Chapter 4: The Difficult Junior High School Years

  In the scorching summer of Xiangzhong, the heat was unbearable, and the intense high temperature seemed to be baking the land into oil.

  At the age of ten, Longbiao spent his days and nights either reading or working. He learned to weave bamboo baskets and mats, but his delicate hands were often cut by the sharp edges of the bamboo, leaving them bloody and scarred. After a month or two, his small hands became covered in scars. Old Master Qi was heartbroken, but he couldn't stop Longbiao because every time he tried, Longbiao would say "A poor man's child must take care of himself early on." This sensible phrase from the young boy would pierce Old Master Qi's heart like a knife.

  Long Wan had already made it a habit, after finishing dinner he would come to the tomb behind the house, staring at the burial site of his ancestors and parents, sometimes muttering to himself: "Dad is sleeping here, mom is sleeping here, grandpa and grandma are sleeping here, in the future Grandpa Qi will also sleep here, all grandpas and grandmas are sleeping here, I will also sleep here, I will also sleep here..."

  Long Bao picked up a dying puppy that someone had abandoned during a gathering, and for this dog he almost got into a big fight with his grandfather. His grandfather's reason was very sufficient: "You can't raise dogs, they're too dangerous, you'll get into trouble because of it, your grandfather had problems because of raising dogs."

  But Longbiao's response left Grandfather speechless: "If I don't take care of this dog, this poor little dog will die; as for whether the dog is in danger or not, that's just nonsense. I won't live past thirty anyway, and this mistake has nothing to do with the dog. If I really die before I get married and have children, then it's heaven's will to destroy the roots of our Long family. Our Long family will be extinct, and we can only blame heaven, not this dog."

  Grandpa finally gave in to his stubbornness and also felt that Little Dragon was too lonely, so it would be good for him to have a dog as company, so he let him keep it.

  Long Bao named the little dog Leopard, and with Grandpa's help, he used herbal medicine to cure the little dog's illness. In just a few days, the little dog was lively and energetic again. Long Bao took the little dog with him wherever he went, never expecting that this little dog would turn out to be a born hunting dog, with an extraordinary keenness for wild animals, often able to find their dens on its own.

  In August 1995, the results of the entrance examination were announced. Long Bu unexpectedly topped the list in the county with the highest score. Even the most difficult full-score Chinese composition was given a full score by all the teachers who graded it, as the article was fluent and beautiful, rich in philosophical ideas, and had an old and cunning writing style. This article written by a 10-year-old child was recommended to be published in the city newspaper, and soon reprinted in the provincial newspaper.

  An old man and a young boy were indifferent to all this, they continued to search for medicinal herbs on the mountain, hunting wild animals, in order to make a living, they had no choice but to work hard on this poor land.

  In the village of Dafeng, the village chief Wu Xizhong had been harboring a grudge against Longbiao's family for a long time. He had once been scolded by Longbiao's father, Long Xing, for trying to flirt with Longbiao's mother. However, the accountant Liu Guangdou and the clerk Liu Jinfu were fair-minded people, and Longbiao was still young, so Wu didn't dare to overdo it. But in 1995, after Qi Yunhai, who had a grudge against Longbiao's father from the previous generation, came to Tianlei Township as the chairman of the People's Congress, he relied on his relationship with Qi Yunhai and became arrogant and domineering, becoming the absolute authority in the village. The accountant Liu Guangdou and the clerk Liu Jinfu could only stand aside.

  Long Bao and Qi Grandfather originally belonged to a single-parent household, were five-guarantee objects, not only did they not have to bear the village's apportioned expenses, but they could even receive some poverty alleviation subsidies from government departments. However, Qi Yunhai instructed Wu Xizhong to rectify Qi Grandfather, and Wu Xizhong immediately stopped the two men's special hardship subsidies. He also insisted that Qi Grandfather pay all of the village's expenses, including agricultural taxes, and must make up for the money that was previously exempt from payment.

  Grandpa Qi argued that they met the government's policy for supporting the poor and did not need to pay agricultural taxes. However, Wu Xizhong refused to listen, even bringing a work team from the township government, threatening to take coercive measures. The township work team was only there to eat, drink and play cards, they didn't care about or wouldn't bother to preside over justice for this old man and child, allowing Liu Jinfu to do as he pleased.

