Chapter 80
Chu Jiujiu will study her favorite subjects endlessly and is willing to study them for the rest of her life. But when it comes to subjects she doesn't like, Chu Jiujiu is like a donkey on a millstone, moving one step at a time when pulled. If she is left to walk on her own, she will rest in the same place until the end of time.
Although she was unwilling to do the math problems, Chu Jiujiu was sincere in what she said that night. She really wanted to study hard so that when Chu Liqiang came back to see them three years later, she could show him her best results.
As for children, the greatest achievement they could achieve was to get a perfect report card. Chu Shao and Han Shengyi both got perfect scores in math, but she couldn't. Her score was always in the 90s, and her worst score was 88.
Spoiled by other students, Deng Guoyuan now has higher standards for her. When he saw Chu Jiujiu's results, he sighed and told her that she still needed to work harder.
Because Chu Jiujiu was young, she did the easiest test paper, but ended up with the worst score. She was not convinced and kept it to herself for a long time. Finally, she decided to give herself some special training.
While Deng Guoyuan wasn't paying attention, she asked Han Shengyi to teach her how to do math problems in private. If Chu Shao was free, she would also ask Chu Shao. As for Wen Xiuwei, forget it. Although Wen Xiuwei was also a high school student, her grades were average. At first, she treated herself as a high school student. Seeing Chu Shao doing his homework, she wanted to help guide him. But when she saw the densely written things in the notebook, she silently shut up.
She is the oldest and most concerned about reputation. She can't let these kids know that she can't even understand Chu Shao's homework!
Later, after spending more time together, she learned that Chu Shao was now learning a mixture of high school and college, and the same was true for Han Shengyi. As for Chu Jiujiu, she had already graduated from Xiao Ning. Due to her strong memory, she could hear Xiao Ning speak a foreign language once and repeat it herself. In less than a month, her spoken English had become perfect. After studying for a few more months, she also learned grammar and slang. After that, Xiao Ning had nothing more to teach her.
As for what she learned from Fang Weiping, she couldn't even be categorized by high school or college education, because what Fang Weiping taught her wasn't even in the textbooks. He was an encyclopedia of Chinese culture, having read and researched even the most obscure books. He was like that himself, and his teacher, Chu Jiujiu, was even more so. Now, Fang Weiping barely paid any attention to Chu Shao, saying he'd wait another six months, and then Chu Jiujiu could take over his teaching.
…
She is very good at both of these, the only thing she is not good at is Professor Deng Guoyuan's science. However, now that Chu Jiujiu is working hard to improve herself, this really... leaves her no way out.
Wen Xiuwei felt bitter, but she didn't say it.
…
Chu Liqiang left and stopped writing or receiving letters, which Chu Jiujiu found quite uncomfortable. A week after Chu Liqiang left, the Chu family received a new remittance. This time, it was quite impressive, with the division headquarters seal printed on it, and the amount on it was incredibly large: eighty-six and a half yuan in just one month.
More than 80 yuan, what does this mean? If it were in modern times, it would be equivalent to a monthly salary of 20,000 to 30,000 yuan.
Chu Jiujiu and Chu Shao would have been happy to have more money, but they didn't have much to spend, so the money was just a number to them. Instead, the sheer amount of money made them uncontrollably worried. They suspected Chu Liqiang's salary had increased so much because the missions he took were particularly dangerous.
No matter how much they guessed, they would never guess what Chu Liqiang was doing now. He didn't read the documents at the time because he felt that he could accept any task. But after arriving at the place, he realized how difficult the task was.
We set out from the army, first taking a train, then a military vehicle, and then a camel. When we finally arrived at the place, there were no houses, no trees, and except for a few tents, the rest was endless sand.
In this no-man's land, this death zone, Chu Liqiang is here, and he has to lead two thousand soldiers to build a research base with complete facilities from scratch within three years.
People who watch the news regularly are familiar with this kind of thing. After all, the news reports every few days about soldiers who have defended a small island for decades and are truly worthy of respect. However, when people see this kind of news, they just glance at it and pass it by, because they have no idea how hard it is to defend such a small island.
