On the morning of June 28, the Chinese language test was taken. On June 29, I took the math test in the morning and the English test in the afternoon. The principal was afraid that someone would not understand enough, so he wrote out this simple exam schedule on red paper and posted it on the bulletin board in front of the building.

The primary schools in the district are divided into 8 examination rooms, and Xinhua Street Primary School is one of them. Graduates of Xinhua Street Primary School are lucky that they don't have to go to other schools a day in advance to see the examination room and see the seats.

On the morning of the 27th, mathematics teacher Zhang came to the class and specially instructed his students to "Exam Instructions". What should I do when I encounter difficult questions that I can't do, what should I do when I am flustered, what should I do if I find a problem with the exam paper, and what should I do when I check the calculation...... All the problems that may arise every minute and second between the start of the exam and the closing of the paper have been imagined, and targeted measures have been thought out, which students must remember.

"One more thing." Teacher Zhang glanced out of the door secretly, walked over and carefully closed the door, "There is one more thing, which is a secret between us. ”

He seemed to be a little casual, like telling a joke, talking about the "cheating" in the exams in previous years. For example, some schools ask students to make a small hole in the paper, because the test papers in the same examination room are bound in the same volume, and if the school teacher happens to change this test paper, then "know it". Of course, it is impossible to change the wrong to the right, but there is always a way to "show mercy". If one and a half points are deducted less, the child may enter a key middle school, which is not only the glory of the child, but also the glory of the teachers of the school and the glory of the school. Picking out small holes may be too exposed, and some schools use the method of "dripping bird feces", allowing each child to bring their own "snow correction liquid", and drop a drop of "bird feces" on the frontispiece before getting the roll.

Teacher Zhang spread his hands: "It's a pity that these methods have been seen through by others." "The road is one foot high, and the magic is one foot high"! How can it be so easy for you to cheat? He peered out the window again, convinced that no one was there, and then said, "We're not so stupid, we have a better way." This time, the whole class wrote with a blue ballpoint pen. Remember, it's this blue. ”

He held a ballpoint pen with a transparent barrel high in his hand, stepped off the podium, and showed it in front of every student. "Do you remember them all? If any of the students don't have it, they should buy it immediately in the afternoon, and there is one in the stationery store opposite the school. But don't say it, not even your parents! Don't forget! He shook his fist in a threatening gesture.

The whole class was very excited, and they twisted their bodies around in their seats one by one, as if they had eaten a "reassuring pill".

But after a few minutes he came in a hurry, stepped into the classroom and said, "No, no, no, you can't do that." The principal said that this time the exam discipline was stricter than any other year, and it was found that there was a school cheating, and the scores of this school were all counted as zero! Let's forget it, let's not take that risk. He waved his hand: "I didn't say what I said just now." He snorted angrily: "I don't believe that our class will be worse than others in mathematics!" ”

The class laughed together. Teacher Zhang scratched his scalp and laughed along, revealing a neat row of teeth.

No school in the afternoon. Teacher Xing announced that everyone would stop touching books and rest and relax completely. Jin Ling meticulously carried out this order, resolutely not responding to Hui Zi's suggestion that she read the book again. She tried to get Huizi to promise her to turn on the TV, but when she refused, she stopped insisting and took out paper and pen to draw the beauty, applied glue to the beauty's clothes, and then crushed the colored chalk into powder and blew it on. She first praised and admired it in a fuss, and then called Yang Xiaoli to tell her about her invention.

Hui Zi thought to herself, what a child, she doesn't know any sorrow!

My grandmother came from home and brought Jinling 4 rice cakes and 4 "Jiaxing zongzi" bought on the street. My grandmother didn't ride the tandem bike because my grandfather had a bad heart and didn't dare to work hard.

Huizi said: "Dad's heart is not good, what are you doing here?" ”

Grandma said, "I'll send something!" Rice cakes will be 'high', zongzi will be 'medium', 'high school', 'high school'! Give your child a good fortune. When you were a child, you were admitted to middle school, and you only got through eating cakes and zongzi. Did you forget? ”

Hui Zi said, "I haven't forgotten. But it's the computer age! ”

Grandma pouted: "What about the computer age?" ”

Hui Zi raised her hand in surrender: "Okay, well, listen to you." ”

Grandma's mind is sometimes very modern, sometimes very feudal, it is simply a strange mixture, and the more entangled with her, the more confused she becomes, so it is better to have a truce.

