Chapter 57
In the early morning, the door of the east room was opened from the inside, and Ali, wearing a lotus pavilion and a coat, walked out.
In the past, she was the first to rise in the family, but not today.
On the dam, Runsheng and Tan Wenbin sat opposite each other, lowering their heads and polishing the sickles in their hands.
When Ali passed by, Runsheng raised his head and smiled at the girl: "Good morning."
The girl stopped, then moved into the house and went upstairs.
Although no words were spoken, the previous pause was the greatest response.
She pushed open the door to the room and walked in. The boy was still awake, and the girl began to admire the boy's paintings hanging on the wall.
There are three paintings completed, the first one is the little yellow warbler.
The woman in the painting does not have a green face and fangs. Instead, she appears restrained and reserved. Her body is swaying and moving, her lips and teeth are full of words, as if she is about to step out of the painting to sing and dance.
The second picture shows a kind white-haired old woman sitting in the yard basking in the sun, with a black cat sleeping on her lap.
The third picture is of a middle-aged man. His image seems to be deliberately blurred. Only his back is drawn. However, the bronze coin hanging on his waist is described in great detail and the structure is extremely clear. .
A lot of thought was put into the background processing of the three paintings.
The first picture has a sense of fantasy, the second picture is warm and desolate, and the surroundings of the third picture are very depressing.
When Ali was watching carefully, Li Zhuiyuan woke up.
The boy walked to the girl's side and watched with her for a while.
After washing up, he played chess with the girl as usual. Now he played three games together, which greatly improved Li Zhuiyuan's efficiency in losing chess.
“It’s time for breakfast!”
Every day, this shout from Aunt Liu kicks off the official start of the day.
Runsheng and Tan Wenbin came back from the fields together. The autumn harvest was coming and the fields were busy these days. Tan Wenbin deliberately got up early to help.
He had never experienced hardship, and he got blisters on his hands while doing this, but he didn't care and just picked them out with a needle.
Even Li Sanjiang told him to stop, but Tan Wenbin responded with a smile:
"It's okay, strong, strong, strong."
At the end of morning self-study, Li Zhuiyuan and Tan Wenbin walked into the classroom.
There is a pot of flowers on Zheng Haiyang's desk.
The incident at his house was defined as a burglary and murder. Tan Yunlong did not directly tell Li Zhuiyuan whether anyone came from above, nor did he continue to follow up with Li Zhuiyuan on the details of the follow-up investigation. But sometimes, no news is also a kind of news.
This means that the three of them are freed from this matter.
Although he and others had been there and left a lot of traces, they would definitely be able to find them after careful inspection. However, there are specialties in the art. Li Zhuiyuan didn’t know if Yu Shu had returned or if it was someone else, but they After all, they are not in the professional criminal investigation field, and their perspective will instinctively ignore the existence and role of "ordinary people" in it.
During this period, Tan Wenbin studied very seriously. Apart from accompanying Li Zhuiyuan to go to the toilet during class breaks, he also worked on his own questions.
"Zhuiyuan Secret Volume" is now printed and sold by the school, which saves Tan Wenbin a lot of trivial matters. However, his current exercise set is specially designed by Li Zhuiyuan for his own learning progress and situation.
After Li Zhuiyuan entered high school, he didn't learn much textbook knowledge. If his memory wasn't much better than ordinary people, his "study performance" might have declined.
But his ability to teach people to learn has been greatly improved, as if he went to normal school instead of high school.
Binbin is still cheerful, can joke and talk, and sings with Li Sanjiang to enhance the atmosphere when eating at home.
But in his own time, he will be relatively silent, because he always seems to have something on hand to do.
I would do questions in class at school and learn the basics from Runsheng at home. After a while, I would bring the learning problems and dead-end problems I had summarized to Li Zhuiyuan for solution.
Li Zhuiyuan could feel that these problems were really difficult for Tan Wenbin to understand. He must have gone through rounds of screening and overcoming them himself.
