Chapter 11 Don't force the illiterate to learn; those near the water get the moon first...
Jiang Yueming hadn't expected him to actually give it to him. For some reason, he felt a little guilty having Li Leshan, this model student with impeccable morals, pass on the answers. He decided that next time Han Jiang begged him, even if he knelt down and pleaded, he wouldn't agree.
Jiang Yueming wrote down the answer on a small piece of paper, quickly copied it down, flicked his wrist, and tossed it to Han Jiang. The paper landed precisely at Han Jiang's feet. Seeing the man's deeply moved expression, Jiang Yueming felt a deep contempt for his cheap manner...
"What are you doing taking an exam in the science building too!" After finishing the exam, Jiang Yueming immediately approached Li Leshan's desk, her voice filled with excitement and anticipation.
Li Leshan raised his head and calmly signed, "That's how it's arranged."
In fact, quite a few students from Class 1 and Class 2 were also "assigned" to take the exam here. If you look closely, the proportion of students with good grades might even be higher than in Class 4. Although he couldn't understand the mystery of the school's "random assignment," Jiang Yueming was still very happy to see Li Leshan.
Han Jiang watched the two people's "encrypted call" from the side, observing the whole thing with an attitude of not understanding what he was seeing, yet not being able to ignore it.
After math was over, there weren't any subjects that gave Han Jiang a real headache, because all subjects were quite a headache, especially math. Anyway, no one was watching Jiang Yueming. Although Cui Cui would ask questions, she wouldn't blame Jiang Yueming. She felt that as long as Jiang Yueming was happy and carefree, that was enough.
Ms. Lin Cuiqin thinks this way, but Ms. Yin Guiying absolutely cannot think this way.
"Jiang Yueming, you're such a smart kid, how come you just..." Yin Guiying looked at the report card and was furious. She thought Jiang Yueming was exceptionally smart, but he just didn't study hard and didn't take his studies seriously.
There was a knock on the office door, then it was pushed open. Tian Xiaoyun entered with Li Leshan. She was beaming, clearly there to "show off" her student.
Li Leshan was once again the top student in the grade, and Tian Xiaoyun came to praise him in front of the teachers in the office. Yin Guiying, on the other hand, had the opposite purpose; she came to criticize Jiang Yueming in front of the teachers in the office.
Jiang Yueming hadn't thought much of it at first, and was standing casually, but when he saw Li Leshan, his back straightened up instantly, as if springs had sprung up, and the nonchalant expression on his face disappeared in an instant.
Li Leshan was forced to sit in on Yin Guiying's "comprehensive scolding" of Jiang Yueming for a full half hour—from daydreaming and playing with erasers in class, to scribbling on homework, to a poor attitude during exams and terrible grades...
Jiang Yueming kept his head down the whole time, listlessly grunting a few times. If he had known Li Leshan was coming, he would never have come here with Yin Guiying. Wouldn't it have been a complete embarrassment for him to come?
"Alright, your teacher knows you're a smart child. Look at you, always hanging out with Li Leshan. Being close to someone gives you an advantage. Learn from him... You two live close by, right? Go and learn from Leshan, okay?" Yin Guiying finally softened her tone.
Jiang Yueming felt happy when this was mentioned.
“Okay!” he replied crisply.
“That’s a fluent answer…” Yin Guiying didn’t think anything was wrong. She waved her hand at Jiang Yueming, “Li Leshan has a hole in his back. Alright, let’s follow him.”
Jiang Yueming darted forward to catch up with Li Leshan, carrying his schoolbag and running quickly behind him.
Li Leshan stopped a long way from the office, turned around, looked at Jiang Yueming, and seriously used sign language: "You...really didn't cheat?" His eyes were inquisitive. Even if he cheated, he shouldn't have only scored 15 points, right?
"I originally planned to write two questions, but as soon as I threw the note to Han Jiang, I completely forgot the order," Jiang Yueming said, a little embarrassed.
"Li Leshan, how did you study? Why are your grades so amazing at this age?" Jiang Yueming leaned forward and asked him, genuinely curious.
