Chapter 15 Those People in Youth

After hearing Zhang Yunqi's request, Luo Dahai was overjoyed.

He agreed immediately. In his eyes, this was not a big deal. If Zhang Yunqi wanted to choose his class freely, he must want to choose the best class. Based on Zhang Yunqi's grades, the school would definitely arrange him into the best subject class.

All his requests were met, and Zhang Yunqi didn't put on airs, so he said to Zhang's mother: "Mom, I think they have good conditions, I want to go to No. 1 Middle School?"

In the matter of choosing a school, the family was open-minded and did not arbitrarily decide Zhang Yunqi's fate, but respected his opinion. Zhang's mother felt that her son really wanted to go to No. 1 Middle School, and what Zhang Xiaonan said was reasonable. The eldest brother also said that Yunqi should make his own decision, so she said it was fine to go to No. 1 Middle School, as it would give him a better chance to enter university in the future!
Luo Dahai was so happy that his face turned red. He held Zhang's mother's hand and said a series of good things. By discovering a top student, the school had another seedling that could be admitted to Tsinghua University or Peking University. Of course, the most important thing was that his bonus would not be small.

It was just time for lunch, so Aunt Zhang slaughtered a big fat rooster and cooked a big pot of fragrant tea oil roasted chicken. Luo Dahai's face was greasy after eating it. Zhang Yunqi accompanied him. After all, he was the school leader. If they had a good relationship now, he would be able to live more freely in No. 1 Middle School in the future.

Two days later, Zhang Yunqi's technical secondary school admission letter arrived.

The Zhang family had been waiting for this thing for an entire summer, and now it has become a piece of waste paper.

Soon, the news that Zhang Yunqi gave up a prestigious technical secondary school and went to study at the No. 1 Middle School in the city spread throughout the village.

In this era when technical secondary school is popular in rural areas, going to high school is not something to brag about like it is in later generations. Many people still say behind the back that the top scholar has become stupid because of studying too much. It is much better to go to technical secondary school. You can get a job and earn money several years earlier than going to university. Moreover, going to technical secondary school is to learn practical skills, the state will assign you a job, and you can also get out of the rural household registration and work in the public sector.

Zhang Yunqi heard these nonsense, but he didn't think that the Zhuang people in the village were ignorant. It was just a difference in vision. If it were in his previous life, he would also think that technical secondary school is better than high school and choose technical secondary school.

On August 20th, he will go to the No. Middle School in the city to register.

His eldest brother Zhang Yunfeng drove a tractor to take him there, and he also visited his eldest sister Zhang Qiulan's house.

In the past, the two brothers often went to the city, but they were there to sell flue-cured tobacco. After selling everything in the early morning, they had to rush back to collect the tobacco, and they had no time to go to their eldest sister's house.

The eldest sister's family lives in the family compound of the state-owned Longjingyuan Cannery in the area of ​​Yuxian Street in Jiangchuan. Her brother-in-law is an ordinary worker in the cannery, named Niu Fen. Now the factory is not doing well and often cannot pay wages. The old father at home is paralyzed in bed and needs someone to take care of him. The mother is old and can't do anything. The sister doesn't have a job and just gave birth to a child. The whole family depends on the salary that her brother-in-law pays every few months to make ends meet. The situation is better than his family's previous situation, but not much better.

Elder sister Zhang Qiulan was taking care of the children at home. She was extremely happy about the arrival of her younger brother from her natal family. She asked her husband to kill and stew the old hen that she had not been willing to eat during her confinement, and then she took her two younger brothers to chat with her.

In the past two months, she also knew some of what happened in her mother's family. The last time they bought a tractor, the two brothers came once. Such a big change has taken place in the family that they can even afford a tractor worth eight or nine thousand yuan. The second brother is even more ambitious and became the top scholar. He doesn't want to go to technical secondary school and wants to go to the No. 1 Middle School in the city!
She lived in Jiangchuan City and knew very well what No. 1 Middle School meant to the people in the city. People without money and ability could not even think about going there. Those who could go there either had excellent grades or were from wealthy families. The children of the leaders of their cannery all went to No. 1 Middle School. Now, her brother could also go to the best key high school in the city like the children of the rich families in the city. She was so happy and proud of her brother.

Seeing his elder sister so happy, Zhang Yunqi felt a little uncomfortable. His own family was doing well, but his elder sister's family was penniless. His brother-in-law Niu Fen, a promising young man, was stuck in a dying factory with no future. He was thinking about finding a way to make money after school started and then helping his elder sister.

The three siblings chatted and soon it was time for dinner. The mother-in-law was very enthusiastic and brought a pot of mushroom stewed old hen to the table. My brother-in-law Niu Fen opened a bottle of Jiangchuan Daqu and chatted with my eldest brother while drinking.

Zhang Yunqi was not interested in drinking. After dinner, he said goodbye to his elder brother and went to Jiangchuan No. 1 Middle School alone to complete the admission procedures.

When he was leaving, he heard a fierce quarrel coming from the first floor opposite. He went over to take a look and saw a young man in his twenties being blocked at the door by someone asking for a debt. There were also three or five young men rummaging through drawers and smashing things in the bungalow. Many neighbors from the factory were gathered at the door watching the excitement and pointing fingers.

During the winter and summer vacations in his previous life, Zhang Yunqi would occasionally stay at his brother-in-law's house, just like Ji Ling would go back to Yunxi Village during the holidays, so he was quite familiar with this place. He also knew the young man who was blocked at the door by the debt collector. His name was Wang Guibing, and he lived opposite his brother-in-law's house. He was tall and strong, but he was not a good student. It seemed that he had a fight with a factory worker and was fired. Later, he hung out on the streets and owed a lot of debts. The creditors were blocking his door to demand money.

