Shangjingcheng, Yi'an Street, Gu Family Old House
"Ah Miao! Ah Miao!" Li Ying yelled, "Have you fed the chickens in the backyard? Have you fed them?"
Still in the bed, Gu Miao frowned irritably, turned over, twisted comfortably, wrapped her head with the quilt, and continued to sleep soundly.
Li Ying couldn't call her little daughter, so she had to do it herself. She came out of the dirty and messy kitchen, walked through the yard piled with debris, and bypassed the dusty corridor. Finally, she arrived at the backyard full of chicken manure and smelled terrible.
She threw away the leftovers and moldy steamed buns, and seeing the hungry roosters and hens swarming towards her, she quickly hid away and ran back to the front yard.
"Oh my! The backyard is so dirty! Ah Miao is such a fool, why didn't she clean the ground when feeding the chickens? There's not even a place to stand! It's so dirty and smelly!"
At this time, Gu Xuan opened the door and walked out slowly with a cold face.
"Ah Miao doesn't wash, why don't you wash too?"
Li Ying groaned, hesitating, "I am not busy. She feeds the chickens, she washes the dishes, why does she need me to go?"
Gu Xuan didn't even look at her and went to the kitchen.
Then, she grabbed two cold steamed buns and stuffed them into her schoolbag, poured some hot water into the military-colored iron kettle, turned around and walked out.
Li Ying frowned and looked at her, then asked distressedly, "Ah Xuan, did you study until midnight again last night? Oh my, look at you! Look at your eyes, they are all black and white, like a panda's!"
Gu Xuan didn't even lift his eyelids and replied indifferently: "It's okay."
Li Ying was so anxious that she circled around her and asked nervously, "Is it another exam? Are you under a lot of pressure? Which questions do you not know? If you don't know, write to your elder brother. In the past, Tiantian would write to your elder brother immediately when she encountered questions she didn't know. Why don't you ask? Your elder brother is your real brother! Ah Xuan, you will not be able to survive if you continue like this. You are so thin and dark, and your face is as thin as a kitten!"
Gu Xuan glanced at her coldly, his tone was sluggish, and he seemed to be talking about a topic that had nothing to do with him.
"When I come home, can you stop yelling and let me read quietly? Can you make me something hot and delicious for meals? When I come home, I just want to eat and stay in my room to read quietly. These are just two requests. Can you do it?"
"Um... I'll do it right away." Li Ying smiled apologetically: "I've been too busy lately and sometimes I don't have time to cook."
Gu Xuan's expressionless face said, "When you're not working and not in the fields, what are you busy with? Busy sleeping, busy being lazy, busy gossiping with a bunch of old ladies in the streets and alleys."
Li Ying: “…”
Gu Xuan screwed on the iron kettle, walked around his old mother and turned to walk towards the door.
Li Ying hurriedly followed and asked with concern: "Isn't it the weekend today? You haven't had breakfast yet, where are you going?"
"Study." Gu Xuan didn't want to say anything more.
Li Ying hurriedly asked, "Where are you going to study? You stay in the room and read. I promise I won't talk for a whole day, not a word - really! I promise you!"
"No." Gu Xuan opened the bolt and said coldly, "You can't promise. You never promised. I have made an appointment with a few classmates to go to the school classroom to study together and come back in the evening."
After saying this, she left quickly, leaving behind only an indifferent and slender figure.
Li Ying curled her lips and was about to close the door——
"Wait! Gu Jia'er!" Someone suddenly shouted from the side.
Li Ying stuck her head out and saw the postman coming on his bicycle. She immediately guessed that it must be a telegram.
"Oh! I was just thinking about sending a telegram, and then a telegram came! One word takes three and a half minutes, this time I can save at least a few cents! You are from Yucheng, right? Is that right? You must be right?"
The postman didn't even have a chance to speak. He could only nod, quickly stuffed the telegram into her hand, and hurriedly rode away on his bike.
Li Ying hurried into the house with the telegram in her hand to look for her little daughter.
Gu Miao yawned and mumbled to explain, "Big brother sent a message saying that my brother has already taken a job there."
"Really?!" Li Ying jumped up with joy and excitement: "He got the job? Oh my! That's great! I guessed it a long time ago, your eldest brother will definitely urge him to get the job. He always listens to your eldest brother. How dare he not go when Aqi arranges a job for him? Besides, it's such a good unit, everyone is trying their best to get in, he is not a fool, how could he be willing to give it up!"
Gu Miao laughed again, feeling envious.
"Mom, my brother didn't even finish high school, but he can still work in a shipyard. I'm graduating from junior high school this semester, and I wonder if my brother can help me find a job. A big factory, a big unit, it sounds great!"
Li Ying shook her head: "Don't worry, don't worry. You should go to high school like your sister, and then take the college entrance examination. When you enter college, why do you need to worry about not having a good job? By then, there will be good jobs waiting in line for you to choose!"
“But—” Gu Miao laughed bitterly: “High school takes three years, and college takes at least three years. Three years and three years, my scalp tingles when I think of another six years. I finally managed to graduate from junior high school~~”
Li Ying glared at her with disdain and whispered, "Don't be silly. Going to university is a great honor for the family. When your father was alive, he kept talking about you studying and getting into university. Your eldest brother was sent by the shipyard to study in a foreign university. It was free and very respectable. Your younger brother had to go to the countryside. There was really no other way at that time. It was not easy to resume the university entrance examination. Your sister couldn't catch up last winter. She tried her best to study hard this time. You have more time than her, so you should make good use of it."
"I saw how badly my sister learned..." Gu Miao pouted aggrievedly: "I was scared!"
Li Ying rolled her eyes and said in a gruff voice, "Only those who endure the most hardships can become superior people! If you don't endure hardships, how can you become superior people in the future? How can you marry a powerful and influential man and become his wife? If you don't study hard and don't do housework well, your future will only be worse!"
"Mom!" Gu Miao said loudly in dissatisfaction: "Can't you ask my eldest brother to find me a good job? A junior high school diploma is considered high!"
Li Ying shook her head again and again: "Not high enough, you must go to college before you can do it."
Gu Miao pouted and snorted: "Didn't my brother also go to college? Couldn't he also work in a shipyard?"
"Didn't you listen carefully to what your brother said when he came back a while ago?" Li Ying frowned and lowered her voice: "He can only be an electrical apprentice and must first learn from the master for two or three years. Moreover, he can only be promoted after a year, and it will not be easy to get any professional title in the future. Look at your eldest brother, he is an engineer at a young age, with a high salary and allowance. He just draws pictures and talks every day, and a lot of people work under him. This is the difference between going to college or not, do you understand?"
"No!" Gu Miao shook her head: "That's because my eldest brother is very capable. Many college graduates are not engineers, so they have to be apprentices as well."
Li Ying angrily scolded him: "You know nothing! Your father said that the more books you read, the better. The higher the knowledge, the fewer people understand it, so you must study one by one. He kept repeating these words before he died, and he also made me swear to let you study - I have already sworn a poisonous oath, I don't want to be struck by lightning! I am still waiting for you to make a lot of money to be filial to me!"
"Mom~~" Gu Miao hugged her arm and said coquettishly: "It's too difficult to get into college. Why don't I just study in high school for one or two years like my brother?"
Li Ying glared at her angrily and was about to speak——
"Auntie! Auntie!" There was a knock on the door from outside.
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