vrcanaries Chapter 276 For Health
Chapter 276 For Health
Seeing the country boy's naive and unsophisticated manner, the saleswoman grew impatient. "Kid, if you just look and don't buy, you're delaying the people behind you from buying anything!"
Zhuang Tunan also grabbed Xiang Pengfei, saying, "I've brought enough money. Buy whatever you like."
Zhuang Xiaoting also showed her small wallet, which contained three one-yuan bills and some loose change.
Xiang Pengfei shook his head. "No need. Adults don't earn money easily. Just look at these things; there's no need to buy them."
In the end, Zhuang Xiaoting still bought Xiang Pengfei a piece of malt candy. The impatient salesperson, despite his impatience, knocked out four pieces of malt candy, wrapped them in oil paper, and handed them to Zhuang Xiaoting.
Huang Ling happened to be passing by and saw four children sitting by the roadside eating candy. A smile involuntarily appeared on her lips. In the past two days, she had also noticed that Xiang Pengfei was a sensible child, so sensible that it was heartbreaking.
He bought four more popsicles from the store and walked up to the four people.
The three Zhuang siblings first saw the feet, and only when they looked up did they see Huang Ling standing in front of them.
Zhuang Tunan immediately stood up and explained to Huang Ling, "Mom, I brought Pengfei out to buy some stationery."
Huang Ling smiled and patted Zhuang Tunan's head, then took out popsicles from her cloth bag and distributed them to the four of them, saying, "Seeing you all, it's hot, so I'll give each of you one."
During this time, Lin Wufeng had some free time and managed to get some cement from outside. With Zhuang Chaoying's help, he built a bathroom. In the summer, both families often had to lock the door and shower in the living room, making the house damp.
"We still have to rely on you, Engineer Lin, I don't know anything about this!"
Zhuang Chaoying was only responsible for assisting and helping out; the main work was done by Lin Wufeng.
Song Ying handed towels to the two of them, saying, "It's also for the convenience of both our families. It's just that we've used up all the cement we found before, otherwise Wu Feng would have fixed it already."
In the evening, to celebrate the repair of the bathroom, the two families gathered for dinner. Snake gourd was still the main dish, but there was also a pot of braised pork ribs.
Huang Ling picked up a piece of meat and gave it to Xiang Pengfei, saying, "Pengfei, your uncle will be free tomorrow and can start helping you with your studies."
"Okay, Auntie." Xiang Pengfei's eyes were full of confusion; he had no idea what kind of summer tutoring he was about to face.
Taking the opportunity, Song Ying suggested, "Let's bring Dongzhe along. We don't know what he does all day anyway, so he might as well study with Teacher Zhuang."
Upon hearing this, Zhuang Chaoying nodded in agreement, "Learning is a good thing! Xiaoting will be in third grade soon, so let her listen too."
In the evening, Zhuang Tunan took Xiang Pengfei to play games, such as shadow puppetry, catching fireflies, and spinning tops. Lin Dongzhe also demonstrated his spinning top skills; in the night, the sparks from the top were particularly noticeable.
From that day on, Xiang Pengfei's gaze toward Lin Dongzhe changed; his admiration was now masked by fear.
The next morning, Zhuang Xiaoting came to wake Lin Dongzhe.
"Lin Dongzhe, you're so old, why do you still sleep without clothes on?" Zhuang Xiaoting blushed a little, but she didn't run away in embarrassment.
Lin Dongzhe calmly put on his bitter tea. "An old Chinese medicine doctor told me that no matter how old you are, you shouldn't wear clothes to bed, it's good for your health."
The makeshift classroom for the Zhuang family was set up below Zhuang Xiaoting's room. Four people sat at two small tables, two inside and two outside.
When Lin Dongzhe arrived, Xiang Pengfei and Zhuang Tunan were already seated in the inner room. Lin Dongzhe and Zhuang Xiaoting sat down at the small table in the living room.
This was Zhuang Chaoying's first time teaching Lin Dongzhe. Although they were neighbors, he didn't want to meddle since Lin Wufeng and Song Ying didn't mention it.
But it was during this tutoring session that Zhuang Chaoying realized what a genius truly was. To remember something after hearing it only once, to understand it after hearing it only once—was this even human?
Zhuang Chaoying fell into deep self-doubt.
He even went to see Lin Dongzhe's teacher and learned about Lin Dongzhe's performance at school, which was really quite ordinary.
That afternoon, Lin Dongzhe returned from inspecting the territory and ran into Zhuang Chaoying. Zhuang Chaoying stopped Lin Dongzhe, took him to a restaurant, and ordered him a bowl of noodles. "Dongzhe, I see you study quite quickly, but why are your grades at school so... average?"
Lin Dongzhe knew that his performance had caught Zhuang Chaoying's attention, and the corners of his mouth curled up slightly. "What's the use of having such good grades? Besides getting another certificate, what else do I get?"
Zhuang Chaoying wanted to change Lin Dongzhe's mind, "But you still have to take the high school entrance exam and the college entrance exam, right? If you don't study hard now, it will be hard to catch up later."
Lin Dongzhe nodded, "Uncle Zhuang is right! But Uncle Zhuang, I already know everything I need to learn."
Nodding in satisfaction, Zhuang Chaoying shoveled some more noodles into Lin Dongzhe's bowl. "Eat more, so you'll have the motivation to study!"
As the summer vacation drew to a close, Zhuang Chaoying contacted Zhuang Hualin and bought direct train tickets. Xiang Pengfei's father would then pick her up at the train station.
A ten-year-old child is usually able to ride in a car without worry.
Huang Ling made a new outfit for Xiang Pengfei. She had sold her sewing machine, so she borrowed it to make it.
Xiang Pengfei used scissors to cut open a cloth bag inside his pants that had no opening, and pulled out twenty yuan and some nationally valid grain coupons. "My mom said to give these to my aunt!"
Actually, he also said not to let his grandmother know, but Xiang Pengfei was sensible enough that he didn't say some things aloud.
Huang Ling then gave Xiang Pengfei another twenty yuan, telling him to buy some gifts when he left.
Xiang Pengfei is an extremely cheerful person. Under Zhuang Tunan's guidance, by the time Xiang Pengfei's "50-day experience in Suzhou" ended, he had become good friends with all the children in the alley, and even Xiaomin was very familiar with Xiang Pengfei.
When he was leaving, his friends came to see him off, and he let each of them choose an ice pop. Everyone chose a mung bean ice pop, which cost three cents, but Wu Xiaojun chose a milk ice pop, which cost five cents.
And so, Xiang Pengfei left Suzhou with small gifts and new clothes, and with a deep sense of reluctance to leave the alley.
Zhuang Tunan had grown accustomed to life with Xiang Pengfei around, and now that Xiang Pengfei was gone, he felt quite uneasy. Looking up at his parents in the opposite living room, he asked, "Mom and Dad, can't Auntie go back to Suzhou?"
Zhuang Chaoying and Huang Ling exchanged a glance, and Zhuang Chaoying saw seriousness in Huang Ling's eyes.
Zhuang Tunan is growing up; perhaps it's time for him to know something about his family.
"A few years ago, in order to solve the problem of educated youth sent to the countryside, progressive educated youth were allowed to apply for six major vocational schools, namely teachers' college, health school, agricultural school, forestry school, and finance school. They could graduate after one or two years of study, and the local government would arrange jobs for them after graduation."
Zhuang Chaoying sighed and continued, "Your aunt is very ambitious. She worked on the farm while preparing for the exam and got into a nursing school. Now she works at the town hospital, but because she has a formal job, she no longer meets the requirements to return to the city."