Slow growth is a kind of happiness.
And overnight maturity is often not enviable.
In the past, Tan Wenbin shouted that he wanted to be admitted to "Haihe University", and he was more inclined to make a wish. Now, he is truly fulfilling it step by step, and he has become very focused.
A retired philosophy professor from the Family Court once said this to Li Zhuiyuan. He said that there are two types of smart people in the world, one is people with smart brains like Li Zhuiyuan, and the other is people who think... A wise man who knows sobriety.
The former is that the brain is really easy to use and can learn anything quickly. No matter how envious outsiders are, they can't imitate it. This is innate and inherent in genes.
But the latter is not worse than the former, that is, at a certain age of growth in life, one knows what to do in the next stage and is able to make plans and work hard to implement them.
The competition in society and life is stressful, but most people are at a loss and are pushed to enter the next stage of life to participate in the competition. But what if we could start planning and preparing two or three years in advance? ?
At that time, there were actually very few competitors around you.
Xue Liangliang is a genius among the latter, because his vision can not only see two or three years later, but even twenty or thirty years later.
Even Li Zhuiyuan often unconsciously regards Brother Liangliang's words as a prediction of the future. This is not a trick or a prediction, but that he is really capable of seeing the main contradictions and exploring objective laws. .
Although there is a phone, it is not that convenient after all, and there is really nothing to talk about directly, so the two of them are still used to communicating through letters.
Last time, Li Zhuiyuan mentioned the issue of the exercise set in his letter, and also told Xue Liangliang Tan Wenbin's ideas.
In Xue Liangliang's reply, he said that Tan Wenbin is a business genius. He is certain that this industry will definitely be a big blue ocean in the future with broad business prospects, because the Chinese people's emphasis on education is a cultural instinct, and most families are frugal no matter how frugal they are. We will not hesitate to invest in education.
Xue Liangliang also said that if Tan Wenbin wanted to continue doing this in the future, he could invest a sum of money, and suggested that instead of just limiting his personal brand influence, it would be best to use the label of Nantong Education Examination to negotiate cooperation with famous middle schools. Then use the entire city as a big brand name to build it.
Li Zhuiyuan told Tan Wenbin what Xue Liangliang said. After hearing this, Tan Wenbin was stunned for a while, and then slapped his thigh:
"Fuck, this is a great guy!"
But when Li Zhuiyuan asked Tan Wenbin if he was willing to do this business, Tan Wenbin shook his head, he was not willing.
He wants to go to college and continue to learn.
Now that he has boarded this ship, he wants to go on a long voyage, really take a look at the scenery in the distance, and then go to that destination.
To this end, he added enthusiastically: "My parents are both in the public sector, so I don't need to worry about old age care."
That's right, it is indeed difficult for people who have seen the horror of life and death but still maintain an optimistic and positive attitude to focus on making money.
For lunch, Li Zhuiyuan did not go to eat with Tan Wenbin. He got on a bus parked on campus, and all kinds of food and drinks were prepared on the bus.
With Principal Wu still leading the team, and Teacher Yan as his assistant, the bus set off and drove to Jinling to compete in the Provincial Mathematical Olympiad competition.
The other six students in the car were eating and drinking all the way and were very happy.
Li Zhuiyuan just ate something to fill his stomach, then leaned against the car window and looked at the scenery outside the window.
Wu Xinhan noticed it and sat over to ask if the preparation was not to his taste.
Li Zhuiyuan shook his head and said frankly that it was because his living conditions were good before.
This answer made Principal Wu stunned for a moment, and then a smile appeared on his face. At first glance, outsiders thought he was showing off, but those familiar with him could hear the honesty.
Anyone who can become a principal will not be bad at dealing with people. The difference lies in who is worthy of being used.
Therefore, he quite likes this simple and straightforward boy. When he is with him, he doesn't have to pretend and is not tired.
