After hearing the whole story, Cuihong couldn't hear anything except for the three Cuihua sisters. The two younger ones had never even seen them before, so they wouldn't have any feelings about them. Besides, it was this old lady who had suggested sending them away back then, so it would be strange if they had a good impression of her.
So, not only did Tang's death not cause the slightest ripple, but no one shed a single tear for her.
However, Cuihua knew that with her death, her four sons had completely separated from the family.
From that moment on, we really had to go our separate ways.
Good news also came from the commune: the newly planted vegetables could be processed by each production team and exchanged for grain.
In other words, the commune did not provide any food support, so they had to grow their own vegetables, sell them, and use the money to exchange for food to get through the winter.
Fortunately, this time the heavens did not mistreat them again. Although it was still dry, at least there was water in the river, and it would rain every now and then to relieve the thirst of the land.
However, the famine is expected to last for three years, and next year will still be difficult. The coarse grains in Xiaojiu Space have been almost used up, and she wants to keep the remaining white rice and white flour for herself. She doesn't plan to send any more out. There are too many people in the village, and even if she is selfless, she has to have her limits.
In total, she had sent out over a thousand catties of grain, and she thought that was enough.
Fortunately, thanks to her assistance, these people were able to work in the fields. In addition, the commune said it would not provide subsidies, but it still sent some potatoes and coarse grains to feed everyone for a month or so. Although it was not much and they were not full, at least they would not have to work on an empty stomach anymore.
Around mid-October, the first batch of vegetables was ready to be harvested. With the help of the commune, the harvested vegetables were quickly transported to the city and sold out. The vegetables in the fields were growing one crop after another, and at least there was no shortage of food, giving us hope.
Tao Changyi, Zhao Lingli, and Tang Cuilian were also recalled to the factory to resume production, as several batches of wine needed to be produced before the end of the year.
As long as they have work to do at the factory, they can buy food. Especially now that their children are in school, the burden of food is not so heavy. Even though Xiao Jiu comes over every few days to bring them some good fruit and meat, they don't resist it like they used to.
Xiao Jiu is already ten years old and a big girl. Her family is reluctant to let her work in the fields, especially since Tao Changyi and his wife both have salaries and their son is a soldier who receives allowances and doesn't need to pay for his tuition. So Xiao Jiu's daily responsibility is to take care of the two elderly people and she also has free time to take the bus into the city.
Ostensibly, she was delivering food to her parents, but in reality, she would take this opportunity to sell vegetables and fruits from various residential compounds.
During famine years, it's not just food that's scarce; vegetables and fruits are even scarcer. And since they're of good quality, even if they're a bit pricey, they're not as expensive as they are on the black market.
Earning ten or eight yuan per trip couldn't be easier.
She didn't dare sell too much, fearing that someone with ulterior motives would have their eye on her, so she usually only sold about 20 or 30 kilograms, and left as soon as she was done.
When she gets home, she brings her grandparents some bananas or red dates, saying that her parents bought them. Even if she is found out later, they will only think that she is being filial to her parents and will not think of anything else. So she has become very good at this.
Perhaps seeing that she had nothing to do at home, Xiao Jiu did not refuse when her grandparents suggested that she go to school again.
When Tao Changyi returned home for the weekend, his parents discussed the matter with him, and he immediately agreed: "You should have started school a long time ago. Where do you want to go?"
“Dad, I’ve already studied junior high school courses on my own, so there’s no need for me to go to elementary school anymore. I’ll go to the county’s No. 1 high school to take the exam. If I pass the exam, I can live on campus and go straight to the second year of junior high.”
Tao Changyi's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets: "What? You've never been to school, and you want to go to the second year of junior high?"
Xiao Jiu grinned: "How do you know it won't work if you don't try?"
Seeing the confidence in her expression, Tao Changyi took Xiaojiu into the city early Monday morning. He first asked the factory for an hour or so off, and then took Xiaojiu to the county's No. 1 Middle School.
There weren't many transfer students in those days, but schools needed students. Xiao Jiu didn't say that she had never been to school. After being called over by the teacher and asked about some knowledge points, she was given a few test papers.
"Dad, I'm taking the exam here. You go to work. I'll come find you after I finish the exam."
Tao Changyi was still worried, and Xiao Jiu assured him repeatedly before finally saying, "Then I'll come pick you up at noon."
The three sets of exam papers weren't very difficult; at least for her, these questions were nothing compared to the exam papers from later generations.
Leaving aside Chinese and Math, the English test was the easiest. She finished the three tests in less than two hours. Then she asked for tests for Politics, Physics, Chemistry, and other subjects, because she needed to stay up until noon. Since she was going to take the tests, she might as well take them all at once.
When she was writing there, some teachers were amazed by her speed. At first, they thought she was just scribbling, but when they picked up the paper, they found that not only was her handwriting neat, but her accuracy rate was also over 90%.
Good prospect!
In just a moment, the teacher went to find other teachers to observe together. When she finished writing all the papers for all subjects, the principal and the director arrived.
