Chapter 6 Chapter 5 Poor Parents in the World
I once saw a report that there was a woman in Anshan who only had a junior high school education. In order to send her son to college, she accompanied her son through the four-year courses from the third year of junior high school to the senior high school.The report was written very simply, but I felt extremely heavy after reading it, because I really can't imagine how much effort that parent put in for his son!
In fact, every family has its own book on the matter of going to college for their children, and each of these books is heavy.
The hard work of the dozen or so parents I recorded below is the epitome of the nearly 200 million families of middle school students in the country.
Li Qian and I used to be colleagues, and we used to work in an editorial department.When I saw her when I first transferred from the army, she was truly "a woman of thirty is a golden flower".In terms of charm, temperament, enthusiasm and frankness in dealing with people, she is enough to make her a modern unit "a flower".Li Qian's sons were brought up by her mother-in-law when they were in elementary school. Li Qian's husband was engaged in business abroad and was rarely at home, so she was a playful and frequent visitor.When I was in the newspaper office, Li Qian was a warm-hearted person. She took care of everyone who was sick, who got married, and who had conflicts between husband and wife.
"Let's be free." Li Qian sometimes laughed at herself.
It has been seven or eight years since Li Qing and I were separated due to work transfers.Last year, I bought a book in Xidan Book Building. A teacher wrote a book that day, and the advertisement said, "Why do more than 50% of the students taught by Mr. ××× get admitted to Peking University and Tsinghua University?" It is very attractive, then The scene of the book signing by a teacher made us who are engaged in literary creation feel ashamed, and the long queue waiting for the signing went straight to the entrance of the book building.When I bought a book from the third floor and went out of the library building, I suddenly saw a man and a woman in the queue on the first floor quarreling. The woman insisted on cutting in line, but the man in his fifties refused to let her do so, and the result became more and more violent .I walked over to have a look, and it turned out that the woman was Li Qian.As soon as Li Qian saw my old acquaintance, she was a little embarrassed to continue the farce with that man, only to see that her eyes were full of tears.
"Have we not seen each other for a few years? Don't you even recognize me?" Li Qian asked me in frustration.I'm an old acquaintance, and I told her bluntly: "Indeed. But I don't understand what made you, who never worried in the past, change yourself? Divorced?"
Li Qian said with blank eyes: "It's not much different from a divorce. But it's not a problem between me and that friend, but a problem between me and my son."
"What? Don't you never care about your son?"
"It used to be. But that kind of life has long since ended. Since four years ago, I have been like a horse with a rein in my head, and I have never had a day to rest. I wonder if I can survive my son's entrance exam next year... "Li Qian's tears came out again.Suddenly she raised her head abruptly and yelled at me: "Aren't you a writer, He Jianming? Why don't you write about the Chinese people's college entrance examination? Why don't you call for the reform of the college entrance examination model? Exam exam, what year will you not be dead? Exam parents? Is there really no other better way?"
Another interviewee who "forced" me to write about the college entrance examination.Of course, Li Qian belongs to a relatively typical situation:
Before her son entered the second year of junior high school, in her own words, she never took the child's study to heart.The mother-in-law and father-in-law helped her take care of the children's eating and drinking.But at a parents' meeting after the second year of junior high school, Li Qian was suddenly taken aback. It turned out that her child was dying, because her son's head teacher told her straightforwardly: Either let your son transfer to another school, or let him stay in the first grade!After listening to the teacher's words, Li Qian's brain was about to explode!She has always been a very face-saving person, and the difference in her son's grades has been so bad that other parents in the same class cannot tolerate it.It turned out that two of Li Qian's colleagues had children who were her son's classmates.Li Qian, who has always been strong, felt that the loss of face was unacceptable.The seriousness of the problem is yet to come. Li Qian's son, Xiaohu, has grown tall under the care of his grandparents since he was a child. At the age of fourteen, he was 1.70 meters tall and weighed over 120 catties. The little man "draws a map" on the quilt at home in the middle of the night from time to time.In addition, the young man looked like Li Qian, and the girls who were as precocious as him in the school attacked him violently-at most received a dozen "courtship letters" a week.
That day, Li Qian came home from the parents' meeting and waited for her son after school with a stomach full of anger.
After a while, the door was kicked open with a bang.Needless to say, Xiaohu must have returned home.
Li Qian looked at her son, who was half a head taller than herself, and his vigorous attire, she suddenly felt a little surprised, staring at her son: When did he grow into an adult?
"Mom, my sneakers are too outdated. I saw a new style in the Xinjiekou shopping mall. Give me 500 yuan tomorrow." Xiaohu didn't pay attention to his mother's expression at all, and opened his mouth as usual. just come.
"Sit down!" A very stern order.
The son was taken aback, looked at the abnormal mother, restrained himself for the time being, found a chair and sat down.
"Tell me, what's going on?"
The son pretended to be stupid: "Mom, what is so serious?"
"You, look at yourself: Bai has grown so tall! The whole class is second to last, except for the one who is congenitally ill, and you are the most capable in the class. Look, the three math exams add up. Up to 90 points!" Li Qian threw a few papers from the parent meeting on her son's face. "Don't you really know how to stand up for yourself? Ah, tell me, what's going on?"
The son has grown up so much that he has never seen his mother take him so seriously. Today is a conversation between the mother and the son, and the grandparents have been "quarantined" to some unknown place.Xiaohu felt very wronged, so he wiped his tears and snot and asked his mother: "I know that my grades are not good, but do you know how other parents catch their children to study? They help find teachers and tutors every day, and even accompany them every day. Let’s listen to the class together! Just let me go to my grandparents and don’t care about anything. You and dad are not geniuses. Can my grades keep up with others? If you can help me with half the thought of other parents, I will also be ranked first or second in the class!"
"Speaking! If you have that ability, I can go all out!" Seeing her son carrying her shoulders, Li Qian was furious.
"That's good. It's up to you." The son slammed the small door of his room, and there was a song "I'm very annoying, this world has too little true love and too little love" from an unknown singer. singing.
When Li Qian heard this, she became even more furious. "Little Tiger, come out!"
"Bang! Bang! Bang!" Li Qian only felt that her fist that knocked on the door hurt.
"Mom, what's the matter?" The half-headed son poked out from the crack of the door, and asked with his hands covering the earphones and his eyes widening.
Li Qian stepped forward and took off the earphones on Xiaohu's head: "From tonight, I will accompany you to do your homework!"
"Really?" Shocked and helpless, Xiaohu folded his body and took out the textbooks and homework from his schoolbag, pouted and said, "Let's start one by one."
