Chapter 9 The Eye of Truth
☆
On Monday morning, She Hongmei got up early and took She Ni to school to register. After returning home, she specially picked out a relatively new set of clothes to change into.
Instead of taking the waterway, it would be a long detour by land to get to the town. The night before, She Hongmei went to talk to Aunt Guan next door and asked if she could borrow her bicycle today.
Early in the morning, She Hongmei went out with a small bag of eggs, and soon returned with the cart.
After saying goodbye to Grandma She in the west wing, She Hongmei rode her Phoenix brand bicycle and skillfully took She Ning to Xiahe Middle School.
Upon arriving in town, She Hongmei first went to the supply and marketing cooperative to buy some mung bean cakes and biscuits with money and pastry coupons, and then went to the farmers' market to buy some seasonal loquats and bananas before leading the people to the school.
Although Teacher Zhu put in a good word for me, I still need to be mindful of social etiquette when troubling others.
It would be inappropriate to leave empty-handed.
When I arrived at the school gate, I told the security guard, and after a short while, I saw someone come out from the teaching building.
Director Xia led the person to her office, read the letter given by She Ning, and got a general understanding of She Ning's situation. Then she took out several junior high school exam papers from the drawer next to her.
She Ning took the test and glanced through it. As expected of the town's middle school, the test questions were more difficult and covered a wider range of topics than the one Teacher Zhu had given that day. However, the question types were not much different; they were basically all from the textbook.
Seeing that she didn't move, Director Xia assumed she was afraid of making a mistake. "This is the diagnostic test paper from the beginning of the second year of junior high school this semester. You can do it first. It's okay if you make a mistake. We're just testing your progress so we can arrange your class later."
Director Xia trusted the person recommended by Teacher Zhu, but the proper procedures still needed to be followed; otherwise, it would be unfair to the other students, and she wouldn't be able to explain it to the principal.
There are quite a few test papers, covering all subjects, but most of them are multiple choice and true/false questions.
Director Xia found an empty table for She Ning in the office so she could write her test paper there. Then Director Xia and She Hongmei went outside, leaving She Ning with her own space.
The office door was ajar, so that the noise from outside wouldn't disturb those inside, nor would it prevent Director Xia from observing the situation inside.
"Director Xia, I've finished writing." The half-open door was opened from the inside.
"So fast?"
Director Xia was somewhat surprised. He raised his hand to look at his watch; it hadn't even been two hours.
Back in her office, she flipped through the exam paper. The neat and beautiful handwriting on the paper was a pleasure to look at, regardless of whether it was right or wrong.
The test paper was completely filled with writing, including an essay in the Chinese section. Director Xia had just finished grading the test papers a few days ago and still remembered the answers to the questions. The more she graded, the more surprised she became. This question was correct, and this question was also correct.
Overall, there were very few mistakes on the eight exam papers, and they were completed in such a short time.
Director Xia's gaze towards She Ning changed at this moment, as if she were looking at some treasure. She even felt a little regretful that She Ning had dropped out of school and was no longer studying at their school. Otherwise, their school would have been the undisputed number one in the joint examinations of several middle schools in the town every time.
"Your foundation is solid, you could say it's excellent. When would you like to come and report for duty?" Director Xia gathered up the test papers and looked at She Hongmei and She Ning with a smile.
“Director Xia, I want to skip directly to the third year of junior high school,” She Ning said. Seeing Director Xia looking over, she paused for a moment and added, “I have already self-studied the knowledge of the second year of senior high school.”
This statement is actually an understatement. Xiao She Ning has already self-studied the senior year curriculum. She is very smart and diligent. The books under her bed are so worn out from being flipped through that the edges are curled up. The limited amount of draft paper is densely covered with writing, with dark colors covering light colors, layer upon layer.
In my memory, she used water as ink on the table to check her math problems again and again.
That familiar writing habit, and the handwriting that was exactly the same as hers, always gave She Ning a strange feeling. Sometimes she would think that little She Ning was her past life, and that little She Ning could come back after she transmigrated to help break the original plot.
Director Xia did not doubt She Ning's words. Knowledge cannot be faked. If you don't know it, you don't know it. Even if you can hide it for a while, you can't hide it forever.
There are examples of students skipping grades. If She Ning's foundation is good, Director Xia can indeed arrange for her to go directly to the third year of junior high school. He skillfully took out the third-year junior high school diagnostic test paper from the drawer and handed it to She Ning.
This time, neither she nor She Hongmei went out. Under their watchful eyes, She Ning quickly completed one question after another, able to write down the answers almost as soon as she glanced at the questions.
The result was obvious: her grades were good enough to directly enter the third year of junior high school.
"Director Xia, I have a small request." Facing Director Xia's approving gaze, She Ning glanced at She Hongmei and then asked, "If I can guarantee that I will get first place in every exam, can I study at home and only need to come to the exam each time?"
This was indeed an unprecedented situation at the school. Director Xia pondered for a moment, then asked them to wait while she went to explain the situation to the principal.
Only She Hongmei and She Ning remained in the office.
She Hongmei was originally proud of She Ni's excellence, but when she suddenly heard the child's words, she was a little stunned. Looking at She Ning, who had unknowingly grown to her chest, she didn't say anything, but just patted her head.
She Ning pretended not to see her slightly red eyes.
Principal Li is a decisive person. After hearing about the situation from Director Xia, she immediately took a copy of the Grade 11 exam paper that she had given to her daughter from her desk.
Principal Li watched She Ning do her work on the spot and corrected it immediately. After seeing that she got full marks except for the composition which was deducted a little in Chinese, Principal Li waved his hand and agreed to her request.