Before leaving, my grandmother told Jin Ling again: "Remember, ask your mother to steam it for you tomorrow morning." ”

Jin Ling said loudly: "I can't forget! ”

Grandma was very satisfied, thinking that Jin Ling was okay this time, and the key middle school couldn't run.

Hui Zi said to Jin Ling, "Look, it's time for your grandmother to knock on the door next." ”

Sure enough, before the words fell, grandma's loud voice shouted so that everyone on the first floor could hear it: "Where is the golden bell?" I'm here to send you pig brains! ”

Jin Ling and Hui Zi looked at each other and smiled, laughing so hard that they couldn't straighten their waists.

Grandma was inexplicable: "What are you laughing at?" Isn't it wrong to send pig brains? Eat your brain to make up your brain, this is an old saying! What's wrong with the old saying? ”

Jin Ling said: "Grandma, I didn't say that you were wrong, but I ate a pig's brain and was as stupid as a pig, so what should I do?" ”

Grandma clapped her hands: "Oops, why didn't I think of it?" It's time to buy a big fish head! ”

"Fish aren't smart."

Grandma smiled and slapped Jin Ling's head: "Little ghost!" Playing with grandma. Who can be as smart as our golden bell? Not to mention eating brains, eating grass can grow a treasure! ”

At dinner, Jin Ling's appetite was very good, and she ate half of the pig brains sent by her grandmother. Huizi didn't know how to burn this thing, but after Jin Yiming's prompting, she adopted the method of eating hot pot in winter, boiling it with soup stock, and then dipping it in a lot of ingredients. Jin Ling said that pig brains are as tender as tofu brains.

At 8 o'clock, Huizi urged Jin Ling to go to bed. Jin Ling was a little flustered at this time, and when she brushed her teeth, she mistakenly squeezed Hui Zi's facial cleanser as toothpaste, and when she took a bath, she didn't wash her body, but only washed her hair and got a lot of water.

Hui Zi looked at her with inquiring eyes: "Jin Ling, what's wrong?" ”

Jin Lingqiang smiled and said, "It's nothing, Mom, I'm just thinking about a few words that are easy to make mistakes." ”

At 9 o'clock, Huizi went to Jin Ling's room to see, and Jin Ling was still thinking about it with her eyes wide open. As soon as Hui Zi entered the door, she asked, "Can you give me a sleeping pill?" ”

Hui Zi said: "It's not good to take sleeping pills, and I'll be dizzy tomorrow." ”

Jin Ling said softly: "I thought I wouldn't be afraid, but I was actually nervous. ”

Huizi sat down on the edge of the bed, held her daughter's soft, sweaty hand loosely in her hand, and said, "It's nothing, it's okay if you really fail the test, mom knows that you did your best." Besides, there will be a chance in the future, and you will have to take the high school entrance exam in 3 years, right? ”

"It really doesn't matter?" Jin Ling's eyes stared at Hui Zi's face.

"It really doesn't matter."

"Do you think I'm a good boy?"

"Of course." Hui Zi kissed Jin Ling lightly on the face, "Mom has always thought that you are a good boy, a very well-behaved, sensible, and likable good boy. ”

Jin Ling let out a long breath, turned over with satisfaction, and muttered, "Mom, don't go, just sit next to me and hold my hand......"

Before he finished speaking, there was already a slight snoring sound in Jin Ling's nasal cavity.

Huizi didn't dare to leave, she held her daughter's small hand in the palm of her hand, feeling her daughter's heartbeat and body temperature. She thought, when she is admitted to high school in 3 years, and when she is admitted to college in 6 years, will Jin Ling still need her and rely on her as she does now? At that time, my daughter's hands would grow wider than my mother's hands, and my mother couldn't hold them even if she wanted to, right?

