Chapter 34
◎Primary School Entrance Exam◎
At five or six in the morning, at the crack of dawn, the branches were revealing green buds in the morning mist. The Su family’s house was already bustling with activity.
Early in the morning, Yu Juanfang had made two bowls of hot noodles for Su Juesheng and Tangtang. The noodles were rolled into evenly thin silver threads. Each bowl of noodles was topped with a golden and crispy fried egg, two green vegetables, and then a ladle of brewed vegetable broth was poured over it. It was refreshing and chewy to eat, and a bowl of noodles stretched out the whole body.
“Tangtang, Juesheng, are you ready? It’s time to go.” Su Huimin’s urging voice came from outside the door.
“Oh, we’re ready!” Hearing this, Tangtang quickly lowered her head and slurped the last mouthful of noodles in her bowl, then drank a large gulp of the noodle soup. Only then did she wipe her mouth, pick up her schoolbag, and go out.
“Check your pencils, rulers, and erasers.” Su Huimin held a flashlight in his hand.
Hearing this, Tangtang and Su Juesheng opened their schoolbags to check. “We’ve got everything.”
“Alright, then let’s go.”
“Wait.” Yu Juanfang came out of the kitchen, took out two protective talismans from her pocket, pinned them to the inside of the children’s clothes, and looked at them several times to make sure they were not visible before she was relieved. “I secretly asked someone to have a master draw these a few days ago. Tangtang, Juesheng, do well on the exam. Don’t be nervous.”
Yu Juanfang was not worried about Tangtang. Tangtang had good grades and had never fallen out of the top three in any exam. It was Su Juesheng who made her worry. His grades were usually so-so, and he was always careless.
Today was the day of the primary school entrance exam. Yuhuai Village Primary School was not a test center, so they had to go to the commune’s middle school to take the exam.
Seeing this, Su Huimin couldn’t help but laugh. “Look at you. The children aren’t nervous, but you’ve made yourself all nervous.”
When Su Huimin sent the two children to the village entrance, the rented donkey cart was already parked there. After waiting for a while, the six students from Yuhuai Village who were taking the primary school entrance exam this time all arrived. The team leaders were Teacher Zhang, who usually taught them math, and Teacher Yao, who taught Chinese.
The driver cracked the whip, and the donkey cart began to roll forward with a creak.
By the time they reached the commune, it was exactly seven in the morning. They had been to the commune many times, but this was the first time they had entered the commune middle school.
In the early morning of June, the clear sound of cicadas could be heard. Tangtang sat by the window. There were more than twenty students in the classroom, and two teachers took turns invigilating. In the morning, they took the Chinese exam. The classroom was filled with the rustling sound of pens on paper.
The content of the primary school entrance exam was very simple, mostly some very basic knowledge points. After Tangtang finished writing her essay, there was still some time before the papers were to be handed in. She used this time to check her answers and whether she had written her name correctly.
After handing in her paper, Tangtang saw Sun Xiangrong on the verge of tears, stomping her feet on the spot. “Wuwu, what should I do? I didn’t finish my essay…”
“Don’t worry. You’ll probably lose a few points for not finishing the essay. There’s still the math exam in the afternoon. The most important thing now is to stay calm and do well on the math exam in the afternoon.”
Hearing Tangtang’s words, Sun Xiangrong’s mood finally calmed down a lot.
“I saw an empty space on the middle school’s playground. We can go and sit there, eat our dry rations, and rest for a while. That way, we’ll have the energy to deal with the afternoon exam,” Su Juesheng suggested.
The commune middle school was more than ten li away from Yuhuai Village, so it was definitely impossible to go back for lunch. Yu Juanfang had prepared dry rations and water for them early in the morning, which were packed in their schoolbags.
Su Juesheng’s suggestion was approved by the others. Just as they were about to walk towards the playground, Su Zitian ran over and stopped them, saying that Teacher Zhang had invited everyone to the state-run canteen to eat noodles.
