I want to change my name.
That evening, Li Ming told his parents that the school required parents to register the next day.
Li's parents were very surprised. Li Ming simply explained the situation and stopped Li Lin's eager attempt to praise herself with a very imposing look.
Hmph! Li Lin pouted in anger, but dared not utter a word of complaint.
The parents knew that they usually read and write at home, and it seemed that they had indeed learned a few words, so they praised them highly.
But the praise clearly left Li Lin feeling unsatisfied. It was a bit unpleasant to be admired as if she were wearing shorts when she was wearing a pretty dress, so she curled her lips in disapproval.
As for Li Lianhui, he was just a little kid who only knew how to eat, happily wrestling with the sugar filling inside the steamed bun, and didn't hear what the adults were saying at all.
Li Ming sighed inwardly, thinking how innocent the children were these days. They were nothing like the children twenty years from now, who would be corrupted by television, computers, and other media, becoming incredibly cunning and difficult to fool.
Of course, Li's mother didn't mind that Li Ming would take care of her children in a different place. The next morning, she went to the school to register the children and assign them to classes. All three of them were in the first grade, class two.
Cheng Min was very happy, but Principal Chen was a little disappointed. Sigh, she turned out to be just a housewife. Although she was pretty, you could tell from her mouth that she wasn't very cultured. I thought I would see some kind of intellectual.
The next day, Aunt Lin from next door, Aunt Wu Feng, and Aunt Luo San, the mother of the three Luo brothers in the front yard, heard that the school had agreed to let Old Li's family take care of their children. They immediately took action, rushed to the school, and strongly demanded that their children also go to school.
Unfortunately, when the principal asked Erpang and Luo Da and Luo Er a question, the two timidly admitted they knew nothing, and the two parents' arrogance vanished immediately.
If Erpang is the type who can't take care of himself, then the Luo brothers are definitely the manic type. With their burly, tiger-like faces, broad shoulders, and fierce-looking eyes…
There are many new students this year. Principal Chen decided it's better to let the tiger return to the mountain rather than let the wolf into the house.
Wu Feng is a girl. She's alright. She can count a few numbers. I made an exception and accepted her.
Actually, Wu Feng and Luo Da are the same age as Li Ming (by the traditional Chinese age reckoning). It's a pity their birthdays are earlier; their actual ages don't meet the age requirement.
Now that they were old enough to go to school, Li's mother immediately began preparing school supplies. Although life was a bit poor, the couple still held high hopes for their children who were about to start school.
I took my child to the only department store in town and bought school supplies such as a backpack and pencil case.
Li Lin wanted the pretty red plaid faux leather shoulder bag, but Li Lianhui, oblivious to his mother's good intentions, insisted on having the same bag as Dajunzi, who was using a military green canvas bag. Li Ming didn't care, but since canvas bags were cheaper, she bought the same bag as her younger brother.
The remaining pencil cases were rather plain, all thin tin boxes about the width of a palm, differing only slightly in the painted designs. The notebooks, pencils, erasers, and other items were in triplicate. Li Ma spent quite a bit of money, but she was still very happy.
The children are about to begin a new life, a new life full of hope.
With his school supplies ready, Li Ming wasn't as excited as Li Lin.
There's another thing that she's not entirely satisfied with, and it needs to be changed.
That is her name—Li Ming.
Back then, according to her mother, when she was born, her father excitedly ran to buy a Xinhua Dictionary—the very one that she and her siblings later used as toilet paper to wipe their bottoms. He spent several days frantically searching for good words and characters to name Li Ming, and finally settled on this name, "Radiant Sun and Moon, Bright Future." Wow! There couldn't be a more dazzling name.
However, after Li Ming started school, he found that the name was too common, for example:
Chinese textbooks often use the sentence: Although Xiaoming doesn't like studying, he loves labor.
Math textbook word problem: Xiaoming had eight apples. He ate three. How many apples were left?
Of course, there are many others who are just as popular as Xiaoming, such as Xiaogang, Xiaohong, Xiaoqiang, Xiaoli, and so on. Wow!
Therefore, this name absolutely needs to be changed. It doesn't need to be grand and dramatic, but rather gentle and graceful; it doesn't need to be powerful and imposing, but rather poetic and picturesque, like a scene from a fairy tale...
While Li Ming was filled with poetic and romantic notions, unable to make up his mind, he inadvertently remembered the pretty girl he had met in the store—Chen Wei.
