Eternal gratitude to Li Yongmei for dictating Zhang Bao's text

July 8, 1994 was the most memorable day of my life.

In the morning, my father came to school and said that he would not let me go to school anymore after the exam. The principal and the teacher talked to Dad for a long time, but Dad was very resolute. Although we are not rich here, it is always disgraceful to drop out of school. I can't imagine watching my classmates rap and sing and bouncing to school, while I follow my father and fiddle with the few acres of land at home all day long. So, during class, I kept lying on the table and crying silently.

After two classes, the teacher said that Baoji Fighting Taitie Primary School would come to co-organize the "Hand in Hand, Love" summer camp with Zhuangbai Primary School in Famen Town. Because if students from both sides form a "pair", they will also have to bring their "pairs" home to eat and live together, so the teacher chooses those students who are well-off and well-dressed to participate in the summer camp. The selected students went to the playground to gather as if they had scored double hundred in the exam, while the unsuccessful students were more uncomfortable than smashing the pot in the exam, and packed their schoolbags and walked out of the classroom without a sound.

Soon, the sound of cars and gongs and drums sounded at the school gate. I knew it was the city kids. But I was feeling uncomfortable and didn't want to see the lively scene. After crying for a while, I thought it was time to go home, it was too late, and I was going to be beaten. Dad had a bad temper all these years.

So, I got up from my seat, wiped the tears from my face with my sleeve, and walked out of the classroom. As I walked down the hallway, I saw city students in snow-white camp uniforms and students from our school standing in a row. I guessed they were "pairing". I was afraid that I would be seen by the students who were meeting downstairs, so I slipped by the wall and quietly walked downstairs. However, when I walked to the middle of the stairs, I saw the little female teacher who was presiding over the meeting beckoning to me, "This classmate, come here." My heart jumped suddenly, and I walked up to her with my head down.

She asked, "What's your name?" and I said, "My name is Li Yongmei." She asked, "What grade are you?" and I said, "It's fifth grade." She said, "It's just right, you and Li Li are paired." So saying, he brought me to a bright and beautiful girl. The girl took my hand and said, "My name is Li Li, and I am a fifth-grade student at Baoji Fighting Taitie Elementary School. I smiled at her and stood across from her. Later, I learned that the number of male and female students in the two schools was wrong. Tie Xiao has an extra girl, and Zhuang Bai Primary School has an extra boy. A man and a woman can't be paired. At this moment, the little teacher Lu happened to see me. When I think about it, I feel so lucky.

Then, the students of Tie Elementary School presented us with camp uniforms. Li Li saluted me, then put a beautiful camp uniform on me, and put a white tourist hat and a bright red scarf on me. After the opening ceremony, I led Li Li to walk towards home, walking on the high canal embankment, facing the warm summer breeze, I couldn't help asking: Li Yongmei, are you still the rural girl who was looked down upon by her classmates and beaten and scolded by her father at will?

As we walked past the village, my camp uniform, camp hat and red scarf and classmate Li Li beside me attracted the attention of many people, and people were looking at us with a very strange look. When we walked into the compound, my father welcomed us into the house as if we were guests, as if I had won him much glory.

After dinner, I took Li Li to my cabin. We said a lot of thoughtful words. She said they would come here next year for a summer camp. I said I wouldn't be able to pair with her again next year. She asked me why. I said that as soon as the semester was over, my father would not let me go to school again. She said that how can she do it if she doesn't go to school, and people who are uneducated will regret it. Her words reminded me of what my mother said to me before she died: "Baby, study hard, and only when you grow up can you be successful." At the same time, it also reminded me of the helpless lament that my second brother made when he came back from work: "Without culture, you can't do anything!" Thinking that the tragedy of my second brother's life was about to repeat itself in me, and thinking that I was going to become a person that people looked down on, tears suddenly poured out from the bottom of my sad heart. Li Li couldn't help crying while persuading me.

