Xiao Jiu wasn't a real child, so he immediately shouted at the people in uniform at the station.
"Uncle, quick, call the police! This woman is trying to steal my bag. Please call the police and also get the station security personnel here. Thank you!"
As soon as she made the announcement, a large crowd gathered around. The older woman held the small wine bag in one hand and her shoulder in the other.
"What's wrong with you, girl? I've already told you what's inside, why haven't you given it back to me yet?"
Xiao Jiu chuckled, "Auntie, don't be in such a hurry. When the police arrive, I'll tell them what's in this bag, how many there are, and where they're located. Just saying there are a few apples and clothes isn't specific enough. What do the clothes look like? How big are they? How many apples are there? Can you even describe that clearly? I'm the owner of these clothes. They fit me perfectly, and I even have photos of myself wearing them. So what's the rush? When the police come and arrest you, they'll see if you dare to be so brazen!"
Xiao Jiu's words drew cheers from the surrounding crowd: "Well said! I've been watching you all this time. This woman doesn't look like a good person. Don't be afraid, young lady. This is a train station with many staff members. When the police arrive, we'll vouch for you!"
Upon hearing the mention of staff, Xiao Jiu immediately said, "By the way, what about the ticket seller from the bus I just got off? I can go to her to testify. I was seasick the whole way, and she helped me off the bus. She can prove whether this bag is mine or not!"
As soon as Xiao Jiu finished speaking, the old woman let go of her hand, trying to escape in the chaos, but Xiao Jiu, with her sharp eyes, grabbed her hair.
"Hey, where do you think you're going? First you lied and said you were going to the bathroom and asked me to watch your bag. I said I was busy, and you got angry. Then you accused me of taking your bag. You liar, you bad woman! Now that you've been exposed, you think you can just leave? No way! Quick, get security and arrest her. She's obviously a repeat offender. Who knows how many people she's cheated!"
The woman hadn't expected to run into such a tough nut to crack, a sharp-tongued young woman at such a young age. She struggled several times but couldn't shake off her grip. She was amazed by her incredible stamina during the famine and regretted having provoked such a troublesome target. Helpless, she could only look to her companion for help.
After receiving her distress signal, her companion pretended to help but actually took the opportunity to create chaos and successfully escaped before the station staff arrived.
Xiao Jiu glanced in the direction they left, sneered, and said, "You guys got away fast. If the station staff hadn't been short-staffed and overwhelmed, and if you guys hadn't all looked so thin and pale from hunger, this matter wouldn't have ended so easily."
She made a mountain out of a molehill, holding the person tightly and drawing a crowd together, all to serve as a warning to everyone.
The reason for taking lenient measures is that these people haven't caused any real harm, and even if they were arrested, there's not much that could be done to them. Rather than wasting each other's time, it's better to just give them a warning.
As soon as she left the station, she felt like she was being watched. Even as she was about to board the bus, they continued to follow her.
Xiao Jiu was a little unhappy and suddenly turned around, only to find that it was the woman's accomplice.
"What are you following me for? To seek revenge? If I hadn't let you go just now, would you have been able to leave so easily? You're all grown up, why don't you find a job instead of doing this kind of swindling and cheating? You take advantage of other people's kindness to gain their trust and then commit fraud. Don't you have any conscience?"
The middle-aged man was surprised that the girl was so alert and noticed him so quickly. He pretended not to know who she was talking about at first, but the girl was also quite bold. She walked up to him while talking and looked straight up at him.
"Stop pretending. I'm talking about you, uncle. That aunt is yours, right? You two are accomplices. I know. I could tell at the station. You kept your composure and didn't step in when she was being attacked. You only helped her when she asked for help. What, you're feeling resentful and want to follow me and take revenge?"
The middle-aged man had a stubble beard and looked like he hadn't showered in days. He smelled strongly of cheap tobacco, and Xiao Jiu instinctively took a step back.
"How did your parents raise you? You're so young, yet you're so guarded. But you're likely to offend people this way, don't you know?"
