Thirty-two Hu made a move.
That same evening, after buying the raw materials from the city, Li Wei was about to tidy up everything when she suddenly remembered the school's arts performance auditions the next day. She quickly grabbed her violin and began practicing "A Great River".
If I practice the piece until I'm proficient, I'm confident I'll be selected. After all, there aren't any instrumentalists performing at the school yet, even if my skill level is very low.
The selection took place the following afternoon in the largest office at the school. Li Wei saw two familiar faces: one was Gu Liwei, a classmate from first grade, who was performing the dance "The Girl from Alishan" in her beautiful princess dress; the other was Chen Wei from her class, who sang "Let Us Row Our Boats," her voice clear, melodious, and very pleasant to listen to.
There weren't many applicants from the school to begin with, and Gu Liwei, Chen Wei, and Li Wei were all selected. The official performance is next Wednesday, and before that, music teacher Kong will provide some guidance.
What excited Li Wei was that Teacher Kong, who was interviewing everyone today, had a royal blue velvet hair accessory tied in her ponytail—a genuine Li Wei creation, hehe.
Li Wei's return to the classroom after the interview caused quite a stir. Most of the children had never seen a musical instrument before, so they all curiously asked Li Wei to take it out for them to see. Li Wei generously opened the instrument case, took out the instrument, and let everyone touch it. Li Lin, who was pushed to the side, glared at her somewhat crowded classmates, feeling a little unhappy, but there was nothing she could do.
Finally, at the request of some students, Li Wei simply played two very simple tunes for everyone, which made the group of children extremely envious. This made Li Lin, who always liked to show off, both envious and jealous, and quite tempted to consider whether she should ask her mother to buy her a piano to learn.
After school in the evening, as usual, a group of children would do their homework first, then the boys, along with Wu Feng, would practice martial arts, and Li Wei would practice the piano. Li Lin was still left out.
The original eight-immortal table in Li Wei's home has been officially turned into a desk. Paired with a folding stool that her father bought from the market, the table is now full of seven or eight children, making it quite lively.
Given that the current textbooks are indeed simple, Li Wei adds some extra content for everyone two days a week while they complete their homework. This extra content is borrowed from Dajunzi next door and comes from textbooks for higher grades. The children don't have any difficulty understanding it.
Li Wei considered that she was fine before junior high school. She might have forgotten some subjects, but she could catch up and do some practice. The most dreaded thing was high school.
Li Wei was always weak in math and physics during high school. Back then, hoping to make university entrance exams easier with science subjects, she studied science as well. However, she never truly understood physics or math. She was relatively better at math, but she never passed physics. Her entire high school years were ruined by physics. If it weren't for her excellent performance in Chinese, foreign languages, and politics, she probably wouldn't have had much hope of getting into university.
Now she has the opportunity to study again. Li Wei has made up her mind. This time, she's definitely not going to study science. However, it seems the competition for university entrance exams in the humanities is fiercer, requiring more memorization. She feels her intelligence is only average, and she might still have to put in a lot of effort. To be on the safe side, Li Wei decides to put in extra effort during the summer vacation, letting the children read more. When school starts, they can skip a grade and go straight to fourth grade, preparing for a retake of the university entrance exam if they fail. Wow!
And it seems that even skipping a grade means taking the students sitting in front and behind her, including her twins, along. These kids are all jumping the grade without any preparation. Li Wei has no doubt that history will repeat itself and Principal Chen will be humiliated again.
As for Luo Da, the number of sheep grazing has increased to two, and it's possible that it will increase to four or five in five or six months. Li Wei noticed that Luo Da seemed to accept the goat's milk quite well, while her grandfather seemed to be drinking Chinese medicine. So she had to spare her grandfather's torture and give the milk to Luo Da instead. Luo Da lived up to expectations, drinking as much as given, as if it were plain water.
Li Wei was greatly relieved. Otherwise, she would have felt really guilty about always using child labor. This was a good opportunity for Luo Da to be self-sufficient and also to enjoy the fruits of his own labor.
As for the newly purchased raw materials for the flower arrangement, Li Wei contacted Aunt Lin through her maternal grandfather. Following her instructions, all the fabric scraps were cut into uniform strips and sewn into fabric covers. Li Wei was paid by piecework. Then, through her grandfather again, she contacted Wu Feng's mother to process Aunt Lin's semi-finished products into finished goods. She was also paid by piecework.
This not only improves efficiency but also benefits everyone.
So far, although Wu Feng and Erpangzi know that Li Wei goes to the market to sell hair accessories every Sunday, they don't know that these things are very profitable. Others probably can't even imagine that these children's toys can make money. Moreover, the raw materials are not sold at the market, so Li Wei can maintain a monopoly for the time being.
