Chapter 58: You have to be worthy of this intelligence
After the notebook was sewn, Wen Wan specifically asked Lu Donglin for his textbook. Sure enough, the textbook was not much better than the exercise book. The front and back covers were gone, and the table of contents was gone. The good thing was that the first lesson was still there, and the paper was curled up, and it was full of some weird scribbles that she could hardly understand.
Starting from the first lesson "The Liberated Serfs Sing", each lesson has many new words with pinyin. These new words have to be copied into the notebook, and then the questions after the class have to be copied. It seems that the task is quite heavy.
Wen Wan asked Lu Chun'e for a wooden ruler to mark grids for him, and then she neatly arranged the beginning of the two pages for him.
Lu Donglin protested with a sad face: "Sister, I can't write so small. The grid you made is a little too small." How many more words do I have to write!
Wen Wan said, "Then use a knife to scrape the end of your pencil before writing. The grid is not big. You see, there are only a few grids in a line. Except for the four-character phrase at the end, you only need to write eight characters at the beginning. I've written one for each character for you. Just follow my instructions for now. When you finish your holiday homework, I'll check it. If it's good, I'll give you a gift."
Lu Donglin perked up a bit: "What gift?"
Wen Wan smiled and said, "This will be kept secret for now. You write first."
Lu Donglin scratched his head, got up, went into the house to get a sickle, gently sharpened the tip of the pencil, then looked at his hands that were stained black by pencil dust, and took the rare initiative to wash his hands before he began to write seriously.
Taking advantage of the time when he was writing, Wen Wan took a ruler and started to mark the lines in the math notebook. She spent half the afternoon there, and when Lu Donglin finished writing two pages of new words, she hadn't finished yet.
All the grids are of the same size and neatly arranged, which is very pleasing to the eye.
Even Benzi himself probably never thought that one day he would be taken seriously like this.
As the sun set, the wind began to blow. Lu Dongcheng came back from the mountain to look for Shengxia. He glanced at the people at the table, then looked at Lu Donglin and exclaimed, "Wow, you can actually write like this! I thought this character would be like this forever and I couldn't write well anymore!"
Lu Donglin snorted twice: "Don't judge me by my own strengths and look down on me, okay? I am also very ambitious."
Lu Dongcheng rubbed his head and said, "Okay, it's a good thing to be ambitious. Study hard and become an intellectual in the future. It would be great if you could live in the city and eat rations."
Gao Xiulan called out to him, "Dongcheng, they're studying, don't mess around." Then she asked, "Is your dad back too?"
"I'm in the back. I can walk fast. I'll come back and take Shengxia for a walk in the mountains."
Gao Xiulan said, "The sun is out, and the wind is very strong on the mountain. It won't get any better. Be careful not to turn around and get your face cracked and hurt. Let's go, we're back, it's almost time to cook."
Then he turned to Zhang Hongying, "The old man has told me several times that it's rare for Dongcheng to come back, so he should have dinner at our place on the 30th night so that the whole family can have a good time together. I told you in advance, so don't make any more arrangements when you come back, okay?"
Zhang Hongying agreed: "Okay, how can I not be happy to eat something ready-made?"
After Gao Xiulan's mother and the others left, she stood up, straightened her somewhat stiff neck, and looked at the few people still bent over the table who were super serious. "The sun is out, it's cold, Chun'e, go get some firewood and make a fire. Wenwan, have you gridded the entire notebook? We can do it tomorrow, he can't write that much in a short time."
Wen Wan didn't look up. "There are only two pages left. He'll be able to write tomorrow after we finish this. Tomorrow I'll make the grids for his new word book. Having the grids standardized and neat will also help him with his writing. No matter what, the handwriting must be good. Such a smart child, with a neat and tidy appearance, will definitely be able to write neatly and neatly as well."
Zhang Hongying was naturally happy to see her son being praised, and she called her, "Come in quickly when you're done. Your hands are starting to get cold outside."
Wen Wan responded: "I know, it will be fine soon, it will be fine soon."
Lu Donglin took out a notebook and showed it to her: "Sister, take a look, how do I write these words?"
Wen Wan stopped writing and glanced sideways, nodding her head affirmatively: "Well, not bad, much better looking than before." After she finished speaking, Lu Donglin hadn't been able to get completely proud when she heard her continue: "Compare these characters you wrote with mine and see where the difference is. This is a left-right structure, and both sides should be written evenly. Your side is so small and the other side is so big, it looks like a super skinny person and a very fat person standing together, isn't it very mismatched? The upper and lower structures are not similar, and the left and right structures are not similar. Look at the first character I wrote, is it like this? Before writing, you should carefully observe what each stroke I wrote looks like, and then start writing, instead of writing the first character a little similar, the second character a little different, and then completely letting go and writing like before, without even knowing what you are writing."
Lu Donglin looked at the words that he had been somewhat satisfied with and then slumped over in frustration: "Sister, I really think that learning something like this requires talent. I'm not cut out for it at all. I think it's better for me to work at home and earn work points!"
