Doing It Over Again

When Shen Shao returned to Peng County, the news that he won first place on the high school entrance exam had spread all over the county.
Barely two days after he returned to the village, Shen QuanFa, the secretary of the village committee, came to his door with the village director and accountant.

If you had to pick which person on the village committee was the happiest about Shen Shao taking first place, it was definitely Shen QuanFa.
He’d worked hard behind the scenes to give Shen Shao village subsidies in recent years.
For example, for holidays like the Mid-Autumn Festival, New Year’s Day, and the Spring Festival, the village would send an extra allowance for living expenses to families in poverty and elderly receiving the five guarantees.
He always argued for Shen Shao to be included on the list.

Now Shen Shao had won first place in the county, which finally shut up the people who talked about him behind his back.
If the village wasn’t going to help such a capable child, who were they going to help?

“Xiao Shao ah.” Shen QuanFa looked at Shen Shao and thought of the stories he’d read about the Qin Dynasty, feeling a little like Lü BuWei.
At a glance, he could tell that Shen Shao was an unusually good kid.
It made sense to form a good relationship with him now, so that when Shen Shao went on to a brilliant and prosperous future, he might remember the kindness a little.
“When our village heard you won first place in the county, everyone was excited.
The village committee came to congratulate you on behalf of the villagers.”

“Thank you, Uncle Shen.
Thank you, everyone.” Shen Shao smiled at the other members of the village committee.
He brought in some tea for them to drink.
“Uncles, you didn’t have to do all this for something so small.
I’m sorry to trouble you.”

“We’re all from Shenjia Village, and you’re a descendant of the village.
As elders we’re happy to see the younger generation striving for success.” Shen QuanFa expressed it in a complimentary way, describing their actions as an elder’s concern for the younger generation, rather than pitying Shen Shao because he had no father or mother.
“By the way, which high school are you going to enroll in?”

“I was just about to tell Uncle Shen about that,” Shen Shao said with a happy expression.
“I’m going to school in Furong City in a few days.
I hope you can look after the house.” He turned his head and looked around at the somewhat empty room.
“There’s nothing of value here, but still…”

Before he finished his words, the mood of the people in the room sank.
After a moment, Shen QuanFa broke the awkward silence.
“Furong City? You’re going so far away?” In his imagination, it was already wonderful if Shen Shao could get into Guo City No.
1 High School.
He never thought Shen Shao would go to high school in Furong City, the provincial capital.

“A few days ago, I went to Furong No.
3 Senior High to take the admission test for external students, and I passed.” Shen Shao scratched his head.
“I might not have much time to come back during the next few years, so I hope my uncles will help take care of my house.”

“You mean the best high school in the province?” Shen QuanFa’s eyes lit up.
He looked at Shen Shao like he was seeing a future big shot.
“Our Xiao Shao is on the path to success.
You even got into Furong No.
3 High School!”

The other village committee members were excited too.
If Shen Shao was admitted to Furong No.
3 High School today, in the future he might go on to Q University or B University.
This was a child from their village.
Maybe someday…

As the saying goes, don’t bully a poor young man.
Fortunately they’d always been polite to Shen Shao and hadn’t offended him.
Otherwise it was impossible to say how much they might regret it in the future.
When they thought of Shen JianBing, who abandoned his wife and didn’t want his own son, they inwardly shook their heads.
To think that man didn’t want such a good son.
He was out of his mind.

Shen Shao’s uncles asked him to be careful outside.
Finally, Shen QuanFa took out a thick, bulging envelope from his bag.
Shen Shao was able to see the corner of a ten yuan bill peeking out from the flap.

“Xiao Shao, this is a small token from everyone in the village who wishes you well.
I know our conditions are limited and we can’t do much for you.
Please don’t mind it.
Just think of it as everyone helping a little with living expenses.” Shen QuanFa put the envelope into Shen Shao’s hand.
“Everyone wrote down how much they donated.
If you don’t want the money, you can treat it as a loan.
When you finish studying and become a success in the future, you can pay it back.”

Shen Shao looked at the envelope.
When he went out to work in his last life, the villagers didn’t give him money, but they sent bacon, sausage, and other things.
It was a pity that he didn’t achieve much in his later years.
At most, he donated some money when the village raised funds to improve the roads.
As much as he wanted to help in other ways, he didn’t have the ability.

