On the way home, the slightly stronger evening breeze blew in my face, blowing away the slight tiredness that Zhang An had just had after eating.
When I reached the intersection, I found my cousin Zhang Bin sitting on the ditch at the entrance of the village.
"Binzi, why are you here alone?"
Zhang An also came up, sat next to Zhang Bin, and patted Zhang Bin's shoulder.
"Brother, do you think it would be better for me to go to high school or a vocational school?" Zhang Bin, who was a little happy but hesitant, asked Zhang An.
Zhang Bin's grades have always been average in the class, neither above nor below.
There are times when others perform exceedingly well, and there are also times when others fail to perform.
But Zhang Bin is so untouchable, and this is also the first time Zhang An has seen him.
Before the high school entrance examination, everyone knew that his grades had been hovering between being able to enter high school and not being able to keep up.
After taking the exam, the results came out. Even with a score that was a few points higher than the county middle school cutoff, you could get the target quota, but you were still at the tail end of the list.
At the beginning, my second uncle's family agreed that if I couldn't pass the exam, I would go to a vocational school for two years and learn some skills.
But the score was neither good nor bad, and the second uncle's family was in a dilemma.
Because I used to think that I wouldn't be able to pass the exam, so I could go to a vocational school with peace of mind.
Now my score is enough to go to high school, but if I do, I feel that there is no hope for the college entrance examination in three years, and I feel a little unwilling if I don't pass.
"What's so confusing about this? If you want to give it a try and feel that you can work hard to improve your grades by studying hard, then you can take a gamble. What if you are admitted to college in three years? If you feel that you really
If you can’t learn anymore, your grades will always be the same no matter how hard you work, your talent is already there, so I think going to a vocational school to learn some skills and learn first-hand skills is better than anything else.”
Although the current college entrance examination pressure is not as great as that of later generations, it is still difficult to get into college.
And more people who fail the exam either go out to work or go home to farm, or they pay an expensive tutoring fee at home and retake the exam for another year.
At that time, after Zhang An had finished his exam, his family was thinking of asking Zhang An to repeat the exam for another year and give it a try.
But Zhang An suddenly returned to his youth. He had not touched books for so many years in his previous life, so how could he have the intention to re-read them again?
And later I found out that I had a baby with me, so why bother repeating it?
The purpose of repeating and taking the exam for another year is to go to college and live a good life in the future.
Now Zhang An can live a good life without repeating his studies, so he simply has no choice to repeat his studies.
Zhang An did not persuade Zhang Bin to choose whether to go to high school or a vocational school.
Although you are one of your own family, you should not make decisions for others when making such choices.
After graduating from junior high school, you don’t have to go to high school or vocational school. There are also teachers’ colleges as an option.
But the scores in the Teachers College are higher than those in high school, so there is no need to think about it.
If you persuade someone to go to high school, if they fail to pass the college entrance examination three years later, they may blame you behind the scenes for persuading them to go to high school, wasting three years of time and money.
If you persuade him to go to a vocational school, if he regrets it in the future and thinks that he didn't work hard in the early years, he will blame you.
In later generations, Zhang An encountered such things many times at home.
Whether it is between relatives or outsiders, when encountering such a thing, you can give suggestions, but do not make choices for others, because you cannot guarantee what will happen to them in the future.
Then Zhang An told Zhang Bin everything about his three years of high school, telling him what high school was like and how it was different from junior high school, and asked him to think about it.
But in fact, considering Zhang Bin's grades, even if he chooses to go to high school, it is almost a waste of time.
If some people don't get good grades, it may be because they are playful and don't study hard. But for some people, it's not because they don't work hard or study hard, but because they can't learn at all. Simply put, they don't have talent.
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Zhang Bin happens to be the latter. He usually studies very seriously and listens carefully when the teacher lectures, but he just can't get it right.
So the results have always been like this. Unless your brain suddenly becomes enlightened and you find a learning method that suits you, there is no hope at all. There are many people like this.
There may be people who have very poor grades but make rapid progress after entering high school, but Zhang An has never seen them.
But even if there are such people, Zhang An believes that it is the former. It is not that they are not smart or not suitable for studying, but they just did not pay attention before, but later changed their ways and immersed themselves in hard work, then their grades will definitely improve.
