1980: I have a spiritual spring

Chapter 16 Blood Boiling
in the afternoon.

The children in the village who were the same age as Qiao Liuduo and Qiao Qitan came to Qiao Erhe with the insects they had saved up for several days to exchange for White Rabbit milk candy.

"Brother Erhe, these are all the insects I caught, a total of three hundred, and I've counted them all."

"Uncle Erhe, this box is full of insects I caught, three hundred of them, and they're all still alive!"

"Brother Erhe, these are mine, two hundred of them."

"..."

While collecting the insects, Qiao Erhe handed out White Rabbit milk candies to them.

Those who received White Rabbit Creamy Candy were overjoyed. In this day and age, White Rabbit Creamy Candy is the Rolls Royce of candies, a synonym for high-end, which is incomparable to other brands of candy.

Because there were many friends catching bugs, Qiao Erhe received 2400 bugs at once and sent out 24 White Rabbit milk candies.

After receiving the candy, one of the friends asked, "Brother Erhe, are you going to keep collecting these bugs?"

Qiao Erhe laughed and said, "Go ahead and take them. If you guys have nothing to do, keep catching bugs. Come back every three days with a round number of bugs to exchange for candy. I'll take as many as you have."

The friend was delighted and said, "Great! Brother Erhe, we'll come back to you in three days to exchange our candy."

After his friends had all left in high spirits, Qiao Erhe instructed, "Fourth brother, take these insects and scatter them among the chicks. Remember to scatter them evenly and make sure all the chicks get to eat the insects."

All 2400 insects were put into a basin, and the dense swarm looked quite frightening.

However, these insects are similar to bean worms, not the kind that look too disgusting. If city kids saw them, they might be scared or disgusted, but in the eyes of rural kids, they are things that can be caught and played with at will.

For example, dropping an insect into an ant colony and then squatting there to observe carefully how the ants carry the insect back to their nest is one of the rare joys of childhood for rural children.

Therefore, Qiao Sihai responded and picked up the basin to feed the chickens.

Seeing this, Qiao Erhe picked up a shovel and continued digging the trench.

At this moment, Qiao Dajiang and Qiao Wuhu were already digging. Qiao Erhe walked over to Lao Wu and, while digging the trench, asked, "Lao Wu, how are your grades lately?"

Upon hearing this, Qiao Wuhu smiled somewhat awkwardly and said, "Second Brother, why did you suddenly ask this?"

In fact, Qiao Erhe knew without even asking that none of the seven siblings were academically inclined. In their previous life, the highest level of education among the seven siblings was junior high school graduation, and none of them even went to high school, let alone vocational school, junior college, or even university.

Now that they've been given a second chance at life, let's not dwell on the four older ones, but Qiao Erhe feels it's necessary to try and save the fifth, sixth, and seventh siblings who are still in school.

So Qiao Erhe gave an irrelevant answer: "Fifth brother, do you think it's harder to dig trenches here or to sit in a classroom and study?"

By this time, Qiao Wuhu had been digging for quite a while and felt hot and tired, sweating all over. Without thinking, he replied, "Of course, digging trenches is more tiring!"

"It's good that you know digging trenches is hard work." Qiao Erhe stopped what he was doing and said earnestly, "Fifth brother, after the special period before, the country was severely lacking in talent in all aspects. So after Deng Xiaoping came to power, he immediately restored the college entrance examination. The country is also paying more and more attention to education."

Nowadays, getting into a vocational high school means securing a stable job; the government guarantees employment after graduation, and there's even the opportunity to become a high-ranking leader.

If you can get into university, that would be even more remarkable; you'd be a shoo-in for a leadership position.

Just think about it, simply sitting in the classroom and studying hard could potentially make you a big shot like a commune leader, making you a superior person with all your relatives and friends currying favor with you. Wouldn't you want to seize such an opportunity?

Qiao Wuhu was thrilled, but after the excitement subsided, he said dejectedly, "Second brother, of course I also want to be a superior person and a big leader, but my academic performance is really not good enough. I guess I have no chance of getting into high school or vocational school."

Qiao Erhe said, "As the saying goes, everything depends on human effort. Your grades are bad now because you just coasted through school and never really tried your best. I've been there, and I know very well what it was like back in school."

My chance has already passed, but if you are willing to work hard and strive, you still have a chance to change your fate.

In short, that's all I have to say. Your life choice is either to return home and farm honestly after graduating from junior high school, or to fight tooth and nail for a bright future. The decision is yours.

Hearing this, Qiao Wuhu threw down the hoe in his hand and said with great enthusiasm, "Second brother, you are right. I can't just accept my fate like this. I want to defy fate and fight hard to create a bright future for myself."

Seeing that Lao Wu had been inspired, Qiao Erhe smiled and patted him on the shoulder, saying, "That's right. Studying is the most important opportunity in your life, and you must seize it firmly."

Qiao Wuhu nodded heavily and said, "I understand. I'll go back to study now, and then go back to school after dinner."

"Go!"

Seeing Lao Wu return to his room to read with high spirits, Qiao Erhe felt a sense of anticipation. He wondered if his words had truly enlightened Lao Wu, and whether Lao Wu's desire to work hard was just a momentary impulse or something he could consistently maintain.

Anyway, he has done what he was supposed to do. Whether he becomes a dragon or a snake next is up to the fifth brother to choose.

Of course, on the other hand, the fifth student's foundation is not good. Even if he realizes now that he needs to work hard, there are only two semesters left. Whether he can complete the transformation in these two semesters is really an unknown.

Next, Qiao Erhe stopped thinking about it and started digging the trench with all his might. Now that he was as strong as an ox, digging trenches was an easy task for him, and he didn't feel tired at all.

The trench is already more than halfway done. If we dig for another day tomorrow, it will be finished.

When it rains, we'll divert the water into the ditch, then catch some small fish from the river and put them in the ditch to raise. That will complete the task.

Thinking of this, Qiao Erhe became more and more enthusiastic about digging, and he didn't stop until it was time for dinner in the afternoon.

After dinner, Qiao Wuhu took the pickled vegetables and rice prepared by his family, along with the two yuan given to him by his second brother, and walked resolutely towards the school. Under his second brother's guidance, he had come to his senses and decided that he would fight for his life and create a bright future.

As usual, Qiao Erhe took his fishing rod and basket and walked towards the riverbank.

These next few days, he will continue to catch fish to sell at the commune, and stop once he has saved enough money for feed.

(End of this chapter)