After breakfast, Song Ying started to work on the New Year's Eve dinner. With the refrigerator, as early as half a month ago, the small courtyard had replaced all the meat stamps saved over the year with meat and stocked up. She no longer had to wait at five or six o'clock every day.
Before dawn, I got up and braved the cold wind to queue up to buy meat.
"Oh, Sister Ling's life this year has been like a dream. I wouldn't have dared to think about it before." Song Ying said with emotion while chopping vegetables.
Huang Ling joked: "That is, in one year your family has bought a TV and a refrigerator. You have completed the task of realizing the four modernizations in one year. Isn't it just like a dream?"
"That's all thanks to Haozi. Otherwise, if it were just me and Lin Wufeng, we would have to scrape together a few things to buy a TV and a refrigerator. I wouldn't even dare to think about it."
Speaking of Qin Hao, the corners of Song Ying's mouth could not help but turn up.
Huang Ling thought for a while and suddenly suggested: "This year's New Year's Eve dinner, let's have it together as a family?"
"Okay, let's have fun together." Song Ying agreed without thinking.
Huang Ling was a little embarrassed: "Your family has bought so much meat, and our family has to take advantage again. The main reason is that I promised Haozi before to treat him to braised pork ribs, but it has never been fulfilled. It will be very embarrassing to owe this debt until next year.
Let Haozi eat it first, and I will return the favor next year."
"Hey, Sister Ling is fine, Haozi won't care about this."
"It's Haozi's business to be sensible, and he must fulfill his promise to his children. This is also my principle."
Seeing Huang Ling's firm attitude, Song Ying couldn't say anything more, so she changed the subject.
"By the way, how is your mother-in-law?"
"She has been discharged from the hospital. Originally, the doctor planned to let her be discharged after the New Year. The old lady had to go home to celebrate the New Year. But two days ago, her second son was taken home."
Song Ying asked curiously: "Why didn't the old lady ask Teacher Zhuang to take her to your house for the New Year?"
Huang Ling shook her head and said: "The old lady is very smart. The second child's family is a dual-income family. My father-in-law still has a pension. In addition, Chaoying pays one-third of his salary every month. Their family's living expenses are better than ours."
Much better."
Song Ying was speechless for a while: "Then the old lady injured her leg before and she still wants to stay at your house?"
"The old lady is here, but her ration has not come with her. Chaoying is too embarrassed to mention it, so they just pretend it's nothing. They are just preparing to have a good year this year. Do you think the old lady is willing to stay in the hospital?"
Huang Ling sneered.
"Then after the new year, the old lady won't come to your house again, right?"
The smile on Huang Ling's face gradually became warmer.
"No, the old lady disliked Chaoying for not being able to take care of her. They both suffered this time in the hospital. When we soaked our feet together that night, Chaoying specially added hot water to me and said it was not easy for me."
Song Ying snorted softly: "It should have been like this a long time ago. When you took the child back to your parents' home last year, Teacher Zhuang still felt that you were not suffering by following him. At that time, I wanted to have a good talk with him."
"Forget it, don't talk about these unhappy things during the Chinese New Year, hurry up and cook, the children will be hungry soon."
At 5:30 in the evening, Song Ying's house was already crowded with people. Two tables were pushed together. After the two families sat down, the back room was filled.
"Haozi, this is your favorite braised pork ribs. Eat more."
After the meal started, Huang Ling immediately gave Qin Hao the largest piece of ribs.
"Thank you Aunt Huang."
Seeing that Qin Hao's mouth was full of oil after eating, Lin Dongzhe also shouted: "I want to eat ribs too."
Song Ying rolled her eyes at him: "Lin Dongzhe, why are you everywhere?"
"Children, it's open to eat during the Chinese New Year." Huang Ling also gave Lin Dongzhe a piece.
Lin Dongzhe proudly made a face at Song Ying to demonstrate that it was rare for him to enjoy the protection period during the Chinese New Year. Lin Dongzhe was on the verge of being beaten and frantically tested.
Zhuang Chaoying looked at the table full of hard food and couldn't help but move her index finger. Some time ago, he went to class during the day and went to the hospital to take care of the old lady at night. His body was almost exhausted, so he quickly took this opportunity to replenish his health.
Lin Wufeng and Song Ying looked at Zhuang Chaoying's eating look, and they looked at each other and smiled in tacit understanding.
After eating and drinking, the two families sat in front of the TV, chatting and watching TV. Unfortunately, it was only 1979, four years before the first Spring Festival Gala was broadcast, so the program was a bit monotonous.
Not long after I sat down, I heard footsteps coming from the yard.
Wu Jianguo, Zhang Amei and Wu Shanshan came uninvited.
Looking at the news playing on the TV, Zhuang Chaoying said: "This news was replayed yesterday, right?"
Lin Wufeng nodded: "Well, I was visiting Japan before, and now I'm visiting the United States. It seems that the trend is about to change."
