Chapter 43

“To write a name, you even need the household registration book. What did you even learn in school?” Grandma Li came in, took the key from her belt, opened the box, and handed a note from the household registration book to Mingbei. “This is the name your older brother wrote for Zhenzhen. Just write it like this. I need to put the household registration book away. If you lose it later, it will be a big problem.”

Zhenzhen looked at the neat characters “Li Mingzhen” on the note and couldn’t help but praise, “As expected of my older brother, look how well he writes.” She glanced at Mingbei and couldn’t help but sigh, “If it weren’t for the fact that our older, second, and third brothers aren’t at home, I really wouldn’t want you to teach me to write. With your dog-like handwriting, I’m afraid you’ll lead me down the wrong path.”

“As long as you can write, what more do you want?” Mingbei took out a pencil and carefully copied the name Li Mingzhen several times, then pushed the paper in front of Zhenzhen. “Try writing it yourself. I’ll tell you, at the beginning, you might not write well, but just practice more. I didn’t practice much back then because I was reluctant to waste paper, otherwise my handwriting would definitely be better than my older brother’s. It’s just that I’m really good at managing life.”

Zhenzhen gave Mingbei a look with a black line on her face, not knowing where to begin her criticism. Grandma Li, sitting on the kang, couldn’t hold back any longer. She knocked her pipe and sneered, “Come on, from a young age, your handwriting has been like a flying bird. You couldn’t even sit still for two rounds of copying texts. You never knew how to properly store books and notebooks in your bag, always stuffing them carelessly. You’re the one who wastes notebooks the most, using half of it and then the pages start falling out, and you still have the nerve to say you didn’t want to waste paper.”

Mingbei’s past was exposed, and he turned red with shame. He glanced at the laughing Zhenzhen and couldn’t help but ask Grandma Li, “Grandma, Zhenzhen is laughing at me. Can’t you at least defend my image as an older brother?”

“In front of your sister, you already have no image,” Grandma Li gave him a side glance. “Do you even look like an older brother?” She put down her pipe, got off the kang, took out a clean calendar sheet from the cabinet, grabbed Zhenzhen’s new textbooks, and sat back on the kang to wrap the books.

Zhenzhen hurriedly reminded, “Grandma, I want the white side on the outside, and the pictures should be on the inside. The colorful ones are too flashy and not nice-looking.”

“You’re such a little smarty, others are afraid the book covers aren’t fancy enough, and you’re complaining it’s ugly.” Though she said this, Grandma Li still followed Zhenzhen’s request and placed the white side on the outside.

Zhenzhen sat at the desk, writing her name one stroke at a time. After six years without picking up a pen, her hands were still small, making writing a little hard. She carefully wrote her name, tilted her head to look at it, and was dissatisfied, “It’s too ugly.”

Mingbei looked at Zhenzhen’s handwriting and then at his own, in disbelief, “How is it that your handwriting is so beautiful just from writing once? Have you secretly practiced?”

“Yes!” Zhenzhen smiled. “When you were teaching me to recognize characters, I wrote on your old notebooks.”

Hearing her grandson’s exclamation, Grandma Li quickly got off the kang to take a look. She saw that “Li Mingzhen” on the paper, although a bit large, was neat and straight, looking very pleasing. Grandma Li smiled and patted Zhenzhen’s head, “Our big treasure is clever, look at how well she writes. She’s definitely university material.”

She glanced at Mingbei’s handwriting and rolled her eyes, “If you can get into high school, I’ll be satisfied.”

Mingbei felt a bit disheartened, but then he remembered Yu Wanqiu, and his previous restlessness calmed down. “Grandma, I will definitely get into high school. I still want to work at the hydrolysis plant.”

“Alright, that’s not bad, finally some ambition,” Grandma Li nodded, then casually added, “But I think you still need to practice your handwriting. If the teacher can’t read your exam paper, even if you do well, it’s useless.”

Zhenzhen gave Grandma Li a thumbs-up in admiration, “Grandma, even though you never went to school, you really understand how school works. My third brother said the same thing when he came back last time.”

