A widower's entertainment

Chapter 273 [Light Shines Alone on the Child's Path] (Subscription Request)
Beijing, Xinghua Hutong.

The literary seminar of "The Hidden" has attracted considerable attention in Beijing, or in the entire literary circle. In this cold winter, it is like a fire called faith is burning. This fire is so hot that it makes the whole winter different.

But what is really different for Lin Youcheng is that this winter is coming to an end. His eldest daughter, Lin Zhaoxi, will have to take the high school entrance examination this new year, which means she will have to take the examination in the next semester.

Lin Youcheng did not pay much attention to the popularity of "The Disguiser" and the outside world's discussion. Now he is more concerned about the upcoming high school entrance examination.

At this time, you also need to fill in your application form for the high school entrance exam, because you need to decide whether to take the entrance exam for a technical secondary school or a high school, which are two different paths.

At that time, the difficulty of the junior high school entrance examination was no less than that of today's college entrance examination. Especially for rural students, not all graduates can take the junior high school entrance examination. The school has quotas for the junior high school entrance examination. Sometimes, even if the rural graduates are among the best in the class, the school may still not let the students take the junior high school entrance examination, because the school knows very well that they will not pass the exam, and the quota will be wasted, so the students will choose to repeat the grade.

It can be said that it is very common for students to repeat a grade in the junior high school graduating class. Repeating a grade for two or three years is normal, and repeating for four or five years is quite a lot. There are extreme cases where students repeat for eight years, which is unimaginable in the future.

In fact, this is because everyone wants to take the technical secondary school entrance exam. After all, passing the exam means getting a job and truly escaping from the countryside. As for going to high school, it is not very popular, because it is still unknown whether you can get into university after three years of high school.

The 1989 high school entrance examination will be held in July, which means that Lin Zhaoxi will also have to take the exam.

However, it is obvious that Lin Zhaoxi does not know what kind of conditions her father created for her brothers and sisters by bringing them to the capital. At least they will not face a more stringent admission rate than in Bide City.

The conditions at Xinghua Middle School, where Lin Zhaoxi and his sister are now, are much better. You should know that the playground track of Xinghua Middle School is paved with circles of red soft plastic, and there are clusters of low bushes on the side of the road, which are holly trees, and the teaching building has rows of red walls and plastic windows.

At this time, when rural junior high school students with good grades fill out their application for the high school entrance examination, teachers and parents will make a highly consistent decision without hesitation: apply for a technical secondary school or a normal school. As for students in the city, many will also choose to apply for a technical secondary school or a normal school.

Nowadays, most parents prefer secondary normal schools. Their reason is that teachers are good at teaching and are respected. Although they may not become rich, they will not have to worry about big troubles. In fact, compared with urban students, the reason why rural students are optimistic about secondary normal schools is not that they do not want to go to high school and take college entrance examinations, but that they listen to the decisions made by their parents and teachers after repeated cost accounting.

Nowadays, it is believed that once you are admitted to a technical secondary school or a normal school, you will not only enjoy state subsidies during your studies, but also the state will assign you a stable and decent job three years after graduation. This hope that is almost within reach is like seeing rice in the chaff, which makes you feel at ease. If you go to high school, you have no way of predicting what variables will occur in the long days, how many risks you will have to take, how much money and food you will spend in the three years of high school, whether you will be ruined by some slackers, and whether you can get into university is still a big question mark.

If you fail the exam, how many years do you have to repeat the exam? Besides, if you graduate early and start working early, you will get paid early. It can be said that under the guidance of the idea of ​​"saving costs and avoiding long nights and many dreams", most people have chosen technical secondary schools or normal schools. Because you cannot apply for both technical secondary schools and normal schools, you can only choose one. Most people choose normal schools first, not because they yearn for "the most glorious profession under the sun" or strive to be "engineers of human souls", but because the admission score of normal schools is lower than that of technical secondary schools.

To put it more clearly, it is safer to apply for the entrance exam to a normal school.

Of course, Lin Zhaoxi doesn’t need to consider cost saving now. She can start working early and get paid early. She already knows very well that she wants to take the high school entrance exam and then the college entrance exam, and it should be the medical university that her father mentioned.

Lin Zhaoxi's class teacher would naturally ask Lin Zhaoxi, a student with excellent grades, what he thought.

After all, the places for the junior high school entrance examination must be screened and pre-selected before they can enter the final competition. The screening is conducted in mid-May with the same questions and papers as the junior high school graduation examination. Although only a few students are screened out, they have no illusions about further studies and part ways with their classmates and friends, going their separate ways, without any news, and almost never seeing each other again.