Wu Jianguo said nonchalantly: "No matter how we change, it has nothing to do with ordinary people like us. It's not our time to go to work."
Zhuang Chaoying, who had never argued with others, said seriously at this moment: "You can't say that. The establishment of diplomatic relations between China and the United States is an important signal."
Song Ying glanced at the time and said to Lin Dongzhe: "Lin Dongzhe's lecture has begun, change the channel quickly."
Lin Dongzhe was a little reluctant: "But the news hasn't finished yet."
"Brother Tunan, studying is the most important thing, hurry up." Song Ying patted Lin Dongzhe.
Lin Dongzhe could only change the channel reluctantly.
Wu Jianguo asked in confusion: "You are so good, why are you watching the English lecture?"
"Starting this year, English will be included in the total score of the college entrance examination." Zhuang Chaoying said seriously.
"Oh, wouldn't those children who don't have TV at home be far behind?"
After all, the college entrance examination is a screening process. One score can get rid of a lot of people. This is especially obvious for English, a newly added subject with a total score. This is the benefit of having a teacher at home. The reason why Zhuang Tunan was able to get into Tongji later
, in addition to his own efforts, it was also thanks to Zhuang Chaoying who pointed out the direction of his study step by step, and Huang Ling who sacrificed everything to ensure logistics for him.
Regardless of genius, the success of ordinary children often relies on the support of their families.
Song Ying said generously: "In the future, children in our alley can come to our house to watch English lectures."
Wu Jianguo and Zhang Amei quickly called several children to express their thanks.
Everyone present in the English lecture, except Zhuang Tunan, basically couldn’t understand it and was somewhat bored. Just when everyone was drowsy, Zhuang Tunan suddenly asked Qin Hao: "Haozi, did you understand just now?"
? What is the present continuous tense?"
Several adults looked at Zhuang Tunan in surprise. Wu Jianguo blurted out: "Tunan, don't make trouble. Haozi is only in the third grade. How can he know anything about English?"
As a result, Zhuang Tunan said seriously: "Although Haozi is only in the third grade, he has already completed the elementary school courses by himself, and he has also completed the first-grade English by himself. I always ask him about something I don't understand in every English lecture.
.”
Zhuang Xiaoting also testified on behalf of Zhuang Tunan: "Brother Qin Hao is very powerful. Not long ago, my father had to go to the hospital to stay overnight. I asked him many questions that I didn't understand."
Ignoring the stunned adults, Qin Hao explained to Zhuang Tunan: "The present continuous tense is English grammar, indicating the action that is ongoing now, for example: I am reading a book right now..."
After Qin Hao finished talking about the use of grammar, Zhuang Tunan was thoughtful, while the others were completely confused. They all subconsciously looked at Zhuang Chaoying and asked him to explain whether what Qin Hao said was correct.
Zhuang Chaoying shook her head helplessly and said: "I studied Russian before..."
However, in order to verify whether Qin Hao had really completed elementary school courses by himself as Zhuang Tunan said, Zhuang Chaoying gave him several math problems.
As a result, Qin Hao finished it easily in a few minutes.
After Zhuang Chaoying read it, he said in an incomprehensible tone: "Perhaps Haozi's talent is not just in Go."
Then, with Song Ying's expectant eyes, she held up the test paper and said, "All correct."
"Let me just say, Haozi is a genius!" Song Ying said proudly.
Zhang Amei looked at Song Ying with some sourness, and then at Qin Hao, with a bit of regret in her eyes. She only regretted that she married too late. By the time she married Wu Jianguo, Song Ying was already Qin Hao's guardian.
But she didn't want to think about it. With her stingy personality, how could she stand up for Qin Hao when she didn't know that Qin Hao had a talent for playing Go?
However, Qin Hao's academic talent also made Song Ying confused. According to her opinion, she still hoped that Qin Hao could continue to go to school step by step. However, Zhuang Chaoying felt that this was a complete waste of Qin Hao's talent.
"Haozi has already completed all the primary school courses by himself. It is a complete waste of time to continue to let him study in the third grade. He should be allowed to take the quiz next year directly."
Song Ying and Lin Wufeng looked at each other. They had never seen Zhuang Chaoying so glum.
"Haozi, what do you mean?" Song Ying turned to look at Qin Hao.
"Aunt Song, I want to take the quiz next year."
Qin Hao is too lazy to continue to mix among the primary school students. Anyway, his talent for playing Go has been exposed, and his learning talent can be explained by his high IQ.
"Is an eleven-year-old junior high school student too young?" Lin Wufeng was a little worried.
Zhuang Tunan was kind of spiritual: "Haozi will be admitted to No. 1 Middle School next year. I will take care of him and won't let anyone bully him."
"Then...I'll go talk to Haozi's class teacher when school starts?"
Zhang Amei winked at her daughter: "Xiao Min, if you have any questions that you don't understand in the future, please ask Hao Zi for advice."