This beginning allowed Li Qian to taste the ups and downs of being a mother of a high school student who is a tutor and a nanny.
The first thing that embarrasses Li Qian the most is that her mother, who has a "college" diploma, is basically blind to her son's high school mathematics, physics and chemistry questions, so it is imperative to hire a tutor for her son.She first went to the Beijing Normal University Teaching Center, where the students introduced one to her.When she entered the door the day before, Li Qian was dumbfounded: Why is she a female student?no.Don't be a tutor for a few days, it will be a big trouble for the son to make the little girl dizzy.The second time it was a boy.But after the first lesson, Xiaohu pointed out: This person can no longer be used.Li Qing asked why?The son answered very simply: He doesn't even understand what is a VCD and what is a DVD, and he keeps asking me whether my family is in charge of food.Mom, you said, can I let these poor students who have never even seen a train before going to college be my teachers?
well!According to your.Li Qian gave her son a white look and said, I will go to Peking University and Tsinghua tutoring center next week to ask if I can find a suitable one.
In the next week, in order to find an ideal tutor for her son, Li Qian took three and a half days off in a row, plus a taxi fare of 110 or 20 yuan each time she went to Peking University and Tsinghua University. Finally, on Saturday, a Tsinghua student who was said to be the "No. 1 student" in the college entrance examination in Hubei was invited to his home.
The level of the "No. 1 scholar" is indeed extraordinary, but his son's ability is difficult to adapt to the teaching speed of Tsinghua's top students.Especially when repeated reminders still didn't work, the "No. 1 Scholar" said impatiently, "Why are you so stupid"?What, I paid you to come to my house and let you scold me?The son quit and waved his hand at the "No. 1 Scholar": "You go! Go right away! Go back to Tsinghua University and be your "No. 1 Scholar"! I don't care about you!"
"Auntie, I came to your house for thirty-five minutes, rounded up, plus the travel expenses to go back, you can give me fifty yuan!" "Zhuangyuan" found Li Qian, asked for the reward he deserved, turned around and left .
Li Qian, who is a mother, is in a lot of trouble. She thought to herself: If I can’t get things done, the bonus of more than 200 yuan that I earned through hard work in one month was all “wasted” just to hire a tutor.
Unwilling to give up, Li Qian asked someone to go to a key middle school in Xicheng to hire a tutor. "As long as my son's grades can be made up, teacher, if you have anything to do, just tell me." After agreeing on the tutoring fee of 60 yuan per hour, Li Qiansheng was afraid that he would treat his "famous teacher" badly, so she hurriedly said something to please Di Zhan .
"It's nothing, I'm busy, I have to let your son come to my house for class." The famous teacher said.
"That's for sure, you are so famous, you definitely can't teach my child a student!" Li Qian said to others with a smile on her face.
"Then I agree to accept your son as a student. But I can only arrange it on Sunday night from 8:00 to 10:00." The famous teacher said.
"Okay, as long as you have time."
"Then we've settled for that."
Before leaving, Li Qian took out a long red box from her schoolbag, pretending to be very embarrassed and said to the "famous teacher": "This is a crystal necklace that was given to me when I attended a press conference. It’s worth money, wear it to see if it fits, and if it doesn’t fit, throw it away!”
The face of the "Famous Teacher" immediately expressed surprise: "Hey - such a beautiful gift, I like it too late! I don't even want to wear it."
After Li Qian pretended to "force" her to put away the crystal necklace, she hurriedly left the house of the "famous teacher", sighed to the sky, and said: "Five hundred yuan is gone again!"She touched the invoice for the crystal necklace that was still warmed by the waitress in the department store, and scolded herself: Ah Q!
Tutoring is settled.However, the class at the "famous teacher"'s house every Sunday night has become an extremely troublesome thing for Li Qian.It is a bit uneasy to let the son come and go by himself, and let the grandparents of the child accompany him, which is even more unrealistic.In the end, Li Qian decided to accompany her son.This company lasted for more than four months.Four times a month during these four months, forty-six times, it made Li Qian suffer.That "famous teacher" lives in Huozi Qi's family outside the North Fourth Ring Road, and Li Qian's family is next to Chang'an Street in the city. Not to mention that he has to back up twice on the way to a tutoring class. Li Qian who was waiting outside was in trouble. It was obviously inappropriate to enter the house, and it was not worthwhile to go back to her own home halfway.Helpless, every time Li Qian sent her son downstairs to the teacher's building, she would find a place to read books by herself, or conceive of the interviews at hand, or write news drafts or something, in short, she had to find something to kill the two. hours.The sharp-eyed Li Qian finally found a "good place" - there is a movie theater not far away with a bright entrance, and it really works after reading a book and drawing a few strokes.Once or twice, Li Qian really found that she could do what she wanted under bright lights.She didn't feel bored at all when her son finished the course from other people's house, and sometimes she even felt that there was not enough time!Three times or four times... Li Qian and her son each get what they need on such a night, and feel quite fulfilled.
But at the sixth time, something unexpected happened.
That day, when the son who had finished tutoring ran to the entrance of the movie theater to look for his mother on time at 10:10, his mother disappeared.
"Mom one!" Xiaohu began to look around, and then had to yell loudly.
"Xiao... Xiaohu, I... I'm here... Come and help me." In the dark, a voice with a different tone called for help.
Xiaohu ran over nervously, and saw that it was his mother who fell to the ground. "Mom, what's the matter with you? Who bullied you? Are you seriously injured? Mom, I'll help you up!"
Li Qian didn't dare to say anything to her son, she just said that she fell in the dark.After her son called a taxi to take them home, she couldn't help but went back to her room and cried sadly covering the quilt.She cried most of the night.What happened to her during my interview.Li Qiancai told me the truth with some embarrassment.
That day, as usual, Li Qian was reading a book alone under the light at the entrance of the movie theater. At some point, a sturdy young man appeared in front of her eyes.The young man took two movie tickets in his hand and said to her: "Sister, my friend didn't come tonight. There is an extra movie ticket here. It's a waste to throw it away. Go in and have a look. Hong Kong movies, kill time." .”
Before Li Qian had time to think about the sudden "friendliness", she was enthusiastically pulled into the theater by the other party, and sat down on the seat next to Xiao Dizi.The movie started immediately, and there were shots of the hero and heroine kissing and embracing continuously on the screen. There were not many people in the scene, and it was surprisingly quiet inside.Li Qian, who hadn't experienced this kind of scene in a movie theater for a long time, seemed to be infected by the emotions of the hero and heroine on the screen. The emotion that had cooled down deep in her heart poured into her veins unconsciously at this moment... At this moment , suddenly she felt a dishonest hand touch her waist, first stopped there without moving, and seeing that she didn't respond, she began to boldly move towards her upper body...
