hotmtlnovel Chapter 1046: Stop Moral Blackmail (Update!)
Chapter 1046: Stop Moral Blackmail (Update!)
Chapter 1046: Stop Moral Blackmail (Update!)
After dinner, Song Ying and Liu Wufeng walked Liu Hong all the way to the entrance of the alley. The smiles on the couple's faces were seen by all the neighbors.
"Hey, what's going on at Song Ying's house? She looks so happy."
"Look at what you said. I am happy every day." Song Ying said this on the surface, but in her heart she hoped that the other party would continue to ask questions so that she could show off.
Unfortunately, the other party didn't say anything further, leaving Song Ying with a lot of things to say that she couldn't help but get them out.
Coincidentally, as soon as he entered the yard, he met Huang Ling coming out to wash dishes, and he immediately couldn't wait to hold Huang Ling's arm.
Huang Ling laughed: "Your mouth is crooked from laughing so hard, tell me what good news you have."
Song Ying cleared her throat and announced in a very solemn tone: "Just now, Teacher Liu from the Children's Palace Go class said that our Haozi is very good at Go, so let him represent our Suzhou Children's Palace to participate in the National Children's Go Competition."
Huang Ling's eyes widened when she heard this: "Really?"
"How could it be a lie? Teacher Liu couldn't wait to notify us tomorrow and came all the way here just to tell us the good news as soon as possible." Song Ying said proudly.
Wang Yong, who lived next door, heard their conversation thoroughly.
"Oh my, Haozi is going to participate in the national competition, that's incredible."
Song Ying crossed her arms and raised her chin high: "That's right, Teacher Liu said that the top ten in this National Children's Go Competition can directly enter the Chinese Chess Academy's Junior Class. In the future, they will become national players, representing the entire country in competitions and competing for honors, you know."
Wang Yong's wife said sourly, "Oh, Song Ying, you're going to enjoy a good life. The treatment of a national player must be very good. Maybe it's even higher than our factory director's salary."
"It's still difficult to be in the top ten in the country. I don't expect Haozi to get a ranking. After all, he is still young. It would be good for him to participate in the competition to train and accumulate some experience." Song Ying naturally heard that the other party was teasing her and said with a pout.
"That's right. With so many kids from all over the country participating, it's not easy to get into the top ten."
If Huang Ling hadn't stopped her, Song Ying would probably have fallen out with Wang Yong's wife on the spot.
"Don't be angry, she's just jealous. There's no need to argue with her. Haozi is so smart, he will definitely be in the top ten."
Song Ying pursed her lips and nodded: "Yeah."
Seeing this scene, Qin Hao could only sigh helplessly. It seemed that he really had to get a good ranking in this Go competition, if for no other reason than to make Song Ying happy.
After Huang Ling returned to the house, Zhuang Chaoying suddenly asked, "Is the neighbor really going to participate in the National Children's Go Competition?"
"Yes, what's wrong?" Huang Ling asked puzzledly.
Zhuang Chaoying pushed up his glasses and said, "I have heard of this National Children's Go Competition. It is quite large. Last year, there were more than 8 players participating. The age range is also quite large, ranging from 16 to years old. In the last year, many players' chess skills were comparable to those of professional players."
"Really? Then it's really not easy to get into the top ten." Huang Ling murmured to herself, hesitating whether to tell Song Ying about this, but also worried that she would be disappointed after knowing it.
Zhuang Chaoying was amused. "Top ten? That's not something that ordinary people can get. Lao Wang in our school has a son who likes to play Go. Lao Wang even found a retired professional Go player to be his teacher. He spent a lot of money on it. His son was also very good when he was in elementary and middle school in Suzhou. But when he got to the national competition, he didn't even make it past the preliminary round and was eliminated."
“Why is it so difficult?”
"Go is a sport that requires a lot of talent. I thought about letting Tunan learn it at first, but then I saw that he had no interest, so I gave up. This path is not easy to take."
Huang Ling did not doubt what Zhuang Chaoying said. Although her husband was foolishly filial, he still cared a lot about his children's education.
Seeing that her parents had finished talking, Zhuang Xiaoting came to Huang Ling and said in a baby voice, "Mom, the vocal class teacher told us to practice hard. I heard that if we practice well, we can participate in the performance report on Children's Day and even appear on TV."
"Really? Then work hard. Our Xiao Ting is the best."
"Ah."
In the blink of an eye, a day passed. The alley was full of houses that were close to each other, and the news that Qin Hao was going to represent Suzhou Children's Palace in the national competition spread. Early in the morning, when Song Ying went to work, many neighbors asked about her.
Although Song Ying was proud, she did not forget to keep a low profile and said that Qin Hao was still young and was just going to join in the fun.
