April in the solar calendar is the season of spring and summer. It was drizzling like a drizzle, and it didn't stop after a whole day, and Lao Mu, who had held a one-day meeting of the commune education committee, walked in a hurry on the way home in the rain. As for what was said at the meeting, he wrote it down in the "small notebook" in his arms, and asked him to say that he might not be able to say half a sentence, and now there is only one thing left in his mind, that is, the last mention of the director of education: "This year, the junior high school opened by Gucheng No. 1 Middle School, a key middle school in our county, will recruit 100 outstanding primary school graduates, and each school can organize outstanding students to participate in the examination, and the specific application time will be notified separately." ”

This news is really exciting news for Lao Mu, after the Spring Festival, every meeting break, Lao Mu and those teachers who are in the meeting, which middle school has high teaching quality, which middle school has good teachers, in his mind, for the graduating son to choose a good school than "a long drought and rain" is more important.

"Gucheng No. 1 Middle School, that was the school where I went to high school back then, not only did I not say anything about the school's environment and teachers, but it was also a key middle school in the region, where junior high schools were recruited, which provided an excellent opportunity for my son, and choosing this school for my son was all about creation!" Although my son's results can be ranked in the whole commune, it is the best of the hundreds of thousands of people in the county, not to mention that there will be primary school graduates from nearby counties to take the exam, and it is still unknown whether he can pass the exam. While Lao Mu was calculating, he couldn't help but put a big "?" in his heart.

Lao Mu, who had just entered the house, didn't care about wiping the rain off his head, so he sat next to his son who was writing in the house.

"What did you do today? I'll check it for you. Lao Mu took the towel handed over by his wife, wiped his rain-soaked hair, and looked carefully at his son's homework.

After April, the weather gets hotter, and it is a good time for farming, and Xiaowangzhuang, which is located in the north temperate zone, will inevitably be busy for a while. At present, the enthusiasm of the people in the village is very high, and they get up early every day and go to the fields to work and farm.

In order to make it easier for her to work in the fields, Xiuhua sent her youngest son Mu Bao to her parents' house a few days in advance and let her mother take care of her. Today, it was easy to look forward to Sunday, and Lao Mu could have gone to help his wife with farm work, but when his son was about to go to school, how could he have the heart to think about the work in the field? Xiuhua made breakfast early and went to the field to do farm work, but Lao Mu was at home with his son lying in front of the old-fashioned drawer table and doing his homework.

"Is Teacher Mu here?" Lao Mu heard clearly in the house, so he hurriedly got up and went out to stand in the courtyard, "Director Zhang, there must be something important to come to the house so early!" Lao Mu said hurriedly stepped forward to hold the comer's hand.

"What you said a few days ago, I have always remembered, is the registration of Gucheng No. 1 Middle School, no, we only received a notice yesterday, and we began to prepare for registration on the 15th of this month. "It's up to you to make a trip yourself!" said Old Mu politely. "I rushed to the market early this morning, and I happened to pass by here, so I came to tell you, and the Education Committee may have to make a special notice in a few days, so you want to prepare. ”

"Thank you so much, let's go inside the house and finish eating!" he said and let him go into the house, "You're welcome, the family is still waiting for me to go to the market to buy vegetables and cook the pot!

When the calendar turned to the 15th, Lao Mu went to the commune education committee early, and was the first to register for his son, originally he also wanted to report two more places for the school, but when he communicated with the parents of the students, they all thought that their children were not as good as Mu Zhen, and they all said that they were unwilling to do the exam and gave up.

At the end of the registration, Lao Mu listened to Director Zhang of the Education Committee of the Commune and said that the enrollment of more than 650 people in the county was reported, plus the candidates from the neighboring counties, a total of 835 applicants, a total of two classes, 50 people per class, according to this calculation, the admission ratio is at least 8..1, such an elimination rate for primary school to junior high school, has never been encountered, Lao Mu hung his heart, and did not dare to relax his son's study during this time.

Just two days after Children's Day, the ears of wheat in the field are already waiting impatiently, and the sound of the farmer's sharpening sickle, shouting for the preparation of the field for livestock, and the sound of repairing the machine have been mixed into a symphony of preparations for the three summers in the countryside. Based on the local reality, Gucheng County notified schools in various rural areas to have a two-week holiday and go home to help the rural Sanxia.