The state-run canteen! Everyone was very excited to hear this. They usually didn’t have the chance to eat out even once a year. They chattered as they walked towards the state-run canteen.
Just as they reached the main street of the commune, Tangtang saw four people.
Her breath hitched, and a look of panic flashed across her face.
Her biological father, Wang Shijin, was a gaunt and ugly man. He was not tall, about 1.6 meters. His skin was tightly wrapped around his bones, and the blue cloth coat he wore was loose on him. His eyes were cloudy and yellow, with sleep crust that was never wiped clean at the corners.
Her three older brothers, Wang Guide, Wang Guiquan, and Wang Guixi, were also on the street. When the three sons of the Wang family were born, an educated person was specially invited to give them names with profound meanings. Only she was casually called Sanya.
The Wang family members basically all had the same look: single eyelids, protruding eyes, a flat nose, high cheekbones, and sunken cheeks.
But Tangtang, who was related to the Wang family by blood, had a look that was completely different from the Wang family’s. She had a high-bridged nose, large eyes, and a full forehead. It was clear that she would grow up to be a rare beauty.
The moment Tangtang saw the Wang family’s father and sons, the four of them also saw her. Wang Guide pointed to Tangtang. “Dad, look, isn’t that Sanya?”
They knew that the Su family’s uncle had now been transferred to the commune to be an education specialist and had also built a big house. That damn girl Sanya was now living a good life.
“That little slut really knows how to climb up the social ladder. We should have sold her to that fool from the Huang family as a child bride back then.”
Wang Shijin’s cloudy gaze fell on Tangtang’s new floral dress. Her hair was also neatly combed and tied with a red string. Looking at themselves, the father and sons’ clothes were covered with layers of patches, looking more and more shabby.
Tangtang nervously wrung the corner of her clothes. She was now a daughter of the Su family, and they couldn’t do anything to her. Besides, Teacher Zhang and Teacher Yao were there. But Tangtang didn’t want to confront them. If they started to make a scene, it would waste everyone’s time for lunch and rest, and also affect their energy and mood for the afternoon exam.
“Brother, my stomach is not feeling well. I won’t go with you to eat noodles. I’ll just go back to school and have some dry rations!”
Su Juesheng immediately reached out to touch her forehead. “Did you catch a cold this morning? Do you want to go to the clinic? How about this, I’ll tell Teacher Zhang that I won’t go to eat noodles either. I’ll go back to school with you…”
“No, you should go and eat noodles. It’s a rare chance to eat out.” As Tangtang spoke, she pushed him back into the group.
Wang Shijin hunched over and walked towards Tangtang, his eyes fixed on her, as if he were plotting some dirty scheme. The three Wang brothers also followed.
Tangtang’s heart skipped a beat. She clutched her schoolbag strap to avoid damaging the exam materials inside and ran into an alley.
The thought in her mind was to hide if she could. If she got entangled with them and it delayed the afternoon exam, it would not be worth it.
The scorching sun hung high in the sky. The hot and stuffy summer air circulated slowly. Fine beads of sweat soon appeared on Tangtang’s forehead and rolled down her cheeks. Her floral dress was also soaked with sweat.
The road under her feet was made of rammed earth. With every step, she could feel the heat coming up from the soles of her shoes. But she didn’t care about that and just ran forward with all her might.
Tangtang remembered that she could get back to the commune middle school by going through this small alley. But today was not her lucky day. The exit of this alley was blocked by a pile of wheat straw, turning a once-through alley into a dead end.
“Strange, I clearly saw that little slut run in this direction.” Wang Guide’s voice came from behind.
She regretted it in her heart. She hugged her schoolbag and tried to curl up into a ball, hiding behind a small pushcart.
Wang Guide scanned the dead end, his gaze falling on the small pushcart.
He frowned and walked towards the small pushcart.
