Ever since Liu Bowen bought a table tennis racket, he was no longer in a hurry after school every day. After finishing his homework at school, he would play table tennis with his classmates on the playground until dinner time before going home. Sometimes, if it was still light after dinner, he would even run out to play until dark.
The triplets were similar, taking their rackets and ping-pong balls with them to show off to their friends every day.
Sometimes when Liu Meiyu went out, she would meet the three brothers followed by a group of children. The three brothers would stand on a big rock, assigning paddles to each child and teaching them how to juggle the ball. Although they were only half-baked students, they acted like the "head coaches".
He even dared to bring his friends to compete with the older kids for territory.
There were only a few ping-pong tables in the school playground, and they were all occupied by older and older children. Dabao and his group of younger children could only play with their friends for a short while when kindergarten got out early. As soon as the older children got out of school, they were "driven away".
"Go, go, go play over there, you little brats, you don't even have enough cases to deal with yet you're still playing ball."
A few older kids who had just entered junior high school saw Dabao and his friends occupying the ping-pong table again after school, so they walked over and impatiently pushed them away.
When the other children saw the older and more fierce brother, they didn't dare to say anything. But Dabao, Erbao and Xiaobao were reluctant and refused to let go of the ping-pong table.
Dabao: "We were the first to occupy this place, why are you stopping us from leaving?"
Erbao: "That's right, we've only been playing for a while, you guys have to line up to play."
Xiao Bao bared his teeth and protested fiercely: "Humph, we took it first! I won't give it to you!"
Seeing that Dabao and his three brothers did not follow the rules, their friends tried to persuade them, "Dabao, forget it, come to my house and play. We can put the benches together and play."
Dabao disagreed, "Bench is not fun, always have to pick up the ball, this case is ours first, why can't we play!"
"Hurry up and get out of here! Don't wait for me to get angry!" Zhu Gangzi swung his racket at them, as if he was going to beat them up. The younger children were so scared that they took a few steps back and hid.
Dabao, Erbao and Xiaobao just blinked their eyes and refused to compromise.
Zhu Gangzi lost his patience and directly carried the three brats away from the table tennis table with his classmates.
"Oh, just now, this racket broke."
Just as they were about to start, the student found that the glue on the racket in his hand had come loose.
Zhu Gangzi took the ball and juggled it, but found that he couldn't hit it at all. Turning his head, he saw Dabao and the others next to him holding a pair of new rackets in their hands.
Walking over, he said, "Kid, let me borrow your racket for a while. I'll return it to you later. You can use this first."
Zhu Gangzi took advantage of his height and age and tried to snatch the ping-pong racket from Xiaobao's hand. However, before he could do so, the child reacted very quickly and was very strong.
"No! This is my racket!"
The three brothers had just been knocked off the table tennis table by them and had no chance to play. They were very angry and were not willing to lend them the rackets.
"You have such a bad temper. What's wrong with borrowing it? You guys go play glass beads over there." Zhu Gangzi didn't care. He snatched the new racket from Xiaobao's arms and threw his own pair with the glue removed to them.
"That's my racket! Give it back to me!"
Lu Xiaobao rushed forward to grab it, but Zhu Gangzi grabbed his collar and threatened him, "Go play somewhere else and stop bothering me. I told you I'll give it back to you after playing for a while."
"No, we won't lend it!" Dabao held up his small body and protected Xiaobao.
Erbao went straight up and hugged his thigh to grab the beat.
Zhu Gangzi had been eating rice for several years longer than them, so dealing with a few little brats was no problem at all. He pushed the people away from them and asked two classmates who were not playing basketball for the time being to take turns watching them to prevent them from making trouble.
Not only could the eldest, second and youngest children not play table tennis, but now even their rackets had been taken away. Moreover, they couldn't win the fight against children who were much older than themselves, so they could only stand aside angrily, their eyes almost spitting fire.
"Dabao, Erbao, Xiaobao, forget it. Zhu Gangzi is too powerful. We can't beat them. Let's just play glass beads today. Let's come earlier to play tomorrow." The friends who followed over went up to persuade them.
