There were six first-year middle school students in the Fourth Team, and all six had to go cotton picking. Li Jianguo, who drove the Team's tractor, spoke to the other parents and took all the students to school.
Li Qiang was the youngest of them-there was no helping it. The others had started first grade at seven or even eight, while he had started at six.
Don't assume getting into first grade was easy back then. Nine-year compulsory education only began in 1986, and it had not yet been implemented when Li Qiang started school.
Back then, children had to be screened before entering first grade. For instance, Li Qiang's current classmate Wang Jun, from the Old Wang Family that had reclaimed so much wasteland, had moved up from preschool to first grade a year before Li Qiang, only to be held back and sent back to preschool. He spent another year there before entering first grade again.
Being held back all the way to preschool-could you believe it?
But that was how it was.
So, sitting among classmates who stood half a head or a full head taller than him, Li Qiang, who had not yet started developing, looked as though he belonged to a different age group.
Once Li Jianguo had everyone aboard the tractor, he drove to the middle school. By the time they arrived, plenty of people were already heading through the gates. Some parents had come by bicycle, others had brought horse-drawn carts, and there were two or three other tractors too.
"Qiangqiang's young. Look out for him when you have time," Li Jianguo told Wang Jun and the others.
"Don't worry, Uncle!" Wang Jun readily agreed. "If he can't pick enough, we'll help him."
The others all made the same promise.
Li Qiang, however,