When Wang Guide walked, he liked to drag his feet, as if a heavy object was tied to his feet, leaving long footprints on the ground with every step.
Tangtang hugged the schoolbag in her arms and closed her eyes tightly.
“What are you doing?” A clear male voice sounded in the alley. He stared at Wang Guide with a wary look, as if he thought he was a thief trying to steal the pushcart and wheat straw.
“If you don’t leave, I’ll call for help!” The young man’s voice was cold and firm, his eyes sharp and unquestionable.
Wang Guide’s footsteps paused, a trace of hesitation and unwillingness on his face. He glared at the young man in front of him, finally spat, and turned to leave, cursing.
The sound of his dragging footsteps gradually faded away.
Tangtang’s tense body finally relaxed. She let out a sigh of relief and stood up from behind the small pushcart. Seeing the young man in front of her, her eyes instantly lit up. “Brother Shunian? Why are you here?”
The person in front of her was Zhou Shunian. He picked the wheat straw from her head. “I haven’t even asked you, why are you here? And who were those people?”
Although Tangtang didn’t want to admit it, she still explained, “The older one was my former father, and the three stragglers behind him were my former brothers. I was worried that these ruffians would get into a scuffle with me on the street, so I hid.”
Fine beads of cold sweat soaked her clothes, sticking to her body uncomfortably. In fact, Tangtang didn’t want to admit it, but she had to.
She had hidden because she was afraid of the Wang family. She didn’t dare to face them.
Her life was too happy now. She was afraid that when she opened her eyes, she would have to go back to the days of being treated like an animal, not having enough to eat or wear, being scolded and beaten at every turn, and having to live in fear of being sold to a fool as a child bride.
Years of beatings and scoldings had already carved an instinctive avoidance into her bones.
Zhou Shunian lowered his eyes. He had heard from Su Juesheng that his little sister, Tangtang, had only come to his family when she was six years old and had suffered a lot at his aunt’s house before that.
“Have you eaten yet?” Zhou Shunian knew that today was the day of the primary school entrance exam.
Tangtang was about to say that she had eaten, but her stomach rumbled in protest. She lowered her head, wishing she could bury it in the ground.
Two muffled laughs came from Zhou Shunian’s direction. “I’m taking my grandfather back to see an old friend. Let’s go, I’ll take you to eat. After you’ve eaten, I’ll take you back to the middle school for your exam.”
Zhou Shunian led her through a few alleys and into a residential house. There were two rooms in total, one for eating and one for living. A few bamboos were planted in the courtyard.
Zhou Shunian glanced into the main hall. “Grandma Jin, where are my grandfather and Grandpa Jin?”
The person called Grandma Jin was hanging a string of red chili peppers under the eaves. “They just finished eating and went out for a walk. Who is this little girl?”
“This is my friend’s little sister. She’s here at the commune middle school for the primary school entrance exam.”
Tangtang straightened the strap of her schoolbag and bowed politely. “Hello, Grandma Jin.”
“Good, good, good. The little girl has bright eyes and a clever look. She’s clearly a blessed one. Come in and sit down. I’ll go and get you some food. You have to eat your fill to have the energy for the exam in the afternoon!”
Zhou Shunian had Tangtang sit at a small round dining table. He went out himself, and after a while, he came in with a bowl of rice and placed it in front of her.
“Hurry up and eat. There’s still half an hour before the afternoon exam. After you’ve eaten, I’ll take you to your exam.”
The rice was covered with a generous amount of food, including stir-fried tomatoes with eggs, sweet and sour cabbage, and sweet and sour pork tenderloin. She took a mouthful of the food. It was hot, fragrant, and delicious.
After eating, Zhou Shunian rode his bicycle and took Tangtang to the entrance of Hongqi Commune Middle School. “Good luck with your exam.”
A smile appeared on Tangtang’s face, her eyes sparkling. “Okay, I definitely will!”