Chapter 151: Chapter 141: Middle School

Mo Linghui and Guan Ailan were also on the same bus to school. With Grandpa escorting them, their families didn’t need to send an adult along and entrusted the girls to him. In truth, Grandpa didn’t need to go all the way to the county seat, but he and Grandma were uneasy. The fact that Mo Xiaoqiang had come and tried to bomb the house revealed just how deeply Mo Guoqiang and Liu Fengying hated Xiao Man. Although the police had taken the couple away, Grandpa and Grandma were still shaken. They feared Mo Guoqiang and Liu Fengying might ask relatives to harm Xiao Man, especially since Liu Fengying had two or three brothers who were said to be real scoundrels.

Xiao Man, however, wasn’t worried about this. In her previous life, Liu Fengying had often sent her to her so-called maternal grandmother’s or aunts’ houses to work. The Liu family brothers were indeed scoundrels, but they were also incredibly selfish. The wives they married were each shrewder than the last, only ever taking and never giving. They would never risk themselves to help Liu Fengying.

Besides, Xiao Man wasn’t afraid of them.

Teacher Yu came to the bus station to pick them up. The school wasn’t far from the station, and with Teacher Yu there, registration and dorm assignments were handled without a hitch. Teacher Yu’s father-in-law had the surname Fan, and her mother-in-law’s surname was Cheng. The couple lived in the school’s teacher dormitories, where three rooms had been enclosed to form a cozy, quiet little courtyard. That evening, everyone went over for a meal to get acquainted. Grandpa had brought some local specialties, and Teacher Fan and Mr. Cheng repeatedly said he was too kind as they hosted him warmly. They had Grandpa stay the night at their home, and he took an early bus back to the countryside the next day.

And just like that, a tense and novel middle school life began. As expected, Mr. Cheng placed Xiao Man and her two friends in the advanced class. It was 1978, and the college entrance exams had been reinstated. Everyone was striving to get ahead, and the school’s atmosphere was completely transformed. The passion for learning was at an all-time high. Teachers and students alike were wound up tight, all scrambling to work hard and improve. For the people on campus, every day was about studying, and nothing but studying.

Xiao Man was now very grateful to Teacher Yu for making these arrangements for her. After testing her, Mr. Cheng had created a special teaching plan. He said that if Xiao Man could adapt and keep up with this pace, she could absolutely enter the high school division a year early!

’Of course I can do it,’ Xiao Man thought. ’If I wasn’t worried about appearing too monstrously talented, I’d want to skip two years! Twenty people sharing one big dormitory, and Guan Ailan and Mo Linghui insisting the three of us share a bunk... We’re together practically every minute of every day... This is so difficult for someone like me, who has secrets and needs a little private space!’

Fortunately, her consciousness could enter the Treasure Pearl Space for Cultivation. Otherwise, she might have forgotten her Nine Profound Body Refining Technique entirely. Even so, her physical training would have to be delayed.

Afraid of attracting a crowd, the three of them could only go to the sports field after their evening self-study session or rise extra early in the morning to practice Tai Chi Boxing for half an hour.

Every weekend, Xiao Man would make a trip home. Guan Ailan and Mo Linghui didn’t go. For one, they didn’t have that much money for bus fare; for another, they both had to use the time to study hard just to maintain their grades as advanced students. They simply couldn’t understand how Xiao Man could be so at ease, not fall behind, and even casually talk about skipping a grade. Guan Ailan, in particular, wished she could pry open Xiao Man’s head to see what was inside.

Xiao Man could only feel a secret pang of shame. ’I’ve been reborn; there’s no way to explain it.’ she thought.

Each time she returned, Xiao Man would meet up with Mo Shuixia. Mo Shuixia was a day student at the commune’s middle school. Xiao Man had thought Mo Shuixia would be dejected, being the only one of the four friends left behind, but to her surprise, the girl was thrilled! She was even more cheerful and lively than before, always laughing and talking. She told Xiao Man she had made many new friends at her school, all of them "big and tall" girls like herself. A classmate of Teacher Yu’s was the PE teacher at the commune middle school and had recruited her for the school’s basketball team. Although she was still just in training, the teacher said she had great potential and could become a key player in the future...