I wondered, what would the path to higher education be like at that time? Is it wider or narrower? How much hard work and effort does the child have to put in to stumble and occupy a position on the road!

Huizi woke up and fell asleep, leaning motionless on the side of Jin Ling's bed all night. During this period, Jin Yiming tiptoed in several times to see her, and she waved her hand to tell him not to make a sound.

"Let your child get a good night's sleep." She said in a haze-like voice.

When she woke up at 6 o'clock, Jin Ling had forgotten the tension and sorrow of the previous night, and had become as happy as a bird again. Hui Zi took out a language book and asked her to memorize a few texts to try, and she memorized it from beginning to end in one breath, without a trace of stuttering in it. Hui Zi was very satisfied, thinking that Jin Ling slept well and was full of energy.

Jin Ling ate the cakes and zongzi sent by her grandmother, and Huizi sent her downstairs. Hui Zi said, "I'll only send you to the school gate." In the past, when I was admitted to middle school, my grandmother also sent me to the school gate. ”

Jin Lingwen crepe said: "Even I don't want you to send a step." There is no need for this. ”

Hui Zi pretended not to hear, and tightened Jin Ling's hand.

When passing by the snack bar in the alley, the proprietress greeted with a smile: "Jin Ling is the top student in the exam today?" I'm going to wait to eat the candy of the golden bell! ”

Jin Ling happily agreed: "Okay! As he spoke, he beckoned to the little yellow cat that came up.

When I got out of the alley, I found that the street was full of children rushing to take the test and parents who sent the test. The children were carrying plastic bags containing stationery and admission tickets, looking around easily. The parents on the side carried a kettle on their backs, carrying breakfast, with a towel on their arms and a paper fan in their hands, their faces full of anxiety and worry that could not be concealed. There are also some families who are sent out by the whole family to send the exam, parents, grandparents, and grandparents, which is simply a vast team to send the exam. Some people who are far away are afraid that they will not be able to catch up, so they spend money to call "taxis" to come. The car on the road Naruto screamed, and it was very lively.

Jin Ling saw Shang Hai and Yang Xiaoli in the crowd at a glance. She hadn't seen each other for a long time, and she seemed to be as excited as a reunion after a long absence, shouting the names of the two of them, and she was about to rush over when she broke free of Hui Zi's hand. Huizi stopped her sensibly, because Huizi saw that the other people's mother was still hurrying to tell them something important at the last minute.

Suddenly, a motorcycle roared behind her, and Hui Zi was startled, and hurriedly pulled Jin Ling to avoid it.

Riding a motorcycle was a handsome young man in his 20s, wearing a snow-white knight's suit and a red helmet. The person hitchhiking behind him was wearing a red silk shirt and trousers, and a white helmet. The young man in front parked the car in front of Jin Ling and didn't leave, and with one foot diagonally on the ground, he turned the motorcycle upside down and let the people behind him get out of the car. The man behind was a little sluggish, and the young man had to reach behind to help.

After the man got out of the car, he suddenly lifted his helmet in front of Jin Ling. Jin Ling shouted: "Grandma Sun! ”

Hui Zi was also taken aback, she never expected that the person who came would be Mrs. Sun, who was not flexible in her legs. For a moment, she was dumbfounded, and her mind couldn't turn around.

Grandma Sun tapped lightly on Jin Ling's head with her helmet: "Are you flustered?" ”

Jin Ling smiled and said, "Don't panic." ”

Grandma Sun said, "It's good not to panic." Remember what your grandmother told you that day, what if you encounter a topic that you are not sure about? ”

Jin Ling was just about to answer, but Grandma Sun stretched out a finger and put it on her lips: "Shhhhhh Don't tell it, keep it a secret! ”

Grandma Sun smiled and looked at Hui Zi. Jin Ling also turned back and smiled at her mother. Grandma Sun said, "Mother Jinling, you should have faith in your child. He also said: "Jin Ling remember, come to grandma's house after the exam, we should catch insects for Yuejihua." ”

She put on her helmet and grabbed the young man's waist and climbed onto the motorcycle. What a childlike old lady.

