chapter 9

Aunt seemed to be grinding her teeth, forcing a smile that didn’t reach her eyes. “You really have good luck.”

I am lucky.

But all my good luck has been earned through my own efforts.

Although most of my relatives don’t think highly of me, there are still people who applaud me.

It’s Uncle De.

He also returned to the countryside on the 28th of the lunar month; after all, this is his hometown, and he always comes back for the New Year.

On the first day of the New Year, I went to his house to pay my respects. While Auntie went to pour tea, he patted my shoulder with satisfaction.

“I heard you got into the key class. That’s really great.”

He secretly stuffed a wad of cash into my hand.

“Quick, put this away-this is your tuition for next semester. The rest is your New Year’s money.”

“At the end of the first year of high school, you need to get into the top 100 of your grade!”

Auntie doesn’t like me much.

Or rather, she dislikes everyone from the countryside equally.

Because of health reasons, after having a daughter she couldn’t have any more children. Countless people talked behind her back, calling her a hen that can’t lay eggs.

Some even urged Uncle De to get a divorce and marry another woman to continue the family line.

Although Uncle De’s small restaurant is doing well, the villagers still say:

“What’s the use of making so much money? He doesn’t even have a son-will it all be spent on his grandson from his daughter’s side in the future?”

Auntie brought me a cup of ginger, salt, and bean tea.

It was so salty.

Knowing my place, I took two sips and quickly got up to say goodbye.

When I got home and counted, Uncle De had given me 2,100 yuan.

He even gave me 300 as New Year’s money.

In his little shop, a plate of stir-fried pork with chili over rice only sells for five yuan.

2,100 yuan-who knows how many plates of food he had to make to earn that.

I didn’t idle away the Spring Festival either-I went up the mountain and dug up a lot of winter bamboo shoots.

Before Uncle De returned to the county town, I sent him a sack full.

I ran off right after delivering it. Auntie chased after me and stuffed 50 yuan into my hand: “I can’t just take your things for nothing. Use this to buy yourself some new clothes.”

Something big happened this New Year.

A Female College Student who graduated from Wangjia Village two years ago took out a loan to buy a house in the provincial capital and brought her parents there to live with her.

She even managed to get her younger brother into a school in the provincial capital.

This caused quite a stir in the countryside.

So it turns out that studying well can really bring such benefits.

On the twelfth day of the New Year, school was about to start.

The night before, my father gave me a hundred yuan.

“From now on, we’ll give you a hundred yuan for living expenses every month. The rest, you’ll have to figure out yourself.”

I felt a little touched at that moment.

But then he said:

“Study hard, get into a good university, and help support the family in the future-especially your younger brother.”

My heart instantly went cold again.

The next day, I went to Class Ten to get my books and other things.

All the Self-funded Students were there.

They no longer whistled at me; instead, they just watched as I packed up.

I put all my things into a supermarket plastic bag, then waved at them with a smile. “Goodbye!”

When I arrived in Class One, I found Mu Jun was there too.

Thinking back and forth, I roughly figured out what had happened.

As the Grade Leader, Teacher Liu could have sent a Bottom Student like Mu Jun to another class, but in order to bring me up as well, he had to compromise and bring Mu Jun into Class One too.

Zhang Jie was sitting in the best seat in the center of the classroom. When he saw me, his eyes curved as he gave me a gentle smile.

I smiled back and waved as a greeting.

Halfway through my wave, I heard Mu Jun’s sneer next to my ear: “You’re really persistent. Do you think getting into Class One will change anything?”

“Even if you get into university, in this life you’ll still end up working for people like me.”