Chapter 121: Worthy of Two Bowls of Rice a Day
At Wen Wan's request, I got another piece of white cloth two feet long and pasted it on the wall.
Wen Wan was not idle either. She cut up the floral Dacron and gray fabrics she had bought, intending to make two pieces of clothing to wear in the season.
Summer clothes don't take up much space, so she brought a few sets with her. It's no problem to change them, but she always wants new clothes.
The shirt is made of Dacron, and its style is different from the current ones. The collar is a round collar that is slightly larger than the collar of normal clothes, and there is a lace as wide as a finger made of white cloth on the edge. There are puff sleeves on the shoulders, which looks very beautiful.
After finishing it, I made a gray Dacron short-sleeved shirt for Lu Dongping. There was no need to keep this one. I let him wear it as soon as it got wet.
Zhang Hongying's needlework was average, limited to mending and patching. The clothes she made had only two more sleeves than a sack, and she didn't have enough cloth. She hadn't made clothes for a long time. Lu Dongping was the best dressed person in the family, but he only had two pieces of clothing, all of which were patched.
As for the elderly couple Zhang Hongying and Lu Mingjiang and the siblings Lu Chun'e, they were even more annoyed. The clothes they were wearing were all sewn and patched again and again. Wen Wan thought about making a set for each of them, but immediately gave up the idea.
Her grandfather liked to tell her stories. When she was a child, he told her the story of "a little bit of rice is a favor, and a peck of rice is a grudge."
She remembers it very clearly.
There is still a long way to go. She came to the Lu family to live with Lu Dongping, not to get relief.
Even with Lu Dongping, she would only give if the other party was willing to give, instead of giving blindly and without any bottom line, otherwise people would take it for granted over time.
She had no shortage of money or tickets, and she still had a lot of cloth from the purchases, but she had already bought shoes for everyone in the family, so she wouldn't give any more cloth.
Life is long, and we can’t develop bad habits.
So when she put on her new clothes and looked at Lu Chun'e's envious eyes, she pretended that she didn't understand anything and remained calm.
I had just finished drying the pasted jacket when it was time to collect the notice.
She has been teaching second grade for most of the semester. The grades of the children in her class are not particularly ideal for her, but they are a great improvement compared to their previous grades.
Among the twenty-six students, only two had an average score of failing, and eight had an average score above 90. None of them got full marks in Chinese, but two got full marks in mathematics.
Naturally, she would have to repeat the grade if her average score was not up to par, which meant that when school started in September, there would probably be only 24 students in her class.
Zhou Jianmin from the Zhou family was one of the two who failed. However, Zhou Dongmei's average score in both subjects was over 90, and she even scored 100 in math.
After the homework was assigned, the second grade students were completely let loose.
Lu Donglin stood at the office door with his pocket slung over his shoulder, sticking his head out and then retracting it.
He doesn't have to repeat a grade, but that doesn't mean he did well in the exams. His math is still good, he scored 89 points, which is still among the best in the class, but his Chinese is...
He was just a little bit short of passing, but he failed with 59 points.
He passed the exam with a passing average score and didn't have to repeat the grade. This was a really happy thing for him, but he was a little afraid to look at Wen Wan and didn't know what to say. Because Wen Wan had told him that he had to get 80 or above in both subjects, and he didn't have it.
Homeroom teacher Hu Gaoquan was still praising Lu Donglin to Wen Wan: "He's a very smart child, but he just can't concentrate on his studies. When the bell rings, he immediately becomes listless, but when the bell rings, he immediately becomes motivated. He's made some progress in the first half of the semester, as shown in his homework. His handwriting is at least no longer perfunctory, and his attitude is gradually becoming more serious. In the last week, he was obviously more attentive than usual, but the time he had to maintain this attitude was too short. To get this result on the test shows that he can still learn well. During the holidays, Teacher Wen can help him consolidate the knowledge he learned in third grade. I may still be his teacher next semester, and I hope to see him make even greater progress."
Wen Wan responded with a sincere smile: "Okay, I understand. I will definitely teach him well during the holidays. Thank you, Teacher Hu! This child is smart, but he doesn't use his intelligence in his studies. I'm sorry to trouble you."
"Hey, that's what I'm saying. I'm a teacher, and what I do is to teach and educate people. I have to be dedicated to my job, and saying thank you is too polite."
Wen Wan stopped being polite to him. Being polite should be done in moderation.
The students had all left, but the teacher couldn't leave yet. After all, it was the final exam, and he had to make a summary and a final conclusion. After handing all of this to Wang Xiannian, Wen Wan left the office. Lu Dongping stood listlessly at the school gate with a book bag slung over his shoulder, leaning against the earthen wall, with an egg-sized stone under his feet, scratching it absentmindedly.
"Lu Donglin!" Wen Wan called out to him, "Why haven't you gone home yet?"
Lu Donglin looked up at her, then lowered his head: "Sister, I can be promoted to the fourth grade!"
Wen Wan responded: "Yes, I just heard from your teacher."
Lu Donglin felt even more insecure: "But I still didn't do well in the exam. I didn't pass the Chinese exam."
