Back to 1984: Earning Money, Raising Kids, and Keeping the Household Busy

"Auntie, what's an English class? Is it what foreigners say?" Xu Jian asked innocently.

Lin Qin had a headache. She carefully explained to the two children the importance of Western countries and English, "Your parents are busy and don't have time to worry about so much. This winter vacation, you can stay here and take English classes with Ping An Ya Ya. Let's see how it goes first."

The two children already idolized their aunt and uncle, so naturally they would agree to whatever Lin Qin said.

the next day.

Lin Qin sent her four children to a training institution, explained the situation to Bai Linlin, and then sent the youngest to a daycare center to begin her miserable winter vacation study life.

Lin Qin only started cleaning the house, buying clothes for the children for the New Year, and preparing for the holiday when the daycare was about to close.

After finishing all that, it was New Year's Eve.

Xu Dahai came to Nanyu with his youngest daughter and Nianli to pick up people. He was stunned when he heard his two sons speaking loudly in a language he couldn't understand.

"Dad! What are Jian and Kang doing?" Xu Dahai put the things in the kitchen and looked towards the living room with a puzzled expression.

Lin Yi scolded irritably, "You parents don't care about your children as much as your aunt does! Aqin enrolled all four children in an English extracurricular class. They've been studying for more than half a month now, one class a day, and the rest of the time they do homework, exercise, go fishing whenever they have free time, and they have to repeat what they've learned each day. They also have to read English for half an hour every morning, noon and night."

Xu Dahai was shocked. "Dad! I thought my sister-in-law invited them over to play with Ping An and Ya Ya. No, I have to ask how much it cost for the two kids' lessons. We can't let them pay for both the lessons and the lessons."

"Forget it! I'll pay for it. You can go do whatever you need to do! Don't affect the children's studies. Also, I have something to tell you. Since you two are too busy with your business to take care of the children, why don't you just send them to school in the city?"

Anyway, it makes no difference whether I pick up and drop off two kids or four, as long as I transfer their household registration.

Lin Yi had this idea for a long time, especially after seeing the gap between his two eldest grandsons and two younger grandsons. This idea became stronger and stronger. Fortunately, he hadn't spent any of the money he earned from selling lotus roots, sweet potatoes, calla lilies, and taro this year, and his private savings were now in the five figures.

He doesn't need that much money himself, so he can use it to carefully plan for his grandchildren.

Xu Dahai hesitated for a moment, "Dad, the children's household registrations are all in the village. If we transfer them out, wouldn't Ah Ying and I have to transfer them too?"

Lin Yi rolled his eyes at him. "I've already inquired. As long as one of you two transfers out, the child's household registration can be processed."

Collective labor is no longer common; everyone lives their own life. Your village doesn't have much money, and the land has already been distributed. Transferring the two children's household registrations won't have any impact.

The city has better educational conditions. These two boys in the village would probably only go to junior high before giving up. But in the city, surrounded by other students, their perspectives will change. Don't you want someone in your family to go to university?

These words really hit Xu Dahai where it hurts.

He had been hesitant, but immediately gritted his teeth and agreed. "I'll discuss it with Aying later, but isn't transferring schools a lot of trouble?"

Lin Yi pondered for a moment and said, "Go find Wen Jun. Wen Jun knows the supervisors at the Education Bureau. They even give them New Year's gifts these days. Have him take you there to ask. We're just transferring schools, and we're not asking anyone for favors, so there shouldn't be any problems."

Xu Dahai took it to heart.

Originally, he planned to send a New Year's gift and then take his two sons back home. However, he stayed two extra hours to discuss the matter with Chen Wenjun before taking his two sons back.

It was almost dark when they got home. Lin Ying had prepared the New Year's Eve dinner and only breathed a sigh of relief when she saw the father and his two sons return safely. She scolded them playfully, "You're up so late on New Year's Day!"

Xu Dahai was overjoyed and shouted to his two sons, "Come on! Eldest and second eldest, say a few words to your mother in English."

Xu Jian and Xu Kang immediately greeted Lin Ying in English.

Lin Ying was stunned. "What is this? What is this saying? I don't understand a single word."

"You don't understand, do you? That's good! Your two sons have made something of themselves, they can speak foreign languages ​​now! I only found out today when I went to pick up the kids that your sister-in-law sent these two boys to the city to take English classes."

Dad's idea is that the school in our village is not good, and he wants us to transfer the two children's household registration to the city so that they can study in the city. Dad won't let us pay for this, saying that he will cover the school fees for his grandchildren in the future.

I figured Dad was right. If the kids stayed in the village, they'd probably be working right after junior high, or maybe they wouldn't even finish junior high. It's different in the city. Dad and my sister-in-law are very strict with them, and the learning environment is better there. We don't expect the kids to be super successful, but if they can get into high school or a vocational college, they won't have to work as hard as we do, right?

Lin Ying wanted her two sons to succeed even more than Xu Dahai. Hearing this, she nodded vigorously, "That's right! For the children's future, we have to send them to study in the city."

Xu Dahai's expression softened. "If you agree, things will be easier. The house in the city was bought for you by your father. My idea is that you transfer your household registration there with the child, while Xinyi and I will keep our household registration in the village."

"We'll transfer her there when she's older. Then all three of them can study in the city. Surely one of them will get into a junior college!"

He dared not even think about going to university, but he could still dream of getting into a junior college.

Lin Ying was filled with excitement and discussed with Xu Dahai that they would transfer their household registration as soon as the seventh day of the Lunar New Year was over.

Because of this, the couple decided not to go to the city on the second day of the Lunar New Year and to call Lin Qin to let her know.

On the first day of the Lunar New Year, Xu Dahai brought two bottles of wine to the village secretary's house to pay his respects and inquire about the household registration transfer.

The village party secretary was surprised and pressed for details.

Xu Dahai told Lin Ying's family about buying her a house and arranging for her two children to study in the city.

The village secretary was extremely envious. "Great! This is a good thing! For the sake of the children's future, we should move out. So, come to my place on the eighth day of the lunar new year to fill out the paperwork. You'll have to make several trips to the city then."

Xu Dahai quickly expressed his gratitude.

The village party secretary kept his mouth shut and didn't reveal anything until Lin Ying and her two sons registered their household registration in the city, and Xu Jian and Xu Kang transferred to the city's experimental primary school. Only then did the news spread.

When Xu Dahai's sister-in-law, Wang Fengying, found out, she couldn't sit still. She pulled her husband, Xu Dapeng, and said in an annoyed tone, "The second son is really capable. I think he's just afraid that we'll benefit from their success, which is why he's in such a hurry to divide the family property."

"If we hadn't separated the family back then, our children could have transferred to schools in the city. You need to think of something quickly; we can't let our children be disadvantaged."

As the most favored daughter-in-law in the Xu family, Wang Fengying always considered herself superior and didn't take Lin Ying and Zhang Guizhi seriously.

Even when the second and third wives were fighting ugly, she simply watched from the sidelines as if it were a joke. (End of Chapter)