Blackstone Code

In the dim room, the light bulb above the head that has not been replaced for a long time sheds little light into the room.

The fifteen-year-old child was sitting at the table, looking dullly at the heavy snow outside the window.

Her father sat on the sofa, watching TV reports about this year's heavy snowfall, while her mother sat across from her.

The whole family remained silent, with only the reporters on the TV making constant noises.

The sound is a little harsh, and the old TV speaker should have been retired long ago. It still makes a squealing sound at times, but no one here has considered buying a new one, or even a second-hand one.

Because...poor.

Being poor is not a shameful thing because many people in this world are poor.

But poverty is a very hurtful thing. Because of poverty, many small things that may be inconspicuous in the eyes of others become big things, just like buying a new TV.

It’s like…paying your children to go to school.

The toilet in the bathroom made a flushing sound, and then the door opened, and a boy who was a little older than the girl came out at a loss.

He hid in the toilet for a long time, half an hour or more, but he still couldn't escape this conversation.

"Come here, sit down..."

The man stood up, walked to the table and sat down. The boy came over awkwardly, glanced at the girl guiltily, and sat down quietly.

"It snowed heavily this year...the factory decided not to reopen until after March, which also means we have no income for more than two to three months."

"But the school's notice has come. We must pay the money in full before February, otherwise they will remove your names from the school roll."

"But the money in my hand can only support one person to go to school at most..."

There was still silence, no one spoke.

This heavy snowfall that lasted for more than a month ruined the lives of many people. It was clear that life had just gotten better when they encountered such terrible bad weather.

Continuing heavy snowfall has disrupted road traffic, bringing intercity and interstate highways to a complete standstill.

There are also many problems in the city. Many factories and warehouses were collapsed by heavy snow. Before this, no one would have thought that light snowflakes could bring such a terrible disaster to the world!

The truth is, they were too optimistic.

The shutdown of factories means that workers cannot get paid for their labor, and the small amount of savings can barely sustain them.

If you add the tuition fees for two students...many families can't afford them at all.

This is not a problem for one family, but for society as a whole.

At present, federal education is basically monopolized by education groups. They will never consider reducing the burden on students' families, they will only ask for more.

Tuition fees range from tens to hundreds of yuan per student per semester, plus the cost of purchasing various books, which amounts to more than two hundred yuan. This is a trouble for families with money problems. .

Just like the family in front of them, they couldn't afford more than 400 yuan to send their two children to school. One of them must be left behind.

If this happens, it will stop for a year.

They're not going to give that kid a new grade, they're definitely going to have to wait until this time next year.

But this time next year, one year apart, how can the children's learning be maintained?

Although the federal lower and secondary education does not care much about students' performance, at least you have to prove that you are not a fool and that you have some understanding of what you have already learned.

Missing a year may mean not going to school again.

The girl's expression was very cold, her hands tightly pinched the corners of her clothes, pinching hard.

The pain of her fingernails digging into her palms was not as good as her pessimism. The future of life was like this dark room, with no light visible.

She had a hunch that she would be the one who couldn't go to school.

The boy also had a premonition. His premonition was that he could go to school, but his sister could not.

The man tilted his head and glanced at his wife, "So we made a very difficult decision..." He called out the girl's name, "Can you suspend school for your brother for a year?"

"We are still discussing, but the result may not be like this..."

Everyone knew that this was a lie, and tears suddenly accumulated in the girl's eyes. She bit her lips stubbornly, and a trace of bright red blood expanded outward along the texture of her lips.

She didn't say no, she didn't agree, she just looked at her father.

Maybe it was because her eyes were too "ferocious", or maybe because of her inner guilt, the room fell into silence again.

The man did not exercise his power as the head of the family to demand that it must do so. He felt that it was his own inability that caused these problems.

But in fact, he works very hard. He goes to work at eight o'clock every day and gets off work at 7:30 in the evening. He works eleven hours a day plus a half-hour break at noon.

He has never been lazy, and has never had his salary deducted because he did not work seriously, but he still cannot afford so much money for his two children now.

It's all those damn immigrants!