"No! We were the ones who occupied the case first, and the racket is also ours!" Lu Xiaobao was so angry that he almost wanted to punch him.
"What should we do?" The little friend scratched his head, not knowing what to do.
Lu Dabao quickly came up with an idea, "Let's go find the teachers and parents!"
"Ah," the little friend thought this was not a good idea, "Are you going to go back and tell your mother about this? Will Gangzi beat us if he finds out?"
There are quite a few children on the island who have been bullied by Zhu Gangzi, and many have complained about him, but the results are nothing more than the same. If it is a minor problem, the parents are reluctant to pursue it, and can only remind their children to stay away from Zhu Gangzi and not to provoke him. If it is a major problem, at most he will come to the house to ask for an explanation, and Zhu Gangzi will beat his father up, apologize, and he will be back to normal in a few days.
Dabao shook his head and made up his mind: "Don't look for my mom. She will make delicious food for us at home. We will go find Uncle Zhu by ourselves."
When the little friend heard this, he disagreed even more, "No, Uncle Zhu is so fierce, he beats children!"
Erbao supported his elder brother and retorted, "Uncle Zhu didn't beat other people's children! It was Gangzi who was beaten because he was disobedient! He grabbed our paddle and that means he was disobedient!"
"Brother, let's go! Let's go now!" Xiaobao couldn't wait to get his racket back.
The little friends couldn't persuade the three brothers, but they all followed them arm in arm out of loyalty and went to school first.
As for the junior high school, those who are still in kindergarten have rarely come here. They said they wanted to find a teacher, but they didn’t know who to find.
Someone suggested just finding one, but Dabao rejected it, "No, we have to find Gangzi's teacher."
So a few of them walked around the school like spies, but they couldn't even find the door of the teacher's office. Moreover, everyone had gone home after school, so they couldn't see anyone in the school.
"What are you doing?"
Zhou Qiuhe locked the office door and was about to go home when she saw a group of children wandering around in the corridor, looking around.
When the children saw the teacher, most of them were like mice seeing a cat. They stood up straight, stiff and afraid.
Except for the three brothers Dabao, I remember my mother taught us to bow politely to greet the teacher first.
"Hello." Zhou Qiuhe recognized at a glance that they were the three little nephews of the smart student Liu Bowen, and the triplets of Comrade Liu Meiyu.
The three little boys are about the same height, but among a group of children of the same age, they are obviously taller. They have fair and clean skin, and their clothes are clean and tidy without a single speck of pudding. Their eyebrows, eyes and facial features also inherited the excellent genes of their parents, making them particularly eye-catching among the group of children.
Dabao was pushed to the front by his two younger brothers. He tilted his neck and said, "Hello, teacher. We want to find Zhu Gang's teacher. Can you take us there?"
Zhou Qiuhe raised her eyebrows, a little surprised: "I am Zhu Gang's teacher. What do you want to see me for?"
Zhou Qiuhe originally only taught elementary school, but later the school was short of teachers, so she now had to take care of junior high school mathematics. Zhu Gang was in her class, but the child was very naughty and difficult to discipline. The teachers in the school were at a loss for him, and now they have gradually stopped paying attention to him. But she still had to focus on her own studies. No matter how naughty Zhu Gang was, at least he could always pass the math exam.
With his brother taking the lead, Erbao raised his hand and responded, "Teacher, you just bullied us, not letting us play table tennis, and even snatched our rackets!"
"Yes!" Xiaobao nodded his head and added, "That was bought by my mother. It's our racket. He broke it himself. He took it away without our consent. That's wrong!"
When the three brothers were young, they often fought with each other for things, especially Xiaobao who had a harder fist. As they grew up, Liu Meiyun patiently explained the truth to them like Tang Seng chanting sutras. Now they also know that if it is not theirs, they must ask for permission before playing with it, otherwise it is considered stealing.
Zhou Qiuhe was amazed at the three children's ability to express themselves. After each of the three brothers spoke, Zhou Qiuhe could immediately understand the whole story.
"Then the teacher will take you to find Zhu Gang and help you get your rackets back?"
