten minutes before he saw a large crowd gathered together.

"Fellow villagers, President Li just said, whoever helps him find the burial site of Old Mrs. Li, will be rewarded with three thousand yuan, not a penny less..." A well-dressed man in a suit and tie, standing beside a sedan, was holding a megaphone and continuously shouting at the crowd.

These days, being a millionaire was very rare; for most people present, three thousand yuan was certainly a significant sum of money.

In the sixth group here, almost every household bore the surname Li.

Boss Li referred to the man from Tai Island, Li Dajiang, and Little Four Eyes was an officer from the county's United Front Work Department.

The Old Mrs. Li he spoke of was Li Dajiang's mother, Zhao Yufeng.

Originally, Li Dajiang went to Tai Island with his father as part of a certain party, and due to the hasty departure, his mother, Zhao Yufeng, was left behind in her hometown.

She didn't survive many years after that.

Her social status was poor, and with no one to care for her in the family, after the old woman passed away, she didn't enter the Li family ancestral grave but was simply buried in a random location.

In the blink of an eye, forty-odd years had passed, and as the older generation passed away one after another, the unattended grave of the old woman was uncertain to still exist, let alone anyone knowing its exact location!

Li Dajiang had returned to Liuyuan County this time not only to visit relatives but primarily to locate his mother's grave and properly reinter her—that was his greatest purpose.

After all, it was his father's biggest regret; on his deathbed, he never stopped thinking about this matter.

Back in the county town for several days already, Li Dajiang still had no clue about his mother's grave.

With no other option, he put up a large reward, hoping to find some valuable leads!

"Offering three thousand yuan just for finding a grave, Boss Li is indeed loaded!"

"Just the few households of Li Tao and Li Jian alone, Boss Li has given each a TV set. Three thousand yuan is a fortune for us, but for such a big boss, it's just peanuts!"

"It's such a pity that I was born too late, I was still wearing split-bottom pants when Old Mrs. Li passed away, I have no idea where she was buried!"

"This is three thousand yuan we're talking about, I need to hurry back and ask our old man, he might have some faint memory of this matter!"

...

People buzzed with many comments, discussing fervently.

The three thousand yuan reward mentioned by Little Four Eyes was too tempting; most ordinary families simply couldn't resist it.

Squeezing into the crowd, Chen Hai looked around.

Not far from the doorway, sitting on a chair, was the man from Tai Island, Li Dajiang, undoubtedly.

Everyone had two eyes and two legs; apart from looking more sprightly, Chen Hai didn't find anything different about Li Dajiang compared to other seniors in their sixties or seventies.

When he first came here, he wanted to see something extraordinary, but once he arrived, he truly didn't see what was so special about it.

"Brother Zhong..." His gaze swept around the area, and soon, Chen Hai saw his cousin, Sun Jinzhong, right there.