"Why do I feel like everything has changed in the village?"

When we were drinking, I suddenly asked Jin Xiaowen.

Xiaowen smiled and said:

"It's not the village that has changed, it's you."

He continued:

"You're a college student now, you'll live in the city from now on, no need to care about the people in the village."

Xiaowen is my cousin and also my classmate. We used to play together when we were young. Last year, he took the exam with me, but we both failed.

After I entered college, I specifically sent him some review materials from the city, but he still failed this year.

This time, I brought him some study materials and bought some snacks to encourage him to try again next year.

Xiaowen bitterly smiled and said:

"Don't you know? They changed the policy next year. Those over twenty-five are not accepted anymore."

Xiaowen just turned twenty-five this year.

"What's fate? This is it." Xiaowen drank a cup by himself.

I didn't know how to comfort him for a moment.

Xiaowen said:

"It's alright. I'm getting married this year. When the time comes, I'll make sure my son studies well. I may not be able to become a college student, but he has to. I've been pushing him to study since he was little. I don't believe he won't pass!"

I nodded quickly.

Xiaowen became more excited as he spoke:

"I'll have five children, just like the Diao family, and they will all pass the imperial examinations!"

Xiaowen got drunk, and so did I.

I asked about Qiuge again.

Xiaowen looked at me with red eyes.

"Chaoyang, you really don't know what happened?"

I said I didn't understand.

Xiaowen leaned against the kang and looked at the photo on the wall.

In the photo, I stood in the middle, Xiaowen and Qiuge stood on either side, the three of us smiling happily.

Last year, when I got into college, Village Chief Diao Er brought a photographer from the township propaganda department to take a commemorative photo, but I don't remember taking this one.

"Because you were drunk at the time," Xiaowen said.