Chapter 153: English Frenzy on the Rooftop

At the first light of dawn, Zhao Jianguo got up from the bed. The Iron Gate that had been stored in a ring the night before was still lying in the storage space, and he didn't look at it again. Right now the most urgent thing wasn't hiding things, but turning those exam papers into real skill.

He pulled out a palm‑sized speaker and a stack of carbon copies— the first page of the "College Entrance English High‑Frequency Word List", with the word "ABANDON" bolded and "abandon" written beside it. He placed that word first on purpose, not for any other reason, but because Sha Zhu had asked him two days ago, "Teacher, what if we can't pass?" He replied, "Then ABANDON." Sha Zhu was stunned, scratched his head and said, "That word sounds like an insult."

Zhao Jianguo smiled and thought, I have to let everyone know this isn't an insult, it's a Starting Point.

The sun hadn't fully risen onto the roof yet, but he stepped onto the ladder and climbed onto the house. The wooden ladder wobbled a bit, but after he steadied himself he glanced down; the Courtyard was silent, only a few chickens scratching the earth. He knew that in a moment the bustle would begin.

He opened the Speaker and cleared his throat.

"ABANDON!"

In the instant the sound burst, the entire Siheyuan seemed to have its blanket lifted, snapping awake.

The East Room window swung open with a "whoosh", and San Daye, coat draped over him, stuck his head out, bleary‑eyed, and scolded, "Who's that? What madness is this at such an early hour?"

No one answered him.

Zhao Jianguo shouted again, "ABANDON! Repeat after me!"

A child ran out of the West Wing Room doorway, still chewing a half piece of steamed bun, brandishing a willow branch and shouted, "ABANDON!"

Another child nearby, seeing this, grabbed a broom handle used for sweeping the kang as a microphone, tiptoed and shouted until his face turned red.

A little girl simply took down a bamboo clothes‑drying pole, held it up as a microphone, and shouted while hopping.

That shout didn't matter; all the children in the Courtyard were drawn out. Some held chopsticks, some brandished spatulas, and even someone grabbed a shoulder pole; they all pointed toward the roof, shouting in unison like a stage opera.

"ABANDON! ABANDON! ABANDON!"

Zhao Jianguo stood on the roof, looking at the crowd of kids holding microphones, and almost laughed out loud. He raised his hand and pressed down, waiting for the sound to soften, then continued: "This word means 'to give up'. It's often tested in exams, have you memorized it?"

"Got it!" the crowd shouted in unison.

"Then if I say— you can't learn English, you have to ABANDON, what do we do?"

"Don't give up!"

"Never ABANDON!"

"We want to go to university!"

The shouts rose higher and higher, even the dog in the neighboring Courtyard was startled into barking twice.

San Daye, furious, slapped the windowsill: "Nonsense! A bunch of kids here babbling foreign words! They don't recite the ancestors' Analects, but chant 'Abadong' 'Amaxi' every day, what a disgrace!"

But as soon as his words ended, his own grandson had already grabbed a peach branch, rushed out the door, tilted his head back and began to read along.

"ABANDON! A-B-A-N-D-O-N!"

"Come back here!" San Daye snapped, tugging at his shoes as he rushed to chase out.

The child turned and asked, "Grandpa, how do you say 'give up' in Chinese?"

San Daye was taken aback, opened his mouth and said, "It's… just 'don't want to do it'!"

"So ABANDON means 'give up'?" the child's eyes lit up. "Teacher Zhao said it's a required word! If I memorize it I can earn extra points!"

"Extra points? What points!" San Daye's beard twitched with anger. "Our ancestors were scholars! We studied for official ranks! We memorized the saints' classics! Not like now, spouting nonsense like 'Abangdun' 'Adunbang', sounding like a drum‑song!"

"But Teacher Zhao said that now university exams don't test the Analects; they test Mathematics, Chinese Language Corner, English! If you can't do English, you can't understand the papers!"