Li Leshan calmly repeated what Yin Guiying had just said, "Because I don't play games, fold paper airplanes, or sleep in class."
Jiang Yueming became even more embarrassed. He scratched his head and chuckled awkwardly, "Is...is that so?"
Li Leshan agreed, but when he was reading or listening to lectures, he felt like his head was glued shut, everything was mixed up. He envied Li Leshan's focus on everything he did, unlike his own short-lived enthusiasm. However, short-lived enthusiasm aside, Jiang Yueming showed amazing, almost obsessive passion for "learning sign language" and "making friends with Li Leshan".
Thanks to Li Leshan, Han Jiang scored 58 in math for the first time ever. This leap of 20 or 30 points overjoyed Han Jiang's mother, who was already dreaming of getting 70 or 80 next time. Han Jiang briefly enjoyed a "golden age" where he didn't have to worry about anyone's opinion of him.
"My mom said my score is like bamboo shoots," Han Jiang said, as if he had earned that 58 points through sheer hard work.
Jiang Yueming squatted on the ground, observing the ants. He broke off a few crumbs of bread and watched the ants carry them from one end to the other. This was one of his many forms of entertainment. As for why he was so bored, it was because he couldn't find Li Leshan. He had gone to Li's house several times, but the door was always locked. Maybe Li was out playing with his grandmother. Although he didn't know what an old woman and a child could do, the county town was so small—the cultural center? Or somewhere else?
"What, does Auntie mean it's both thin and crisp?" Jiang Yueming didn't understand Han Jiang's cultured metaphor.
"Wrong!" Han Jiang said, "It's the bamboo that's growing taller and taller! It means my grades will improve very quickly in the future!"
Jiang Yueming paused briefly, then said, "Well... let's do it."
Han Jiang sat down on the ground with a hearty laugh. "That kid Li Leshan is amazing! I've never made so many right choices."
"Han Jiang, you're sitting on an ant!" Jiang Yueming shouted suddenly.
His observation plan was ruined.
"Damn it!" Han Jiang jumped up, thankfully the ants were still alive. He moved to another spot and sat down again: "Why didn't you say so earlier?"
"You said you'd sit down, and you're going faster than Xiaoming's rocket car." Jiang Yueming didn't want to waste any more words with him. "I'm going home."
"It's the weekend, the sun has just set," Han Jiang said. He usually gets home a little later on weekends; he usually gets home at 7:30 pm, but on weekends he can get home at 8:30 pm.
Jiang Yueming paused, then turned back and sat down next to Han Jiang. The two teenagers sat casually on the dusty curb, not caring about the dirt. Every morning, sanitation workers wearing straw hats swept the street with large brooms. Jiang Yueming had also helped out on this street during his summer vacation as a Young Pioneer volunteer.
"Jiang Yueming, which junior high school are you applying to?" Han Jiang asked a rather serious question. They're almost in sixth grade now, and the pressure of the junior high entrance exam is looming large; it's time to start thinking about their future education.
"Second Middle School or Third Middle School?" Han Jiang counted on his fingers. Both Second and Third Middle Schools were next to Tie Ta Elementary School, in the same area, and only a ten-minute walk apart. Many students went to Second Middle School when they were transitioning from elementary to middle school, while those with slightly lower grades went to Third Middle School. Of course, the best students, like Li Leshan, would definitely go to First Middle School.
Jiang Yueming from No. 1 Middle School dared not hope for anything. He lowered his head and watched the ants slowly walk past him, answering in a muffled voice, "I haven't thought about it yet."
“Xu Qing is going to No. 1 High School, what should I do?” Han Jiang sighed heavily, looking worried. “Even eight horses couldn’t keep up with me, I’d need twenty.”
Jiang Yueming felt he was a bit better than Han Jiang; he thought eight horses would be enough to pull him along. But eight horses weren't easy to pull, and where was he going to find eight horses?
“Anyway, our homes are so close together.” Jiang Yueming said, looking at the rows of windows with lights on in the distance. He wondered who said this, whether it was to Han Jiang or to himself.