Human joys and sorrows are not shared. It is difficult to arouse empathy from others for things that have nothing to do with oneself. They only see Chu Liqiang's military rank and how well his children are living, but they don't see him sweating profusely with the soldiers in the desert. They don't see him falling ill again and again because he was unfamiliar with the desert environment, but he didn't dare to fall down and could only force himself to continue working. They don't see him sleeping only four hours a day and every meal was half rice and half sand.
There is only one advantage to this kind of life, that is, he is too busy and too tired to think about his family at all, so he won't feel lonely.
Chu Jiujiu and Han Shengyi went to town to collect the remittance. Afterward, they didn't eat out and went straight home. Eating out too much would make you tired. At home, whether it was Wen Xiuwei's cooking or Grandma Han's cooking, it was delicious. They no longer had to eat meat once every ten days or half a month. Naturally, the appeal of state-owned restaurants had decreased.
Chu Jiujiu didn't know that at this moment, there was a person sitting in the state-owned restaurant who had a very close connection with her.
Chu Yue finally made it to Qingshi Town with Chu Lidi, but upon arrival, she was stunned. The streets were filled with people discussing the dam closure and the imprisonment of former Deputy Director Chen Dazhu. They were so animated that Chu Yue pieced together the details without even needing to ask. The wasted trip wasn't the worst part; what truly shocked Chu Yue was the fact that events here were taking a different direction from her past life.
Why? Is there someone here who has been reborn like her?
Chu Yue eavesdropped for a long time, and finally remembered a name.
Battalion Commander Nie.
It is said that it was this Captain Nie who discovered the problem with the dam when he came here to visit his relatives, and then helped them get rid of the cancer Chen Dazhu.
Chu Yue didn't know anyone with the surname Nie. She was confused and wondered if this Captain Nie had the same experience as him. If so, wouldn't he steal all the credit for predicting the future from her?
Chu Yue had something on her mind and didn't have the energy to act like a child as usual. Chu Li brought Chu Yue here just to make her happy, but after waiting for a long time, Chu Yue didn't praise him or thank him. She just sat at the table in deep thought. Chu Li looked at Chu Yue strangely, feeling that she didn't look like the same person today compared to usual.
On the contrary, it looks more like before.
Chu Lidi looked at Chu Yue for a long time. Chu Yue noticed his expression and her heart skipped a beat. She quickly adjusted her expression and said, "Dad, it's so beautiful here. Let's stay for two more days before going back, okay?"
Chu Lidi: "No, I only took four days off, so we can only play here for two days."
Chu Yue shook his arm and acted coquettishly to him: "Now that you're here, don't go back so soon, Dad. Let's stay one more day, just one day, okay?"
Chu Lidi was soft-hearted, and after being begged for a while, he couldn't help but agree. Chu Yue said a lot of good things, and when she saw that Chu Lidi no longer doubted her, she finally shut up.
Even if she could have one more day, she would definitely find out who this Captain Nie was and whether there was anything strange about him.
After staying in Qingshi Town for three days, Chu Yue finally found out that Captain Nie's full name was Nie Bai. As for anything strange about him, she didn't notice anything.
Chu Yue hadn't gotten the credit she'd hoped for during her trip to Qingshi Town, and she'd also lost a significant amount of her family's money. Even after returning, she'd been paranoid for a long time. Even if Nie Bai had been reborn, it had nothing to do with her. But she was just that suspicious. Anything unexpected that went wrong was unacceptable, and she couldn't wait to get it over with.
In 1970, after Chu Yue returned, she wrote another composition praising the motherland. She won the second prize for national primary school students. Chu Lidi's family felt very proud.
In 1971, when Chu Yue was out playing, she rescued a little girl of the same age from the hands of a gangster. The little girl was very grateful to her. She did not despise the little girl because her family was in a poor financial situation, and she became good friends with her.
In 1972, Chu Yue skipped a grade and went to junior high school. Her grades in junior high school were not as good as in elementary school, and the whole family was a little disappointed, but her past honors were still there, and Chu Yue's social circle was now wider than Chu Lidi's. The family benefited a lot from her, so no one said anything.
