She Quit the Air Bag

People who are always busy in the land on weekdays can experience the scorching heat of the sun best. Sweat drips down their hair and sometimes falls on the eyelashes. In a blink of an eye, it will cause the eyes to hurt.

Father Ning is an old-fashioned farmer, and he knows more about the land than his own children.

Although it is hard at this time, he is still very happy to see the crops that are growing well. You must know that the quality of the harvest is related to everyone in the village. If the harvest is good this year, the work points are valuable, and the work points at the end of the year will be even higher. It’s worth a little more, and you can save some money.

There are also the pigs raised in the back mountain of the village. Father Ning glanced in the direction of the back mountain subconsciously. Yesterday, he took a look when he went to chop firewood. The person in charge of taking care of the pigs is very attentive. These pigs are obviously already there. A lot of meat, as long as you take good care of it, you can get a lot of money at the end of the year without encountering any natural disasters.

Father Ning has been subconsciously calculating accounts for this period of time. Every day he sleeps and closes his eyes, his mind is full of money.

He even thought about waiting for the slack to help with the work. In previous years, he would occasionally repair dams and houses, but Father Ning had never been there before, and he didn’t know how to get in touch.

The reason why he didn’t go is not complicated. Father Ning is the only strong worker in the family. Once he is away, the work of the family will basically be on Ning’s mother. There are not many jobs during the slack farming period, especially physical work. Ning’s mother is the only one. People are afraid of exhausting their bodies.

In addition, the busyness of going out is also a matter of importance. If it is repairing houses, it is fine. If it is repairing roads and dams, in previous years, I would not be able to get out of bed when I came back from exhaustion.

Father Ning avoided thinking about why he had been thinking about this over and over again during this time. His recent cigarettes have been upgraded from one cigarette a day to one every two days. Seeing that the stock was running out, Fang began to save again. Get up and take a breath for half a day.

“Why are you in a daze here alone.” Uncle Zhang squatted beside Father Ning, holding a gaping enamel cup in his hand. The water in it should have been cooled by now, but it was too hot. The water was hot from the sun, and drinking it did not have any cooling effect.

Father Ning glanced at him. In the distance, Mother Ning was chatting with Aunt Cuihua. Although the division of labor in the village was not strict, and the types of work were not clearly separated by men and women, there were many husbands and wives working together. , It seems that people who work in the same way will still be separated roughly because of their gender, and they will be on each side. After all, the topics they talk about are not the same.

“What’s wrong, I’m just tired.”

Uncle Zhang asked curiously, “Are the three dolls in your family all going to be tested?”

Father Ning nodded. There were basically no secrets among the villagers, except those they deliberately concealed from each other. The villagers always saw the children when they went to and from school.

“You are really amazing. All three dolls are sent to study, and they have a lot of money.” Uncle Zhang was quite emotional. “These three children are also very good, and they know how to make progress. They are not like the one in my family.”

The people in the village also know that reading is definitely a good thing—their criteria for judging are very simple. First, it costs money to go to school. The tuition fee of two yuan a year in primary school plus textbook fees is not included in the price system of this era. Low. Second, read it up, I heard that after graduation, you will also be paid for distribution, you can go to a good unit to go to school, and you can eat commercial food in the future.

In view of this, most of the people in the village are willing to grit their teeth and support their children to go to school – but generally there are many children, and it is necessary to consider who to send them to.

Moreover, there is no primary school in the village. The nearest primary school is in the town. It takes an hour and a half to walk. Children can’t be picked up every day when they go to school. Besides, there are too many children in the village. Sitting there obediently studying is impossible.

Uncle Zhang’s two children, he sent them to study, one finished the second grade, and the other came back halfway through the third grade. They did not do well in school, they were restless, and took the initiative to tell their family. want to go home.

Uncle Zhang has always envied Father Ning in this regard. This study seems to be about talent. His baby is not talented, but occasionally, Uncle Zhang will count the money spent by Father Ning to comfort himself. After paying the money, my son goes home, half of the eldest son can work as half of the labor force, the family saves money fast, and the house has been renovated.

“What are you envious of, this study is all about money.” Ning’s father said this, and the whole person became dull. He said it himself, and he couldn’t escape. The reason why he has been paying attention to money during this period of time is because What Ning Chuxia said that day had a strong impact on him.

