That year, Lin Xiazhu was fifteen years old and Xiao An was sixteen. They were going to start high school in the second half of the year. They thought they would see each other again in the summer vacation of the following year, but they never expected that this separation would last for six years.
The following April, Old Master Bai suddenly fell seriously ill. The hospitals in Beijing said they were helpless, so Bai Zhengping had no choice but to send him abroad for treatment. Old Master Bai couldn't be separated from Xiao An, so Xiao An had no choice but to accompany him abroad.
After going abroad, Xiao An had less contact with people in China. For the first six months, he called Lin Xiazhu almost every day. Lin Xiazhu thought he was wasting his time, so she changed it to once every two days, and later to once a week.
Going abroad started once a month, then once every two months, then once every six months, and finally once a year.
Let's leave that aside for now and get back to the story of Lin Xiazhu's family returning to Changhe County.
After a year passed peacefully, another new semester began. Lin Xiazhu was in her second year of high school and was extremely busy. Lin Chacha was in her third year of junior high school, but at No. 2 Middle School, where her grades had always been in the upper-middle range.
Getting into No. 2 Middle School was the result of her hard work, and it was a pretty good achievement.
Lin Xiaoxue has excellent grades and has progressed from elementary school to junior high school at No. 1 Middle School. She is now in the first year of junior high school. Lin Taozi attends a primary school in the county town, which is very close to No. 2 Middle School.
Because Lin Taozi's grades were mediocre, she couldn't get into No. 1 Middle School and could only attend a primary school near her home.
Speaking of Lin Taozi's grades, Lin Xiazhu could only facepalm. In fact, Lin Taozi studied very seriously and worked very hard. The teacher also said that she listened attentively in class, but it was as if she was listening to something out of outer space. She also completed her homework diligently every day, but the exam results were unbearable to look at.
"Are you looking at the blackboard but not listening, and thinking about other things?" Lin Xiazhu seriously suspected that her fourth sister seemed to be paying attention in class, but was actually daydreaming.
Lin Taozi obediently retorted, "I listened carefully to the teacher's lecture and I know what they were talking about, but I just can't understand what it means. During the exam, I carefully read the questions and I recognized every word, but when they were put together, I just didn't know what it meant."
Lin Xiazhu knew that her fourth sister was a good girl, obedient and sensible, unlike Lin Xiaoxue who would cheat and slack off. She was indeed serious about doing everything well.
But please forgive her; she's a true academic failure, the kind of failure who can't learn anything even if she tries hard. She's probably the best of the worst academic failures.
It's all tears when I talk about it.
Today is September 1st, the first day of school. All the children in the Lin family who are in school are day students. There was no evening self-study on the first day, and Lin Xiazhu went home in the evening.
Lin Chacha and Lin Taozi go home together because their schools are close by, while Lin Xiaoxue walks home by herself. Lin Xiazhu doesn't want to go to and from school with her.
During dinner, Lin Chacha mentioned Lin Taozi's new homeroom teacher, "Taozi's new homeroom teacher seems difficult to get along with. Her voice sounds strange, like it's very affected, I can't describe it."
"Cha Cha, watch yourself. Don't talk behind people's backs. It's not good to criticize someone after only meeting them once, especially since they're Tao Zi's homeroom teacher." Lin Xia Zhu's expression was somewhat stern.
"I'm not trying to say anything bad about her, I just really don't feel good about her... Never mind, I'll shut up and eat." Lin Chacha raised an eyebrow and said no more.
She genuinely felt that Peach's homeroom teacher was strange. Her voice was sweet and affected, she walked with a swaying waist like a water snake, she wore heavy lipstick, and her skirt was unusually short. In short, there was something wrong with her in some way.
A month passed quickly, and National Day was just around the corner. Although Lin Taozi had poor grades, she was beautiful, with fair skin, delicate features, a pleasant voice, and was also a great dancer. Every year on Children's Day, National Day, or the Spring Festival Gala, she would be selected to perform on stage.
There's always at least one performance, sometimes three or four: a group dance, a class chorus, a solo performance, or a tongue twister. In short, no performance can be done without her.
Whenever there's a school party, Lin Xiazhu prepares a beautiful princess dress for Lin Taozi to wear on stage, and this time was no exception.
"Peach, this time I bought a white princess dress and white little leather shoes. Would it look good with some purple flowers in your hair?" She personally picked out the princess dress when she went to the city to buy goods last time.
"How many acts are you going to perform this time?" Lin Xiazhu asked, setting out the bowls and chopsticks, preparing for dinner.
"There will definitely be at least two, both singing and dancing." Lin Chacha said confidently. She had just come back from outside, put down her book, and ran to pour herself a glass of water.
"I'm not going on stage this time," Lin Taozi said softly.
"Pfft..." Lin Chacha spat out the water she had just drunk. "Cough cough... What did you say? Say it again, you're not going on stage to perform? Why?"
"It's nothing, I'm just not feeling well, I don't want to go." Lin Taozi lowered her head and pretended to be busy rummaging through her schoolbag, taking out a book and putting it back in.
"Where do you feel unwell? Why didn't you tell your sister? I'll take you to the hospital to get checked out later." Lin Xiazhu thought she was really feeling unwell. After all, Taozi really loved singing and dancing, and her not performing must be because she wasn't feeling well.
"If you don't participate in the performance, then all the previous rehearsals will have been for nothing. I've told you before that if you feel unwell, you should tell me immediately. Don't delay, or you'll develop a serious illness." Lin Xiazhu said with a worried expression.
"Big sister, I'm fine. I don't like singing and dancing as much anymore. I like painting now." Lin Taozi is also a good painter, and when she said this, Lin Xiazhu hesitated a little.
However, she felt something was off; her fourth sister seemed to have something on her mind.
"Peach, tell me honestly, did something happen to you at school? Did someone bully you?" Could you have been bullied? Peach has a soft personality, so it's possible she's afraid to talk about it if something really happened.
"No, no, don't worry, I'm really fine." Lin Taozi lowered her head and then went to wash her hands and get her rice.
"Chacha, be careful later. Go to Taozi's school and see what's going on. If anyone is bullying her, tell their homeroom teacher," Lin Xiazhu quietly instructed her second sister.
"Okay, I understand." Lin Chacha nodded and went to get her rice. Just as she finished, she turned around and saw her mother standing behind her with a world-weary look on her face.
"Mom, let me serve you some." She put her own rice on the table next to her and took the bowl from Yan Xin's hand.
Yan Xin simply blinked, without any further expression.
Lin Chacha sat down next to Lin Xiazhu and whispered, "Sister, Mom's Alzheimer's is getting worse. We should take her to the hospital to get checked out. Otherwise, it's really scary to see her like this."
"She refuses to go. Anyone who dares to take her to the hospital, she'll fight them to the death. You try it if you don't believe me." Lin Xiazhu glanced at the half-dead Yan Xin. This girl has been like this ever since she came back from Beijing. She has lost interest in everything and just wants to eat and wait to die.
"Xiaozhu, why don't we take your aunt to see a doctor? This can't go on forever." While Lin Xiazhu and the others were in Beijing, Zhao Ting got together with Lin Sen, the second son of Lin Shanfu.
She got married at the beginning of this year and started calling herself Aunt Yan Xin after marrying into the Lin family. If she had been called Aunt Yan Xin before, she definitely wouldn't have been happy, but now she doesn't care about anything and doesn't care what others call her. Anyway, they call her Zhao Xiaolian, not the real her.
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