Xiao Jiu frowned. "I know, you people have probably done a lot of bad things, and you might even stab me in the back. It's impossible not to be afraid, but I think if everyone turns a blind eye, wouldn't that just encourage this evil trend and make you swindlers even more unscrupulous?"
"Little girl, you've been to school, huh? Look at how well you talk, you're different from ordinary kids. Fine, I'll let you off the hook today since you're so eloquent. But watch out in the future, don't meddle in other people's business, or you won't even know how you died!"
Faced with the threat, Xiao Jiu straightened her back.
“My two uncles are heroes, and my four older brothers are all in the military. Our family has a total of six college graduates. If I were to abandon my basic principles as a human being because of a few words from you, how could my family still be so powerful?”
Having said that, she took a step forward and arrogantly raised her little head.
“I’m not afraid of you. If I were cowardly and afraid of trouble, I would be disgracing my uncle and my brothers. Your words are only helpful to those who have reservations. I’ve lived a second life. Do you think I’m afraid of death?”
As a junior, let me give you some advice: even the best horses can stumble. You won't always be successful. If you fall from grace one day, you might have to spend the rest of your life in jail. Especially these past few years, with the crackdown, if you're unlucky, you might get shot. Why risk it?
The famine is only temporary; there's no need to ruin your future. You have elderly parents and young children to support, so you should just find a decent job!
The middle-aged man was stunned by the aura she exuded at such a young age, and then gave a wry smile.
"You've got the spirit of a soldier's kid, which means your family is pretty well-off. It just means you don't know what hunger is like at all. Even a penny can bring down a hero."
I do have elderly parents and young children to support, but my parents have already starved to death. Do you know how they died? They ate clay, couldn't defecate, and died from constipation! My children now have ascites. We have no money, the land isn't producing any crops, and the city is so big, we'll be driven out wherever we go. Do you think life is easy to find?
Without a household registration, without a letter of introduction, and without any skills, where are you going to find work? As a farmer, you've clearly planted the land, produced grain, and after handing over the grain tax, there's hardly anything left in the village. The commune has approached you, the county committee has approached you, but you keep putting it off, telling everyone to figure out how to solve the grain problem yourself in a few days. But how can you solve it?
As the middle-aged man was talking, he suddenly squatted down on the curb, covered his face, and burst into tears, something Xiao Jiu had never expected.
It seems she really hit a nerve!
“My mother, wife, and children are all saving food for me. They are pinning their hopes on me, hoping that I will have the strength to go out and find food for them. But time and time again, I have disappointed them. Now my mother has starved to death, my son is dying, and my wife can no longer get out of bed. If I am the only one left in the family, then there is no point in living.”
Xiao Jiu pursed her lips. It did sound pitiful. She thought for a moment, then unzipped the bag and handed over four apples from inside.
"Uncle, could you trade these four apples for some food? My family is from the countryside too, and we are in the same situation. These four apples were saved up for me by my grandma when I came to school. I think it's okay if we don't eat the apples, but we have to eat the food. Although it can't save us from the root of the problem, it's at least a token of my appreciation."
She believed that there were many pitiful people, but she also needed to protect herself and not flaunt her wealth, especially now that food was so precious.
Since they already knew she had fruit in her bag, and now that she had taken out all four apples, they had nothing more to say.
The middle-aged man stared blankly as Xiao Jiu pushed the apple into his arms and turned away. His lips trembled uncontrollably, but he couldn't say anything in the end.
With famine raging and so many people starving, she had a warehouse, but all she wanted to do was protect her own family. As for the others, she could only do her best.
From the bus station to No. 1 High School, it was an eight-stop bus ride. Since I had been here before, I knew the route well. I paid eight cents for the fare. Once on the bus, I kept a close eye on the people around me, afraid of encountering another pickpocket.
Fortunately, I arrived at the entrance of the high school without any problems, but I was stopped by the security guard when I entered the school.
"Little friend, who are you looking for? Where are your parents?" And carrying a suitcase, whose child was left behind after dropping them off?
