Chapter 12 The school she attended required her to repeat a grade
After solving the accommodation problem, the next thing to do is to complete Xu Heye's admission procedures.
The next morning, Dong Taohua took various documents and took Xu Heye to the middle school near the Eighth Steel Plant to go through the transfer procedures.
The school is quite far from the steel mill's staff quarters. It takes over an hour to walk there, but only 20 minutes by bus, which is quite convenient. Exit the alley and walk a few hundred meters east to the bus stop.
There were already some people standing by the platform, so the mother and daughter hurried over.
Next to the platform, a middle-aged couple set up a small stall, selling fried dumplings. The aroma of fried food instantly filled the entire platform. Xu Heye licked her lips, feeling a little greedy.
Although the Xu family is well off, they still rarely eat fried foods.
The reason is simple: it consumes too much fuel.
Dong Taohua laughed and walked over: "Boss, how much are these fried dumplings?"
The middle-aged man who was frying dumplings skillfully replied with a smile, "I have three kinds of fillings here: vegetarian, sweet, and one with pork filling.
The vegetarian filling is made of shredded radish, seasoned with dried shrimp, and costs one cent each.
The sweet one is filled with red bean paste, which I fried myself. I used the good red beans that were harvested at the end of last year. I also added oil and sugar into it. It is very sweet. It is five cents more expensive, at 15 cents each.
As for the meat fillings, they're 20 cents each. Don't think it's expensive, it's made with pure pork. Look, there's no vegetables added. It's generously stuffed and thick, and I can eat one all morning without feeling hungry.
I sell here all year round and have a lot of regular business, with residents nearby often coming to buy.”
Dong Taohua nodded and said, "Give me one with all three kinds of fillings."
He then said, "I see your dumplings are quite big. Can you cut them up for me and pack them separately? My daughter and I can share them."
The boss nodded: "Okay, no problem." As he said that, he quickly wrapped a fried dumpling with radish stuffing and put it in the wok, and then made another one with red bean paste and meat stuffing.
The batter sizzled in the frying pan, and the aroma of frying became even more charming.
In just two minutes, the fried dumplings Dong Taohua ordered were ready. The boss scooped them up with a sieve, placed them in a basket to drain the oil, then placed them on a cutting board, cut them in half, and then used two large sheets of oil paper to separate them.
Dong Taohua paid, took the dumplings, and gave half to her daughter. Xu Heye took the dumplings from her mother and took a bite of the meat-filled one. The crust was crispy, the filling inside was fragrant but not greasy, and the juices overflowed with every bite.
It smells so good!
It was so hot that it almost melted her tongue. But even so, Xu Heye couldn't bear to spit out the oil dumplings in her mouth. She could only open her mouth and breathe out, like a pitiful little pug.
Dong Taohua couldn't help but laugh, and couldn't help but take out a shredded radish and take a bite. The shredded radish had a crisp texture, and the dried shrimp added a touch of sweetness.
It tastes just as good as the fried dumplings her mother made when she was a child.
Dong Taohua thought about it, a layer of mist covered her eyes, and then she started eating in big mouthfuls.
Both mother and daughter enjoyed the meal with relish. Other people waiting for the bus could not resist the temptation and, thinking that the bus would take some time to arrive, they also ran to the nearby stall to buy fried dough sticks.
After the mother and daughter finished eating, the bus just drove by.
Tickets were 20 cents for adults, and half the price for children under 1.2 meters tall. Xu Heye was tall, 1.62 meters, so she couldn't afford a child ticket. Dong Taohua pulled a few loose bills from her pocket, counted out 40 cents, and handed them to the conductor.
After receiving the two tickets from the conductor, the mother and daughter walked to the back and found a double seat to sit in. The car swayed and stopped, and after half an hour, it finally arrived at the middle school that Xu Heye would be attending.
When the mother and daughter arrived at school, it was morning reading time, and the sound of reading filled the campus.
Dong Taohua listened to the familiar Hucheng dialect, but a trace of worry flashed in her eyes.
She suddenly remembered that the teachers and students in Hucheng all spoke the local dialect. He Ye grew up in Jiangxi Province and heard the Jiangxi dialect and Mandarin. Although she and Lao Xu also spoke Hucheng dialect at home, after all, they didn't grow up in this language environment, so He Ye might not be able to keep up.
But they can't take care of this problem at the moment.
The mother and daughter followed the security guard's instructions and found the office of the Director of Academic Affairs.
The office door was half open. Just as Dong Taohua was about to knock on the door, she heard a young woman's complaining voice coming from inside.
"Uncle, can't our school really refuse to accept students from other places? ... Then can you please not put them in my class? They're not local students from Alahu City, and they have all kinds of problems. They can't keep up with their studies. They can't understand what they say, and they have bad personalities. They're either withdrawn or irritable... Putting students like these in my class will only hold me back. I won't get an excellent grade in the next teacher evaluation."
The Dean of Academic Affairs was also feeling embarrassed. "I know Anong is annoyed, but I am too. Even the principal cannot disobey the orders issued by the Academic Affairs Bureau. What can a mere Dean of Academic Affairs do? Other classes have four or five out-of-town students, some even seven or eight, but your class only has one. How can I treat you badly?"
