I want to go to school.
Of course, Li Ming didn't dare to push the twins too hard. If they developed a dislike for school early on, she would be committing a huge sin, especially since neither of them had ever liked studying since childhood. So, Li Ming would occasionally take them out for some activities.
Of course, they can't work for free; it's not easy for their parents to support three children who can't do anything. And the opportunities to generate some income are very limited for these young kids.
Every time Li Ming went to play by the little river at the edge of the village, he would bring a piece of plastic sheeting and a tin can. The three siblings would play together, two of them using nets and one carrying the tin can, catching fish and shrimp as they went.
Although we were a bit poor at the time, the environment was amazing. The stream was crystal clear, with sand and pebbles scattered throughout, and small fish swimming among them.
In the shallower, more sluggish areas near and far, there are many large rocks. Women often squat or sit on the rocks to wash clothes, chatting and laughing as they do so, rolling up their trousers to reveal their fair calves, looking very relaxed.
Both banks are wide grasslands, covered with wildflowers and grasses, where geese and ducks waddle along, quacking and quacking. The small mound of the children's playground on the north bank is a particularly beautiful spot, a verdant and fragrant landscape surrounded by groves of willows and poplars—the scenery is simply breathtaking.
These disappeared without a trace more than a decade later.
What impressed Li Ming most were the grassy banks of the river. Years ago, to play freely in the water, she would take off her pretty, wet nylon dress and lay it out to dry on the grass. She'd forget to wear it when she got home, and lost countless dresses. She'd also lost several basins used for fishing. Sigh, she was so scared she didn't dare go home at night, and her mother would have to come out and look for her. Although she was never beaten, both she and her mother felt sorry for her.
Those were the days when material resources were scarce. Buying a dress was not easy, and a washbasin could be used for several years without being replaced.
I absolutely cannot do this now.
When taking my younger siblings to the riverbank, we would meet some friends: Feng Xiaoling and her sister, Wu Feng's younger brother Wu Ming, the neighbor Erpangzi, and some others we weren't very familiar with. Back then, there were many children, with at least two in each family. When we went out, the older ones would bring the younger ones, and the younger ones would bring the even younger ones, bringing their families along.
Li Ming was well-prepared, bringing plenty of tools. So, before long, several girls would follow behind, eyeing their nets with longing. Some, bolder as they were, would even stammer out a request to play. Li Ming readily agreed, but only if the twins joined in.
Each time, she only needed to make a few gestures before the fishing job changed hands. Moreover, those who got this job felt proud and had to flatter the siblings. Children who caught fish or shrimp using their tools would give them their spoils.
This is an unwritten rule among the local children.
Actually, what was more important to them was being able to participate in the game. The fish and shrimp were quite small, and nobody would eat them. So every few days, Li Ming would bring back a bottle of fish and shrimp to feed the chickens and geese. As a result, the egg production rate of her poultry increased significantly. The siblings' meals also improved considerably; they could often eat scrambled eggs now.
A month later, her mother had pickled dozens more chicken and goose eggs in a jar.
Of course. The vast majority were taken to the market and sold for money.
Li Ming had considered catching and eating the unpolluted river fish, but unfortunately, it was too fuel-intensive and impractical given the current economic situation. So he had to find a roundabout way. Of course, Li Ming, now freed from fishing, didn't stay idle. He used a sickle he had prepared beforehand to cut a large bundle of grass to feed the pigs.
She looked at her family's little black pig with its four white hooves, pointed head, and hunched back. Her mother said it was caught in the first month of the lunar calendar, which is more than half a year ago. Li Ming thought it was too small. He really couldn't imagine how small the pig could have been when it was a piglet. Any smaller and it would have been a mouse.
Horses don't get fat without night grass, so Li Ming thought he had to give it some extra nutrition. Pigs these days don't get much grain, so they do grow slowly. There was no other way but to let it eat more grass.
Li Ming has been very responsible lately, taking care of the children, doing housework, and looking after the family, which has earned her high praise from her mother. Her household allowance, which was originally two cents, has increased by one cent, and she hasn't questioned how it's used. This has given Li Ming a small sense of satisfaction, even though most of it has gone to buying popsicles for the twins. But having a little control over the family finances still feels pretty good.
Because it was school time, Li Ming resolutely refused to let the twins go out when they weren't playing; they stayed home to study. Even when Wu Feng came back from visiting relatives, she wasn't in the mood to socialize. Seeing that the twins weren't interested in writing, Wu Feng went to play with the other children on the hill and by the river.
