CHAPTER 805: CHAPTER 766: FAMINE ERA 7 (FIRST UPDATE)

In the end, it was Grandpa who came up with a solution.

He said that when they entered the city, they rescued an elderly gentleman and took him to the hospital.

The elderly gentleman’s children were not around, and he needed care, so Ye Huan volunteered to help. This way, she could take care of him, earn a wage, and learn from the old gentleman.

Just say this to others for now. Since Ye Huan wanted to go to school, she should just go. There’s no need to wait for summer break. Start attending school now, and when the time comes, directly take the high school entrance exam. Everyone would just know she was studying under someone, and years later when she gets into university, the credit would be attributed to the excellent teaching of that old gentleman.

Ye Huan felt that this lie would not be easily exposed. That way, she could attend school, stay in school, and still come out to earn some living expenses. Her family wouldn’t need to bear any financial burden.

Moreover, if necessary, she could let the villagers see her at the hospital, making it even more believable.

The more Ye Huan thought about it, the more feasible it seemed. Two days later, she set off before dawn and met Cao Fang before her shift ended.

She explained her thoughts and situation, bringing along one yuan worth of fruit as well.

Cao Fang saw she also brought the household register from home and the certificate from the village. The paperwork was quite complete, so she decided to help the child.

So, Ye Huan followed Cao Fang directly to the gate of First Middle School. They waited a while at the school gate until her husband came over.

After explaining the situation, Teacher Wang Zhongjun disapprovingly glanced at his wife, clearly annoyed by her meddling.

"Enrollment is possible, but which grade you can attend will depend on your entrance exams. The school will make arrangements accordingly. Is that okay?"

Ultimately, out of respect for a student, he compromised, and Cao Fang handed the fruit to Wang Zhongjun.

"This is fruit Huanhuan brought for the teachers. Share it with everyone. She’s a good kid. Despite the family’s disaster, she still thinks about studying. I think it’s admirable. Please take care of her at school."

Ye Huan was taken to the school by Teacher Wang. He was not tall, wore gold-rimmed glasses, and looked gentle in a Chinese tunic suit, appearing very knowledgeable.

Cao Fang mentioned he was the math teacher for the graduating class and responsible for teaching the entire grade, essentially the grade leader.

He directly led her to the Dean’s office. After explaining the situation, the Dean said nothing initially and asked her to take a test first.

However, she hadn’t seen the textbooks before coming here and didn’t know what she was being tested on. When she received the paper, she realized it was a comprehensive test covering history, national language, and mathematics, all in traditional characters from right to left, handwritten, which left her somewhat puzzled. Thinking she couldn’t write it, she ended up scribbling through it somehow.

In the end, she barely passed, feeling a bit awkward seeing Teacher Wang’s not-so-pleased expression.

She awkwardly scratched her head and asked, "Teacher, what grade is this test for? I haven’t touched a textbook for two or three years. After graduating elementary school, I only borrowed books from fellow villagers to prepare in advance."

Before the famine, she was studying; afterward, she didn’t go to school. Teacher Wang’s expression changed instantly after hearing this.

"Did you learn the junior high content by yourself at home?"

"Yes, teacher. But if you give me time, I can definitely catch up. It’s just been a while since I studied, so I’m a bit rusty."

Teacher Wang subconsciously glanced at the Dean. The Dean sipped his tea and said to him, "Since she passed, which grade to place her in is your decision."

Then looking at her, "Though you’ve missed a month, the tuition still needs to be paid in five silver coins. If you want to stay in the dorm, it’s two silver coins per month. Any issues?"

A total of seven silver coins; she had that much on hand, so she quickly nodded in agreement, "No, no problem."

Afterwards, Wang Zhongjun led her to the finance office to pay the tuition, get a receipt, and he turned to her saying, "You’ll need to prepare the bedding yourself."

That was only natural. She then went to the dormitory behind the school. It was a mud-brick house with a tile roof, accommodating twenty or so people per dorm. The floor appeared very damp, and there was a musty, humid smell upon entering, with the wheat straw visible in the walls around.

Though all were in bunk beds, the environment was indeed worrying. She had a momentary thought of escaping but then remembered she was penniless and had nothing in her space. She decided to manage for a month.

She claimed a bed, thinking she’d come back tomorrow to bring her bedding.

Later, Wang Zhongjun led her to the entrance of the second-year class, smiling meaningfully at her.

