The three days of the high school entrance examination were the most agonizing days of Feifei’s life.
The examination hall was located in the town’s middle school, over twenty miles away from her home.
The night before, she had packed her stationery – two 2B pencils, an eraser, a ruler, all of which had been used for a long time and were now sharpened to a short point.
She put her admission ticket in her inner pocket and sewed the opening of the bag with a needle and thread, fearing it might get lost.
Before dawn, she got up and noticed a dark figure sitting in the main room.
It was her father.
“Father, why are you up so early?”
Bian Shou Tian stood up with his walking stick and the sky outside was still gray: “Father is sending you there.”
“No need, Father.
I know the way.
Your leg…”
“I can’t recognize it either.” He placed a cloth bag in her hand, inside which were two boiled eggs that were still warm.
“Come on, Father is sending you to the town.”
She couldn’t resist and had to let him do it.
The father and daughter set off in the dark, the dew on the field was heavy, soaking their trouser legs.
Bian Shou Tian walked with a limp, stumbling along, the head of his walking stick hitting the mud one after another, “Thud, thud.” Feifei took two steps and turned to wait for him.
“Father, you can go back now.” After passing the village entrance, she said.
“Take me to the town.” He gasped, his forehead was covered in sweat, “You stay calm and take the exam.
Father will wait for you outside.”
“The sun is so hot outside.”
“It won’t burn you.” Bian Shou Tian smiled and shrugged.
“My leg is used to being exposed to the sun in the fields.”
Other candidates had their parents accompanying them, some came by motorcycle, some by car.
Feifei stood among the crowd, wearing the washed-out blue shirt, looking back at her father.
Bian Shou Tian sent her to the wall, then stopped.
He found a shady spot under an old willow tree and placed the walking stick across his knees, sitting down.
He waved his hand at her: “Go in, do well in the exam.”
Feifei nodded and turned to walk into the school gate.
After a few steps, she turned back – her father was still sitting there, quietly, like a stump nailed to the ground.
He waved his hand from afar.
The first exam was Chinese.
She answered it steadily.
When writing the essay, she was distracted – she kept thinking of that figure outside the school gate.
After lunch, she saw him at once.
Bian Shou Tian was still sitting in the same place, the sun had moved position, so he moved as well, shrinking back into the shade.
He held a bottle of cold boiled water in his hand and a one-yuan note wrapped in a cloth.
Seeing her, he stood up, limping towards her.
“Are you hungry?
Father bought you two steamed buns.”
The steamed buns were still warm in the cloth bag.
She took it, her nose was filled with tears, and she quickly turned her head away, taking a big bite.
“Father, you eat.”
“Father has eaten already.”
She knew he hadn’t eaten.
The two eggs he gave her were for her.
On the day of the math exam, the sky suddenly darkened, and it was starting to rain.
She was answering questions halfway when she heard the wind outside – she was worried that her father would get wet.
When the exam papers were handed out, it did rain, but not heavily, just scattered drops.
She rushed to the school gate and saw Bian Shou Tian squatting under the eaves, his whole body wet, the walking stick leaning against the corner, wiping the rain off his face with his sleeve.
“Father!” She ran over, tears streaming down her face, “Why didn’t you hide!?”
“Hidden?
No, I’m not hiding.” He smiled.
“This isn’t hiding.”
She hugged her father’s arm, burying her face in it, shaking with sobs.
The rain mixed with her tears, running down her chin.
Bian Shou Tian patted her back, clumsily comforting: “Hey, why cry.
It’ll be over soon.
Come, go home.
Your mother will cook you an egg soup.”
She wiped her face and nodded.
That day on the way home, she walked beside her father, for the first time, she felt that the limping figure was taller than anyone else.
She didn’t know the results or the future.
She only knew that for that figure outside the school gate, these few hours, she had sacrificed everything.
Later, she learned that during those three days, her father left home before dawn and sat under the willow tree from morning till night.
For lunch, he ate the cold steamed buns brought from home.
He didn’t even dare to take a sip of water, just to save that one yuan to buy her a pastry.
He didn’t mention a single word about this.
Just like he never mentioned how much his legs hurt during the few steps it took to take his daughter to the examination room.