In 1973, the policy was relaxed, and the wind direction that had been tense for seven years was changing quietly. What shocked the people in the capital the most was that someone's family was rehabilitated, and the first one to be rehabilitated was the family of the little girl whom Chu Yue had saved.
Chu Jiujiu lived in Qingzhu Village, so of course she didn't know what was happening outside, unless those things were reported in the newspaper, then she could see it.
Flipping through today's new newspaper, Chu Jiujiu could read ten lines at a glance and finish a whole page in half a minute. This was a skill she had just learned two years ago. In Song Chaoxin's words, this was because Chu Jiujiu had grown up and her brain speed had increased to keep up with the speed of her eyes.
What he said was correct, but Chu Jiujiu felt weird after hearing it, as if she was a robot.
She is thirteen years old this year and is not as picky as before. She doesn't have to argue with adults. What Grandpa Song said was a little strange, but it was not bad, so Chu Jiujiu just smiled and let it go.
She quickly finished reading the newspaper. Today's newspaper was full of good news: XX weapon was launched, hybrid rice had a historic breakthrough, someone was transferred, someone was promoted. It was rare that there was no negative news, but Chu Jiujiu's mood did not improve after she finished reading it.
The reason was simple. It had been three years, even three years and three months, but there was still no news of Chu Liqiang. Chu Shao wrote to Nie Bai and called him, but Nie Bai didn't know how Chu Liqiang was doing. He could only comfort them both, but no matter how much he comforted them, it was all empty words and could not compare to Chu Liqiang appearing in front of them in person.
After closing the newspaper, Chu Jiujiu looked at the small vase beside the desk, in which were two plum blossom branches. It was December now, and the plum blossoms on the mountain bloomed early. These were the ones Han Shengyi picked for her from the mountain.
Thirteen-year-old Chu Jiujiu still looks very young, but from her facial features, one can already tell what she will look like in the future.
It's also very strange. When she was a child, she looked exactly like Wen Xiuwei, but when she grew up, she didn't look so much like Wen Xiuwei. There was a hint of playfulness and a hint of heroism on her pretty face. Wen Xiuwei was like water, and Chu Jiujiu was like fire. The fire was bright and hot. It was beautiful but also very dangerous. If it could be accepted, there would be no problem. But if you approached it without caring, you would only be burned.
This kind of character has been revealed since she was a child. If anyone dares to bully her, she will definitely bully back, and double the amount. Wen Xiuwei is the one who is soft-hearted and cannot bear it. Chu Jiujiu only uses her sympathy on those she likes.
The two of them are very different, but neither of them is wrong. At the end of the day, it's just a personality trait and there's nothing much to comment on.
It is already the twelfth lunar month, and the 23rd of next month is the Spring Festival. This is the fifth Spring Festival that Chu Jiujiu has spent here. According to the old rules, the people of the Chu family still have to go to the Han family to celebrate the New Year.
Seeing that the time was almost up, Chu Jiujiu stood up from her chair and walked briskly towards the Han family.
When she was twelve years old, Chu Jiujiu's height increased rapidly, from 1.4 meters to 1.6 meters. This year, her growth has slowed down. Girls develop earlier than boys. Chu Jiujiu sadly accepted the fact that she will not have a second development. She now measures her height every few days. She no longer hopes to reach 1.7 meters. At least she wants to grow to 1.65 meters.
She is 1.63 meters tall now, and judging by the speed she is moving, she should be able to grow to that height.
When Chu Jiujiu arrived at the door of the Han family, Han Shengyi and Chu Shao had just returned from outside. They went to collect the river fish distributed by the production team. Two years ago, the team leader used the team's money to dig a special fish pond. Every year, half of the fish were sold and half were distributed. The fish in the fish pond were all imported species, with fewer bones than the wild ones in the river, and were very suitable for the elderly and children to eat.