Wen Wan reached out and patted him on the shoulder: "Let's go, let's go back. What's the point of basking in this scorching sun?"
Lu Donglin followed her for a while before hearing her say, "Your teacher Hu just praised you to me in the office."
Lu Donglin's eyes lit up when he heard this, and he couldn't believe it: "Really?"
"Why would I lie to you? He said you weren't paying attention in class before and didn't learn much. It was only when the exam was almost here that you started to study hard. And yet, you still got an 89 in math. You're a good student. It would be a shame if you didn't study hard."
“But I still failed Chinese.”
Wen Wan said, "Chinese relies on familiarity, memorization, and accumulation. It definitely won't work in a short time. It's not as good as math. In math, as long as you master the patterns and problem-solving methods and study carefully, your grades will definitely improve. Chinese requires even more effort."
Lu Donglin said nothing.
Wen Wan asked him, "You heard what your uncle said last time. What do you think? Do you want to continue studying or go back to work? You're thirteen now. You should go back and ask more people what your brother was doing when he was thirteen. Because your brother joined the commune and your parents were working, you not only never went hungry but also went to school. You even repeated grades over and over again and still went to school. Because your sister took care of most of the housework at home, you probably still can't even cook a meal. Although I think you are smarter and more sensible than other children your age, this is not a reason for you not to work hard. If you don't work hard, you will fall behind, and if you fall behind, you will be beaten. Maybe you can't understand it now, but I think going to school and farming are actually the same. Both require hard work. Going to school at least is not exposed to the wind and rain, which is much better than working. You may not understand it now, but when you grow up and have your own family and responsibilities, you may regret not working hard now."
She was the one who was talking the whole time. Lu Donglin was not as active as usual and did not interrupt her.
Wen Wan said everything she felt she needed to say, and finally said, "Do you want to go to school or just go back to work? Think about it carefully and tell me when you've made up your mind. No matter which one you choose, you have to do it well and not give up halfway."
If she still plans to go to school, she will have to use the holidays. If she doesn't plan to go to school, then she won't care. It's not something she can take care of. She doesn't know how to farm, and she is not as good as Lu Donglin at work!
No matter what, you should have a clear goal and not be confused.
In the afternoon, Lu Chun'e also came back with the notice. Her grades in the basic agricultural course had improved significantly compared to last semester. It was obvious that she had adapted to the new environment. Her overall score was among the top ten in the grade, which was a great improvement and a very good result.
Lu Mingjiang's slightly cloudy eyes held a rare glint, and a faint smile brought life to this forty-something farmer. "Progress is good. Progress means you've put in the effort. Work hard. There's still a year left, and the results will be reviewed."
Lu Chun'e nodded: "Yes, I know."
"How did that kid from Dongfu do in the exam?"
Lu Chun'e said, "Not bad. My total score is a little higher than his this time." They were both in the first grade of junior high school and would be promoted to the second grade starting September 1st, but they were not in the same class. Lu Dongfu was a very down-to-earth child, and his academic performance was always stable. While not outstanding, it was still very good. Lu Chun'e had worked hard, so her academic knowledge was slightly higher than his.
After asking Lu Chun'e and Lu Dongfu, Lu Donglin sat there feeling very uncomfortable and didn't dare to move anymore.
Lu Mingjiang asked him: "Do you remember what I said to you last time?"
"Remember!"
"So what's going on? Should I continue up or come back?"
Lu Donglin lowered his head, pursed his lips, and said after a long while: "I have passed the entrance exam and entered the fourth grade. I want to continue studying. My grades next semester will definitely be better than this semester."
Lu Mingjiang nodded: "Okay, that's what you said yourself. You're thirteen and you're fourteen. You're not a kid anymore, you need to have a plan in mind for everything you do. When you were little, your mother had to take care of you and Chun'e, and I was the only laborer in the family. The food we were given was enough to make soup every day, and we couldn't even finish it by the end of the year. If it weren't for your brother jumping home every day to get it, you might not have been able to raise you. Later, he went to the commune and got a salary subsidy, most of which was given to your mother to supplement the family expenses. The expenses for the whole year were all his salary, and the work points he earned at the end of the year were only a few dollars, not even enough to buy salt for the whole year. Now you can see that your brother is twenty-four years old and is about to get married. After getting married, he will have his own little family, and it's impossible for him to be dependent on us for everything like before. Your mother and I gave birth to him and raised him, so it's his responsibility to support him, but he can't support his younger brothers and sisters forever."
"He earned the money for your schooling. I won't say those empty words, like I'll repay him when I'm successful. That's for the future. You should all follow your conscience. Your mother and I can't interfere. I'm just saying now, if you want to go to school, you should study hard. You have to be worthy of the money your brother gave you and the few bowls of rice you eat every day, right?"
This was the first time he said this. Lu Chun'e had been sensible since she was a child, so he was not worried. What he was worried about was that little brat Lu Donglin, who was too annoying. He hoped that he could listen to him at least and not talk to a deaf ear.
Lu Donglin seemed to have really listened to him. He went into the mountains early the next morning and came back at noon to start doing his homework very seriously.
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