  Grandpa Qi couldn't take it anymore and almost got into a fight with Wu Xizhong and the work team. Long Bao tightly hugged Grandpa Qi and said, "Grandpa, we may be poor, but we will never lose our dignity! We have hands and feet, if the government doesn't give us subsidies, that's fine. We've cultivated the country's land, so we'll pay imperial taxes, just like everyone else. We can't let them look down on us! At worst, we'll eat less and wear less, I don't believe we can't survive!"

  This made life even more difficult for the two of them. Little Longbiao was still in need of nourishment, and to make sure he ate well, was full, and wore warm and thick clothes, Grandpa Qi didn't care about his own body and increased his labor intensity by a lot. How could a 70-year-old man bear this?! The old man finally fell ill at the end of August.

  Once at the market, Qi Grandfather, who was already feeling unwell, ignored Long Bo's attempts to stop him and carried a heavy load. As a result, he accidentally fell into a ditch in the field after the rain. With the help of kind-hearted passersby, Long Bo sent Qi Grandfather to the rural clinic, where X-rays revealed that the old man had a displaced lumbar vertebra, a fractured hip joint, and a broken arm. Even if he recovered, he would have to spend the rest of his life in bed. This accident used up all of Qi Grandfather's savings, and it wasn't until Liu Old Chinese Medicine Doctor and some teachers from Tianlei Primary School, as well as some villagers from Dafeng Village, donated money that the hospital reduced its fees, allowing Qi Grandfather to be discharged.

  To take care of his grandfather, Long Bu refused the admission to the Ninth Middle School in Xianyang and instead completed his studies at Tianlei Middle School. Tianlei Middle School still exempted Long Bu from all tuition fees and living expenses.

  Long Bao always felt like he was a jinx, especially after learning that the old man with the long beard was also completely paralyzed. He rarely went to other people's homes anymore, and even if there was something important, he would only stand at the door and never enter. At school, he basically didn't speak to his classmates either.

  To make it convenient for Grandpa, he dug a big hole in Grandpa's bed board and placed a toilet underneath. He also made a hole in the bamboo recliner and put a plastic basin under it. This was how Grandpa went to the bathroom normally. Sometimes the aunties from the village would come to help out, but Longbiao always refused.

  Long Piao was assigned to Tianlei Middle School's 20th class, with a total of 61 students in the class. The class teacher is Liu De Xian, the son of Liu Lao Zhong Yi. Long Piao made two requests to the school and teachers: Firstly, he cannot be boarded, must commute to school every day, and can only attend classes at around 9 am; Secondly, he must complete his junior high school studies within two years, so the school must meet his requirements for textbooks and reference books.

  Considering his actual situation, the school agreed to Longbiao's first request and did not comment on the second one. The school leaders thought: Junior high school knowledge is not comparable to elementary school, with broader and deeper knowledge points. How can a 10-year-old child possibly graduate a year early? Even if you, Longbiao, think you are smart, after all, you have only read for two years! You rely on your initial exam results and become arrogant, which is too...

  Long Bao gets up every day before dawn, starts a fire, cooks rice, boils pig food to feed the pigs, helps Grandpa wash up, and after finishing all these chores, he puts on his backpack and bamboo basket, which contains rope and an axe for chopping wood. Every time, the little dog Leopard accompanies Long Bao to the sandy beach at the foot of the mountain before stopping and barking a few times, as if bidding farewell to its young master: "Be careful on your way! Come back early! I'll go back to take care of Grandpa!"

  When he arrived at school, Longbiao basically didn't attend classes and just did the homework assignments given by his teachers. He studied on his own the lessons arranged by his teachers. These teachers were not like the school leaders; they firmly believed that Longbiao would complete three years of study in two years because from the results of several small exams, it was clear that Longbiao was extremely intelligent and had a high aptitude for learning any subject. In less than two months, he completed the first-year curriculum, especially the subjects that required memorization such as history, biology, and politics; he could almost recite entire books from memory. When given last year's first-year final exam papers, Longbiao scored an average of 99 points. Three months later, under the strong recommendation of his teachers, he entered a second-year class to continue his studies, with Liu Dexian still serving as his guidance teacher.

