Chapter 157: College Entrance Exam

Tang Jinyu deliberately got up early the next day. He cooked Chinese medicine for the old man and poured them into three white porcelain bowls. He prepared all the portions for the day and cooked in the kitchen.

When he was cooking, he still had some habit of following what Tang Hongjun had taught him before. The amount of oil and salt was small, and the taste was light. After cooking green vegetables, he was in a daze to remember that the old man here had a heavy taste. Grandpa Tang is old and has a poor sense of taste. When cooking at home, he always cooks salty food.

Tang Jinyu put some salt in the vegetables. In the past, his parents took care of him, and everything was done carefully and palatably. But now his status has changed. He is in good health here, but the old man in his family is weak and now it’s his turn to take care of him.

After Grandpa Tang woke up, he came out and saw him cooking millet porridge and stir-fried vegetables, and cooked all the Chinese medicine. The old man was happy but couldn't help but say, "Why do you get up so early? You don't need to do these tasks. Grandpa can take care of it. You should seize the time to study hard, this is the first thing you should do, and not worry about anything else."

"I cook fast and it tastes good, taste it."

"Nonsense, I have been a chef for a lifetime, how can you make it better than me?"

Although Grandpa Tang had a hard mouth, he happily drank an extra bowl of millet porridge after eating the food made by his grandson.

When the grandpa and grandson finished eating, when Tang Jinyu was about to clean up, the old man did not let him go and drove him to school, "Hurry up and go to school, that's enough!"

Tang Jinyu said, "It's still early."

"Read more books when you go, don't you still have early reading!"

Tang Jinyu glanced at the time, agreed, and went out by bike.

He went to school, and sat down and wrote on his papers. The familiar topics and the formulas that had remained unchanged for many years gave him a sense of security. When he was working on the questions, he could always think of the words that Xia Ye said to him and the questions that he had taught him to do. These have been carved into the bones for more than ten years and have become a part of his body.

As the college entrance exams approached, teachers of all subjects were issuing papers, so that students can concentrate on lectures, and correct the wrong answers.

Tang Jinyu's grades improved again.

He left behind his second place in his classes, which surprised his teachers, but quickly became happy. This happened occasionally in previous years. Some students were nervous about exams, and their grades would fluctuate, and some students' grades became worse. There are also some people who will improve a lot, and feel that Tang Jinyu was the latter.

Different from the sudden situation that the teachers thought, Tang Jinyu passed the third year of high school twice during the day and night in the past year, and his foundation was solidified by the people around him, whether it was Grandpa Tang from Qizhou City, or Tang Hongjun and Xia Ye, Old Ape, the results of their concerted efforts and teaching together began to appear.

There is no reason why he can’t do well in the exam.

Tang Jinyu is serious about learning, and his achievements now far exceed Pingcheng's teaching level.

After Tang Jinyu got his results of the mock exam two or three times, he went to discuss it with the teacher. He was worried about his grandfather’s health and wanted to spend more time with the old man at home. So his self-study classes at school have been changed to home. This is also one of the reasons why he reveals his grades. He needs a bargaining chip so that the teacher can trust him. He also needs good grades to make his grandpa feel at ease and persuade him to let himself stay with him for a while.

Maybe the teacher would’ve hesitated if he had one grade off, but his grades have been improving three times in a row. Even the math class teacher specifically approved Tang Jinyu to do special papers when he was in class-They don’t know what kind of tutor Tang Jinyu has recently found, but his Mathematics scores improved by leaps and bounds, with two full marks. Many teachers felt that letting Tang Jinyu study by himself was his best review mode now, and this student insisted on getting a scholarship for several years, and he was excellent in both academic and academic performance. The head teacher gave a little consideration and agreed.

Tang Jinyu got the specially approved leave slips, stayed at home while reviewing, and cooked Chinese medicine for Grandpa Tang for a week. The old medicine pack was gone, so he was going to the hospital to buy it. The old man stopped him and said, "I can go there in the afternoon. You study hard, you can't delay studying at home."

Tang Jinyu nodded and said, "Okay."

The old man went to the hospital to get more prescribed Chinese medicine in the afternoon. Tang Jinyu's heart started to jump inexplicably as soon as he was gone. He couldn't read the book at home, so he simply pushed his bicycle out and went to the hospital to find someone. He was panicked when he couldn't see his grandfather for a day, as if he would lose the old man when he turned around if he couldn't hold him tightly, and he couldn't wait to guard him every step of the way.