Wu Xinhan helped Li Zhuiyuan put down the back seat of the car so that he could lie down and rest.
The school also takes this into consideration when renting buses to transport exams, so as to help candidates reduce the fatigue of the journey as much as possible.
Arrive at Jinling and stay at the hotel.
Everyone else had standard rooms, and Li Zhuiyuan had a single room.
No one thought this was unfair, and the six classmates also knew that they were able to pass the city competition selection thanks to the boy's help.
At this moment, Li Zhuiyuan was lying on the bed, holding Wei Zhengdao in his hands.
The door was knocked.
Li Zhuiyuan got out of bed and was about to open the door when he heard Principal Wu asking from outside: "Who are you?"
"I am Xiaoyuan's brother."
"Brother?"
The standard room for Wu Xinhan and Teacher Yan is right opposite Li Zhuiyuan.
At this moment, Teacher Yan is in another room, taking the six students to do the Mathematical Olympiad papers. The exam will start tomorrow. Today's exam is not just to check for omissions and fill in the gaps, but just to let everyone continue to have a good feel.
Wu Xinhan's door was always open so that he could keep an eye on Li Zhuiyuan's situation. He was like the giant python guarding the treasure in fairy tales.
Li Zhuiyuan opened the door and smiled when he saw the person coming.
The visitor is Xue Liangliang.
Haihe University is in Jinling.
After Xue Liangliang handed his student ID card to Principal Wu for inspection, he was able to pass the Python security check and was allowed to meet his baby.
After closing the door, Xue Liangliang smiled and said: "Xiaoyuan, your principal really takes care of you."
As he spoke, Xue Liangliang bent down and reached out to pinch the boy's face.
"Come, let me breathe in the spiritual energy of the child prodigy, help me practice Taoism, and be among the immortals as soon as possible."
"Brother Liangliang, you shouldn't suck me."
Xue Liangliang: "..."
"Brother Liangliang, what are you carrying in your hand?"
"I know you are too lazy to bring some Jinling specialties home, so I will prepare some food and try them with you."
He took out a lot of snacks from the bag, one of which was salted duck.
Li Zhuiyuan picked up a piece with his chopsticks and tasted it.
"How was it?"
“Delicious.”
"I can't get used to this stuff." Xue Liangliang shrugged, "But whether it's public or private here, they all like to give out salted duck during holidays."
"Personal tastes vary. I like to eat light food."
This duck, except for the salty taste, is basically white.
"Hey, you know, the first time I read your letter that you were in the senior year of high school, I thought I had made a typo. Then I wondered if you had made a typo. Why didn't you tell me earlier that you were in junior high school? Class?”
"I told you so."
"Is there any?"
"Yeah."
"Well, do you want to be an alumnus?"
"Okay."
"Really?"
"Well, really."
Xue Liangliang showed joy, and then took out a letter from his pocket:
"You have given me, as a lobbyist, a very unfulfilling job. Here, this is the letter Luo Gong asked me to give you. You have seen it. He wants me to persuade you to apply for our school in advance."
It’s still early for the college entrance examination, but the competition has already begun.
Although the provincial exam is tomorrow, when the city-level results come out, the werewolf can already smell blood.
This mainly depends on the gold content of the small competition area, plus Li Zhuiyuan's exaggerated age.
Principal Wu mentioned to Li Zhuiyuan that many colleges and universities have been saying hello recently, and they will start the real hunting operation after the provincial examination.
Wu Xinhan is very happy because his middle school is not yet qualified for recommendation.
Although teaching quality work is an overall matter, the effect of having a leading horse in a specific circle or even industry is also very impressive, and can bring more attention and resources to the school.
"Okay." Li Zhuiyuan accepted the letter, "When will I be admitted in advance?"
"Pfft..." Xue Liangliang just raised the cup to take a sip of water, and almost spit out half of it. He wiped the corners of his mouth, "So impatient?"
"Ang."
"Your attitude makes me think there is a treasure hidden under our school."