"What are you doing?" Li Qian asked the boy who gave her the ticket in a low voice but sternly, then stood up and walked out.
"Eldest sister, don't go!" Behind him, in the darkness, he called to her, grabbing the hem of her clothes.
Li Qian raised her hand and shook it fiercely, strode out of the theater.As she walked, she said to herself, "Damn!"
"Sister, I'm not a ghost, I'm your little dear!"
Li Qian was startled, and when she looked back, it turned out to be the scoundrel who wanted to do something in the dark.
"You, what do you want to do?" Li Qian used all her strength to raise her voice to scare off the other party, but her voice was not the slightest harsh, but trembling a little more.
"Hee hee, the elder sister is a regular visitor here, why bother to play tricks on the younger brother?" The rascal came over with a smile on his face, and said obscenities: "Why, do you think I am too young? Wrong, elder sister, maybe it is too dark, don't you Be careful if you miss your eyes. If you don’t believe me, you can reach out and touch it with your jade hand..."
Li Qian was so frightened that she took a few steps back.But she knew that she had to embolden herself at this moment, so she raised her voice and reprimanded: "You rascal, get out of here. Or I'll call someone!"
Under the dim light, the man was taken aback for a moment, maybe only then did he realize that he had really mistaken the person.Good women should also tidy up. "Damn, you don't want to work, but you can't waste my money for nothing!"
"You, what do you want to do?" Li Qian didn't understand the other party's intention for a while.
"What kind of garlic, give it! I can't spend half a day with you for nothing!"
It turned out that he wanted movie ticket money!Trembling, Li Qian quickly took out a ten-yuan bill from her pocket: "Here, I'll give you back the ticket money."
"Hey, you're fucking playing me like a monkey!" Before Li Qian could react, the other party's strong hand had already reached out to her, snatched her wallet and pushed her violently, pushing her to the side of the road... ...When Xiaohu called her, that bastard had actually just left.
Li Qian did not tell her son the whole process, but because of this terrible scene, Xiaohu's tutoring ended, and it was Li Qian who brought it up to her son on her own initiative.
Although Li Qian, who was so angry and resentful at being hired as a tutor, no longer wanted to hire someone to tutor her son, but she did not change her mind at all in order to improve her son's grades.As the college entrance examination approached, Li Qian's mind was exhausted.
After entering the third year of high school, Xiaohu's grades have obviously improved compared to before. Li Qian stood in front of her son, patted Xiaohu's head with a smile, and said unabashedly: "This is the result of our mother's joint efforts."
"The most important thing is that my internal factors are working." The son retorted unceremoniously.
Li Qian nodded and said, well, this should be affirmed.The problem is that your progress cannot guarantee the absolute certainty of the college entrance examination, and the "internal factor effect" must be further increased.By the way, I have specially formulated a "half-year catch-up plan" for you based on your middle-level level in the class, which is to use six months to catch up with two classmates in the class every month, two sixty-two , In this way, after half a year, one semester after entering the third year of high school, your grades can reach the top three levels in the class.This is called "quantitative catch-up method".
"Quantitative catch-up method?" Xiaohu, who was burying his head in eating, heard his mother's new trick, and didn't swallow half of the food in his mouth.After putting down his job, he went into his hut, not wanting to answer anyone.
Li Qian didn't care about her son.I thought to myself that the boy is very lazy, you don't need a whip to drive him behind, he won't lift his legs and walk forward quickly.
According to Li Qian's "reconnaissance" and "spying" experience: If you want to improve your child's grades, there are only two ways to go, one is to do more questions, and the other is to do the questions skillfully.
The first feasible path is to put it bluntly, to spend more time.For this reason, Li Qian made the most detailed arrangements for her son Xiaohu's work and rest time. After returning home from school every day, he first completed the homework assigned by the school, and then did 20 questions in the tutoring materials selected by her personally, one day each for arts and sciences.After getting up at six o'clock the next day, take ten minutes to wash up, and then spend half an hour to check the questions you did the night before, and then 15 minutes for breakfast.Allow five minutes of maneuver time to prepare for school.Of course, Saturday and Sunday are all-weather review and problem-solving, and the morning and evening hours are the same as usual.
Xiaohu expressed his acquiescence to the above arrangement, but he pointed out that all my time has been ruthlessly filled up. If I want to operate like a machine, the condition is that my personal behavior will also be completely mechanized.
"What do you mean?" Li Qian didn't understand her son's strange question.
"It's not interesting, you have arranged for me every second, I can't do what I should do like before, for example, you have to cool the hot milk for me when I have breakfast, and the egg shells must be peeled , similarly, before going to bed at night, I must also bring the footwashing water to my feet, and pour it out after I finish washing, and it is best to help me to bed—please don’t interrupt me, I should use music to hypnotize me or something .”
"You—!" Li Qian was so angry that she wanted to explode, but her son took over her again.
"Don't worry, if what I said is not a problem, then I will agree to your request, Mom." Xiaohu stared at his mother without blinking.
Li Qian let out a long sigh and said, "Okay, we've made a deal."
"It's a deal." The son put down his rice bowl and entered his small room without looking up.
After waking up the next morning, he started "military training", and his son did well within the "prescribed" time period, but Li Qing, a mother, was a little unnatural: the hot milk was a little hot, and Xiaohu was sitting on the table exaggeratedly. Li Qian yelled "Hurry up and blow on the cool air", seeing her son grimacing at the side and watching her busily peeling hard-boiled egg shells, Li Qian was so angry that her chest heaved.In the evening, the mother and son started the division of labor for the "required" projects... At 7 minutes to 12, the son announced that the "required projects" were all completed.Li Qian, who was so sleepy that she could hardly keep her eyes open, hurriedly brought the footwashing water for her son. Just after the footwashing water was poured, the son lying on the bed yelled "lullaby" again and didn't turn it on. About ten minutes later, when her son "huhu" fell asleep, the exhausted Li Qian seemed to be falling apart.
But you have to stick to the good things you say, otherwise all previous efforts will be wasted.Li Qian gritted her teeth and "fired" with her son morning and night.After more than ten days passed, the "division of labor" between the two gradually became a habit.It's just that one day, Li Qian was so angry that she couldn't bear it. That morning, when she was busy preparing for a press conference she was going to attend in the morning, her son yelled loudly in the outer room: "Mom, no, no, you're wasting my time. Why didn't you peel the eggshell?"