The neighbors thought it made sense. After all, they had never heard that Qin Hao had a talent for Go before, and he had only been learning Go at the Children's Palace for a few days. How good could he be?
Soon, this trend passed and no one was interested anymore. No one thought that Qin Hao could really get any ranking, let alone the top ten.
Before we knew it, it was March.
In late spring in March, grass grows in the south of the Yangtze River, there are mixed peanut trees, and flocks of orioles fly around.
At the same time, a piece of important news was also spreading in society.
The resumption of the college entrance examination in 1977 came very suddenly and was not held until December. This was also the only time in the history of the college entrance examination that it was held in winter. Due to the rush, many people did not catch up with this wave of college entrance examinations.
Therefore, the higher authorities decided that the 1978 college entrance examination would be held in late July, which meant that there were only four months left until the next college entrance examination.
For students who want to take the college entrance examination, four months is too short, especially for some educated youth who went to the countryside to work. The college entrance examination was interrupted for ten years, and they have to face hard labor. How can they have the mood and energy to study?
Soon, the courtyard welcomed a wave of uninvited guests. Li Yiming was the son of Aunt Li, an employee of the cotton mill. Zhuang Chaoying couldn't refuse him, so she could only give him private lessons after get off work.
As a result, Li Yiming not only came to the class alone, but also often brought people with him, making Huang Ling's house almost overcrowded, seriously interfering with the studies of Zhuang Tunan and Zhuang Xiaoting.
Early in the morning of that day, Li Yiming brought his cousin to attend the class and knocked on the door. Zhuang Chaoying was really annoyed and refused on the grounds that Zhuang Tunan was about to take the junior high school entrance exam.
As a result, Li Yiming's uncle said directly: "Teacher Zhuang, I think you don't know the priorities. The college entrance examination is more important than the junior high school entrance examination."
At that time, Zhuang Chaoying's face became very ugly. Song Ying held it in for a long time, but after returning home, she couldn't help laughing out loud and even imitated it for Lin Wufeng to hear.
Qin Hao couldn't bear it any longer. "If someone didn't know, they would think you were here to give free lessons. You haven't figured out what's important. Your admission to university won't do him any good. On the contrary, you're disrupting Zhuang Tunan's learning environment. If he doesn't do well in the exam and can't go to a key middle school, it will affect his whole life. Can you take on this responsibility?"
Li Yiming and his cousin were left speechless.
Huang Ling looked at Qin Hao with a "savior" look.
Li Yiming smiled bitterly and said to Zhuang Chaoying: "Teacher Zhuang, I know this will disturb you, but the college entrance examination is too important for us. My cousin is an educated youth who went to the countryside in a nearby village. He took a bus for more than two hours in advance to get to the city. After answering the questions, he had to take a bus back to the brigade in the evening."
Zhuang Chaoying was somewhat moved when he heard this. Qin Hao cursed this stupid teammate in his heart and had to speak first.
"The college entrance examination is important to everyone, but no one does it this way. It's hard work. You want to change your fate through the college entrance examination. The process is bound to be painful. You have to pay for this pain yourself, instead of passing it on to others. If you want Teacher Zhuang to teach you, then come up with a plan that tries not to disturb everyone's rest, instead of blindly engaging in moral kidnapping."
Huang Ling wanted to applaud Qin Hao. She knew that Qin Hao was precocious, and his speech and actions were much clearer than those of other children of the same age. No, his mind was clearer than that of children much older than him. For example, her son Zhuang Tunan, although smart, seemed to have used all his intelligence in studying, and he was completely ignorant of the rest of the ways of the world.
However, what happened today made Huang Ling realize that Qin Hao was much smarter than she had imagined, and she could no longer look at him as a child.
Li Yiming and his "uncle" looked very unhappy. It was not that they did not understand the ways of the world, but their past experience taught them that "the poorer one is right", so his "uncle" could righteously accuse Zhuang Chaoying of not distinguishing between priorities.
But when Qin Hao directly responded with words, they realized that the previous approach didn't seem to work.
Zhuang Chaoying originally wanted to say a few words for Li Yiming and the others to prevent things from getting awkward, but Huang Ling refused to compromise on the issue of her child's education and kept winking at Zhuang Chaoying, asking him to stop interfering.
Finally, it was Lin Wufeng who came up with a plan. He asked Li Yiming and his "uncle" to sort out the questions, and then go to each family to answer them when Zhuang Chaoying was free. If they wanted to argue, they should argue together. For the sake of their children's college entrance examination, this kind of sacrifice is necessary, right?
This plan was unanimously approved by everyone, and the storm was finally over.
After Zhuang Chaoying took Li Yiming and his "uncle" to Aunt Li's house, Huang Ling quietly came to Song Ying's house with a few White Rabbit milk candies.