  Long Bao leaves school at 3 pm every day, on the way home he cuts pig grass and puts it in a bamboo basket, chops firewood and ties it up with a rope to carry back home. Some kind-hearted villagers want to help him carry the firewood, but he refuses, when asked why, he just shakes his head. The reason he doesn't want to is that he is an unlucky person, these sins are given by heaven, so let him bear them alone, and can no longer harm others because of this.

  After school, I rush back home to cook for my grandfather. After serving him lunch, I feed the pigs with pig food and then fetch water from the well using a small wooden bucket to fill up the small water tank. Next, I water the vegetable garden and apply some fertilizer. Then, I lock up the chickens and sweep the floor. Finally, I help my grandfather take a bath as he spends most of his time in bed and needs to be washed every three days to prevent bedsores and body odor.

  After changing Grandpa's clothes, he still had to go to the well to wash and dry them. After finishing all this, he also had to chop tomorrow's pig feed, cook it, and split firewood. Often after completing these tasks, it was already past 9 pm, and Longbiao would fall asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow. The poor child, not yet eleven years old, had taken on the heavy responsibility of caring for a paralyzed elderly person. Longbiao's personality became increasingly lonely, and the temperament of this ten-year-old boy was unusually proud. His solitary figure walking alone was heart-wrenchingly desolate, but his eyes were extremely determined. With his eyes, he told everyone that even though he was only ten years old, he would definitely be able to bear the weight of this family, and he would excel in his studies more than anyone else.

  Longwang's most relaxing days are Saturday and Sunday, when he can linger in bed a bit longer and get up after sunrise. After finishing his chores, he takes the leopard to the mountains to hunt and gather herbs. Dr. Liu, an old Chinese medicine practitioner, had given Grandpa a prescription that required several types of herbs that could only be found on the mountain.

  Grandfather had a bird gun, which he never allowed him to touch before. Now Grandfather couldn't stop him and had to let him take it hunting. He sawed the barrel a bit shorter, although it didn't shoot as far as before, but its power was still there, and it could still shoot iron sand out of ten zhang. Longbiao's marksmanship was surprisingly good, thanks to his usual habit of practicing aiming with a hoe. Especially when shooting at flying birds in the sky that were not too high, such as wild chickens, he always hit them with one shot.

  The little dog leopard is a born killer, with its black and red tongue, strong limbs, agile ears, and sharp canine teeth. Whether it's a rabbit or a raccoon dog, it can always kill with one bite. Especially after Longbiao shoots the prey, no matter where it falls, the little dog can bring it back without dropping it. Moreover, whenever it smells or discovers prey, it will gently wag its tail to remind Longbiao, sometimes biting his pants legs, and sometimes nudging his leg with its mouth. Then it will sneak towards the prey's hiding place, and as soon as it sees the prey appear, it will pounce like lightning, especially when it comes to wild rabbits, it won't give up until it catches them.

  The leopard often brings back a wild game by itself, but the leopard has an uncorrectable habit of biting all its prey into a bloody mess, making it difficult to sell at a good price in the market. Sometimes Longbiao uses the unbearable wild taste to improve his life. Longbiao always spared no effort to save meat for Grandpa to eat, until one day Grandpa got angry and refused to have dinner, then Longbiao ate meat with Grandpa together.

  Every Saturday and Sunday afternoon, Longbiao would go fishing by the Zijiang River. He learned the skills of fishing from an old fisherman at the foot of the mountain, and every time he went, he wouldn't return empty-handed. Once, he even caught a big carp weighing over 10 kilograms, which sold for several dozen yuan.

  In order to have money to buy medicine for his grandfather's illness, Longbiao almost always rushed to the market, as long as he was in school, he would take out two hours to sell couplets. His calligraphy became more and more unique, strong and powerful, with a weathered font. At the same time, he also fell in love with Chinese painting, although his paintings were not very good, but there were many kind-hearted people who supported him. Often, after one market day, he could earn 30 or 40 yuan. Of course, here are many kind villagers who helped him through the difficulties of survival, but no one thought that decades later these things would become treasures. Those who fortunately preserved each piece sold for a sky-high price at auction.

  By the end of this semester, Long Piao had completed all the courses for grades one and two. Under the joint assessment of the school's leading teachers, he achieved an average score of 98 points in each subject, a stunning achievement.

