Life is a Game

Tian Lin, a salted fish, finished the multigrain steamed bun in two or three bites, covered the pickle jar, and stuffed another steamed bun to Xiujuan: "This steamed bun was made by my uncle, and it is much more delicious than other multigrain steamed buns. It's cold now." , Don’t mention how soft and fragrant it is when it just comes out of the pan in the morning, try it quickly.”

Xiujuan hesitated for a while, took the steamed bun and gnawed it in small mouthfuls: "When I was in the village, why didn't I hear that you had an aunt who married into the city?"

Xiujuan and Tian Lin lived in the same village before they got married.

"It's not my own aunt, it's my man's aunt." Tian Lin said, taking out a big cattail fan from the cloth bag and starting to fan the wind, which can be said to be fully equipped, "Didn't I only marry the Zhao family for half a year? I came to have a meal and left without saying a few words. I thought it was a bad relationship. Later, I heard that it seemed that because my uncle was not at home at that time, she hurried back because she was worried about the children at home. I always thought that It's an excuse. I didn't expect that the relationship was pretty good, and someone came to inform me of such a good thing, and she let me live in her house because she was afraid that the temporary shed I lived in would be unsafe."

"Let me tell you, she gave birth to five sons, all of them are big fat boys who are very noisy, and one of them will go to the house to steal food without paying attention. I am also worried."

"That's great." Xiujuan could only envy her.

With the envy of her former friends, Tian Lin immediately felt refreshed, and she began to shake her fan more frequently: "Who said it wasn't. I didn't want to when I first talked about the partner. The Zhao family is poor, and my man is not in good health. It’s not because of the twenty yuan that my mother won’t marry me.”

Xiujuan:?

Seeing question marks on Xiujuan's face, Tian Lin quickly explained: "My mother gave me five yuan and secretly gave it to me as a dowry."

Xiujuan: ...

"What about now, is your man treating you well?" Xiujuan asked.

"It's alright!" Tian Lin said about this beaming girl, "At first I only saw that my man was in poor health and couldn't work, but I didn't expect him to be in poor health and couldn't beat me! Not only is my man good-tempered, he also doesn't beat his wife. People, my father-in-law and I are the only two laborers at home now. We do all the work in the field, and we eat first. Although the Zhao family is poor, there are few people. They can eat enough. My mother-in-law said that this year Kill pigs and stew meat for me during Chinese New Year!"

Xiujuan could only nibble on the steamed bun enviously.

"By the way, what about you, Xiujuan? You heard that you gave birth to a fat boy last year." After bragging about herself, Tian Lin felt that she should give Xiujuan a little room to brag and hand over the words to her.

Xiujuan nodded, but she didn't look very happy.

"What's the matter, your son is not in good health?" Tian Lin frowned. .

"No." Xiujuan shook her head, "It's because the two educated youths who used to be teachers in our village have been admitted to college and returned to the city. I'm a little worried."

Tian Lin:? ? ?

"There are only three teachers in our village primary school. The two educated youths have a high school degree, and the other teacher has only graduated from elementary school. Now those two teachers have passed the university entrance examination. If there are new teachers, they will only graduate from elementary school, and may not even have junior high school education. No education at all." Xiujuan said.

Tian Lin was dumbfounded. She had only been in elementary school for two years, and she couldn't write a few big characters. If she was asked to write a letter, she would see a series of typos and circles. In her opinion, it is more than enough to teach elementary school after graduating from elementary school.

"Yes...is there any difference?" Tian Lin recalled the few times she spent studying, as if it was memorizing texts and watching the teacher write, and she had to snap her fingers to count.

"Yes!" Xiujuan said very solemnly, "Of course there is a difference. When I was pregnant with my eldest, I would often meet Teacher Feng from the village primary school who was admitted to university when I was sitting at the door. She told me that a teacher and a teacher are the same. It's different, the better the teacher is, the better the students will be. The teachers in the city are basically high school graduates, some college graduates, and some even came back from overseas. They know a lot, have a lot of knowledge, and teach students have more knowledge.”

Xiujuan thought for a while: "That's probably what she meant. I can't tell you the specifics. Anyway, I think what she said makes sense. Every year, more students from our village primary school go to the town to attend junior high school than other villages. I have two teachers who have studied in high school. I want my son to be admitted to university in the future, like Mr. Feng, to enter the city, and to have a job in the city like your aunt and uncle, without having to live in the city all the time like us. Grind food."

Maybe it was because Xiujuan's ambition was so ambitious that Tian Lin was taken aback by it. After a long time, she stuttered and asked, "Then... what should I do then?"

