Ordinary people's rice bowl

Chapter 2 School Selection Preparation

April in the Gregorian calendar is the season of alternating spring and summer.It was raining like silk when we went out, and it still didn't stop all day long. Lao Mu, who had a meeting at the commune education committee for a day, walked home in a hurry in the rain.As for what was said at the meeting, he wrote it down in the "little notebook" in his pocket, so that he might not be able to say half a sentence, and now there is only one thing left in his mind, and that is the director of the education committee. It was mentioned at the end: "This year, the junior high school opened by Gucheng No. 100 Middle School, a key middle school in our county, will recruit [-] outstanding primary school graduates. Each school can organize outstanding students to take the exam. The specific registration time will be announced later."

This news is really exciting news for Lao Mu. During each meeting break after the Spring Festival, Lao Mu will discuss with the teachers in the meeting, which middle school has high teaching quality and which middle school has good teachers. In my mind, choosing a good school for my son who is about to graduate is three points more important than "the rain comes after a long drought".

"Gucheng No. 10 Middle School, that was the school where I went to high school back then. Not only is the school's environment and teachers excellent, but it is also a key middle school in the area. It opened junior high school there, which provided an excellent opportunity for my son to serve It's good luck that my son chose this school!" Thinking this way, Lao Mu seemed to be walking faster. "Enrollment is different from recommendation. Enrollment is based on grades. Although my son's grades can be ranked in the whole commune, it is the best among the county's population of [-]. What's more, there will be elementary school graduates in neighboring counties. It is still unknown whether students will be able to pass the exam." While thinking about it, Lao Mu couldn't help but put a big "?" in his heart.

Old Mu, who had just entered the house, didn't care to wipe off the rainwater from his head, so he sat down next to his son who was writing in the house.

"What did you do today? I'll check it out for you." Lao Mu took the towel handed over by his wife, wiped his rain-drenched hair, and carefully looked at his son's homework.

After April, the weather turns hot, which is a good time for farming. Xiaowangzhuang in the northern temperate zone will inevitably be busy for a while.At present, the enthusiasm of the people in the village is very high. They get up early every day and go to the fields to farm.

In order to make it easier for her to go to work in the fields, Xiuhua sent her youngest son Mu Bao to her natal family a few days in advance, and let her mother take care of her.It was so hard to look forward to Sunday today, Lao Mu could have helped his wife with farm work, but when his son was about to enter school, how could he care about the work in the field?Xiuhua made breakfast early and went to the fields to do farm work, but Lao Mu was at home with his son lying on the old-fashioned drawer table and doing homework.

"Is Teacher Mu there?" Old Mu heard clearly from the room, so he hurriedly got up and went out to stand in the courtyard, "Director Zhang, there must be something important to come home so early!" hand.

"I've always remembered what you said a few days ago. It was the registration of Gucheng No. 15 Middle School. No, we just received the notice yesterday, and we will start preparing for registration on the [-]th of this month." Let's go!" Old Mu said politely. "Going to the market early this morning, I happened to pass by here. I'm here to tell you that the Education Committee may give a special notice in a few days. You should think about preparing."

"Thank you so much, then let's go inside after dinner!" After saying that, he let the house go, "You're welcome, the house is still waiting for me to go to the market to buy vegetables for cooking! Let's talk about anything else!" While talking, he pushed the bicycle that had just stopped and walked towards the main road.

When the calendar turned to the 15th, Lao Mu went to the commune education committee early and was the first to register for his son. He originally wanted to apply for two more places for the school, but after communicating with the parents of the students, they all thought that their children were studying Not as good as Mu Zhen, who both expressed their reluctance to take the exam and gave up.

At the end of the registration, Lao Mu listened to Director Zhang of the Education Committee of the commune, saying that more than 650 people from the whole county had applied for this enrollment. Including candidates from neighboring counties, the total number of applicants reached 835, and a total of two classes were recruited, with 50 students in each class. , according to this calculation, the admission ratio is at least 8:1. This kind of elimination rate has never been encountered before entering junior high school. .

Just two days after Children's Day, the ears of wheat in the fields are getting impatient. The sound of farmers sharpening their sickles, yelling at animals to prepare the field, and repairing machines has become a symphony for the three summers in the countryside.Based on local conditions, Gucheng County notified schools in various villages to be on holiday for two weeks and to go home to help the rural Sanxia.