After figuring out what was going on, Zhang Yunqi immediately lost interest in watching the fun and went straight to the factory gate to wait for the bus.

When passing through the factory family compound, he encountered many people and things in his memory. They were familiar, yet strange. Those houses with an old atmosphere were like the mottled old photos in his memory, yellowed, moldy, incomplete, and the blurry black and white figures could not be seen clearly.

"Zhang Yunqi?"

When he reached the factory gate, Zhang Yunqi heard someone calling him. He looked up and saw three people at the bus stop not far away, two girls and one boy, about his age. After thinking for a while, he remembered that the one who called him was a girl named Zhao Yingying, the other girl was Li Yufei, and the boy was Liu Zicheng. In his previous life, when he was staying at his eldest sister's house during the summer vacation, he played with them for a while, so they knew each other.

Zhang Yunqi didn't think much and walked straight over.

Zhao Yingying asked, "You came to your brother-in-law's house to play? When did you come?"

Zhang Yunqi smiled and said, "This morning." The man next to him, Liu Zicheng, said with a half-smile on his fair face, "Come to the city to play when you have time. Have you finished your farm work at home?"

Zhang Yunqi glanced at Liu Zicheng.

This little guy is a bit rude. In my impression, his father seems to be the deputy director of the cannery, commonly known as the second generation of the factory in those days. He has been pampered since childhood. Even though the cannery is not doing well now and some ordinary employees can't even make ends meet, judging from his clothes, he still lives a happy life and is one of the most popular people in the factory compound.

Zhang Yunqi remembered that he had been humiliated by Liu Zicheng before. Once when they were playing together, an old lady from the factory joked that Liu Zicheng and Zhang Yunqi looked alike. At that time, Liu Zicheng said with disdain: "You are just a country bumpkin from the mountains. Why the hell do you look like me?"

These words were a big blow to him as he was young and sensitive at that time. But now that time has passed, he doesn't take those little things to heart. In the face of Liu Zicheng's unpleasant words, he just smiled and said thank you for his concern.

Zhao Yingying didn't expect Zhang Yunqi to be so calm, so she asked, "By the way, Zhang Yunqi, are you going to take the bus? Where are you going?"

"Maybe he saw Li Yufei and followed her uncontrollably."

The girl next to him named Li Yufei frowned and said: "Liu Zicheng, be careful with your words!"

"Hey, just kidding."

Liu Zicheng shrank his head, as if he was very afraid of Li Yufei, but Li Yufei actually looked quite weak and gentle. She was wearing a pink dress and was really eye-catching. She had big, bright eyes, and long, soft, straight hair draped over her shoulders with a pink hairpin hanging at the end of her hair. She looked pretty with a smile on her face, but after hearing what Liu Zicheng said, there was some displeasure on her pretty little face.

In Zhang Yunqi's memory, Li Yufei seemed to be the most beautiful girl in the cannery's family compound, a figure like the moon surrounded by stars. Although he knew her, he seemed to have never spoken to her in his previous life. Every time they met, he just looked at her from afar and did not dare to approach.

There is nothing you can do about it. When you are young, there are many girls who are like bright shooting stars. You don't even have the courage to look her in the eye. This feeling is particularly powerless, just like those beautiful young models you see when you grow up. Such beautiful girls are associated with blue sky and blue sea, star-rated hotels, seafood dinners, and three-meter round beds. Ordinary people can only think about them in their dreams.

At this time, the bus to the No. 1 Middle School in the city arrived. Li Yufei and her friends also took this bus, and Zhang Yunqi got on the bus with them.

Liu Zicheng was very generous. He took out two yuan and threw it into the box. He also paid for Zhang Yunqi's bus fare. Then he said to Zhang Yunqi as if jokingly: "Don't thank me. Save the fifty cents for snacks when you return to the countryside."

Zhang Yunqi smiled and put the fifty cents back into his pocket, then nodded and said okay.

Zhao Yingying covered her mouth and laughed secretly. Liu Zicheng felt a little embarrassed and cursed in a low voice, "What a country bumpkin!"
Li Yufei heard this, but she didn't show any expression. She just glanced at Zhang Yunqi who turned around and sat next to the window, then she and Zhao Yingying found two seats in the back and sat down.

The bus passed through the streets and alleys of Jiangchuan City, passed five or six stations, and finally arrived at the No. 1 Middle School station. They were a little puzzled to see Zhang Yunqi getting off the bus with them, because they never thought that Zhang Yunqi was also reporting to No. 1 Middle School.

Unrealistic.

In that era, it was not easy for rural children to go to school. Most of them were lucky enough to complete nine years of compulsory education. It was rare for rural children to enter a county high school. And it was extremely rare to enter a city high school, especially the best one in the city.

Liu Zicheng was quite dissatisfied. Why did Zhang Yunqi keep following them around? He wanted to find a chance to treat Li Yufei to a meal. He asked, "Zhang Yunqi, why did you follow us to No. 1 Middle School?"

Zhang Yunqi looked up at the gate of the No. 1 Middle School: "When did the No. 1 Middle School put up a sign saying that only country bumpkins can enter?"

Liu Zicheng's face immediately turned red. Zhao Yingying, who was standing next to him, felt the atmosphere was awkward and said quickly, "Zhang Yunqi, you are scolding me. That's really mean. By the way, what are you doing here at No. 1 Middle School?"

Zhang Yunqi said, "I'll go through the admission procedures."

Li Yufei, who rarely spoke, had a hint of surprise in her eyes: "You got into the No. 1 Middle School in the city?"

Zhang Yunqi nodded.

******
(End of this chapter)