Zhou Xiaoyun’s Happy Life

Chapter 43: Fascinating Television

 In early spring and March, a big event happened. The village began to receive electricity.

Every household is very happy. After having electricity, they can use electric lamps instead of kerosene lamps. Electric lamps do not use much electricity and are much brighter than kerosene lamps.

 After Zhou Guoqiang’s home was equipped with electric lights, Zhou Xiaoyun’s learning environment was greatly improved.

 In the past, kerosene lamps were dim and were very harmful to the eyes if they were looked at for a long time. Now, the 40-watt light bulb illuminates the small room brightly, making it much easier to write and read.

Zhou Xiaoyun automatically extended the calligraphy practice time by half an hour, and Zhao Yuzhen didn't feel bad about letting her pay the electricity bill. Even though she didn't know much, she could tell that her daughter's handwriting was getting better and better. She was always proud when she mentioned Zhou Xiaoyun wherever she went.

Uncle Zhou Guofu made a bench for someone a few years ago and had a lot of leftover materials. He pieced together a piece of wood and made a desk for Zhou Xiaoyun and Dabao to use. Zhou Xiaoyun likes it very much. The small and square table makes it easy for her to write and read.

 The old and somewhat unstable table in the house had been scratched a lot by Dabao with a knife. Zhou Xiaoyun had always disliked it and had no other choice but to make do with it. Now that the new one was available, he immediately got rid of the old table.

Every evening, Zhou Xiaoyun and Dabao sit face to face and do their homework. Xiaobao was attracted by this learning atmosphere and refused to leave at the table. Zhou Xiaoyun was afraid that he would disturb his studies by making noises nearby, so he taught him how to write numbers.

 Actually, she is not afraid of being disturbed. She is mainly afraid that Dabao, who is showing signs of being serious, will be distracted by Xiaobao.

With something to do, Xiaobao started to learn numbers properly. Over time, he actually learned numbers from 1 to 10.

 Sure enough, there are no stupid children, only children who are unwilling to learn! Zhou Xiaoyun sighed with emotion.

 When my younger brother Xiaobao grew up, he graduated from high school but did not go to college. Later he went out to work and could not return home twice a year. In fact, Xiaobao is much smarter than his elder brother Dabao. If he is properly guided, he may not be good at school, and he has to start from a baby!

Zhao Yuzhen naturally applauded Xiaobao's behavior. Whatever he did was better than running around.

Zhou Guofu’s family bought a TV set after getting electricity. At this time, the only families in the village with TVs were Feng Tiezhu's family and Zhou Guofu's family. For a while, waves of people came to Zhou Guofu's family to watch the excitement.

There is an antenna erected on the newly purchased Panda brand 14-inch black and white TV. After pressing the button with your hand, you have to turn the circle on it to adjust the channel. Without a remote control, it is purely manual. Color TVs with remote controls had not appeared in the village for at least ten years, but now such TVs are rare enough.

 The main house of Zhou Guofu's family had children coming to watch TV every day. Later, some adults came to watch the TV when they had nothing to do at home at night. If there is not enough room to sit, some people stand and watch, and some even watch from outside. There is no other way. There is no entertainment in rural areas. Who wouldn’t want to watch TV if there is one?

Among the people watching TV were Dabao and Xiaobao. Dabao finally remembered to finish his homework. Every night after finishing his homework, he went to his uncle's house without even having time to pack up his homework. He usually waited until his aunt announced that he would turn off the TV and take a rest. Only then did he reluctantly come home. On Sunday, he simply stayed at the uncle's house all day and had lunch there. Xiaobao followed his brother and became a frequent visitor to Zhou Guofu's house.

Zhou Xiaoyun saw that there were so many people going to his uncle's house and didn't want to join in the fun. He was enjoying himself practicing calligraphy at home.

As time went by, Shen Huafeng became worried about the electricity bill.

At the beginning, she felt a little proud when she saw a steady stream of people watching TV in her house. During those days, she felt very confident in speaking. The adults who came to her house to watch TV inevitably exchanged pleasantries with her and praised her family for their good life.

Shen Huafeng was very impressed by these flattering words. She had always been a little dissatisfied with the fact that her third uncle's family in the city was better off than her own. The last time she went to the city, she saw Zhou Guomin's family on TV and was jealous. No, not long after the village got electricity, she encouraged her husband to buy one too.

There were so many people coming and going every day, and the TV was on from morning to night. She came back from the excitement. If this continued, the electricity bill for a month would be huge.

 But the folks in this village are all acquaintances and many of them are relatives. How can you have the nerve to tell people not to come?

Shen Huafeng thought about it for a long time and finally figured out a way. Every night at eight o'clock, she would sheepishly explain that she had to go to bed early because she had something to do when she got up early the next morning, and then she would turn off the TV. The children who were watching the highlight of the movie would clamor to continue watching, and the adults would naturally be embarrassed to say this. Then they dispersed.

After this happened twice, some people understood this implicit order to expel guests, and fewer and fewer people came. Shen Huafeng was secretly proud that she had achieved her goal of turning on less TV without offending anyone.

However, there are some unsophisticated children like Dabao, who would refuse to go home if he kept reading every day. Shen Huafeng could not even scold this naughty nephew, but could only let him go home with a straight face.

Dabao, who felt aggrieved, went home and talked about the matter with his mother, Zhao Yuzhen. The child did not understand the twists and turns, so Zhao Yuzhen did not understand.

Zhao Yuzhen was angry that Shen Huafeng was too stingy, and scolded Dabao not to go again.

Dabao refused and shouted, "Just go, I'm going to watch TV. If there's no TV in our house, I'm going to watch it at my uncle's house." Zhao Yuzhen, who was furious, slapped him in the face.

Seeing that Dabao's face was bright red from being beaten and had five fingerprints on it, Zhao Yuzhen felt a little regretful. Dabao was still a child, so what did he know? Why take it out on the child?

The two brothers who live together have a good relationship. The older brother is richer and often supports his own family. When she was short of money, she always borrowed money from Zhou Guofu's house. Da Ya always wore Xiaoxia's clothes - at that time, it was not a big favor to give her children's old clothes to other children's younger children.

This also made Zhao Yuzhen always feel inferior in front of Shen Huafeng, and she felt secretly aggrieved. In addition, Dabao's words really stung the pain in Zhao Yuzhen's heart. Zhao Yuzhen, who had rarely done anything to children, couldn't help but hit her hard. Dabao slapped him.

Dabao ran into the house and cried.

 (End of this chapter)