Principal, Teacher Xing, Teacher Zhang, English Teacher ...... A large group of people were waiting at the school gate, cheering on every Xinhua Street Primary School graduate who walked through the door. The principal said, "Take the test!" Teacher Xing said, "Be careful! Teacher Zhang said, "Don't forget to check!" The English teacher didn't speak, just smiled and held out his index and middle fingers and made a British gesture of victory.

Jin Ling entered through the half-open school gate, and Hui Zi was stopped at the door like countless other parents. One by one, they tiptoed, craned their necks, and tried their best to keep an eye on their children's backs from the heads of the crowd. The midsummer sun poured down on the children, creating a cheerful rhythm for their jumping steps, which contrasted with the worried faces of the adults outside the door. Hui Zi thought very professionally, take the opportunity to interview them, and she will get a very good feature, which can be in the headlines in the next issue.

The preparatory bell screamed sharply, and the children, who had not had time to enter the examination room, began to quicken their pace. Hui Zi silently shouted in her heart: "Run, child, sprint!" ”

The Joy of Writing (Postscript)

Around 1980, I wrote children's literature and set a record for publishing two works in the same issue of Juvenile Literature and Art. published, I'm afraid that other authors will not be satisfied with my more space, one with a real name, and another with a pen name. Now that I think about it, that kind of fanaticism is a little weird. At that time, I was young, and I couldn't listen to praise when I was young, and as soon as the readers liked it, the editors appreciated it, and then got a few small awards, and the momentum was like a thermometer in a high fever, and it rubbed up. It's a pity that it's hot and cool fast, and if you don't write, you won't write, and you haven't touched the edge of children's literature for more than ten years, and you have completely become an outsider in children's literature.

In 1996, my daughter moved from elementary school to junior high school. As a mother, I have experienced a tragic battle with my children for higher education. After the exams were over, the dust had settled, and as I sorted through the mountains of revision materials and mock test papers at home, I felt a sour feeling in my heart: is this how our children struggle to make their way into life? Do they have to be like this, killing corpses all over the field, and bleeding like this, in order to get a "permit" from this society?

Quite casually, when I talked to my colleagues and friends, I was unanimously approved and encouraged, and they said, "Write it, write it into a novel."

In this way, it took me about 20 days to write this book "I want to be a good child". For me, who is middle-aged and entangled in housework, this is almost an incredible running speed. It's not me who is running, it's my words, my characters, and my stories that are leading me to go. It's my daughter's life, our family's life, my daughter's life at school. The content that is too familiar does not need to be arranged, it does not need to be imagined, just sit down at the desk, and countless vivid scenes will rush to the end of the pen, and there is a kind of heartiness that cannot be stopped.

After the novel was completed, it was published as quickly as possible, probably a month. I remember that I decided to write this book in early December, and just after the Spring Festival, the beautiful sample book was delivered to me. My daughter watched first. She was looking at herself by herself, watching it three or four times in a row, and while watching, she opened her mouth and stole joy alone. Then, on different occasions, I began to hear the children exclaim the same thing: "The golden bell is like me!" Auntie, how do you know about me? ”

Of course I don't know about them. But I know my daughter. My daughter is one of thousands of "them". Once I have written my daughter's story, I will naturally write the story of "their".

My daughter is now a junior in college. She also called back from abroad the other day and asked me to send her a couple of my children's novels that her roommates wanted to read. These children who have made it past the exams, these children who have grown up, they still want to relive the joy of reading children's novels.

Happiness and sadness, or rather, happiness and thought, this is what I ask of myself to write children's novels. It's not funny, it's not fun, it's not okay to be just interesting, I have to let my words and characters stay in the hearts of children, and they can still remember some of them after many years, and when they recall their childhood, there is a warmth and emotion in their hearts.

I ask myself all the time: Did I do it?

I know that I work hard, I respect my children as if they were gods, and I never underestimate their wisdom and ability. I tried to keep up with the children's progress, as hard as I did to praise my father's pursuit of the sun. In this way, the children progress, and so does my work.

There is still work to be done. The joy of writing is in the effort.