"No need for treasures, just death."
"No, no, no, no, I'm most afraid of Xiaoyuan's ghost stories."
"Huh?"
"School Ghost Story."
"Oh, is it true? I don't believe it."
"I'm very timid."
Li Zhuiyuan just looked at him, intently.
Xue Liangliang shrank his neck: "That's different. She's not a ghost, nor is she dead. She's hot."
Li Zhuiyuan asked in confusion: "Is there anything hot under the river?"
"We can go through the process when the provincial exam results come out. I think you can get perfect scores in the city exam, and you will definitely be able to get an award in the provincial exam. You will definitely meet the early admission conditions."
In fact, what Xue Liangliang said is not accurate. The conditions are not calculated in this way, but the conditions are set up to save screening costs. When some people's abilities and talents are enough to break the constraints, the conditions can also be flexible and changeable.
"Well, I asked for leave. When you go back, I will be shameless and go in the same car with you."
"Huh?"
"I have already secured my internship and employment, and I will go to the mountain city early next month."
"Oh, you want to visit your sister-in-law before leaving."
"Your sister-in-law shouts quite smoothly. I thought you would be afraid and disgusted with them."
"I hate the Bai family very much, but she can make them all go back to the water. I think it's good. That's where they should be."
Xue Liangliang took a deep breath, exhaled it all at once, and whispered: "That's still my contribution."
"Then do you want to write it into the local chronicle for Brother Liangliang? After all, you have also made a great contribution to protecting the country and the people."
"Hahaha, that's so embarrassing. When people see this in the future, they will probably call me and the person who recorded it a little idiot."
"Then you still want to see her?" "After going to the mountain city, I don't know when I can come back. Let's go and have a look first. This is a fixed task after all."
"Like my grandfather and great-grandfather pay public food?"
"Hey, kid, don't think I can't see it, you're just pretending to be a child!"
Xue Liangliang threw Li Zhuiyuan directly onto the bed and started tickling him.
After Li Zhuiyuan kept begging for mercy, he let the boy go.
After chatting for a while, Xue Liangliang was ready to leave:
"Come on, take the exam well tomorrow, I'll wait for you outside the exam room."
"Yeah."
At this time, the knock on the door rang again.
"Who are you?" Principal Wu from across the door spit out the letter again.
"I'm looking for Xiaoyuan, I'm his brother."
"It's my brother again. Xiaoyuan has so many brothers in Jinling?"
Li Zhuiyuan opened the door to the room and saw someone coming.
The person who came was about 27 or 28 years old. Although he was wearing plain clothes, standing there looked like a sharp knife.
"Grandpa principal, he is my brother."
"Oh, okay, you brothers, let's have a meeting."
Wu Xinhan waved his hand and swam back to his room.
The visitor stood at the door, did not come in, and said bluntly:
"Grandma wants you to go back to Beijing."
Li Zhuiyuan shook his head: "I won't reply."
"Your mother used that application report to submit a request to the higher authorities. Grandpa is not allowed to interfere with the family, but you can make choices for your own life."
"This is my choice."
"Although your parents are divorced, you are still a member of our family."
"My current surname is Li."
"No room left?"
"No."
"Yeah."
The visitor simply turned around and left.
Xue Liangliang asked in surprise: "Who is he?"
"My father's eldest brother's son."
It wasn't that Li Zhuiyuan deliberately addressed him so coldly, but that he was a little confused at the moment.
"Do your relatives on your father's side always get along like this?"
"No. Grandpa Bei should have given the order to the family."
"Giving an order? Don't tell me, that man does look like a soldier."
"He is."
"But even if your parents are divorced and get along like this, your mother won't change your surname, right?"
"Well, she did."
"Oh, no wonder."
"But that's not the main reason."
Li Zhuiyuan knew that his Grandpa Bei was a very principled person. Li Lan used a special application to arrange for his son. Grandpa Bei could only choose to approve this, and his family members were not allowed to interfere with this arrangement. .