"Confidence is a good thing, but it shouldn’t go overboard. Truly, based on your self-studied foundation, you’re already excellent, but since you haven’t had systematic learning, I’ll put you in the first year. Your math indeed reaches the level of third or fourth year, but you lag in national studies and history. So, I suggest you learn from the teachers first, don’t mention the high school entrance exam in June, and just lay a solid foundation; that’ll be more beneficial than rushing for quick success, wouldn’t you say?"

Face flushing, Ye Huan nodded: "Teacher is right, I should be more grounded."

History and national studies were indeed weak areas derived from the Republic era content, needing earnest study. Not putting her in the first year was already a grace, yet even if in the second year, whether she could smoothly progress to the third, depended on reaching the level line for advancing after the end-of-term exam.

She hadn’t known the textbooks from this era before, being somewhat blindly confident, but looking back, without the potential memories from having crossed worlds before, she might not even have recognized these traditional characters thoroughly.

"But, your handwriting is really good, you must have practiced hard, right?"

Embarrassed, Ye Huan scratched her head, "During the famine, I practiced writing a lot at home."

"You’re a good kid. Aunt Cao has a keen eye. Well, I already helped handle your enrollment formalities. I’ll take you to your classroom when you can start school. You should go with me to meet your class teacher later, meet your teacher, receive a set of textbooks, and have the teacher advise on what to bring. Bring them all at once tomorrow, and you’ll be able to attend classes normally."

Following Teacher Wang to meet the class teacher, understanding the basic situation, she bowed in thanks and bid farewell to the teacher, leaving the county’s only middle school.

In this era, very few people reach secondary school, and there aren’t many individuals, so even the sole middle school had available spots.

Board and lodging at school cost two silver coins a month; it wasn’t cheap, nor extremely costly. Now penniless, she needed to earn some money quickly, or the lack of security was too daunting.

Carrying the fruit, she headed to the hospital entrance.

A basket of fruit was only sold by three or four in the afternoon, working slowly due to fewer afternoon patients visiting, as they mostly chose morning visits, hence selling quite late.

She obtained five silver coins, having money was indeed great, as an eighty-jin sack of grains could be bought for one silver coin in this era, although with the recent food shortage they’re pricier, one could still manage twenty or thirty jin.

School board and lodging for a month costs two silver coins, not much, yet she guessed there wasn’t much food either, enough to fill the stomach might be uncertain.

Of course, her selling being slow also related to her not accepting other government currencies.

Silver coins had high status, but after 1935, they weren’t really issued much, mainly replaced by local government-issued currencies, but their values were too varied and confusing. She could hardly identify which ones retained value, so she simply accepted only silver coins. Fortunately, most common folks still had them, the school accepted them too, presumably everyone subconsciously felt silver coins were easier to count.

After all, other government currency values often counted in hundreds or thousands, sounding like much, but conversion was likely needed.

Holding five silver coins, and carrying her basket, she walked a bit of the way when someone called from behind: "Little sister, wait, little sister!"

Guessing the person wanted to buy fruit, she promptly moved some from her space into the basket, feeling assured as having turned the corner past the hospital road, then turned back confidently, waiting by the side for the person to catch up, breathing heavily.

"Alas, finally caught you, girl, do you still have more fruit? My mom really likes it and asked me to buy more, take some home to let my dad try too,"

She glanced into the basket, "Big sister, I have two yuan left, want them all?"

"Ah, yes, take it all, the old lady was hospitalized recently, lacking flavor in her mouth. This afternoon I saw you selling, and she really liked it after tasting. She told me to bring some to the old man at home too. Please give me all that’s left?"

"Big sister, you’re really filial. There happens to be an extra apple, I’ll give it to you as a gift. Come back to buy more if you have the chance!"

"Of course, we find it difficult to buy such good fruits, you’re quite something to get off-season fruits and vegetables like this,"

Local tomatoes only appear in summer, apples in autumn, and even strawberries mature around April or May. Though that’s not the main point; the key is her fruits are large, red, and beautiful, instantly eye-catching, clearly high-quality produce, perceived as worth it by those in the know at one yuan.

In this era, no pesticides or fertilizers existed, so buying just based on appearance was common.

Like the toxic and harmful foods from past lives, weren’t they market-driven?

Glas noodles, tofu skin looking unappealing, fine, adding something for a prettier color.

Tomatoes, cucumbers looking misshapen, fine, spray them with pesticides, soak them, have them growing large, red, straight and robust, everyone is fond of them.

No trading, no killing - applicable here and very practical.

Unexpectedly, she managed to earn two more yuan before leaving, totaling seven yuan today, sufficient for her expenses for the next week.

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