Dabao shook his head, but then nodded, "Teacher, we still need to find Uncle Zhu."
Zhou Qiuhe asked curiously, "What do you want to see Uncle Zhu for?"
"Mom said that if there are any conflicts, we should go to the teachers and parents!" This time, Xiaobao answered before Erbao.
Zhou Qiuhe asked again: "Then why didn't you go home to see your mother?"
Dabao was rational and strong, "We didn't make any mistakes, it was Gangzi who made the mistake, so of course we have to find his parents!"
“…”
Zhou Qiuhe choked. This child, who was only five years old, could explain things to you in a way that you couldn't refute, and his words sounded very logical.
"Then the teacher will take you to see Uncle Zhu?" Zhou Qiuhe discussed with them.
"Yes! Thank you, teacher!"
Dabao and the others readily agreed.
So Zhou Qiuhe had no choice but to go to Captain Zhu's house as she was surrounded by a group of children.
Captain Zhu had just returned from the army and had not even had a bite of food when he saw a group of children and a female comrade gathered at the door of his house.
His eyelids twitched, and he had already guessed in his heart that Zhu Gangzi must have caused trouble for him outside again, and the other party had even sent a parent representative to come to his house.
"Hello, Captain Zhu. I am Zhu Gang's math teacher, Zhou Qiuhe."
Captain Zhu did not know Zhou Qiuhe, but Zhou Qiuhe knew him. He was a notorious "tiger father" on the island. He never went to school all year round. Zhu Gang would beat his children whenever he made trouble. The teachers could not find him when they wanted to communicate with him, and they didn't even dare to go to his house to look for him.
"Teacher Zhou, please come in and sit down."
Team leader Zhu opened the door and invited a group of little kids and Teacher Zhou to come in and sit down.
Zhou Qiuhe didn't go in, but stood at the door and looked inside. The room was in a mess, and even the dishes from breakfast on the table were not cleared away.
Dabao stretched his neck to take a look, and said to Zhu with a look of disgust and disrespect, "Uncle Zhu, your house is such a mess!"
Zhu blushed as he was talking to a kid. He rubbed Dabao's head awkwardly and said, "Uncle is too busy and has no time to clean up. What do you want from me?"
Dabao, Erbao, Xiaobao and the others told Captain Zhu about Zhu Gang stealing their tennis rackets. Without exaggerating at all, they already made Captain Zhu so angry that his face turned blue.
A junior high school student and a kindergarten kid are fighting for territory and even stealing their tennis rackets. It really makes his father proud!
"Uncle will help you teach him a lesson!" Captain Zhu picked up the bamboo stick behind the door and was about to "educate" his son.
Zhou Qiuhe frowned and quickly stopped him: "Captain Zhu, I want to talk to you first and pay you a home visit."
Now that they were here, Zhou Qiuhe, who had always disagreed with Captain Zhu's educational method of beating children at every turn, wanted to talk to Captain Zhu about it.
"Captain Zhu, Zhu Gangzi is now in junior high school. You have been strict with him for so many years, but his temper is still the same. It has not changed at all. Shouldn't you treat your child differently? Moreover, Gangzi is now in junior high school. He has a strong self-esteem, and boys are also very concerned about their reputation. You beat him in public like this. Not only will it not educate him, but it will also create a gap between you and your son."
"I am his real father! How dare he have any grudge against me! If I don't beat that kid, let alone tearing off the roof, he can even go to heaven!"
Captain Zhu didn't take it seriously. When he was a kid, he was chased around and beaten by his mother, but he was fine. There was no problem at all.
"Besides, the kids on this island run around all over the island every day. They are all very tough. How many of them haven't been beaten? If they weren't beaten, it would be even more outrageous!"
Seeing Captain Zhu's stubborn look, Zhou Qiuhe finally knew from whom Zhu Gangzi inherited his stubbornness; the father and son had very similar temperaments.
"Uncle Zhu, my father won't beat us!" Xiaobao tilted his head and criticized Master Zhu.