Li Qian, who was busy, was furious when she heard this: "Bastard, where are your own hands?"
"It's not my business, I won't do it!" Unexpectedly, the son replied unequivocally.
"You—" Li Qian was furious, rushed out from the back room, picked up the egg on the table, and threw it in his son's face: "I'll see if you can peel it!"
What followed was a fierce quarrel between the mother and son.Li Qian didn't make it to this class, and she put her interview task on hold—she closed the door at home and cried for a long time that day.The son got under the covers after school and didn't do any homework.
In the end, it was Li Qian, who was a mother, who was anxious and surrendered.
Starting the next morning, Li Qian said helplessly to her son that it was your mother who was wrong, and we still have a clear division of labor as before.I will do all that should be done by me, and all that should be done by you must also be done by you.Xiaohu didn't speak, and also mechanically resumed his previous practice.
It's just that more than three months later, something happened that made Li Qian even more dazed.
That day, the son finished his dinner after coming home from school, and as usual shut himself up in his little room.Li Qian, on the other hand, was in her bedroom rushing a press release to be released tomorrow.As usual, after 10:30, she would lightly knock on her son's door and ask him if he was hungry and what supper he wanted.
"Son, talk!" Li Qian asked a few times feeling a little strange.
The son with his back to her still didn't speak, just sat upright, and didn't seem to be asleep.So Li Qian walked in.When she saw her son's appearance, she was shocked: the son who used to be a tiger-headed tiger-headed son, now stands there like a fool, with his eyes looking out of the dark window with no expression and saying nothing. "What's the matter? Little tiger, little tiger!" Li Qian shook her son vigorously, until she was so anxious that she was about to shed tears, his son finally uttered a word unhurriedly:
"Actually, I'm not interested in going to college at all. Mom, really, I don't want to go to college anymore."
what? What?Tell me clearly!Li Qing was so shocked that she didn't close her open mouth for a long time.
"Why, ah, why exactly? Tell me clearly!" Li Qian stomped her feet anxiously.But the son still said the above sentence, no matter how his mother stamped his feet, his face remained expressionless.
This time, Li Qian cried all night. She is a news person and is usually well-informed. The consequences of Xiaohu's sudden mental state are terrible. What's more, the desire for children to enter college will come to naught.
Early the next morning, Xiaohu still got up mechanically at 6 o'clock, but this time the mother Li Qian was at work. After her son was "mentally ill" and couldn't go to school, Li Qian always felt that some of the family members were also preparing for the college entrance examination. The children's colleagues always seemed to be looking at her with strange eyes, and what Li Qian couldn't bear was that every laugh of theirs seemed to be deliberately mocking her.
"What's so funny?" One day, Li Qian couldn't take it anymore, so she went into a rage.At that time, everyone in the editorial department was baffled. Behind Li Qian, she vaguely heard someone scolding her softly: "You must also have a mental illness."
"You guys are crazy!" Li Qian felt that she couldn't take it anymore, and cried and made a fuss in the editorial department.When she was sent home by a director of the unit, she suddenly thought that she had lost face and wished she could die, but when she looked back at her son who was stunned to the side, she couldn't help walking over, hugging him and crying loudly field……
However, tears could not save her son, nor could she change her own situation.Because Xiaohu's father was busy with work, he put down thousands of dollars and left home again. Xiaohu's grandparents were as anxious as Li Qian, but they couldn't find an idea.what to do?After much deliberation, Li Qian is still unwilling to give up Xiaohu's college entrance examination easily, because she knows from the teacher that Xiaohu's courses have already been completed, and now until the college entrance examination, all the time is spent repeatedly doing various test papers, and there are no new lessons.This situation gave Li Qian an idea: her son does not go to school, as long as arrangements are made, he can still try to take the college entrance examination in July while receiving treatment.At that time, those people who made fun of me, Li Qian and Xiaohu, might be surprised!
OK, just do it!The goal is certain, but Li Qian's mood is much calmer, and the treatment of Xiaohu has also entered a normal arrangement.
She thought, first, she must get the daily study arrangement of Xiaohu School, so that her son could be as close as possible to the review content of the classmates in the class.In order to achieve this, Li Qian stuffed red envelopes and said good things, and reached an "agreement" with several of Xiaohu's teachers-before school was over every day, she went to school to record the content of the day's review, and then went home to give to her son. layout.This thing looks simple, but it takes a lot of time and energy to do it.Li Qian had to arrive at school on time every day, otherwise the teacher would go home, which would affect Xiaohu's study for the next day.Li Qian is often not punctual, and the teacher who is in charge of the class often has other things and cannot meet Li Qian at the appointed time.Once, in order to wait for a physics teacher, Li Qian waited for more than three hours, only to find out that the teacher was sick and hospitalized and did not come!Not to mention being frozen in the northwest wind for several hours, Li Qian had to spend more than 100 yuan to buy gifts to visit others in the hospital the next day.What else can be done otherwise?Li Qian, who dragged her tired legs home, slumped on the wooden chair, looking at the shadow in the mirror that seemed to be a few years older, the bitter tears flowed out...
Day by day like this.Li Qian acts as a "family teacher" for her sick son. Apart from her own work, she spends all her time on her son's study every day. In fact, a considerable part of her time and energy in her work is also To prepare for this and that for her son, fortunately, the job of the newspaper office is very flexible, which gives Li Qian an opportunity, otherwise, she would have been "fired" by the boss long ago in an enterprise or institution where she has to sign in to and from get off work. up.
On the day of the college entrance examination in July 1999, the weather in Beijing suddenly became extremely cool.When hundreds of thousands of parents and candidates came into the examination room with smiles on their faces, Xiaohu suddenly said to her: "Mom, I don't think I'm sure. I want to take the college entrance examination next year."
Li Qian looked at her son for a long time, she really wanted to yell, "You bastard", but she didn't say a word.She just nodded to her son, then went back to her bedroom, lay on the bed and cried... She felt that all the hard work of the past few months and years had been for naught.After crying, Li Qian shook her spirits again, called her son seriously, and sat in front of her.
"Xiaohu, I respect your opinion. However, we still have to arrange for you to do the questions as before, and strive to participate in the college entrance examination in 2000." Like a serious godfather, Li Qian asked her son to swear in front of her.
"Mom, I will definitely take the college entrance examination next year." The son swore.