Students who are selected will study intensively for a month before participating in the preliminary selection. The preliminary selection for normal school, technical school and technical school is conducted on the same paper as the junior high school to high school and vocational school entrance examination. The preliminary selection is a brutal "battle".

Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish! Large groups of students were ruthlessly crushed in the preliminary selection stage.

Some classes and even some schools suffered the fate of being “annihilated.” Every year, there are more than 4,000 freshmen and students taking supplementary courses, but only about 500 pass the preliminary selection.

In the last stage of the high school entrance examination, students who have passed the pre-selection will have the final "decisive battle". Only about one hundred and twenty to thirty students will be able to pass the test and successfully enter technical secondary schools, normal secondary schools, and technical secondary schools.

In order to produce more talents, produce talents faster, and relieve the talent congestion, in 1990, the secondary normal school enrollment reform was carried out, and the current and previous graduates were admitted in proportion. That year, six levels of current graduates and four levels of previous graduates were admitted. The admission ratio of current graduates increased year by year. Until 1993, the secondary normal school recruited all current graduates, and previous graduates could only apply for technical secondary schools, and the space for previous graduates to continue their studies was unprecedentedly squeezed.

The competition and fighting in the county is quite cruel.

Cruel pressure comes from fierce competition and few admissions. Every junior high school has overcrowded cram schools, with almost as many cram school students as freshmen. Many students are determined to "fight" for many years. Every time they fail the exam, they will feel more pressure and anxiety. Especially for the seniors who stayed in cram schools in the 1980s, they are labeled as big, old-fashioned, and bearded. Judging from their age, height, and clothing, it is difficult to tell whether they are teachers or students.

At that time, the state stipulated that those over 18 years old could not apply for the exam. If a child started to learn to read late, he would unknowingly step over the red line of "18 years old". Therefore, on the candidate registration form, many students at that time were almost "18 years old every year" and "getting younger and younger". There were many students whose actual age was one or two years older than the age on file, or three or five years older. Everyone knew it well and was not surprised.

It can even be said that the reason why everyone is so desperate to get through the single-plank bridge of the high school entrance examination is that no one gives up easily. Some have studied for several years but still failed to pass the preliminary selection. Seeing that the situation is not right, they quickly retreat and withdraw from the competition in despair. Some have passed the preliminary selection every year, but failed the high school entrance examination every year. They feel mixed emotions and have nowhere to vent their bitterness. If they give up, they are worried about failure; if they continue to fight, they don’t know when it will end. They are afraid of being trapped in the endless consumption of youth and becoming Fan Jin’s apprentice.

This was not until 1998, when technical secondary schools and normal schools no longer guaranteed job placements for graduates, and junior high school graduates with excellent grades were given priority in applying for high schools. In 2000, the junior high school entrance examination pre-selection was cancelled, and the entrance examinations for general high schools, technical secondary schools, and normal schools were conducted simultaneously.

Nowadays, once failing the high school entrance examination, many people are full of fear for the future.

However, Lin Zhaoxi was not afraid. Just as her teacher told her, her grades would be enough to get into high school.

In addition, Lin Zhaoxi's class teacher did not ask Lin Zhaoxi why he did not consider applying for a technical secondary school, because the teachers in the school also knew that Lin Zhaoxi's father was the writer Lin Youcheng, and his family conditions naturally did not require Lin Zhaoxi to graduate and work early.

These are things that Lin Zhaoxi and Lin Zhaoman would never know. Some destinies started to change from the path their fathers took.

Their path is now clearly going to be easier.

Of course, to truly walk your own path well, you still have to rely on yourself. As a father, Lin Youcheng is just making the street lamp behind him brighter, so that the children can walk better and more steadily.

"Xi'er, do you want me to hire an English teacher to teach you English during the winter vacation?"

In the late 1986s and early s, the exams were based on Chinese, mathematics, politics, physics and chemistry. Since , English has been included in the high school entrance exam, accounting for %, % and % of the total score each year.

Now, 1989 will be counted as percent in the total score.

Although Lin Zhaoxi's grades have always been excellent, he came from Germany after all, and his English foundation is not as strong as those students in Beijing who have been exposed to English for a long time. Even though Lin Zhaoxi has worked hard, he is not outstanding.

Therefore, Lin Youcheng asked Lin Zhaoxi if he needed an English teacher for her.