"Nonsense!" San Daye reached out to grab the child's arm. "Today I'm going to make you learn what Rules Sign means!"

The child deftly slipped away, turning into the crowd. San Daye, anger flaring, grabbed a broom from the corner and chased after.

"Stop right there! See if I don't hit you!"

The Courtyard erupted into chaos. Children ran around the water jar, San Daye pursued with his broom, shouting, "What are you learning foreign words for! If you have time, you'd better sweep the Courtyard!"

"Grandpa, even sweeping the Courtyard you need to know how to write 'sweepthefloor'!" the child shouted while running.

"What?"

"Teacher Zhao taught it!"

"Say it again and try!"

"sweepthefloor! sweep—"

Before he finished, he tripped, landing on his butt. San Daye seized the chance, pounced, grabbed the collar, gasping, and cursed, "You still dare talk back! Today I'm going to show you who's in charge!"

The child wasn't scared, looked up and asked, "Grandpa, then tell me, besides saying 'don't want to do it', what else can 'give up' be expressed as?"

San Daye was stunned, opened his mouth but couldn't answer.

He truly didn't know. He only knew "stop working", "take a break", "won't do it", but could those words be written on an exam paper?

He stood frozen, still holding the broom, his arm slowly drooping.

At that moment, Zhao Jianguo on the roof spoke, "San Daye, don't be hasty. This word isn't meant to be memorized, it's meant to change fate."

San Daye looked up at him, frowned, "Change what fate? Our family's destiny was set by our ancestors long ago!"

"But today's fate is decided by scores," Zhao Jianguo said evenly, "If your grandson can write ABANDON, he might get into university. If not, he'll truly ABANDON—give up the chance to go to school."

Those words struck like a stone, sinking into San Daye's heart.

He looked down at his grandson, his small face flushed, eyes shining brightly. It wasn't mischief, it was genuine light.

He opened his mouth, about to say something, but his grandson's remark cut him off.

"Grandpa, when you were studying, did you ever encounter— something you really wanted to persist with but eventually had to give up?"

San Daye was stunned.

He recalled that when he was young he also wanted to go to the city to study teaching, but his family was poor; his father said, "Studying is less useful than farming," and burned his schoolbag. That day he crouched by the stove, watching the pages curl and blacken, said nothing, only bit off the tip of his pen.

He never told anyone that the pen was bought with three months' worth of Meal Tickets.

After a long while, he released his grip and whispered, "Let's go… to attend your class."

The child was startled, "Really?"

"Go then." San Daye leaned the broom back against the corner, waved his hand, "When I hear ABANDON, I recall the day I couldn't go to school."

The child said nothing more, hopped back into the crowd, raised the peach branch, and shouted loudly, "ABANDON!"

Zhao Jianguo on the roof watched the scene and let out a gentle breath.

He knows that some things are more important than scores.

Morning light poured down, shining on the blue tiles, on the tree branches the children held up, and on San Daye's stooped back. The shouts of "ABANDON" grew more uniform and louder.

Someone passing by the Courtyard Gate heard the commotion and couldn't help asking, "Is this a model opera?"

The person beside him shook their head: "No, it's class."

"Class? What subject?"

"English."

"Can you even shout 'English' like that?"

"You don't understand; this is called collective awakening."

Zhao Jianguo adjusted the Speaker's angle, was about to continue teaching the second word, when he suddenly saw Sha Zhu limping over from the canteen direction, still clutching a steamed bun in his hand.

He jumped into the Courtyard, squeezed into the front row without a word, stuffed the steamed bun into his pocket, raised the rice spoon in his hand and shouted, "ABANDON!"

Zhao Jianguo laughed: "Sha Zhu, you came just in time. The next word, you lead the chant."

"Sure!" Sha Zhu puffed out his chest, lifted his head, full of vigor, "What word?"

Zhao Jianguo opened the lecture notes, pointing to the second line.

"FUTURE."