Chapter 21 021 Our Family Is Really Rich
If Song Shijia's illness delays his studies for half a month, his review progress will inevitably be affected. Even though he has always been the top student in the school, he may not be able to perform normally during the exam.
In fact, Song Xiaoli knew that her older cousin studied hard and had a very solid foundation in basic knowledge; he could pass the junior high school entrance exam without even needing to review. But in the eyes of adults, the entrance exam was a very serious matter that needed to be taken seriously.
My eldest uncle was always secretly disliked by my father for not being smart enough, and he really wasn't. He only finished elementary school and refused to continue his studies. My eldest aunt was even less literate. If they stayed to take care of Song Shijia, they would not only have to ask the commune for half a month's leave, reducing the family's work points by two able-bodied men, but they also wouldn't be able to provide any help with Song Shijia's studies.
All eyes turned to Song Wanxia.
Song Wanxia blinked, remembering that the school had granted her a special leave of absence, which was still less than half a month away. Moreover, she had been raised with a delicate lifestyle since childhood, and she couldn't do as much housework as her older brother and sister-in-law. So she might as well stay at the hospital in their place.
“How about I stay and take care of Sega, and supervise his studies while I’m at it? But I’m not very good at taking care of people,” Song Wanxia said somewhat awkwardly, “and besides, what about Xiaoli…”
"Wherever Mom is, that's where I'll be," Song Xiaoli naturally wanted to stay with her mother. "I'll be very obedient and can help out!"
“Then I’ll leave all the money and ration coupons to you. We’ll take one of the big quilts back with us, so it doesn’t take up space here and it won’t look good if the hospital leaders see it.” Under his father’s influence, the eldest uncle also attached great importance to his child’s studies. The entrance exam for junior high school was coming up soon, and the child was sick, so he naturally had to make sure that someone would help the child with his studies. Therefore, he gave all the money and ration coupons to Song Wanxia. “Dad said that we don’t need to be stingy with money in town. Buy whatever you see that you want.”
“Then I’ll go back this morning and bring back a few changes of clothes for me and Xiaoli. Big brother, you go to the town primary school and get Shijia’s clothes.” Song Wanxia didn’t refuse and started planning. “I still have more than ten days of leave left. I’ll stay at the hospital these days to help him review Chinese. When I go back to work, Shijia should be able to go back to school. I’ll let him stay at school and eat breakfast and dinner there. I’ll bring him lunch.”
The brother and sister discussed the details again, and in the end, Song Wanxia rode her bicycle back to the village once in the morning, bringing back a bag of clothes and some other things. Then she went to the town primary school, found the teacher who had helped Song Xiaoli and a few other children before, and gave him a basket of eggs as a thank-you gift. Finally, she took Song Shijia's textbooks back to the hospital.
The main subjects in primary school are only Chinese and math. The teaching in remote towns is not as sophisticated as in big cities. Subjects such as music, art, and physical education are often taught by the Chinese or math teachers of the affiliated primary school and are often directly taken over as main subjects. After all, graduation exams and entrance exams only test Chinese and math.
This wasn't good news for the children, but it made things much easier when they only had two subjects to study. Song Shijia was already the top student in the town's elementary school, and he could maintain his math skills by constantly redoing the exercises in the textbook. With Song Wanxia guiding him step by step in Chinese, his grades were unlikely to drop. Therefore, his parents stayed with him until it was almost dark before they went home with peace of mind.
"Wanxia, if you need anything, just call the commune and have someone pass the message home."
Before going back, her uncle patted Song Xiaoli's head and put a piece of paper with the commune's phone number on it into her pocket. "Our Xiaoli should also write down the commune's number. You might need it in the future."
Song Xiaoli nodded.
Although Songshan Commune was far away, it was still quite convenient to have a telephone. Neighboring communes would often need to use Songshan Commune's telephone for any business.
Tonight's dinner was bought at a restaurant in town. Song Wanxia brought her old lunchbox from home and bought three boxes of vegetable and shredded pork noodles. As for the lunchbox that Hu Lixin left behind, she had already washed it and returned it to him at the town's middle school at noon.
The noodles were dried noodles, not as sticky as hand-pulled noodles made directly from 70% flour, and Song Xiaoli ate them with relish. However, being small, she couldn't possibly finish a whole lunchbox of noodles; she ate half and then divided the rest between her older cousin and her mother.
The older cousin didn't mind his sister's leftovers at all. He ate with gusto, and even let out a satisfied burp after finishing. A little embarrassed, he put the lunchbox on the bedside table and said, "Auntie, if we eat like this every day, it must cost one or two yuan a day, right?"
In fact, just those three boxes of shredded pork noodles cost 2.1 yuan. If we keep eating like this, the three meals a day for three people, plus hospital fees and medicine costs, will probably cost 50 or 60 yuan in ten days.
Just thinking about that number made the older cousin's heart clench. He didn't know how rich his family was; he only knew that his grandfather would only buy a few cookies and candies for him and his younger brother during holidays, and his brother especially loved candy. For his brother's sake, he would make a deal with the children from wealthy families at school, helping them with their homework in exchange for candy to take back to his brother.
Fifty yuan, plus candy coupons, is enough to buy lots and lots of the most expensive White Rabbit milk candy.
