Early the next morning, Zhou Yu brought Lu Cheng into town. She had come today to ask about getting him into primary school.
There were no kindergartens in the 1980s. Children from ordinary families usually went straight to primary school at around six years old. According to the original host’s memories, there was no primary school in the village where Zhou Yu lived, so the only option was to go into town and find out what the enrollment requirements were.
After arriving in town, Zhou Yu asked a passerby for directions to the primary school. Following the directions she was given, she quickly found the place.
After explaining her purpose to the school’s gatekeeper, Zhou Yu was asked to wait while he contacted the teacher responsible for admissions.
The admissions teacher arrived soon afterward. She was a middle-aged woman in her forties. Leading Zhou Yu and Lu Cheng into one of the school’s reception rooms, she began asking them a few questions.
“Child, how old are you this year?” the admissions teacher asked Lu Cheng.
Hearing that she was speaking to him, Lu Cheng frowned slightly and didn’t really want to answer. But then he remembered his stepmother’s instructions to answer the teacher’s questions properly. After a few seconds, he finally replied in a small voice, “Six.”
“Good boy. What’s your name?” the teacher asked again.
It was normal for children to be shy when they first came to school, so she wasn’t impatient even though Lu Cheng answered slowly.
“Lu Cheng,” he replied with his head lowered.
The admissions teacher nodded and asked him a few more simple questions, all of which he answered one by one.
Only then did she turn her attention to Zhou Yu and begin speaking with her.
“You’re Lu Cheng’s guardian, right? The reason I asked the child those questions was simply to see whether his thinking and comprehension are normal. There wasn’t any other intention behind it,” the teacher explained with a smile.
Zhou Yu nodded and smiled back to show that she understood.
“The gatekeeper already told me why you’re here. It’s like this: our school doesn’t have any special enrollment requirements. As long as the child has normal intellectual development and is at least six years old, they’re eligible to enroll.” After pausing for a few seconds, she continued, “In addition, the tuition fee is six yuan per semester. That doesn’t include miscellaneous school fees or meal expenses.”
“That’s fine, Teacher. Tuition won’t be a problem,” Zhou Yu replied with a smile.
The admissions teacher nodded and continued, “All right. When are you planning to have the child start school? I’ll register him for you.”
“We’d naturally like him to start as soon as possible, but we’ll follow whatever arrangements the school makes,” Zhou Yu said with a smile. “As for this semester’s tuition, we can pay it today.”
The teacher thought about it for a moment before saying, “How about this? Three days from now will be Monday. Once you’ve paid the fees today, bring the child to school next Monday and he can begin attending classes.”
“All right, thank you, Teacher.” Zhou Yu was genuinely pleased. She hadn’t expected Lu Cheng’s enrollment to be settled so smoothly.
“Oh, right, Teacher. If the child is starting school, what do we need to prepare?” Zhou Yu thought for a moment before asking another question.
“You can buy some basic stationery and exercise books. Over the next couple of days, you can also make the child a schoolbag,” the admissions teacher explained patiently. Seeing how young Zhou Yu was, she knew she probably didn’t have much experience with these matters.
“All right, thank you, Teacher,” Zhou Yu said gratefully once again.
After asking a few more questions related to school, Zhou Yu followed the admissions teacher to the school’s Accounting Section to pay one semester’s tuition. Then she left with Lu Cheng.
Having settled Lu Cheng’s schooling, Zhou Yu was in an excellent mood. Squatting down in front of him, she said, “Cheng’er, I’ll take you to buy some stationery, then we’ll get some fabric and make you a schoolbag. Is there anything else you’d like?”
Lu Cheng shook his head. His little hands tugged at the hem of his clothes, and he remained silent.
Zhou Yu knew the child had a rather withdrawn personality. She pursed her lips but didn’t say anything further. Taking one of Lu Cheng’s hands, she led him toward the stationery store.
After buying a full set of stationery, they had spent a little over two yuan.
Then Zhou Yu brought Lu Cheng to the same fabric shop they had visited last time, intending to buy some material for a schoolbag.
As soon as the shop owner saw Zhou Yu enter, she spoke before Zhou Yu even had a chance to open her mouth.
“It’s you! You’re the one who saved that middle-aged man near my shop the other day, right? His son has come looking for you several times. He said he wanted to thank you in person for saving his father…”
“Oh, that.” Zhou Yu was startled by the fabric shop owner’s enthusiasm, but she quickly understood the reason. Smiling, she continued, “If he comes again, could you please help me pass along a message? Tell him not to take it to heart and that there’s no need to thank me in person. A doctor’s duty is to save lives. Any doctor would have stepped in under those circumstances.”
“You really were amazing that day. There was an elderly man in our town who had the same kind of heart attack years ago. When it happened, nobody dared to help him. Later, I heard he passed away before he even reached the hospital,” the shop owner said, apparently reminded of something.
“There probably wasn’t a doctor nearby. If this condition is treated incorrectly, it can actually make things worse,” Zhou Yu explained.
The shop owner nodded.
“That’s true. Well, enough about that. What are you here to buy this time?”
