Chapter 78 Outing
  After Wen Ning left, Fang Qing's life returned to a monotonous and boring rhythm. But fortunately, Wen Ling was by her side every day. The two of them attended classes together, ran together to exercise, and their lives were plain and regular.

  After Wen Ning arrived in the capital, he really wrote a letter every week. Through the letters, Fang Qing learned about Wen Ning's life in college.

  Seeing the excitement and expectations for the future revealed between the lines of Wen Ning's words, Fang Qing was also full of yearning for her future college life, which also gave her motivation for her senior year.

  Time flies, and it's a new year again.

  During this year, a lot happened in the Fang family.

  Fang Qing's uncle's family took over the small restaurant and it ran it very well. In the spring, they bought a shop and opened their own store. The bungalows that Fang's father had bought were demolished one after another. The Fang family received several demolition payments in succession, and the family's living conditions suddenly changed qualitatively.

  The only troubling thing was that upon learning that her second son's family was improving, Old Madam Fang actually arranged to move into the second house to live with them. She constantly ordered Fang's mother to do things. Fearing his wife would become ill from overwork, Fang's father hired a nanny to care for the old lady.

  This shifted the old lady's focus, and she spent her days scheming to get rid of the nanny...

  Besides studying, Fang Qing looked forward to Wen Ning's weekly letters, occasionally catching some gossip.

  The county had recently been cracking down, and many typical criminals had been sentenced to heavy penalties. What surprised Fang Qing the most was the arrest of Juanmao, a man who had repeatedly raped women.

  With Juanmao's arrest, long-buried stories were revealed. Juanmao's gang not only raped women but also colluded with several local gangs to force women into prostitution, even abducting and trafficking young girls to remote mountain villages.

  The most surprising person among them was Liu Xiuxiu.

  Wen Ling sighed. "I heard that Liu Xiuxiu was initially harassed by this Curly-haired guy. He threatened her five times for money, and finally, he got her drunk and sent her to bed with a gang leader."

  What happened next was the expected outcome.

  After losing her virginity, Liu Xiuxiu didn't dare report it to the police, and she was afraid Sun Changqing would find out. Faced with Curly-haired's threats, she was forced to compromise again and again.

  Curly-haired not only forced her to work as a dancer in the county's nightclubs, but also forced her to accompany important clients. When Liu Xiuxiu unexpectedly became pregnant, he even kicked her in the stomach, causing a miscarriage.

  She later dropped out of school and became involved with gangsters, gradually losing her true purpose. One day, while drinking with others, she was spotted by Sun Changqing, and the two officially parted ways.

  During this crackdown, Liu Xiuxiu's report was rewarded with a reduced sentence, but she still received a three-year prison sentence for several crimes.

  Listening to Liu Xiuxiu's story, the two sighed deeply. If it hadn't been for Liu Xiuxiu, Fang Qing might not have rescued Wen Ling so quickly.

  Upon learning that Liu Xiuxiu had orchestrated her encounter with the gangsters that year, Fang Qing felt no longer much emotion. If she were reborn, Fang Qing might have felt a sense of revenge, but now, after all the hardships she'd endured, revenge suddenly seemed meaningless.

  Ironically, everything she'd experienced in her previous life, Liu Xiuxiu had now experienced.

  Perhaps this was retribution.

  On a scorching summer day, as the exam bell rang, Fang Qing picked up her pen and looked at the paper before her.

  She had waited countless years for this moment. Suppressing her excitement and nervousness, Fang Qing wiped her sweaty palms on her pants, took a deep breath, and began to answer the questions.

  ...

  The college entrance exam went smoothly. Afterward, Fang Qing estimated her score and felt somewhat confident about the schools she'd applied to. Now she just had to wait for the results.

  Graduation trips had become a trend at school, with close friends forming groups to take the opportunity to go out, see the world, and relax from the stress and strain.

  After some discussion, Fang Qing and several classmates settled on the coastal city of Jiangdong.

  Fang Qing gazed out the window at the verdant cornfields and endless rice paddies, feeling a sense of relief.

  In just over half a month, her admissions letter and transcripts should arrive. Her first choice was Capital University, but she wasn't sure if she'd be accepted into the same university as Wen Ning.

  The train lurched to the station, and classmate Wang Guihua's aunt personally drove to pick them up and took them to their reserved hotel. After checking them in, she took them to a famous local restaurant for a seafood feast.

  This was Fang Qing's first all-you-can-eat seafood feast. The sheer variety of seafood dishes was dazzling, and afterward, everyone was so full they could barely stand. They supported each other as they left the restaurant and strolled along the nearby beach.

  The sun had already sunk below the horizon, and a salty sea breeze blew gently, lifting the girls' long skirts.

  Fang Qing gathered her long, untidy hair, letting it flutter in the wind. Behind the tousled strands, a pure, alluring face shone, captivating the eyes of a young man in the distance.

  Several young men, barbecuing around a fire on the beach, caught sight of a group of young girls approaching from a distance and couldn't help but whistle. Some even ventured to approach and chat.

  Qin Li sat nearby, watching the approaching group of girls. He glanced disapprovingly, then was drawn to the figure of a girl in the crowd, a figure he'd seen before.

  His friend Zhang Hang, seeing him ogling a girl in a white dress and assuming he was interested, nudged Qin Li with his shoulder. "What? Interested? This is the first time I've seen you pay this much attention to a girl."

  Qin Li sat down nearby, ignoring his friend's teasing. While the girl was indeed beautiful, he wasn't particularly interested. He had returned on vacation primarily to address family issues.

  Thinking of the troubles at home sent a tingling sensation through his scalp. The pager on his waist suddenly buzzed, and Qin Li stood up and walked towards a nearby phone booth.

  As a good friend of Qin Li, Zhang Heng couldn't bear to see his friend still single at such an old age. When he saw his friend turning around and leaving, he thought he was embarrassed, but then he came up with a good idea.

  Fang Qing and Wen Ling, while holding up their skirts and stepping on the water in the sea breeze, picked up shells washed up on the beach.

  The pretty girl was like an elf running out of the sea, attracting the attention of many young people along the way. Most people just watched from afar, but there were always some people who jumped out to ruin the atmosphere.

  Fang Qing had just picked up a shell when a figure blocked her view. A young man with decent-looking features looked Fang Qing up and down, his eyes full of amazement.

  "Sister, what's your name? How about making friends?"

  (End of this chapter)