I heard that my brother applied to that elementary school on Xiangzhang Street, and many people followed suit.

After a while, the acceptance calls came in.

Xiao Jun's cousin got accepted.

But our family never received the acceptance call.

Dad sneered, "First in the countryside, seventh in the city, it seems that being the top student in a rural elementary school is worthless."

He thought for a moment, then continued, "Not getting in saves us some money, anyway, I did my best."

My mom said, "Could it be a missed call? We should go to the school and ask."

Dad impatiently waved his hand, "I'm not that free, if he's not good enough, don't blame the phone, blame him."

My mom quietly cleared the table, took off her apron, and said to me, "Accompany mom to the school gate, let's take another look."

Dad disagreed, "No, I have to go deliver goods later, if you leave, who will watch the gate for me?"

Mom had already hopped on the electric bike and zoomed off.

At the school gate, the door was tightly closed, so she asked the old man in the office.

The old man said, "What list? I'm not sure, is it the one posted on the wall over there?"

He casually pointed.

Mom walked over and saw the "Foreign Language Elementary School Entrance Exam Supplementary List" posted on the wall.

At the top of the list was my brother, "Lin Sizhe."

She exclaimed in joy, "He got in, he got in!"

I stared hungrily at the wonton stall across the street, complaining that I was hungry.

Mom bought a baked cake and stuffed it into my hand, then hurried back to Xiangzhang Street.

As soon as we got home, she asked me to call my brother.

I told my brother that Dad said he was the first in the countryside, seventh in the city.

Dad also said, "If you can't poop, don't blame the pit."

I also told him that Mom ignored Dad, took me to the school gate, and saw his name on the wall.

Then, I started complaining that the cake was too hard and hurt my teeth.

My brother listened quietly all along.

When I finally ran out of things to say, he said, "Xiaoyu, please thank your mom for me."