Chapter 74: Midterm Exam

Chapter 74: Midterm Exam

After having lunch at home, Deng Yunheng took the living expenses his father had given him and rode his bicycle back to school with his sister.

Deng Shirong noticed that there were still many large stones piled up in the open space in front of his house. These stones had been transported down from Pine Mountain by the strong young men in the village. When his family laid the foundation for their new house, not all the stones were used, leaving about a quarter of them unused.

Seeing this pile of stones, Deng Shirong became even more determined to build the river embankment.

Deng Shirong's homestead covered about two acres. The new house was built in an inverted "7" shape, with the long end facing the front of the homestead and the short end built on the left side of the small river. Directly in front of the new house stood the original old mud-brick house.

By the small river in front of the mud-brick house on the left grew a longan tree that was over 30 years old.

The rest of the area was open space, extending all the way to the road at the entrance of the village.

After the new house was built, Deng Shirong had an idea: to build a river embankment along the small river on the left side of the house, about 20 centimeters above the ground, and then install beautiful wooden railings with pre-drilled holes.

At the same time, he planned to build a wall along the right side of his homestead. The foundation of the wall would be as high as the riverbank, with beautiful wooden railings installed on top. A "gateway" a few meters wide would be left in front of the road, and two stone lions would be placed to protect the house. It would be perfect.

After moving into the new house, they would demolish the old house, level the ground, pave it with cement, and plant a few fruit trees along the riverbank and the right wall. It would be ideal to build a pavilion under the old longan tree.

Once all this was done, the grade of his house would be elevated to a higher level.

However, one must take things one step at a time. Right now, the orchard at home was in full swing, and the furniture-making was also underway. There was no one available to help transport stones and repair the river embankment.

After all, in previous years, the production team would start harvesting rice by the end of September in the lunar calendar. Although this year's distribution of land to households had delayed things, it wouldn't be long before the entire village began harvesting rice. So, now wasn't the right time to ask for help.

Deng Shirong set this idea aside for the time being, deciding to revisit it when the timing was better.

…

At the end of September in the lunar calendar, on the day of the beginning of winter, the midterm exams at Thatchfield School arrived as scheduled.

During this period, thanks to the financial incentives provided by Deng Shirong, whether it was his second son in high school, Deng Yunsong in junior high, or Deng Yunhua and Deng Yunheng in elementary school, they all studied much harder than before.

As for whether their grades had improved, whether their average scores could reach above 90, and whether they could successfully earn the reward from their father, the results would soon be revealed.

At 4:42 in the afternoon, Deng Yunhua walked out of the classroom with a sad face. In the Chinese test that had just ended, he couldn't answer several high-scoring questions. Even if he answered all the other questions correctly, his Chinese score wouldn't exceed 82 points.

If he got other questions wrong, he probably wouldn't even reach 80 points.

Even if his math score was better than his Chinese score, there was no hope of his average score reaching above 90.

When Deng Yunhua thought of this, he felt like crying but had no tears. This meant he wouldn't get the reward his father had promised for this midterm exam!

Just as Deng Yunhua was looking dejected, Deng Yunheng came over and asked, "Fourth brother, how did you do on the Chinese test?"

Deng Yunhua sighed with heartache: "It's hopeless. I definitely won't get the reward. How did you do, Xiaoheng?"

Deng Yunheng said happily: "I did okay. I just didn't know the answers to three questions. I finished the others. If nothing unexpected happens, my score shouldn't be lower than 90."

Deng Yunhua felt even more distressed when he heard this. He knew his younger brother did well in math and estimated his score wouldn't be less than 90. Now, with his Chinese score also likely above 90, didn't that mean his younger brother had a high chance of getting a reward from their father?

Thinking of this, Deng Yunhua hooked his younger brother's shoulders, put on a particularly friendly smile, and said, "Xiaoheng, how do you think Fourth Brother has treated you?"

Deng Yunheng blinked and said, "Fourth Brother has been very good to me. Last semester, when a classmate tried to bully me, you helped me beat him up."

Deng Yunhua smiled and said, "Fourth Brother didn't do well on the exam this time. If you get the reward from Dad, how about we brothers spend it together, okay?"

Deng Yunheng wasn't stupid. He shook his head and said, "No, that won't work. This is the reward I earned through hard work. I want to keep it for myself to spend slowly."

Deng Yunhua frowned and said, "Xiaoheng, am I still your good Fourth Brother?"

Deng Yunheng said, "You are my good Fourth Brother, but this is my money. I want to keep it for myself."

Deng Yunhua was exasperated. His brother was getting older and harder to fool. He could only grit his teeth and say, "Xiaoheng, tell me what you want. What conditions do I need to meet for you to share your reward with me?"

Deng Yunheng laughed and said, "Fourth Brother, I really like your slingshot..."

Deng Yunhua said cheerfully, "Okay, from now on, the slingshot is yours!"

Deng Yunheng said happily, "Okay, Fourth Brother, it's a deal. When I get the reward, we'll spend it together!"

At that moment, the brothers reached an agreement at school.

…

Midterm and final exams were the benchmarks for testing his sons' performance, so Deng Shirong naturally took them very seriously.

Therefore, after dinner, Deng Shirong called his three sons to him and asked, "Now that the elementary school midterm exams are over, and the junior high exams are also done, how did you three do?"

The three brothers exchanged glances, and finally, Deng Yunheng stepped forward and answered, "Dad, I think I've improved. My average score for the two subjects should be over 90."

Deng Shirong wasn't surprised to hear this. After all, his youngest son was only in the second grade, and the material was relatively simple. It was normal for him to score higher. He nodded and said, "That's good. If your average score exceeds 90, I'll keep my promise to you. It's up to you to see if you can earn more."

Then, Deng Shirong looked at his third and fourth sons and asked, "What about you two? How did you do on the exams?"

Deng Yunsong hesitated for a moment and said, "Dad, since starting junior high, I've had a lot more homework. Although I've been working hard, it's still not easy to get an average score of 90. I might not make it this midterm exam. Let's see if I can improve by the final exam!"

Deng Shirong nodded and said, "Yes, keep working hard. I believe you can do it."

Of the five sons in his previous life, only the third son, Deng Yunsong, had been admitted to a technical secondary school.

The value of a technical secondary school in this era was incomparable to that in later generations. Passing the entrance exam to a technical secondary school was equivalent to securing a stable job. Therefore, in his previous life, only the third son had entered the system and worked hard, achieving remarkable results—he retired with the benefits of a deputy director-level official.

Therefore, Deng Shirong wasn't too worried about the third son's studies. Even without monetary incentives, if he followed the same path as in his previous life, the third son would be able to get into a technical secondary school.

(End of this chapter)