Chapter 64
Jian Li, a junior high school student, lives a life of getting up early and going to bed late.
When the weather gets cold, she doesn't want to get up every morning. The new house has heating, and the room is warm, which makes the school feel even colder.
Jane Li spends a long time every day coaxing herself to go out.
Wang Facai stood around her, stretched his neck and sat upright, waiting for the dazed Jian Li to drop some egg crumbs from her mouth.
Wang Mengmei urged Jian Li: "Hurry up! If you don't leave now, you'll be late!"
Jian Li sighed and whispered, "I should have gone for an interview earlier..."
It is better to become famous as early as possible, so as to avoid being destroyed by the exam-oriented education.
But after complaining a lot in her heart, Jian Li still obediently let Wang Mengmei hang her schoolbag on her and kick her out.
As usual, Jian Feng took the child to school. When the bicycle turned a corner, Jian Li asked to buy grilled sausages.
A person can be late, but he cannot be ungrateful.
Jian Li ran to the classroom with a sausage in her mouth. She saw the head teacher almost walking into the classroom from a distance, so she rushed in front of the head teacher. When the bell rang, she sat down on the seat, swallowed the sausage in her mouth in two bites, wiped her mouth and acted like a good child.
Teacher Fang: …
How many times has this happened?
Since the beginning of winter, no one in the class is better at keeping on time than Jian Li!
Every time they saw her, they would rush to the classroom in a hurry. When they saw Jian Li coming, some students outside the class would also seize the opportunity to run.
Seeing Jian Li means you are on the verge of being late.
Teacher Fang clapped her hands and said, "The weather has been cold recently. You should keep warm. It's best not to run too fast when going to and from school to avoid falling..."
Jian Li poked at her pencil case, pretending that she wasn't the one being talked about.
"...Next week, a citywide joint exam will be held on Thursday and Friday. This exam is completely based on the difficulty and format of the high school entrance exam. You must carefully review the questions and pay attention to the details..."
As soon as Teacher Fang left, Xia Liu lay on the table and sighed: "Exams, exams, exams, I'm almost turning into a sweet potato."
It is grilled to a crispy outside and tender inside.
Since I entered the third year of junior high school, everything around me has become tense. Few people go out to play during breaks. The school's physical education, music, art, and computer classes have all been cancelled. There are only endless classes and exams.
Xia Liu turned to Jian Li and said, "Xiao Li, which school do you want to apply to?"
The best schools in Taocheng are the Provincial Experimental High School and No. 1 Middle School. No. 1 Middle School is an old school and has always been ahead of the Provincial Experimental High School in the past few years. However, the Provincial Experimental High School has gradually caught up in recent years by introducing a group of new teachers.
Parents still think No. 1 Middle School is better, but students prefer Provincial Experimental School.
It is said that teachers from the Provincial Experimental School would take students on spring and autumn outings to watch movies.
Generally speaking, No. 1 Middle School tends to be more traditional in education, while the provincial experimental school encourages students to develop in a diversified way.
Jian Li thought for a moment and said, "Save the experiment."
In her previous life, she didn't even get into these two schools and went to No. 2 Middle School. Although the teaching level was good, those years in No. 2 Middle School were not really a good experience.
Like No. 1 Middle School, No. 2 Middle School has boarding students and has two days off every two weeks.
In such a closed environment, any difference from others will become a point of ridicule.
It can’t be said that she was domineering, but Jian Li was really unhappy during those three years.
Xia Liu's family moved away, and she had no friends. She lived alone for three years...
Why?
Jian Li suddenly remembered a time that she had almost forgotten.
It's already December, has the truck carrying goods from the factory been lost?
After returning home, Jian Li couldn't wait to ask Jian Feng.
Jian Feng: "Where did you hear that?"
Jian Li: "I heard from my classmates that Factory 2 didn't pay wages this month."
Jian Feng let out a sigh of relief, "Not getting paid is not uncommon, our factory didn't get paid this month either."
This has happened before. The longest time was five consecutive months without salary.
Jian Feng didn't think there was anything wrong.
Could the factory really go bankrupt?
How is that possible? There are so many people involved. Even if something happens, the higher-ups will have to step in to take care of it.
Jian Li did not attack her father. She carefully thought about her family's current situation.
I have moved to a new house and found a job.
Her father acquired a skill and her mother's small business flourished.
Um……
It seems that there is really no need to worry.
After much thought, the only thing Jian Li did was to urge her father to make a copy of her personal files kept in the factory.
"What's the point of copying that?"
Jian Li refused to give in: "Our school requires us to hand it in!"
Jian Feng was a little surprised: "Why does the school need this thing?"
Jian Li: "I don't know. They just asked us to submit a copy for statistics. It seems like they will provide subsidies?"
This has happened before. As a subordinate unit of the cotton textile factory, the school counted whether the students were from dual-employee families or single-employee families so as to calculate the amount of subsidies provided by the factory.
Jian Feng did not suspect anything and went to the archives to request a copy.
Jian Li felt relieved only after she got the certificate.
When the factory closed down last time, it was in a mess, and the file room was also in a mess. No one knew where Jian Feng's files were lost.
When the factory was later announced to be closed down, Jian Feng did not receive some of the welfare benefits.
Don't miss it this time.
Jian Li put away the files and waited quietly for that moment to come.
*****
Xu Yanan failed the exam again.
When the city's joint entrance exam results came out, Jian Li unsurprisingly took first place in the class, and also in the entire grade.
However, Xu Yanan's ranking has fallen to eleventh place, and she is ranked behind the hundredth place in the whole grade.