So Li Ming didn't have much contact with other children. She lost touch with most of her childhood friends after she grew up, and she's not that curious about them anymore.
Sometimes Li Ming felt lonely. There was no TV to watch, no internet to go online, and the only entertainment he had was the radio, one of the only two household appliances besides the flashlight.
Li Ming has never cared about news or current events, whether in his past life or this one. He only listens to storytelling about Yue Fei or something similar every night at 7:30. Sigh, his entertainment is as scarce as it gets.
I could only test the twins' homework from time to time, watching them make faces and scratch their heads, which I considered as entertainment.
Li Ming's parents had inquired about his younger siblings' reading and writing, and Li Ming replied that it was Da Junzi from next door who taught them. Poor Da Junzi, his education was probably already handed over to a teacher. But knowing a few characters wasn't a big deal, and the parents weren't too concerned; they were busy with work and didn't think much of it.
It was already mid-August, and Li Ming knew that school would start in just over a week. She chose an auspicious day—a day when her family would eat steamed buns and everyone, adults and children, would be happy—and formally submitted her application to her parents:
"Dad, Mom, Xiaolin, Xiaohui, and I have decided to go to school together this year. Dad, could you register us in advance?"
Whether this matter will succeed depends on her father. Although he is a man of few words, his word is law at home, and he is easy to talk to.
Her mother was a little surprised: "Huh? Didn't we agree to go together next year?"
Li Ming smiled obsequiously: "Hehe, Mom, it's better to do this sooner rather than later. You always say that we should hurry up and finish what we're doing, because there might be some delays later."
Cheng Min paused for a moment: "It's not that Mom doesn't want you to go, but look, your younger brother and sister-in-law are still young, they can't be left without someone to take care of them. It won't make a difference if you go for another year, why don't you all go together next year, okay?"
Li Ming was unhappy to hear this: "Don't worry, I'll take them with me. Although they're not old enough, they already know quite a few words and will pass the school exam. They may be a little young, but I'll be in the same class as them. I'll see if it's okay. If it really doesn't work out, I'll just drop out with them and wait until next year."
If those two brats dare to do anything to her, she'll see how she deals with them, hmph!
The father, who hadn't said a word, put down his chopsticks: "If the children want to go to school, let them go. It's not good for them to always be playing around like this. It's always good for them to learn something."
Before joining the army, her father had only completed junior high school, so he was quite educated and knowledgeable. Compared to her mother, who didn't even finish elementary school, he was a completely different person, Li Ming thought to himself with admiration.
“It’s not that I don’t want them to go, but I heard that they won’t accept them if they’re not old enough.”
My mom actually considered having the school babysit for her child, haha.
My dad's stance was clearly wavering, and his ideological awareness was obviously not high enough. He actually started picking up food and continuing to eat, seemingly deep in thought, but he didn't take any action.
Clearly, people's understanding of reading has not improved.
More obviously, people's minds are now more pure, and they consider it shameful to take shortcuts.
Therefore, Li Ming's original idea of asking his parents to pull some strings and ask for favors was thwarted.
You know, if we force Mom and Dad to go, and even if they manage to get it done, but then they return it as a defective product, sigh, not to mention Mom and Dad, even she herself will lose face. How will her three siblings ever be able to face the children in our village again?
However, let alone the fact that there are no backdoors now, as far as she knows, when she was in elementary school, there were two teachers whose children started school at the age of five or six. Regardless of whether they did well in school or not, who can say that the school didn't have the intention of taking care of their children?
So, this matter is more difficult than Li Ming imagined, but it's not impossible. After all, Li Ming is someone who has lived through an era where backdoors were rampant, and extraordinary matters require extraordinary measures.
So, a few days later, on Monday morning, as soon as his parents left, Li Ming quickly tidied up the two younger children and himself. Li Lin wore a pink ribbon bow that her father had just bought for her on his business trip. Li Ming kept his own pair of bows away; given her age, he couldn't possibly wear them on himself. The reason he didn't give them to Li Lin was as a reserve for keeping her quiet in case of emergency.
She gave the twins another round of instructions on foreign affairs etiquette, picked up the bright red tomato she had picked yesterday, wrapped it in a new handkerchief, carried it in her hand, locked the door, and led the twins straight to the village primary school.
Just like when Li Ming was a child, Linjia Village Primary School had two rows of school buildings and a playground facing the public. There was a cement platform on the playground for leading exercises, but no gates or walls; it was simply open. Li Ming had seen it several times before, so it wasn't anything new to him.
