"You're welcome. Zhou wanted to study at home, and it was Principal Li who made the concession. I guess she must have heard a lot of gossip about herself, right?" Zhou's mother still felt sorry for Principal Li!
"To be honest, there was a little bit in the beginning. I even told him about it, but he kept silent and just let us talk. Later, Zhou Xiang got a perfect score in the exam, and he took back Zhou Xiang's exam paper that day and showed it to everyone who didn't support him.
After seeing the test paper, everyone felt that Mr. Li had a good eye for talent, and that such a child might learn more by studying at home than in school.
Later, we discussed that anyone who dared to say that they could always rank in the top three in their grade could learn from Zhou Xiang and return to study on their own.
Zhou's mother said apologetically, "I'm sorry to have embarrassed Principal Li. Please go back and express our apologies to him as parents.
The housework isn't that much, mainly because what she learned in school is no longer suitable for Zhou Xiang. Going there is a waste of time. She studies after finishing her chores at home, and she happily indulges in whatever ideas she has. It can be said that she is completely free to do what she wants.
"Then why not skip a grade? Isn't that just a waste of time?"
Zhou's mother shook her head. "It's a bit early to skip a grade now. I'm worried she'll become impetuous in the future. It would be better if she skipped a grade each in junior high and high school. She should use her time now to lay the foundation, and she has plenty of time to review. You don't know, she's already been relearning all the knowledge from junior high and high school for the second time. These basics must be thoroughly mastered."
"Then do you know what knowledge she learned when she went to my house?" Although Zhang Youling felt that what Zhou's mother said made sense, she also felt that Zhou was wasting his time.
"I know about university physics. She plans to study modern knowledge. She said that when she has learned enough, she will dismantle her father's broken radio. Even though she is good at university physics, she is not good at other subjects! It is not good to be biased in one subject."
In fact, Zhou's mother knew that if her daughter was really a genius, she would skip grades, but her daughter was not like that. In her previous life, her daughter's knowledge after junior high school was a mess. It would be a waste of time to skip grades without relearning the basics.
Moreover, given her father's personality, once he jumps on something, he won't allow her to step down and start over. He has to learn slowly and in many aspects. Only by using the time in elementary school to master more future knowledge can she have an advantage over others in future studies.
Seeing that Zhou's mother was very supportive of Zhou Xiang's current situation, Zhang Youling didn't say anything more. After all, he was someone else's child.
The two were chatting when someone called out from outside. Zhou's mother went out and saw that it was the bricklayer in a mandarin jacket. She called him in and said, "Come in and take a look at the kang you built. It's very useful. It uses broken honeycomb coal."
Zhang Youling didn't expect that she was so lucky that she met someone who built a kang as soon as she arrived.
Ma Gua looked around the room and saw only Zhou's mother and another woman.
"Auntie, Zhou Xiang is not at home?"
"Zhou Xiang has gone out to study and won't be back until the evening."
"Oh, it's like this. I'm out this time! I built fourteen kangs, charging fifty yuan for each one. This is seventy yuan. You can accept it for Zhou Xiang!" Ma Gua took out a stack of money and handed it to Zhou's mother.
Zhou's mother was unwilling to accept the offer. "How can this be possible? You provided the labor and craftsmanship to build the kang. How can Zhou Xiang ask for your money?"
"Auntie, you don't know. Without Zhou Xiang's drawings, even my skills and labor wouldn't be enough! This is what Zhou Xiang deserves, so please accept it."
Seeing the two people pushing each other back and forth, Zhang Youling persuaded Zhou's mother to accept it, "Zhou Xiangma, accept it. Sometimes technique is the most important thing."
"Yes, that's right, take it!" Ma Gua pushed the money back, and Zhou's mother had no choice but to accept it.
Ma Gua was about to leave, but Zhang Youling stopped him, "Wait a minute, let me ask you, how many days will it take to build this kang?"
"The materials are ready, and it can be built in two days at most. Zhou thought about this, and I built it alone, and one person helped me. It took two days to finish it."
"If I have prepared the materials, where can I find you?"
"The old man Ma who guards the post office is my father. Just tell him your address and name."
"Okay, okay, I'll build a kang after the New Year."
"Okay, prepare the materials and tell my father. If I'm not out building the kang, I'll definitely go within three days. If I'm out building the kang, I don't know when I'll be there."
"So, when do you plan to go out after the New Year?"
"I'm going out on the sixth day of the New Year. I've already made an appointment."
"Okay, I understand."
After Ma Gua left, Zhang Youling also left. Zhou's mother looked at the money in her hand, feeling both happy and sad.
The good thing is that it seems easy to make money now, but the sad thing is that all this money was earned by my daughter after she worked hard all her life and came back after her death.
Zhou Xiang studied with Wang Yeqin for another morning, and asked again the new questions that arose last night.
Wang Yeqin looked at her in surprise. Could it be that she would learn everything after he taught her for just a few days?
When Zhang Youling returned home, Li Gengxue and Ling Ran were washing and cutting vegetables.
She quickly took over the cooking. With a stove and a wood stove, she could cook quickly.
After clearing away the books on the Eight Immortals Table, Zhou Xiang planned to go to the kitchen to help, but was stopped by Ling Ran.
"It's almost done. You don't need to help. Take a break!"
Zhang Youling also waved her hand and said, "Go and take a rest. You can eat soon."
Zhou Xiang had no choice but to go back. Ling Ran started to bring dishes and chopsticks, and brought in some water for washing hands, and asked Teacher Wang and Zhou Xiang to wash their hands.
There are pork and cabbage stewed with vermicelli, stir-fried bean curd sheets, stir-fried bean cakes with dry chili peppers, stir-fried pork liver with yam and black fungus, and egg drop soup. Each dish has a large portion.
Only after Li Shipeng drank two bowls of soup did everyone realize the difference of egg drop soup.
"Did Zhou Xiang bring these eggs here?"
As soon as Zhang Youling took a sip of the soup, she knew it was the eggs that made the difference.
Zhou Xiang nodded. "I bought them a few days ago. They were eggs laid by local chickens. I bought them all. Ling Ran also said they were delicious, so I brought a few here today."
Li Shipeng's friend had a stomachache and said, "Mom, let's have some fried eggs for lunch tomorrow. I have a stomach full of soup and it's making me feel uncomfortable."
Li Gengxue glared at his son.
Zhang Youling nodded. "Okay, let's fry them tomorrow. It would be a waste to put such delicious eggs in soup."
During the afternoon study, Zhou wanted to finish asking all the questions in the notebook.
"Teacher Wang, I'll sort out some more questions tonight and we'll continue tomorrow."
Wang Yeqin nodded. In the process of teaching Zhou Xiang, he also had new inspirations and new progress, and was looking forward to tomorrow.
Seeing that they had finished their studies, Zhang Youling talked to Zhou Xiang about down.
Zhou Xiang patted his chest and said, "Don't worry, Principal Zhang, I will definitely set aside three pounds for you after school starts."
Zhang Youling touched her head and said, "Thank you for your help, classmate Zhou Xiang."
“It’s not hard.”
"By the way, what materials do I need to prepare for the kang?" Zhang Youling thought of the warm kang again.
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