"There are still families like this?"
"That's nothing. There's more. The second house from the east on the street behind us, the man's surname is Wang, he works in the logistics department, his name is Wang Defa, and his wife is Cui Xiaofen. That family is notoriously stingy, they never take back what they borrow, they'll borrow even a single piece of firewood. No one in the residential area is afraid of them. They also have five children, three girls and two boys, and they're dressed fairly well."
How did you know all this?
"That's what the children said."
"Them? How is that possible?"
"Nothing is impossible. Don't be fooled by their constant trips to the mountains; it's precisely because of them that people don't hold back when they speak their minds."
"So, living here would also cause problems?"
"Why bother with all that trouble? Besides, I go to work every day and don't deal with them at all."
"Too"
"The only downside is that it's not very convenient to cook meat."
"Who can argue with that? We can't let them start cursing us at the door just because we're eating some meat."
"I'm not afraid, it just makes me feel uncomfortable."
"That's true, let's eat like this then, it'll be more satisfying."
"Right?"
Sitting at the table, Shen Dong and the others were also surprised to find such an oddball in the military compound.
On September 1st, the day of school registration, Mom and Aunt Zhou took leave in advance to accompany us to school. The only difference was that Aunt Zhou accompanied my eldest brother, Shen Dong, to high school, while Mom was in charge of us children. Dad and Uncle Shen were out on training with their troops and were not at home.
On the first day of school, many parents accompanied their children to register. However, it was the first time that everyone had seen the mothers in the morning, so they were very curious about Deputy Commander Li's wife. They had heard that she was a very skilled doctor, so even those who had registered their children did not rush to leave. They all wanted to see what kind of person this Dr. Liu was.
Liu Linjuan had noticed others staring at her on her way to school, but she didn't care. She encountered such people at the hospital every day; how could she live if she cared?
When it came to their own child, they quickly stepped forward and said:
"Hello, teacher, I'm here to register Li Mianmian. I'm her mother, Liu Linjuan."
Teacher Cao Jie, who was registering students, quickly looked up and said:
"Hello, Comrade Liu, my surname is Cao. You can call me Teacher Cao. I don't know what grade you're registering Li Mianmian for."
"Hello, Teacher Cao, I'd like to enroll Li Mianmian in the third grade."
Cao Jie was surprised that the comrade in front of him had assigned the child next to him to third grade. Looking at the child, who was only slightly taller than his peers, but clearly not old enough to be in third grade, he quickly asked...
"Comrade Liu, this Li Mianmian looks only seven or eight years old. Is it okay for her to be in the third grade?"
Liu Linjuan had anticipated this, so she quickly took out the test paper from her backpack and handed it to the teacher in front of her, saying:
"Teacher Cao, this is my daughter Li Mianmian's exam paper from Xicheng Elementary School."
Cao Jie hadn't expected the student to be prepared, so she quickly took the test paper and opened it to take a look. To her surprise, not only was the handwriting excellent, but the grades were also outstanding, with every test paper showing a perfect score. "This student is good," she thought, and quickly said, "Okay, third grade, right?"
"Yes"
Cao Jie glanced at Li Mianmian, who was now standing next to Liu Linjuan, and said, "Hello, Li Mianmian."
Hello, teacher.
How old are you this year?
"Teacher, I am seven years old this year."
"Seven years old!" Teacher Cao never expected that the child in front of her was only seven years old and already in the third grade. She looked at Liu Linjuan again.
Liu Linjuan quickly explained, "She started school last year, but because she had been taught to read at home before and studied with some of the older children in the neighborhood, she skipped a grade not long after the start of the semester last year."
"Oh, I see. Does Li Mianmian have a talent for studying?"
Then they heard the teacher ask, "Shen Bei, what grade did you say you wanted to apply for?"
"Fourth grade, teacher, is there a problem?"
How old are you this year?
"Nine years old?"
"You're 9 years old. Where are your parents?"
"My mom went with my older brother to register for high school, and my dad went on a mission."
"This, this..."
"Shenbei, show your old test papers to the teacher," Mom said quickly as she heard this.
"Oh, oh, I forgot about that," Shen Bei said, taking the test paper from his backpack and handing it to the teacher.
"Teacher, I'm so sorry, I'm Liu Linjuan, his neighbor. Her mother took her child to high school today, so she asked me to accompany Chen Bei to register. I just happened to be registering my own child right before I could finish, so I didn't get around to it."
Teacher Gu was looking through the test papers that Shen Bei had handed her. Seeing that every paper had a score of 100, and hearing someone talking, she quickly looked up and said:
"It's alright, it's alright. Hello, Comrade Liu, my surname is Gu, you can just call me Teacher Gu."
Hello, Teacher Gu
Shen Nan and Shen Xi, who were also registering, encountered the same thing. However, after they took out their test papers, the teachers stopped asking questions. They found that the students in front of them all had excellent grades, with every test paper showing a perfect score of 100. Everyone likes students with good grades and hopes to become their students.
Standing in the crowd, whether they were parents queuing up to register their children or parents stopping to watch, no one expected that the Shen and Li families would be so outstanding.
They were already quite remarkable for going to the playground for morning exercises early every day, but I never expected that their academic performance would be so outstanding as well. Moreover, no matter who they were compared to, their children were all younger than my children.
Shen Nan is 13 and in the second year of junior high school, Shen Xi is 11 and in the first year of junior high school, Shen Bei is 9 and in the fourth year of junior high school, and even the youngest, Li Mianmian, is only 7 and in the third year of junior high school. The parents believe that their own children are all older than the others, yet the other children are a grade younger, and their grades are so poor; the more they think about it, the angrier they get.
The students sitting in the classroom never expected that they would be scolded again for no reason when they went home today. The reason was that they were older than others, but they were not in the same grade as others, and their grades were not as good.
For a long time, none of us had any friends at school. The main reason was that we were all younger than them. Those who didn't do well in school didn't want to play with us, and those who did do well in school ignored us because they couldn't beat us in every exam.
But we don't care, and we don't have time for that either, because it's the season for mountain produce to ripen. After we finish that, we'll start collecting firewood. Winters in the north are too cold, and we have heated beds at home, so we can't waste firewood.
On the day of registration, school didn't let out in the afternoon. Since my mom was home, she took us for a walk in the nearby mountains. We saw some edible wild vegetables, wood ear mushrooms, and other mushrooms.
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