Zhang Miao finally smiled: "Really that many? Will I still be able to go to school?"
Hua Kai nodded and said, "Let's go back and try it first. If the skewers don't work, we can do other things. Anyway, trust me, I guarantee you can earn money while you go to school. It wasn't easy for you to get to high school, so if you can persevere, then persevere."
After saying that, she looked at Zhang's father: "Uncle Zhang, why don't you let Zhang Miao give it a try?"
With tears in his eyes, Mr. Zhang nodded: "I will go. I will not give up as long as there is any hope that my child can go to school. Although Miaomiao is a girl, I used to want to support her to go to university."
Because he didn't have a son, many people in the village laughed at him, so he held his breath and wanted his daughter to go to university. But then this happened, and he thought he had no chance to turn things around. But now his daughter's classmate has brought him hope. As long as there is a glimmer of hope, he will not give up.
Hua Kai felt that the parents' open-mindedness was more important than anything else, and Zhang Miao's good personality must also be due to the good family atmosphere. She took out ten yuan from her pocket and put it on the kang (a heated brick bed): "Uncle Zhang, I came in a hurry and didn't buy you any supplements. This money is a small token of my appreciation."
Mr. Zhang quickly called out to Zhang Miao, "Miao Miao, quickly give the money to your classmate. We can't accept this. Your classmate has helped you enough. You absolutely cannot accept this money."
Zhang Miao insisted on returning the money to Hua Kai.
Hua Kai put the money into Zhang Miao's pocket: "Then consider this money as your start-up capital. You can pay me back when you make money. By the way, you know the house my brother rents, right? You can make cold skewers there. You can use the kitchen at home as you like."
Zhang Miao looked at the blooming flowers and said, "I use everything you have. I know you're doing it for my own good. Anyway, when I make money, you'll get a share. You can't refuse it then."
To reassure Zhang Miao, Hua Kai said, "We'll talk about these things later. You should settle things at home and try to go back on Thursday to take the midterm exams. I'll go back then; I have self-study classes tonight."
After saying that, he turned to Zhang's father and said, "Uncle Zhang, take good care of yourself. I'll come to see you again when I have time."
Zhang's father said to Zhang Miao, "Hurry up and see your classmate off. Your mother isn't home either, and I can't even get down to the ground."
Hua Kai said to Zhang's father, "Uncle Zhang, please don't worry about it. I'm not an outsider. I'll be going now. Take care."
Looking at the blooming flowers, Zhang's father was deeply moved. It was at times like these that he became most vulnerable. After his family's misfortune, few of his relatives and friends had genuinely offered help. Now, his child's classmates were helping them so much. He didn't know how to express his feelings, so he nodded and agreed with tears in his eyes.
Zhang Miao sent out the flowers.
Upon reaching the gate, Hua Kai didn't let Zhang Miao go any further: "Alright, I'll leave you here."
Zhang Miao said, "I'll go with you to wait for the bus. It'll be another twenty minutes or so before it arrives."
"You just stay home and do your work. I can wait for the bus myself. If my visit delays your work, I'll feel bad. There's really no need to see me off."
"But, but I... I don't know what to say anymore. Thank you, Huakai."
"Okay, stop talking to me about this, or I'll start crying too."
Zhang Miao forced a smile: "Okay, I'll listen to you then."
Hua Kai patted her arm: "Let's go, I'll wait for you to go back to class."
Zhang Miao nodded, watching Hua Kai's retreating figure, tears still streaming down her face. A friend who comes at a time like this is a true friend. Not only did she come, but she also helped her out of her predicament. She was more than just a friend; she was a benefactor.
Hua Kai stood by a big tree at the village entrance, waiting for the bus, looking at the village and the people passing by. Even such an ordinary scene is precious. Perhaps Hua Kai has lived two lives and has a greater respect for the meaning of life.
She stood there, thinking about many things that had happened since she came to this space. As she thought about it, she thought of Ye Yifan. They had seen each other every day a few days ago, but suddenly she couldn't see him anymore, which felt strange.
Nearly half an hour later, the car arrived. She got in and hurried back to the city. If Ye Yifan were in the city, it would be fine; if she missed the bus, she could have him pick her up. But since he wasn't in the city, Hua Kai was very cautious.
Back at school, Hua Kai told Yu Hongdi that Zhang Miao would be back in a couple of days. She didn't go into details because she would tell him what she needed to say when he returned, and she wouldn't tell anyone in advance if she didn't want to.
Yu Hongdi was overjoyed to learn that Zhang Miao was coming back, and said that he would treat Zhang Miao and Hua Kai to ice cream when Zhang Miao returned.
Hua Kai is quite envious of children like Yu Hongdi, whose life is smooth sailing with few setbacks. His family is from the city, so there's less of a preference for boys over girls. He'll go to high school, then go to university, and have a peaceful and stable life.
Zhang Miao returned the next day. Since the midterm exams were the following day, Hua Kai simply told Zhang Miao to prepare well for the exams and that they would talk about the real exams after they were over.
Hua Kai was well-prepared this time because she wanted to use this score to talk to her homeroom teacher about skipping a grade. If the homeroom teacher agreed, she would also have to study the second year of high school courses.
Of course, she also wanted to get good grades so she could surprise Ye Yifan when he came back. He was so outstanding, and as his friend, she couldn't let him down.
On the first day, she took the math, Chinese, physics, and chemistry exams. Except for Chinese, she couldn't rely entirely on her memory for the other three subjects, so she wasn't very confident. She breathed a sigh of relief after the exams were over. The exam questions at this time were actually not as difficult as those in her high school days, so she did quite well.
On the second day, I got most of the English, Politics, History and Geography questions right. Although I might not get full marks, I was only missing one or two questions at most.
After the exam, she felt confident that she would get first place without any problem.
She came out and listened to everyone discussing the questions, but she wasn't interested and just sat there daydreaming.
There weren't any new lessons on Saturday; it was mostly self-study, and the teachers were grading papers.
Hua Kai went to Fuze Community at noon and finalized the plan with two clients. Everything went smoothly. Her older brother hadn't returned yet, so she went alone.
I imagine there's a lot of work to do at home, and my older brother wants to help out as much as possible. We'll come back together tomorrow after he goes home.
In the afternoon, Hua Kai told Zhang Miao that she would start a business next week and asked her to go home today as well. She said that making money wouldn't make a difference in a few days and that it would put her family at ease.
Because school ended early, Huakai went to the bus station with a few classmates who lived along the same route and took the bus home.
As soon as we arrived at the gate, we smelled the aroma of food wafting from the courtyard.
She entered the courtyard and saw her father and elder brother building a storage shed on the west side of the house. They didn't need to hire anyone because the asbestos tiles on it were only temporary. They would have to build a new house next year anyway. This one was just for winter use. Otherwise, the house was small, and they needed to store rice, flour, oil, and other things. There wasn't much space, so they built a temporary storage shed.
Hua Kai walked over and said, "Dad, Big Brother, I'm back."
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