“Of course,” Grandma Li said proudly, sitting back on the kang and continuing to wrap the book covers. “I watched your brothers grow up. I know all about their school exams.”

Mingbei sighed dejectedly, “Then I’ll copy an extra text every day.”

“Don’t just copy it. You need to write each character clearly, one stroke at a time,” Grandma Li gave him a piece of advice, then added with another jab, “By the way, your handwriting doesn’t even compare to Zhenzhen’s. Later, you can teach your sister the Chinese and math words. Once she learns, she can write them on the book cover herself. Look at your notebook, it’s so messy and dirty. If you make Zhenzhen’s book cover dirty, she definitely won’t like it.”

Thinking about how Zhenzhen was always meticulous about cleanliness, Mingbei feared he might get another scolding from Grandma Li if he ruined her book cover. He hurriedly agreed, took out Zhenzhen’s new word book, and started teaching her how to write the required words for the book cover.

Although they were very familiar Chinese characters, Zhenzhen still wrote very carefully. In her past life, she had used mechanical pencils to write, and in middle school, she used ballpoint pens. Her handwriting was only average—neither bad nor particularly beautiful. So, she admired people with good handwriting. When she was in college, she even enrolled in a calligraphy class, hoping to improve her skills. Unfortunately, back then she couldn’t focus, always busy with watching dramas or playing mobile games, and while she attended classes every week, she didn’t practice much, so there wasn’t much progress.

After being reborn, she started attending primary school again. Although the content of the textbooks was simple, Zhenzhen still looked forward to school. She realized the happiness of going to school only after graduation, and at the very least, she wanted to practice writing beautiful characters.

As the start of the school year drew near, Grandma Li called the whole family to get up early. Wang Sufen went to the kitchen to make hand-pulled egg noodles for Zhenzhen, and Grandma Li used an old wooden comb to carefully comb through Zhenzhen’s freshly washed hair. Zhenzhen’s hair was black and smooth, shining like black satin, and Grandma Li tied two braids and fastened them with red ribbons.

Standing up and taking two steps back, Grandma Li looked at Zhenzhen’s outfit with satisfaction: a pale yellow floral shirt on top, a red cardigan sweater over it, and light blue khaki pants on the bottom—she looked great.

“My granddaughter is so pretty, the clothes sent by your grandpa are also beautiful. We can’t buy such good clothes here,” Grandma Li smiled and nodded. She then opened a box, took out an apple, and put it in Zhenzhen’s schoolbag. “Wash up and eat after class.”

Zhenzhen happily stroked the red apple, which was rare to see in Beicha, where wild fruits were abundant but big apples were hard to come by. “Grandma, where did this apple come from?”

“I bought it in the street, just delivered yesterday, and there were only ten in total.” Grandma Li said, “I’ll give you six, and Meat Bun will get four. Later, I’ll have your sister scrape it and feed him.”

Zhenzhen blushed a little, feeling a bit embarrassed. “I can eat the fruits from the mountain. This apple is so good; let Meat Bun have more. Grandma, you should try one too, it’s so sweet.”

“Grandma can’t bite it!” Grandma Li smiled and rubbed her granddaughter’s cheek, then urged her to quickly eat. “Your mother made noodles for you, hurry up and eat, don’t be late for your first day of school.”

After breakfast, Li Muwu carefully took his big bicycle down from the wall in the warehouse, proudly patting the seat. “Daughter, get on, I’ll take you to school.”

Zhenzhen gave him a deadpan look as she glanced at the nearby Steel Elementary School, only a few hundred meters away. “It’s so close, I can just walk there, no need to take the bike.”

“That’s not going to work. School is different from usual,” Li Muwu insisted as he lifted Zhenzhen onto the back seat of the bike and excitedly pedaled toward the school. Grandma Li and Wang Sufen, concerned that Zhenzhen might not adapt to school, exchanged a look and followed behind to see her off.