"No, it's almost another year. Xiaohu and I have never relaxed for a day. In fact, I am the one who is obsessed, because the child is still at home for treatment, as long as he can be stable, so whenever he hears that there is something good for the college entrance examination , The review class held by a famous teacher, I almost have to go and have a look to understand it. No, you have seen it, because of this, I have already become a withered flower..." Li Qian smiled bitterly at me.
"Think about it. Although the college entrance examination is important, the son is more important after all." I couldn't think of more convincing words to comfort my old colleague.
Li Qian said with a sneer: "That being said, but my son is already like this, if he still can't pass the university entrance exam, what future will he have in his life?"
I thought about it, but really couldn't answer.
Maybe this is the same question that thousands of parents in China think about!I can't stop thinking about it again.
When I was writing this work, it was the most tense moment of the 1999 college entrance examination.One day I saw the news that "all the graduates of the Hongzhi class were admitted to university" in Beijing Guangqumen Middle School, so I decided to interview the parents of the graduates of the "Hongzhi class".
Gao Quangen is the first parent introduced to me by Mr. Gao Jinying, the head teacher of the "Hongzhi Class".Gao Jinying is now considered a celebrity in Beijing's education circle, but when she talks about Gao Quangen's family studying for their children, she can't help crying.After Mr. Gao copied Gao's address to me, I couldn't find it for the first time.Because Gao's family doesn't have a phone, I can only guess that there should be someone in his family during the holidays, so I went to find them during the holidays for the 50th anniversary of the National Day.
On this day, I rode my bicycle to Yingzi Hutong on Xingfu Avenue in Chongwen District to look for Gao’s family.I have known about the poor in Beijing before, and I have also been to some poor families, but this interview with the Gao family has "opened my eyes". It turns out that there are still so many poor people in Beijing living in small alleys!The courtyard where the Gao family lives is a three-story simple building in the shape of a "gate". own head, pierced own eyes.It was only three o'clock in the afternoon, but the corridor had to be walked in the dark, because there was neither lighting nor a window in the narrow passage, and the items piled up on both sides of each house made the passage just enough for one person.There is also a public water tap on the side of the aisle, and there is a very clumsy lock box on the water tap.Master Gao Quangen who took me upstairs told me that all the people on their first floor used water on this bridle, so everyone has a habit of locking the bridle when the specified time is up to prevent waste or use of water on another floor. People come to steal water.I couldn't help laughing when I heard this: It's the age of online shopping, but the people here are still living the life of the 1960s!That's right, when I walked into Gao Quangen's house, this feeling was even stronger.