In this life, the same villagers still treated him well.
Maybe they didn’t have much culture or education, and some were a little greedy or small-minded, but they didn’t have bad intentions.
They were willing to help a fatherless, motherless child where they could.

“Uncle Shen, I can’t take this money.” Shen Shao returned the envelope to Shen QuanFa.
“I know it’s not easy for everyone to earn money, and they have their own children and elders to care for.
Everything costs money.
Also, I got a good score on the admission test, which means Furong No.
3 High School waived my tuition and school fees.
I still have some savings.
It’s enough.”

“Enough for what? What kind of place is Furong City? There are so many places to spend money.” Although Shen QuanFa did have a few careful thoughts about “investing” in Shen Shao, he also had genuine feelings.
“Uncle Shen might not have seen much, but I know Furong City is different from our village.
It’s the capital of the province.
There are more cars, more people, more expenses.
If you take the money with you, we won’t worry as much about you.
Or do you think we didn’t donate enough and you’re looking down on us?”

With a pained smile, Shen Shao accepted the money, but he felt a little guilty.
Obviously he had money, but he couldn’t tell the villagers about it because it wasn’t easy to explain.
The money in his hand felt hot.
“Thank you, everyone.
I’ll definitely study hard.”

“Just study and don’t worry too much.
We hope you can get into a good university and make our village proud.” Shen QuanFa was relieved to see him take the money.
He asked Shen Shao if he wanted someone to accompany him to Furong City.
When Shen Shao refused, he didn’t insist and told him to pay attention to safety and so on, and then he left with the other people of the village committee.

After Shen Shao closed the door he opened the thick envelope.
It was full of five and ten yuan bills, and there were a few fifty and one hundred bills at the bottom.
The money really didn’t add up to much, but the weight of their good intentions was heavy.

Inside the envelope was a list of donations.
Many families donated ten or twenty yuan, and several donated fifty yuan.
A few members of the village committee donated one hundred yuan.
In all, it totaled more than a thousand yuan.

Holding the donation list, Shen Shao smiled to himself.
He walked out of the door and looked at the beautiful village with warm feelings in his heart.

Just before Shen Shao was ready to travel to Furong City, his two maternal uncles Shao QingWen and Shao QingWu found him and gave him five hundred yuan each.
They didn’t say much.
They just asked him to call them if he needed something and told him not to wrong himself.

One of his two uncles was a teacher and the other was an employee of a textile factory.
Although they both had “iron rice bowls”, their salary wasn’t high.
Five hundred yuan wasn’t a small amount for them.

“Xiao Shao, your uncle and I are worthless.
We couldn’t help your mother stand up for herself.
If Shen JianBing, that son of a bitch, dares to show his face in Peng County again, I’ll kill him!” Shao QingWu had a straightforward temper.
In the past he beat up Shen JianBing for his sister Shao QingBi, but he didn’t think his sister would turn around and drink pesticide to kill herself.
And that bastard Shen JianBing didn’t even care.
He turned around and ran away with his mistress.

Whenever the name Shen JianBing was mentioned, he would get angry.
If Shen Shao weren’t in front of him, he would have used even harsher language.

“All right, why are you saying this in front of Xiao Shao?” Shao QingWen glared at his younger brother and pushed up the glasses on the bridge of his nose.
“Xiao Shao, don’t listen to your second uncle’s nonsense.
When you get to school, make sure to study hard.
If you don’t have enough money, come to us and we’ll figure it out.
Don’t be overly frugal.
Take care of your health.”

As a teacher, Shao QingWen was fond of his nephew Shen Shao, so he often gave Shen Shao pocket money over the years.
However, his means were limited and he couldn’t give as much as he wanted to.

“It’s OK.
I know Second Uncle cares about me.
I’ll take good care of myself.
You don’t have to worry.” Shen Shao smiled, remembering that when he was first reborn three years ago, his second aunt, who was obsessed with scratch-off tickets, insisted on giving him two steamed rolls.
“Is Second Aunt still buying scratch-off tickets lately?”

“Nah, she isn’t into those scratch-off scams anymore.
She likes to knit sweaters now.
Who wants to wear something like that in this heat?” As Shao QingWu said this, he took out a plastic bag from his pack, which contained several beautiful sweaters.
“Your second aunt knitted these for you.
She said you’re still growing, so she knitted them a little bigger on purpose.
You should be able to wear them this winter.” Although the words were deprecatory, the upturned corners of his mouth showed how fond Shao QingWu was of his wife.

