Chapter 11 Sixth Grade: A New Beginning

I always felt that there was nothing special in the fourth and fifth grades. But sixth grade is different. Mr. Lin Jinkun teaches Chinese. He and my dad were friends at the time, and I had a good relationship with him, and he treated me very well. The bigger reason is that everyone said that he didn't have the level to teach the graduating class, but I listened to his class carefully. This situation is very similar to that of a Chinese teacher in the third year of high school. So, both teachers liked me very much. There are some things, the more you say you don't like them, the more they don't help you and you lose interest in them. On the contrary, if you like him, it will have an unexpected effect on both parties, at least, the results will not be bad.

I participated in the county's speech contest, won the third prize, and won a table lamp. Together with English teacher Zhang Zhenxi and first-grade teacher Yang Fengyin.

This English teacher is the common English teacher of all four children in our family, because there are not many English teachers in the whole school, and there is only one school in the whole township. He and his wife both teach English. The eldest sister said that he likes to pluck people's ears, and now that he is in elementary school, he will not treat us like this. But then when he went to junior high school, he said, "You are the worst class I have ever taught, probably when you were in elementary school, I taught you, and my interest in learning was gone."

Teacher Yang Fengyin treats me very well now, maybe she doesn't remember tearing up my book in the first grade. She spoke Mandarin very well and corrected me. When she was speaking, she was very sad when she saw other people's dresses and flowers. Thankfully, we all came back with the prize.

It was a weekend just after the start of school, and we were still picking tea at the tea factory. Suddenly, someone came to the tea factory and called the second sister. Listening to them talk about what was wrong, when I got home, I found that my parents were gone and went to the county hospital. I was alone in my father's room, not knowing who to pray for him to come back healthy.

On Monday, my second sister and I took a leave of absence to visit our father in the county. I thought it was a novelty, but my father secretly turned his head and wept. Mom smiled, it's okay, the child doesn't understand. My cousin took us for a few days and we went back to the village. A month later, Dad came back. You can't do heavy work. Two proud geese in the family also sacrificed one. Later, the other one was given to a sick cousin.

When we got back, we started going to church. Because when my father was sick, my friends and friends didn't come, but a few Christians from the villagers came to visit and help. Mom was soon baptized as a Christian. Me too.

During the winter vacation, my parents went to chop wood, and I cooked and hot vegetables by the stream. When you are free, pull a thicker one for them on the road, so that Mom can take a little less, because Dad can't take too much. We prepared a whole large tractor of firewood, which was not finished until the third year of junior high school, and now 15 years later, there are still a few bundles in our demolition house.

This year, we took over the tea garden from someone else's house, and our tea garden is divided into 3 places. One is on the edge of the reservoir, one is above the gazebo, and one is on the far side of the mountain. The reservoir and gazebo are along the way, and the distant mountains are in the opposite direction. We cut down the large tea trees on the edge of the reservoir and burned them for firewood. Fertilize in winter, and there will be tea leaves to pick the next year. The new sprouts will also be drawn the following year, but it is more difficult to bend over to pick them.

One day when their car drove to their home, I told them that Mr. Lin used my name to publish an article, got the manuscript fee, and divided me 30. I gave all the money to my mother, and my mother put it in the offering box. Because our brothers and sisters bought us Bible hymns, but they didn't take any money. Mom had no choice but to throw it into the offering box.

I usually finish my homework in the previous week during the winter vacation, so that I can set up a stall to dig prince ginseng in the back, and I can concentrate on watching cartoons or playing with friends in the evening. My brother will drag on until the last day, and he can't do the problem, so I teach him, and if he doesn't, I'll knock him on the head. And he cried and did not want me to teach him. One is urgent, the other is slow and half-beat, and it can't be combined. Also on top of my breakfast with him. Mom cooks porridge every morning, we drink it well, and this person has to eat steamed buns. Because at that time, eating steamed buns felt very luxurious. Looking back now, he was really wrong, what is better than his mother's home-cooked porridge for breakfast, and sometimes sweet potatoes, mung beans, soybeans, red beans, and peanuts. It's a stupid brother, that's right.

In the next semester, SH came back to study, and our relationship became more and more distant. Ronghua and I are better, and her sister is also very cute. Once, it was raining heavily after school. People have parents to pick up, but our family has never had one, and they all figure it out by themselves. I borrowed it from the boarders, and Ronghua and her sister lived at the school. Her sister is in the same class as my brother. However, her sister is very good at reading, and my brother is a slippery head.

The rest of the goose was given to a cousin of camphor, who was in the same class as me. However, my little cousin and I are not very close, and my grades, personality, and circle of friends are not very compatible. Then one day, I saw her come back from leave with a feather in her hand. I knew that the white goose had left with her sister.

