Chapter 159: Rural Absurd Past Events Chapter 159: Wang Zhanggen's Boasting

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Protagonist:

Li Xiulan

Wang Xiaohua no longer cared about his height and teeth as he used to, because he knew his height could not be changed—he could only let nature take its course—and his teeth could not be changed for the time being; he could only get them corrected after earning money.

The only thing he could change now was his grades, and after working hard during the summer vacation, he seemed to have had a breakthrough in English.

Once one aperture opens, all apertures open.

He no longer struggled to learn English as he used to.

He no longer felt inferior and dared not speak up as before; when he read English, he would read aloud, not caring about the gazes of other classmates.

He no longer needed to spend a large amount of time on English as before, yet could achieve better results than before, giving him more time to study other subjects and develop more evenly.

Positive feedback made him more interested in learning and more motivated.

Everything was moving in a good direction.

As for his father thinking this was his achievement of opening his apertures, Wang Xiaohua only found it very funny, but he would not refute it; to be precise, unless necessary, he would not take the initiative to say a word to his father again.

As a father, Wang Zhanggen still did not realize the seriousness of the consequences at all; he simply did not know what his youngest son's true inner thoughts were.

That night he also went to Village Committee Secretary Zhang Zhongtian's home, drank some wine at Zhang Zhongtian's home, and boasted about his youngest son.

"My youngest son ranked fifth in the whole school in this midterm exam. Speaking of our Shangou Village, it seems no one has ever achieved such results in high school, right?"

Wang Zhanggen could be said to have been useless his whole life.

When he was young, his business failed, his family management failed, he earned no money, did not take care of his wife and children well, and even became a laughingstock in others' eyes, being cuckolded yet not daring to divorce.

He had been useless his whole life, and now he could finally hold his head high once.

So he came to Zhang Zhongtian's home to boast, because he knew that as long as he told Zhang Zhongtian about this, within three days Zhang Zhongtian would definitely let everyone in the village know.

"Changgen, you have a good son. Your Xiaohua has been smart since childhood, destined to be material for learning!"

Zhang Zhongtian's face was full of envy.

Compared to Wang Zhanggen's son, his own son Zhang Zhongtian, like most children from rural backgrounds, had terrible grades, could not even get into high school, and could only go to a technical school in the end.

"What does 'smart since childhood' mean?" Wang Zhanggen disagreed with Zhang Zhongtian's view. With a drunk face, he said seriously: "It's because I, as his father, have the right methods of discipline! You don't know, when my youngest son was in junior high, his grades were not that good; he could only rank twenty-plus in the whole school. Now in high school he ranks fifth in the whole school! Junior high is just a junior high in this town, while high school is a high school in the whole county town. Ranking fifth in high school is harder than ranking first in junior high! Without my guidance, that brat couldn't even make the top five in the whole school—even the top fifty, I reckon, he couldn't get into!"

Wang Zhanggen shouted at the top of his voice, speaking while drunk.

Zhang Zhongtian asked curiously:

"Oh? Really? How did you educate your youngest son?"

He was indeed curious from the bottom of his heart.

Among so many children in the whole village, only Wang Zhanggen's youngest son was promising; other people's children were all half-baked. Aptitude was one aspect, and family education was indeed another.

So Zhang Zhongtian did not think Wang Zhanggen was bluffing; instead, he felt he probably really had some methods of his own.

Wang Zhanggen said:

"The most important method I use to educate my son is: don't let him touch any electronic products—no mobile phones, MP3s, MP4s, none of them!"

Wang Zhanggen really thought he had educated well, and he spoke in a well-organized manner:

"You might not know. When Wang Xiaohua was in primary school, he touched a tape recorder. As a result, the boy who used to rank first every year immediately dropped to around the top ten in the grade when he entered sixth grade! Later, in junior high, he still couldn't make the top ten in the grade—all because of the aftereffects of using the tape recorder! Then, after the high school entrance exam, he and his second brother went to dig wild poria and earned some money, bought an MP3 back. I saw it and was immediately furious. Right in front of him, I smashed that MP3 worth over two hundred yuan! Although I felt the pain of the loss, the effect was obvious! Guess what? I also smashed his head open! That's why he could rank fifth in the whole school in high school!"

Finally Wang Zhanggen added a concluding remark:

"Electronic products are like opium in the old days—they kill people! Absolutely cannot let children play with them!"

Zhang Zhongtian nodded repeatedly, deeply convinced.

Because he had bought his son a mobile phone early on, and now his son only knew how to hug the phone and play all day; it indeed did great harm.

"If I had known, I wouldn't have bought my son a mobile phone. I just couldn't resist his soft wheedling and hard pestering, went soft-hearted and bought him one. As a result, I harmed him. Now high school is so easy to get into, yet he actually couldn't get in. Sigh!"

Zhang Zhongtian sighed.

Every family has its hard-to-recite scripture. Don't look at how Zhang Zhongtian served as Village Committee Secretary with great flair, leading the villagers to get rich together while also earning quite a lot of money himself.

But his son had always been a worry he could not solve.

This brat could only go to a technical school now. After finishing technical school, who knew what he could do?

Going to work in a factory, he reckoned he couldn't endure that hardship.

Going to learn a skill from others, he definitely couldn't settle his mind.

He really envied Wang Zhanggen's three children at home.

Wang Zhanggen's eldest son was the first child in the whole village to join the army—how glorious that was!

Wang Zhanggen's youngest son was the first child in the whole village to excel in studies. Ranking fifth in the whole high school—what a big deal! In the future, getting into university was probably a sure thing. The only thing not yet determined was which university he would get into.

Wang Zhanggen's second son, though rather ordinary, at least went to high school and wouldn't be reduced to attending a technical school.

Going to high school and getting a high school diploma was better than just muddling through at a technical school.

"Secretary Zhang, don't worry too much. Your son just hasn't had his breakthrough yet. Wait a few years until he has his breakthrough, and he will naturally strive to make progress!"

Wang Zhanggen spoke words of comfort to Zhang Zhongtian, but in his heart he was already smugly pleased.

Compared to Zhang Zhongtian's son, his own son seemed even more promising, and could better satisfy his vanity.

His vanity had not been satisfied like this for a long time.

Compared to the glory brought by his eldest son joining the army, his youngest son's academic achievements now made him feel even more honored.

"Hehe, that brat of mine. Even if he has his breakthrough, I'm afraid it will be too late. He's not material for studying. I no longer have great expectations for him. Three years at technical school—he has already studied two years. Now as long as he studies the last year in peace, gets his graduation certificate, then goes out to find a decent job, finds a wife, gets married, and has children, not making me worry so much, that would already be burning high incense."

Wang Zhanggen flattered him:

"You can rest assured about this. Your son will definitely let you hold a big fat grandson in the future!"