"People are preparing to harvest wheat. Look at you two, you are all focused on your books. You have just graduated from elementary school, so you are in such a hurry!" Xiuhua stood facing each other while sharpening her scythe in the courtyard. Old Mu murmured, Lao Mu didn't know what he was thinking in the courtyard, and he was counting something with his fingers, "No. 5, No. 6, ... No. 10." Today, I have to prepare to take the exam. It is such a coincidence that it is the busiest few days. This is simply a psychological tactic. It is an exam. Considering that Sanxia is very busy, and will go all out to meet the exam, and we have to deal with this busy farming and go to school at the same time, you say that there is no comparison between the clay rice bowl and the iron rice bowl?"

Xiuhua understands that what she says to Lao Mu is meaningless, the most important thing now is the child's education is the most important thing for this family.After sharpening the sickle, Xiuhua patted the water droplets splashed on her body, stood up slowly, and kept beating her numb thigh, "Yan'er and I went to the field to cut wheat. You two are tired from studying, so you go to the field Help us!" After speaking, he lifted his sickle and walked out of the gate.Yan'er is Lao Mu's daughter, two years younger than Mu Zhen. Last year, because she didn't pay attention to school and suffered a disability in her hand, she didn't want to go to school. Now the family helps Lao Mu's wife with farm work, even though she is only nine years old. But he is very sensible. After a year, he has done all kinds of farm work in a decent way, which makes the old Mu and his wife like it very much.

Watching his wife and daughter go away, Lao Mu went back to the house thoughtfully, and said to his son, "Zhen'er, take a break when you're tired, and I'll do another paper after you're done, and I'll help cut the wheat for a while. "

"Yes." Mu Zhen agreed without raising her head.

Lao Mu picked up the scythe sharpened in the yard and strode after his wife and daughter in the direction where his wife and daughter were going.

The harvesting of wheat in Sanxia is all old-fashioned sickles, which are harvested by people bending over and using the sickles one by one. The working people are so tired that they look like they are falling apart.

Old Mu seldom does farm work. After this day, his joints are sore and uncomfortable, and his thighs feel as if they have been filled with lead, making it difficult to walk.When he got home, he didn't care to talk to his son, so he lay down on the bed.Feeling that the slightly swollen eyelids were really hard to open, they closed them slightly, and soon there was the sound of Lao Mu's slow breathing when he was only sleeping.

When Xiuhua was ready to cook, it was already time to light the lamp. Under the dim light, Mu Zhen was still working on the test paper that seemed endless to him. "Son, don't do it, tell your father to eat!" Xiuhua shouted to her son.

Mu Zhen stood up slowly, walked to the bed, and pushed Lao Mu who was lying on the bed, "Daddy, get up and eat!" Wake up slowly.

"Eat!" Mu Zhen repeated again.

"It's so fast, my stomach is indeed growling!" Lao Mu rubbed his sleepy eyes, "How is your paper doing?"

"I've already done it, and I've recited the text that should be memorized!" Mu Zhen said obediently.

"Then check it out!"

"Stop eating?" Mu Zhen asked with puzzled eyes.

"Eat, watch while eating!"

Mu Zhen returned to the table, picked up the test paper on the table and handed it to Lao Mu.

Lao Mu sat up, took the test paper, got out of bed and sat at the table by the window, and began to review it carefully under the dim light.Xiuhua put the noodles brought in beside Lao Mu, holding the rice bowl, but her eyes did not leave the test paper in front of her.Mu Zhen didn't move, she stood on the other side of Lao Mu with her hands down, her eyes were fixed on Lao Mu's thumb pressing on the test paper, and the red pen tip that followed him was moving.

"All correct!" Seeing the last question, Lao Mu softly said the four words that he often said recently.

Another stone fell in Mu Zhen's heart, who was standing aside.Then he went to the outside room to pick up the rice bowl on the chopping board and ate it.

Sanxia wheat harvest is in full swing. In the past few days, Lao Mu has been busy with the farm work in the field, and when he returned home, he was busy grading the test papers for his son.Even in the field, my mind has never left my son's study, and I am really careful about the knowledge in the textbooks, lest I make a mistake and lose this opportunity.

The son has also been very competitive these days, and every time he does what he does, he is very satisfied, and it also injects confidence into Lao Mu's hanging heart.

"Today is already the 8th. I will take Zhen'er to the exam tomorrow. I will go home early to see Zhener's study." Old Mu standing on the ground said to Xiuhua who was tying wheat. Xiuhua responded and walked towards the village without looking back.Xiuhua looked at his receding back and shook her head helplessly.

"Zhen'er! Zhen'er!" Old Mu Lian called twice when he stepped through the door, but he didn't get an answer. Lao Mu felt a little nervous, "Where did this child go?" When he opened the door, he was startled, his son was lying on the table and sound asleep, "Zhen'er!" Lao Mu was a little angry, and raised his voice, but there was still no answer.

