In Class A, Grade 5, Han Zhaodi was doing her homework when the study committee member came over and told her that the head teacher asked her to go to the teacher's office.
Is the teacher going to urge her to pay tuition again
Han Zhaodi panicked, put down the pen in her hand, and walked towards the office nervously, her steps as if filled with lead.
When they reached the office door, they could no longer move. Their family was poor. They were fined a large sum of money when their second and third sisters were born. Later, the fourth sister was given to their eldest uncle. Now their mother had given birth to a fifth sister, and their grandmother was thinking about giving their younger sister away every day.
The tuition fees she and her two younger sisters owed were delayed again and again, and she didn't dare to tell her parents about the tuition fees. Her grandmother had always disapproved of her sisters studying. If she asked for money from her family, her grandmother would definitely make her drop out of school. She could only delay it one day at a time, thinking that even if she had to drop out, it would be good for her to study for one more day.
There were only a few days left in the semester, and the tuition fee could no longer be delayed. Thinking of this, she mustered up her courage and shouted, "Report!"
"Han Zhaodi, come in."
The head teacher of Grade 5A is named Han, also from Hanjia Village. He is Han Zhaodi's nephew and knows Han Zhaodi's family situation very well. If it were other students, there would be no way they could have allowed the tuition to be in arrears for such a long time.
Han Zhaodi entered the office and stood in front of the teacher's desk with her head down. Teacher Han looked at the student in front of him and sighed secretly. This child studies hard and ranks among the best in grades. If his family conditions are good, he will not have to worry about not being able to enter university.
Teacher Han looked at her and tried to lower his voice: "Han Zhaodi, please pay your tuition as soon as possible."
Han Zhaodi could only nod, but she felt very sad. She didn't know whether her family would allow her to continue her studies even if she paid the tuition.
Teacher Han saw her nod and continued, "You will be taking the entrance exam to junior high school in a few days. With your grades, it won't be a problem for you to get into the experimental class of Shuangji Middle School. What do you think?"
"Teacher, I, I probably won't be able to take the junior high school entrance exam."
Han Zhaodi said in a low and uncertain voice that she wanted to study and go to college like her younger sister, but the situation at home did not allow her to have any wild thoughts.
She is already thirteen years old and has dropped out of school, but she can still help with some housework at home to reduce the burden on the family. Her two younger sisters are too young to help much at home. If possible, she would like to exchange her dropouts for the opportunity for her two younger sisters to study.
"You are such a good student, why don't you take the junior high school entrance exam? If you don't go to school, what else can you do at such a young age?"
Teacher Han said this earnestly, frowning. It would be a pity if this child didn't study. After a long silence, he said in a bad tone: "You should go back to class first."
Han Zhaodi pursed her lips, lowered her head, quietly walked into the classroom, sat in her seat, picked up a pen, and thought that this might be her last chance to learn, so she kept doing exercises and copying words.
Her deskmate Guo Jinghui was sleeping on the table. He was awakened by her movements and mocked her impatiently: "The teacher is urging you to pay tuition again, right? Han Zhaodi, you said your family is so poor that you can't even pay the tuition. Why are you still going to school? You can just drop out. The teacher urges you every day like a debt collector. We are annoyed if you are not annoyed."
"What's it got to do with you?" Han Zhaodi yelled at him fiercely with red eyes.
"Don't you know that you look so poor? It hurts the eyes." Guo Jinghui glanced at her and said.
"My family is poor, but is being poor against the law? The police won't care if I don't eat or drink yours." Han Zhaodi stood up and said loudly, "If you think looking at me hurts your eyes, then don't look at me. No one will let you look at me."
"You're swaying in front of my eyes, how can I not look?" Guo Jinghui choked and said angrily.
"This is the village primary school, not the school run by your family. I love staying here, so I'll stay here. If you don't want to see me, just get out." Han Zhaodi said angrily.
"Why should I leave?"
"Then why do you want me to drop out? I can drop out if I want to. You can't do anything about it."
"I don't like your poor appearance."
"I still don't like you."
The monitor couldn't stand it anymore and shouted, "The teacher is here, shut up."