The two brothers chatted by the ditch for more than half an hour. Zhang An explained to Zhang Bin all the suggestions he could think of and the pros and cons of both. The rest was up to him to think clearly before making a choice.
Even in the second uncle's family, they are not optimistic about Zhang Bin's college entrance examination situation three years after entering high school.
At that time, Zhang An's grades were pretty good for the class, and he was much higher than the cutoff when he entered high school.
But when you go to the county, the gap becomes clear. The quality of education in the county is much better than that in the villages and towns. This situation lasted for several decades in later generations, and finally all the schools in the villages were demolished.
What's more, Zhang Bin, who has just reached the score line, can still get a head start, but now the family feels that it is a pity not to go.
Zhang An also regretted it later in life. At that time, his classmates all went to vocational schools, learned some skills, and lived well in the village.
I worked hard outside for many years before I could afford a small house.
There are many people who have built their own two- or three-story courtyards at home or in towns.
"Let's go home. There are too many mosquitoes outside. Let's not feed them here. We will think about it slowly when we get back. If you have any questions, you can ask me."
In the end, Zhang An couldn't stand it anymore. There were a lot of mosquitoes beside the ditch. If someone came, they would keep clinging to you.
Now, Zhang An's arm has been stung several times because he was wearing short-sleeved shirts, and the itching continues.
When I got home, it was already past eight o'clock and almost nine o'clock.
"Why are you coming back just now?" Wang Fang, who was washing his feet, looked at his son who had just entered the house. People in the village usually don't stay that late when inviting guests to dinner. During the off-season, when everyone has nothing to do, it's usually around nine or ten.
The clock fell asleep.
Zhang An saw that his mother had already washed her feet and poured water for his mother's feet.
"I met Binzi by the ditch. Seeing that he was there alone, I talked to him and fed the mosquitoes for a long time."
As Zhang An spoke, he showed his mother the mosquito bites on his arm.
The light bulbs at home were still relatively bright, and Wang Fang could clearly see the bumps on her son's arms. She quickly went into the house and got a bottle of toilet water and wiped it with Zhang An.
The wattage of Zhang An's home is fifteen watts, and the light is relatively bright when the light is turned on.
Most homes in the village have light bulbs of about five watts, or at most ten watts. Zhang An's house used to have small five-watt light bulbs, which were dim when turned on, but Zhang An finally replaced them with larger ones.
The main reason is that everyone is thinking about saving money. In the past, the electricity bill was very expensive. This year, the electricity bill has been reduced. It costs more than 50 cents per unit. In the past, the electricity bill was one yuan per unit.
Basically, everyone sits in the yard and turns off the lights after dinner in the evening. They also wash their feet and go to bed early in the evening, in order to save some electricity bills.
However, Zhang An discovered that after the electricity bill was changed this time, until the following decades, it was only more than 50 cents per unit of electricity, and the price never increased.
"Why are you getting so many bites? There are so many mosquitoes outside. You two should just come back. What can you say at home? The mosquitoes outside are so poisonous."
Since there was only one child in the family, Wang Fang and Zhang Jianguo had cherished Zhang An since childhood.
"What did you just say about Zhang Bin?"
Zhang Bin, this cousin, has always been regarded by adults as a more sensible and obedient person.
Among the children in Zhang An's family, he has the best impression on people. Others, including Zhang An, who has grown up now, used to be considered careless in everyone's eyes.
When Zhang Jianguo heard Zhang An talking about Zhang Bin, he had no need to ask.
"There is nothing wrong with him. He just passed the entrance examination. He had given up before and thought he would not be able to pass the high school. Unexpectedly, now that the score has come out, it is a few points higher than the cutoff. So the family is struggling with the issue of whether to go to high school or a vocational school.
"
Zhang An took a basin of cold water and told his parents while washing his face.
After hearing this, Zhang Jianguo took two sips of herbal tea and said, "It's a pity. Xiaobin is a very sensible kid. He is willing to work hard in his studies, but there is no improvement in his grades, and he has no hope of getting into high school."