Lao Gao's house has only one house, with a total area of 15.7 square meters. There is no kitchen, let alone a toilet, and there is no distinction between inside and outside. There are two beds in a vertical row, one double and one single. A small attic.Lao Gao said that one of his two sons slept on it before they went to college.But no matter how I look at it, I don't think it can sleep four adults.Lao Gao explained with a wry smile that after he moved in in March 1996, there was not a single day when the whole family went back to sleep in this house at the same time. Going to school and living in school made it possible for him to "reunite" with his wife.In addition to the two beds, there is only a three-exhibition table and a wooden box, on which is a new 20 o'clock TV.Lao Gao said it was the only thing his family had added over the years for the "National Day".After hearing this, I felt sour. Yes, it has been 50 years since the founding of the People’s Republic of China. In our capital, Beijing, there are still impoverished households like Gao Quangen!Lao Gao was very polite and wanted to boil water for me, but I said no, he insisted, but he didn’t even have a kettle or water bottle at home, so he had to use the big aluminum pot for cooking and put it in his “open air” in the corridor. Kitchen" to burn.
When Lao Gao was pouring water for me with a large aluminum pot in his hands, I couldn't help but sigh and say that it's too hard for you here!But the same age of the Republic said again and again: "Our whole family is already contented, very contented."
What does this say?I do not understand.
Lao Gao told me very seriously: "This house was approved by the mayor of Beijing himself, or my whole family is still living in a pig shed in the suburbs!"
Seeing my astonishment, Lao Gao told me all the bitter experiences he had as an educated youth in Beijing so that his children could go back to the city to go to university——
Gao Quangen was originally from Shen County, Hebei Province. He came to Beijing in 1957 with his father. Attended Beijing No. 43 Middle School in 1964.Two years later, the "Great Leader" called for the educated youth to go to the mountains and the countryside to receive re-education. Gao Quangen was the cadre of the first person group in his class. When the school mobilized the students to go to the mountains and the countryside, the teacher asked him if he could Can't take the lead?Gao Quangen said yes, then picked up a pen and wrote the following line: I, Gao Quangen from the third class of junior high school, firmly applied to Inner Mongolia.After writing, hand it over to the school.He didn't let his parents know when he got home. "Even if they knew, they couldn't stop them at that time." Gao Quangen said.Within a few days, the military propaganda team approved him and 15 other students in his class to go to Siziwang Banner in Inner Mongolia.Gao Quangen said that they are not corps, but herdsmen who really get work points.This is 1968.到1971年时，与高全根一起下乡的另外十几位知青走的走、跑的跑，只剩家里没门路又穷得叮当响的高全根还留在当地。一天，他到公社开会，公社干部对他说当地的乌达矿务局五虎山矿要招工，问高全根去不去？他说那就去吧。就这样，他被幸运地招到矿上当了一名每月拿八十二元工资的挖煤工。这在当时，能从牧民变成吃“商品粮”的工人简直就是进天堂一般。但那里毕竟是个风沙和冰雪围聚的戈壁滩，矿上的生活也极其艰苦。那时知青们对自己的前途不抱任何幻想，不多久高全根就和矿上同事的一位表妹结了婚，之后就有了两个儿子。那时全家人就靠他一个月八十二块钱工资维持着。到了80年代中后期，知青可以回城了，高全根因为当了矿工又成了家，所以按最初的政策他只能把一个孩子送回北京。到了1992年，知青政策又有新的说法：只要能找到接收单位，就可以把全家迁回来。已经离开北京二十多年的高全根觉得这是个机会——主要是为了孩子将来能有个大学上，所以便托人联系了京郊的一个接收单位，于是全家回到了久别的北京。但是二十多年过去了，北京的变化令高全根这位北京人面临了许多他想像不到的事，其中最重要的是房子问题。