"Haozi, thank you so much for what you did just now. We are all neighbors, so there are some things I can't say, but anyway, Aunt Huang owes you a favor today, a big favor."
Qin Hao didn't take the White Rabbit candy Huang Ling handed over. Instead, he smiled and said, "Aunt Huang, you're doing me such a big favor, are you just going to give me a few White Rabbits?"
"No, this is an extra thank you. I still owe you the favor. If you need anything in the future, Aunt Huang will definitely help you if she can do it." Huang Ling waved her hands repeatedly.
Song Ying signaled Qin Hao to accept it.
Qin Hao didn't say anything more, but he distributed the candies to Zhuang Tunan and his sister and Lin Dongzhe, and only ate one himself.
At first, Huang Ling refused to let Zhuang Tunan and his sister take it. Qin Hao just said calmly, "Aunt Huang, since this is what you want to give me, it is mine. It is my right to give it to anyone."
Huang Ling was speechless for a moment and could only acquiesce. Zhuang Tunan and Zhuang Xiaoting then took it, peeled off the sugar coating, and held it in their mouths happily.
"Thank you, Brother Hao. The White Rabbit is so sweet." Zhuang Xiaoting half-closed her eyes, her little face full of happiness.
"Yeah, it's very sweet." Lin Dongzhe nodded repeatedly. He could only eat a few White Rabbit cakes during the Chinese New Year every year.
Zhuang Tunan said to Qin Hao: Thank you, but he didn't eat it. Instead, he put it away.
After dinner, Qin Hao did his homework with Zhuang Tunan and his sister, while Lin Dongzhe went to Grandpa Zhang's house in the alley to watch TV. In 1977, televisions were a rare item. Not only did they cost five hundred dollars, which was equivalent to a year and a half of an ordinary worker's salary, but you couldn't buy one even if you had money. You also had to have a TV ticket and then the state-owned stores would sell it to you.
Moreover, due to the extreme shortage of goods, even if there were tickets, they had to be grabbed. It was common to queue up overnight in sub-zero temperatures just to buy a TV.
The reason why Lin Dongzhe was so interested in TV was mainly because Zhuang Xiaoting said that she watched the news broadcast at her grandfather's house last year, so Lin Dongzhe went to Grandpa Zhang's house to watch it every day without fail.
As a result, Lin Dongzhe came back crying that day.
"Grandpa Zhang said that I was small but had a big butt and was taking up a bench in their house."
Even though Song Ying usually yells at Lin Dongzhe, she is actually very protective of him. If anyone says something bad about Lin Dongzhe, she will remember it for the rest of her life.
"Don't go to his house to watch TV anymore. It's just a TV. Let's save up money and buy one!"
Seeing Song Ying waving her hand, Lin Wufeng couldn't help but smile bitterly: "Are you really buying it?"
"Yes, starting from next month, save thirty dollars every month. Next year, we can buy a TV."
Lin Wufeng looked at Qin Hao helplessly. There was nothing he could do. Whoever owns the wife should spoil her. What else could he do?
So, starting from the next day, Song Ying began to be thrifty when buying vegetables. Coincidentally, Huang Ling brought a bag of snake melon seeds after get off work that day, saying that they could be planted in the yard, and the yield would be high, so she could save money on vegetables.
"To buy a TV."
Then Lin Wufeng and Qin Hao braved the rain to open up a small vegetable garden in the yard and built a wooden rack. Snake gourd is a bit like loofah, both are Cucurbitaceae plants. After the vines grow, they will spread along the rack, which is more conducive to fruiting.
April soon came, and the snake gourds in the yard had begun to grow vines and climb up the racks.
However, Qin Hao could not eat the snake melon because he was about to go to Beijing to participate in the National Children's Go Competition.
Before leaving, Lin Dongzhe said to Qin Hao with a look of regret on his face: "Brother Hao, don't worry, when the snake melons are ripe, I will hide a few for you and keep them for you."
No need!
Song Ying reluctantly sent Qin Hao to the train and cried bitterly before leaving. After several months of getting along with him, she really treated Qin Hao as her own son.
"Brother Hao, if there's anything new and interesting in Beijing, remember to bring some back for me. Don't keep it all to yourself." Lin Dongzhe shouted as he ran after the train.
Song Ying stopped crying instantly, grabbed Lin Dongzhe and spanked him hard a few times: "How many times have I told you not to run after the train? Are you going to die?"
That night, Lin Dongzhe started to let himself go, not taking a shower or sleeping, which made Song Ying so angry that she jumped to her feet.
"Alas, I suddenly feel that this family cannot do without Haozi. As soon as he left, Lin Dongzhe, this naughty monkey, started to act up again."
Hehe, you didn’t expect that there would be a sudden update.