Rebirth of a Top Student's Handbook

"Yes. Give me a hundred yuan later, and I'll go buy two more, and replace the one in the living room while I'm at it."

After retiring from the army, Zhou's father worked as an electrician for a while, but Zhou's mother made him quit because she thought the salary was too low. However, Zhou's father still knew this information.

You should know that Zhou's father is a very fashionable old man. In his previous life, he was very good at using computers and even started a Weibo account where he uploaded pictures of his baby's daily life, and he had over 100,000 followers.

"It's so expensive. Forget it, if we can save some money, let's just replace them all." With that, Zhou's mother gave Zhou's father 200 yuan. Hearing that it would save electricity, Zhou's mother was quite farsighted.

Because people come over to play mahjong every day, the 200-watt incandescent light bulb in the living room is always on, which results in a large electricity bill for the family every month.

Mr. Zhou took the two hundred yuan, went to the yard, pushed his bicycle, and was about to leave.

Zhou Min went over and quietly said to her father, "Dad, I know the stun gun isn't that expensive. You have to share the spoils with me."

Zhou Min knew that because her mother was strict, her father often hid pocket money.

But knowing that all this money would eventually be used by Zhou's father to smoke, Zhou Min squeezed her father's secret stash of money without any guilt.

"Shh, don't let your mom know. I'll give you ten yuan later." After saying that, Mr. Zhou stepped on the foot of the pedal and left.

Zhou Min could only pout and return to her room to continue tidying up.

Zhou Min looked at the old table that she could never get clean, the chair that was too big for her, and the wardrobe whose mirror she had kicked to pieces.

Zhou Min decided she would never again suffer like before. She would be living in this house for another seven or eight years, so she had to completely replace it.

Thinking about this, Zhou Min went to the kitchen, helping her mother while saying ingratiatingly, "Mom, could you please get me a new desk?"

"What's wrong now? Isn't that table working perfectly fine?"

"The stool is too low. When I use it, I have to prop my arms up, so I can't read properly."

"Then ask your dad to get you a new chair."

"But there are so many holes on the desktop, it's really hard for me to write smoothly. My teacher says my handwriting is ugly and tells me to practice more."

"How much will that cost? We've already gone over budget by 200 this month, this won't do."

"My handwriting is so ugly, it will definitely affect my score on the exam. If I don't get into No. 1 High School, don't blame me." No. 1 High School is the provincial key high school in the county.

When Zhou's mother heard what Zhou Min said, she did the math in her head and realized that a set of desks and chairs wouldn't cost much, so she simply agreed. After all, compared to her grades, this was nothing.

Mr. Zhou quickly returned with the purchased bulbs. After the family finished eating, he replaced all the light bulbs. Mrs. Zhou carefully collected the old incandescent bulbs, saying she would give them away as gifts, as it would be a waste to throw them away.

Seeing the much brighter room, Zhou Min felt much better. Thinking about the old desk that she would soon be replacing, Zhou Min went to bed early and felt at ease.

The next day, before dawn, Zhou Min was woken up by her mother. Her mother planned to go to the furniture factory early that day to pick out a desk. She told Zhou Min to eat at home by herself, and then she and her father rode off on their bicycles.

After washing up, Zhou Min went to the kitchen and opened the pot, only to find it empty. Was this what she called eating by herself? It was hard to imagine that this was something her future mother, who would practically feed her bite by bite, would do.

Zhou Min was too lazy to cook, so she figured her parents would eat out on the street later and then go to her grandparents' house for dinner.

From a young age, under the influence of her mother, Zhou Min disliked her grandparents, feeling that they were biased, favored boys over girls, and treated her mother and herself badly.

But Zhou Min, now grown up, knew this. Because she was the eldest granddaughter and had no other children, her grandparents doted on her very much.

On the contrary, her maternal grandparents, having so many grandchildren, treated Zhou Min very casually. They were only slightly nicer to Zhou Min because her mother often helped them with chores.

As Zhou Min walked to her grandfather's house, many people greeted her, saying, "Hey, Xiao Min, what brings you to your grandfather's house today?" Everyone was probably curious about Zhou Min's visit.