Every year, less than 100 students from the school are promoted to No. 1 Middle School and Provincial Experimental School. Xu Yanan's grades almost doomed her to not be able to enter either of these two schools.
Xu Yanan took the report card home in a daze. Teacher Fang asked the parents to sign it, and she numbly signed her name imitating Sun Yan's handwriting.
It's not that she deliberately concealed it, but she knew Sun Yan didn't care.
Whether she ranked eleventh or first, Sun Yan's attention was not on her.
"You little bitch, the stove is going out, change it to a new piece of honeycomb coal!"
Xu Yanan picked up the fire tongs and pulled out three pieces of honeycomb coal from the stove. The fire had almost died out, the two pieces at the bottom were burnt thoroughly, and only the top piece was still emitting sparks.
But it will soon be extinguished.
After Xu Yanan changed the coal briquettes, Sun Yan came out with a yellow face. Through the window, she saw a vast expanse of fog outside, with a grayish blue sky.
"…Mad, what a terrible weather."
Xu Yanan picked up the dirty cotton pants that were thrown on the ground and prepared to take them to the bathroom to wash.
Sun Yan has become like this since her biological father Xu Jianguo hasn't sent any money back in the past two months.
Although Xu Jianguo repeatedly explained on the phone that the construction site had not paid wages, Sun Yan still swore at him harshly. Only after she finished swearing did she realize that the phone had been hung up long ago.
I don’t know whether Xu Jianguo hung up on his own initiative, or the connection was disconnected because he ran out of coins.
Sun Yan cursed the weather and also scolded Xu Yanan harshly.
"Just like your dad, you can't get a fart out of him even if you hit him with three sticks!"
"Why am I so miserable that I have to suffer the fate of you two!"
"Look at how other people live, running a shop and doing business. I am just unlucky and have to let you two drag me down to death!"
…
Xu Yanan fetched half a basin of cold water from the bathroom, and half a pot of hot water, then squatted on the ground and rubbed her brother Xu Tianci's dirty pants.
As Sun Yan was cursing, she suddenly kicked a basin. No one knew if the basin had been exposed to the sun for too long, but it broke into pieces, and dirty water flowed all over the floor.
She screamed, "Pack it up quickly! Can't you see through your eyes?"
The noise was so loud that it woke up the son who was sleeping in the room. Sun Yan heard her son crying and did not even bother to change her soaked cotton shoes and hurried into the house to comfort the child.
Xu Yanan was left facing the dirty water.
Xu Yanan saw her own eyes in the reflection, numb, cold, and lifeless.
She suddenly felt that there was no point in living.
Teacher Fang had come to see her many more times in the past six months than when she got first place in the exam, and every time, Teacher Fang had the same words on his mind.
"You have to study, Xu Yanan. You must study."
Xu Yanan felt a little sad. Why did her teachers care about her so much, but her parents didn't care about her at all?
If a person does not have the affirmation of his parents, what is the meaning of living?
For a moment, Xu Yanan almost wanted to drop the rag in her hand and escape from this family.
"Xu Yanan! Are you deaf? Hurry up and clean up and cook!"
Xu Yanan laughed at herself and thought, if she ran away, where could she go?
"Xu Yanan!"
Xu Yanan put away the rag and stared at the gray mist outside the window.
“…I’m here.”
*****
Jian Li had been waiting for news from the factory, but she waited and waited until January, and everything in the factory was still calm.
Although the factory has not paid wages for three months, everyone still forced themselves to celebrate the New Year.
I don't know what's wrong with the weather this year. Sunny days are rare, and snow is also rare. The most common weather is neither cloudy nor sunny. It's foggy when you wake up early in the morning.
Jian Li had just finished her final exams and finally put aside her anxiety and began to relax at home.
Qian Ping, who had just finished her final exams, also came to her aunt's house. Jian Li pulled Qian Ping aside and asked her all sorts of questions.
Shelled peanuts and roasted sweet potatoes were heating in the stove, and Jian Li and Qian Ping each held a can of Lulu.
"It's okay, just busy."
Qian Ping is studying clinical medicine, and the course load is quite heavy. After the final semester, Qian Ping felt like she was going through her senior year of high school again.
But Qian Ping is still very satisfied with her university life.
After going through the hard work of senior high school, the openness and tolerance of college undoubtedly opened the door to a new world for Qian Ping.
Qian Ping touched Jian Li's head and said, "You must study hard and go to college."
Just as Jian Li was about to say something, she heard the phone at home ringing.
Yes, after saving for several months, Wang Mengmei finally made up her mind to install two telephones, one in the store and one at home.
Ever since the store had a telephone, the work of both Wang Mengmei and Jian Feng has become much more convenient. In the past, Jian Feng always had to stay in the grocery store all the time, always afraid of sudden calls asking for delivery.
But now it is much more convenient. He goes back home occasionally, and if Kong Guorong can't find him, he will call the store.
Wang Mengmei also bought Jian Feng a BP machine, which made things more convenient.
As for Wang Mengmei, after a telephone was installed in the store, some people who live nearby would order food for delivery, and some people would call in advance to make reservations for fear that there would be no seats when they arrived at night.
Wang Mengmei even took the time to sew two phone covers, fearing that the phone that the couple had spent a lot of money on would be broken again.
Jian Li glanced at the incoming call notification, picked up the phone and called "Mom".
The person on the other end of the phone is Wang Mengmei.
Wang Mengmei's voice was filled with anxiety: "Xiao Li, I have something to go out for, and I won't be back tonight. You and your sister lock the door."
After saying that, he hung up the phone.
Jian Li looked up and saw the calendar that had just been hung on the wall a few days ago.
On it is the year 1997 engraved on a gold hook and silver.
This day finally came.
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