  Long Wan had grown a lot in the past half year, and at first glance, he looked like a thirteen or fourteen-year-old boy. Although he hadn't eaten much good food, due to his persistence in running twenty to thirty li every day, his intense training had made his physique very robust, and his skin had also become dark without him realizing it.

  By May 1996, Long Bo had already mastered all the knowledge of junior high school. Under the assessment of the education administration and many teachers, they did not find any blind spots in his knowledge. They agreed to let Long Bo take the entrance examination for senior high school two years ahead of schedule.

  Today is Longbiao's birthday, he is eleven years old today, it's a special day, his grandfather told him to go home early, so he asked Liu teacher for leave and went home after having lunch at school.

  He climbed up the small stone slope and arrived at his home - in front of this low earth-brick house, the leopard was already shaking its tail wildly on the earthen platform, and even pounced on him to lick his face. Longbiao dodged the overly enthusiastic leopard, casually placed the bundle of firewood under the eaves, put down the bamboo basket, and turned into the house.

  Grandfather Qi, lying on the chaise longue, heard the sound and struggled to prop up his frail body with his elbows, producing a extremely difficult yet hoarse voice from his throat: "Long'er, back... already?"

  Long Bao hadn't even had time to put down his schoolbag when he took a step forward and arrived in front of Grandpa Qi, squatting down and asking softly: "Hey, Grandpa, I'm back. I also chopped a bundle of firewood!"

  He gently patted Grandpa Qi's legs, which had lost consciousness, and said: "Have you gone to the toilet? Is your pants dirty? Take a look, otherwise change it?"

  Two lines of old tears fell from Grandpa Qi's face, which was full of wrinkles, and he choked with sobs. His right hand weakly pounded the leg that had shrunk to only skin and bones: "Grandpa is useless! Grandpa has become a burden to you!"

  "Quickly, don't say that, Grandfather! Without you, I would have died long ago and wouldn't be alive today!"

  He was most afraid of getting entangled with his grandfather on this issue, and hastily changed the subject: "Grandpa, today the head of the Education Bureau specially came to talk to me about taking the entrance exam for high school!"

  This is what Grandpa is most proud of. Grandpa's face immediately turned from cloudy to sunny and smiled: "Did they ask you questions?"

  "That's for sure! They're all very satisfied and said that I will definitely create a miracle for the school, bringing honor to our village and school!" Long Bao said with a proud expression to his grandfather.

  Grandpa lifted his weak hand, which had not exercised for a long time, and patted Longbiao's head, saying: "Good boy, not bad, really a good boy. But you can't be proud of it! Modesty benefits, do you know that?

  "Alright, alright," Long Bao stuck out his tongue and said, "I know, I know. Okay, Grandpa, I'm going to go cook now."

  To take the high school entrance exam, Longbiao had to entrust his grandfather to Liu Jinfu, a villager who lived not far from his home. He and other third-year junior high students came to the county seat under the leadership of the school and education department to take the exam. After the three-day exam was over, Longbiao hurried back to Xiongshan.

  Grandpa obviously looked much worse than three days ago, the whole house was filled with a pungent smell that pierced the nose. When he saw Longgui return, he actually shed two lines of turbid tears. How could others take care of Grandpa with such dedication! It's really pitied Grandpa. From now on, Longgui dared not to let others take care of Grandpa again.

  Long Wan can finally get rid of his junior high school books and take a good look at other books and do other things at home. Thinking that there are more than two months of vacation, he is so excited that he wants to fly like a little bird.

  The following days were the most relaxing time for Long Bao this year, although there were still so many household chores every day, but without the pressure of homework, those days seemed especially relaxed and comfortable.

  In the lunar calendar, June 11th of '96 was another market day. Longbiao set out early with two wild rabbits, five or six catties of stone frogs and over ten catties of fish on his shoulder pole. Baozi ran ahead, leading the way, running a distance then stopping to wait for its young master, sniffing the smells along the roadside from time to time before leaving behind its special mark "Baozi was here".