Lao Mu hurriedly approached his son, touched his forehead with his hand, and immediately retracted, "It's broken, my son has a high fever and passed out." Without thinking about it, he picked up his son and ran to the clinic in the village.

Although everyone calls it a clinic, it is actually the small medicine box of Li Dakui, a barefoot doctor who was known as "Old Litou" in the village. Later, a medicine cabinet and workbench were added, so it became the current clinic.Standing outside the clinic, Lao Litou saw Lao Mu's flustered appearance, hurriedly pushed open the door to welcome Lao Mu into the consultation room, and touched Mu Zhen's forehead, "Take your temperature first." The thermometer flicked a few times and passed it to Lao Mu. At this moment, Lao Mu looked at his son whose face was as red as coals, almost crying. He gently lifted his son's elbow and clamped the thermometer to his son's right hand. armpit.

"[-] degrees [-], I can only get a small injection here, you have to go to the commune health center to get a bottle!" Old Li said to his daughter in the courtyard, "Xiao Ni, our ground row Where is the car? Hurry up and get your second uncle to send his son to the hospital!"

"It's in the field!" Xiaoni in the yard responded.

"Go and pull it, go now!" Lao Li shouted a little anxiously.

"By the way, call your aunt!" Lao Mu asked.

Lao Mu, who was sitting in the clinic waiting for the bus, felt as if his heart was on fire, "I fell ill at this time, it's just..." Lao Mu didn't dare to think about it, "Now it's important to save people!"

Although it took only about ten minutes to hear Xiuhua's voice on the road, it seemed to Lao Mu that he had waited for an hour. He rushed out of the clinic door with his son in his arms. Shouted: "Go home and get the quilt!"

"Don't go, hug me here first!" Lao Li said, first handed over a straw mat, and then spread a quilt and straw mat on the ground row of cars.

Lao Mu let Xiuhua sit in the car, wrapped it in a quilt, hugged his son tightly, pulled up the car by himself, and rushed forward quickly.That trot along the way attracted the surprised eyes of many people who were busy with farm work on the side of the road, and Lao Mu couldn't care about it; being reminded by Xiuhua to "slow down" due to the occasional bumps, Lao Mu couldn't care about it; Lao Mu really didn't have time to answer the greetings from others.

The commune health center closest to Xiaowangzhuang is only three miles away. When Lao Mu stopped the car, he was already sweating profusely. When his son hung up the bottle, he realized that his legs were a little weak, and he was slumped on the hospital bed. Not wanting to move.He clearly reflected in his mind what the doctor said, "It's not a big deal, if you discover it in time, it's just a cold and fever, and you'll be fine with an injection! If you discover it late, you will easily have other sequelae of fever, and you will be in trouble!"

After the hanging bottle was finished, it was time to light the lamp, and Mu Zhen's fever had subsided. The doctor ordered: "Go home and rest carefully, drink plenty of boiled water, this disease will come and go quickly, there is nothing serious!" Lao Mu's heart sank a stone.

In the afternoon after Grain Grain, the sun has revealed the heat of a flame, scorching the earth.His son prepared the test equipment. In addition to bringing the bedding for staying at school at night, Lao Mu also found a straw hat for his son to wear. Then he rolled out the old-fashioned "Taishan" bicycle and took his son to ride to the county.

Xiaowangzhuang is more than 60 miles away from the county seat, and it takes more than two hours to ride normally. On the way, Lao Mu was afraid that his son would not be able to bear the fatigue. After riding for about 30 miles, he stopped at a tea place on the side of the road and bought two bowls of water. Hey, I stopped three times along the way, and when we arrived at the county seat, the sun had already fallen to the roof. Lao Mu took his son to find the dormitory arranged by the school exam. Each room has more than ten beds and can accommodate about [-] people. According to the rooms marked by the commune, Lao Mu found a dormitory arranged for his commune. There are already more than a dozen candidates living in the room, plus the parents who came to accompany the test. , there were a total of thirty people, all from the same commune, and it was inevitable that some acquaintances would gather together and chat in a low voice, and those who knew Lao Mu waved to Lao Mu who had just entered the door as a way of saying hello.Lao Mu also responded accordingly, and then picked a lower berth near the wall, and simply spread the bedding he brought on it, the small mattress that was used as a seat cushion when his son came, and a thick faded purple blanket, After tidying up, Old Mu let out a sigh of relief, "Lie here for a while, I'll get you some water to take your medicine!" Old Mu said softly to his son, "Yeah!" The son agreed , and then walked out of the dormitory with the enamel jar he brought, and when Lao Mu came back with hot water, the dormitory was basically full of beds.

(End of this chapter)