Chapter Seventeen: My Daughter Goes to School

With his peers guaranteeing to help sell any unsold goods, Lu Kun became much bolder in his subsequent purchases, acquiring several varieties of fruits and vegetables. It wasn’t until after eleven in the morning that Lu Kun finally packed up his stall. Most of his stock had sold, and the rest he divided among his fellow vendors to sell on his behalf, planning to settle accounts with them the next morning.

Ever since he secured a steady supply of goods, Lu Kun had grown busier than ever, sleeping fewer than five hours a night. Yet as he watched the family’s savings steadily mount, he felt the exhaustion was worth it—no matter how bone-tired he became each day, he had no complaints.

After all, when you’re young, you should fight while you’re awake!

In just a little over two months, their savings had grown from less than ten yuan to more than eight thousand seven hundred. It was nothing short of a miracle! Even though Lu Kun had mentally prepared himself, he was still left dumbfounded. Husband and wife clung together, sharing their joy in a tight embrace.

“Daddy, I skipped a grade!”

The eldest daughter, her little pigtails bouncing, wore an expression of pure pride.

Indeed, as soon as life at home eased a little, Lu Kun and his wife sent their eldest to the village primary school. In barely a month, the little girl had already skipped from kindergarten to first grade.

Lu Kun realized that both of his daughters were bright. In his previous life, the eldest had not achieved much in school, mostly because the family was too poor to support her education. She had made many sacrifices, even giving up opportunities to ensure her younger sister could study.

“Daddy, what about me? The teacher gave me a little red flower too…”

The younger daughter was as clever as can be! After her sister started school, she found herself at loose ends. With Lu Kun and Liu busily working all day, they had little time to mind her, so the younger girl was left to roam free.

Most of the remaining children in the village were either already in school or too young to play. The younger daughter had a fiery temper and a strong sense of pride; she refused to play with children younger than herself and came running to Lu Kun in tears, insisting she wanted to go to school with her sister.

Unable to refuse, Lu Kun told her that as long as the teacher agreed, he and her mother would agree too.

“Hm? The teacher let you go to school?” Lu Kun was surprised.

Truth be told, he would have preferred both girls in school, since the busy household left little time for childcare. Besides, in small village schools, the bar for skipping grades was set low: if a child could score above eighty on both the previous years’ language and math exams, and if one brought the teachers and principal a small gift, skipping a grade was almost guaranteed.

“No, the teacher only said that if I didn’t cry, I could sit in on lessons with Caili and the others.”

The younger daughter pouted, a mix of indignation and disappointment.

Lu Kun was puzzled. “Tell me, then, how did you end up going to school if the teacher didn’t agree?”

Caili, whom the younger daughter mentioned, was a well-regarded, sensible girl in the village. Lu Kun remembered her family had been doing well, and that he himself had benefited from the help of Old Wang the Cripple, a kind neighbor. When Lu Kun’s parents died and his sister married off, he often went hungry. It was Old Wang’s frequent generosity that saw him through those hard times. Though not related by blood, Lu Kun felt closer to Old Wang than to any uncle by blood.

Old Wang had married late—at forty-three—and tragically lost his wife in childbirth when Caili was born.

“Hmph! Daddy, you’re so annoying!” The clever younger daughter, indignant, went off to find Liu.

“What’s going on?” Lu Kun, at a total loss, turned to his eldest for an explanation.

After her account, Lu Kun didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. How mischievous his younger daughter was! She had made a ruckus at the school gate for over a month, driving the teachers to despair. Every day during class time, she would wail and shout outside, demanding to go to school with her sister.

When teachers came out to persuade her to wait a few years, she would cling to their legs and cry hysterically. She was just a little girl, and since she wasn’t officially a student, the teachers dared not scold or lay a hand on her, fearing any complaint to her parents would bring trouble.

The situation became a stalemate until several female teachers decided to consult the principal. The principal did not evade responsibility; instead, he met with the younger daughter and gave her three rules: she must not disrupt class, must finish her assignments on time, and must score above ninety on the midterm exam. Only if she met all three conditions would she be allowed to officially join the kindergarten class.

In other words, the younger daughter was now a probationary student.

She was brimming with confidence, thumping her small chest and making a promise to the principal. Yet, after only two or three classes, even the teachers who had once dreaded her outbursts at the gate began to look at her differently. She was remarkably bright—while other children struggled to memorize texts after a dozen readings, she could recite most of it after just one or two.

With the younger daughter allowed to attend class, Lu Kun felt a wave of relief. She was strong-willed for her age, often leaving Liu Liping exasperated. Only Lu Kun, relying on his former authority, could keep the little girl in check. He had little time for her with his busy work, so letting the teachers handle her at school suited him just fine.

As expected, that very evening the principal came to call. He was there to collect the younger daughter’s first semester trial tuition. Lu Kun was in town selling snails, but had already instructed Liu Liping to pay the fee if the principal came by.

The tuition was not expensive, though it had increased a bit to seven and a half yuan per term. The cost of books, however, was astonishing—just the language and math booklets cost six yuan, which pained Liu Liping deeply.

Though the family now had some money and life had improved, Liu Liping was still thrifty by habit and hadn’t loosened the reins on food and clothing. Besides, Lu Kun had instructed her to save, as they would need the money for something important; for now, they were not to pay back the old debts too conspicuously.

Liu Liping didn’t know what Lu Kun was planning, but she had always deferred to him on major family matters. After witnessing the dramatic changes in him over the past few months, her reliance on her husband grew deeper.

If he said to keep the money ready, she kept it ready. Saving was no bad thing.

Lu Kun asked her to save because he was laying the groundwork for a major plan—one that would determine whether the whole family could quickly escape the deep pit of rural poverty.

These past months, Lu Kun had worked day and night, all to quickly amass enough strength to snatch a small piece from the jaws of future financial giants.

It would be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. If missed, it would take even greater hardship to struggle free from the shallows of Peaceful Village.