  The wild rabbit was caught by the leopard last night on a grass slope three miles away, only injuring its foot and still alive. The leopard has learned not to bite the wild animals to death under training during this period of time, and these two wild rabbits are the results of the leopard's tracking and catching after they were injured. The leopard likes to go to the market because every time it goes to the market, it can get meat scraps and bones from the butcher's stall. It is not afraid of those big dogs in the market that only know how to bare their teeth and bark loudly, in its eyes, those dogs are all just a bunch of useless fools. It likes to fight with dogs, although it never initiates a fight, but once it starts fighting, it will always have the upper hand, and it almost never gets hurt. Whenever it feels that some dog is going to attack or threaten it, it immediately stands up its ears, raises all the hair on its neck, turns its tail into a stick, and lets out a low growl from its throat, with its eyes shining brightly and its mouth slightly open, revealing its sharp white teeth. It's worth noting that many wild animals have died under its sharp teeth, and generally, ordinary dogs will immediately lose their courage when they see this scene, only daring to turn around and run away, howling a few times from a distance. Of course, the leopard would not deign to attack such dogs because in its eyes, they are simply not worthy of being its opponents.

  Today, Long Bao tied the Four Treasures of the Study to the leopard's body with a rope. At first, the leopard was very uncomfortable with the thing on its back, but after being scolded by Long Bao, it had no choice but to give up.

  Arriving at the market, the leopard was still searching for something to eat everywhere. Its exceptionally keen nose never touched anything it suspected. Someone once offered 500 yuan to buy the leopard, but Longbiao refused. The man, enraged and humiliated, attempted to poison the leopard by throwing meat mixed with rat poison at it. The leopard sniffed it and turned away.

  The weather in June is so hot that it's unbearable, the vendors on the field either set up sunshades or hide under the eaves to avoid the heat. There are very few people at the market today, no one writes couplets, Longbiao only wrote two pairs, and the fish were only sold for 3 yuan and 5 jiao per catty. Longbiao is enthusiastically reading "The Cases of Judge Pao" borrowed from Teacher Liu, while a wild rabbit is tied to the leg of the stool with a rope.

  "A very clear and sweet voice suddenly rang out: 'Huh? Is this a wild rabbit? For sale? Ah, it's still alive!'"

  Long Bao shifted his gaze from the book, looked up and saw a stylish girl wearing gold-rimmed glasses and a light-colored dress.

  "Sold, it's alive, injured its foot." He also pointed to the wooden basin and plastic bag of stone frogs next to him, "These fish were caught from the river yesterday, they're fresh. These stone frogs were caught in the past two days, they're also fresh."

  "Is it yours?" the dress asked again.

  "It's mine, the rabbit was shot yesterday," said Longbiao with bright and eager eyes looking at Lianyiqun, hoping she would buy these things. "Will you buy them?"

  At this time, the general affairs of the township government came and shouted at the cheongsam: "Xiao Duan, you are here!"

  Lianyiqun was the daughter of Village Party Secretary Duan. She turned around and smiled, saying: "Oh, Uncle Li, I just arrived. Look, there are wild rabbits here!"

  Zongwu looked at Longbiao and said: "It's Little Dragon, so yesterday you caught a few wild rabbits again? Hmm, did you also catch any fish with the stone frog?"

  "Caught two rabbits, five or six catties of frogs and over ten catties of fish. Uncle Li, buy some, if I don't sell them today, the rabbits will go bad."

  "Uncle Li, buy it for me, I want to eat rabbit today." The dress-clad girl said coquettishly to Uncle Li.

  "Alright, buy some, buy some. It just so happens that the county leaders are here today, let you taste the real wild flavor." Li Shu smiled and said, "Secretary Duan just asked me to come and buy some good dishes. How much does it sell for? Little Long?"

  Long Bao's heart was delighted, and he hastily replied: "Uncle Li, old rules, wild rabbit twenty yuan each, two for thirty-five yuan, fish three yuan five per catty, thirty-two yuan for you, stone frog four yuan, okay?"

  Mr. Li smiled and said, "No need, just sell it at the market price, our company can't take advantage of you when buying things."

  Longbiao skillfully used the rod to weigh it and said: "The fish is eleven catties and six taels, counted as eleven catties. The stone frog is five catties and three taels, counted as five catties."

  Li Shu Dao said: "Even if you're only worth three blocks and five pieces per catty, it's not called taking advantage of you. It's not easy to get up early and work late."