Xiao Man was also very happy for her and was beginning to understand what Teacher Yu had meant. Teacher Yu had said that Mo Shuixia might not be cut out for academics, but as long as she was willing to attend middle school and follow the arrangements, there would be a way to get her into a factory or mine, allowing her to escape the life of a farmer all the same.

So that was it. Teacher Yu wanted Mo Shuixia to play basketball. Beyond production, factories and mines also needed recreational activities. Competitions were occasionally held between work units, and the honor of winning was highly valued. If Mo Shuixia excelled on the basketball team, she could be recruited directly into a factory based on her special skill, without needing to pass the academic exams!

Grandpa had already bought the house in the Youth Corps Courtyard outright, spending six hundred yuan. For him, life couldn’t be more wonderful. His wife’s eyes were completely healed, they had their own courtyard house, no outstanding debts, and even a little money to spare. All that was left was to support Xiao Man through university, and his life would be truly perfect!

Watching Grandpa and Grandma’s cheerful happiness, Xiao Man couldn’t help but smile. ’The good days are still to come. You two can take your time enjoying them.’

Mo Chengfu, however, told Xiao Man something else. After she had left for the county seat to attend school, Mo Xiaosu had come by several times, crying, begging, and throwing tantrums. Each visit ended in an uncontrollable scene. She wanted to move into their courtyard to live, but Grandpa and Grandma refused her. They had now completely given up on the families of the two Mo family brothers and wanted nothing more to do with them.

Mo Chengfu said the Mo Family Courtyard was now a truly terrifying place. During the day, it was filled with noisy arguments and shouts of violence; at night, it was filled with wails that sounded like ghosts and howling wolves, enough to make one’s hair stand on end. It wasn’t just Mo Xiaosu and her siblings; even Mo Laoer and his wife had approached Grandpa many times, willing to kneel and beg him to take their family in.

Mo Guoqiang and Liu Fengying’s brood was simply too much to handle. Although Mo Xiaoqiang had committed a crime, he was a minor and already severely disabled, which was considered its own punishment. He was left to be supervised and educated by his parents. It was unclear what Mo Xiaoqiang had said in his testimony, but in the end, Mo Guoqiang was sentenced to three years. However, seeing that he was also a disabled person, the labor camp refused to take him in, as he couldn’t do any work and they would just have to support him. His sentence was to be served outside of prison, meaning he would remain at home, under the supervision of the commune, the production brigade, and the masses.

This was nothing but a burden for the production brigade, and the brigade cadres all scowled at Mo Guoqiang whenever they saw him.

Liu Fengying had to take care of the entire family by herself, handling all the work, light and heavy, both inside and outside the house. After returning home from her labor in the production team, she still had to wait on several disabled family members, young and old. Her appearance had completely changed. She was gaunt and haggard, her hair disheveled like a madwoman’s. She was prone to fits of rage, and every day she was either beating one person or cursing another. Add to that the neurotic Mo Xiaofeng, who often got into physical fights with the disabled and despairing Mo Xiaoqiang, while Mo Xiao Zhi and Mo Xiaohua could only shriek and cry... Even the distant Han Family couldn’t stand it, to say nothing of Mo Laoer’s family next door. They were all on the verge of going mad themselves, wanting to move but having nowhere to go.

Xiao Man let out a scornful laugh. ’They’ve fallen this far. They shouldn’t have the spare energy to harm anyone else, right?’ There’s no cure for regret in this world. If Liu Fengying and her husband hadn’t been so determined to destroy her, her own retaliation might not have been so harsh. They had no one to blame but themselves. Liu Fengying was simply a wicked woman who ruined her family and brought harm to her own children.

As for Mo Xiaosu, she had also returned to school this year. ’Hopefully, under the guidance of her teachers and the influence of her studies, she’ll have a change of heart. But if she remains unrepentant and continues to scheme against me, then she’s welcome to try!’

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