“Don’t worry, big brother, Grandpa gave us a lot of money, lots and lots.” Song Xiaoli blinked, feeling that her “brainwashing” of her older cousin wasn’t direct enough. “Grandpa saved a lot of money. He was worried that the neighbors were always trying to take advantage of him and that he would raise his son poorly, which is why you and your brother were living a hard life. Actually, the family is super rich, but Grandpa has hidden it all away.”
“This is not good. I will go back and tell my grandfather that we should make sure that the family eats meat every day. If we have meat to eat, the children will grow up strong and smart, study hard, and not get sick easily.”
Hearing her daughter's words, Song Wanxia's eyelids twitched, and she poked her chubby little face. "My little darling, don't say that when we get home. If the neighbors find out we're rich, that would be terrible."
"Are we really rich?" The older cousin was confused. "But last time the commune slaughtered a pig, we only took what we were allotted and didn't spend any extra money to buy anything. My great-uncle's family even bought three yuan worth of meat."
"Are you stupid? Your grandpa knows all about what our family did in the commune. Like those days when they slaughtered the pig and distributed the meat, their family took turns watching us. If your grandpa went to buy a piece of meat, your grandpa would definitely come to our door to borrow money to buy meat." Song Wanxia didn't want to tell the child too much about such things. After comforting her nephew, she showed him some of the money she had hidden on her body to prove that she wasn't lying.
Seeing the money, Song Xiaoli thought her older cousin would be relieved, but judging from his expression, he still seemed to suspect that Grandpa had borrowed the money from various places because of his good connections. Her eyes darted around, and she said to her mother in a coquettish tone, "Mom, Grandpa gave me so much money, can I buy a bag of milk candy? I saw a little boy eating milk candy last time, it smelled so good."
The milk candy she was referring to was, of course, the most expensive White Rabbit milk candy.
"Wait a minute, let me see if there are any sugar coupons or snack coupons left." The family gave her a whole bunch of coupons, with the food coupons that she needed every day on top. As for the other coupons, they were either mixed in at the bottom or not. Song Wanxia didn't check them carefully, lest she untie the rubber bands binding the bunch of coupons and lose the precious ones.
Now that her daughter wanted milk candy, she naturally wanted to satisfy her. Song Wanxia had been spoiled by her parents since childhood. After the divorce, apart from being unhappy because of her husband's family and the rumors, she was completely at ease at home. Right now, with the money and tickets in her hands, she didn't have any intention of saving money for her parents, which showed that she had always been pampered.
"I still have quite a few sugar coupons. After I buy breakfast tomorrow, I'll go straight to the supply and marketing cooperative and buy a bag of White Rabbit milk candy. You and Shijia can share it, but don't eat too much, or your teeth will rot. There's no need to save any for Shiyi. If there aren't many left, I'll just buy another bag to take back to him."
This extravagant style made Song Shijia, who had always been incredibly frugal since starting school, silently begin to question the meaning of life.
Since his family is wealthy, why has he been living such a pitiful life all this time? Song Shijia looked up at the ceiling of the ward and felt a bitter taste in his mouth.
"Big brother, big brother!"
However, it wasn't long before Song Xiaoli's shouts pulled him out of his gloom. He asked in confusion, "What's wrong?"
"Big brother, would you like another sponge cake? I think this one will go bad by tomorrow." Song Xiaoli said, picking up a soft, fragrant sponge cake and stuffing it into her older cousin's mouth.
Song Shijia subconsciously opened his mouth and ate it. The sweet aroma of the sponge cake spread in his mouth and went straight to his heart. The resentment he had felt towards his grandfather and his own depressed mood also dissipated.
In any case, it's a good thing that his family is richer than he imagined.
He originally thought that if his family couldn't afford to send him to high school, he would find a way to earn money during winter and summer vacations to study; as for university, the cost would be even higher, and if he really couldn't afford it, he would work to earn money to support his younger brother's continued education.
Now things are much better. He doesn't have to worry about money anymore; he can just focus on his studies and find a way to get into a better school.
With that thought in mind, Song Shijia, who loved knowledge, finished the sponge cake in a few bites, a happy look on his face. He rubbed his little cousin who was standing in front of him and said, "Xiao Li, after your brother finishes his exams, I'll tutor you and Shiyi in advance when we get home. That way, when you go to elementary school, it will be easier for you to get good grades and be valued by the teachers. The three of us can compete and see who can get into the best university."
The better the student, the more favored they are by the teacher. The student also feels a sense of pride and will work hard to maintain their good grades, thus creating a virtuous cycle.
"Okay, I'll wait for my older brother to teach me to read!" In her previous life, Song Xiaoli was a high-achieving student who returned from studying abroad. After her mother's death, she seemed to have lost all emotion, only knowing how to do various research in the laboratory. Reborn, even though many memories are unclear, she doesn't care much about simply studying hard and getting into university. However, having her older brother teach her and let her intelligence find its way is also a good thing.
As for my younger cousin, who is only interested in going up mountains and down rivers and jumping around, it's anyone's guess how he'll react when he hears about this good thing.
"Achoo!" Song Shiyi, who was still awake at home worrying about his older brother's health, sneezed loudly.
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