Tea picking is busy before and after Qingyin. We have to pick every day, and on weekends we put on dew-proof fertilizer bags and aprons early and shuttle through the tea plantations. Sometimes, in the morning in the distant mountains picking, at noon home for dinner, by the way to bring tea back to ask the children to peel the tea core, in the afternoon to the pavilion. Tea leaves are afraid of the sun, and they are also afraid of piling, and when they are piled together, they will turn red. Once around the Dragon Boat Festival, when I came back at noon, the second sister said that my mother brought a zongzi to pick tea this morning, will it not be enough? I said I'll bring her food, but we don't know if my mother is going to the distant mountains or to the direction of the gazebo, I went to the distant mountains first, she wasn't there, I came back, and then went to the reservoir, the gazebo. When my mother saw me, she was very touched and said that she was thinking that she would be a little hungry in the afternoon. I brought her lunch and tea and went back to class. Another time, I went to Zhuoxialing to deliver food to my mother, and people said that she was not there, and I thought she might go to the distant mountains to see the tea. It rained for many days, and the water in the stream swelled heavily. I had to cross a stream with a steep rock wall below, and the water was so high that I couldn't see the rocks below in a stable condition. Sticking to the stone wall, the small stream can only accommodate one person. It is possible to fall down even if you step on the air a little, and even the people with food will be gone. But I didn't want to go around the mountain and go to the other side, my mother would be hungry. I took the risk, praying in my heart, and trembling across the stream. That's when Mom appeared.

This summer, I wore a miniskirt. At this time, I was in good shape in the class. Although I don't have a lot of clothes, they are all given by my cousins, or my sister takes their turns. The eldest sister is now studying in Zherong, and when she encounters a major day and wants to take on a new look, she can also tell her. For example, this time, I hosted a speech contest and asked my sister to buy me a blouse. She bought a pink cotton long-sleeved shirt with two more straps on it. It's very ladylike to wear. The topic of our speech is about patriotism. When I was hosting, I said, "The next thing is for me to give a speech." After the speech, let everyone show their scores, I estimated in my heart, the first place is right, and I am very happy to say thank you. The teachers laughed.

Our principal is very Sven, but he is very good at making donations. Our school buildings were rebuilt several times, and the old canteen was demolished and turned into two high-rise buildings, Zhengxin Building. At the groundbreaking ceremony, the whole school sat down and listened to several great leaders and donors. Later, he learned a trick out of nowhere and hired an honorary principal. I went to lay flowers to the honorary president, and I guess I donated a lot more.

At the commendation conference, I won a lot of awards and made a graduation speech, and the manuscript was written by the teacher anyway. My dad also became a good parent. I really want to laugh, my dad has four children, and he has been to my brother's parent-teacher meeting once. He didn't care about the others. He didn't give any financial aid to the school, but the school gave his children, mainly me, a lot of incentives and subsidies. How did he become a good parent, it must be because he is good with the Chinese teacher, haha.

Juneteenth in our place is really a children's holiday. Since kindergarten, every Juneteenth, we don't have to go to class, the teacher comes and gives us candy first. Then, attend a commendation meeting. Then go back to class and play games, and the reward is all kinds of candy. Classic, grab a stool, eagle catch chicken, stick nose, clip marbles, throw hula hoops, skip rope competition, balloon floating. In the afternoon, participate in the school parade, led by the drum and bugle team in front, the conductor is the default school flower, followed by the bouquet team, the garland team, the ribbon team, and send you something according to the grade, you are what team. Without any rehearsal, just tell you that after the person in front of you shouts the slogan, the teacher of your class is next to you, and asks you to start shouting, and you shout. It's okay to fill up the numbers. The villagers came out on both sides of the road to watch the excitement. Our route is from the school road, heading towards the hill, going around Chung Fook Street, and climbing the stone stairs back to the school. The students who carry the plaque must be tall and big, otherwise, they will be tired and tired.

We not only do this on June 1st, but whenever there are important leaders, we will also send certain classes to hold bouquets of flowers and separate them to form a bouquet channel. Everyone kept looking at the corner of the hill behind the school, whether the leader's car was coming. As soon as the teacher said, this one is yes, we are in good spirits. When the leader came over, we shouted "welcome, welcome, warm welcome".

In the evening, the June 1st Gala was held, and I was the host. It seems to be with Guohua of the sixth grade. The ending song will always be the one to remember tonight.

Perhaps, this year will be the pinnacle of my student career.