"Okay, don't worry. I'll just add this one to Anong's class, just two for show. If there are new students coming later, I'll put them in other classes."
Chen Yuru smiled when she heard this. "Then Aru would like to thank uncle first. Mom will make something delicious later, and uncle will come to our house for dinner."
She also knew how good her uncle was to her. Her class had the fewest out-of-town students, but she just wanted some reassurance from her uncle. As long as he didn't squeeze more students into her class, she could still tolerate one or two who held back.
"Uncle, I have classes later, so I'll leave first." Chen Yuru said as she was about to leave.
The high heels made a clicking sound.
Seeing this, Dong Taohua hurriedly pulled her daughter back a few steps. She was angry and sad, and her heart felt like a fire was burning in her heart. No one would feel comfortable hearing their precious child, whom they cherished as a jewel in the palm of their hand, being disdained in this way.
But she couldn't show it, for fear that her daughter would find out. At this moment, Dong Taohua was glad that her daughter was not familiar with Hucheng dialect, otherwise she would be very upset to hear the school teacher's disdain for her.
Dong Taohua couldn't help but reflect on whether her insistence on wanting her daughter to return to Hucheng was wrong. After the policy of returning educated youth to the city was introduced in 1977 or 1978, her family was not the only one to stay in the area.
This year, after the announcement that educated youth who went to the countryside could choose one of their children to return to the city to study and work, many people, like her, couldn't wait to send their children back to the city, but some chose to keep their children to study locally.
After all, they have been doing business in the countryside for more than ten or twenty years and have some connections. Most importantly, the children have long been accustomed to living and studying in the countryside.
Returning to Hucheng is a brand new beginning for the children. They may not be able to adapt to the new environment, new teaching materials, and new teachers.
But it's too late to regret now.
He Ye's household registration had been moved to the steel plant, and her child's school registration had been transferred to the local school. Even if she took the child back, she would have to return to Hucheng to take the high school entrance exam. If she didn't get into the technical secondary school, she would have to take the college entrance exam.
What Dong Taohua didn't know was that Xu Heye was no longer the same Xu Heye.
If there is a Hucheng dialect exam, she can get first class.
So she heard the conversation between the two people in the office clearly. She had known for a long time that the teachers in Hucheng disliked students from other places like them.
In her previous life, she would be heartbroken about this, but for Xu Heye, who had experienced a lifetime, this contempt was nothing but a drizzle and was not worth her taking to heart at all.
A modernly dressed lady soon walked out of the office.
After Ms. Modern left, Dong Taohua waited for a while before taking her daughter's hand, walking to the office door and knocking.
"Come in." said the middle-aged man inside.
Dong Taohua took a deep breath, opened the door, walked in, and said with a forced smile, "You are Director Feng, right? Hello, I'm here to complete the admission procedures."
Feng Shiqing looked at the mother and daughter, took the household registration and transfer documents from Dong Taohua, took out a letter of acceptance and began to write, saying as he wrote: "Fourteen years old? So you are in the eighth grade? Then go to the tenth class of the first grade."
Dong Taohua was about to nod when she suddenly realized something.
"Director Feng, this isn't right. My daughter is in the eighth grade, how can she go to Class 10 of the seventh grade?"
Feng Shiqing stopped writing, raised his head, pushed his glasses on his nose and said, "That's right. Because the textbooks and teaching materials used by students from other places and our students in Hucheng are different, many students cannot keep up with the teaching in Hucheng when they first arrive.
So, after comprehensive consideration, the school decided to demote the out-of-town transfer students by one year. Those who were previously in the third grade will now be in the eighth grade. Those who were previously in the eighth grade will now be in the first grade. Those who were previously in the first grade will continue to be in the first grade.
"If there is no problem, I will continue to write the acceptance letter." Feng Shiqing said, lowering his head to continue to supplement the acceptance letter.
"Teacher, I still hope to continue to study in the eighth grade." Xu Heye was unwilling to drop back to the first grade.
She is currently in the eighth grade of junior high school and will be in the ninth grade in the second half of the year. She will be able to take the high school entrance exam next summer. After three years of high school, she will be able to live in the dormitory after she is admitted to university.
Yes, Xu Heye had already made up her mind to go to high school and then to go to university. Technical secondary school graduates were still very popular these days, but when university enrollment expanded, technical secondary school graduates' qualifications would no longer be sufficient.
Junior high school is one and a half years, and high school is three years, so you only need to rent a house outside for four and a half years.
If you go back to the first grade, you will have to add one more year.
The annual rent is quite high.
Moreover, she also hopes to save more money and buy a house in Hucheng before the housing prices in Hucheng soar, so that her parents can come and live with her, or maybe she can realize her mother's wish to move her household registration back to Hucheng.
Feng Shiqing paused and looked at Xu Heye with disapproval.
"Little girl, it's better not to aim too high. The school is letting everyone repeat a year for your consideration. It gives you more time to adapt and learn, so that you can get into a better technical secondary school in the future, right?"
Yes, compared to going to high school and taking the college entrance exam, it is more popular for students to go to technical secondary schools at this time. Technical secondary schools have dormitories for students to live in, provide subsidies, and can also assign jobs in the future.
Xu Heye shook her head: "Teacher, how can you be so sure that I can't keep up? Learning is mine, and my future is mine too. How could I not take it seriously?"
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