"It's okay if we're not in the same school, right?"
"That's different!" Han Jiang said, very seriously, "Once they're in middle school, they'll all be big kids! What if someone likes Xu Qing or bullies her? I'd have to be there to protect her. It's so far away, am I supposed to fly there?"
“Xu Qing doesn’t need your protection. She’s much stronger than you when she fights.” Jiang Yueming said from personal experience, recalling the painful experience of being chased and having his arm twisted by Xu Qing once when he angered her. Don’t underestimate Xu Qing just because she’s a little girl. She’s incredibly strong.
“That won’t work either,” Han Jiang said, clenching his fist with determination. “I’m going to get into No. 1 High School! My mom said she’ll reward me with the comic books I want if I get in.”
He suddenly stood up and made a shooting motion in the air, "Whoosh! That's Rukawa Kaede!"
"Alright then, show it to me if you pass the exam."
Jiang Yueming had nothing to say to the person in front of him who, relying on Li Leshan's meager twenty or thirty points in math, could only score 58. He still silently wished Han Jiang well, hoping he could find twenty horses to pull him along soon.
Han Jiang left with the wish for twenty horses. Jiang Yueming sat alone on the roadside steps, his gaze involuntarily drifting towards Li Leshan's house. Han Jiang's words flashed through his mind, but he quickly dismissed the thought.
After entering middle school, the boys matured, and the kids became slightly older. Surely no one would bully Li Leshan anymore. Wang Hao and his group wouldn't be able to get into the top middle school anyway, not even if eighty horses pulled them.
But……
Jiang Yueming pondered for a full half hour until the sun had completely set. The ants around him had long since moved from the left to the right, and Jiang Yueming could no longer find the one he had seen at the beginning if he wasn't careful.
Even ants can climb over this small embankment... so why can't Jiang Yueming give it a try? There's still a year to go. Although Jiang Yueming had no idea what to do, the thought of riding bicycles to and from school with Li Leshan and walking through tree-lined paths full of locust blossoms gave him a strange sense of motivation.
If Yin Guiying knew that all her years of earnest advice had been in vain, and that this kid had finally decided to pursue his interests based on Han Jiang's concern about "different schools," she would probably be so angry that she would slap the lesson plan in Jiang Yueming's face.
It got dark, so he dusted off his pants and went home. Amid Cui Cui's teasing voice, "You're back so early today," he dashed into his room.
Jiang Yueming set a plan for himself. A small card that read "Learn from Li Leshan" was clearly displayed on the table. Then, for the first time, he sat down at the desk on his own initiative, not because Yin Guiying dragged him there, but because he opened the math workbook that was wrinkled like dried pickled vegetables.
An hour later, the fuel was completely exhausted.
Jiang Yueming suddenly collapsed onto the table and fell asleep. This hour had been more tiring than running five or eight laps around the track. His results were: he had painstakingly finished two pages of basic calculation problems (getting a third wrong) and half a page of English multiple-choice questions (mostly guessing).
Don't force illiterate people to learn! With this last thought in mind, Jiang Yueming drifted off to sleep, her eyelids drooping.
The sounds of cicadas and birds outside the window filled his ears. Despite the cacophony of noise, Jiang Yueming managed to drift into a deep sleep. An occasional gust of summer night breeze brought him a little comfort, but nothing truly so.
Jiang Yueming had a dream. He dreamt that he had successfully passed the entrance exam for the top high school, and Yin Guiying and Lin Cuiqin were so happy they wanted to hug him and spin him around twice, which they actually did. He excitedly waved his acceptance letter at Li Leshan through the crowd...
Whether Jiang Yueming slept comfortably or not is unknown, but she certainly had a wonderful dream, one that made her feel blissful. Suddenly, the sound of her elbow hitting the alarm clock and knocking it to the ground startled her awake. A glance at the time revealed it was 12:30, and the blank exam paper on the table, along with the alarming score, told her that all the wonderful moments had just been a dream.
Jiang Yueming closed her eyes in despair and slammed her head on the table again.
A note from the author:
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I'll continue updating tomorrow! [Okay]
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