He has been searching in the hospital for a long time, from general outpatient clinics to specialists, even the pharmacy and inpatient department, but he couldn't find the old man. He began to wonder if the old man had an accident on the road, and hurriedly took the elevator down and wanted to look outside.

The elevator opened and he saw Grandpa Tang.

The old man held the doctor's order in his hand. When he saw him, his first reaction was to hide it. But Tang Jinyu had already seen it.

The old man went to the oncology department this time.

(T/n: Oncology- “the study and treatment of tumors”)

Tang Jinyu looked at the corner sheet beside him, his fingers trembling slightly. The old man opened his mouth to make excuses, and he said a few incoherently, but he became silent. He smiled and sighed, "I'm sorry, Xiaoyu, grandpa is sick, and it's dragging you down."

"No." Tang Jinyu shook his head vigorously. He entered the elevator and helped the old man to complete the next inspection.

He asked the old man to sit and rest outside the outpatient clinic and pay for the medicine by himself. He moved much faster than the old man. When he encountered the need to wait for the elevator, he simply ran up and down the stairs. He quickly completed it. He helped the old man to come to the doctor again for a follow up.

The doctor was a little surprised to see the old man coming back, but when he saw the boy with him, he showed a clear expression and sighed slightly.

Tang Jinyu sat there and asked everything in detail, but the more he asked, the less hope there was. Hearing what the doctor said, he only felt cold in his hands and feet.

"Yes, advanced lung cancer, we have tried our best."

"Different from other situations, conservative treatment is now recommended, and take traditional Chinese medicine first. After all, he is too old and cannot undergo surgery. It has spread to more than three lobes…"

…

Tang Jinyu opened his mouth, but made no sound.

He wanted to ask how to treat it, and he wanted to ask the doctor to think of a way not to give up, but he knew that this was self-deception.

He wanted to ask the doctor how much time was left, but the sentence was stuck in his throat, his eyes were red, and his hands on his knees couldn't help but tremble. He was really scared, he had never been so scared before.

The old man wanted to prescribe the medicine and take it home. He had a simple treatment with some Chinese medicine as he had discussed with the doctor before. He was calm, apparently he had known it for a long time, and he sat there comforting his grandson, saying that it was okay.

How could Tang Jinyu dare to believe it?

He insisted on letting his grandfather be hospitalized and refused to let him be so casually perfunctory not to go for treatment. Grandpa Tang refused, but he couldn't compete with him. When he entered the ward, he still said, "What's the use of being hospitalized? It’s not the same as taking medicine. It costs a lot of money for pay for a one bed, so why waste it."

"It’s not a waste to spend money on you." Tang Jinyu stubbornly said: "Let them watch you take your medicine. When I go to school, and if not, there is someone who can take care of anything you want…"

Halfway through speaking, he raised his sleeve and wiped his face, wiped it a few times, and then went on to help him make the bed.

Grandpa Tang looked at him, and swallowed after what he wanted to say, and sighed.

In the end, he was admitted to the hospital.

The old man still had some savings, he just wasn't willing to spend it on himself, but Tang Jinyu insisted that he could only stay. The first thing to settle down in the ward is to urge his grandson to go to school, "Now that grandpa is taken care of, don’t hang around me. Those who come here are all doctors. You are not good here, you will have an exam soon, go to school…"

Tang Jinyu agreed, but he still ran here several times a day. He went home at night and cooked food for his grandfather. He did not complain about being tired after going back and forth. He felt at ease when he saw the old man.

Grandpa Tang coughed badly at night, which alarmed the doctor.

When Tang Jinyu came to deliver food the next morning, he heard the doctor say this, and he moved a quilt to watch him at night, and he refused to go anywhere beside the old man.

The ward was a multi-person room. Grandpa Tang’s bed was next to the window. Tang Jinyu wrapped himself in a quilt and laid on the floor. The old man saw this and he was distressed and urged him to go home.

Tang Jinyu said dullly: "Grandpa, don't urge me to leave. Let me tell you the truth. When I didn't come to accompany you the other night, I didn't sleep at home, I went to work."

Grandpa Tang said angrily: "You kid, grandpa still has money in his hands. You're about to take an exam soon, don't do anything stupid!"

Tang Jinyu sniffed, and said, "Don't worry, I have good grades, and I am not tired. I used to run around and have classes all day and night… Grandpa, I can make money. Just hold on, I’ll graduate from high school and go to college. When I get the admission notice, I will take you to college with me."

Grandpa Tang was still angry at first, and then he laughed angrily when he heard him say this. "What kind of childish words are this? Where did you get the idea to bring your grandpa to college?"