"Everyone is ready to harvest wheat, you two are using your brains in books, and you have just graduated from elementary school, so you are in a hurry like this!" Xiuhua was sharpening her sickle in the courtyard, and muttered to Lao Mu who was standing in the courtyard, Lao Mu didn't know what to think in the courtyard, and was calculating with his fingers, "No. 5, No. 6、...... Number 10. Lao Mu was stunned for a moment, and said to Xiuhua: "There are 6 more days, I have to prepare to take the exam, I am so coincidental, it is the busiest few days, this is simply playing psychological tactics, that is, the exam, the difference between rural children and urban children is so obvious, urban children do not have to think about what three summers are busy, they will go all out to meet the exam, and we have to deal with this farm while dealing with the promotion, you say that this mud rice bowl and iron rice bowl are not comparable?"

Xiuhua understands that what she says to Lao Mu is in vain, the most important thing now is that the child's education is more important than everything, and the child's education is the biggest thing in this family. Xiuhua, who had finished sharpening the sickle, patted the water splashes on her body, slowly stood up, and kept beating her numb thighs, "Yan'er and I went down to the field to cut wheat, you two are tired of learning, so go to the field to help us!" After speaking, he lifted the sickle and walked out of the gate. Yan'er is Lao Mu's daughter, two years younger than Mu Zhen, last year because she didn't pay attention to school, her hand fell a little disabled, so she didn't want to go to school, and now the family helps Lao Mu's wife to do farm work, although she is only nine years old, but she is very sensible.

Lao Mu watched his wife and daughter go away, returned to the house thoughtfully, and said to his son: "Zhen'er, you will rest when you are tired, and after you finish it, you will make another volume, and I will go down to the field to help cut the wheat." ”

"Hmm. Mu Zhen didn't raise her head and agreed.

Lao Mu picked up the sharpened sickle in the courtyard and strode in the direction where his wife and daughter were gone.

At the end of the day, tired people are so tired that their backs and legs hurt, not to mention, just bending over and standing for a day, but also making people who are not engaged in continuous labor tired as if they were falling apart.

Lao Mu rarely does farm work, and at the end of this day, the bones and joints of his body are sore and uncomfortable, and the roots of his thighs are like being filled with lead, and it is a little difficult to walk. When he returned home, he didn't bother to talk to his son, so he lay on the bed. Feeling that the slightly swollen eyelids were really difficult to open, they closed them slightly, and soon there was the sound of Lao Mu's slow breathing when he was sleeping.

When Xiuhua was cooking, it was already time to turn on the lamp, and under the dim light, Mu Zhen was still doing the test paper that seemed to be endless to him. "Son, don't do it, call your dad to eat!" Xiuhua shouted to her son.

Mu Zhen slowly stood up, walked to the bed, and pushed Lao Mu who was lying on the bed, "Big, get up and eat!" Lao Mu didn't say anything, he was still asleep, Mu Zhen pushed hard, and Lao Mu slowly woke up.

"Eat!" Mu Zhen repeated.

"So fast, my stomach is indeed a little 'growling'!" Lao Mu rubbed his eyes, "How are your rolls?"

"I've done it, and I've memorized the texts that should be memorized!" Mu Zhen said obediently.

"Then take it and check it out!"

"Haven't you eaten?" asked Mu Zhen with a puzzled look.

"Eat, eat and watch!"

Mu Zhen returned to the table, picked up the test paper on the table and handed it to Lao Mu.

Lao Mu sat up, took the test paper, got out of bed and sat down at the table by the window, and carefully reviewed it in the dim light. Xiuhua put the noodles brought in next to Lao Mu, holding the rice bowl, but her eyes did not leave the test paper in front of her. Mu Zhen didn't move, she stood on the other side of Lao Mu with her hands down, her eyes fixed on Lao Mu's thumb on the test paper, and the tip of the red pen that he slid was moving.

"All correct!" Lao Mu saw the last question and said softly the four words that he had often said recently.

Mu Zhen, who was standing aside, fell another stone in his heart. Then he went to the outside room to pick up the rice bowl on the board and ate it in a big gulp.

In the past few days, Lao Mu has been busy with farm work in the field, and when he comes home, he is busy grading the test papers for his son. Even in the field, his mind never left his son's study, and he really did not miss the knowledge in the textbooks, lest he miss a little and lose this opportunity.

My son is also very competitive these days, and he has done it every time to make Lao Mu very satisfied, and it has also injected confidence into Lao Mu's hanging heart.

"Today is the 8th, and tomorrow I will take Zhen'er to the exam, so I will go home early to see Zhen'er's study. Lao Mu, who was standing on the ground, said to Xiuhua, who was bundling wheat, and before Xiuhua could respond, he walked towards the village without looking back. Xiuhua looked at his distant back and shook her head helplessly.

"Zhen'er!Zhen'er!" Lao Mu called twice when he first stepped on the door, but he didn't get an answer, Lao Mu's heart was a little tight, "Where is this kid?" The door was open, when Lao Mu stood at the door, he was startled, his son was lying on the table and sleeping, "Zhen'er!" Lao Mu was a little angry, raised his voice and shouted, but still did not answer.