Days passed by, and soon the day of the cultural performance arrived.
Students attended classes as usual in the morning.
During her lunch break, Li Wei went home, ate something simple, and then changed into her newly bought dress, white socks, and red shoes. She then hurriedly grabbed her violin and headed to school; it seemed Teacher Kong was going to do everyone's makeup.
Li Lin, who was standing to the side, was envious.
The performance was a success. There were seven primary schools in the town, and each school sent an average of four or five programs. Li Wei, with her less than 10% erhu playing skills, actually won first prize and received a certificate, but no prizes or cash.
Li Wei knew in her heart that it wasn't that her performance was particularly good; it was simply that out of more than thirty programs, besides singing and dancing, there were also a few poetry recitations and two male comedians performing crosstalk. Her instrumental performance was the most technically demanding. Of course, this excludes the music teachers who accompanied each school.
So, even though winning an award should have been a glorious thing, she just couldn't get excited.
When Li Wei and her classmates came home from school that evening, Li Lin rushed into her own yard first. Without even putting down her schoolbag, she dashed into her mother's workshop, shouting, "Mom—buy me an erhu! Buy me an erhu! I want to play the erhu!"
Her mother was taken aback, wondering what was wrong. She was fine when she came back at noon, but suddenly changed her attitude in the afternoon. Didn't she dislike learning the erhu? So Cheng Min assumed it was just a child having a sudden tantrum and waved Li Lin away: "Go, go do your homework, don't get in the way. If you want to learn the erhu, go learn from your sister. Why buy an erhu? One isn't enough for the two of you! Get out, get out."
Li Lin's application was ruthlessly rejected by her mother. Dejected, she left the steamed bun workshop. It seemed she'd have no choice but to learn the erhu from her sister. She certainly didn't have her sister's skills. If her mother wouldn't buy it for her, she'd have to buy it herself; she had neither the money nor the courage. However, if she learned well, she could wear her sister's pretty dresses to perform in shows, so she didn't mind pleading with her sister.
Li Lin finished her homework absentmindedly. While others were practicing martial arts or playing the piano, Li Lin took a glass of water from a table with a large water bottle and a dozen cups on it. With a fawning smile on her face, she placed the glass next to her sister and said, "Sis, take a break. Sis, could you teach me?"
Some people are born with certain instincts that don't need to be taught, like suckling or flattery.
Li Wei glanced at Li Lin, deciding it wasn't wise to keep stringing her along. The time was right; otherwise, it might backfire. Li Lin was indeed getting a little tired of playing the erhu. She took a sip of water and asked, "Do you really want to learn?"
Li Lin nodded vigorously, like a chick pecking at rice: "Really, really, I will definitely study hard and diligently. If I don't study hard, you, you can hit me, I promise I won't tell on you!"
It seems she knows she has a habit of tattletales.
Li Wei looked like she was seriously considering it: "Oh, I see... Let me think... Hmm—if you really want to learn, write a guarantee, write down how you plan to stick with it to the end, and express your determination. If you write the guarantee and it seems like you really want to learn the erhu, I'll give you this erhu. Also, did you see the skirt I wore when I performed today? I'll give you that skirt too. What do you think?"
Li Lin was overjoyed to receive sweet potatoes as a free gift with the purchase of potatoes. She jumped up and pulled a grid notebook from her schoolbag, but before writing, she still wanted to confirm: "Sis, you have to keep your word, no backing out!"
"Okay, okay, write it down. I'm a woman of my word, so write it down quickly and make sure your handwriting is neat." Li Wei was overjoyed. Haha, finally, the erhu player is going to make her move.
Li Lin was no slouch either; she was going all out for that beautiful dress. Writing at an unprecedented speed, she completed a guarantee, or more accurately, a letter of determination, in less than five minutes.
Li Wei almost burst out laughing when she saw the first two lines. The content was as follows:
I will definitely practice playing the erhu after school on Monday, after school on Tuesday, and after school on Wednesday...
I kept writing until Sunday; it was just a stream of consciousness.
Li Wei felt it was necessary to practice writing essays with them.
Skipping after-school erhu practice seven days a week was ultimately a realistic decision:
If I don't play the erhu, I won't take that skirt.
Wow! That takes a lot of determination.
Li Wei was a little moved. "Little sister, you're very thoughtful. If you really didn't play the erhu, your sacrifice would be truly earth-shattering!"
Finally, Li Wei asked Li Lin to add a clause to the back of the guarantee:
If I ever slack off while studying, my sister can punish me however she wants. If I complain, she'll make sure I never get to wear pretty dresses again.
