In his previous life, Meng Dong never went to school again. In order to support himself and his sister, he went to work at a printing factory on the street through Manager Lin's introduction, and worked there for the rest of his life.
Xu Keke didn't want to think about it. The college entrance exam hadn't stopped yet, and Meng Dong was in her second year of high school, with only one year left until the exam. Meng Dong's grades weren't bad; otherwise, Chen Yurong wouldn't have never considered letting her drop out of school and find a job all these years.
"Uncle Lin, I still want to go to school. I want to take the college entrance examination and go to university."
The room fell silent; all the adults were stunned. Going to university? University wasn't easy to get into. And sixteen years old—still a child in the eyes of one's parents. In families with many children and little food to eat, sixteen-year-olds were already working.
She wanted to go to school, and perhaps things would have been alright if her father had been willing to take care of her and her sister. But clearly, her father wasn't willing. So, she and her sister didn't even have living expenses, so where would they get the money to send her to school?
Manager Lin is a retired cadre, and he genuinely hadn't realized it before. After this interaction, he discovered the child is quite opinionated. She definitely can't be persuaded with just a few words. However, the child is still young; her mother has just passed away, and she doesn't yet know what her life will be like.
But reality is harsh; it's not as simple as she thought. She'll find out in a few days.
Manager Lin sighed inwardly, "Oh well, I can always come back in a few days." He smiled at Xu Keke.
“Mengdong, it’s good that you want to go to school, but what will happen to your sister if you go to school? How will you take care of her? And how will you make a living? These are all things to worry about in the future. Let’s leave it at that for today. You must be tired. We’re leaving now. Think about it some more. If you’ve made up your mind, come find me. It’s getting late, so I’ll head back now.”
Manager Lin got up and walked out, stopping Gao Cheng and Qi Chang, who were about to see him off, from leaving.
Xu Keke took out five yuan from the money Manager Lin had just given her and stuffed it into Aunt Gao's hand.
"Uncle Gao, Aunt Gao, thank you for today."
Gao Cheng's wife quickly pushed the door open, saying, "What are you doing? It's only right for neighbors to help each other. Why are you giving money, child?"
"Take it back quickly, how can we accept money from a child like you?" Gao Cheng said from the side.
"Please take this. So many people ate at your house today. Helping out is one thing, but I still have to pay for the meal."
The Gao couple refused to accept her money and kept declining it for a long time.
Qi Chang, who couldn't stand it any longer, said, "Brother Gao, just take the money. You weren't home during the day, so you don't know. From noon to night, your wife took care of all the food and drink for these seven or eight people. This money is right. The child is sincere, so please accept it."
Gao Cheng and his wife looked at each other for a long time. Gao Cheng gave Xu Keke two yuan. "Okay, then I'll accept it shamelessly, but I don't need this much."
Xu Keke smiled and accepted it without further hesitation.
After the Gao couple left, Qi Chang took out ten yuan from his pocket and handed it to Xu Keke, saying, "This is a gift for the occasion, you can keep it."
This time, Xu Keke didn't stand on ceremony and took it without hesitation. Her quick acceptance startled Qi Chang. He thought to himself, "This child doesn't treat me like an outsider at all, and doesn't even know how to be polite."
Back home, Gao Cheng and his wife remarked that Xu Keke had been too kind. However, life was tough for everyone these days, and although both husband and wife worked, their family of five wasn't exactly wealthy. Xu Keke probably knew to give them money for the meal; she was more considerate than some adults.
After Qi Chang left, Xu Keke closed the door. Xiao Mengjia was already fast asleep from exhaustion. Xu Keke gave her a quick towel wipe, then washed up herself and went to bed.
The next day was the weekend, a day off.
Early in the morning, Gao Lan, the second oldest daughter in the Gao family, stood at their door with a large bowl in her hand. "This is the dumpling soup my mother made. Take it."
Xu Keke smiled and took the bowl from her, while Gao Lan pouted unhappily, "If you're finished eating, take the bowls to our house yourselves. I'm not coming in."
She glanced inside, and as if afraid of seeing a ghost, she turned and ran away in fright.
Someone had hanged themselves in the house, so it was considered a haunted house. Seeing the girl's expression, Xu Keke knew that people outside were probably already talking about it.
Xu Keke carried the dumpling soup back into the house, woke Meng Jia up, and the two ate. After returning the bowl to Aunt Gao, Xu Keke went to check on the coal storage pit in the yard.
Relying on her memory, she found the "Residential Coal Supply Certificate" under the mattress and then took Meng Jia to Gao Cheng's house. Gao Cheng's factory only closes for one day every two weeks, but this week he was working without a day off, and luckily Aunt Gao was home.
Xu Keke didn't go inside, but stood outside and said to Aunt Gao, "Auntie, I'd like to borrow your car for a bit."
"It's right in the yard, take it and use it. What do you need it for?"
Aunt Gao was having Gao Lan help her hold up a snakeskin bag as she stuffed dirty clothes and bed sheets into it. Her parents' house was by the river, and she was taking the children there to wash the clothes. They wouldn't have to cook lunch; they could eat at her parents' house.
"I want to buy some coal. There's not much coal left in our coal pit. I see there's still coal on my coal ration certificate that I haven't bought yet."
Aunt Gao stopped what she was doing and glanced at Xu Keke. No wonder the child's father said last night that the child had grown up since losing her mother. She never thought the child was cunning before. It seems someone is protecting her and hasn't pushed her to the point of no return.
What? The coal bin is empty? Chen Yurong's family has no capable men, so they always buy coal together from several other families. Their family of five still has half a bin full, so how come it's almost empty for her?
"Little sister, your uncle isn't home either. Can you manage by yourself?" Buying coal isn't like running errands where you can just go there and have someone fill it up for you. This kind of work is rare, especially for women, let alone girls. It's particularly unusual for women to go to the coal yard to buy coal, especially today being Sunday.
“Meng Dong, it’s no use for you to go at this hour.” Gao Jiale came out of the inner room and shook the bag in front of his mother. He tied the bag shut with the rope he had just taken from the inner room. “Last time I went with my dad, we left home before dawn. If you go at this hour, all the good coal will be gone. How about next week? My dad is off next Sunday, and I’ll go with him to buy some for you.”
Xu Keke looked at the small blue notebook in her hand, "Next week, my mom's name will be removed from this notebook. The ones that weren't bought before will be invalid."
Gao Jiale had clearly not thought that far ahead, and he was stunned when Xu Keke told him. He wanted to offer to buy it for her, but he had to go to his maternal grandparents' house with her mother today. The bag was heavy. He and his mother would have to take turns carrying it on the way. "How about tomorrow? I'll take the day off and buy it for you."
Aunt Gao raised her hand to shine the light, but didn't dare to actually hit him. This son of hers could really get into a fight with them when he wanted to. "What kind of nonsense is it that you don't go to school tomorrow? Even if you don't go, your older sister has to. She said she's going to take the college entrance exam."
"Meng Dong, you want to take the college entrance exam?" Gao Jiale was skeptical. College entrance exams weren't easy to get into. Even if Meng Dong was a good student, he might not be able to pass.
Seeing that Xu Keke actually nodded in agreement, Gao Jiale finally said after a long while, "Then why do you insist on buying coal today?"
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