The corner of Captain Zhu's mouth twitched. He felt that the triplets in Lu Changzheng's family were also not easy to deal with. He found it hard to believe, "Didn't your father beat you when he was angry?"
"No!" Erbao said proudly, "My dad never beats us."
Captain Zhu was so embarrassed that he couldn't get off the stage. He thought that Lu Changzheng could tolerate it, but then he thought again, it's not that he didn't want to beat him, but he was under the supervision of Comrade Liu Meiyu, so he didn't dare to beat him.
"Uncle Zhu, are you going to beat up Brother Gangzi? But what if he seeks revenge on us after you leave?" Dabao looked worried.
Captain Zhu frowned, "He doesn't dare!"
Erbao pouted: "But uncle, your words don't count!"
Captain Zhu's expression was frozen, and he couldn't find the words to refute.
Xiaobao added: "Uncle, why do you always beat kids? It's wrong for the big to bully the small!"
The three brothers surrounded Captain Zhu, arguing with each other. It was clearly them who came to him, but in the end nothing was allowed.
Captain Zhu was having a headache at home, and he was overwhelmed by the triplets and the group of little kids behind him who were joining in the fun and making noise.
"Then what are you going to do with your uncle?" Captain Zhu helplessly put down the bamboo stick and faced the group of children. He had the urge to turn around and run away.
Zhou Qiuhe was also quite surprised. She thought Dabao and the others came to ask Zhu Gang's father to support them, but when they saw that Captain Zhu was about to beat someone up, they all stopped him.
Dabao looked serious and asked in a childish voice, "Uncle Zhu, can you build us another table tennis table? One that we can afford, so that Gangzi won't snatch it from us!"
Captain Zhu and Zhou Qiuhe were both stunned.
"Why don't you ask your fathers to ride with you?" Captain Zhu asked curiously.
Dabao said seriously: "It was our brother Gangzi who snatched the food from us. We made a mistake again. You should be blamed! My mother said that if the child is disobedient, both the parents will be punished!"
“…”
Dabao's words made Captain Zhu blush, but Zhou Qiuhe was surprised.
Erbao and Xiaobao also nodded after their brother, "Yes, uncle, if you build us a new ping-pong table, we will forgive you!"
"Uncle Zhu, will you give us a ride?" A group of children behind him looked at Captain Zhu expectantly.
Captain Zhu was surrounded by a group of children, and their childish words touched his heart.
It turns out that the person who came to his house was not to sue Zhu Gangzi, but to punish himself by making him do hard labor!
"Okay, uncle will give you a ride!" Captain Zhu agreed immediately.
It’s just a ping-pong table. You can make it with just a bed board!
"Uncle Zhu, you're so nice! You always keep your word!" Xiaobao happily jumped into Captain Zhu's arms, hugged his neck and kissed him on the face.
Erbao was afraid that Uncle Zhu would not keep his word, so he insisted on getting the stamp from others.
Dabao threatened directly: "Uncle Zhu, you can't lie to children. The teacher is here, and adults can't lie! Otherwise, I will tell my dad!"
Captain Zhu had not been treated so close by a child since Zhu Gangzi started acting naughty at home. He was unable to react for a moment and squatted there in a daze for a long time.
It took him a long time to react after Zhou Qiuhe left with the child. Thinking of his stubborn and hard-tempered Gangzi at home, he suddenly felt very uncomfortable.
Dabao and his friends got themselves a new ping-pong table. They were no longer angry with Gangzi and found a place to play with glass balls.
Liu Meiyun and Lu Changzheng, a married couple, had no idea that the triplets were doing this until someone knocked on the door when the triplets were asleep that night.
She walked out and saw the person standing at the door. She was stunned for a moment, "Just now?"
"Aunt Meiyun, this is your family's racket." Zhu Gangzi handed the racket to her awkwardly.
Liu Meiyu took it and looked at it. It was really hers. There was a mark on the handle that their father had made.
"sorry."
Zhu Gangzi received the racket, said sorry awkwardly, and ran away in a flash.
Liu Meiyun and Lu Changzheng were both confused, but the triplets were asleep and they couldn't wake them up out of curiosity to ask what was going on. They just put the racket back in their room and went back to sleep.