"Ms. Feng told me before going to university that so many educated youths will definitely recruit jobs when they return to the city. She asked me to inquire more. If they are recruited, they will be able to settle down, and then my children will be able to go to school in the city."

"It's so easy." Tian Lin said, "So many educated youths are looking for jobs, they have more knowledge than us, and they can write letters. How can we compete with them?"

"So this is our best chance!" Xiujuan was a little excited, but her voice was lowered a lot, "This recruitment will not take an exam, as long as you work hard, you will have a chance to stay in the end. My husband and I have discussed it. If If I can stay, our family will move to the city, and he will come to the city to do odd jobs, and the family’s land will be planted by others.”

"Little girl, don't think about things so well." The uncle who had been leaning against a tree to enjoy the shade suddenly said, "This time, the recruitment quotas are all pre-determined, and they have already been reserved by those who are related. Here to do odd jobs. I see that you have been working hard all this time, don’t waste your efforts, it’s okay for country people like us to stay in the city so easily.”

"Even if some quotas are reserved by default, there must be no quotas." Xiujuan was a little unconvinced.

The uncle didn't want to argue, he waved his hand: "You will know when the time comes."

Xiujuan wanted to say something more, but Bie Tianlin held her back: "It's too hot, I remember there's an ice water seller in front, I'll treat you, Xiujuan, let's go and drink a bowl of ice water."

The ice water was still more attractive, Xiujuan was directly dragged to drink ice water by Tian Lin.

Ice water is sold cheaply, two bowls for a penny, and a bowl of sweet ice water with sugar for a penny. Tian Lin bought two large bowls of ice water for a penny, she had a bowl of Xiujuan and the other, and the two of them gulped down a bowl of ice water with refreshed faces.

"What do you care about with that kind of person." Tian Lin wiped her mouth, "I saw him this morning, a big man is slower than me in resisting sandbags, Xiujuan, if you want to win a spot, do it hard, you are so desperate, maybe it is true chance to stay."

"En." Xiujuan nodded fiercely, "What about you?"

"I'll forget it. I didn't even have a child. Why do I think so much. My man is in poor health, and it's hard to work in the fields. I can't find a job in the city. I'd better just stay in the country." Tian Lin showed her true nature as a salted fish, as if she didn't take Xiujuan's words to heart, "Let's find a shady place to sit, I guess the place has been occupied just now. We will start working when the sun is not so bad It’s a waste of effort to stand here and bask in the sun.”

After saying that, Tian Lin dragged Xiujuan to find a place where she could enjoy the shade.

After hearing what Tian Lin said just now, Jiang Feng suddenly remembered something.

Tian Lin didn't seem to care, but she should have remembered Xiujuan's words.

Jiang Feng remembered that the Zhao family had always been poor until Meimei was in junior high school. This poverty is caused by many aspects. One is because the Zhao family has no money and inherited poverty. The other is because Zhao Zhuangshi is in poor health and always needs to take medicine. The family has only Tian Linzhong and no one goes outside to work.

At that time, simply farming could only provide enough food, and nothing else could be guaranteed.

Zhao Mei was older than all the children in the Jiang family, and until she was in junior high school, the Zhao family could not eat two meals of meat throughout the year. You must know that at that time, the pocket money of the third fat Jiang family could cover the rice dumpling stand in front of the elementary school, but Zhao Mei I have been studying in the town since elementary school. At that time, Zhao Mei had to walk for several hours on the mountain road every day to go to school. For lunch, pickles were served with rice and brought to school. At noon, she asked the chef in the cafeteria to help heat it up.

Since when did the Zhao family have a better life - since Zhao Mei went to high school.

Zhao Mei went to high school in the county town, leaving compulsory education not only living expenses but also tuition fees. For Zhao Mei's tuition fees, Tian Lin gave up the land at home and threw her husband out to work for the first time. Tian Lin worked outside for eight years, from the time Zhao Mei was in high school until she found a job after graduating from university before returning home. Lived the life of a normal rural woman.

In a sense, if it wasn't because Zhao Mei had to go to school, the Zhao family would have remained poor like that.

The reason why Grandma Jiang likes Tian Lin is because she thinks Tian Lin is far-sighted. Unlike other families in the village, children love to study and go to school. As for why Tian Lin had this foresight and was so stubborn to send Zhao Mei to the county town to study in high school, Grandma Jiang never understood.

Now Jiang Feng understood.

Tian Lin remembered Xiujuan's words.

I remember it very deeply and clearly.