His anguished expression was filled with anger at immigrant workers, lowly immigrants who lowered their wages to get a job.

Originally, his salary was more than 330 yuan, but now, he can only get the minimum salary, which is dozens of yuan less every month.

In addition to changes in wages, benefits have also been reduced. For example, lunch has become a meat-free vegetarian meal.

For example, the working hours that were originally only ten hours turned into eleven hours at the request of immigrants who took the initiative to work overtime.

You don’t have to work overtime, but when the factory needs to adjust positions, you may be fired.

Capitalists never talk about corporate sentiments to their employees. Only when they need to take advantage of their employees will they take it out and promote it as a sacred mission.

Seeing the family in pain, the woman felt very painful inside. She took off her pearl earrings, which were left to her by her grandmother.

"Selling this may be able to pay for her tuition."

The man glanced at it and said, "It's only worth twenty yuan at most!" He paused and said, "And this is your only jewelry."

The family sat under dim lights, falling into despair for more than two hundred yuan in tuition.

They will be desperate for two hundred yuan now, and they will be desperate for other money later. This may be an ordinary thing that ordinary families must face.

Try your best to get through one difficulty, and then face the next one!

There is no shortcut to a poor life, because the shortcut is money!

If you have money, there will be no difficulty.

Without the girl's consent, the girl had no ability to change anything. She could only stand up after a period of silence, silently return to her room, hide under the quilt and cry secretly.

She knew that she couldn't blame anyone. This was the way society was. Women's status would always be inferior to men's, and the same was true when faced with future choices.

Even if her studies are better than her brother, it has no reference value.

Letting boys go to school and girls get married may be the purest and most basic idea and practice of ordinary families.

You know, a girl's surname will be changed after she gets married, and people won't invest so much in her unless she never marries in her life.

But, is that possible?

The next day, the man and the boy left home in the wind and snow. They went to school in advance to pay tuition. They heard that there would be a bigger snowstorm in the next few days.

It would be bad if the traffic in the city is also blocked.

The girl could only cry silently as she looked at her brother who kept looking back in the snow.

She began to think about doing something. It was impossible for her to do nothing this year. Maybe she would get her first job in her life.

Isn’t it normal for teenage girls to go to work?

The woman appeared behind her and stroked her hair, "Don't hate anyone. At least you can still live in a warm room. The food may not be so delicious, but it can fill your stomach."

"We must learn to tolerate, this is our destiny..."

Everyone originally thought that the matter was over here, but unexpectedly when the two men at home came back at noon, things changed.

A smile actually appeared on the man's face. He found the girl and was a little excited. "Listen, your school problem has been solved. You can go to school with your brother."

The girl looked at her father with wide eyes and shook her head slightly, as if to say, "Don't be ridiculous."

It wasn't until her father nodded vigorously again that tears quickly came out.

"What happened?" The woman came over quickly and opened the curtains.

The wind and snow that had been falling for two days stopped for a while at this time, the sun came out, and the room became brighter!

"I saw Ms. Catherine, you know, that flower of the common people!" The man's mood was always a little excited. He was a little confused when he spoke, and he couldn't express his thoughts well.

"She asked about our family situation and knew that we had a child who couldn't go to school because there was no tuition. She was a girl, so she was willing to help us, free of charge!"

The woman also became excited. She hugged her daughter tightly, "It's great, it's so great..."

The man also nodded and said, "Yes, great. Many students have had problems at home this year. This blizzard came at the wrong time. Fortunately, Ms. Catherine appeared in time."

"Oh, by the way, there is Mr. Lynch, I saw Mr. Lynch too!"

The man looked at his children and sighed with emotion, "They are the real big shots in Sabine City. There are very few people like them who can still remember poor people like us when they are prosperous."

His sentiments are justified. Not all donations from charity gala can be used to those who really need it.

Sometimes, those fundraisers don't tell people that they generally only use a certain percentage of the total donation for some specific groups of people, and more of it is the maintenance funds of foundations or other institutions.

Finally, the man looked at the girl and said, "Maybe you can see them in two days..."