Father decided to send me to school. He didn't want me to be uneducated like him and be a wandering blacksmith for the rest of my life. He hoped that starting with his children, he could change the poor and destitute life of his ancestors.
He knew that only reading could change one's fate. No matter how poor, bitter, or tired he was, he had to let his children study.
If I were to ask, what was the thing I was most grateful to my parents for in this life? I replied that it wasn't them who gave me life, nor did they raise me. It was them who insisted on letting my brothers study in those poor times when it was difficult to survive.
I'm also afraid of being like my father, wandering around in a wheelbarrow for the rest of my life. When I thought about how my father was going to send me to school, and how I wouldn't have to suffer like him, I was so happy that I couldn't describe it. It was as if a caged bird had regained its freedom.
Mother was naturally happy that I was going to school. She took me to Qiantun to buy a schoolbag and even bought me a comic book. At that time, poor people didn't dare to spend money recklessly.
But unfortunately, on the way back, I was only looking down at the comic book when a person riding a bicycle bumped into me. Blood flowed all over my face, and I couldn't stop it even if I pressed it with my hand. Mother hurriedly tore off the cloth from her clothes to bandage it. It hit my left eyebrow, which was cut into two, leaving a permanent scar.
The school was located in the west of the village. The students from grade one to grade ten (all of them were high school graduates) heard from the senior students that a few teachers had returned from studying in Russia. They even joked that the teacher only ate one egg for breakfast. They thought that the teacher's appetite was too small. The doctor gave the poor their breakfast, and the children ate a few big bowls of porridge.
He was young at that time and had only studied in that school for two years. He could not remember much about the school environment, but he clearly remembered that the latrine (toilet) in the school was unusually dirty.
The outhouse was located outside the school's northwest wall. There was also a circle of walls built with adobe. Perhaps it had been a long time, but a few parts of the wall had already collapsed.
It was called a latrine, but in fact, it was a big pit dug inside the wall. There was feces everywhere outside the pit, making it difficult for people to step on. If they were not careful, they would step on it.
After the students finished their poop, they didn't use paper to wipe their butts (in fact, they didn't have paper). Instead, they dug out a piece of dirt from the wall and wiped it on their butts. Some of them couldn't dig out the dirt, so they picked up what others had left behind. The dirt on the ground had been wiped many times.
Some students didn't even bother to use the soil. They lifted their butts and rubbed them against the adobe wall a few times. The lower half of the wall was full of marks from their butts, and some places had already been rubbed clean.
When I first entered the school, I was still confused and didn't understand what the text said. When I read the text of " Brother Dog, save me quickly. The fox caught me." I was distracted and kept thinking, how could the rooster, fox, and dog speak? If only I met a talking rooster.
In autumn, the teacher took us to the fields, leaning against the ridge, and learned to sing "White clouds float in the blue sky, and horses run under the white clouds". The young heart was excited about the beautiful future, and could not help but ask,"Teacher, where is the horse?"”The teacher pointed to the white clouds floating in the sky and replied,"Aren't those colorful clouds just running horses?"”
In winter, the water bay next to the school was covered with thick ice. The students played on the ice, but the ice was too slippery, and the students fell one after another. Some students found bricks and squatted on them, letting others push them on the ice. When they bumped into the people opposite them, they couldn't avoid them in time and fell into a pile.
The senior students ground bricks into tops (wooden tops were too light on the ice and would fly with a whip) and used whips to drive the tops on the ice. I also learned how to grind a top and experienced the fun of driving a top on ice. The top was made of bricks, and the whip couldn't move it without using force. Once learned, the top would spin on the ice and fly far away. The friction of the ice was small, and the top could spin for a long time. It was very exciting to play.
Before I went to school, my family bought me a pair of little goats. I'll raise them and sell them to pay my tuition fees. The lambs became my good companions. I took them to school every day, tied them to the willow tree near the school, and took them to the field to cut grass after school. When the lambs were full, I also cut a basket of grass and took them home.
The lambs grew up slowly. On a snowy winter night, the grown lambs gave birth to four lambs. Because the weather was too cold, the lambs were frozen as soon as they were born. Mother carried them from the woodshed to the house. However, when I woke up the next morning, I saw that the lambs were all dead. I cried sadly for a long time. From then on, I didn't raise lambs anymore.
My brother went to school a year earlier than me. He knew how to take care of the family since he was very young. Every day, he would pick up waste paper from the garbage dump outside the school and then save it to sell for money.
At that time, students used slate and stone pens. They were rarely willing to use paper, and there was not much waste paper in the trash. Once, when a family in the village was having a funeral, my brother and I followed the funeral procession to pick up the paper money that was scattered by the family. We were almost beaten up.
There was a peddler carrying a load to collect waste paper from every village. One Saturday afternoon, I heard the peddler shouting. I quickly urged my brother to take out the accumulated waste paper and sell it. The peddler weighed the waste paper and said "two cents". When I heard it, I felt that it was too little. The peddler insisted that it was only worth two cents.
I told my brother that if we sell it at the village in front, it would be worth five cents. The peddler smiled and said that it was quite a long way to go to the village in front of him. It was not worth it just because of two cents. I still insist on going to the village to sell.
When I reached the manor in front of me, the sun was almost setting. The person at the purchasing station weighed the waste paper and said,"Two cents." I regretted not listening to the peddler. It was dark, and my brother and I rushed back hungry.
This book comes from：m.funovel.com。