vstars Chapter 278 Shanshan's Thanks
Chapter 278 Shanshan's Thanks
Lin Dongzhe turned on the tap for Wu Xiaojun, saying, "Wash yourself."
Wu Xiaojun washed his hair under the tap, not caring about the cold water; it was better than feeling nauseous.
"Thank you, Dongzhe!"
"It's alright. Next time something happens, run first, don't try to do it all by yourself." Lin Dongzhe casually lectured Wu Xiaojun, "Don't be reckless, or you'll be the one who suffers!"
This isn't just idle talk. Teenagers don't know their own strength when they strike, and many tragedies are committed by elementary school students, but no one will publicize it.
In the evening, Wu Shanshan came to thank Lin Dongzhe and invited him out for some chilled rice wine.
Wu Shanshan looked at Lin Dongzhe, who wasn't much shorter than her, and said, "Thank you, Lin Dongzhe. If it weren't for you, I don't know how badly Xiaojun would have been bullied by them!"
Lin Dongzhe didn't stand on ceremony and accepted the iced rice wine that Wu Shanshan offered. "It's alright. I watched Xiaojun grow up. He was bullied outside, and I can't just stand by and do nothing."
"I heard from Xiaoting that you write essays quite well, but mine are much worse. If you have time, could you please give me some pointers on my essays?" Wu Shanshan was a little embarrassed, but she wanted to get into the top high school, so she didn't want to miss any opportunity to improve her score.
Lin Dongzhe nodded. "That's no problem. When you come to my house to play in the future, bring your homework with you. I'll correct it for you. After a few times, you'll know how to write it."
Those who can skip grades are indeed exceptionally talented. Lin Dongzhe and Zhuang Xiaoting were admitted to junior high school together again—the junior high division of No. 1 Middle School. This became news in their circle once more. The three children from Courtyard No. 37 became alumni of No. 1 Middle School, always setting off for school at the same time and arriving together.
As junior high school students, they both automatically retired from the children's palace. The music teacher was very disappointed that Lin Dongzhe hadn't considered learning to play the piano. She spoke with him twice, urging him to reconsider. But Lin Dongzhe remained adamant, and she could only sigh and feel sorry for him.
Because their scores were close, Zhuang Xiaoting and Lin Dongzhe were assigned to the same class again.
This time, however, the two could no longer sit together. Teachers were strictly enforcing regulations against early romantic relationships, even in the first year of junior high. At this point, boys and girls had to sit separately, and deskmates would always be of the same sex.
Starting that year, television sets no longer required coupons. Song Ying had long wanted to buy a television set, so she persuaded Lin Wufeng to buy one.
But televisions were no longer a rarity. Although not every household had one, there were already several televisions in the alley.
Li Yiming finally obtained his individual business license, bidding farewell to the guerrilla forces and establishing his own base. He opened a small shop at the entrance of the alley.
The convenience store was doing very well, while the cotton mill was struggling.
Or rather, all the state-owned factories in Suzhou were poorly managed. Even the factories' affiliated businesses, such as swimming pools and stadiums, were opened to the public.
Even so, the factory couldn't pay wages. The cotton mill encouraged workers to take unpaid leave and try their luck elsewhere.
However, most workers only know how to do what they are doing. Some only know how to operate the shuttle, and some only know how to join yarn. They can do their jobs with their eyes closed, but they don't know anything else. After leaving the factory, they can only do manual labor. So the vast majority of them are there receiving low wages and continuing to wait and see.
I don't mind the low salary, since I don't do any work anyway.
The factories in Suzhou were in meetings all day long, discussing how to motivate workers and reform management.
The snake gourd shed in courtyard number 37 has been demolished; we're going to plant some cabbage and eggplant in the future.
Everyone actually has some surplus food, so growing those vegetables is just a pastime.
Zhuang Chaoying was very serious and was promoted to Dean of Students in the high school affiliated with the university.
Shortly after taking office, the Education Commission issued a notice requiring that, while prohibiting early romantic relationships between boys and girls, the boundaries between genders should be broken down to allow students of the opposite sex to have normal interactions...
The teachers at the affiliated high school were now extremely worried.
Early romantic relationships were already quite common. The academic atmosphere at the affiliated high school wasn't great, so everyone was quite active and it just so happened to be adolescence. It was perfectly normal for a few, a dozen, or even dozens of people to be attracted to each other!
This notice from the Education Commission is like adding fuel to the fire, and it's the kind of notice that demands "both, and more, and even more." Zhuang Chaoying even wants the leaders of the Education Commission to come down and manage the students.
Li Yiming sourced the goods from Shanghai and sold them at a small shop. However, he saw someone in Shanghai buying handmade sweaters, so he bought the designs and paid a deposit. After returning, he asked Huang Ling and Song Ying if they would like to knit sweaters.
Of course, both of them were happy to do so. With nothing to do at work, they needed something to pass the time.
As the dean of studies, Zhuang Chaoying needed to deal with the instructions from her superiors, so she arranged for the school to have mixed-gender students sit together, with students sitting next to each other of the same sex, but students sitting in front of and behind each other could be of the opposite sex.
However, in order to prevent early romantic relationships, Zhuang Chaoying arranged a duty roster, with the homeroom teacher and the academic affairs office teachers taking turns to stand near the bicycle shed to see if any boys and girls were going to and from school together, or behaving intimately after school. Anyone found doing so would be called in for a talk.
Zhuang Tunan was finally able to borrow the books from the library. He happily showed them to Zhuang Xiaoting and Lin Dongzhe.
Zhuang Xiaoting was very happy. Although she could watch it at school, the junior high school didn't allow her to borrow it. Being able to watch it at home was also great.
Lin Dongzhe looked at it and decided to start writing a serial.
Soon, 'Budding Sprout' started sending sample copies to Lin Dongzhe, one per month, updating faster than the school library. Before the school's copy was even available for borrowing, Lin Dongzhe had already shown it to Zhuang Xiaoting, and then Wu Shanshan took it to read.
After Zhuang Xiaoting and Wu Shanshan finished reading and returned the magazine, Song Ying also picked it up and read it. She found that the articles in the magazine were quite good, and she could find many things she wanted to say but couldn't say in the magazine, which resonated with her.
Huang Ling, being observant, noticed that Wu Shanshan was going to Lin Dongzhe's room more and more frequently. Sometimes she would go three or four times a day to borrow and return books, and if she brought a schoolbag, she would stay at Lin Dongzhe's room for more than half an hour.
Wu Shanshan does read the books Zhuang Tunan borrows, but she only borrows them after Zhuang Xiaoting has finished reading them, so Zhuang Xiaoting usually delivers them to Wu Shanshan.
Among the people around the courtyard, only Wu Shanshan and Zhuang Xiaoting had a slightly better relationship; Xiaomin, on the other hand, wasn't close to anyone.
While Zhuang Chaoying was home alone, Huang Ling told her about Wu Shanshan's meeting with Lin Dongzhe, "Do you think the two of them might...?"
Zhuang Chaoying shook her head. "Dongzhe is still young, only in the first year of junior high school. He should be fine. But Wu Shanshan might not think so. However, we shouldn't interfere in this matter. First, they are neighbors, and saying too much would seem like meddling. Second, if the two of them are innocent or even naive, we might make things worse by revealing it to them."