"I'll take you, and I will take you wherever I go."

Tang Jinyu was stubborn and fierce, and he spoke with a nasal voice, "You raised me so big and have suffered so much. I will take you to enjoy the blessings in the future."

Grandpa Tang looked at the child on the ground with his back to him, and even the back of his head was stubborn. He was angry and felt a little funny, with smile lines rising from the corners of his mouth, but a few old tears rolled silently from the corners of his eyes.

The corners of his mouth trembled and didn’t say a word. He knew in his heart that his silly grandson was serious.

How could he not know the child he raised?

Tang Jinyu ran around the school and hospital, and took the time to work as a part-time tutor. Although his grades fluctuated slightly, he quickly stabilized it. He still climbed up little by little, like a struggling little snail, preserving.

At the same time, his scores in the domestic youth competitions that were selected by the school before have also come down. Two silver awards and one gold award are very good results. It is said that he can get extra points for the college entrance examination.

Many of his classmates knew about his family situation. After all, he took too much time off during this period, and Pingcheng was small, so they knew it as soon as he asked. Because of this, everyone was shocked after Tang Jinyu's score was released. Several boys who usually played well with him came to him and whispered to him about ways to improve his scores, "Squad leader, how do you do this?? You don’t really do what they said about you, get up at 4 o'clock every morning to study, do you?"

Tang Jinyu put away the award certificate and said, "More than that, I am studying when I dream at night."

He was serious, but the people around him were amused by him, and only thought that he was joking.

Only Tang Jinyu knows that what he said just now is true.

When he was still with his parents and Xia Ye before, he had been studying day and night for a whole year, and he had never slackened for one day. His parents never asked him for anything, and gave him all their love selflessly, but because of this, he couldn't let them down; and here, his grades are not only a gift to please his grandfather, but also a capital for him to survive.

Compared to his desperate state before, he now has half of his time off, because then he has time to work as a tutor on a part-time basis.

Tang Jinyu learned to laugh when he was very young, because he knew that crying was useless, but now he went to the hospital, and sometimes when he just saw the tired face of the old man in his sleep, his heart ached.

The doctors and nurses in the hospital treated the grandpa and grandson very well, but when Tang Jinyu went to get the medicine, he would hear the worst news every time.

A tall boy stood there at a loss, took out the slip, walked two steps in the corridor of the hospital, and suddenly stood there with his shoulder shaking, crying.

When he took the medicine back to the ward, although he tried to stay calm, the old man still saw his red eyes.

The old man didn't say anything when he saw this. When he waited at night, he smiled and persuaded him: "It's okay, life, old age, sickness and death, it's all normal, and grandpa can't accompany you forever."

The weather is getting hotter and hotter. When there is one day left before the college entrance exams, the school closed to let the students go back and have a rest. One day later, they will go to their battlefield.

Tang Jinyu went to the hospital as usual. Grandpa Tang drove him home, but he refused. The old man said a few more words, and didn't refute him. He just stood there and bowed his head without speaking after being scolded.

Grandpa Tang also felt a bit distressed: "You didn't sleep well today, how can you take the exam tomorrow?"

Tang Jinyu whispered: "I didn't sleep well at home."

"What did you say?"

"If I can't see you at home, I can't sleep. If I don't do well on the exam tomorrow, it’s all on you.”

Grandpa Tang stared at him, but Tang Jinyu stood there with his head tilted and looked at the window without saying a word.

In the end, the old man softened first. He patted his bedside and said, "What are you doing there standing? Come here, sit here and read a book, Grandpa will be with you."

In the evening, the head nurse heard about them. That they were the only candidates in their family, and she felt sorry for the grandfather and grandchild. She specifically applied to the hospital to squeeze out a double room for them, and let them stay for one night.

Tang Jinyu read the book, put the two beds together at night, and slept soundly next to his grandpa.

Early the next morning, Grandpa Tang checked his bag and stationery with him, and sent him out. The old man's health is getting worse now, and he has no strength to send him, but he stood by the window and watched him for a long time, until his grandson's back disappeared from the hospital gate, he reluctantly looked back.

A nurse came in to deliver the medicine and saw the old man smiled and said, "Grandpa Tang, Xiaoyu is out? Today’s college entrance exam, don’t worry, he has good grades. I’m sure he will be able to get into a prestigious university!"

Grandpa Tang nodded with a smile, "I don't expect him to do well in his exams. Just watching him grow up will make me satisfied."