Chapter 8: The Little Hamster’s Story 1
Three years ago.
May, the sun blazed, the weather was sweltering, and there wasn’t a breath of wind.
In the classroom, students preparing for the upcoming college entrance examination were studying under the high temperature. The only sound in the quiet classroom was the rustling of pens.
With only a month left until the college entrance examination, the third-year students had stopped regular classes. This was their self-study time, and teachers sat outside the classroom, available to answer any questions.
Liang Bin, the head teacher of the key liberal arts class of Wensha Senior High School’s third-year students, worried about the students’ mental pressure, and so he scheduled individual meetings to talk with them.
Today, he called Chen Yi out. He’d noticed that Chen Yi was becoming increasingly restless as the exam approached.
“Chen Yi, is something bothering you? Tell your teacher, don’t keep it bottled up inside.” Liang Bin looked at Chen Yi with kindness. Chen Yi was a very promising student in his class, and also very well-behaved. Liang Bin liked him very much.
“Teacher, my parents said they won’t let me go to university after the college entrance examination.” Chen Yi usually wouldn’t tell anyone this, but Liang Bin was different. If it weren’t for Liang Bin, he wouldn’t be studying here now. Liang Bin could be said to be closer to him than his parents.
“What?!” Upon hearing this, Liang Bin couldn’t help but feel angry. What kind of parents were these? If he hadn’t fought for him, Chen Yi, such a promising student, wouldn’t even have been able to attend high school. But now, with the exam so close, they were telling their child this? Weren’t they affecting his performance?
“Don’t listen to them. If you get into university, go ahead and study. I’ll help you apply for financial aid, and you can also get student loans; you don’t have to worry about money. If all else fails, I can help you too.” Liang Bin reassured Chen Yi. “Don’t think too much right now. Just focus on your studies; your teacher will handle the rest.”
After Liang Bin’s comfort, Chen Yi felt much more relaxed. Mr. Liang was right, the most important thing now was to achieve good results and not disappoint everyone.
“Thank you, Teacher Liang, I understand now.” Chen Yi bid farewell to Liang Bin, returned to the classroom and continued to study. With his worries gone, he could finally focus on his studies with 100% of his attention.
In the eyes of the teachers, Chen Yi was a good student with excellent grades, but unfortunately, he came from a troubled family.
Chen Yi’s family lived in a small village in Wensha County. His parents had five children, and he was the second eldest. He had an older brother, a younger brother, and two younger sisters. His family had many children and lived in poverty. Both parents were farmers, having spent their entire lives in Wensha County.
There was a custom in Wensha County where the youngest son generally takes care of the elderly parents. Therefore, Chen Yi’s parents didn’t favor their eldest and second sons; their hearts were biased towards their youngest son and daughters.
Because their youngest son would take care of them in their old age, the other sons wouldn’t have to support them. The daughters would bring a dowry when they married, and if they were pretty, and married a rich man, then the parents could also enjoy a good life.
Chen Yi’s older brother, Chen Zhong, went to work after finishing junior high school. After all, his grades weren’t good; what else could he do besides working?
Chen Yi’s grades were excellent. He was the top student in their junior high school, and his scores were good enough to get into the best high school in the county. But Chen Yi’s parents didn’t want him to continue his education because high school was beyond compulsory education and required tuition fees.
“It’s good enough that you went to junior high school. Don’t go to high school, go to work with your brother.” After the junior high school entrance examination, Chen Yi’s father told him.
Seeing his parents’ disapproval, Chen Yi, though disappointed, still obeyed their decision.
But on the day of registration, unwilling to let his education end like this, he secretly took his report card and admission ticket, ran away from home, and took a bus to the county seat, arriving at the registration point.
But he didn’t dare to register because his parents disagreed, and he had no money for school. So he kept circling around the registration office.
This year’s registration point happened to be at Wensha Senior High School, the best high school in the county.
Liang Bin was in charge of registration consultation at the time. He saw a child holding a report card wandering nearby for a long time without doing anything, so he went over and stopped him.
“What are you doing here?”
“I…” Chen Yi was about to cry. He thought Liang Bin was going to drive him away, “I was just taking a look, don’t chase me away.”
“I’m not chasing you away, but you need to tell me who you are and what you’re doing here?” Liang Bin glanced at his report card. “Let me see your report card.”
Seeing that Liang Bin had been sitting at the registration consultation desk, Chen Yi guessed that he was a teacher, so he gave Liang Bin his report card.
“Excellent grades! You’re in the top ten here, and you’re from a small place, you have a bright future.” In Liang Bin’s memory, Chen Yi’s junior high school hadn’t produced such a talented student before. Compared to students from the county’s junior high schools, he was in no way inferior.
“Why aren’t you registering?” Liang Bin was puzzled. Logically, with such good grades, he could get into any high school.
“My parents don’t want me to study anymore.” Chen Yi replied, “I snuck out today.”
“Are they blind? Such good grades and they won’t let him study? What do they want?” Liang Bin said angrily. If his child had such good grades, he would immediately go and burn incense to thank the gods.
“Go ahead and register, at our school. I’ll help you apply for a tuition waiver.” Wensha Senior High School had an unwritten rule that students with excellent grades could apply for a waiver of tuition and miscellaneous fees.
In the end, Chen Yi registered, and Liang Bin even went back to Chen Yi’s home with him to persuade his parents to let Chen Yi go to school.
“The school will waive the tuition and miscellaneous fees, and the government provides living allowances, so what reason do you have to not let him go to school?” Liang Bin said to Chen Yi’s parents.
Chen Yi’s father was a man who cared about face. Since the teacher had personally come to his house, he had to agree.
“Yes, yes, you’re right, I was too confused. Don’t worry, I’ll definitely let him go to school. Even if he doesn’t want to go, I’ll force him to go!”
Chen Yi’s father repeatedly agreed and sent Mr. Liang away. After Mr. Liang left, he closed the door. With a “bang,” Chen Yi knew that he was in trouble.
“You ran out to find a teacher and even brought him home, making me lose face!” Chen Yi’s father usually didn’t hit his children because he was afraid that others would laugh at him. But today, he was furious. Chen Yi didn’t work, and he ran away and called the teacher.
Chen Yi’s father had never interacted with city people before, and he felt very embarrassed because he had been pressured by Liang Bin’s aura.
“I told you to study!” Accompanying the rough scolding was the sound of a heavy wooden stick falling on his body.
Chen Yi’s mother couldn’t bear to watch, and she wanted to stop her husband.
“You stinky woman, you dare to come over and try. Do you believe I’ll beat you too! Look at the good son you’ve raised!”
The stick hitting Chen Yi’s body was very painful, but he didn’t make a sound. Because he knew his father had agreed to let him go to school.
After hearing this, Chen Yi’s mother could only hide to the side and cry. In the end, it was his third younger brother, who had just returned from school. Seeing his second older brother being beaten so badly, he stepped forward to protect him.
“Sanbao, don’t protect him!” Chen Yi’s father tried to pull his third son away, but Sanbao refused, so he had to stop.
“You’re lucky this time, but there won’t be a next time!” Chen Yi’s father glared at Chen Yi.
“Brother, are you alright?” Sanbao saw Chen Yi was in a bad state and was immediately worried.
“I’m fine, brother.” After saying this, Chen Yi fainted.
Chen Yi was badly beaten this time, and he stayed in bed for half a month. When his acceptance letter arrived, his injuries still hadn’t fully healed.
But Chen Yi didn’t care about his injuries. He happily held the acceptance letter and kept kissing it.
Author’s Note: Little Hamster is a man with a story.