Journey Through Realms: Fulfilling Last Wishes

Chapter 39: Little Cabbage of the 80s

“I’ve already finished the first-grade textbooks, Auntie. Why do I still have to do first-grade homework?” An Ran cried out in frustration as she looked at the stack of assignments Aunt Li handed her.

Ever since Aunt Li took on the responsibility of An Ran’s education, she had been supplementing her learning daily. Naturally, they started with first-grade material. Although An Ran wasn’t great at academics, she had been to school before. Seeing how basic the problems were, she was both exasperated and amused.

The exercises were simple, but An Ran had to pretend not to understand them. She even intentionally made mistakes on a few problems to avoid suspicion, which only made Aunt Li more diligent in explaining the concepts.

Sometimes Aunt Li would explain a simple addition problem twice, worried An Ran hadn’t grasped it. Other times, she encouraged An Ran to count on her fingers, which An Ran reluctantly did despite feeling embarrassed—how could someone her age need to count fingers for basic math?

After five days of this, An Ran couldn’t take it anymore and stopped hiding her abilities, finishing all the first-grade math content in one go. Today, she thought she was finally done with simple arithmetic, but Aunt Li brought her a thick stack of first-grade practice exercises.

“You’re learning so quickly, but I’m worried your foundation isn’t solid enough. So, complete these to reinforce what you’ve learned,” Aunt Li said firmly, unfazed by An Ran’s protests. By now, she was used to An Ran’s dramatic reactions.

An Ran looked at Aunt Li’s serious expression. The authority in her demeanor was unmistakable—this was a teacher’s presence. It was entirely different from Aunt Li’s usual kind and gentle self. Even so, compared to Aunt Li’s days as a full-time teacher, her strictness now was much milder.

“Do I have to finish all of it today? Can’t I split it over two days?”

An Ran tried to negotiate. She knew she couldn’t escape the assignments but hoped to reduce the workload. The stack was at least thirty pages thick, and even if she didn’t have to fake her way through them, it would still take her all evening.

If she spent all her time on homework, she wouldn’t get to watch TV next door. While both rooms were in the same building, the other room had a TV—one of her few sources of entertainment. Missing today’s episode of her favorite drama felt like a significant loss.

“Fine, you can do half today. But your handwriting is terrible. Write fifty sheets of calligraphy practice after this,” Aunt Li agreed readily but added another demand.

An Ran’s heart sank. Clearly, Aunt Li knew exactly what she was up to. This wasn’t just about homework—it was about keeping her from sneaking off to watch TV. How could she focus on TV when there was so much left to learn? If she didn’t make quick progress, she wouldn’t stand a chance at getting into a good middle school next year.

It was already autumn, and An Ran had missed this year’s enrollment period. Aunt Li had planned for her to study at home this year to catch up and take the entrance exam for a decent middle school next year. These plans had been in the works for some time, though An Ran hadn’t realized it.

“Auntie, why are you so cruel? Fifty sheets of calligraphy? I might as well finish the practice problems,” An Ran groaned, realizing she’d made things worse for herself by trying to bargain.

“Do you have an issue with me? Shall I ask your uncle to take over?” Aunt Li said calmly, offering an alternative.

“No, no, that’s unnecessary! Auntie, I’ll start right away. It’s really not that much—I’ll finish it in no time. No need to trouble Uncle,” An Ran quickly backtracked, her courage evaporating at the mention of Uncle Li.

Her mind flashed back to the day Uncle Li had been tasked with supervising her studies. She had thought he would be lenient and had even planned to sneak out for a break after finishing her homework quickly. She had underestimated him.

When Uncle Li arrived, he gave her a test paper to complete. He didn’t say much, just read his newspaper and left her to it. Thinking she could finish quickly and earn some free time, An Ran completed the test in under half an hour and handed it in, feeling proud of herself.

Uncle Li reviewed the paper. While she had solved the difficult questions correctly, she had made mistakes on several simple addition problems. Without scolding her, he instructed her to copy the entire test paper thirty times. Not redo it—copy it.

It took her the entire evening to finish. Just as she thought she was done, Uncle Li pointed out how messy her handwriting was towards the end. Without a word of complaint, he assigned her another twenty copies. She didn’t dare cut corners this time, finishing close to midnight. Only after meticulously checking every page did Uncle Li finally leave, satisfied.

That day had left a deep impression on her. She realized Uncle Li’s gentleness had its limits, and she swore never to cross him again.

“Actually, your uncle thinks highly of you. He always says you’re a bright and thoughtful child,” Aunt Li said with a sigh, recalling how her husband had praised An Ran after that long night.

That evening, when Aunt Li asked her husband why he’d stayed so late, he had nothing but good things to say about An Ran. He admired her intelligence, diligence, and respect for elders. Even after being punished with fifty test copies, she had shown no resentment and had insisted on walking him home to ensure his safety.

It had been years since Aunt Li had heard her husband praise anyone so earnestly. She was surprised, too, to learn that he had been strict with An Ran not out of frustration but out of concern for her. He saw her potential but noticed her carelessness—getting the hard questions right while missing the easy ones. To him, this was a habit that needed to be corrected early.

“Really? I thought Uncle didn’t like me,” An Ran said skeptically. After all, who liked someone enough to make them copy test papers fifty times?

Aunt Li chuckled, shaking her head. Clearly, her husband’s strictness had left a mark. She wondered if he’d feel regretful knowing how scared he’d made An Ran. But that could wait—right now, she needed to discuss An Ran’s learning plan with him.

An Ran was progressing so quickly that the usual teaching methods wouldn’t cut it anymore. Watching An Ran diligently working on her assignments, Aunt Li silently began planning the next steps for her education.

Poor An Ran, blissfully unaware, continued to write, not realizing her impressive progress was about to change her life dramatically.