“Yes, but didn’t you say it last time? Your family did very well in the early autumn exam, and the teachers said that maybe you can go to secondary school!” Uncle Zhang pretended to be mysterious and lowered his voice, “My daughter-in-law went back to the supply and marketing cooperative to return I heard people say, what kind of unit does their manager’s niece want to enter, but I heard that other people’s units can only enter by allocation, like this kind of really good unit, outsiders can’t get in!”

He shared the “top-secret” information he knew: “You will be happy then, maybe you will be able to live in the city in the future!”

Father Ning’s previously unhappy emotions also faded, and he laughed: “How can it be so simple, reading is difficult!”

“Then your family is good at reading in Chuqiu, everyone knows it!” Uncle Zhang only felt that Father Ning was being modest, “But is Chuchun not very good at reading? You seem to have said it last time.”

Father Ning’s smiling eyes drooped down again: “It’s not very good. He did this in the exam. He is far worse than his sister. I don’t know if he can get into the junior high school.” In ten cases, don’t even think about it.

Uncle Zhang remembered something and asked again: “What about the early summer? You seem to have never said that your family did well in the early summer exam. This child doesn’t like to talk. He is usually polite and looks like someone who likes to read, but it’s not like my family. skin boy.”

Father Ning was stunned for a moment, before answering after a long while: “She, she did well in the test, right?”

After that day, Ning’s mother quietly asked Ning Chuchun once, and after hearing what Ning Chuchun said about Ning Chuxia’s grades, they knew that this child had been doing well in the test, but it might be a little worse than Chuqiu.

During this period of time, she had been studying hard in early summer. Whenever Father Ning saw her holding a small ponytail, sitting at the door of the house in the dark before it was completely dark, and reluctantly reading the textbook, her mood became very complicated.

The kid seemed to really miss reading.

When the break time came, everyone started to work again one after another. Father Ning was confused and left his actions to the instinct of his body, which he had worked hard for many years, and he thought more and more.

The time for the exam came in a blink of an eye. This time, the exam was held in this school. Although the exam for the junior high school was relatively formal, there was not much local power to allocate the exam rooms in the same way as later generations, so the students’ seats could only be kept apart. , and arrange for an invigilator.

This is an important exam, and the morning of the Ning family is not much different from that of the past.

Ning’s father and Ning’s mother thought about whether to do something, but they had no experience in this area. They asked a few people in the village who had experienced similar exams. The child is taking the test.

Mother Ning specially exchanged food for three eggs—she hesitated a little while exchanging the eggs, and she had never had the habit of giving Ning Chuxia another one. After all, Ning Chuchun and Ning Chuqiu were the only ones to eat. To grow a body, one is to keep the body, and their parents will never change it for themselves.

But after hesitating, she came back with three replacements, and while cooking in the morning, washed them and threw them into the pot.

Ning Chuxia ate in silence, she was a little surprised by the eggs Ning mother put in her bowl.

In Yuanshen’s memory, the presence of this meal was very strong, and she didn’t get the egg that morning.

Of course, the original body at that time knew how to comfort herself. She told herself that she no longer planned to study, the test scores were not important, the elder brother and younger sister still had to study, eat an egg to make up for it, maybe they could take the test better.

Although it now seems that her self-comfort is somewhat deceiving, but for her at the time, this was the only way to escape the pain of the soul.

She persuaded herself like this, and she persuaded herself for the rest of her life. Perhaps it was this kind of self-persuasion that allowed her to live a life of contentment and happiness, but it was only when she thought of the various situations of abandonment she encountered, she would feel disappointed and lost. , grievance and pain.

After eating, Father Ning put down his chopsticks, and he hesitated for a long time before opening his mouth: “You guys take the test well and do better.” His eyes were on Ning Chuxia for a long time, and then he moved away.

The couple stood at the door and watched the three children leave, their hearts very complicated.

“you say…”

Father Ning shook his head: “Don’t say it.”

Mother Ning continued as if she didn’t hear it, “What can I do then?” Although it was a question, she didn’t mean Father Ning to answer, it should be more like asking herself.

Father Ning didn’t answer, he put his hands behind his back, and after a while he said, “Come in, and then go to work.”

He doesn’t know what to do then.

…

Ning Chuxia walked very fast, and she could see that Ning Chuchun and Ning Chuqiu also seemed to be hesitant to speak.

During this period of time, she treated her brother and sister as usual, but since then, the two have always wanted to say something, each holding their minds, but they can’t always say it.