At that time, different families had varying levels of importance placed on their children’s education. Some hoped their children could study more and get a good job later, perhaps in factories or other secure positions. Others thought school was just a place to keep their children occupied, a place where teachers would keep them in check and save them from making trouble at home. Therefore, on the first day of school, some children came on their own with backpacks, while others were escorted by their parents. But it was rare for a family like Zhenzhen’s, with all three members coming to see her off and pushing a bike, to be such a spectacle.

Li Muwu carefully parked the bike next to the gate and took Zhenzhen off the seat. Neighbors who lived nearby had already heard that the Li family had bought a new manganese steel bicycle and greeted them, saying, “Oh, you’re taking your daughter to school and brought out your bike.” Some farther neighbors, seeing the rare manganese steel bike, came up to touch it curiously.

Li Muwu, proud yet reluctant, grew anxious as people kept touching his bike. “Alright, alright, stop touching it, what if the paint comes off?” Hearing that the paint might be damaged, the crowd finally took a step back. The bike was expensive, and if it got ruined, they couldn’t afford to replace it.

Li Muwu was not at ease with so many people surrounding his bike. He thought about riding it back home and coming back on foot. However, Grandma Li wasn’t paying attention to him; she had already taken Zhenzhen into the school.

Steel Elementary School, though called a school, was just a row of houses. There were only four rooms in total: one was the teacher’s office, and the other three were classrooms for grades one to six. The playground was small, with only a flagpole, and no other facilities. Nevertheless, the students happily ran around the flagpole.

Most of the children who attended this school were from the southern part of the railway line, and there weren’t many school-age children. The school didn’t have many rooms, so each classroom had blackboards on both sides. Grades one and two shared a classroom. The teacher would first teach the first graders, assign homework, and then go to the other side to teach the second graders. There were no subject-specific teachers; one teacher taught all subjects, and the teacher handled two grades. As a result, there were only three people in total: the teacher and the principal.

The classroom was filled with the oldest style of long desks and chairs. The second graders were playing on the playground, while seven or eight first graders sat inside the classroom. Zhenzhen looked around and chose a seat in the middle of the third row. After placing her schoolbag down, Grandma Li whispered to her, “Sit here. When the stove is on in winter, it’s placed in the aisle, and if you sit too close, it’s too hot, too far, and it’s too cold. This spot is just right.”

In Beicha, the winter temperatures could drop below -30°C, and the family’s stove burned red pinewood all day long, making it so hot that Zhenzhen couldn’t even wear her sweater. But school was different from home. Although the stove stayed on all day, no one tended it in the evening. Coal was used to keep the fire going, but in the morning, it was revived. Even though the fire didn’t go out, the warmth accumulated during the day was mostly gone by morning, so many students’ hands and feet would freeze in the classroom. Both Ming Nan and Ming Bei had attended this school, so Grandma Li knew the situation well.

Zhenzhen took out the rag Grandma Li had prepared for her, washed it at the water basin outside, and came back to wipe her desk and chair clean.

“Grandma, Mom, I’ll start class soon, you should go back.” Zhenzhen put her schoolbag in the cubby and was about to see Grandma Li and Wang Sufen out.

Grandma Li looked around and saw that many children were already coming in, so reluctantly nodded. “Alright, I’ll go tell your teacher, so she can keep an eye on you. You’re so young, what if someone bullies you?”

After chatting a bit with Wang Sufen, Grandma Li left. Zhenzhen watched them head to the office and couldn’t help but feel helpless. Though she was a year younger than the other kids, no one in the classroom could beat her in terms of physical ability. So, she wasn’t worried about being bullied.

Zhenzhen was fair-skinned and cute, dressed in beautiful clothes. The first-grade homeroom teacher, Wang Xiaoqing, noticed her as soon as she entered. Wang Teacher tapped the desk with a teaching rod and tried to speak louder, “Class, quiet down.”

It was their first time in the classroom, and although the children were lively at home, they all had a sense of awe toward the school. Upon hearing the teacher, everyone quickly quieted down. The second-grade students, curious, turned around to look at these slightly immature first-graders.