Lao Mu hurriedly approached his son, reached out and touched his son's forehead, and immediately retracted it, "It's bad, my son has a high fever and is in a coma." He didn't think much of it, picked up his son and ran to the village clinic.

Although everyone calls it a clinic, it is actually a small medicine box of Li Dakui, a barefoot doctor who was called "Lao Li Tou" in the village, and later added a medicine cabinet and workbench, so it became the current clinic. Lao Li, who was standing outside the clinic, saw Lao Mu's panicked appearance, hurriedly pushed open the door and welcomed Lao Mu into the consultation room, and touched Mu Zhen's forehead, "Take your temperature first." As he spoke, he took out the thermometer from the magnetic cylinder and shook it a few times, and handed it to Lao Mu, who at this time looked at his son whose face was as red as coals, and almost cried, he gently lifted his son's elbow and clamped the thermometer under his son's right armpit.

"39 degrees 5, I can only get a small injection here, you have to hurry up to the commune health center to get the hanging bottle!" Lao Li Tou said and shouted to his daughter in the hospital, "Xiaoni, where is our land row car? Hurry up and prepare, let your second uncle send his son to the hospital!"

"In the field!" replied Ni in the courtyard.

"Come and pull it, go now!" Lao Li Tou shouted a little anxiously.

"By the way, call your eldest aunt!" said Lao Mu.

Lao Mu, who was sitting and waiting for the bus in the clinic, felt like he was on fire, "I fell ill at this time, it's just a ......" Lao Mu didn't dare to think about it, "Now it's important to save people!"

Although it was only more than ten minutes before he heard Xiuhua's voice on the road, it seemed that Lao Mu had waited for an hour, he hurriedly stepped out of the clinic with his son in his arms, and shouted to Xiuhua who had not yet stood firmly: "Go to the house and get the bed quilt!"

"Don't go, hug me here first!" Lao Li Tou said, first handed over a straw mat, and then spread a quilt and straw mat on the ground row of cars.

Lao Mu asked Xiuhua to sit in the car, wrapped in a quilt, hugged his son tightly, pulled up the car by himself, and rushed forward. The trotting all the way attracted the surprised eyes of many people who were busy with farm work on the side of the road, and Lao Mu couldn't take care of it; he was reminded by the occasional bumpy Xiuhua to "slow down", and Lao Mu couldn't take care of it; Lao Mu really couldn't care about answering the greetings of some acquaintances on the road.

The nearest commune health center to Xiaowangzhuang is only more than three miles away, when Lao Mu stopped the car, he was already sweating profusely, and when his son hung up the hanging bottle, he found that his legs were a little weak, and he sat on the hospital bed, unwilling to move. In his mind, he clearly reflected what the doctor had said: "There is no major matter, and it is found in time, just a cold and fever, and it is good to take an injection! If you find it late, it is easy to burn out other sequelae, and it will be troublesome!"

After the hanging bottle was finished, it was already the time to hold the lamp, Mu Zhen's fever had receded, and the doctor ordered: "Go home and pay attention to rest, drink more boiled water, this disease comes and goes quickly, there is no big problem!"

In the afternoon after the planting, the sun was already scorching the earth with its fiery heat. The son prepared the examination equipment, and Lao Mu not only brought the bedding for the school night, but also found a straw hat for his son to wear, and then launched the old-fashioned "Taishan" bicycle and took his son to ride to the county seat.

Xiaowangzhuang is more than 60 miles away from the county seat, it takes more than two hours to ride a bicycle normally, on the road Lao Mu is afraid that his son can not stand the tiredness, riding on 20 miles, stop at the place where tea is sold on the side of the road, buy two bowls of water to drink, stop three times along the way, when the sun has slipped down to the roof to the county seat, Lao Mu took his son to find the residence arranged by the school examination first, said that it is the residence, in fact, it is the dormitory of high school students, all of which are double beds on the upper and lower floors, each room has more than ten beds, and can live in about 30 people, There are about 30 people in total, everyone is from the same commune, and it is inevitable that some people who know each other get together, chatting in a low voice, and some people who know Lao Mu wave their hands at Lao Mu who just entered the door to say hello. Lao Mu also responded accordingly, and then picked a lower bunk near the wall, and simply spread the bunk cover he brought on it, the small mattress that was used as a seat cushion when his son came, plus a thick purple blanket that had faded, after simply cleaning up, Lao Mu let out a sigh, "You lie here for a while, I'll go get you some water to take medicine!" Lao Mu said softly to his son, "Hmm!" The son agreed, and then took the enamel jar he brought and walked out of the dormitory, and when Lao Mu came back with hot water, the beds in the dormitory were basically full.