Ning Chuxia didn’t plan to listen to their voices carefully, she had already arranged her own path, as long as she moved forward step by step, there would be absolutely no problem.

When the talent arrived at the school gate, Ning Chuxia saw Teacher He who was standing there.

Teacher He waved at her, and Ning Chuxia ran over quickly.

“Mr. He, why are you here so early?” Ning Chuxia couldn’t see the time, so she could only use her experience to judge what time it was by looking at the sky. Brothers and sisters usually set off a lot earlier. After all, this is a long road. , there are occasional minor accidents such as road damage, delaying the trip.

Teacher He gently patted Ning Chuxia’s head, and she looked at Ning Chuxia with soft eyes: “What do you think I am doing so early?”

The more he interacts with Ning Chuxia, the more Teacher He knows that this is a lovely child.

In particular, Ning Chuxia’s experience always reminded her of the past.

According to the policy of the year, one family could keep one child, and the He family with two children had to send one away. When deciding who to send to the countryside, her father asked her and her sister to cast lots.

Her father asked her to pick one of the two notes first, and then asked her to open it first. After Mr. He opened it, she saw the mark made with charcoal in the middle of the note.

Before going to the countryside, she saw another note in the trash can in her sister’s room that should have been thrown away long ago. The note also had a charcoal note on it.

At that time, she understood that her father said that he couldn’t make a decision, and that he decided to cast lots for the two of them fairly. All this was just a lie to her.

Later, Teacher He got married here. After the college entrance examination resumed, some educated youths from all over the country also sneaked back. Her father sent a letter asking her to go back, but she didn’t agree. They were all blacked out with charcoal. It wasn’t until long after the letter was sent that she received a reply from her sister and father. In the letter, the two apologized and explained, but Mr. He no longer wanted to hear it.

Teacher He took out something wrapped in oilcloth paper from his cloth bag.

A piece of fried dough sticks, which was already quite fluffy because it was stuffed inside, two boiled eggs, and she also brought a glass of warm milk.

“Eat it now, and then walk for digestion, so you don’t have to wait.” Teacher He smiled, “I also heard from the neighbors that one fried dough stick and two eggs means full marks, and the teacher can’t help you. I wish you a full score, and you will win glory for the teacher at that time.”

Ning Chuxia replied obediently, and then lowered her head and started to eat. Although she was a little worried, whether eating three eggs in the morning would cause cholesterol problems, but people in this era are somewhat malnourished, and occasionally eat more than one day. Should have no effect.

Ning Chuqiu and Ning Chuchun watched from a distance.

“Brother, when did you get along so well with Teacher He in early summer?”

Ning Chuchun replied timidly, “It should be because she has been asking the teacher questions recently.”

Ning Chuqiu looked at Ning Chuchun, she knew that the other party and she probably had similar feelings.

Ning Chuxia seemed to have completely distanced herself from them and this family after that day.

She is no longer as emotional as that day, and she will never mention her grievances again. She just lives so hard, but she doesn’t seem to put home and family in the most important position in her heart.

If someone pointed this out, saying that Teacher He and Ning Chuxia are family members, I am afraid some people will believe it.

…

Exams are always something that makes students nervous. Even Ning Chuqiu, who has always done well in exams, is a little worried after the exam.

Among the crowd, Ning Chuxia was particularly special. She was relaxed and at ease, as if she didn’t care about the outcome at all, or was quite sure.

After the exam, Ning Chuxia was still “not at home”. She explained to Ning’s father and Ning’s mother, saying that she wanted to take advantage of this time to gain more knowledge, and she wanted to go to the bookstore opened in the town to read books. It was the same every day. Will be back to help.

Ning’s father and Ning’s mother did not refuse, and then watched that Ning Chuxia had the same routine as when she was in school. She left at dawn every day and came back after dark, but she never shied away from the housework that she should do.

Several times when Ning Chuchun saw the back of Ning Chuxia leaving, he wanted to talk to Ning’s father and Ning’s mother, but Ning’s father and Ning’s mother were not idlers. It is light and labor-saving, not hard, but it can earn one-third of the work points of an adult labor force.

The time for the results is almost here.

There is no convenient way to check scores these days. Teacher He got up early in the morning. She and another teacher who was also the head teacher stayed in the principal’s office, waiting for the county’s phone call.

The phone rang, and the principal who answered the phone was respectful, but his expression was filled with joy uncontrollably, and he held his free hand tightly.