"Mom, the pot you use for cooking rice, was it bought by Laosan?"
Mrs. Zhao eyed Da Shu’s mother, seeing right through her intentions; she wasn’t fooled for a second.
"It was bought by Laosan’s wife. If you want one, prepare the money and have Laosan mail one over to you," she said.
Expecting Laosan to ship one over without payment was out of the question.
The electric rice cooker made cooking rice extremely convenient.
It cooked rice and steamed buns, albeit not too many, but it could cook porridge without burning it.
This item surely wasn’t cheap; where would the money for such a pot come from in their household?
"Mom, we’re still in the midst of famine," she said.
There was no money for any other significant purchases.
She had thought she might persuade her mother-in-law to get one from Laosan and his wife.
But now that it would cost money, Da Shu’s mother was naturally reluctant.
"Xiao Shu isn’t much younger than Da Bao; he’s just a few months apart. He should be sent to school in the second half of the year," she said.
At this mention, Da Shu’s mother’s expression turned sour.
Even Xiao Bao had started school.
And Da Bao had scored a double hundred again.
No one in their team had ever achieved a double hundred...
Da Shu had scored a mere ten or so points.
"And Da Shu, make sure he studies hard. Only by getting into a university can he be assigned a job," she continued.
That came with a decent salary and rations every month.
"If he doesn’t make it to middle school, doesn’t make it to high school, then he’ll have to return home to farm," she added.
Da Shu’s mother didn’t dare consider the possibility: If her son, like them, ended up farming at home and Laosan’s children both went to university and got jobs, the heartache would be too much to bear.
Da Shu had no idea about what he was about to face.
"Brother Xiao Hai, we must make sure Da Shu studies hard. Otherwise, if he fails to get into university, do we really want him to stay behind and farm?" she asked.
Zhao Tianhai saw his wife actually voice these thoughts aloud.
"Why suddenly insist on Da Shu studying hard?" he asked.
With a bit of awkwardness, Da Shu’s mother said, "If Laosan’s family all become college graduates and we don’t have even one university candidate, how would that look? If Da Shu and Xiao Shu study hard and get into college, find jobs, we too can enjoy our later years in the city."
Their two children didn’t seem cut out for academics.
But they were still young, still salvageable.
That afternoon, however, their parents let Da Shu feel the consequences.
Xiao Shu was terrified to see his parents beating his older brother.
The incident also reached Mrs. Zhao’s ears.
"Laoer and his wife gave Da Shu a beating, hearing that he hadn’t done his homework but instead had gone out to play," they said.
Captain Zhao didn’t know what to do about his eldest grandson.
Among his sons, only Laosan had taken to studying, making it to junior high and senior high, although he lacked a job in the county town.
But now he had made it to university.
Captain Zhao still felt proud.
"If a beating gets him to study hard, that’s a good thing. These days, the kids have opportunities to study; our team is quite remote, and to get a job, one has to make it out through exams," he said.
"I wonder if Aunt Fang has settled in well in Capital City," he pondered.
Thinking it over, Captain Zhao said, "After the rice seedlings are planted and the corn is sown, we could send Laoer to catch a train and visit Capital City too, couldn’t we?"
"I asked Laosan; he won’t be coming back for the summer break. You could stay in Capital City for a while and return before the fall harvest," he suggested.
He could manage their fields entirely on his own.
Mrs. Zhao felt a pang of excitement.
"Wouldn’t that be imposing on Laosan and his family? They might not even have a place for us to stay," she pointed out.
Captain Zhao could tell his wife was tempted.