接收单位说了，我们可以勉强接收你，但房子是绝对不可能解决的。北京有色金属粉末厂能接收高全根的最大原因是：这样的工种一般人不愿意干。然而一个四口之家不能没有房子呀！北京又不像内蒙农村，随便搭建一个小棚棚没人管你。在内蒙苦了二十多年的高全根，没有想到偌大的一个北京城，竟然没有他的立足之地！他着急啊，大儿子已经进高中了，小儿子也快进初中了，没有一个固定的家，怎么能让孩子上学读书呀！自己的一生也就这么着了，可孩子的路还刚刚起步，不能耽误啊！他高全根难就难在他是个穷光蛋返回北京的，且还拖着没有工作的妻子和两个读书的孩子。高全根在那接收单位一个月也就六七百块钱工资，他用这份工资养活全家四口人，已经省得不能再省了，哪有余钱在城里祖房？无奈，老高只好托朋友帮助。朋友把他带到市郊十八里店乡周庄一队的一个猪棚那儿，说这里有个猪场仓库反正也是闲着，你看能用就住下，不要一分钱。老高还没看一眼是什么样的地方，一听不要钱就连声说“行行，不要钱就行”。
高全根就这样在离别北京二十多年后，终于找到了一个暂时可以住下的“家”。那是什么家呀？大儿子第一个进的猪棚，又第一个“哇啦哇啦”地吓得从里面逃出来：爸，这地方不能住人，耗子大得跟猫似的！老高不信，哪有耗子比猫大的事嘛！他进去了，脚刚刚跨进去，突然从一堆草窝里“噌噌”窜出两只硕大无比的耗子！老高惊呆了：犹豫了，可他想不出还能为妻儿找到另一个可以跟这儿相比的地方——这儿不要钱，什么都不要。
“那几年怎么过来的，我现在连自己都不敢去想一想。”老高说，“也不是我这个人好将就，或者说我们这些当知青的家庭好将就，没办法，我当年离开北京时就带着一床被子和一本语录，现在回北京时是带着老婆和两个大儿子回来的，能回到北京就是场梦。我跟妻子和孩子们经常说，我们是北京人，但又不全是，既然现在户口能落在北京，算是最大的福气了，其它的咱们啥都不要跟人家比。妻子和孩子都是听话的，他们跟着我已经吃惯了苦，但没有一个属于自己的家的这种苦，和其它的苦不一样，这才叫苦呢！是那种不像人过的日子的苦。就在我回北京前几年那么难的情况下，也没有耽误过孩子一天的课。住猪棚后，我给他们每人买了一辆自行车，我自己也有一辆，是送他们两个，外加接送妻子和自己上班用的。十八里店乡到最近的南城边也要近一个小时，而且很长一段路没有公共汽车。我每天要很早起来，五点来钟就得先送儿子走，儿子再倒换两次车，再骑自行车在七点左右到校。约摸六点来钟，我回到家后忙吃上几口饭再带妻子出门，将她送到有公共汽车的地方，让她好在一个单位做临时工。之后我再蹬车上自己的单位。晚上也是这样，先把妻子接回来，再去车站接儿子，每天儿子们回来最晚，不会早于八点钟。我看着孩子很争气，他们从来不吭一声苦，穿的衣服是破的，睡的地方就是猪窝，前面没有门挡，后面的窗没有玻璃，冬天刮风能钻进被窝，夏天最难受，蚊蝇到处都是，蚊帐根本不管用，孩子们说他们从来没有见过那种嘴已有一厘米长、身子跟苍蝇那么大的蚊虫！我说我也没有见过，这只有在多少年没人住过的野棚草窝里才能见得到。我和妻子反正每天下班后就没什么事干了，可两个儿子不行，他们要做作业。冬天他们只能在猪棚的外面石板上做。你问有没有电灯？哪会有呢！是人家遗弃的猪棚，不会通水通电的。我们做饭靠的是煤炉，孩子看书做作业用的是油灯，一直是这样。冬天冷我们好像没有特别感觉，大概我们在内蒙古呆的时间长了。可夏天的日子就难了，猪棚不知有多少年没人用过了，那虫子蚊蝇横行霸道，我们一家就成了它们袭击的对象。每天一早起来，看到孩子们的身上脸上都是红一块肿一块的，我心里又难过又着急，可什么办法也想不出来。再新的蚊帐也不出三天就被大蚊虫咬穿了，真是苦了孩子们……”
老高说到这里哽咽得说不出话。
“唉——日子总还得过呗。”长叹一声后，他继续道，“那些年里，我们全家很多时间全浪费在路上，孩子上学要比一般的同学多花至少四个小时路程。家里没有钱，所以他们尽量骑自行车，我都记不清经我手到底换过多少副车胎！看到孩子能骑车到城里上中学，我感到有一种希望在我心头涌动。我两个儿子非常不易，他们从内蒙农村的学校转到北京市的学校时，连本书都没有，起初上课时像傻子似的什么都不懂。但他们十分努力，也从不跟人家比吃穿，上高中了也还穿着有补丁的衣服，你们听起来可能不相信，可在我们家一点也不奇怪。”老高说着抖抖自己身上的衣服，说：“你看我现在穿的，回北京快有十年了，我只添过两件衣服，其它的都是缝缝补补再穿的旧衣服。孩子跟我们一样。我大儿子是在猪棚里考上重点中学的，又在1997年以全校第二名的成绩从北京十五中考上第二外国语学院，考了534分，这个分那年是可以进北大的。二儿子高岭是在猪棚里考上广渠门中学宏志班的。我二儿子是一个十分要强的孩子，他进宏志班后学习特别努力。这是一个专门为经济贫困家庭的子女们特设的班，学生都是来自全市贫困家庭的几十位优秀学生，他们相互之间都在竞争。高岭因为自己路程远而耽误很多时间，又没有一个起码的家而内心非常痛苦，他在做作文时写了一篇很动感情的作文，苦诉为什么在这万家灯火、高楼耸立的首都就没有自己的一个立足之地，倾吐了孩子渴望有个哪怕能安一张床、一张写字台的家的心情。他这篇作文让班主任高金英老师很感动，高老师便利用一个星期天，跟着我儿子来到了我们这儿。当她看到我们一家住在远离市区的一个猪棚里时，忍不住眼泪都流出来了。高老师说她教的宏志班都是穷人家的学生，可像你们连个家都没有、只能住猪棚的，还是第一次听说和看到。高老师是大好人，她说她要尽自己所能帮助我们解决房子问题。
她后来带电视台的记者到我住的猪棚里现场采访，又向市里反映。 1996年3月31日，在当时的北京市李市长的亲自安排下，我们全家搬进了现在这个地方。你可能觉得四口之家住一间十多平米要什么没什么的简易楼里太寒酸了。可我们全家已经很知足了，因为总算有个家了。 ”老高颇有几分自豪地指指桌子上惟一的装饰品——一个我们早已久违了的小管灯，说：“这灯是一个亲戚送的。它的功劳很大，它把我家两个儿子都送进了大学！ "
老高的二儿子高岭是1999年从“宏志班”考上北京农学院的。我问老高现在家庭的情况怎样？他说他比以前心情舒畅多了，因为两个儿子都上了大学，圆了他多年的梦。“我现在虽然日子过得还很紧巴，我自己下岗了，厂子只给一点社会保险，我和妻子俩人每人每天就有十七块的收入。她在赛特那儿涮碗，我在一个单位做临时工，要负担两个大学生孩子的上学费用几乎是不可能的，好在学校能免一点，孩子自己勤工俭学挣一点，加上我们省一点，所以就只能这么紧巴着过。因为我这辈子没啥可追求的了，就希望孩子能有出息，他们现在都上了大学，我看到希望了呀！你说我还能有什么别的奢望？”
那天走出高全根家时，已近傍晚，京城上空的一道晚霞正美丽地照在他所居住的那栋像鸟笼似的简易楼上，外面是喜气洋洋的庆祝国庆五十周年的阵阵歌声、鼓声和踩气球的欢笑声。我忍不住取出照相机，给老高他们这栋“京城贫民窟”留下一个影，我想以此告诫那些生活在蜜糖般幸福的富有的人以及我们的官员：不要忘了这个世界上还有不少人的日子过得很难，应该再想些办法帮助他们！
采访高全根，使我对知青那一代人在今天为了把自己的子女送进大学所表现出的那份强烈意愿，有了更深刻的了解。据调查，当年知青中在1977年恢复高考后，真正重新进大学又把光辉前程夺回到自己手中的仅仅是数百万知青中的一小部分而已，而像著名的作家陈建功，原团中央第一书记、现为河南省省长的李克强，著名导演陈凯歌等等社会精英，就为数更少。也就是说，大部分当年的知青由于那场“浩劫”而一生断送了接受高等教育的机会，并且由此造成了一辈子改写人生命运的结局。
这是中国一个特有的悲剧。
这或许也是中国今天的高考为什么越来越让入感到进入了牛角尖和死胡同的重要原因之一。世界上还没有哪一国国民像中国人对考大学那样表现出如此的狂热。
十年浩劫使一代人失去上大学的机会，也强化了后两代人共同渴求冲进大学门的那种“决一死战”的情结。这种状况只有中国才有。
“我再不把儿子送进大学，就意味着从我之后的几代人便会丧失做人的最基本的资本，也就是说在我之后我们崔姓将彻底沦为贫民阶层。”通过自学已在北京市某机关任副处长的崔先生谈起这个话题时，显得异常激动。
“可不是嘛！”他的话像汹涌奔腾的大江之水，一泻而下。“我是老三届的，后来到北大荒去了。恢复高考时我没有参加，不能全怪我。当时一方面我们仍受读书无用论影响，一方面我在团部任领导职务，工作忙，分不开身，把参加高考的机会让给了别人。如果说当时我自私一点，完全可以像别人那样，扔下手头的工作去复习，去参加高考嘛。回城后，我在一家福利厂当支部书记，工作还是那么忙，天天都要为几百号人的生存发展着想，还得经常跑外勤，哪来机会去脱产参加这个班那个班？你不信可以去看看我的档案，尽是什么'先进工作者'、'劳动模范'、'先进党员'之类，可在填写一张张先进上报表上，文化程度那一栏一直是高中毕业。有啥法子。比比人家，那些当年在兵团给我手下打杂的人，现在个个是教授、局长。我不感到心寒？不就是因为人家后来上了大学，身怀一张可以敲门的文凭，所以便提拔得快嘛！我们这些没有文凭的，再拼命干，也不如人家一张文凭'水平'高呀——哪怕连最基本的一个车间都指挥不好，可是人家管理学的博士毕业生，照样可以比我们早提拔到处级、局级岗位上。而我们呢，就因为没有进过大学，所以什么好事都与你无关。这公平吗？可有谁能改变得了？””崔兄的一番话听起来像是牢骚，实际上反映的确是当今的一个活生生的现实问题。