“Thank Second Aunt for me.” Shen Shao wasn’t going to refuse.
He reached for the sweaters and felt the yarn.
It was good wool, soft to the touch.

When Shao QingWen and Shao QingWu saw their nephew like this, they felt distressed and regretful.
They nagged and gave him a lot of advice before they got up and left, still worried about Shen Shao.

In mid-August, Shen Shao took his suitcase and got on the bus to Furong City.
The bus was lively with passengers chattering about local gossip.
Although many of the people didn’t know each other, it didn’t affect their interest in gossip.

“Did you hear about that boy who won first place in the county on the high school entrance exam?” A middle-aged man was talking about the college entrance exam, then turned to the high school exam, which led to Shen Shao, the top scorer in the county.

“What about him?” A woman in her forties asked behind him.
“I heard he didn’t go to the City No.
1 High School or the County No.
1 High School.
Instead he was admitted to Furong No.
3 High School, and he even got into an experimental class.”

“”

“Furong No.
3 High School?” The middle-aged man was a little surprised.
After a while he said, “What a great student.
It’s a pity he has such a lousy father.
What a hard life.”

“What happened with his father?” As soon as the others on the bus heard this tidbit, their ears perked up.
They looked at the middle-aged man, hoping he’d give them some details others didn’t know.

“You didn’t hear?” The middle-aged man was pleased with their reaction and said in a louder voice, “My second sister’s daughter is in the same grade as that boy, so we know something about him.
I heard his father isn’t dead.
He actually ran away with a woman outside….”

The middle-aged man told the story of a heartless man and a pathetic child in vivid language, as if he was an eyewitness.
The people listening on the bus scolded the shameless father for being a beast.

Shen Shao, who was sitting in a corner of the bus and was awarded the title of “pathetic  child”: ….

 

TL Notes:

mutual care – 情谊 – friendship; friendly feelings; friendly sentiments

Mid-Autumn Festival – 中秋 – The 15th day of the eighth lunar month, also known as the Mooncake Festival, a traditional festival celebrated in mainland China and other countries to observe the end of the autumn harvest (Wikipedia)

New Year’s Day – 元旦 – The first day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar

Spring Festival – 春节 – Refer to the note in Ch 2

elderly receiving the five guarantees – 五保老人 – The elderly who are supported by rural collective economic organizations who implement the five guarantees of “food, clothing, housing, medical, care, and burial” (Baidu)

ah – 啊 – modal particle ending sentence, showing affirmation, approval, or consent; interjection of surprise (“Ah!” “Oh!”); interjection expressing doubt or requiring answer (“Eh?” “What?” “My!” “What’s up?”); interjection or grunt of agreement or expression of recognition (“Uhm” “Ah, OK” “Oh, it’s you”)

Lü BuWei – 吕不韦 – A prime minister of the Qin State in the Warring States Period.
Originally an influential merchant, Lü BuWei met and befriended a minor prince who was serving as a hostage in the Zhao state.
Through bribes and machinations, Lü BuWei helped the young prince rise to the throne of Qin and received many rewards as a result.
According to legend, when Lü BuWei first met the prince, he said, “This is a rare piece of merchandise that should be saved for later.” The prince’s son became the first emperor of the unified China, Qin Shi Huang (Wikipedia)

don’t bully a poor young man – 莫欺少年穷 – It’s better to look down on a white-bearded man than a poor young man, because the young man might have a limitless future.
This is a proverb from a novel called Unofficial History of the Scholars (儒林外史), a satire of the imperial examination system written by Wu Jinzi (吴敬梓) in 1750.
It’s one of the six classics of Chinese novels (Wikipedia)

iron rice bowl – 铁饭碗 – A job in a state-owned enterprise where employment is basically guaranteed for life

 

Transliterated names, places, and titles—new in this chapter:

Uncles (, you didn’t have to…)  – 叔叔伯伯们 – father’s younger brother + father’s older brothers

maternal uncles – 舅舅 – jiùjiu – mother’s brother,  maternal uncle (informal)

Shao QingWen – 邵庆文

Shao QingWu – 邵庆武

Shao QingBi – 邵青碧 – MC’s mom

second uncle – 二舅 – second maternal uncle

second aunt – 二舅妈 – maternal uncle’s wife