It was not until the next day when Liu Meiyu asked, that Dabao and the others told her what had happened yesterday.
After hearing this, Lu Changzheng's mouth twitched.
Not only is Captain Zhu famous for beating children on the island, he is also well-known in the army, and all the soldiers under his command are afraid of him.
Even he himself feels a little embarrassed sometimes, but these three in his family are really capable. They dare to come to his door directly and put him in an awkward position.
As the children grow older, they have more ideas of their own. Liu Meiyun can only sigh that time flies.
The triplets are no longer the children who would come home crying and complaining whenever they encountered difficulties outside. As a mother, she is both relieved and sad.
Once a child turns five and starts to become sensible, time really passes in the blink of an eye.
Ever since a ping-pong table was added to the playground, the triplets became the leaders of the kids on the island. Every day, a group of kids would follow them around, and they would lend their rackets to whoever performed well and teach them how to play.
In 1976, the three brothers, who were already six years old, graduated from kindergarten and were sent by their mother to the first grade of elementary school.
The three brothers no longer had to be picked up and dropped off every day. After school, they went home directly with their uncle. Liu Meiyu had more and more free time, and finally had time to start reading and preparing in advance.
"Meiyun, why have you started reading high school textbooks recently?"
When Lu Changzheng returned home, the house was quiet. The triplets went out to play with their uncle after dinner. The aunt was still on duty in the hospital. At home, Liu Meiyu was the only one sitting at the table, writing furiously.
Under the bed at home, there are two sets of old high school textbooks and a complete set of "Mathematics, Physics and Chemistry Self-study Series", which Liu Meiyun bought from the scrap recycling station one after another last year.
Seeing how hard Liu Meiyun worked, Lu Changzheng thought she had changed her mind and wanted to become a teacher in school.
After all, Dabao, Bowen and the others spend most of their time in school now, and Liu Meiyu might be bored being alone at home.
"I just had time recently, and newspapers are not enough to read. I can only read high school textbooks." Liu Meiyu made up an excuse casually.
Lu Changzheng had no doubts and even said attentively: "Then I will borrow a few more books from the city library next time I go back. You can read them at home slowly."
"Okay." Liu Meiyun nodded, "Wait until I finish reading these. I didn't even go to high school. I learned by myself in the group before. It's quite interesting to read them now."
It's quite interesting. I didn't know much about math, physics and chemistry after not studying them for so many years. Now I find that I have almost forgotten them all.
In her previous life, she graduated from an ordinary second-tier university. In order to find a job more easily, she followed the crowd and chose a major with a high employment rate. Then, when she graduated, the market for that major had already been saturated. The major with the highest employment rate became the cheapest major. As soon as she left school, she faced the challenge of being carefully selected.
She had a low level of education, no family background, no money, no noble help, no talents or special skills, and was not pretty. The meager monthly salary was barely enough for her to rent a basement to make a living in a first-tier city like Beijing.
Now faced with the opportunity before her, Liu Meiyu felt that she had to at least break through the academic barrier.
"By the way, Meiyun, the commander told me something today."
"What?" Liu Meiyu raised her head.
"There is a place for further study at the military academy next year. I'm asking if I want to sign up."
When Lu Changzheng mentioned the school, Liu Meiyu's eyelids twitched. Isn't that right on the edge of the capital? And anyone who can graduate from that school must be really talented.
"Sign up! Such a good opportunity, why are you hesitating?" Liu Meiyu was even more excited than him.
Lu Changzheng was reluctant, "It's very tight for one spot, and if you are selected, you have to study for four consecutive years, and you and your son are still here."
When Liu Meiyu heard this, she was so angry that she hit him on the head with a book, "We won't go to Beijing to accompany you! Grandpa is also in Beijing, why don't you go back to see him? Dabao and the others can all transfer to Beijing to go to school, and there's also Xiaogu. We are a family, and we must all move forward. You still want to give up such a good opportunity!"
Liu Meiyu had to hold it in and not say anything. After December next year, she would not stay on this island anymore!
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