From a distance, they walked side by side toward Chu Jiujiu. Han Shengyi was holding two fish on a straw rope, while Chu Shao carried a hoe on one shoulder. They had been secretly competing in height, and now Han Shengyi was 182cm tall, while Chu Shao was 183cm tall. Chu Shao had won again, feeling very proud. Chu Jiujiu didn't feel anything. After all, no matter who was taller, she would have to look up at them.
Walking in front of Chu Jiujiu, Han Shengyi raised his arm and asked her to look at the two fish. "Braised or steamed?"
Chu Jiujiu: "You wish! Grandma Han said at noon that she wanted to make it into pickled dried fish and save it for the New Year's Eve dinner."
Chu Shao frowned: "Are you still keeping the fish? There are so many in the river, just catch them if you want to eat them."
Chu Jiujiu: "You forgot, a child drowned downstream last month. Not only me, but also you two, Grandma Han won't let you go into the river anymore. Don't mention it to her, otherwise, you'll be nagged."
Chu Shao: “…”
Rubbing his nose, he decided that a wise man should know the current situation. The older she got, the more cautious Grandma Han became. She used to be wary of only Chu Jiujiu, but now she was wary of both of them. Chu Shao was already sixteen years old, full of vigor and blood, and at the age where he considered himself a man, he didn't want to listen to anyone, but when it came to Grandma Han, he was helpless.
Wen Xiuwei was sitting at the dining table when they walked into the house. She had just put the dishes on the table. Seeing them come in together, she couldn't help but smile and said, "It's just right. Go wash your hands and wait for Grandpa Han to come back, then we can have dinner."
Grandpa Han hasn't changed at all compared to three years ago. He still likes taking walks, still likes teasing Chu Jiujiu, and still listens to Grandma Han.
Grandma Han took the fish from Han Shengyi, then she looked at the two teenagers warily and asked, "You two didn't go into the river, did you?"
Han Shengyi laughed, "No, the team has already distributed fish, how could we still go down to the river?"
After hearing what he said, Grandma Han turned her gaze to the other side and asked, "What about you?"
Chu Shao: “…”
"Of course I didn't. Why would I go down to the river in the middle of winter?"
Hearing this, Grandma Han was finally satisfied. The dishes were served on the table and everyone sat in a circle. Each stool was made by Grandpa Han. Everyone sat obediently and waited for Grandpa Han to come back after his walk before they started eating.
Sometimes, however, Grandpa Han enjoys his walks and comes back a little late, like today. Grandma Han waited patiently for a minute, and then her patience ran out. She said to the four children, "No more waiting. You guys eat first. I'm going to go out and see where the old man has gone."
As she spoke, Grandma Han stood up and said she would go out and take a look, but in fact she just wanted to wait at the door. Seeing this, Chu Jiujiu, who was closest to the door, wanted to go with her, but just as she put her hand on the door and hadn't opened it, there was a knock on the door outside.
Now, everyone looked over.
In a normal household, someone might come knocking on the door, but this is a cowshed, a place no normal person would approach. Besides, at this time, everyone is eating, so who would come here?
Chu Jiujiu was stunned for a moment. Since everyone was there, she was not afraid that there were bad people outside. So, she took a step forward and stood in the front. She exerted force and opened the door.
Then, she was shocked.
Twenty or thirty men in military uniforms were standing outside. The one in front was quite old. When he saw that it was a girl who opened the door, he frowned. Then he looked inside and stood at attention when he saw Grandma Han.
As he moved, the people behind him followed suit. The leading soldier saluted and then said to Grandma Han behind Chu Jiujiu, "Madam Han, I'm here to take you and Minister Han back to the capital. We had a meeting yesterday and it was confirmed that Minister Han has been rehabilitated. The special car is right up ahead. Thank you for your hard work!"
He shouted the last four words, which served as a signal. After he finished, the soldiers behind him followed suit. Dozens of people shouted together, and the noise was quite loud. Chu Jiujiu was stunned by this scene, and after she realized what was happening, she turned around happily, only to find that Grandma Han didn't smile at all. Her hands were even shaking.
I don’t know if I was too happy or too scared.
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