Xiao Jiu subconsciously turned her head to look around. It was true. Most students carried their own luggage. Only a very few had their parents carrying it, and they carried their own luggage. It was rare to see the whole family coming to send their children off. And she had never seen a short girl like herself, less than 1.5 meters tall, with a face still showing signs of immaturity. No wonder they stopped her out of the way.
Xiao Jiu quickly and cleverly called out, "Brother, wait for me! I can't catch up with you!"
Then, he politely turned around and pointed to someone at random to the security guard, "Sir, I came with my brother to take my sister to school, but she's too short to keep up!"
"Oh, you're with someone. That's good. Don't get lost. Hurry up and find the registration area over by the basketball court. The classes have already been assigned. Find your dormitory according to your class. If you don't know, be polite and ask around."
The friendly security guard even pointed her in the right direction. Xiao Jiu quickly thanked him and ran forward with her bag.
The city's No. 1 High School does look much bigger than the county's No. 1 High School, but the buildings are all old-style buildings from the Republican era. The campus is not only full of single-story or two-story buildings, but you can also see tenement buildings, adobe houses, and blue brick houses.
However, the No. 1 High School is still the best school in the city. There are many trees on campus, and although the buildings are haphazardly decorated, the haphazardness is only in inconspicuous places. The key campus has all the facilities that should be there: basketball courts, library, laboratories, canteen, teaching buildings, the tallest being three stories high, and the shortest being single-story and tile-roofed houses. Needless to say, the student dormitories are definitely tile-roofed houses, while the kind of tenement buildings are mostly staff dormitories.
The trees in the school look very old. They are not only thick and tall, but also arranged very neatly. There are sycamore trees, poplar trees, willow trees, and even some fruit trees and Chinese toon trees near the staff quarters.
The last time she came here was to see her older sister off, but she didn't explore the entire campus so thoroughly. This time, she wasn't in a hurry to register, mainly because there were too many people around. So she first strolled around the campus to get a general idea of the location of each area before leisurely heading to the registration desk.
The tuition fee for high school is five yuan per semester, the accommodation fee is three yuan, and the textbook fee is five yuan, totaling thirteen yuan.
Because high school requires a lot of practice problems, the cost of textbooks is roughly equivalent to the total cost of elementary and middle school textbooks.
When paying the bill, I saw many parents who looked like farmers, carefully counting thick stacks of small bills.
He kept muttering, "Why is it so expensive? It's even more expensive than junior high! Thirteen yuan! How long will it take us to save up that much? It'll be gone in a semester, and then we'll have to pay this much again next semester?"
This is the complaint of some parents who don't have much money left. They hand over the money without saying anything, then turn around and tell their children to study hard. There are almost no children as young as Xiaojiu who have come all alone.
So when it was her turn in line, the teacher collecting the fees looked at her in surprise: "Are you the student yourself?"
“Yes, teacher, my dad went to the toilet, but I can sign up myself. I am Tao Tao from Class 1, Grade 11, and this is my tuition fee.”
I just saw my name on the bulletin board. I've been assigned to Class 1, Grade 11, and my student number is nine. I even read it aloud so the teacher wouldn't know.
The teacher was perhaps surprised by her height, but didn't say anything more. She collected the fee, wrote a note, and told her to go and collect her dormitory bed and key.
In those days, there didn't seem to be any uniforms or bed sheets/covers. They called it a key, but there wasn't one. There was only a slip of paper telling her which bed she was in in the girls' dormitory. Since it was a communal dormitory, the keys were all with the dormitory supervisor.
"There are lockers in the dorm. You can prepare your own key, as the school doesn't provide them. Remember to bring a kettle, basin, etc."
Perhaps because she was young, the teacher went on to say a few more words.
There's no need to collect school uniforms, sheets, or blankets; you only need to pay the tuition. Even the books are only distributed when you arrive at the classroom, so the process is simplified. The registration process takes less than half an hour, and you just need to sign the attendance sheet.
Tao Tao then found a secluded spot to put down her luggage and walked towards the row of mud-brick and tiled houses...
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