chapter 10
I withdrew my hand and calmly replied, “I know, but if you work hard, there’s always a chance.”
“Mu Jun, there will always be classes, but you won’t necessarily always be on top.”
When it comes to studying, you have to admit, some people are just gifted.
With the same essay, Zhang Jie could memorize most of it after reading it two or three times.
But I had to recite it ten times.
The same problem, he could solve in a few minutes, but I would barely understand after he explained it to me three times.
Studying is like climbing a mountain.
It’s not hard to climb from the foot of the mountain to halfway up.
But to go higher from halfway, every step widens the gap.
I gave it my all, never slacking off. In the final exam of my first year in high school, I ranked ninety-fifth in the grade.
Barely squeezed into the top hundred.
That was already very good. Judging by past admission rates, if I could hold steady, getting into a top-tier university wouldn’t be a problem.
I became desk-mates with Zhang Jie.
At first, all the subject teachers paid special attention to us.
Ultimately, they were afraid I’d drag him down.
Later, when they saw we really were just an encouraging study group, they left us alone.
Zhang Jie probably received around twenty love letters a week.
One time, I looked at those envelopes, a little jealous: “This is the treatment of being first in the grade. Only people like you, who shine, can have youth.”
For people like me, so ordinary, even if I had another chance, there would be no love.
He threw all the letters into the trash, looked at me, and said clearly, “This isn’t the youth I want.”
“Then what is it that you want?”
“A firm goal, relentless effort, never giving up…” He smiled at me, “That’s what I want.”
Very good!
That’s how it should be.
First semester of second year, I ranked sixty-fifth in the grade.
Second semester of second year, I ranked forty-ninth.
For the first time, I squeezed into the top fifty.
When the transcript came out, Teacher Liu called me to the office: “Song Zhaozhao, you must hold steady. No matter how hard or tiring, it’s just this one year.”
“If you can go a bit higher with your grades now, getting into a good 985 university won’t be a problem.”
Zhang Jie was still first in the grade. Looking at my transcript, he smiled so happily: “Song Zhaozhao, you’re amazing!”
I went to Uncle De’s shop to share the good news with him.
The height of summer was sweltering, and the kitchen was thick with cooking fumes.
The spicy smell of chili was strong, making his eyes red: “Good, good, you’re really something.”
I helped serve the dishes to the customers, and when I returned to the kitchen, I saw him licking his fingers as he counted money, bill by bill.
“You need to focus in senior year, don’t do part-time jobs anymore. I’ll give you two hundred fifty a month for living expenses. It’s barely enough.”
“No, no, I’m already very grateful that you pay my tuition.”
“Listen to me, if you’re really grateful, getting into a good university means more than anything.” His eyes were red, “Back then, my daughter wanted to go to high school. I was poor and short-sighted, so I sent her to Guangdong to work…”
“She still resents us to this day…”
“Take it, child.”
He handed me that tidy stack of cash.
Just then, the greasy cloth curtain was lifted, and Auntie came in carrying two newly-sharpened, shining kitchen knives.
In that instant, every hair on my body stood on end.
Uncle De broke out in a cold sweat, his hands trembling.
Auntie looked at me coldly, then at Uncle De, and gave a heavy snort.
“Why are you standing there? Can’t you hear the customers outside rushing their food?”
She snatched the money from Uncle De’s hand and stuffed it into my pocket.
She raised the two knives at me and said, “If you don’t get into a good university, I’ll chop you up and fry you with chilies!”
I was so shocked that my mouth kept opening and closing, not knowing what to say.
Auntie said impatiently, “Out, out, the kitchen’s too small for so many people.”
I clutched the money and went home.
Home was gloomy.
Song Mu’s high school entrance exam results had come out, thirty points short of No. 1 High School’s admission line.
Dad smoked Xiangsi Bird cigarettes: “We still have to send him to No. 1 High School. We can’t let him farm all his life!”
Mom chimed in: “His eyesight’s already at four hundred degrees, how can he farm!”
But for Song Mu to enter No. 1 High School with his grades, the sponsorship fee would be five thousand yuan.
My parents sighed and kept glancing at me.
I was doing Huanggang practice exams, pretending not to hear.
That night, around two o’clock, I woke up from the heat.
The two fans at home-one for my parents, one for Song Mu.
I had none.
There was only a thin crescent moon outside, and the room was dim.
My parents were holding a flashlight, rummaging through my schoolbag.
“She should’ve already gotten next semester’s tuition from Uncle De. I wonder where she put it.”
…
So, they had always known it was Uncle De who supported me.
In that instant, it felt like I had fallen into hell.
Suppressing my anger, I asked, “What are you looking for?”
The two of them froze.
Dad turned on the room light.
He looked stern: “Your brother needs five thousand to go to high school. I know you have money-give it to your brother for now.”
“What about me?”
“You… we’ll think of something. If we really can’t, you can just stop studying and go to Guangdong to work. You can support your brother through high school.”