The eight days that Xiang Lihua spent visiting his relatives passed quickly.
After being depressed for two days, I returned to normal life. Life has to go on without anyone.
The Xiang family's life was quite happy. Ever since Zhang Jidi let his two sons' wives manage their own wages, the relationship between the mother-in-law and the daughter-in-law was harmonious.
Although Xiang Liguo lived in an old house in the steel plant compound with three bedrooms and a living room, Xiang Lidang lived in apartment 202.
But Zhang Jidi was very good at balancing things and bought Xiang Lidang a bicycle, and An You no longer cared about the size of the house.
Moreover, the couple is queuing up for a new house at the coal mine, so it doesn’t matter if the house is a little smaller for now.
The baby hasn't been born yet, and it doesn't matter if it is born. An's mother lives nearby and insists on coming over to help her daughter take care of the child.
The family is thriving.
Xiang Mianmian is busy studying hard at school. She wants to create an environment for future girls to read good books and choose the life they want.
Although she has learned this knowledge once, it is always new to her. She needs to work harder to master it thoroughly so that she can strive to be the best.
Unfortunately, after a summer of tutoring, Li Xue, Chen Qin, and Qiao Xinxin decided to go home after graduation at the end of the year.
I am still studying in school, just to get that diploma. Sometimes a junior high school diploma can do a lot of things.
However, the three of them were no longer focused on their studies. Instead, they came to class with some housework to do when they had nothing to do.
Some were knitting sweaters, some were sewing clothes. After the teachers left during morning and evening self-study, they started doing handicrafts.
Xiang Mianmian looked at them and lowered her eyelids.
Trying to change your fate may not necessarily lead to success, as no one is the protagonist of his life.
But she had worked hard for her goal and she had no regrets.
The competition in school is becoming increasingly fierce and the learning atmosphere is becoming increasingly intense.
By the end of the year, Xiang Mianmian had always maintained her top spot in the grade, even during the high school entrance exam.
In this era, people believe that if you are good at math, physics and chemistry, you will not be afraid of traveling around the world. Chinese, math, physics and chemistry are the only four subjects in the high school entrance examination, with a total score of 400 points.
There is no need to engage in the complicated registration for the college entrance examination in later generations, where you have to register for your first choice and rack your brains to guess. There are even training classes specifically for filling out applications.
It's all very complicated. The first college student in the family is a guinea pig. It's often the case that they have enough scores but cannot get into the school of their choice, or cannot study the major they want.
Technical secondary schools and high schools directly and roughly set the admission scores, so the capable ones advance and the mediocre ones fall behind.
The technical secondary school will rank the students' scores from high to low based on the number of students admitted, and then cut off the corresponding score line based on the number of admissions. The same goes for high school. If you pass the line, you can continue your studies.
When the admission scores for the county technical secondary school and the passing score for the chemical engineering major were announced, all the teachers found them outrageous.
The teachers gasped. "The admission score is 333. The chemical engineering major has increased by 20 points compared to last year's 351. How many students can get in with 371 points?"
There are five junior high schools in the county town and ten junior high schools in the townships, but only one technical secondary school and one high school, which can be said to be a ratio of 15:2.
The competition is incredibly fierce, with only a few hundred students graduating from technical secondary schools or high schools every year, so even a slightly lower-level junior high school diploma is popular.
The middle school that Xiang Mianmian attended was called Aiguo Middle School. It was named so because it was located on Aiguo Road. It was very close to the steel plant and the coal plant, and most of the children from the factory attended school there.
Xiang Mianmian's teacher also taught Xiang Lili. He was deeply impressed by the girl from the Xiang family and felt that like sister, like sister. Sure enough, the girl passed the exam and became a top scorer.
He walked into the classroom with a smile on his face after receiving the report card. He opened the report card and read it out loud. It started with some encouraging words:
"...Classmates, you are about to reach a watershed in your lives. I hope you will bravely strive for greater heights. I will not say much more. Next, I will read out the scores from highest to lowest:
Xiang Mianmian, 390 points, Qin Renmin, 373 points, and Qin Wanwan, 371 points, these three students have passed the technical secondary school entrance exam for chemical engineering. Congratulations!
If your classmates give you a round of applause out of respect, you can brag about how great your classmates are in the future.
"Next is Hu Ying, with 365 points, and Qi Zemin, with 361 points... These ten students have passed the technical secondary school admission score line. Congratulations to them!"
Although they cannot study the most popular chemical engineering major, these ten students are very happy because the technical secondary school can help them contact companies and introduce jobs, which means they have one foot halfway into the job market.
High school graduates need to find jobs on their own, and that is the gap.
This time the class has performed exceptionally well. The 13 technical secondary school students and 12 high school students were all inspired by Xiang Mianmian to develop a strong study ethos and were unwilling to be inferior to the girls.
The teacher then read out the scores of the students who did not get into high school, but his voice was not as passionate as before.
After all, these children can only get a junior high school diploma, and their future is still unknown.
At least for now, they are losers.
It is worth mentioning that Qiao Xinxin, who gave up her studies, was only five points away from going to high school.
She has a good foundation. Girls who can go to junior high school are all quite capable. Even if she didn't study hard in the second half, she still got a good score.
Qiao Xinxin stopped holding the knitting needle and was stunned for a long time after hearing her score.
Tears welled up in her eyes. Five points, just five points. If she hadn't given up her studies, she could have...
No ifs.
Qiao Xinxin smiled bitterly. Where did the if come from?
She has six younger brothers and sisters in her family. Her two older brothers are married, and her eldest sister-in-law is about to give birth. There is no one to help her mother. How can she study?
I was able to finish junior high school thanks to the man's family who came to propose marriage and insisted on having a daughter-in-law who had graduated from junior high school, otherwise the 160 yuan betrothal gift would be cut in half.
Her family gritted their teeth and gave her the opportunity to go to school for the next six months.
What can she do? It's all fate. She doesn't want to accept it, but fate gives her hope and then despair.
She looked at Xiang Mianmian with empty eyes.
Not every family treats their daughters as treasures, and not everyone can change their fate. Sometimes she really wishes she had no talent and could go home to help out when she was in elementary school.
That way you won't feel resigned, and you won't be jealous of outstanding people who you can't become.
Qiao Xinxin unconsciously stroked the knitting needle in her hand, and a fire rose in her heart. She wanted to break it, step on it, and overturn everything with force.
In the end, she gritted her teeth and continued knitting stiffly, just like her fate, which was beyond her control. She could only let the needle shuttle back and forth, following the set path.
The other two girls who gave up their studies were relatively calm. Their scores were not outstanding, only 40 or 50 points away from the passing score, so they were not that unwilling.
They looked at the happy Xiang Mianmian, Hu Ying and Qin Wanwan who were laughing and making noises, and their eyes were filled with envy.
The high school entrance examination brings joy to some and sorrow to others.
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