This was not Lin Youcheng's way of pushing his child to study, but rather asking for Lin Zhaoxi's opinion to see if Lin Zhaoxi herself was willing and needed it. When Lin Zhaoxi heard Lin Youcheng's question, she was naturally quite moved. She did not think her English was very bad, but she also knew that compared to other students, her English still had room for improvement.

However, Lin Zhaoxi didn't know whether it would cost a lot to hire an English teacher to tutor her.

Lin Zhaoxi had a little concern and asked, "Will the teacher's tuition be--?"

When Lin Youcheng heard what Lin Zhaoxi said, he waved his hand and said, "Don't worry about this. You know the conditions at home. They are getting better and better."

Lin Zhaoxi nodded. She naturally knew it.

"Dad, I'll ask at Yanjing Normal University for you later. I think there will be students willing to do it."

Lin Youcheng had thought about it before, but he felt that Lin Zhaoxi didn't need it, and Lin Zhaoman didn't want it himself, and the younger ones were unnecessary.

Now, Lin Zhaoxi is about to take the high school entrance examination, and the proportion of English scores has increased, so Lin Youcheng came up with this idea.

Lin Youcheng is now a lecturer at Lu Xun Academy of Literature, and is also jointly trained by the School of Literature of Yenching Normal University. It should not be a problem for Lin Zhaoxi to be tutored in English by students at Yenching Normal University. After all, Lin Youcheng is not so crazy as to think of asking teachers at the university to tutor Lin Zhaoxi.

In Lin Youcheng's opinion, even if no students in Yenching Normal University wanted to work and study, they could find students from other universities. After all, this was the capital, and it was not difficult to find a teacher who could tutor them in English.

This is why the starting paths are different.

Lin Zhaoxi nodded and said with a smile: "Thank you, Dad."

"Why are you and Dad still saying thank you?"

Lin Youcheng reached out to touch Lin Zhaoxi's head, but he also felt that Lin Zhaoxi was too old, so he withdrew his hand and said with a smile: "Study hard."

Although Lin Youcheng knew that his words of advice were redundant, he could only say this. Of course, this was also because Lin Youcheng knew that his words to Lin Zhaoxi would not make Lin Zhaoxi feel pressured, but were real encouragement.

Because Lin Zhaoxi has always loved learning.

As for the other one, Lin Zhaoqing is different. Although he also studies, he is not as hardworking and attentive as his sister.

Of course, maybe Lin Zhaoqing has already put in a lot of effort, but the effect is not obvious.

However, Lin Youcheng felt that based on his understanding of Lin Zhaoqing, this possibility was still very small. He did not think that Lin Zhaoqing would secretly study hard in private.

Please forgive him as a father for not discovering this unknown side of Lin Zhaoqing.

Of course, it is also possible that Lin Zhaoqing hid this side of him too deeply, and wanted to surprise his father later.

"Dad, are you going to hire an English tutor for my sister?"

When Lin Zhaoqing heard the news, he couldn't help but ask.

"Why? You want to take English lessons too?"

Lin Youcheng raised his eyebrows, looked at Lin Zhaoqing, and said with a smile: "Come to think of it, I think you should indeed take tutoring, but not only English, but also math."

"Ah? Dad, I don't want it. My grades have improved this semester!"

Lin Zhaoqing shook his head repeatedly and refused directly: "I can study on my own, I don't want tutoring."

Seeing Lin Zhaoqing immediately shaking his head and looking very unwilling, Lin Youcheng just smiled and did not think of arranging a tutor for Lin Zhaoman. After all, studying is something that one has to rely on oneself.

As a father, he can create good enough conditions, and if Lin Zhaoman himself is unwilling, he will not force him.

After all, you have to walk your own path.

Of course, as a father, he would not watch his children go down a dead end, nor would he watch them walk into a deep pit. He would try his best to light the way forward for his children.

"Then if you fall behind, I will have to arrange a tutor for you."

Sometimes, some supervision is still needed.

Lin Youcheng felt that what he did should not be considered as pushing the child too hard, but was just giving a few words of advice.

Hearing Lin Youcheng's words, Lin Zhaoqing instantly felt a sense of pressure, muttered, and said, "I will try my best."

Lin Youcheng couldn't help laughing when he saw Lin Zhaoqing's stressed expression. As a father, he didn't keep nagging Lin Zhaoqing to learn from his sister, nor did he compare Lin Zhaoqing with Lin Zhaoxi. That was good enough.

After all, this is his first time being a father.

(End of this chapter)