Wen Wan continued marking the grids, busying herself while she said to him, "Think about it carefully. Have you tried your best? Have you really tried your best? Is there no way you can do better?"
"Whether it's earning work points or going to school, it's something you need to take seriously. When it comes to earning work points, you can't think you're great just because you earned four points. You earned four points because you only put in four points of effort. The same goes for writing."
"You are very smart, the smartest child I have ever met. So I think that with your level of intelligence, your handwriting shouldn't be like this, and your grades shouldn't be like this. At least they should be worthy of your intelligence." After saying that, he drew the last line with the pen in his hand.
"Alright!" She showed it to Lu Donglin. Every page had the same number of lines and the same width. "Look, can you print it out if you make the grid yourself?"
Lu Donglin shook his head decisively. How could he have the patience for this? If he did, he could just go and have a chicken fight with his classmates. How much fun!
"So, I said you weren't serious and didn't put your heart into it."
It was almost done, so she handed the notebook to Lu Donglin: "Take good care of them. I'll check these two notebooks after you finish writing. I'll make you a better looking one next time. I'll make sure you're the only one in the third grade. If you don't write well or curl the notebook again, I won't make you another one."
After saying that, he stretched and said, "My arms and neck are sore from making this for you. I have to get up and shake it."
Lu Donglin stood up in a servile manner: "Sister, you have worked hard, come, let me give you a massage."
Wen Wan just let him do it, and it was quite comfortable.
In the evening, the noodles that had been soaked all day had also softened. After dinner, she washed the dishes and filled the bowl with boiling water. Then Zhang Hongying mixed the noodles in a porcelain basin. There was warm water in the pot. She placed the porcelain basin containing the noodles in the pot and covered it with a lid. She had to get up again in the middle of the night to check on it to prevent it from over-proofing.
Wen Wan held the hot IV bottle, and Lu Dongping carried a kettle in one hand and a flashlight in the other as he took her back to the educated youth site.
When they were almost there, Wen Wan asked him, "Can I buy meat at the commune?"
"Sure?" Lu Dongping answered and then said, "Want to eat meat? It's the 30th the day after tomorrow, and my family will definitely cook meat."
"No!"
Wen Wan pouted and said, "It's Chinese New Year soon. Even if I have to share the meal, I have to prepare something to show my appreciation! I want to go to the commune tomorrow to buy some meat and see if I can get anything else."
Lu Dongping nodded: "Okay, come with me after breakfast tomorrow."
"Will it delay you?"
"No." At worst, I can just have breakfast earlier.
The next day, breakfast was quite early because the dough Zhang Hongying had made had risen and they needed to steam buns, which was a very tedious task.
Early in the morning, Lu Chun'e was cooking, and Zhang Hongying began to add corn flour to the fermented dough.
We couldn't afford pure white flour buns as there was only so much fine grain at home. Although there were only six people including Wen Wan, everyone else had a big appetite except her.
For steamed buns, at least half of them should be made of cornmeal.
There is also a little bit of flour mixed in, which is used to make buns.
Lu Chun'e had her own way of preparing food. She had some lard residue from refining oil at home, which she had never been willing to eat. She scooped out a large spoonful, chopped it up, added some cabbage and radish, mixed it, and made buns.
In previous years, Zhang Hongying would have been reluctant to eat like this. At most, she would make some dumplings with oil residue on New Year's Eve, just to try them and see the flavor. This year, Wen Wan slaughtered a whole pig. Although it weighed over 100 pounds, it meant they could have a slightly more prosperous New Year.
Not only did she want to steam some buns, she also planned to make dumplings on the morning of the first day of the New Year, and eat them all to her heart's content.
After dinner, Lu Dongping asked Zhang Hongying, "Mom, is there anything else you need to buy for the family? I'll bring it back."
Zhang Hongying thought for a moment and said, "Bring a pound of salt, buy two boxes of matches, and if there's any cheap wine, buy two bottles. Your brother from Dongcheng will probably be gone after the New Year, and we don't know when he'll be back. Your aunt-in-law asked us to go over there for dinner on the 30th, so let's get together. I don't plan to keep inviting people. Just bring two dishes over and mix them together, and get some wine, and you guys can have a drink."
Lu Dongping nodded: "Okay, I'll make a note of it."
Wen Wan also greeted her: "Aunt, I have to go to the commune too."
Lu Donglin joined in the fun: "I'm going too, I want to go too!"
Zhang Hongying was furious and knocked the brush on the pot: "Go away, go away, get out of here, why are you joining in the fun? Just stay home and watch the fire. Are you going to eat your buns or not?"
Lu Donglin was not convinced and rushed to the door and said, "I'm accompanying Sister Wen Wan. She went with my brother, and it's not safe for her to come back alone."
"Stop making so many excuses and stay home honestly. How can I live without you?" What a tactless son of a bitch. I'm going out to cultivate some feelings, but you're just joining in the fun.
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