Of course, there were also supporters who helped defend her, “She isn’t stealing or robbing from anyone, which means that they’re eating their own food. Why would you care whether they roast or cook their meals? You can roast your food as well if you have the ability.”
After talking and laughing for a while, everyone went home to cook dinner.
Subsequent to eating the barbecue, Lin Lan, who was crowned king of the iron hats, brought the children to clean up and saved the rest of the bones. That way, she would be able to make some mutton soup tomorrow!
The whole family huddled on the kang in the west room once they finished washing up.
Lin Lan coughed, “I didn’t want to talk about such a sensitive topic while we were happily eating, but should you guys take the initiative to tell me about it now?”
The children took out their test papers one after another.
Naturally, Maisui scored full marks in Chinese and Mathematics. Plus, earning 100 points in writing from Han Qingping made her very happy.
Erwang got second place in the overall test. Obtaining 95 in writing, his other subjects were passed with full marks.
Dawang passed all three subjects, which surprised Lin Lan because she thought that he would fail.
Then again, Han Qingping used to say that the child would sleep in class whilst sitting upright. Even after class, he would either be sleeping or would seemingly disappear into thin air!
For him to be able to pass his courses now was a very good thing. Besides, he even scored a 76 in his Mathematics paper.
Lin Lan frowned and glanced at Sanwang who was picking his teeth. His teeth were only starting to grow fully, so his milk teeth hurt when he pressed it against his gums like that.
Sanwang’s test paper looked like a dog had chewed onto it. After taking the exam and bringing the papers home, they were so crumpled to the point where nobody couldn’t bear to even look at them.
The test paper was also so, so dark… Lin Lan couldn’t even figure out how this test paper managed to become a sheet of grey and black.
She could almost imagine that when Sanwang didn’t know how to answer the questions, he would just scribble some words and use his finger to rub on them…
In this case, the subject was studying him instead of vice versa.
Lin Lan reached out to take Sanwang’s test paper, but he didn’t let go. Instead, he lowered his head, pouted his mouth and let out a whine, “Let…let’s look at Xiaowang’s first.”
Lin Lan asked in surprise, “Did he answer the questions as well?”
Xiaowang smiled brightly and handed the test paper to Lin Lan like it was a treasure.
The surface of the paper was clean and tidy. As long as there were words on it, they were neat and tidy. Anything he didn’t know how to answer was left blank.
There were Chinese characters and pinyin(romanised Chinese) written on it. Although the characters were fairly simple, they were very beautiful. She had to admit that Xiaowang was really likeable.
Lin Lan looked at Sanwang again. If he wasn’t for her own birth child…if he didn’t have other advantages…if it wasn’t for all of that and more…how could a parent refrain from being partial?
“Sanwang…” Lin Lan called him.
Sanwang shuddered, knowing that his name being called was not a good thing.
Fortunately, he had eaten his full share of barbecue, so even if he was beaten… That wouldn’t be too much of a loss.
He peeked at Han Qingsong and coincidentally, his father looked over. The dark look in his eyes made the boy tremble. It seemed like he probably wouldn’t be able to escape a beating session.
Lin Lan sighed over and over again, thinking to herself that she had to be a Buddhist-type mother. It was especially when a child dutifully finished his homework but was unable to get good grades that she had to be calm and patient.
Sanwang thought again to himself that it would have been better to eat barbecue yesterday so that he would eat it in a happier manner.
Lin Lan didn’t say anything in the end as she just took out the prizes. The pen, diary and 1 Yuan was given to Maisui. Erwang obtained the bag, 1 Yuan and also another diary. The two of them could just share the bag anyways, so he didn’t really mind it that much.
Xiaowang, too, got 50 cents.
The children were all in a daze— was mother confused? Was she really going to give so much money?
Didn’t she say that she would give 50 cents and 20 cents each?
Seeing Lin Lan’s facial expressions, they immediately assumed that she had forgotten what she previously said.