When I went to school in the afternoon, Li Li took me to meet her mother and told her about it. It turned out that her mother was the counselor of their squadron. She said, "Mom, I won't eat cold drinks anymore, and I'll save my money for Yongmei to go to school." Her family was too poor. I couldn't help but cry. I don't know how to express my gratitude. Li Li's mother thought for a while and said, "I have to talk to Yongmei's father about this, no matter how poor you are, you can't delay the child." ”

At the end of school, Principal Chang told me that the leaders and teachers of Tie Primary School were going to my house and asked me to say hello to my family first. Not long after I returned home, Principal Chang came with Principal Zhang, Teacher Lu, Li Li's mother, Uncle Dan and Uncle Wang, who took the camera. They were eating shredded potatoes made by my stepmother while talking to my dad about my school dropout. Dad said that his mother had been paralyzed in bed for 11 years, and the money owed by his stepmother when her husband died reached more than 5,000 yuan, and now his stepmother's two boys have also gone to school, and the burden is too heavy to bear.

Principal Zhang said that difficulties are temporary, but the future of children is a lifelong thing. Dad said that the girl is going to get married after all, and it is useless to invest so much money to go out. Teacher Lu said that girls are uneducated, and they can only marry a person who has no interest when they marry, and they will be in a nest for a lifetime, and when they are fathers, they should always think about the happiness of their daughters. As he spoke, he also read the slogan in front of the village, "Don't marry an illiterate girl, don't marry an illiterate man, don't marry an illiterate man" in front of the village. Dad sighed and said that the girls in the countryside are not as good as those in the city, and no matter how many books they read, they are still farmers, so it is better to do something useful as soon as possible, so as to reduce the burden on the family. Li Li's mother said that if my father couldn't afford it, they were willing to sponsor it, and they couldn't let me out of school anyway.

I used my chopsticks to pick up the bud grain soup in the bowl, but tears fell into the bowl like raindrops. I grieve for myself and for my father. Over the years, my father has endured a lot of hardships and tiredness, and he is just in his early 40s, but he has thanked his head early and hunched over, like an old man in his 60s. But what is even more tragic is that his conscience and conviction have also been crushed by the weight of life.

Principal Chang and the two uncles also told their father a lot of truths. Although Dad's attitude has changed greatly, he still hasn't changed his original mind. Before leaving, several uncles and aunts gave my father some money. When Dad took the money, a teardrop of stubbornness and guilt rolled down from the corner of his eye.

After a good time of joy and tears, life has returned to its former peace. I know what it has done for my whole life. After the 4-day summer camp ended, we took the test and took a vacation. My grades were very bad, and I failed both languages. At this point, I was terrified, and I thought that my father would have more reason not to let me go to school anymore. Dad looked at my grades, and unexpectedly didn't hit me or scold me, but just said, "Baby, study hard, or I'm sorry for others." Listening to my father's words, my heart warmed and said, "Dad, you still let me go to school?" Dad nodded, tears flashing in his eyes.

I suddenly felt like I had grown up and become sensible, and I felt that I had too much gratitude to reciprocate. Throughout the holidays, I found time to cram on my homework. My father and stepmother also stopped me from doing too much work, so that I could spend more time reading and studying. After I entered the sixth grade, I studied harder and my academic performance improved very quickly. The teacher started praising me, and my classmates became close to me. I feel that every day I have lived is so vivid and beautiful, just like Li Li is by my side every day.

Soon, Mr. Lu and Uncle Dan from Tie Xiao made a special trip to see me, and sent me the school uniforms and schoolbags and stationery of Tie Xiao of Fighting Table, and handed over more than 170 yuan donated by my classmates to the school as my study expenses. They were very happy to see that their father's thinking had completely changed, and when they left, they gave him another 200 yuan, saying that they hoped that his father would pay off the arrears as soon as possible.

Wearing Tie Xiaosheng's school uniform and carrying Tie Xiaosheng's schoolbag, I suddenly became the object of envy and attention of my classmates. They said I was so blessed, and that the clothes and bag were very beautiful. I naturally understand that it is not only the clothes and school bags that they envy, but the honor. In this privilege of being cared for and envied, I continued to improve my studies, and in the exam, I scored 92 and 89 points in language and mathematics respectively. Teacher Lu said that when it was time for the holidays, they would invite us "paired" rural children to live at the homes of urban children for a few days. I made up my mind that I must study hard and get a better grade, so that I wouldn't blush when I see Li Li and those uncles and aunts who care about me and look forward to me.