The boy now suspected that Li Lan was doing the same thing as Zhu Changyong, although not in the sea.
And the person who came here to find him was actually disobeying his grandfather's will. This was something that was hard to imagine at home in the north. If his grandfather found out, his legs would really be broken.
Therefore, the other party's attitude is indifferent just because he is used to it, while his own indifference is because he does not want to convey a misunderstanding, for fear of making them feel that they have room for maneuver.
Otherwise, if he reports something wrong to Grandma Bei, Grandpa Bei will be angry if the operation is carried out there.
In Grandpa Bei's eyes, Li Lan's arrangements for him were like "the last wish of his comrades in arms."
"Oh, by the way, if you are admitted in advance, will you still go to school?"
"I will take the college entrance examination."
"Then do you want to accompany me to the mountain city?"
"Well..."
Li Zhuiyuan doesn't want to travel far, at least for now.
"Forget it, it's nothing fun. My workplace is definitely not in the city, but in those ravines, where there are mountains and water."
"Okay."
"Huh?"
"I can go play."
Mainly recently, my hometown has been in trouble, and the frequency of occurrence has been greatly reduced.
At first, I wished I could show up in a few days, but now, I don’t see one every month. Theory is seriously out of touch with practice, and problems will arise.
"Okay, I'll make arrangements when the time comes."
"Can I bring a friend?"
"Is this still a big deal?"
"Thank you, Brother Liangliang."
"Then you take the exam well and I'm leaving."
"Goodbye, Brother Liangliang."
At night, Li Zhuiyuan went to bed early.
When they woke up in the morning, Wu Xinhan and Teacher Yan took everyone to the examination room.
Coincidentally, Li Zhuiyuan's examination seat was still in the row by the window. When he looked outside, he could still see a ginkgo tree.
But this time, after the exam bell rang, he did not continue to stare at the scenery in a daze. Instead, he lowered his head and answered the questions.
The questions are much more difficult than those in the city competition. The intention of the people who asked the questions is purely to make things difficult for others. You can even see their gloomy smiles from the numbers and symbols.
Li Zhuiyuan felt empathy, just like he felt when he asked Tan Wenbin questions for improvement.
After answering the questions, Li Zhuiyuan handed in the paper in advance. He walked to the ginkgo tree again and looked at the yellow leaves above.
He really wanted to suggest that the principal and grandfather also plant some in the school, but then he thought about it and it was not necessary. He probably wouldn't have many opportunities to see it.
After walking out of the examination room, Wu Xinhan and Teacher Yan immediately ran over, one handed a towel and the other water.
"How are you, Xiaoyuan?"
"Is the question difficult?"
"I've done it all."
After hearing this, the stones that the two of them had placed in their hearts were compacted a lot.
The day after I returned from the exam was the midterm exam.
Originally, Wu Xinhan thought that Xiaoyuan would come to his office to rest after the first session like the last monthly exam. For this reason, he even brought a thermos bucket with chicken soup made by his wife.
But after waiting and waiting, the boy didn't come.
He couldn't sit still, not because he was worried that the chicken soup would be wasted, but because he was worried that the boy would catch a cold due to the wind if he went to rest somewhere else.
He went to Sun Qing's office first.
Sun Qing had just finished invigilating an exam and was sharing persimmon cakes with the teachers in the office.
Sun Qing is now much more confident and calm than when she first became a class teacher. After all, only those with no grades will be involved in the whirlpool of qualifications, tormenting and struggling with each other.
The qualifications that fall from the sky are also qualifications.
When you talk about it in the future, you will only say that you taught "so and so" before. No one will really care about what you taught them.
You can even cover your mouth and say: "Actually, he is very smart. We as class teachers don't need to worry about anything. He can just develop freely."
What you say is true, but the people listening will only think you are so humble.
