Chapter 100
After that, Lei Tingjun's grandmother asked a distant relative in the village to send Lei Tingjun there to continue his studies.
Thus began another period of "relying on the kindness of others" for Lei Tingjun.
My grandmother is old, uneducated, in poor health, has no skills, and has a meager income.
Every day, they could only rely on hard work to grow crops and vegetables, pick mushrooms and wild vegetables, and save money by selling grain and vegetables. They saved every penny.
Lei Tingjun actually had excellent grades in elementary school.
His homeroom teacher said at the time that this kid was a rare talent, smart, quick-witted, and gifted. If he had a better learning environment, he would definitely be successful in the future.
It's a pity that someone like Lei Tingjun, with his background, couldn't possibly have a good learning and living environment.
The distant relative his grandmother found for him in the village was also extremely materialistic and prejudiced against the poor.
Lei Tingjun could only stay in a small storage room near the backyard at their house. The room was small and filled with clutter, barely big enough to fit a 1.2-meter-wide hardboard bed.
But for the Thunder, having these conditions is already enough.
At least, he no longer has to get up at dawn every day and walk three or four hours along mountain paths to get to school.
At that distant relative's house, Lei Tingjun didn't have to suffer from the bullying of those older children because he had already fully learned how to protect himself by then.
Moreover, as he grew older, after Lei Tingjun turned ten, he grew taller and stronger, and gradually developed an aura of being a lone wolf that was not to be trifled with. No other children dared to bully him anymore.
However, the Thunder Army, now in a different environment, has encountered new troubles.
Whenever his grandmother brought over the money she had painstakingly saved, Lei Tingjun could have a few full meals at his distant relative's house.
But towards the end of the month, those distant relatives stopped calling Lei Tingjun when they ate.
Sometimes when Lei Tingjun got back late, they would eat first and wouldn't leave any food for him.
Lei Tingjun would have to go hungry for one night.
Lei Tingjun goes hungry for at least ten days every month.
When Grandma started visiting Lei Tingjun in the village every month, she would touch his head and ask him how he was doing and how his studies were going.
Lei Tingjun looked at his grandmother's kind, wrinkled face, but couldn't bring himself to say that he was hungry.
Lei Tingjun knew that if he said such things, his grandmother would be even more frugal and work even harder from dawn till dusk to save money for his food.
Lei Tingjun was terrified. He thought of that stormy night when he heard the news that his parents had been buried deep in the mountains. He was afraid that such a thing would happen to his grandmother again.
Therefore, he would rather go hungry himself than have his grandmother go into the mountains before dawn to dig for wild ginseng and pick mushrooms just so he could have enough to eat.
So, each time, Lei Tingjun would just smile sensibly and tell his grandmother that he was doing well and studying very hard.
Only by saying this can Grandma go back with peace of mind.
This situation lasted for about half a year.
Six months later, Lei Tingjun realized that he could not endure this any longer.
Just like the other kids in his uncle's village, he was bullied but didn't say a word, and instead the other party turned the tables on him.
Therefore, this time, Lei Tingjun decided to solve his own food and clothing problems.
When he got home from school at the end of the month, he saw that his distant relatives had finished eating early, just like before, and deliberately didn't leave him any food.
Lei Tingjun said nothing and went back to the storeroom to finish his homework.
But in the evening, he would go to the kitchen, open the cupboard, and find the steamed buns and pickled vegetables that his distant relatives had hidden in the cupboard.
If you eat the dates whole and then drink two glasses of water, you can barely avoid going hungry.
But for the first month or two, everything was fine, but after a while, the distant relatives became unhappy.
They insisted that Lei Tingjun was a thief who had stolen things from their home, and demanded that he return them.
Lei Tingjun, who was only ten years old, was speechless, but he understood that this was just a distant relative finding an excuse to ask for more money.
He let out a cold laugh.
At such a young age, Lei Tingjun had already witnessed all sorts of despicable and greedy aspects of human nature.
When his grandmother heard the news and came to the township, Lei Tingjun didn't explain anything and took her back to the village.
No matter how his grandmother questioned him about whether he had stolen anything, Lei Tingjun remained silent and refused to answer.
Finally, Grandma had no choice but to look up at the sky, wipe away her tears, and sigh deeply, "My grandson has such a hard life."
Fortunately, at that time, Lei Tingjun had already reached the sixth grade of elementary school, and he only had one semester left before graduating.
He gritted his teeth and got up at 3:30 every morning to travel two or three hours along mountain roads to go to school.
Gradually, Lei Tingjun's pace quickened, and he could get up at four o'clock and run for two hours to get to school.
Finally, he was even able to get up at 5:30 and run for an hour and a half to get to school.
In those six months, Lei Tingjun's height increased rapidly, making him noticeably taller than the male students in his grade by more than half a head.
Later, Lei Tingjun continued his junior high school education in the village. By then, he had grown into a teenager and no longer needed to stay at the homes of any relatives who did not welcome him. He walked to school every day on his own two feet.
It was those hours of running back and forth every day that made Lei Tingjun grow as strong and sturdy as a thriving tree.
Lei Tingjun's father was a typical farmer, not particularly tall at just over 1.7 meters, and his mother was less than 1.6 meters tall. However, through his own hard work and training, he managed to grow to 1.85 meters tall.
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