Chapter 98: Exams and Hunger
Fubao was worried for a while, but decided to stop thinking about it. He and Gu Shengtian carried the bamboo basket back.
In fact, they had a pretty good harvest today. They picked some fresh wild vegetables, caught a fish, and got some mushrooms.
When I got home, I saw Gu Yuejin chopping wood with an axe, and Gu Yuehua feeding chickens beside him.
When Fubao and Gu Shengtian saw them coming back, they immediately smiled: "Brother Yuejin, Brother Yuehua!"
Gu Yuejin saw Fubao and the others and said, "Fubao is back! Brother Dingkun replied to my letter. I was just saying I would give it to you."
Fubao didn't expect it to be such a coincidence. Just as he remembered it, he received a letter from Brother Dingkun.
Gu Yuejin went into the room, retrieved his schoolbag, and pulled out the letter. It had been soaked in water, and half the envelope was wrinkled and yellowed. "I should have received this letter a few days ago, but there was a rainstorm, and the school mailroom collapsed, ruining many letters. I only found this one in the cracks between the bricks when the mailroom was being rebuilt. It was quite a feat to find it."
Fubao held the letter from Xiao Dingkun in her hand. She had never imagined that the journey of a letter would be so tortuous. She hurried into the house and opened the letter to read it.
In the letter, Xiao Dingkun first mentioned that he had been sent to a certain place on business some time ago, so he had not received her letter. Then he assured her that although there was a delay, there would be no shortage of food.
He also asked about her current situation and told her to be careful in case anything happened.
Finally, he asked if anyone needed money or food, and if so, he planned to send another package.
Fubao read the letter over and over again, and finally spread out a piece of draft paper and began to write back to Xiao Dingkun.
She first wrote about the current situation of the Pingxi Production Brigade, and finally mentioned her own concerns.
"Before, when Brother Dingkun gave me fried noodles, I felt very satisfied and happy, thinking that life was really good. But now, when I eat delicious food alone, I feel uncomfortable. I think other people in the production team may be starving, and I feel uneasy. What can I do to make myself feel at ease?"
"Brother Dingkun, you know a lot and have a lot of experience. What do you think we should do with the food? How can we ensure that everyone has enough to eat?"
After writing this, she felt that she had posed a difficult question to Brother Dingkun.
How could he possibly know what to do? He's not a god.
Finally, she added, "Actually, I don't need an answer. There's no answer to this. If there were an answer so easily, how could anyone still be hungry in this world?"
After writing the letter, I put it away. It was almost time for dinner.
Because of the recent storm, only one of the two sons came back per week, and they took turns to get dry food. Today, it was a rare day that both of them came back. Liu Guizhi was very happy and specially steamed egg custard and made scrambled eggs with potatoes.
We don’t buy meat easily at home, so eggs are the best nutritional supplement.
When Gu Yuehua and Gu Yuejin saw the food, their eyes lit up.
At school, they would take out the day's dry food, wrap it in a nylon bag, and then put it in the school's large steamer in the morning. At noon, they would each go to get their own net bag. At this time, the dry food was already heated, and they would eat it with their own pickles.
I eat it every day, and it tastes delicious. Now when I go home, I can eat steamed eggs and fried potatoes, which is the ultimate delicacy.
While eating, Gu Yuehua talked about what was happening at school: "Some students couldn't get enough food, and their stomachs were rumbling in class."
In fact, the Gu family's conditions are quite good, and the two boys can bring enough dry food.
Thinking that some classmates were hungry while he could have a full meal and eat steamed eggs, Gu Yuehua felt that the soft, tender and smooth steamed eggs were even more delicious.
As they talked, Gu Yuejin naturally became concerned about Fubao and Gu Shengtian's studies. Fubao hadn't been reviewing seriously recently, and he didn't dare to brag, only saying that getting a good rank would be no problem.
Gu Yuejin: "You've always been a good student. You must be in the top three in the whole commune! Don't think about anything else during this period. Just study hard."
Fubao felt guilty, so he smiled and didn't dare to say anything more.
Gu Weidong also asked about Gu Yuejin's grades. Their high school entrance exam had been postponed due to the storm, and it was about to begin. This was all important. "Don't worry about eating. Our family has brought you enough dry food. Just focus on studying and don't let other things distract you."
Gu Yuejin naturally agreed.
If you have enough food to eat, studying is not a problem at all. But studying on an empty stomach is really uncomfortable.
——
The entrance exam from elementary school to junior high school for Fubao and his friends was approaching soon. On this day, Su Wanru and Huo Jinyun took their six remaining children to the commune to take the exam.
This was the first time Fubao and Gu Shengtian went to the commune. It took them about seven or eight miles to get there. Along the way, they only saw people on the roadside busy farming. Some were even draining excess water from the ditches. There was nothing they could do. Such a heavy hailstorm had disrupted the people's usual farming habits.
If it weren't for this hailstorm, it would be harvest time for everyone.