He led the two children straight to the principal's office.
It was still early, and summer vacation wasn't over yet, so there weren't many people at the school. But Li Ming knew the principal must be there; he had already seen his bicycle parked in the parking lot.
After knocking on the door and receiving permission, I led the child inside.
Upon looking, he saw that Principal Chen, who was in his mid-twenties, was indeed there, and quickly bowed and said, "Hello, Principal."
Upon seeing that there were three children, and that they were quite polite, Principal Chen kindly asked:
"Little friend, is there something you need?"
Upon hearing the question, Li Ming quickly pulled his younger siblings over and led them to the principal, where he spoke neither humbly nor arrogantly:
"Uncle Principal, we want to come to school, we've come to register."
"Oh, how old are you?" The principal found the children quite interesting.
“I am eight years old, and this is my younger brother and sister-in-law, twins, who are seven years old.”
"Your age is fine, but your sister-in-law is a bit young; she'll be here next year."
Nonsense, I won't come looking for you next year.
Li Ming feigned innocence: "But Principal, my younger brother and sister-in-law are very smart. They love learning. I originally wanted to come to school with them next year, but they refused. They insist on coming, otherwise they'll cause a ruckus at home. I really can't do anything about it. Besides, they promise to behave. So please let them drop out of school. Otherwise, they'll think school is some kind of fun place. School is a sacred place, not a place to play."
After saying that, he took the tomato out of his hand, gently placed it on the desk, and said sincerely:
"Here, these are persimmons they specially picked out for you. They're a new variety and they're extra sweet."
Principal Chen almost burst out laughing. These kids knew how to flatter, but he really did love tomatoes.
Having worked in the countryside for so many years, I've never seen such clever children, so I had the idea to tease them:
"I want to go to school, um, but do you know that you have to take exams to go to school? Only if you pass the exams can you become a primary school student?"
Li Ming was overjoyed. "Hehe, this is promising! My two little ones really can't go to school without taking the exam. I'm just worried you won't take it." She knew perfectly well that at this age, taking an exam was pointless. They were basically a bunch of illiterate little kids who hadn't even attended preschool—truly preschool children.
Pretending to be clueless: "Uncle Principal, does that mean they can go to school if they pass the exam?"
Even the principal came out, though she actually preferred to call him Grandpa Principal.
Principal Chen assumed they could only count to a certain extent; he knew the general level of preschool children, and whether or not to accept them was entirely up to him. He smiled and said:
"Yes, that's right. So what are your skills?"
Li Ming, fearing he might change his mind and deliberately make things difficult for them, quickly feigned innocence:
"Let's pinky swear. Adults have to keep their word, or the puppy will go back on its word."
Principal Chen was still somewhat unconvinced: "Okay, okay, pinky promise..."
Now that the signing ceremony is over, it's time to get down to business.
Li Ming was also afraid that the principal would ask for an exorbitant price and deliberately make things difficult for them, so he took the opportunity to ask them to do some first-grade worksheets, since theoretical knowledge would be easier to deal with.
The principal was also afraid that Li Ming, who was precocious at a young age, would try to fool him, so he first had them count to one hundred and do a few simple addition and subtraction problems. Unexpectedly, they even knew the multiplication tables and were quite fast at solving problems.
The principal was quite surprised and asked them what else they could do.
This time, the two little ones weren't shy at all, and eagerly recited several ancient poems and prose pieces as if showing off their treasures. The principal didn't think much of reciting ancient poems, but ancient prose was different, especially the entire "Inscription of a Humble Abode".
The leader praised several of them.
The two little ones got carried away by the praise and even started babbling "Hello, gu bai san kuai you" in English, which sounded terrible to Li Ming.
Upon hearing this, Li Ming touched his face, thinking to himself that he really couldn't dampen their enthusiasm.
Principal Chen was truly surprised this time.
At that time, there were no English classes in primary school; they weren't introduced until junior high. It seems the child's parents must have some education; were they perhaps sent-down youth?
Finally, the three sang "Farewell" to the principal instead of the popular children's songs "The Newspaper Boy's Song" or "I Found a Penny on the Roadside".
The principal finally determined that the children's parents must be very educated, and told them to have their parents bring them to register the next day, thus agreeing to let them attend school.
What a joke! These kids are just as good as second graders. Their parents must be too embarrassed to ask for help, so they let the kids try it themselves.
To be honest, Principal Chen was a good person. Back then, there were many good people who didn't care about personal gains or losses.
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