Just like Principal Wu who indulges in eccentricities during meetings, everyone has inner spiritual needs. Sun Qing's favorite thing to do now is to lie in bed and close her eyes to dream about the future before going to bed.
"Teacher Sun, come out for a moment."
"Okay principal." Sun Qing came out and delivered a piece of persimmon to Wu Xinhan.
Wu Xinhan took a bite and asked: "Where is Xiaoyuan?"
"He's taking a test."
"Ah, the exam hasn't been finished yet? Haven't the papers been printed a long time ago, and none of you gave them to him?"
"No, Xiaoyuan said this time that he wanted to take the exam according to the normal procedure and get familiar with the college entrance examination process."
The midterm exam is different from the monthly exam in that it does not compress the time so much. Instead, it is divided into two days to simulate the frequency of the college entrance examination as much as possible.
"What a good boy."
"Teacher Su is very happy."
"Haha."
Teacher Su teaches English, and Chinese and mathematics can be used as the first test, but she has never seen any exam where English is taken first. She also doesn't want to look back on her glorious resume in the future, but she always has "shortcomings" in English. This will make you look so incompetent that you can't even teach a child prodigy well.
At the end of each exam, Tan Wenbin did not correct the answers. Instead, he sat back and either worked on the questions or warmed up for the next exam.
These days, in the morning, there will be some food under his drawer.
It was given by squad leader Zhou Yunyun.
Even if Tan Wenbin lacks a clue, he still knows what the squad leader means. He will return the gift and buy some snacks to give back.
But except for the communication between classes, he did not have much contact with Zhou Yunyun. As soon as school was over, he followed Runsheng's three-wheeler home on his bicycle.
Zhou Yunyun did not continue to take the initiative. The two of them just gave small gifts occasionally, and neither of them crossed the line.
Perhaps, this is the most beautiful throbbing of youth, and it is also the warm arc that will still appear at the corner of the mouth when searching for memories in the future.
When harvesting rice, he told Runsheng about this.
Runsheng turned around and asked: "When are you going to have a baby?"
If it weren't for the fact that Runsheng was holding a sickle in his hand, Tan Wenbin would have wanted to duel him.
Along with the midterm exam results, there are the Mathematical Olympiad competition results. Although the grades are still based on rankings, colleges and universities have their own channels to know the real scores.
The happiest thing for Wu Xinhan these days is sitting in the office and answering the phone.
"Hello, I am Wu Xinhan, the principal of Shigang Middle School."
Then wait for the following to introduce yourself.
Isn't this more fulfilling than during a military training review?
Unfortunately, Xiao Yuan had already told him about his target university, which deprived him of more room for happiness through hard work.
On the night when the midterm exam rankings came out, Tan Wenbin returned to his home.
After handing the report card to his mother, his mother cried with joy.
When Tan Yunlong came back, his wife excitedly shared her joy with him, which made Tan Yunlong himself feel a little dazed and unreal.
He walked to the door of his son's room and wanted to open the door directly, but he knocked on the door anyway.
The son didn't say "come in" to Da, but walked over and opened the door.
"Go to the balcony and have a chat."
"Yeah."
The father and son came to the balcony.
Tan Yunlong: "I did well in the exam this time."
"There is still a little to be done, we have to keep working hard."
Tan Yunlong wanted to touch his son's head, but when he raised his hand, he patted his son on the shoulder instead.
"Don't put so much pressure on yourself."
"Yeah, I understand."
Tan Yunlong took out his cigarette case, pulled out a cigarette, bit it in his mouth, hesitated for a moment, then pulled out another cigarette and handed it to his son.
Tan Wenbin suddenly felt a little moist in his eyes, and instinctively lowered his head to avoid his father's sight.
What's funny is that when the scene that I had dreamed of actually appeared, all I wanted in my heart was that I wished I could go back in time.
He stretched out his hand to push away his father's hand offering the cigarette and said:
"Dad, I quit."
——
I'm not feeling well today and my condition is very bad. I'm sorry.
(End of chapter)