Su Wanru sighed: "How can I live like this!"
She was originally a delicate girl from the city, but in the past few years of working in the countryside, her tone of voice and her thoughts have become those of a farmer, and she looks forward to good weather and a good harvest every year.
Shengyin followed behind, lowered his head and said nothing, but he felt a little proud in his heart.
It seems that Fubao and his friends did not buy more food, and they would definitely starve if they relied on the old food. But it was different for him. His family had stored so much food, enough to survive the famine for more than a year.
Yes, that’s right, this famine will last for more than a year, it won’t end in a few months.
With such pride and superiority in his heart, Shengyin couldn't help but smile.
Su Wanru was talking about food, but somehow the topic turned to exams. She began to admonish Fubao, "Fubao, you haven't been studying seriously lately. I see that after school you don't study for anything other than homework. I'm really worried. You should work harder on your exams."
Fubao nodded: "Teacher Su, I know."
In fact, she is still very confident in her basic knowledge and will not go beyond those areas. The key during the exam is her state.
Su Wanru looked at Fubao's well-behaved appearance and smiled: "It's nothing, just do your best."
She was a little anxious, but she didn't want to put too much pressure on her.
Huo Jinyun stood by and said nothing. He just turned his head to glance at Fubao. He saw that Fubao was wearing a grass-green khaki flag-cloth jacket commonly worn by rural girls, and a pair of hand-woven coarse cloth trousers. She still had two pigtails. She looked fresh and graceful, like a young tree that had just sprouted in spring.
To anyone, she was just a pretty but not too extraordinary country girl.
But looking at this little girl, Huo Jinyun remembered how she spoke to him that day.
When she spoke to herself, it was as if she were standing above ten thousand people.
He still remembered the stubbornness with which she spoke to him, as if no one else could do it better than her.
Huo Jinyun took a deep breath.
He was a man of science and he never believed in superstitions, but at this moment, he couldn't help but turn around and look at the Big Roller Mountain which had become distant and misty.
In those 800-mile-long ancient mountains, is there really a mysterious power that silently protects the land?
While Huo Jinyun was daydreaming, they had already arrived at the commune.
The commune is very lively and seems much more upscale than the markets in the countryside.
For example, the house in front of them was something Fubao and his friends had never seen before. It was built with red and blue bricks, with a porch in the front and a tower-shaped spire built with sand and stone above the porch. In front hung several large, colorful carved characters that read "Dongfanghong Photo Studio."
In the window below, there are various photos, including wedding photos and personal ID photos. Most of them are black and white, with a few occasionally painted in bright red and green.
Everyone couldn't help but take a few more glances. Gu Shengtian even muttered quietly, "We haven't taken a photo yet. I wonder how much it costs."
When they came out, Liu Guizhi gave him and Fubao 40 cents each, saying that they needed to have some money on them in case something happened while they were away from home.
Gu Shengtian was moved when he saw the person taking the photo, and he wanted to take a photo.
Huo Jinyun raised his hand and checked the time: "Let's go take the exam first. After the exam, if we have extra time, let's ask this person how much he wants."
After hearing this, Gu Shengtian did not dare to delay and quickly agreed.
So the group went to take the exam. When they arrived at the examination room, there were already quite a few people there. Huo Jinyun and Su Wanru brought the six children to their examination room and gave them some instructions. Then Fubao and the others went in to take the exam.
Watching the children enter the examination room, Huo Jinyun naturally talked to Su Wanru about the exam.
"Actually, I'm more optimistic about Shengyin this time," Su Wanru said suddenly. "I don't like Shengyin very much, but as a teacher, I should still treat every student fairly. In preparation for the exam, Shengyin reviewed all our previous exams, took notes, and kept asking me questions."
Su Wanru sighed.
She still hoped that Fubao could get a better ranking in the exam. She was leaning towards that in her heart, but there was nothing she could do. Fubao's mind was obviously not on studying recently.
"There's nothing we can do. Who made us encounter this natural disaster?"
She sighed.
"Actually, this is nothing serious." Huo Jinyun said suddenly.
"Ah?" Su Wanru looked at Huo Jinyun in surprise: "Nothing serious?"
"Well, it's just an exam to enter junior high school. It's fine as long as you can pass." Huo Jinyun felt that after seeing Fubao's other side, Fubao had been connected with the mysterious Big Rolling Mountain and the distant nunnery in his heart. He was no longer an ordinary person.
Why does he think that a person who is not an ordinary person should care about the test scores from elementary school to junior high school?
“…Is that so…” Su Wanru was speechless.
Why has Huo Jinyun become different since the hail incident?
Is he hungry?
The educated youth were provided with food by the production team, and they exchanged their work points for food. However, the same amount of food was enough for them to eat, but Huo Jinyun was a man with a big appetite, so it might not be enough for him to eat.
When people are hungry, even their brains become different?
Su Wanru looked at Huo Jinyun with a strange look of sympathy.
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