So school starts tomorrow. It has been so long since she last went to school; the middle school knowledge was long forgotten.
Letting Little Black Charcoal finish this round of the game before going home for dinner, Fu Ying headed home first to cook. She wondered if Dad Fu and Mom Fu would work overtime today, and if so, what time they would get off. This matter definitely needed to be discussed as a family.
Little Black Charcoal arrived home just before Mom Fu returned at five-thirty, eating as usual, while Fu Ying asked Mom Fu if she was working overtime tonight. Mom Fu said she had to work until eight-thirty or nine. When Dad Fu came back, he also said he had to work overtime, until nine as well.
So around nine-thirty, the family would need to hold a small meeting, which would definitely be held at her older sister's house. Compared to Dad Fu and Mom Fu, Fu Yu was actually more rational and objective. Fu Yu's say in the matter was very important and also quite sensible.
Fu Ying first sorted out the situation and the solutions for communicating with her parents later—this definitely had to be thought through beforehand. Having worked for so many years, she had grown accustomed to analyzing the causes and solutions whenever she encountered a problem, listing out the tasks required for each plan along with the best and worst possible outcomes.
From a junior tour guide to a coffee shop manager, enduring scoldings, taking the blame, and exercising caution had forged her so-called life experience, while also shaping certain habits. Life was just like work, nothing more than encountering problems, consulting past precedents, following established methods if they could be solved, and passing them upward if they couldn't. There were always people and always ways.
At eight-thirty that evening, Mom Fu finished her shift, took a shower, and was about to go out when Fu Ying stopped her.
"Mom, where are you going?"
"I arranged to play mahjong with your Sister Hui."
"Don't go yet. When Dad gets off work, we're going to your sister's house to talk about something. You can go play after we finish," Fu Ying thought to herself, *assuming you're still in the mood to play mahjong after listening*.
Mom Fu figured what big deal could a kid like Fu Ying possibly have, and she was anxious to leave because three people were already waiting for one over there and urging her to come.
"Mom, wait a minute, go later, it's a very important matter!"
Seeing her younger daughter insist, Mom Fu asked her what it was while having no choice but to call Xiao Hui to say there was a temporary family matter and she couldn't make it.
Fu Ying refused to tell her now; she definitely had to wait for Dad Fu. Mom Fu made the decisions on most household matters, but when it truly came down to Dad Fu making the final call, Mom Fu couldn't win against him either.
When Dad Fu also returned, the family gathered under the big tree at the entrance of Fu Yu's apartment, each sitting on a small stool, enjoying the cool breeze—it was quite cozy and comfortable.
"Xiaoyu, Fu Ying said she has something to talk about at your place. Do you know what it is?" Mom Fu spoke up first.
Fu Yu glanced at her younger sister. "Fu Ying heard from her classmate this afternoon that non-local students can't take the high school entrance exams here. Since Gumang High School was just newly built near our place, she wants to go back to repeat the third year of middle school and test into Gumang High School."
Dad Fu and Mom Fu were both stunned. The expenses for the two children studying here were very high, and although they were under a lot of pressure, having the kids study by their side gave them peace of mind. But they had never thought that she wouldn't be able to take the high school entrance exams! The teachers had always said the younger daughter's grades were quite good, and she might even make it to university in the future!
Unable to hold back her impatience, Mom Fu quickly asked Fu Ying, "Did you hear this from your classmate or your teacher? Has your teacher ever said you can't take the exams?"
Fu Ying recalled, "I didn't ask the teacher, but several classmates are going back to their hometowns these few days, and they said they have to go back to take the middle school exams in order to attend high school."
Mom Fu seemed to remember something and asked again, "Didn't you say Wu Shuang also went back to her hometown to study? Was she also the one who went back for this reason?"
Hearing a familiar yet very distant name—Wu Shuang, who had been her best friend during middle school—Fu Ying remembered how she had visited Wu Shuang's home several times, and Wu Shuang seemed to have visited hers too. Fu Ying remembered Wu Shuang going back during the second year of middle school specifically because of the high school issue. At the time, Fu Ying had desperately wanted to persuade her to stay and study here, but both of them could only obey their parents. Looking back, it was a good thing she hadn't tried too hard to persuade her, otherwise it would have really ruined the other person's future. Wu Shuang went back to her hometown to attend high school, while Fu Ying went to a vocational secondary school. When Wu Shuang was in university, Fu Ying was getting "beaten up" by society, and the two had even less contact. In fact, for a period of time, they worked in the same city. Fu Ying knew, but Wu Shuang didn't know Fu Ying was also in that city. The two lived on opposite sides, never making an appointment and never meeting even once.
Fu Ying nodded. "Wu Shuang went back in the second year of middle school because her family wanted her to. At that time, I only heard she had to go back to study, and I didn't know you couldn't take the high school entrance exams here."
Dad Fu fell silent. Feeling that this matter was too sudden and not daring to fully believe it, Mom Fu patted Dad Fu. "Don't you have her head teacher's phone number? Call her teacher and ask what her teacher has to say!"
Dad Fu took out his phone and found the phone number of Fu Ying's head teacher. It was a bit late, but he still had to ask clearly.