Lin Li's heart tightened, and she took out the admission notice from Gangcheng from her cloth bag.
"The school has already made arrangements; all that's needed is for the student registration to be processed here."
Director Zhang shook his head, pulled out a copy of the "Interim Regulations on the Management of Student Records in Primary and Secondary Schools" from his drawer, and pointed to a page.
"You see, transferring schools across regions requires a receipt from the receiving education bureau."
A sparrow perched on the locust tree outside the window, chirping incessantly.
Director Zhang sighed slightly: "Tiger is good at math; he won an award in the district competition last time."
As she spoke, she pulled out an honor book from the cabinet, pointing to the yellowed pages, "Look, it's written here."
Lin Li's fingers traced the words "Lin Hu, 92 points," and she suddenly remembered that when her grandson brought home the certificate of merit last time, he insisted on sticking it on the wall above the kang (a heated brick bed) and would look at it twice before going to bed.
“How about this,” Director Zhang took off his glasses and wiped them, “I’ll give you the student registration card first, and you can get the approval document sorted out as soon as possible and send it over before next Monday.”
She opened the metal cabinet, inside which were neatly stacked rows of brown paper bags, each labeled with a student's name.
They found Lin Hu's student registration card and handed it over.
Lin Li accepted it and thanked her with a smile.
Director Zhang had already taken out the transfer approval form and started filling it out, the ink from his pen leaving a small circle on the paper.
Director Zhang suddenly asked, "Do schools in Hong Kong teach simplified Chinese characters?"
Lin Li took out the newly bought "Simplified Chinese Character List" from her cloth bag: "I'm giving this to the children."
Director Zhang flipped through a couple of pages, then suddenly pulled out a copy of the Xinhua Dictionary from the drawer. It was a 1979 edition, and the cover was worn down at the corners.
"Bring this with you, it's more complete than yours."
Lin Li offered to pay, but Director Zhang waved his hand, saying, "It's for the children; go over there and study hard."
"Hmm... I've already told the children that once they've mastered their skills, they should come back and contribute to the country."
Upon hearing Lin Li's words, Director Zhang's smile deepened instantly.
When I left the school, the sun was already high in the sky.
Lin Li sat down at the noodle shop at the entrance of the alley. The price list on the wall was written in chalk: Plain noodles, 2.5 cents a bowl, 5 cents with an egg.
She ordered a bowl of plain noodles with an egg.
Two workers at the next table were talking about factory matters, mentioning that bonuses would be distributed starting next month.
Listening to the people around her constantly talking about the various changes, Lin Li felt that the noodles she was eating tasted even better.
After finishing her noodles, Lin Li went home and took a nap. In the afternoon, she went to the Education Bureau.
The Education Bureau is located in the district committee compound. The sentry at the gate checked her letter of introduction before letting her pass.
The office building has terrazzo floors, which are a bit slippery when walking on them in cloth shoes.
The woman in the reception room was wearing a polyester shirt and spoke with an accent. She took the materials and flipped through them.
"Where is the letter from the receiving school?"
Lin Li quickly handed over the admission notice from the Hong Kong school.
The woman made a mark on the school admission notice with a red pencil, then suddenly looked up and asked, "Are you the child's legal guardian?"
Lin Li nodded and took out the household registration certificate issued by the police station from her cloth bag.
The woman looked at various documents for a long time, then called some department to verify, and said this when she hung up the phone.
"The approval can be processed, but it will take three days."
She gave Lin Li a receipt with a number printed on it, saying, "You can use this to pick it up later."
Lin Li tucked the receipt into her household registration booklet and thanked them.
After leaving the district committee compound, on her way home, Lin Li bought two jin of flour at a grocery store.
When the salesperson weighed the item on the scale, the weight wobbled, and a spoon was added to balance it.
As I walked out of the store, I ran into my neighbor, Aunt Wang, who was carrying a piece of pork, saying it was a gift from her son's workplace.
"How did it go?"
Aunt Wang asked, and Lin Li shook the bag of materials in her hand.
"It's almost done, just waiting for the Education Bureau's approval."
Aunt Wang smiled.
"When you get there, write to me and let your son, Hu Zi Yao Yao, compete with my son, Xiao Wei, to see who learns better."
"good!"
Lin Li smiled and agreed.
A few people were gathered in front of the blackboard at the entrance of the alley, on which the slogan "Family planning is good" was written in colored chalk.
As Lin Li passed by, she saw Aunt Li from the neighborhood committee posting a notice on the wall. The notice, written on a red paper, read "Spring Flu Prevention".
Lin Li suddenly remembered that her vaccination record hadn't been updated yet, and she would have to go to the epidemic prevention station again tomorrow.
When we returned to the courtyard, the setting sun cast long shadows of the pomegranate trees.
Lin Li spread the materials out on the octagonal table and arranged them one by one.
A certificate from the police station, a student registration card from the school, a photo of the child, a receipt from the education bureau...
Then, I put all the documents into a file folder and threw it into the storage space.
Looking at the sky outside, the children should be getting out of school soon.
Lin Li quickly stir-fried a dish of cilantro and shredded beef, hot and sour shredded potatoes, twice-cooked pork, and a large portion of Mapo tofu to go with rice.
When the last dish of winter melon meatball soup was served, Lin Laosan and his two children had already pushed open the gate of the courtyard house.
"It smells so good!"
After throwing their schoolbags onto the bed in the room, the two children ran to the table and took a deep breath of the aroma of the food.
Just as Lin Laosan was about to reach for some food, Lin Li slapped his hand.
“Take the kids to wash their hands. What kind of role model are you, as their third uncle?”
Lin Hu and Lin Yao laughed loudly.
This prompted Lin Laosan to pick up one of his nephews in each arm and walk towards the sink.
Throughout the journey, Lin Hu and Lin Yao were screaming loudly.
Lin Li looked at the three of them, laughing and shaking her head.
The two children barely escaped Lin Laosan's clutches. After washing their hands, they ran to Lin Li's side.
They loudly denounced their third uncle's 'atrocities'.
Lin Li laughed until tears welled up in her eyes, and her stomach ached.
After washing his hands, Lin Laosan slowly walked over.
sit down.
He watched with a smile as the two of them complained to Lin Li about him.
"Alright! Are you hungry? Let's start eating."
After listening to Lin Li's words, the two little ones obediently sat back in their seats.
He made a face at Lin Laosan.
This made his lips twitch incessantly.
After Lin Li started eating, the three of them picked up their chopsticks and began to eat.
"Mom, did things go smoothly today?"
"It's alright. I just need to go to the Education Bureau to pick up the approval document in three days and it will be done."
Lin Laosan nodded after hearing this.
Lin Li placed a piece of twice-cooked pork into his bowl.
How's it going on your end? Is everything alright?
After a moment of silence, Lin Laosan nodded.
"It's alright, I've already told Professor Chen about it..."
Then he shut his mouth.
Lin Li looked at him and her eyes darkened.
It seems things aren't going smoothly on his end. Tomorrow, after she goes to the epidemic prevention station to get her vaccination record complete, she'll go to Tsinghua University to ask Professor Chen about the situation.
After dinner, Lin Laosan and the two little ones started cleaning the table and washing the dishes.
Moonlight streamed into the courtyard, casting the shadow of the pomegranate tree onto the window paper, like a traditional Chinese ink painting.
Lin Li sat in a rocking chair in the courtyard, squinting her eyes, enjoying the evening breeze.
He was already planning what would happen next.
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