Although it was inappropriate to reveal her biggest secret so openly, Tang Cuimei did not regret it.
There are only a few years left before you can take the college entrance exam; if you wait any longer, it won't make any difference.
She wanted to go ahead with the event, but she couldn't hide it from her own family, because she still needed them to cover for her.
Only if she passes the exam can the heavy responsibility of supporting the family not fall solely on her older sisters.
When the dark times arrive, she will either find a job at a rural clinic or be assigned back to her hometown after graduating from university.
The best outcome is a provincial capital hospital; if that's not possible, then there's the city; and only lastly, there are county and township hospitals.
She doesn't care where she stays in the future, as long as there is room for her to make her mark, then this diploma will not have been a waste.
I didn't expect that Tang Cuihua would come over again while I was cooking.
"Um... Cuimei, there's something I feel I must remind you of. If you think it makes sense, then listen to me; if you don't, then stick to your own opinion, okay?"
Seeing how serious Tang Cuihua was, Cuimei couldn't help but take her seriously as well.
"It's alright, go ahead and tell me, sister."
"I'm thinking that you can't rush your studies. It would be more appropriate for us to start from the first grade of elementary school."
Otherwise, if you overstep too much, you might be reported in the future.
In those days, even experts and professors went to the cowshed. If you had anything, especially if you were to take the exam in the future, you would need a letter of introduction. Wherever you went, the village would know. If the village knew, wouldn't the Tang family's main family know?
Do those who have grudges against us also know this? If someone reports you, how will you explain your sudden decision to study this?
"Don't forget, that couple from Niujia Village is still in the hospital. But I heard from their village chief that they're planning to give up treatment. Whether they live or die depends on their fate. If they do survive, who will they hate the most?"
You say someone taught you how to learn, but can you find that person? If you're self-taught, can you clearly explain the environment and textbooks involved?
"So, I think you shouldn't go to a top university. Just get into a vocational school or junior college, and you can manage the hospitals and clinics in our county and township. When things get better in the future, you can find a way to get promoted."
Years later, I think it's safer for cats to stay in poor areas. Aren't those experts and scholars in hospitals also among the hardest-hit groups, suffering greatly?
...
Undeniably, Tang Cuihua was being overly cautious in her words, but among them, she was the only one who had truly experienced this period of history.
The purpose of studying medicine is to save lives; where you save lives and who you save lives is not important.
The biggest difference might be in salary and benefits, but if it arouses other people's curiosity about her, it could really cause trouble.
Cui Mei didn't rush to reply to Cui Hua: "Sister, I understand what you said. Here, you go ahead and do your work, I'll think about it myself."
Cuihua was pleased to see that she had taken her words to heart: "Okay, I mainly feel that it's not easy for our family to have someone who is good at studying. If they hadn't gone through the hardship of studying and the ordeal of sending them to school, they would really be envied by others."
Aside from us, nobody wants our daughter to have a good life; many people are just laughing at us!
A few years later, production teams were established, followed by famine. After the famine, the country descended into chaos, and the situation became unfavorable. We had to rely on ourselves to survive.
Tang Cuimei was quite surprised that Tang Cuihua could offer such insights.
Logically speaking, she is not a reborn person in the traditional sense, but ever since she started dreaming as a child, her instinct to defy fate has led the nine once miserable sisters astray from their original course and embarked on a new journey.
Nowadays, whether she's speaking, acting, or considering things, she tries her best to take the big picture into account. This is easy to say but very difficult to do, especially since she occasionally throws out new words when she speaks, which proves that she's not a typical farmer.
At least in Tang Cuimei's view, the three sisters were all very studious. There were notebooks everywhere in the house where they practiced writing repeatedly. Not only were the front pages of those notebooks filled out, but the back pages were also filled out. They even practiced on the floor. These were all examples of their diligent study.
Although Tang Cuimei didn't want to start from first grade, Cuihua's words made a lot of sense. She could skip grades later, but she had to start from the beginning. Only by having the experience of learning could she keep those who didn't want her to have a good life in the future from her.
Fortunately, it's now easy for elementary school students to skip grades because educational resources are unevenly distributed and there are fewer students in school. Basically, a classroom is occupied by students from grades one, two, and three, so there is more room for her to skip grades.
A teacher who teaches everything, from first grade to second and third grade, with one knowledge point for each grade, even if she can't stand teachers who teach in their hometown dialect, she still has to go through a transition period. Who knows, she might be the next one to suffer?
Cuiju rolled out noodles and stir-fried cabbage. Just before it was done, she added chopped scallions and cilantro pickled in raw vinegar and salt, and finally threw in a handful of fresh spinach. When the noodles, which were full of color, aroma and flavor, were served, the whole yard was filled with their fragrance.
Cuiju even cut a duck egg for Cuimei separately.
"Look how good these duck eggs are. They ooze oil as soon as you cut them open. Come on, Lao Wu, come and eat. I put less salt in the noodles, but these salted duck eggs are very salty. Put some in your noodles."
"Sister, you should eat too,"
Cui Mei was the least willing to give and take, so she picked up the other half and decisively scooped a little for each of the three of them.
“I’ll eat the rest. I don’t like to eat alone. Good food is meant to be shared. Now that we sisters are living together, let’s work together to make our lives better.”
"Big sister, I've thought about what you just said, and I agree. I'll go to first grade after the New Year, but I don't plan to study in the village. I want to go to town with you so I'll have a chance to save people and earn some extra money to help our family with our immediate needs."
At the very least, people in the town are richer than people in the village, right?
Cuiju hesitated, then said, "Well... Fifth Brother, there's really no need to rush. You're too young. Look at how thin and frail you are. Who would let a child treat their illness?"
Cui Mei smiled and said, "Second Sister, in many cases of acute illness, the key is to take good first aid measures, and the patient can survive. Of course, this requires luck. I can't just wander around the streets looking for patients. Isn't it because I thought the chances were better in town?"
Cuihua understood what she meant: "Okay, Taoyuan Village doesn't have a primary school anyway. The journey to other villages to study isn't much shorter than going to the town, especially the tuition. It's three yuan a semester in the village, four yuan in the town, and five yuan in the county. There are many more teachers in the town than in the village, so maybe we won't have to attend large classes together!"
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