Han Zhaodi glared at him hatefully and sat down with a thud.
Guo Jinghui climbed onto the table, cursing.
...
Han Zhaodi was worried but she did not show it in front of her two sisters. She went home to feed the pigs, carry firewood and cook as usual. When she finished her work and was about to do her homework, she saw her father holding her dictionary and muttering to himself. She was puzzled and frowned and glared at her father several times.
Han Ze noticed her scrutiny and waved at her while flipping through the dictionary. "Zhao Di, come over here and take a look. What's a good name?"
Han Zhaodi thought her father was going to give her sister a name, thinking that her sister would be given to someone else, so what if he gave her a name? She still couldn't call her by her name, right
He said angrily: "I won't watch it."
Han Ze smiled indifferently and said in a gentle tone: "Your names are not good, I plan to change your names. Whatever name you like, we can change it to that name, okay?"
Han Zhaodi pursed her lips, her eyes moist, "Why change the name? I'm used to it, I won't change it."
Because of this name, she has been laughed at by countless people since she was a child. She cried and made a fuss, but her family just didn't agree with her changing her name. It seemed that if she did so, her mother would really give birth to a younger brother, and even her two younger sisters were named Pan Di and Dai Di.
"You have to change it even if you're used to it. By the way, I'll also give you fourth and fifth younger sisters names so they can be registered." Even though his daughter didn't want to change her name, Han Ze was very persistent.
"Didn't you give the fourth sister to your uncle? The fifth sister's grandmother also said she wanted to give her away. So what if she was given a name?" Han Zhaodi disagreed.
"Once we get your fourth sister back, we can use the name." Han Ze said in a good-tempered manner, "Besides, who told you to give the fifth sister away?"
Han Zhaodi suddenly opened her eyes wide, looked at her father in disbelief, and stammered, "You, you mean..."
"That's what I mean. Not only will I not give the fifth brother to anyone else, I will also take your fourth sister back." Han Ze smiled. "Your old blind grandfather told our family that you won't have a brother. So forget it. Dad has come to terms with it and wants to raise you sisters well."
"… "
Han Zhaodi floated into the house, and when she reached her parents' room, she looked at her mother lying in bed in confinement, and murmured, "Mom, is there something wrong with my dad's brain?"
Otherwise, why would we change their names, bring the fourth sister back, and not give the fifth sister away
"How can you talk like that?" Wu Hongmei glared at her, but thinking about what the man had done in the past few days, she was a little unsure what was wrong with him. Was he hit by having another daughter
Han Ze didn't care what his family thought. Before going to bed, he announced the new names of several children.
Han Zhaodi changed her name to Han Yao; Han Pandyi changed her name to Han Min; Han Daidi changed her name to Han Jin; as for the fourth and fifth children, they were not taken out yet, and he would look them up in the dictionary slowly.
Mrs. Han was very dissatisfied. The names Zhaodi, Pandi, and Daidi were very good. If they had a younger brother in the future, maybe they could bring good luck to the younger brother. How could they change them? She firmly disagreed.
Han Ze said honestly, "Mom, since I don't have the fate of a son, why should I take care of a younger brother? Don't ruin the luck of the children, so the name must be changed."
Mrs. Han was even more dissatisfied: "I wanted to adopt your third brother's son Chenchen to you, why don't you have a brother?"
Han Ze was helpless: "I don't have a son, so if I adopt Chenchen, wouldn't that harm him? Then the third brother will fight me to death, right?"
Mrs. Han: "..."
Han Ze continued, "Besides, mother knows about the third daughter-in-law. Would she be willing to adopt her child to me? So mother, don't think too much about it... A son-in-law is half a son. I have five girls and two and a half sons. Why should I adopt someone else's and make everyone unhappy?"
Mrs. Han: "..."
Han Zhaodi: “…”
Han Zhaodi was very conflicted and wanted to tell her father that feudal superstition was not credible, but she inexplicably liked her superstitious father.
As for whether she had a younger brother, she thought, even if she didn't have a younger brother, couldn't the five sisters provide for their parents in their old age