Page 283 - updated on July

Yu Jihui: “A Stinking Old Ninth – A Tale of the Coal Capital” (updated on July 2020)

was in her second year in junior middle school, her

father died suddenly. She had to quit school to make

money. She was a filial girl to her mother. She knew

she had to help her mother to support the family. Her

mother was a house wife and had no job. Her family

was badly in need of money. She was the eldest child

in her family and had two younger brothers. She had

to bring home the bacon. So she quit school to make

money. She had been an excellent student and had a

beautiful dream—to attend a university. She wanted

wholeheartedly to become an excellent doctor. But

her dream was shattered. Her teacher liked her very

much but sympathized with her poor fate. On the day

she was to leave the school, she went to say goodbye

to her teacher. The old man saw her to the gate and

stood there, watching her back, with tears in his eyes,

until she disappeared in the distance. She was the

best student he had ever seen. She was not very

280