Signature of the person who made the decision: Li Lin
Guarantor: Mom's signature
Supervisor: Grandpa's signature
[Date]
But books also need to cater to the reader's tastes.
Seeing the antics her daughters had caused, Cheng Min, the mother, was both amused and exasperated. She quickly signed her name with her pen and continued working.
The old man stared at the document his granddaughters had produced for a long time, then smacked his lips and asked, "Grandpa, can you put your fingerprint on it?"
After the handover procedures were completed, Li Wei handed over the erhu and skirt to Li Lin without saying a word.
Li Lin was so happy she couldn't stop smiling. She looked at this and that, spending a relatively long time admiring the dress. Touching the smooth fabric of the dress, she couldn't resist and quickly ran inside to change.
When Li Lin looked in the mirror and admired herself, she suddenly had a feeling that her sister seemed quite happy when she gave her those two things.
Could it be... that there's something wrong with this dress or that it's damaged? It looks fine in every photo.
Could it be... that there's something wrong with the erhu or that it's broken? I can't see anything wrong with it no matter how I look at it.
Li Wei, leisurely relaxing outside, had no idea of her sister's mischievous thoughts. Seeing that Li Lin had been admiring herself for a while, she called out, "Li Lin, Li Lin, come out and practice the piano!" Heh, that rhymes quite well. Perhaps she could add a couple more lines: "If you don't practice, I'll spank you!" Hehe.
Li Lin, still suspicious and restless, practiced her erhu with a screeching sound, while a few boys practiced martial arts with chuckles. Li Wei, while drinking water, pondered whether to go to the music store to buy Li Lin a practice book; perhaps she could see the handsome young man again. The more she thought about it, the more itchy she became, and finally decided to go this weekend.
That evening, Li Wei played basketball for a while, worked up a sweat, took a nice warm bath, and then, wearing her floral cotton dress, counted the hair accessories that Wu Feng's mother had brought. You have to admit, adults are incredibly efficient; in just a few days, they've already done more than Li Wei did in a week.
Of course, nominally it was her maternal grandfather who helped a friend find someone to process the goods.
Li Wei sorted through all the hair accessories, stringing them together in groups of ten according to price and style. There weren't many varieties, only three: bow-shaped, plastic beaded, and plain fabric loops. Bow-shaped ones were six cents each, plastic beaded ones were seven cents each, and fabric loops were still five cents each.
Although the pile looked colorful, Li Wei still felt the styles were too monotonous. Now that she didn't have to do so much handicrafts, it seemed she could turn to design. However, she also thought that the local market was limited, and over time, Wu Feng's mother and Aunt Lin would inevitably discover the business opportunities. At that point, with her current strength, she probably wouldn't be able to compete with them, and it wouldn't be very meaningful to develop to that stage.
At her age, it's really not suitable for her to earn that kind of hard-earned money, nor is it worth it.
So after some thought, Li Wei decided not to go to the market to sell her hair accessories this week. Instead, she took advantage of the opportunity to go to the music store to buy sheet music and see the handsome young man, and went directly to the free market on Changjiang Road with her hair accessories.
Of course, it's best to stay away from the fabric scrap vendor. If that's not possible, buy all their fabric scraps first, then set up your own stall to sell hair accessories. Otherwise, not only will it be difficult to negotiate prices when buying fabric scraps later, but it won't be fun if that shrewd vendor sees through your business opportunity. The same goes for the plastic bead vendor. As for the elastic cord vendor... forget about it, it's impossible to guard against them all. Just take it one day at a time.
Li Wei was calculating her own plans rapidly, and she didn't seem like the type to do anything big.
So, early Sunday morning, Li Wei and her personal child laborer Luo Da each set off carrying a large bag of hair accessories.
Li Wei hadn't originally planned to bring so many. She hadn't even investigated the market yet. If they couldn't sell and she had to carry them back, that would be too much of a hassle.
However, Aunt Lin and Aunt Wu, greedy for money, worked together and in less than a week, they had three whole bags of hair accessories. Li Wei was a little dumbfounded. This was... way too much!
Of course, Aunt Lin and Aunt Wu were overjoyed with the more than ten yuan they each earned in a week; otherwise, they wouldn't have worked so hard.
Li Wei, wearing a hair accessory, sighed inwardly on the bus. The time to test her sales skills had come so quickly; she wasn't prepared at all.
Sitting next to her, Luo Da was clutching the bag on his lap. He knew exactly what was inside, so he frowned. Those stupid women were even dumber than the idiots around him, actually spending money to buy this junk. They must have worms in their brains.
Li Wei was scorned once again. Or perhaps, things could get a little better?
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