  Long Bao looked at Uncle Li with gratitude: "Thank you, Uncle Li. So the fish is 11 pounds for 38 yuan and 5 cents, the stone frog is 5 pounds for 20 yuan, plus the wild rabbit is 35 yuan, together it's 93 yuan and 5 cents, so you can just give me 90 yuan." Long Bao's mental arithmetic skills were famous, no matter how complex the addition, subtraction, multiplication, or division, he only needed to read through the numbers once to know the result, never making a mistake.

  "Ah, that's right, here's 93 for you." Mr. Li handed the money to Longbiao, looking at him with approval.

  Long Bao nodded and said: "Uncle Li, I'll take you there."

  "Alright, you and Xiao Duan go back to the government office, just put it in the cafeteria, I'll go buy some vegetables." Li Shu said to Long Bao.

  Long Bao couldn't get past Liu Lao's insistence, so he still had lunch at Liu Lao's Chinese medicine house. After finishing his meal, someone asked Long Bao to write a few couplets. Long Bao glanced up at the sun in the sky and estimated it was almost four o'clock in the afternoon. He reached behind the door and pulled out a small net bag, grabbed a not-too-large soft-shelled turtle from it, and handed it to Grandma Liu, saying softly: "Grandma Liu, I caught two soft-shelled turtles the day before yesterday, stewed one for Grandpa, and brought this one to pay respects to you both."

  Grandma refused, and just as the two were trying to get out of it, Liu, the old Chinese doctor, spoke up: "Little Dragon, why don't you sell it? This soft-shelled turtle is wild, at least you can sell it for tens of dollars. You need money now! If not, leave it for Grandpa to nourish his body, we don't need to eat this!"

  Grandma Liu thought of Little Dragon, such a small child having to suffer so much, and she would always shed tears. Rubbing her eyes, she said: "Little Dragon, why don't you and Grandpa move down the mountain and live with us? You're suffering too much! Adults are struggling, and they say you're just a kid? Besides, when you go to the county town to study in the future, who will take care of Grandpa?"

  Liu Lao continued: "Yes, it's over a hundred miles from the county town here. You can't take care of your grandfather! You have to make up your mind with your grandfather."

  This was a very difficult problem for the eleven-year-old Longbiao, not that he hadn't thought about it, but he simply couldn't think of an appropriate way to deal with this serious issue that was about to arise.

  What to do? If I go to school, who will take care of Grandpa? Grandpa is paralyzed and cannot take care of himself; if I don't go to school, I'll be disappointed with myself. Going to school means giving up taking care of Grandpa, not going to school means giving up on myself. Asking others to take care of Grandpa? Although the people here are nice, taking care of a paralyzed patient for an extended period is unbearable, not just for the caregiver but also for Grandpa himself who cannot stand the loneliness. I can talk and joke with Grandpa, make him happy, and help him forget his troubles and difficulties in life, but when he's alone, he'll definitely be tormented by suicidal thoughts. The problem isn't that we can't come up with a solution, it's just that we absolutely cannot discuss this with Grandpa, I have to handle this on my own.

  Grandpa had said to Longbiao many times that if he died, it would be good, so as not to drag Longbiao down. He absolutely could not leave Grandpa's side, and Grandpa also absolutely could not leave his line of sight.

  He hesitated and said: "I think if I don't get in this time, it's easy to handle. If I do get in, I'll also ask the school for special treatment. I can only go to school once a month, find some materials, take exams, and I believe that even with self-study, I can still get into university. I cannot leave my grandfather, if he leaves me, it's like he's dead."

  Liu Lao said with a start: "What if the school doesn't agree? There's no precedent for this!"

  "I'll go to No. 12 Middle School then, it's closer to home, only over twenty miles away. I can still come back every day to study," Long Bing said resolutely, "As for Grandpa, he definitely won't bother you to take care of him either."

  "Good heavens! Why won't you open your eyes and take a look? How can anyone live such a hard life?! This child is still so young..."

  The sound of sobbing made Long Biao's eyes well up with tears, he swallowed hard and raised his head saying: "Grandma, it's nothing, this is the fate of us Long family. Can't be helped, living is originally hard work, getting used to it is also good."