The students enthusiastically donated money. The next day, the monitor Li Hong gave the donation to Zhou Xiao. Li Hong said, "Teacher, the study committee members in our class didn't donate money. He handed in a check written by himself. " Said, and handed a piece of paper to Xiao. Zhou Xiao took it and looked at it. It was a note imitating a check, which read: I donated 200 yuan to the earthquake-stricken area. There is also a line of small print below: five years cash, calculated at an annual interest rate of 5%, and the principal and interest due will be settled together. There is even a square chapter at the bottom. At first glance, it is the radish chapter carved by the students themselves: Yang Qiang.
Zhou Xiao was annoyed after reading it: The third-grade students are in adolescence, so it's normal to rebel, but don't be so naughty! He suppressed his emotions and said to Li Hong, "Call me Yang Qiang. By the way, how is his academic performance? "
Li Hong said, "Teacher, you don't know that he is the Everest of our class-the height that no one can surpass."
After a while, Yang Qiang came. Zhou Xiao slapped the newspaper on the table and asked, "What's going on? Play a personality show? " Yang Qiang's face suddenly turned as red as a big apple. He whispered, "Teacher, I'm serious. You see, I even pressed my handprint. "
Zhou Xiao turned over the paper. Sure enough, there is a clear fingerprint on the back of the paper. He suddenly laughed and cried, "What's the use of fingerprinting?" Five years later, will the people in the disaster area ask you to cash this? Donations are voluntary. It's okay not to donate, but don't fool people. "
When Yang Qiang heard this, his face became redder: "Teacher, after five years, I ... I will take the initiative to remit the money."
Zhou Xiao looked at him seriously, sighed, changed his tone and said, "Why don't you go back to work and leave me the check first?"
Yang Qiang nodded and bowed to Zhou Xiao and said, "Teacher, if a person keeps his promise, I will do it." Then he turned and left.
After school that day, Zhou Xiao called Li Hong, the monitor, and planned to visit Yang Qiang's home according to his home address. The two men came to a shabby bungalow area on the edge of the city. Zhou Xiao struggled to identify the mottled house numbers on the wall, walked around for a long time, and finally got off in a small yard. The gate of the yard is linoleum nailed with broken wood. The door is locked and there is no one at home. Zhou Xiao said to Li Hong, "Well, I'll come by myself at night, and you go home first."
Li Hong said, "No, teacher, I'm coming, too. Shall we meet at his door at seven o'clock? " Zhou Xiao wanted to think, and nodded in agreement.
At seven o'clock in the evening, Zhou Xiao and Li Hong arrived at Yang Qiang's house on time. This time, the door was unlocked and they called Yang Qiang's name outside. For a long time, they saw Yang Qiang coming out and his teachers and classmates. He seems a little flustered. Walking into the yard, Zhou Xiao found a broken tricycle in the yard. There are several paper boxes on the tricycle, which contain celery, cucumber and other vegetables.
When they entered the room, Zhou Xiao and Li Hong found that candles were actually lit in the room. Yang Qiang shouted to the dark back room, "Mom, the teacher is here." A faint voice came from the back room: "Let the teacher sit down quickly and pour water for the teacher." Yang Qiang went to the wall, turned on the light, and the room suddenly lit up a lot. He blew out the candle quickly. Zhou Xiao saw an open book next to the candle.
After a while, Yang Qiang helped a thin middle-aged woman out of the back room. Yang Qiang said, "Mom, this is our new head teacher, Miss Zhou, and this is my mother." Yang Qiang helped her mother sit down, but she turned and went out.
Yang Qiang's mother began to introduce herself to Zhou Xiao and Li Hong. It turned out that Yang Qiang's father died of illness the year before last, and Yang Qiang's mother had no job and no urban hukou. She is still in poor health and her mother has no income. Fortunately, a relative who sells vegetables pities them. Yang Qiang went to the market to help his relatives sell vegetables after class every day to earn a meager income, so the couple spent two years.
Everything is clear. Xiao Zhou didn't expect Yang Qiang's family to be so difficult. He remembered his misunderstanding of the "donation slip" and felt very guilty.
After a while, Yang Qiang came back with two bottles of mineral water in his hand and handed them to Zhou Xiao and Li Hong. Zhou took the water bottle and felt the residual temperature of his hand on the plastic bottle-there was no decent supermarket near this bungalow area, and the water was probably bought after running far away. As soon as Zhou was hot, he didn't mention the donation again. Instead, he and Yang Qiang's mother stayed at home for a while, and then they left.
On the way back, Li Hong was also very excited. She suggested to Zhou Xiao that students should be organized to support Yang Qiang and help him tide over the difficulties. However, Zhou Xiao vaguely felt that this strong child had concealed his situation for so long that he might not accept everyone's help.
Finally, it happened. Yang Qiang only accepted pens and notebooks given by everyone, and refused everything else.
On the eve of the senior high school entrance examination, Zhou Xiao went to Yang Qiang's house again. This time, he went with the cadres of the Red Cross. Zhou Xiao deliberately chose to go at night. When the Red Cross cadres saw the candle burning in the room, Yang Qiang was studying hard in a stuffy room with the doors and windows closed. He couldn't help asking Zhou Xiao curiously, "Why didn't the child open the window?" Zhou Xiao replied: "Lighting candles can save electricity, and opening the window will make the candle flame erratic." Hearing this answer, the Red Cross cadres were silent.
After the senior high school entrance examination, Yang Qiang was successfully admitted to a key high school. With the support of the Red Cross, he received a living allowance every month, which made his mother and son have a full meal. After school, Yang Qiang doesn't have to work in the food market, so he can finally concentrate on his studies.
A few years later, Zhou Xiao became a senior teacher. One day, he received a letter and a draft from Yang Qiang. Yang Qiang said in his letter that he was admitted to the physics department of a well-known university, and the school exempted part of his tuition fees and found him a job in the laboratory. 300 yuan on the draft is his salary for the first month of work-study program.
Zhou Xiao opened the money order and saw only one message on it: Men should keep their promises. Zhou Xiao understood that this was a donation that Yang Qiang returned to himself and paid for him. So, Zhou Xiao came to the office, opened the drawer, found out the donation "check" that had been treasured for many years, and handed it to Yang Qiang by express delivery. ...
Time flies, and four years have passed quickly. On this day, Zhou Xiao received an invitation letter. Yang Qiang said in his letter that he had graduated from college and invited his teacher to attend his wedding with Li Hong. Xiao Zhou immediately guessed that Li Hong should have "leaked" his donation in advance.