When it was time for her to be promoted to the second year of junior high school, the teachers all nodded in agreement.
"I don't have a primary school diploma. My grandparents are in poor health, so I never went to primary school and was homeschooled."
Self-taught?
Seven or eight pairs of eyes turned to her again. Xiao Jiu felt a little embarrassed by the stares and wondered if she had been too high-profile, so she explained again.
“My brother and his family will make it up to me during the holidays,”
After mentioning that his three older brothers had all been admitted to universities of science and technology, there was a moment of silence in the room.
This made her too embarrassed to mention Cui Mei, Cui Xiang, and Tao Qing again.
At this point, the school teacher took a deep breath and asked her age. She said she was born in 1950.
"What? You're only nine years old?"
"I'm ten years old now, I've already had my birthday,"
"You jumped way too high! Nine years old, no wonder you're not very tall. Of course, you also have the courage and guts, not bad!"
Seeing that she had received the approval of the grade director, the homeroom teacher of Class 1, Grade 8, warmly spoke to Xiao Jiu.
"Tao Tao, right? Do you live on campus or commute? Shall we go and get it done now?"
“But I don’t have an elementary school diploma,” Xiao Jiu said, and the principal laughed when he brought it up again.
"Alright, that's not important. With your grades, this is already the best you can get."
"How much is the tuition? How much is the accommodation?"
"Tuition and accommodation cost ten yuan. The dormitory is a large room for sixteen people."
"Any other documents or materials are required?"
When the teacher mentioned the household registration booklet, Xiao Jiu immediately replied, "Can I just get it done directly? My dad's at work."
"Of course, you can just go and take a few more one-inch ID photos later."
...
When Xiao Jiu came out of school, it was only a little past eleven o'clock. She will come directly to class tomorrow morning.
She didn't check in, mainly because she backed out as soon as she heard it was a 16-person room.
She has a space, which contains not only bedding but also her daily changes of clothes; all she needs to do is prepare more hot water.
The school has a cafeteria, and she can also buy food outside. When she has time, she can exchange it for some food coupons.
So when she went to tell her parents the good news, they were both surprised.
"You actually passed the exam? That's wonderful! Have you taken care of everything?"
"Okay, I'll take the bus back to pack some luggage and go straight to school. Mom and Dad, you don't need to worry about me. I'll have my sister Hong take me to the bus."
...
An eight-cent bus ticket could take you from the county seat to the town, and then it would take another thirty or forty minutes to walk home.
The weather has turned cooler now, and in a few days we'll be wearing thermal underwear. Walking on such crisp autumn days is not tiring at all.
It was already two or three o'clock when I got home. My grandparents had taken on the task of weeding, which they could do while sitting down, so they weren't home at the moment.
Without saying a word, she bolted the front door and started making a large bowl of noodles.
Then she cooked noodles, which were from the space, along with the vegetables she had washed.
Place the cooked noodles in a large bowl, then store them directly in the refrigerator. This way, they will look fresh from the pot when you eat them, without getting soggy.
Then they started cutting the pork, adding various diced vegetables, and making a meat sauce.
After making the meat sauce, you'll make the egg and tomato sauce.
Eating noodles alone wasn't enough, so we steamed a big pot of rice, and while the rice was steaming, we also cooked a pot of corn, potatoes, and sweet potatoes as snacks.
Rice is good with vegetables too. Hot and sour shredded potatoes, bean sprouts, and stir-fried vegetables are the best choices because they are quick.
To improve her meals, she also boiled a large pot of eggs and quail eggs, which she could keep for breakfast.
When her grandparents returned from work, she had already started steaming the buns.
Upon learning that she was going to school the next day, I immediately helped her pack. Her school supplies were already at home, and her schoolbag belonged to her brothers and had been washed and prepared for her. Even her school bedding was prepared by her grandmother sometime ago.
Xiao Jiu only needed to pack some changes of clothes and school supplies. Of course, the steamed buns she made, as well as the pickled vegetables and chili sauce made by her grandmother, were also packed into her bag. All these miscellaneous items together made up two large bundles.
That evening, Xiao Jiu made a special trip to visit her sisters. They were all very happy to learn that she was going to study in the city.
"Don't worry about going to school. We'll take care of things at home. Don't worry about anything. Your fourth sister will take you to school tomorrow."
Xiao Jiu winked at Cuihua, "Big sister, will you give me a ride?"
Cuihua immediately understood what she meant, "Okay, then I'll take you. It's settled, six o'clock?"
“Okay! Then you push the cart, I have two big bundles.”
That night, her grandmother held her as she slept, looking reluctant but also relieved that she had skipped a grade and gone straight to the second year of junior high.
"It's all worth it for you to study so hard all these years. My Jiu'er is amazing, even better than your brothers. When your fourth brother, that scumbag, comes back, I'll have to give him a good talking to. If he doesn't study hard, you'll catch up with him."
Tao Tao suddenly felt a sense of anticipation. What would her twelve-year-old brother, who was in the second year of junior high school in the village, look like when he came home and found out that she was in the same grade as him?
Haha! Just thinking about it is exciting!
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