novelraw Chapter 539: The 1950s Cannon-Fodder Tagalong (18)
Chapter 539: The 1950s Cannon-Fodder Tagalong (18)
After the child's mother notified everyone, Wang Ming De acted quickly. After informing his father-in-law, and before the elementary to middle school promotion results came out, the surname on the An Ning sisters' household registration book was officially changed from the original Jiang to Wang.
For this, the sisters each received a five-yuan red envelope from their new father.
As for other people's opinions, they weren't important.
With that earlier eight hundred yuan incident, even if some busybodies wanted to gossip, most of their mockery was directed at the former Jiang family.
Well done! Being "filial" to this extent, now look, over eight hundred yuan, all spent raising younger brothers and nephews, while the wife and kids ended up belonging to another family.
Some even felt that Director Wang's wife was already quite decent for leaving the son from her previous marriage with the Jiang family and still giving five yuan every month for his upkeep.
Indeed, looking at what those two girls usually ate and wore, it was clear Director Wang hadn't mistreated them. Just a surname change, nothing too strange.
It wasn't until An Ning was admitted to No.1 Middle School with the top score in the entire district (tied for first) that the people in the alley slowly began to realize.
Oh, no wonder, Director Wang, this man, is truly a shrewd one!
Well, with such a promising top scholar seedling, of course he'd want to pull her into his own family. Sigh, how come all the good things happen to that guy surnamed Wang.But regardless of whether he was shrewd or not, after the results came out, not to mention Wei Qiao, Wang Ming De was genuinely happy.
Probably at any time, those who excel at studying are always held in some esteem. Even Manager Yang and his wife specifically gave An Ning a large red envelope before school started.
An Ning's monthly allowance also conveniently increased from thirty cents to two yuan, of course, this was after deducting meal expenses.
Under the pretext of being for buying and reading books.
No.1 Middle School wasn't too far from their place, but going back and forth at noon was quite time-consuming, especially since An Ning was still young and needed adults to pick her up and drop her off.
Of course, fearing the school food might not be good enough and their daughter might suffer, Wei Qiao basically got up early every morning to prepare lunch boxes for her daughter! Along with snacks like dried meat, marinated eggs, and on very rare occasions, beef jerky.
Wang Ming De, the new father, had also visited An Ning's homeroom teacher and several familiar school leaders well in advance.
Doing what needed to be done in terms of relationships and gifts:
The newly appointed father, Old Wang, was clearly riding high, his nearly-new stand-collar Zhongshan suit making him appear even more tall and straight.
Dressed like a leading cadre, his opening words were quite amiable:
"My child is still young, I'll have to trouble the teacher to look after her more in the future!"
As he spoke, a thin thermos ticket was handed over.
"This..."
These kinds of tickets were hard to come by these days. Even though he was tempted, Teacher Zhang still instinctively wanted to refuse.
But then he heard the man in front of him quickly say with a laugh:
"Teacher, please don't stand on ceremony with me. Winter is coming soon, the child is young, her hands will inevitably get cold in the severe winter. I was just thinking, after class, she could come to you for a sip of something warm..."
This wasn't entirely false. Although An Ning had a military canteen, over the course of a day, especially in deep winter, it wasn't just about whether it was enough, but also that by the time she drank it, it likely wouldn't be very warm anymore.
As for the school's hot water supply point, it wasn't exactly close.
"This..."
Thinking of the little girl who was only about seven years old and indeed needed more care, Teacher Zhang finally didn't refuse.
Of course, it was undeniable that having this would save a lot of trouble! At least she wouldn't have to brave the cold wind every day, running back and forth to the hot water point.
No wonder this man could be a leader and father a little genius like student An Ning!
Thinking again of herself, who was not good with words or at presenting herself in front of leaders. In the office, Teacher Zhang couldn't help but let out a quiet sigh.
The gap between people, why is it so big!
Meanwhile, Wang Ming De was still instructing his new obedient daughter, the future top scholar seedling of the Wang family:
"By the way, since Ning Ning likes reading books, how about in a little while Dad takes you to the big bookstore in the city to see if there's anything you'd like?"
An Ning, who was just thinking of finding some reference books, nodded promptly.
Not gonna lie, having a smart, thorough person taking the lead upfront is really great!
With Comrade Old Wang's advance arrangements and the "little genius" halo, An Ning's middle school life was quite smooth.
Although she was small and stood out noticeably squeezed among a group of ten-year-old kids, she usually only had two or three little companions around her. And they were all the big-sister type who loved taking care of little kids. But An Ning didn't mind. It was 1956 now, and barring any accidents, she still planned to skip another grade in middle school.
She aimed to get into high school before 1959, so that even if something really happened, she could study at home with her textbooks.
Time was inevitably a bit tight.
But actually, it was still okay?
The middle school curriculum in the fifties generally included Chinese, Mathematics, Foreign Language (Russian), Political Ideology, Natural Sciences (Physics, Chemistry, Biology), History, and Geography.
These were the subjects that needed to be tested.
Mathematics was definitely no problem, her old forte. Even if her thinking was a bit slower, it just meant she couldn't perform overly complex high-precision calculations. She could handle ordinary coursework even up to university level.
Chinese, the ancient poetry and prose part, oh, she was way too familiar with that! Composition was even less of an issue.
That is to say, apart from some modern texts that required memorization and understanding, the rest just required a bit more careful attention.
She certainly wouldn't lack literary acuity.
Physics, Chemistry, Biology? Biology went without saying. Physics and Chemistry, although it had been a long time, she hadn't completely forgotten the previous knowledge.
Plus, with her mathematical foundation, picking them up again wasn't too difficult. History and Geography, while not her old forte, weren't that far off either.
Calculating it this way, the ones that truly required time investment were only Russian and Political Ideology.
A month later, after carefully reviewing the large pile of books she had discovered, An Ning couldn't help but breathe a slight sigh of relief.
It seems, for this lifetime's genius persona, as long as she puts in some effort, the possibility of her cover being blown isn't actually that great?
And this point was confirmed when, during the midterm exams, An Ning, with her small frame that was a head shorter than everyone else, still took first place in the entire school with nearly perfect scores, and successfully skipped a grade in the latter half of the year, maintaining first place in her grade.
Wei Qiao, who had originally been worried her daughter might have difficulty adapting: "..."
An Yun, who was barely dragged by her younger sister to break the ninety-point barrier and make it into the top ten of her class: "..."
The Little Wang Brat, who had also tried hard but had just barely passed eighty: "..."
At the dining table, unlike the two extremely happy parents, the two hidden academic underachievers in the family exchanged a glance and finally sighed in unison. The one who spoke first was the Little Wang Brat:
The originally lively and energetic Little Wang Brat now looked listless:
"Next year, our little sister will probably be in high school!"
The two of them...
As for whether she could pass the entrance exam, that was a stupid question. If his little sister couldn't get in, who could?
He couldn't figure it out. They both hit their heads, so why was his little sister so smart, completely unaffected!
He was the unlucky one here. Could it be that smart people's brains are different from others!
The Little Wang Brat was rarely lost in deep thought.
However, as the saying goes, what you fear often comes to pass. In 1958, right before the onset of the great disaster, An Ning once again entered City No.1 High School with the top score in the region.
At the same time, in a farm on the outskirts of the capital, a somewhat thin and wooden figure was slowly walking out...
Not far away, a clearly weary middle-aged man let out an almost imperceptible sigh before stepping forward, his expression no longer showing the joy of earlier times.