"Mom, I'm full." Chen Mingyue wiped her mouth, picked up her schoolbag, and hurried out.
Lin Jingyue called after her, "You've just finished eating, walk slowly, don't run too fast. Don't be too stressed about the exam, Mom will make your favorite braised pork for you tonight."
"Okay, Mom, goodbye Mom!"
In the blink of an eye, Chen Mingyue is already a fifth-grade student, and today is her entrance exam for junior high school. With her grades, she is naturally qualified to pass, but she has high expectations for herself and wants to do her best.
Lin Jingyue didn't put any pressure on her children from a young age. She set goals for herself and worked towards them, which is quite good.
Over the past few years, she has received a raise and been promoted to a junior staff position. With some maneuvering, she might be able to transfer to the provincial capital. But that would probably be two years from now, by which time Chen Mingyue would be in high school, making it a good time for her to go to the provincial capital to take care of her.
The changes over the past few years haven't been significant, but she has changed quite a bit. Not only has she not aged, but she looks even younger. Even without dressing up, her calm and composed demeanor is something that most people can't imitate.
My colleague Zhou Yingying got married three years ago and had a daughter. She is pregnant again this year, saying she wants to have a son to complete the family.
Whether the other party favors sons over daughters is irrelevant to Lin Jingyue, but given their family's financial situation, they wouldn't mistreat their daughter. Besides, Zhou Yingying herself was pampered from a young age, so the probability of her favoring sons over daughters is not high; she's probably just influenced by the mainstream ideas around her.
Zhao Weiguo has often come to stay for a period of time in recent years. He comes whenever he has a holiday, and if he can't come, he writes letters and sends large and small packages. On the day of his wedding, he gave away his savings account and allowance. Now he sends half of his allowance back every month and keeps the other half for himself.
With the money I've saved over the years, buying a courtyard house in the provincial capital shouldn't be a problem.
When cooking dinner, Lin Jingyue not only made braised pork, but also bought a whole chicken to make soup. The courtyard was soon filled with the delicious aroma of chicken soup, enough to make the neighbor's kids drool.
"Mom, I'm home! It smells so good!"
When Chen Mingyue returned after her exam, the aroma made her mouth water.
"This soup needs to simmer for a while. Go play for a bit, and I'll call you for dinner later."
"Mom, aren't you going to ask me how my exam went?"
Lin Jingyue didn't even look up, continuing to chop the side dishes. "Mom believes in your abilities. It's okay if you don't do well on the test. We can do it again next year."
Didn't they say there's a "peanut class"? That's a class where students repeat a year, specifically for those aiming to get back into the top.
Chen Mingyue's heart swelled with emotion; she was deeply moved. She had always heard that other students' families placed great importance on their studies, and they would be scolded if they didn't do well, but her mother hadn't.
Sending her to school is enough to show how much they value education, but they're not obsessed with achieving good grades. They never compare her to other children, yet it seems like she *is* someone else's child?
After waiting for a while, Lin Jingyue finally ladled out the chicken soup.
"Baozhu, go wash your hands, it's time to eat."
"Okay!"
As Chen Mingyue grew older, her body also grew rapidly. With proper nutrition, she had no other problems. Although she hadn't fully matured yet, she already looked like a pure and innocent young girl.
Although the two did not speak at the dinner table, they had a great understanding and frequently served each other food.
"Mom, Dad said in his letter that he would buy me a watch. Have I received the package yet?"
Zhao Weiguo got along very well with the little girl, and after a few months, he went from calling her "uncle" to "dad," which moved him deeply.
They said they were buying a watch, but actually they just sent back the watch receipt, and we could just go to the department store to buy it later.
"The watch tickets have arrived. I'll take you to buy them tomorrow. You can choose whichever one you like."
"Yay, Mom, you're so good! Hehe!"
The young girl's sweet words flowed out like they were free.
Lin Jingyue rolled her eyes at her, "Drink less soup and eat more meat, or you'll have to get up many times at night."
"It's okay, I love drinking it."
The results came out quickly. Chen Mingyue entered the middle school with the highest score, almost a perfect score, which greatly shocked many teachers.
How could such a small county primary school be full of hidden talents?
If she knew how people perceived her, she would definitely boast about her mother. No matter what difficult problem she encountered, her mother could solve it, and her problem-solving approach was very clear.
Lin Jingyue has been attending night school for the past few years and has earned a high school diploma, so she can forget about going to university. She doesn't plan to go to university in the future; she can still do business with just a high school diploma.
She, with only a high school diploma, was capable of answering questions from fifth-grade students.
The day Chen Mingyue received her grades, she didn't look very happy; she seemed to have something on her mind.
"What's wrong? Who made you unhappy?"
Lin Jingyue walked over and reached out to brush the hair in front of her eyes.
"Mom," she looked up, her eyes filled with confusion, "why do some people just not want their children to go to school? Does school cost a lot of money?"
She's eleven years old now and has done well in school these past few years, so she must know how much school costs. Tuition is only two yuan per semester, but the problem lies in the cost of books and meals, though those don't actually cost much.
But she just couldn't understand why a mother could be so heartless, completely disregarding her child's wishes.
Upon hearing this, Lin Jingyue quickly figured out what had happened. "Was it something about your deskmate?"
They've been deskmates for several years, and the two kids have developed a pretty good relationship over the years. Sometimes they'll come over to play, but not very often, and they always go home very early.
That child was very sensible. He often helped out when he came to our house, and he was overjoyed if we gave him two pieces of candy.
Such children are easily the kind of girls who are easily swindled away by a cup of milk tea, as everyone says.
Chen Mingyue bit her lower lip. "Laidi said she can't go to school anymore because her mother won't pay her tuition. But she finally got in through the entrance exam, and I've seen how hard she's worked over the years. Why is it that so many people can't get in, but she did? Why can't she go to school?"
In fact, Wang Laidi was facing dropping out of school before, but the teacher saw the child's ambition and visited her home several times.
After several attempts, Wang Laidi's mother gave up, thinking that it would only take a year or two to finish primary school.
Lin Jingyue gently stroked the little girl's head and softly explained, "Baozhu, not every mother in this world is born loving her daughter. I think you can see that many families are like that. So this is an unsolvable question, and we can't change her mind."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
