Chapter 85: The Illiterate Child Who Holds Back (Page 1/2)
As soon as Lin Man woke up, Huo Qinghuan found an old sprouted coconut that he had picked up from somewhere.
"Sister-in-law, sister-in-law, I found a treasure."
"What treasure?"
"Look, I picked up a sprouted coconut under the coconut tree. They said I can take it back and plant it."
Dwarf coconut palms take three to four years to bear fruit, while tall coconut palms take seven to eight years to bear fruit.
If they planted it, it would really be like the previous generation planting trees and the next generation enjoying the shade and making wedding clothes for others.
She could indeed use her wood-related abilities to induce it to grow, but no matter how hard she tried, she could only control it to bear fruit within two years. Otherwise, if outsiders discovered anything unusual, they would catch her and slice her into pieces!
However, she could buy some old coconuts and plant them in Huo Qingci's space, so that no matter where they went, they would never lack coconuts to eat.
"Okay, let's plant it next to the papaya tree. Next month, we'll buy some purple sugarcane and plant two more crops."
"Sister-in-law, didn't you say you wanted to plant a mango tree?"
"Well, plant a mango tree too."
If the backyard wasn't too small, she would have wanted to plant lychees and mangosteens in the backyard, no matter how many years they could stay here. Even if they were just making wedding dresses for others, so what? They still had to eat papayas planted by others.
"Qinghuan, put the sprouted coconuts next to the papaya tree. I'll plant them later."
"Okay, sister-in-law."
Lin Man tied her hair into a bun, scooped a bucket of water to wash her face, and then went to the backyard to dig the ground and plant coconuts.
After planting the coconuts, I picked four green papayas with a basket.
Huo Qinghuan was puzzled. "Sister-in-law, why did you pick so many green papayas at once? Are you going to dry the papaya shreds?"
"Three papayas will be used to make sour papaya, and the other one will be used for cold papaya shreds in the evening. Go get a small stool, and we will use a planer to peel the papaya together."
"Sister-in-law, is the sour papaya delicious?"
"The sour papaya is crispy and delicious."
Lin Man couldn't help drooling at the thought of the taste of sour papaya. She was pregnant and especially wanted to eat sour food.
Unfortunately, she didn't see any lemons for sale in the supply and marketing cooperative. She wanted to buy a few, soak them in honey water, take out the seeds and plant them in Huo Qingci's space.
Lin Man couldn't help but speed up the process of peeling the papaya. Huo Qinghuan suddenly said, "Sister-in-law, you and I are going to write a letter to our parents tonight. If you don't know a word, just write it in pinyin."
"Qinghuan, if classes hadn't been suspended, you would have been in the fourth grade in September, right?"
"Yes, sister-in-law, do you think I will never be able to go to school again? I haven't even graduated from elementary school and am now illiterate. I don't know if this will affect my job search when I grow up."
Lin Man chuckled, "Are you still afraid of becoming illiterate? How were your grades in school before?"
"I can't get first place in the school, but I can get into the top three in the class! Every year the teacher rewards me with some notebooks and pencils."
"Don't worry about studying. Maybe you'll be able to go to school again in two years. By then you'll be eleven years old, and it won't be appropriate for you to go back to the fourth grade.
Qing Huan, I'll find you two sets of fourth and fifth grade textbooks. You can study with me when you have nothing to do. When classes resume, you can go straight to fifth grade."
Classes resumed in the first half of 1968. I only attended the fifth grade for a few months and was able to go to junior high school in the second half of the year.
Huo Qinghuan put down the small plane in his hand, raised his head and asked, "Sister-in-law, will classes really resume in the future? You can only get a diploma after graduation, and I haven't even graduated from elementary school yet.
Those with a university degree must be very good, my sister-in-law is very good, alas, it is a pity that I am illiterate."
Lin Man smiled and said, "Regardless of whether classes resume or not, we must not forget to study. A diploma is just a business card to show to outsiders. You are also very good."
(This chapter is not yet finished, please click on the next page to continue reading) Chapter 85: The Illiterate Child Who Holds Back (Page 2/2)
"I'm an illiterate kid who's holding the Huo family back. I don't have much education."
"Whether you have learned anything depends on how much you've learned. Anyway, we don't have much to do right now, so we can take the time to study whenever we have time."
“But those who have really read a lot of books are having a hard time now.
That day I heard Mom and Dad sighing in their room, saying that if our uncles hadn't been martyrs and Grandpa hadn't been a commander, those bad guys would have wanted to kill them long ago."
Dealing with literati is the sadness of this era. Lin Man knows that this topic is a bit heavy, but she still hopes that Huo Qinghuan can read more books and not be scared by these people and things outside.
"In ancient times, there were cases of burning books and burying scholars, but that eventually became history. Now it is just history repeating itself. Times will change, and everything will become history, and everything will be fine.
Moreover, the ancients said: Books contain beautiful women and golden houses. Another ancient saying goes: All things are inferior, only reading is superior.
Huo Qinghuan, your eldest brother is now the attending physician in the cardiovascular department of the military hospital, and your second brother is a reserve pilot at the Air Force Flight Academy.
If they didn't read, how could your eldest brother treat illnesses and save lives? If your second brother didn't read, how could he fly a plane? If he were illiterate, he probably wouldn't even understand the aircraft instrument panel.
"I understand, sister-in-law. I will pick up my previous lessons. My parents are both scholars, and I can't let them down and embarrass them."
"Well, we will study hard at home in the future. The knowledge we learn is ours and no one can take it away from us."
"good."
Lin Man cut the peeled papaya in half, removed the seeds with a spoon, cut it into slices and shreds, and marinated them in two separate bowls.
Half an hour later, she washed the large basin of papaya slices with water, and then put them in a dustpan to dry out the moisture.
After drying the papaya slices, she washed the papaya shreds, squeezed out the water and put them in a bowl for later use. She then added sugar, aged vinegar, oyster sauce, light soy sauce, chili oil, chili pepper, minced garlic, sesame oil and cooked sesame seeds.
In this era, all we used was soy sauce, but Lin Man thought it was too strong, so she used light soy sauce from the space to make cold dishes.
After making the cold papaya shreds, boil water and prepare to slice the sour papaya.
Huo Qinghuan returned to his room, took out a piece of paper and a pen to write a letter to his parents. Halfway through, he couldn't figure out how to write the word "eel," so he simply drew a snake-like animal next to it with a pencil, and added the word "fish" at the end.
In the evening, Huo Qingci came back and Huo Qinghuan handed him the letter he had written.
"Brother, I wrote a letter to my parents. Did you put it in your letter and send it together?"
Huo Qingci asked, "What did you write?"
"I didn't write much, just that my sister-in-law took me to the sea to catch fish and pick up conchs."
Lin Man walked over and said to Huo Qingci, "Qingci, when are you going to write a letter to your parents? Why don't I write a few words too!"
"Write it tonight and mail it tomorrow."
Huo Qingci laughed as soon as he opened Huo Qinghuan's letter. Is this guy drawing a picture book?
He drew fish, shrimps, crabs, and conchs, and even a black snake.
"Huo Qinghuan, what do you mean by this snake fish?"
"Brother, that's a little eel. I can't write the word eel, so I drew one. It looks pretty similar, doesn't it?"
"If you don't know how to write, ask me next time. If you draw a snake like this again, my mom will probably be worried. There are already many snakes on the island.
Two people were admitted to the hospital today after being bitten by snakes. One was promptly rescued and is still receiving treatment, but the other died. You must be careful when you go out and avoid areas with lots of bushes.
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