"Well, I've come to take a look." Zhou Min chuckled and brushed off each question.

It's no wonder everyone is curious, since Zhou Min used to dislike her grandparents. It was always her grandparents who came to visit her, and even then, Zhou Min would still scold them for a while, hoping to stand up for her mother.

"Old Zhou, your relatives have come to visit!" Before even reaching Grandpa's house, they heard Grandpa's neighbor shouting loudly. Grandpa quickly came out to greet them, and as soon as he saw it was Zhou Min, his face immediately lit up with a big smile.

It's worth noting that although Zhou Min's home and her grandfather's home are less than 300 meters apart, because Zhou Min holds grudges, it's common for her grandparents not to see her for two or three months at a time.

When Grandma heard that Zhou Min hadn't eaten, she immediately stood up to cook another dish. Zhou Min looked at the dishes on the table and silently swallowed her refusal.

Grandma quickly brought out a plate of scrambled eggs: "Come on, Minmin, eat more eggs. Eating eggs makes you smarter." Zhou Min looked at the large plate of eggs in front of her and started serving food to her grandparents: "You should eat too, I can't finish it all by myself."

After finishing her meal, Zhou Min sat for a while before heading home. On the way, she thought about how ridiculous human nature was. Despite clearly favoring sons over daughters, giving all the good things to her sons and treating her daughters like water spilled on the ground, in the end, everyone was enjoying their good fortune thanks to their daughters.

Like Zhou Min's maternal grandparents, who had four daughters, they ate and drank well every day, and the nutritional supplements they couldn't finish expired and were put into sacks and thrown away.

As for Zhou Min's grandparents, they only had five sons and lived a very difficult life. Although they had enough money, the old folks were used to being frugal and were reluctant to spend it. No one bought them anything ready-made.

They eat the vegetables and grains they grow themselves every day and never spend money. They save their money for medical treatment when they are unwell.

Because of her mother's upbringing, Zhou Min constantly compared herself to her cousins ​​and aunts in terms of filial piety towards her maternal grandparents, claiming she had washed their clothes and emptied their chamber pots...

After she grew up, she received a constant stream of gifts. As for her grandparents, Zhou Min always ignored them, only lecturing them when she was in a bad mood. Thinking about this, Zhou Min decided to listen to her mother from now on.

When Zhou Min got home, she found that her parents were already back, and her mother was cooking. Upon seeing Zhou Min, her mother asked, "Have you had breakfast yet?"

Zhou Min said, "I ate at my grandma's house."

Zhou's mother was taken aback by Zhou Min's answer. After all, Zhou Min used to dislike her grandparents a lot, but today she actually went over on her own.

"Visit your grandparents more often when you have time, after all, they are so old." Hearing Zhou's mother say this, Zhou Min was even more stunned.

Actually, she didn't know that Zhou's mother had long regretted it. When they were young, Zhou's mother often quarreled with Zhou's grandmother. Zhou's grandmother couldn't win the argument, so she could only use the fact that she hadn't given birth to a son to hurt Zhou's mother.

Heartbroken, Zhou's mother often complained to Zhou Min. Little did she know that Zhou Min had such a bad temper, and gradually she became so disgusted with her grandparents that she didn't even want to see them anymore.

Every time this topic came up, Zhou Min reacted even more severely than her mother. Since she was standing up for her mother, Zhou Min's mother couldn't say anything lest she hurt her child's feelings. So even if Zhou's mother regretted it, she could only pretend not to know.

"Although your grandparents don't like me, they still love you very much. After all, you were the only one who grew up with them when you were little..." Zhou's mother said in a rambling voice.

Zhou Min felt that everything in front of her was very familiar, as if her mother had said the same thing in her previous life.

It was clearly because she refused to listen to her mother that Zhou Min realized what she had lost until her grandmother passed away. She was grieving and blaming her mother at the same time.

She felt that it was her mother who prevented her from being filial to her elders, which made Zhou's mother feel very guilty later.

But the facts before her eyes clearly slapped Zhou Min in the face, revealing that she had often been making assumptions.

Zhou Min felt she needed some peace and quiet.