"Don't say this. I'm telling you, if Zhang An and his second aunt heard this, she would definitely feel uncomfortable."
After hearing her child's father say this, Wang Fang answered.
Zhang An's second aunt is usually quite nice, but she can be too pretentious in her mind. She can remember the little things or words you don't pay attention to in your mind.
After Zhang Jianguo was choked by Wang Fang, he stopped talking.
Because they have seen how powerful Aunt Zhang An is before. She usually doesn’t have bad intentions towards people, and she treats people well, but when something happens, she takes it to heart. When the two families have a quarrel, she will use these things to criticize people.
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"You can talk to him, but don't make decisions for him. Otherwise, no one will remember you. If not, your second aunt will not be able to entertain you in the future."
"Mom, I know. I'm not a child anymore. I just say a few words to him. As for what they do and choose, it's all their own business."
In the end, the second uncle's family decided to let Zhang Bin give it a try. After all, it was not easy to get into high school. It was an opportunity anyway, so the family was willing to let him work hard on his own.
The next day, the old village chief Zhang Jianwen had always had a vigorous and resolute style of doing things. Now that he had decided to build the road, and now he had big guys chipping in the money.
After the villagers' representative meeting was held, he immediately took the villagers to purchase materials.
After everyone has been busy for more than a week, the original "cement" road has been turned into a cement road again.
We also built two drainage ditches on both sides of the road, so that when it rains, the accumulated water will not soak on the road, but will be drained along the ditch into the field dam.
Not to mention, many people in the village now go for a swim on the new road after dinner. It can be seen that everyone is very happy.
Finally, the old village chief made a merit monument and erected it beside the bridge at the entrance of the village.
Everyone who donated money had their names and donation amounts engraved on it.
After this merit monument was erected, many people felt a little regretful. If they had known that they were in trouble, it would have looked better to donate more.
People are in high spirits when happy events happen. The old village chief has been smiling all over since the road was repaired.
The village chiefs of several nearby villages were baffled that Chang Qing suddenly repaired the road.
Because these people are already considered kings of darkness for the town, and they run towards the town every day just to get some money to build roads.
Obviously, everyone was drinking porridge together yesterday, but today you suddenly started eating meat?
At this time, no one would think that every village has basically "cement" roads, but the road conditions here in Changqing are indeed the worst.
Everyone also went to the town to ask for money. If it was just a village, a little crowding in the town could help.
But seeing people in the village asking for money every day made the person in charge of money management in the town feel dizzy.
So in the end, no one got the money, because the town didn't have that much money, and everyone knew this.
But who would have thought that Zhang Jianwen, who was still crying about poverty in the town a few days ago, quietly built the road at the entrance of the village, and even built a cement road.
The village chiefs of the last few villages were really curious and invited Zhang Jianwen to go home for a meal and a good drink.
Only then did I know from Zhang Jianwen's words how Changqing got the money to build the road.
I heard that most of the money was donated by a young man in the village and their friends, and the rest was donated by people in the village. Let’s see how aware we are in the village.
Hearing this, these village chiefs suddenly looked uncomfortable.
Damn it, he tricked me again.
They have known each other for decades and are very familiar with each other. How could they not know that Zhang Jianwen likes to show off in front of them.
But he didn't react until he asked the question, giving Zhang Jianwen a chance to show off.
They were all familiar with Zhang An from Changqing Village, because when Zhang An bought a car before, he used it to take Zhang Jianwen to meetings in the town several times.
Zhang Jianwen showed off well.
However, although there are no young people like Zhang An in their village, this is something that no one can change.
But this does not prevent them from following Zhang Jianwen's method and using the name of the merit monument to ask the villagers to donate the money to build roads.
In the end, it really worked for these people, and the village pooled together some money.
Of course, there are not as many as Changqing Village, even half of them, but it is enough to improve the condition of the "cement" road.
At the beginning, the town discovered that the old men who came to stay at the door every day had not come for the past few days.
The town was quite worried that something had happened. According to their understanding of those people, they would never give up until they achieved their goals.
After getting to know each other more, I found that everyone had pooled their own money to repair the road.
After discovering that this matter was spearheaded by the old village chief Zhang Jianwen, the old village chief became quite famous in the town.