I remember in my past life, there were two very famous beauties in the upper grades of their school. One was named Chen Wei, and the other was named Gu Liwei. They were all top students in terms of academics, looks, and sports.
When they grew up, one became a teacher in the city, and the other married a wealthy man in the city.
Later, when Li Ming grew up, he met two people whose names contained the characters "Wei" or "Wei". The man was handsome and the woman was pretty. So, Li Ming always had the idea that names could influence people.
So, Li Ming gritted his teeth and decided that if his family wanted to be popular, they should also have a beautiful woman in their family. He decided to name her Li Wei.
Who told us we weren't very creative?
So, Li Ming resolutely changed his name, first forcing his family to call him that. Others didn't care, but his father frowned a little. "Why change such a bright future into something like 'little grass'?"
Li Ming—no, Li Wei—immediately retorted:
"What little grass? It's the 'wei' in 'rose,' it's a flower! It's a flower!"
"It's all just flowers and plants; it doesn't have the grandeur of Li Ming's style. Let's not change it."
Li Zhaoxing insists that Li Ming is magnanimous, not just ordinary.
"Yes, daughter, tomorrow there is both sun and moon, that's good, don't change it."
Li Ma Cheng Min felt that her husband had worked hard for a long time to find such a good name, so she shouldn't let his efforts go to waste. Besides, how could a blade of grass compare to the sun?
Li Ming – let's keep calling him that for now, as his new name hasn't been officially recognized yet.
Seeing her parents' rigid, feudalistic attitude, Li Ming got angry. "I take care of the child all day long. Do you know how hard it is for me? I finally managed to get her into school, and now even this small request can't be met. How can I live like this? She doesn't care about a bright future. She just wants to be a beautiful woman with a stable job. Is her request too much?"
The conclusion is, it's not excessive!
It's time for her to enjoy the rights of being a child.
Awooooo...
Li Ming collapsed onto the kang (a heated brick bed), wailing and rolling around on the floor...
The chickens and geese outside started scattering, the big yellow dog started barking, the twins were so scared they peeked through the crack in the door, and the fat neighbor climbed over the wall to peek inside...
This is Aunt Luo's secret weapon against Uncle Luo in the front yard, and it always works.
But she forgot that her father wasn't Luo Sanjiu.
She also forgot that her father hated Aunt Luo's shrewish behavior the most, so no one in her family, including her mother, dared to act like a shrew.
Li Ming just wanted to vent her frustrations from the past few days, to throw a little childish tantrum, and to get rid of the habit of constantly talking without anyone listening. If she got really angry and lost her temper, she could just lie down on the ground instead of worrying about hygiene and lying on the kang (a heated brick bed).
So it's mostly performance.
But when she saw her father's ashen face as he picked up a broom from the kang (a heated brick bed) and rushed towards her, Li Ming was startled.
Oh no, the parents are about to exercise their rights.
Unlike her mother, her father couldn't hit the child at the time, so he let it go and didn't pursue the matter further.
Although her father rarely hit them, if he really angered them, he would definitely hit them. Running away was useless; he would come back and hit them again, although usually no one dared to run away.
Li Ming remembered running away when he was a child, but he was too small to escape the clutches of the demons and was scared half to death.
Now that the old ways are repeating themselves, Li Ming is not having it.
You're going to hit the child over such a trivial matter? Do you even act like a father? All I did was ask you to change my name because I didn't respect your work. I do housework, take care of the child, tutor him, feed the pigs, chickens, and look after the dogs and geese. Have I done less?
Aww...
Li Ming hurriedly jumped off the kang (a heated brick bed) and ran crying to his mother for protection. A wise man can't suffer a loss in front of him.
"Alright, it's not a big deal..." Mom instinctively protected her.
I had just managed to get myself settled behind my mom when I peeked out and, lo and behold, my dad wasn't done yet. He swatted my mom's arm away.
"Don't worry about it. She doesn't learn the good things but she picks up all the bad ones. I'll teach her a lesson so she'll remember it!"
Li Ming was furious. What kind of father was this? He was never going to stop! He even insisted on hitting her. She knew it; her father had never really liked her since she was little. She'd definitely get a DNA test when she grew up to prove it. Her younger siblings said he had no problem with not going to school, but she was just starting to show some interest when he beat her up. Then he gave her siblings a lot of money to find jobs, while he, after graduating, had to work himself to the bone and rely on himself. Humph!