Wang Teacher introduced herself and wrote her name on the blackboard. When it came to roll call, even though she had called it three or four times, the responses were still mixed. When it was Zhenzhen’s turn, a clear and crisp “Here!” made Wang Teacher breathe a sigh of relief. Looking up at her, Zhenzhen was neat, dressed beautifully, with fair skin, big eyes, and slightly chubby cheeks, looking very cute.

A smile appeared on Wang Teacher’s face. After roll call, she taught the class and found that Zhenzhen was the quickest to respond, so she immediately appointed her as the class monitor and gave her the important task of collecting homework.

Since Zhenzhen started school, Grandma Li felt the house was empty. Though Meat Bun, the chubby grandson, was also cute, she felt a sense of loss without her beautiful granddaughter around. So, Grandma Li began to visit the school more often, trying to catch the end of school. But she often misjudged the time, either arriving too early before school was out or too late when the children had already gone back to class, which frustrated her.

After counting the money her son sent home and the family’s industrial coupons, Grandma Li gritted her teeth and bought an alarm clock from the street. She asked Ming Bei to teach her how to read the time. With this, Grandma Li was finally able to arrive at school on time, happily bringing her granddaughter a pot of honey water and keeping an eye out to see if any naughty boys were bothering her precious granddaughter.

After Zhenzhen started school, she found her days very fulfilling. When the teacher was teaching second-grade students, Zhenzhen would turn around to listen, especially enjoying the Chinese lessons. The textbooks of that era were very interesting, making Zhenzhen feel incredibly new and curious. After school, she would finish her homework first, then seriously copy the texts several times. Her diligence inspired Ming Bei to catch up, and by the time of the final exams, his grades had risen above 90 points.

Winter came quickly. In the past, Zhenzhen would hibernate at home during winter and rarely go out. But now that she had school, she couldn’t be lazy like before.

Zhenzhen wore a thick cotton jacket, with a leather coat over it. On her feet, she wore homemade sheepskin boots made from the yellow sheepskin she had once used in her attempt to end her life by slamming into a door. Inside the boots was a thick layer of rabbit fur, making them incredibly warm.

The cold temperature in Beicha was unbearable with just a cotton jacket, so anyone with some belongings had a leather coat. Some of these were made from hides gathered from hunting, while others who couldn’t hunt could still trade food for one.

Wearing a thick leather hat and gloves, Zhenzhen went out with her school bag. Since the weather turned cold, she had stopped letting Grandma Li send her to school or accompany her during the day. She didn’t want Grandma Li to fall while walking through the thick snow, which reached her knees.

However, walking with each step sinking into the snow was exhausting. Zhenzhen scanned the area with her consciousness and, seeing that there was no one around, carefully moved forward in ten-meter steps. Within a minute, she had reached the school.

She stomped the snow off her feet, wiped down the desks and chairs as usual, and then sat at her seat. Today was the final exam. Once the morning exams were over, the children of Steel Elementary would have a four-month winter break.

The principal stood at the door, shaking a bell, and Teacher Wang entered holding the rolled-up exam papers. She distributed the Chinese and math papers in one go. As soon as Teacher Wang had finished handing out the second grade papers and sat down to take a sip of water, Zhenzhen had already stood up.

Teacher Wang thought the ink on Zhenzhen’s paper had smudged and quickly asked, “What’s wrong? Is there something unclear?”

“I’ve finished, and I want to hand in my paper!” Zhenzhen walked to the podium and handed over her paper, smiling sweetly at Teacher Wang. “Teacher Wang, can I leave now?”

“Uh…” Teacher Wang was caught off guard. It had only been about ten minutes since the papers were handed out. Had Zhenzhen really finished already? She quickly glanced at the two papers. The paper was neat, the handwriting was clear, and all the math problems were correct. Teacher Wang couldn’t help but smile and became even more affectionate toward Zhenzhen: as expected, she was her favorite student—her mind was sharp.

“Alright, you can go now, but take it slow on the way home,” Teacher Wang reminded her, sitting down at the podium, pulling out a red pen, and marking Zhenzhen’s papers with a score of 100.