“My child is about to start primary school, so I’d like to buy some fabric to make him a schoolbag,” Zhou Yu replied, remembering the purpose of her visit.
“That’s easy enough. Take a look at these pieces and see what you think.” The shop owner pulled out several sturdy fabrics and recommended them to her.
Zhou Yu felt the pieces of fabric and selected one in a solid color.
“How much is this one?” she asked the shop owner.
“For other customers, I sell it for one yuan and five mao per meter. But I won’t overcharge you. I’ll give it to you for one yuan and two mao per meter. It’s a very sturdy fabric and quite suitable for making a schoolbag,” the owner said with a smile.
“All right, then thank you, Boss Lady,” Zhou Yu said. Then she asked, “One meter should be enough for a schoolbag, right?”
“One meter is more than enough for a schoolbag,” the shop owner replied with a smile.
She took the one yuan and two mao Zhou Yu handed over, then skillfully measured out a meter of fabric, cut it, wrapped it up, and passed it to her.
With the fabric purchased, Zhou Yu was ready to leave the shop.
Then she remembered her plan to rent a house in town. Since the fabric shop owner was familiar with the area, she might know of a suitable place.
“Boss Lady, there’s one more thing I’d like to ask. Since my child will be coming into town for primary school, we’d like to rent a small house here. Do you happen to know of any places available for rent?” Zhou Yu asked politely.
“A rental house, huh?” The shop owner thought for a moment. “A few days ago, I heard an elderly couple mention that they wanted to rent out a small courtyard house. I’m not sure whether it’s already been rented or not…”
Zhou Yu’s eyes brightened.
“Do you know where they live? I don’t have anything to do this afternoon, so I could go ask about it.”
The fabric shop owner gave Zhou Yu a detailed description of the house that might be available for rent, as well as the location of the elderly couple’s home.
After thanking her once more, Zhou Yu left the fabric shop with Lu Cheng.
Originally, she had planned to go directly to see the rental property, but after walking only a short distance, her stomach growled loudly.
They had left home early that morning, which meant breakfast had also been early. It was already noon, so being hungry was perfectly normal.
Since she still needed to look at the house that afternoon, Zhou Yu decided not to return to the village for lunch. They would just find a small restaurant in town and have a simple meal.
“Cheng’er, you’re hungry too, aren’t you? What would you like to eat for lunch?” Zhou Yu stopped and asked.
As usual, Lu Cheng said nothing.
Zhou Yu felt that it wasn’t good for him to keep ignoring people like this, so she continued, “Cheng’er, it’s very impolite to keep refusing to answer when someone asks you a question.”
Hearing that, Lu Cheng finally looked up at her.
Then he said, “Noodles.”
Zhou Yu felt rather helpless.
This child was truly exasperating. She had spoken for so long, and all he gave her in return were two words.
Still, complaints were one thing and reality was another. Zhou Yu ultimately led Lu Cheng to a noodle shop.
After entering, she had originally wanted to ask him what kind of noodles he wanted, but then she remembered how difficult it was to get even a few words out of the little boy. After some thought, she gave up on asking and simply ordered two bowls of vegetable and egg noodles.
The prices at the noodle shop were very cheap. A bowl of plain Yangchun noodles cost only eight fen, while vegetable and egg noodles were just two mao a bowl. The two bowls Zhou Yu ordered came to a total of four mao.
After finishing the noodles, Zhou Yu felt much more comfortable. She sat for a while to rest, then brought Lu Cheng to the address the fabric shop owner had mentioned.
As it happened, they saw an elderly couple standing at the entrance to the courtyard, preparing to lock the gate.
Walking over, Zhou Yu asked, “Hello, is this the house that’s available for rent?”
The elderly couple looked Zhou Yu and Lu Cheng over before answering.
“Yes, it is. But the house is rather small. It’s only one bedroom and one living room. I’m not sure whether it will be enough for you.”
“It’ll be fine,” Zhou Yu explained. “It’s only me and the child living there. A smaller place is easier to keep clean.”
“All right, then. We’ll show you around,” the elderly couple said warmly.
After entering the courtyard, Zhou Yu carefully inspected the house inside and out.
Although it was quite small, only around twenty to thirty square meters, it had electricity and was generally very clean. There was also a small courtyard outside where vegetables and other plants could be grown.
“The house is quite nice. How much is the rent per month?” Zhou Yu asked.
“It is a nice house. It was originally meant to be our son’s marital home,” the elderly couple explained. “But he and his wife have moved to a big city now and rarely come back, so they told us to rent it out.”
“The rent is three yuan a month, and the minimum lease is one year.”
Zhou Yu nodded.
She wasn’t sure whether that rent was considered expensive by 1980s standards, but she was fairly satisfied with the house itself.
“All right, then. We’ll rent it for a year.”
After thinking it over, she felt it was good enough. She didn’t want to spend more time and effort looking at other places when this one already met her needs.
Zhou Yu paid a year’s rent up front. The elderly couple wrote her a receipt and handed over the keys to both the house and the courtyard.
After the landlords left, Zhou Yu locked up the house and courtyard before taking Lu Cheng back to the village.