"Oh." Xiao Min was noncommittal. Her academic performance had not been good since she was a child.
Zhang Amei was so angry that she rolled her eyes. Her purpose was not just to let her daughter consult Qin Hao and learn from her. The Song Ying family bought two home appliances last year, both of which were earned by Qin Hao playing chess. If Qin Hao could become her son-in-law, how could it be possible?
no……
The English lecture on TV had been broadcast, and Lin Dongzhe switched back to Beijing TV. However, except for Wu Jianguo, the other adults did not watch much of the old movies played on TV.
On the first day of the new year, Song Ying and Huang Ling cooked glutinous rice balls early in the morning.
According to the custom in Suzhou, no one walks around on the first day of the Lunar New Year, and New Year greetings start on the second day of the Lunar New Year, so everyone was not well prepared.
As a result, while the two families were eating glutinous rice balls, a guest came to the small courtyard.
Li Yiming and his cousin Song Xiangyang came over to pay Zhuang Chaoying New Year's greetings. These two unlucky guys failed the college entrance examination again last year and have given up their plans to continue to enter college.
Seeing the pessimistic tone of the two men, Zhuang Chaoying could only comfort her: "Even if Yiming doesn't take the college entrance examination, he can still line up to take your mother's class. When the time comes, he can work hard in a cotton spinning factory and it won't necessarily be worse than going to college."
Song Xiangyang looked gloomy when he heard this: "Yi Ming still has a job to take over, but people like me are miserable. They are still earning work points in the countryside."
Lin Wufeng was a little confused: "Isn't the policy for educated youths to return to the city relaxed a lot now?"
"It's useless to relax. The commune has said that as long as there is a unit here willing to accept him, they will release him. The key is that without a job, I will only be a blind drifter when I come back." Song Xiangyang said with a bitter look on his face.
The so-called blind flow specifically refers to people who have no fixed occupation or residence. In this era, saying that a person is a blind flow is basically a curse. Later, some blind flow evolved into "hooligans" and once became a factor of social instability.
Zhuang Chaoying sighed: "In the final analysis, there are still too few jobs."
Lin Wufeng thought for a while and said to Song Xiangyang: "Our compressor factory has a temporary worker job. If you are willing, you can come and give it a try."
"Can I become a full-time employee?" Song Xiangyang asked excitedly.
Before Lin Wufeng could speak, Qin Hao jumped in and said, "Even if you can't become a regular employee, it's better than being an educated youth in the commune. Don't push yourself too hard, and no one will owe you anything."
This Song Xiangyang was just out of ideas. He had come to take classes before, and he blamed the teacher for not clearing up priorities.
Song Xiangyang's face turned red from the rebuke, and Li Yiming quickly smoothed things over for him: "Uncle Lin, I'm sorry, my cousin is just too excited."
Lin Wufeng waved his hand: "It's okay. The environment in rural areas is very different from that in cities. It's understandable."
This chapter is not finished yet, please click the next page to continue reading the exciting content! After seeing off Li Yiming and Song Xiangyang, Lin Dongzhe was clamoring to set off firecrackers. Song Ying, who was celebrating the New Year, did not restrain him and gave him a few
I bought it with cents, and also gave Qin Hao a few scattered bills.
"Brother Tunan, Xiaoting, go and play the second kick."
Soon the scattered sound of firecrackers echoed in the alleys. Children from all families ran out to play despite the severe cold. The better-off families all put on new clothes.
"Qin Hao, my mother asked me to bring you candy." Xiao Min ran to Qin Hao wearing a red cotton jacket.
Qin Hao did not pick it up: "Thank Aunt Zhang for me."
Xiao Min licked her lips, but did not take back the candy in her hand: "If you don't want it, my mother will tell me."
"Then I'll take one, and you can split the rest with Shanshan and Xiaojun."
"Um."
Qin Hao shook his head secretly, Zhang Amei's wishful thinking was really loud.
…
On the second day of the new year, Zhuang Chaoying took Huang Ling and the two children to Zhuang Ye and Zhuang Nai's house. Only Song Ying's family was left in the small courtyard, which seemed a bit deserted. Lin Dongzhe, the monkey at home, was no longer in the mood to bother.
"I don't know if Xiaoting can have enough to eat at her grandfather's house."
Qin Hao was delighted. Lin Dongzhe had really cared about his wife since he was a child.
Fortunately, Huang Ling's family came back that night, but Huang Ling's face was obviously not good-looking. After Song Ying asked, she found out that the old lady of the Zhuang family wanted to keep Zhuang Xiaoting to take care of her again. Fortunately, this time Zhuang Chaoying was on duty in the hospital.
After Ye's painful experience, knowing that an adult was tortured to unspeakable agony, let alone a child, he finally didn't make any mistakes this time and refused the old lady's request, which made Mr. Zhuang complain and accuse Zhuang Chaoying of being unfilial.