Zhenzhen put on her school bag, grabbed her hat, and, after leaving the school and walking to an empty area, her thoughts moved, and she instantly vanished from the spot.

After gaining the skill of teleportation, Zhenzhen hadn’t gained any new abilities over the years, but the ones she had kept improving as she grew older. Now, the map in her mind had expanded, and her teleportation distance had also increased.

In the blink of an eye, Zhenzhen appeared in an alley of Jia City, more than a thousand kilometers away. She pulled her hat down a bit and tightly wrapped a scarf around her mouth and nose before stepping out of the alley. Feeling the gold coins in her pocket, Zhenzhen planned to exchange them for money and tickets. With the Cultural Revolution approaching in May, it would be risky to do anything then, so she figured it would be better to exchange more now for future needs.

She extended her consciousness over Jia City and quickly spotted a few people trading goods in a nearby alley. Several others, carrying grain and chickens, were also heading that way. It seemed like this was the default barter spot in Jia City.

Although the country had prohibited people from selling goods, in situations where supplies were insufficient, barter was still allowed. Many people took advantage of this to sell grain and wild goods. As long as they didn’t get reported, there was usually no problem.

Zhenzhen entered the alley and circled around, heading toward a man whose bulging chest suggested he had a lot of money. She quietly asked, “Do you want gold?”

The man looked at the child standing by his waist in surprise. From the voice, it seemed like a young girl, and he was a little annoyed. “Whose child dares to play around here? Go home quickly.”

“I really have it!” Zhenzhen stopped him, lowered her voice, and said, “Grain or gold bars, I have both at home. An adult in my family is sick and can’t go out, so I’m here to exchange money for medicine.”

The man, concerned that she might be tricked since she was so young, saw that she spoke with clear reasoning and said, “I don’t want gold. It’s useless for eating or drinking. I want to buy some fine grain. The child at my house is sick, and he won’t eat coarse grain.”

Zhenzhen slightly frowned, “I have fine grain, both white rice and white flour. However, because an adult at home is sick, the rice and wheat I harvested haven’t been milled. I can only give you unhulled rice, but the price will definitely be cheaper than what the grain shop sells.”

The man seemed to have some knowledge and didn’t find it too troublesome. He eyed Zhenzhen suspiciously. “Are you sure you can sell me this cheap grain? Don’t try to fool me!”

Zhenzhen smiled, “I’ll exchange the money for the goods. If you can’t see the grain, you won’t pay. There’s nothing to worry about.”

The man thought about it and agreed. He quickly discussed the price with her, which was one-third cheaper than the grain shop’s price, without requiring grain tickets.

“Alright, it’s settled. How many pounds do you have? I’ll buy more.”

Zhenzhen smiled, “How many pounds do you want?”

“Fifty pounds?” The man asked cautiously.

“Sure!” Zhenzhen readily agreed.

Seeing Zhenzhen’s quick response, the man assumed her family ran a farm. Otherwise, it would be hard to find such a large amount of unhulled rice and flour. He quickly calculated his own stock and added, “Fifty pounds of both rice and flour. I don’t have enough money, so I’ll give you some industrial tickets for the difference.”

Zhenzhen, who was already thinking of exchanging some tickets for daily supplies, immediately replied, “You can give me the tickets first. Any kind of ticket is fine.”

“You’re a smart one,” the man said with a half-smile, nodding. “When should we exchange?”

Zhenzhen paused, using her consciousness to scan the area. She quickly found a secluded spot and softly said, “The grain is too much for me to carry. You go home and get a grain cart. We’ll meet in half an hour by the western forest.”

“Alright, it’s settled.” The man nodded, about to leave but then stopped. He turned back to look at Zhenzhen. “A little kid like you isn’t afraid I’ll take your grain?”

A flash of coldness passed through Zhenzhen’s eyes. “If I didn’t have the ability, I wouldn’t be out here, would I?”

The man immediately felt a chill down his spine, shivering uncontrollably. He didn’t dare to tease her anymore and hurriedly went home to prepare the cart.