Chapter 24 Getting into a Vocational School
After returning to school, Gu Yihan continued to submit articles to the newspaper every month, and spent the rest of her time studying.
Time slips through our fingers like sand.
It is now 1965, and Gu Yihan is 13 years old. There is only one month left before the high school entrance examination. She knows that the college entrance examination will end in July 1966.
She is already too young to start school, and due to age restrictions, she will never graduate from university.
Gu Yihan thought about it for a long time and decided to take the entrance exam for a vocational school. She didn't know if it would affect her graduation when the special period came.
However, high schools are also in chaos during this special period, and whether or not one can graduate is uncertain. They also have to find jobs on their own.
Gu Yihan decided to ask her teacher to help her apply to a vocational school; she had to take a gamble.
"Thump, thump, thump."
"Come in," the homeroom teacher said, looking up from her desk and seeing Gu Yihan, the diligent student in her class. "Is there something you need?"
After entering the office, Gu Yihan said, "Teacher, I want to apply for a vocational school."
This startled the homeroom teacher: "Gu Yihan, with your grades, you could have gone to university. It would be such a waste to give up."
Gu Yihan had no choice but to say, "Teacher, my family is from the countryside, and I have a younger brother. It's not easy for my family to support my schooling."
"I want to take the entrance exam for a vocational school. If I get into a vocational school, the school will give me a subsidy, so I won't have to spend my family's money anymore, and I can graduate and start working early."
Seeing my determined expression, my homeroom teacher could only helplessly say, "Gu Yihan, the salary you'll receive after graduating from university and vocational school will be different."
Gu Yihan secretly pinched her thigh, and her eyes immediately reddened: "Teacher, my family is not well-off, and I want to start working as soon as possible to ease the burden on my family."
After trying various methods to persuade Gu Yihan, the homeroom teacher could only compromise and say, "Alright then, fill out this registration form and study hard when you get back."
Gu Yihan immediately took the registration form, filled it out, and handed it to the homeroom teacher.
As I left the teacher's office, I finally felt relieved.
Gu Yihan is immersed in her studies every day. She never dares to slack off in her studies, and she is never arrogant or complacent just because she knows the future.
Finally, hard work paid off, and Gu Yihan was admitted to the city's vocational school with the highest score in the county.
Holding her vocational school admission notice, she had won half the gamble; the other half depended on whether she could graduate successfully.
Because the vocational school entrance exam is earlier than the high school entrance exam.
After the results came out, Gu Yihan returned to her dormitory, closed the door, and while packing her luggage, looked around the place where she had lived for more than three years.
Over the past few years, she has received about 25 yuan a month in royalties. However, due to her limited abilities, she cannot publish every article she submits.
She was quite content with this, as she still had 612 yuan left after deducting the things she bought for Grandma Gu every month when she went home and her own expenses.
In today's socioeconomic environment, the fact that she has so much money already surpasses that of many other families.
"Thump, thump, thump."
"Why are you back so early? Didn't you go to the cafeteria for lunch?" Gu Yihan asked Liu Huanhuan with a puzzled look.
Seeing Gu Yi packing her things, Liu Huanhuan didn't answer her question, but asked in surprise, "Gu Yihan, why did you pack your things on the bed? Aren't you moving out of the dorm?"
As Gu Yihan packed up, she said, "I'm not going to high school anymore. I've been accepted into a vocational school."
She knew from the years she had lived with Liu Huanhuan that she wasn't a troublemaker.
“Huanhuan, as you know, my family is from the countryside just like yours, and we have to rely on ourselves for everything.”
"Well, that's good. You can get a job right away after graduating from vocational school. It's a pity that you didn't go to university, with such good grades." Liu Huanhuan said regretfully.
Gu Yihan pretended to be forced into it and said, "There's nothing to regret. My goal is to move to the city, get a stable job after graduating from vocational school, and that will be enough for me."
In her heart, she was actually lying. She knew that the college entrance examination was about to be stopped, and that a large number of high school graduates would be sent to the countryside as educated youth because they had no jobs.
Even people with urban residency can't find jobs, let alone those from rural areas. She has no connections, and being a young woman, she shouldn't try to find her own way out.
She still had to go back to the village to find a suitable husband, and it would be more than ten years before the reform and opening up.
If she doesn't gamble, she can't guarantee how much life will torment her over the next ten years.
Liu Huanhuan sighed and said, "I wasn't qualified to study, but I'm the only one in my family who can. Everyone in my family hopes that I can get into university, find a job, and help my older brother and younger brother."
Gu Yihan reluctantly said, "Then try your best."
Not to mention their graduating class, no one will have the chance to take the college entrance exam for the next 11 years, she couldn't say that.
With all her might, Gu Yihan carried her large and small bags of luggage to the place where she was supposed to take the oxcart back to the village. There she saw the old man who was driving the oxcart resting under a tree.
Gu Yihan asked breathlessly, "Grandpa, when are you leaving?"
"You've taken so much stuff? You must be on holiday. Hurry up and put it on the bus. We'll leave after waiting for a few more people." The old man driving the bus said as he helped Gu Yihan carry her things.
After placing the items on the oxcart, Gu Yihan took out four White Rabbit milk candies from her pocket and said, "Grandpa, these are for your little grandson to sweeten his mouth."
When the old man saw that it was White Rabbit milk candy, he knew it was a good thing, so he couldn't bear to refuse it. This kind of candy required candy coupons to buy.
Soon, everyone arrived, but Gu Yihan didn't recognize them. She had been in school for a long time and didn't know many people from her village.
The old man with the oxcart got on and called out, "Hold on tight, let's go!"
The oxcart had only been moving for a short while when someone called out from behind, "Wait, wait a minute!"
The old man with the oxcart stopped when he heard the noise.
Laidi ran breathlessly to the side of the oxcart, and with a sway of her buttocks, she squeezed her way out of the crowded cart.
After she sat down, she said, "Grandpa, you can go now."
The old man with the oxcart was also helpless; they were all from the same village, and he couldn't very well ask them to get off the cart.
Gu Yihan glanced at Zhou Laidi out of the corner of her eye. She had been married off by Liu Zhaodi to an older, divorced man who already had a son and a daughter.
My son is already in the third year of junior high school and goes to the same school as Gu Yihan.
When Lai Di saw the luggage on the oxcart, her sharp voice rang out: "Whose package is this? It's taking up so much space, and I almost missed getting on the cart."
Gu Yihan didn't even look up when she heard the voice, completely ignoring it.
When Lai Di saw that no one was paying attention to her, she became even more enthusiastic: "Are you mute? You're not satisfied with taking advantage of me, you're just playing dumb." She went on and on.
The old man with the oxcart was so annoyed by her noise that he said, "These are Han's luggage. She's on summer vacation."
Lai Di then noticed Gu Yihan sitting in the corner.
"Oh, what shameful thing did you do to get expelled from school?" Lai Di looked at Gu Yihan smugly, knowing that the third year of junior high school hadn't even started summer vacation yet.
These words stirred up the women sitting on the oxcart, making them eager to try.
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