我知道老崔的儿子今年也在读高三，准备参加2000年高考。“你可以到我单位问问，我早已不是当年那种先进分子了。我现在上班是三天打鱼两天晒网呀，这我心里明白，处长局长也不会说我什么，反正在我之上有一大堆人闲着，我多干活并不一定落好。乐得我能有时间把精力放在儿子的学习上。你问我儿子的学习成绩怎么样？当然不错了，我希望他圆我的清华梦。现在我和爱人的全部希望都放在儿子身上，只要他能考上名牌大学，我就觉得自己社会对我们这些知青欠的不公，算可以逮回了，否则我一辈子心理不平衡。”
我与老崔相约2000年夏天，等他儿子考上大学后我们一起上他的一个“兵团战友”开的“北大荒”饭店隆重庆贺一番。
“其实我这样的情况不算什么，你要有机会采访采访那些没有回到北京仍在外地的知青们，他们为了孩子能上大学所付出的那才叫人感动呢。”老崔向我作了一个重要的提示。
后来我从市高招办的工作人员那儿获得信息，每年北京市高考学生中都有不少在外地长大的知青后代。1999年的高考开始后，我就留意了这样的对象。北京西城的十三中和四中的高考点离我的住处都很近，高考那几天我特意天天往这两个考点跑——我在寻找采访对象。8号那天我终于找到了一位在山西工作，看上去已经成了“北方大妈”的考生母亲。这位考生的母亲明显特征是“土”——可以说土得根本看不出她曾经是北京城里出生的人。
“我、我是堂堂正正的北京人呀，可现在我连小时候一起读书的同学都不敢见了，为啥？就是因为我现在这个样子还有人相信我是北京人吗！”这位考生母亲一说话就擦眼泪，看着她满头银丝。我心底油然升起一股怜悯之情，在我保证不说出她的真名后，这位大姐才同意我的采访。
我这里你她为章大姐吧。
章大姐是1970年下乡的，还没有读完高中，她就随着学校一声令下跟同学们到了山西吕梁山一带插队去了。她与当年很多北京女孩子一样，是瞒着家长自己硬把户口迁走的一一那时候这样的行为是“真正的革命行动”。她本来因为年少体弱可以分配到条件好一点的乡村，但由于“革命意志坚强”，要求到最穷的山区落户。就这样，她在山西的运城地区的一个山村安家落户了。那是个几乎了世隔绝的穷地方，上乡里的小镇也要走上近一天的山路。章大姐到这儿插队，住在一家有三个儿子的老农家，主人待她不错。特别是每当生产队分给她重活累活时，这家当家的老爷子就嚷着叫三个儿子帮她干。日久天长，章便把这儿当作了自己的家。尤其后来她在北京的老母亲去世后，便跟这家房东的关系更亲近了一步。在她插队的第三年，房东大妈给她从城里扯了一块的确凉布，送到了她的小屋，随后问她愿不愿嫁给她家的三个山伢仔中的一个？章摇头也不是点头也不是，最后还是这家的老爷子选定的——嫁给二伢子吧。就这么简单，她就当上了这家的第一个儿媳妇。她的丈夫年龄与她还算相配，大三岁，而她的大伯子已经三十二岁了还是光棍。当了人家的媳妇，接下来自然就是生儿育女了。到1980年那会儿，那些当年与她一起下乡插队的知青都可以回城时，章的大孩子已经八岁，小的也有六岁了。根据当时的政策，她回城的希望是没有了。
她只好默默地流泪，偶尔站在黄土高坡向自己的故乡遥望一眼，像是做错事似的很心虚。岁月的沧桑已经使她渐渐淡漠了自己是个北京人的概念。她把漫无边际的黄土高原和身边的两个孩子，当作了生命中全部的希望寄托。
突然有一天有人告诉她：根据政策，你可以有一个孩子回北京。
她的那个已经枯萎了的“北京情结”之苗，仿佛在这一夜间猛然焕发出了活力。那颗死了几回的心一下子被打动了：坚决送娃儿回北京上学！
不管丈夫怎么嘀咕怎么啰嗦，她在家里第一次表现出了不容更改的坚定——孩子一定要送走！送到北京去！
北京，我的北京啊！多少年来，章第一次站在黄土高坡上，使出全身力气，对着自己的故乡方向，大声高喊。
她给北京送来的是小女儿。为了送谁回北京，丈夫还跟她吵了一场。丈夫的意见是送儿子，而她则坚持送女儿。“山里的女孩子除了嫁人和替别人生孩子外还有什么出息？”她抱住自己的儿子，痛哭流涕地对他说：“不是妈不心疼你，可你看看妈现在还有哪点像城里人？哪点像北京人呀？妈不能再让你妹妹一辈子像我一样的苦命……”
临走那天，她抱着两个孩子，痛哭了很久很久，一直看着送儿子的拖拉机开出几道山弯，她才与女儿一起千里迢迢回到了久别的北京。
啊北京，多么熟悉而又极其陌生的北京。章虽然在插队后的二十几年中也多次回过北京，可当她此次领着女儿重返北京，细细观望亲爱的故乡时，她才真的感到故乡的变化实在是太大了，大得她这个从小生长在这儿的老北京人有种完全找不回自己曾经是个地道的北京人的感觉。她伤感起来，眼泪不停地流，害得一旁的女儿连声说：“妈，要不我们回山西算啦，这儿不是我们的家。”
“胡说，这儿才是你的家。记住：有谁问你时，你要一点不含糊地告诉他们：你是真正的北京人！”她要满嘴山西口音的女儿发誓。
女儿只好老老实实地听母亲的话，孩子哪里知道母亲让她牢记这话的真正含意。
章把女儿带到北京后，遇到的头件事是给女儿找所学校，哪知本来很简单的事，却弄得章不知如何办才好。章在北京的亲人除了两个哥哥外，没有什么人了。章自己的父母在前几年就谢世了。虽然两个哥是亲的，但天各一方，再说哥哥家的孩子最小的都快大学毕业了，大孩子早已有了后代，章家祖上有房子，可后来拆迁全都变成了公房，这样一来等于章在北京的根也没了，她女儿的落户问题，也是她同两个哥哥前后商量多次才定下的。最后还是大哥心胸宽敞些，章的女儿就落在大舅家，可大舅妈说孩子住的地方得另外想办法。章看看大哥家的情况也确实为难，一个小三居五个人住着已经够呛。章便和二哥二嫂商量，因为二哥家也是个三居室，两个女儿一个快要结婚了，另一个刚上大学，挤挤应该是没多少问题。但二嫂一脸不高兴，碍于面子没对章直说。
“这样吧，正好我们一楼比别人方便些，我给孩子在门口搭一小间出来，要是她嫌，以后我就跟她换，妹你看咋样？”二哥显得无可奈何但毕竟是真诚的。
“行，娃儿能在北京有个落脚的地方就成。”章没有特别的要求，能让女儿有个睡觉的地方便是阿弥陀佛的事了，还讲究啥？再说哥哥怎么着总是自己人嘛。
女儿落脚的地方就这么定下了。之后是上学的事。谁知这事让章好一通劳神和操心。附近的两所中学都是市、区重点，人家借口说孩子的基础太差，婉言谢绝了。章便跑到跨区的另一所三类中学，那个校长还算好，因为他曾经也是位知青。不过校长说：“插班的照顾我给了，但学校现在负担也重，你孩子上我们学校，肯定增加了老师的工作量，为了我好向大家交待，你得给学校意思意思。当然你量力而行啊。”人家说到这份上，章也只有满口“那好那好”地回答。不多，就四千元。可要章拿出这四千元就等于要了她的老命！带孩子离开山区时，丈夫把全家的积蓄一个子不剩地给了她，那也就是两千来块。除了用于车费和给两个哥哥家买了点见面礼外，章口袋里就剩一千五百来块。孩子上学是大事，也是章为了圆自己回北京梦的全部希望所在。无奈，她只好硬着头皮向大哥二哥伸手借。钱是借来了，可她与两个家的关系从此变了味。二嫂当着她的面对自己的丈夫说：“往后咱家的日子就像中东地区一样，没个安稳了。”章把泪水噙在肚里，脸上还只能装出一副笑脸向哥嫂们告别。
“娃，以后手脚勤快些，二舅家刷碗洗菜和做饭的杂活你多干点，不要贪玩贪睡，啊！记住妈的话了没有？”
“嗯。”女儿的眼里噙满泪水，嘀咕道，“妈……我害怕二舅妈。”
“有啥怕的？她是你亲戚，不许你对舅妈犯嘀咕！啊，听清楚了吗？”章很生气地说。
女儿突然“哇”地一声扑在章的怀里：“妈，我想跟你回家……”
章更生气了，“啪”地抽了女儿一个耳刮子，斥道：“你要是不给我好好在这儿念书，就哪儿都别想回！”
女儿再也不敢多嘴了，低着头，眼泪依旧“啪嗒啪嗒”地往下掉。章装作什么都没看到，可当她转身走上西去的火车时，泪水一下像断了线似的往