After all that trouble, the only food Xiao Jiu often prepared for herself was a boiled egg.
At most, when eating steamed buns, they would eat them with salted duck eggs, or at worst, peel a preserved egg, a specialty of Henan province.
Of course, there are also fruits, all kinds of seasonal fruits and off-season fruits.
This is already considered the highest standard. As for meat, grains, and the like in the space, those are luxuries, mainly because they are time-consuming, laborious, and difficult to cook.
Among these little ones, there are very few daughters in their families who go to school; most of the children don't go to school and stay at home to work.
Since the implementation of the work point system, these children have been assigned light tasks, such as weeding, cutting pig feed, throwing seeds into the dug holes when planting corn, and cleaning up any soil that hasn't been cleaned when harvesting peanuts and potatoes.
After she saved Zhao Maiya and Lin Jinbao, the two of them treated her extremely well.
Lin Jinbao, in particular, would help her with all sorts of dirty and tiring work. Sometimes, after finishing his own chores, he would go to their house to help his grandparents with their work.
Because Zhao Maiya lost an eye, her grandfather always felt guilty and treated her very well. However, this also made the originally lively and cheerful girl become more and more self-conscious, and she would only smile when facing Xiaojiu.
In their village, the number of children who go to school can be counted on one hand. She has many older brothers, and they all go to school, but she doesn't. Naturally, rumors of favoring boys over girls inevitably spread.
She didn't care about any of that, because the famine had already come, and she could go to school whenever she wanted; she didn't care about those few years in primary school.
Her older brothers had taught her all the necessary knowledge during the holidays, and she had cooperated in learning all the elementary school material. All she needed to do was take an exam when she graduated from elementary school.
She didn't care anymore, and she cared even less about her grandparents, father, and mother. No matter how those people stirred things up or said anything, it didn't matter to her.
The Tao family suddenly produced two college students. Even if they tried to keep a low profile, the arrival of the admission notices caused a stir throughout the village.
As for Zhou Yue, he was the pride of the Zhou family. He was admitted to university, and his grandparents wouldn't allow him to keep a low profile. They insisted on leading him to his grandparents' graves with drums and gongs to pay their respects and comfort their spirits in heaven.
The other branches of the Zhou family wanted to share in the joy, but all the sarcastic remarks from the villagers were driven away, especially the branch that had produced rebellious sons and grandsons. Everyone despised them and wanted to kill them. Even though that family had paid a heavy price, Zhou Yue never gave them a second glance, and he completely ignored their attempts to make peace.
"Get out!" That was always his only word when dealing with them.
The household registrations of Zhou Yue and Zhou Xing will also follow the military, as will the household registrations of the Tao brothers.
Once you get into university, your household registration will follow the university, and you will be assigned a job after graduation.
Those with ability can use connections to stay in big cities, while those without ability or connections have to be assigned back to their hometowns. Even if they are assigned back to their hometowns, as long as they have the title of college graduate, the outcome will not be too bad; at the very least, they will become staff members or cadres.
Of course, this also depends on the standards for judging the quality of the school.
Fortunately, with the reforms happening now and their family no longer owning land, the two brothers can now serve in the army and become college students without any worries.
The Zhou family's old house has a private plot of land where they can grow a lot of things. The key to the old house has always been with the Tao family, who also maintain the house regularly. The two brothers will probably only come back to visit during their holidays.
Around National Day, it is the busy season for autumn harvest and planting in the area. In previous years, Zhao Lingli and her husband, as well as Tang Cuilian, would go home to help. Now, Tao Changyi and Zhao Lingli have been promoted to full-time employees, and Tang Cuilian has been recommended for a permanent position by the factory due to her good performance. She is just waiting to be promoted to a full-time employee, so her years of apprenticeship will not have been in vain.
It was inevitable that Cui Mei and Cui Xiang would go to university during a famine year, but they had no choice; if they didn't go at this time, they wouldn't have the time.
1965 was a crucial timeframe; Cui Mei took the college entrance exam in 1959, and Cui Xiang took it in 1960. The two of them were essentially on the last train.
Xiao Jiu has already made her plans. Next summer, she will take the entrance exam for junior high school, and once she registers for junior high school, she will skip a grade.
One year of junior high, one year of senior high, and then skipping a grade in college to graduate before 1965 is theoretically feasible, but it would cause a sensation.
But if we don't do this, we'll have to wait ten years, and no one can afford to wait that long, including her.
Moreover, the only place she could apply to was a military academy. Even if something went wrong, at least it would be a military medical university, which would guarantee her a job.
Military uniforms were popular in the 1950s, 60s, and even 70s and 80s. It was a highly respected and stable profession.
Most importantly, her future husband has been tested by the country and has a certain level of security. Although there may be wolves in sheep's clothing among them, as long as she is not blind, she should be able to find a suitable partner. If she could join the army or something, she could start a different life. It is indeed something to aspire to.
Before she knew it, Xiao Jiu had gradually started to put her future on the agenda.
While other children were running around playing after finishing their chores, she had already taken out her junior high school books and started reviewing.
On one hand, it's a signal flare; on the other hand, it's necessary. She needs to let the people around her know that although she didn't go to school, she has never stopped learning. She won't get into school out of thin air; it's because she has always worked hard. Having so many friends to prove her worth will reduce a lot of unnecessary trouble.
When she encounters students who want to learn to read, she generously teaches them, especially the girls' names. She teaches them all of them, as well as the multiplication tables and mental arithmetic, which are practical skills that they will use in the future.
She would also translate the knowledge points from the book into language they could understand, tell them stories, explain principles, and talk about the physiological hygiene that girls should know, especially during menstruation, how to protect themselves and how to take care of themselves. Although they were girls, they would blush when listening, but it really helped them.
"Xiao Jiu, how do you know so much? Do you think these embarrassing things are written in books?"
"The books only mention it vaguely, they don't explain it in detail. These are all things that my older sisters in high school summarized for me. You must pay attention to hygiene during your period, otherwise you can easily get infected. You can't treat it casually. You have to wash properly and change your clothes frequently. Otherwise, if you keep it covered for a long time or don't change it for a long time, you will get inflammation. If you get sick, you are embarrassed to go to the doctor. In the end, aren't you the ones who suffer?"
Xiao Jiu then described several uncomfortable symptoms, and the girls rushed over to ask her how to treat them.
"We don't want to go to the clinic, and we don't dare tell Mom. We really feel terrible. Please tell me, are there any folk remedies we can use?"
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