Li Ming stopped crying in anger. In a fit of rage, he dashed into the outer room, grabbed the cleaver he had just finished chopping vegetables on, which was next to a pile of scallions, and shouted:
"If you hit me again, I'll..."
She wanted to say suicide, but when she saw her father's face turn from ashen to icy cold, she suddenly realized that if she uttered the word "suicide," she would probably get a severe beating.
Of course, she couldn't possibly have actually committed suicide.
But since she'd already made that boast, she had to kill something, draw blood, and put an end to her father's violent temper.
Li Ming's mind raced. She wouldn't dare kill even a big yellow dog, let alone a person... She had an idea.
Li Ming grabbed a cleaver and ran out of the house, leaped into the chicken coop, caught a hopping hen, and without hesitation, swiftly chopped off its head with a single, sharp stroke, blood spurting out. Then he quickly caught another, held it in his hand, and looked at his father, who was almost crushing the coop.
"If you hit me, I'll kill all these chickens!"
Even if she really got beaten, she still needed to recover.
Needless to say, Li Ming's disheveled, devilish appearance, set against a backdrop of chicken blood, a gleaming cleaver, clucking chickens, flying feathers, and general chaos...
It was quite terrifying; at least the twins were so scared they cried.
It was terrifying, but it wasn't enough to frighten Li Zhaoxing. However, since it was his own child, and he had been driven to this point, Li Zhaoxing still hesitated.
Li Ma Cheng Min didn't hesitate and followed her husband out. When she saw that the chicken had been killed by Li Ming, her husband's face was full of anger. He was furious. These two were just messing around with public property. Besides, the child was so young. What if something happened while he was carrying a kitchen knife?
Li's mother was furious. She rushed forward, snatched the broom from Li's father's hand, and shoved him aside.
"What are you doing, Li Zhaoxing? It's just a name change, why are you resorting to knives and guns like we're enemies? You..."
"You little brat, you dare threaten me? Today I'll..."
Mr. Li was very angry, and the consequences were severe.
Before he could lash out again, Uncle Lin, the neighbor with Erpangzi trailing behind him, entered the yard, took a few quick steps, and grabbed Li's father:
"What are you doing, Zhaoxing? The child doesn't know any better, and you, as his father, are doing the same thing. Don't you act like a father at all? Look how scared you've made the child. Come on, let's go to my house for a while..."
They forcibly dragged Li's father, Li Zhaoxing, away.
Li Ming breathed a sigh of relief. Although she had been craving chicken lately, she couldn't just kill all the chickens. But watching her father being dragged and pulled away by Uncle Lin, knowing his past tendency to ruthlessly beat someone when they were down, she was still quite worried. What if her father returned that night? She would be completely innocent. So she quickly raised her voice and shouted:
"Fourth Uncle, you have to stand up for me! My dad loves to settle scores and beat the kids. If you don't stand up for me, I'll kill the chickens first, then the geese, then the pigs, and finally the dogs. After I've killed all the chickens in my family, I'll kill all the chickens in yours, and so on..." Her mother snatched the knife away and dragged her out of the chicken coop.
Li Zhaoxing had calmed down a bit and there was nothing seriously wrong, but when he heard Li Ming shouting again, he jumped around as if he wanted to fight Li Ming, but was restrained and taken away by the strong and burly Uncle Lin.
Before leaving, Uncle Lin suppressed a laugh and added the following instructions:
"Don't worry, Xiaoming. If your dad hits you tonight, just ask your fourth uncle to deal with him. Your fourth uncle will stand up for you."
Taking advantage of the opportunity, Li Ming flailed his limbs and announced:
“I’m not called Li Ming anymore. I’ll change my name to Li Wei from now on. Fourth Uncle, please tell Fourth Aunt, Dajunzi, and Erpangzi.”
She changed her name, she changed her name, she'd kill anyone who stood in her way, even her father, if he tried, she'd kill him.
Li Wei defended her right to change her name with chicken blood and a kitchen knife.
When Dad came home that evening, for the first time ever, he didn't bring up any grudges. Mom stewed a chicken, and the twins were overjoyed. Li Wei also got to enjoy her chicken. The whole family was happy and harmonious as they ate together.
It felt like Chinese New Year; the atmosphere was very harmonious.
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