At the beginning of the summer vacation, I still dig for prince ginseng. This year, my father was not in good health, so we had to dig harder, he cooked at home, and we followed my mother to the mountains, and sometimes we dug with our brothers and sisters. The food has also improved. And I found that other people's children, when digging prince ginseng, are not like our children, they must wear old clothes. Since beating my father and starting to cook, my mother's cooking has become more and more unpalatable, and my father's cooking has become more and more proficient. Now they are all full-time cooks.

They all went to school to tutor because the English teacher thought that our English level was poor and worried that we would not be good in junior high school. He also taught the first year of junior high school. So, no one 30, last week of English tuition classes. I didn't go, one saves money, the second is what I have already taught, I will do it, and the third is that he is now a Protestant, and I can learn it when he starts school.

One day, my father and I went to the mountains to burn reeds. We have a stream in the middle of the opposite mountain. At the end of the cloth field, there were a few reeds stretching out to the opposite bank, and when the wind was strong, it began to burn the opposite mountain. My dad and I started to put out the fire. We jumped under the stream, intending to cross to the opposite hill. Dad has passed, I was tripped by a few thorns, and the reeds on my head were about to catch fire, and Dad was calling me outside, you come quickly. I took away the thorns, and then I got out and ran out. And the reeds turned into a cloud of fire.

We climbed up the path, neither of us could climb anymore, and we could not yet stand above the fire, lest we be besieged. You can only follow the fire and flutter some small flames.

A passer-by who went to the house brought us a message, and later several brothers and sisters from the church and neighbors came to save us. I was impressed by Brother Xianying, who cut down a green cedar and prayed while putting out the fire, glory to the Lord. Their strength was great, and after a while, they were almost gone, and the mountain burned down. They told me and my dad to go home first, and they stayed for a while to see what was going on. Later, he came to our house to pray.

I was anxious because the government had already announced that whoever burned the mountain would go to jail.

Fortunately, no one went to jail. After the Sunday meeting, the brothers and sisters in the church went with us to plant trees and pay for the people, and the page was turned.

During the summer vacation, I don't have to do summer homework, and I watch Dream of Red Mansions at night. The book that the big sister bought. I began to understand the relationship between Ning Rong and the two mansions, and guessed the meaning of some words before and after. This book has become my favorite book. I still look at some from time to time.

Later, my father went to Ningde for a review, and I followed him for a week, because my mother was afraid that she was illiterate and could not read words. But when I got there, I didn't help much, but I met 2 girls and chatted together in the small park of Mindong Hospital every day. There was no exchange of contact details, and only this memory remained.

Before the fall school enrollment, Sangmei came. That day was really terrible. Dad didn't take my mother to get a hanging bottle for nutrition injections during the day, and in the evening, suddenly the wind blew fiercely, I, the second sister and my younger brother were at home, closing the door and closing the window, the window of the firewood room was opened, and the little pig was so frightened that he arched the door and ran into the hall, and we didn't dare to drive them back. We couldn't get dinner because the stove had been filled with ash from the kitchen, so we had to block the stove door. Finally Mom and Dad came back, the wind was too strong, Mom blamed Dad, what kind of nutrition injections should be given at the end of the day, and the two chattered. Dad picked up some scattered pears on the road and came back.

Rushed one end to the circle, Mom blocked the door, and Dad was chasing the other end inside. Suddenly the door was slammed shut by a strong wind, and I went to open it, thinking to myself, my mother's hand can't be between it, right? Unexpectedly, it was exactly so. Ten fingers and even the pain in the heart, even the father frowned, we don't care about these livestock, all of them returned to the kitchen, the electricity has long been cut off, and the black light is blinding. Mom asked the second sister to beat the egg whites, and she was about to cry, and the egg yolks and egg whites were also mixed together. He didn't care much, so he put it on his fingers and wrapped it in a cloth band. We temporarily cleaned the second floor and slept for the night. Everyone ate some pears. Listening to my mother sometimes lamenting, the piglets downstairs kept crying, and the wind blew the door on the roof of the building. Sleepless nights.

The next day, the typhoon was gone. Seeing that the little white pig turned into a little black pig, the top cover of the pigsty was overturned, and they rolled all over the mud, but fortunately, it was all fine to snuggle up next to the sow. But my mother's hand is a big problem, she reluctantly got up to go to the mountains to pull herbs, my mother is like this, she has to smelt all diseases by herself, she is a stubborn and money-saving half-hung soil doctor, I followed her and ate a lot of bitter herbs. She couldn't eat when she was in pain, so her father had to go to the back ridge and ask for a prescription, but she had to use her own recipe when she smeared it with more painful drilling. Later, the flesh on the fingers grew a little longer, and it was fine. Some people encounter such things in the factory, and it is impossible to do it without spending 10,000 or 20,000 yuan.

After the summer vacation, it's a junior high school student