At the same time, she offered that if She Ning could maintain her first-place ranking, the school could apply for a reduction or waiver of her tuition and book fees.
She Ning naturally agreed to these conditions.
On the spot, Director Xia helped She Ning complete the enrollment procedures. According to She Ning's wishes, she only needs to come for the monthly exams, midterms, and final exams this semester.
When leaving, like Teacher Zhu, Director Xia refused to accept the gifts. In the end, She Ning distributed the fruit equally on each teacher's desk in the office, and Director Xia had no choice but to accept it. As for the pastries, she refused to accept them no matter what, so She Hongmei had to take them back with her.
As I left the school, the system notification sounded precisely on time.
"Registration task completed! Reward: Open a blind box! Blind box opening countdown: 3, 2, 1!"
When the countdown ended, She Ning pressed the "Open" button in the lower right corner of the panel. The interface began to rotate and spray fireworks. A gift box appeared on the screen and opened with a "bang," revealing a yellow light inside.
Intermediate gift box.
Obtain a 90% new True Eye.
Note: A gift from the deep sea, said to be able to see through any object.
Number of uses: 3
A bead resembling a black pearl lay quietly on the panel, emitting its own fluorescence under the yellow light of the intermediate gift box. She Ning put it into the storage compartment of the interface.
It was almost noon, and with her two daughters finally settled about going to school, She Hongmei felt a huge weight lifted off her shoulders. In a good mood, she decided to take She Ning out to eat in town before heading back.
There were many small vendors near the factory in town. She Hongmei led She Ning to choose a noodle soup stall that looked clean and hygienic with appealing food presentation.
After asking She Ning about her preferences, She Hongmei ordered beef soup rice noodles and lean meat soup rice noodles for the two of them respectively. While waiting, She Ning observed the surrounding situation.
People come and go, mostly employees from nearby. Nowadays, many factories are self-sufficient, and the food in many factory canteens is not very good. Some employees come out to eat, and a small number are residents of the town who may not want to cook, so they come out for a meal.
Each stall was surrounded by a large crowd, and business was visibly booming.
Beef soup rice noodles and lean meat soup rice noodles were served quickly. She Ning tried the beef soup rice noodles she ordered. The beef was dry and tough, the soup was light, and the taste was ordinary, nothing special.
She then tried the lean meat soup rice noodles that She Hongmei had ordered, but it was nothing special and not as delicious as hers.
Two bowls of noodles cost eight cents, and the labor cost is probably around five cents. Thinking about these things, She Ning had an idea in her mind, but the idea was not yet mature, and she was not ready to tell She Hongmei.
After lunch, She Hongmei prepared to pack some meat buns for She Ni and Grandma She. She Ni followed behind her, pulling the bicycle frame and curiously looking around the town in the 1980s.
On the not-so-wide cobblestone road, some bicycles or tricycles shuttle back and forth, and occasionally you can see cars passing by. The houses on both sides of the street include red brick and tile houses as well as ancient houses with blue bricks and black tiles.
People have changed out of their black, gray, and blue clothes and put on brightly colored clothes. Influenced by the port city, people's style is bold and avant-garde, with wide-leg pants, batwing shirts, and padded-shoulder suits everywhere.
Everywhere you look, there is a positive and vibrant scene.
The steamed bun stall arrived quickly, and it was quite crowded. She Hongmei locked her car under a big tree and asked She Ning to watch the car and the goods while she waited in the shade.
She went to buy the steamed buns herself.
She Ning watched as She Hongmei walked over and seemed to see someone she knew. At first, she chatted happily with an aunt in the line of people buying steamed buns. But after they talked about something, She Hongmei's expression changed. When she came back after buying the steamed buns, she was still smiling, but it was clearly not the kind of genuine happiness that she had shown before.
Riding her bicycle back, She Hongmei remained silent, focusing solely on pedaling and gripping the metal edge of the back seat to steady herself. After a moment's thought, She Ning finally spoke.
"Mom, what did that auntie say?"
"You saw it?"
She Hongmei didn't want to tell her at first, but thinking that she would find out sooner or later, and that She Ning was all grown up, she decided not to hide it from her.
That auntie is the boss who buys their melons and vegetables. They chatted for a bit earlier, and the boss complained that there are more and more people setting up stalls now. She said that her restaurant has high costs and fierce competition, and business is not good. She gave She's mother a heads-up, saying that she might reduce the purchase of melons and vegetables in the future.
"Sigh." Thinking about the reduced income, She Hongmei felt down.
She Ning didn't expect the opportunity to come so quickly; she had barely had an idea when the opportunity presented itself.
"Mom, what do you think of the businesses of those street vendors in town?" She Ning asked.
After thinking about what she had seen in the town over the past two years, She Hongmei said, "Looks good, they must have made a lot of money."
“Actually, we can also set up a stall.” She Ning explained to She Hongmei by counting on her fingers, “Look at the rice noodle soup we ate today. The taste is so-so, but two bowls can still sell for 80 cents. After deducting the cost and labor, we can earn more than 30 cents from these two bowls.”
"Mom, you've tasted my cooking before, it's definitely better than theirs. I also have many other recipes that can be used to make braised meat, steamed buns, soup noodles, sesame cakes, and so on."
"If you were to use it for business, it would definitely have a market."
“She Ni is in school now, and Grandma’s condition is getting better and better. I don’t need to go to school so I can take care of the family. Mom, you really should give it a try.”
She Ning dispelled her doubts one by one, and as She Hongmei listened, the scales in her heart gradually tipped.
Setting up a stall doesn't seem like a bad idea.
A note from the author:
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