Chapter 48 Wanting a Classroom

The storm surrounding Zhou Wenbin gradually subsided. People in the company preferred to talk about the upcoming autumn harvest, or whether the canteen would add an extra spoonful of oily stew to dinner.

The "Little Sanitation Worker" program is in full swing.

Xu Junjun was completely engrossed. She somehow got her hands on a half-discarded wooden mannequin, so crude that only the torso and limbs could be barely distinguished, but the children treated it like a treasure.

She used colored water boiled from plant roots to act as red and purple medicine, drawing circles and dots on the wooden figure.

"Look carefully! This is the forehead, it's prone to bumps and bruises, apply mercurochrome!"

"Here's your elbow, the skin's broken. Use a clean strip of cloth, wrap it around like this, and tie a tight knot! Don't strangle it!"

"There are different kinds of stomach aches! If you have diarrhea from eating something dirty, drink some lightly salted water! If you have aches and pains all over and a fever, immediately tell an adult and come find me!"

With her loud voice and nimble movements, she broke down complex hygiene knowledge into simple rhymes and exaggerated demonstrations, all with Shu Ran's help.

The children's eyes lit up, especially when Xu Junjun announced that each "little sanitation worker" could practice bandaging on the wooden figure, their enthusiasm soared to unprecedented heights.

Li Xiulan became Xu Junjun's most capable assistant. She was in charge of managing the precious first-aid kit—a converted old wooden box neatly filled with bandages, cotton, mercurochrome, gentian violet, and a small packet of salt that Xu Junjun had purchased. She distributed them before class and counted, cleaned, and replenished them after class. She was also responsible for keeping records: which child had learned which type of bandaging, and which child was still afraid to touch their wounds—she wrote it all down in her little notebook.

This work made her radiant; busy yet fulfilled, she even straightened her back a bit. Even Sister Wang exclaimed in amazement, "Xiulan, that girl, following Medical Officer Xu, is like a completely different person, she's really made something of herself!"

Shu Ran's teaching was also closely coordinated. She taught the characters for "forehead," "arm," "abdomen," "pain," "salt," "medicine," "bandage," and "clean," along with related knowledge. The children learned with great enthusiasm because they could use these characters in Xu the next day in the sanitation worker's class. Literacy was no longer an abstract concept of strokes, but a practical skill.

Adil was the most diligent learner. For a shepherd boy like him, bumps and bruises were commonplace, and he understood better than anyone how practical this knowledge was. He could even explain Xu Junjun's words to Bayan and Saidar using both Mandarin and gestures.

Old Akhen came once, standing silently outside the classroom, watching Xu Junjun give a lecture, watching Adil bandage Shi Tou's arm in a serious manner, and watching Ayman bravely apply medicine to the wooden figure. His wrinkled face was expressionless, but he stood there for a long time.

The next day, he brought two more children from the pastoral area. One was from the neighboring yurt, and the other came from an even more distant pasture. The children's father rode over on horseback and pleaded with Shu Ran and Xu Junjun in broken Chinese, his eyes full of expectation.

Before they knew it, seven or eight more students had joined. The abandoned tool shed, though reinforced, was still far from sufficient.

More than twenty children were crammed inside, of varying ages, heights, and builds, making a racket. Shu Ran hadn't made enough desks, so the later arrivals had to prop their notebooks up on their laps to write. Turning around was difficult, and children in the back rows had to crane their necks to peek through the gaps in the crowd if they wanted to see the blackboard.

Children of different ages interfere with each other. Older children learn quickly and become impatient, so they start fidgeting and kicking the chairs in front of them; younger children have poor concentration and cry and want to leave because they don't understand.

In the sweltering summer, the air becomes polluted, a mixture of children's sweat and the smell of livestock manure drifting in from outside, making it stifling like a steamer, especially on the afternoons when the sun is blazing.

When a sudden strong wind blows, the gale-force winds carry sand and dust into every crack in the walls and roof, making textbooks rattle and rustle, making it impossible to hold a class.

Shu Ran felt like she was fighting a battle every day. The energy she expended maintaining order almost exceeded that of teaching itself. Her voice quickly became hoarse, and she had to rely on the herbal tea made with dried sea buckthorn fruit given to her by Xu Junjun to keep going.

She began to miss the spacious, bright classroom with glass windows and air conditioning that she had before she transmigrated. The most basic teaching environment had become an unattainable luxury here.

That afternoon, the sky suddenly darkened. The weather in the Gobi Desert is unpredictable. Dark clouds quickly filled the sky, and distant thunder rumbled.

"It's going to rain!" Adil was the first to become alert, looking anxiously at the drafty roof.

Shu Ran's heart clenched. How could this place withstand a downpour? She could only pray silently: I just hope the rain will lessen.

Before she could react, raindrops mixed with hail began to pelt down, first sparsely hitting the dry grass and broken planks on the roof, then quickly forming a dense curtain of rain, and water began to pour into the shed.

"Pack your things! Quick!" Shu Ran shouted. The children hurriedly stuffed their pens and paper into their clothes.

"Oh no! Teacher, my hair is wet!"

"It's leaking, teacher!"

"Teacher, my notebook is wet!"

Chaos erupted inside the shed. The roof was leaking everywhere, and rainwater was seeping down through the gaps in the straw and the roof, landing on the children's heads, bodies, and textbooks.

The blackboard, painted with ink, was washed away by several streams of rain, and the writing quickly blurred into a dirty blotch of ink. Small puddles soon formed on the ground.

Several of the younger children started crying in fright. The older children were also panicked, scrambling to salvage their notebooks and pencils. Adil and Stone tried to use their bodies to block the biggest leak, but it was no use.

Shu Ran's heart clenched. She shouted, "Don't panic! Squeeze to the middle! Gather your notebooks! Hold them to your arms!" while frantically helping the children salvage their belongings. Rain soaked her hair and shoulders.

She looked at the chaotic scene before her: children huddled under a leaky shed, textbooks soaked, blackboards scratched, and the little order that had been maintained in the classroom completely destroyed.

She thought she had gotten used to hardship, but now, this place hardly resembled a classroom.

The rain showed no sign of stopping; in fact, it poured down harder. The shed was no longer safe to stay in.

"No, we have to get out. To the company headquarters warehouse!" Shu Ran made a decisive decision, her shout drowning out the sound of wind, rain, and hail.

There were no umbrellas. These days, the most common rain gear in the military was the oilcloth raincoat issued by the army, but what children had one? Shu Ran herself didn't have one either. She could only grit her teeth and try to avoid the rain.

Shu Ran scooped up the youngest child and shouted, "Big ones, hold the little ones' hands! Put your notebooks in your pockets! Keep your heads down and protect your heads! Shi Tou, Adil, you two help the teacher! Come on! Come with me!"

She rushed into the rain first, calling to the children. The group stumbled along, the children soaked to the bone, looking like a group of little refugees fleeing a famine.

After finally reaching the front of the company warehouse, Shu Ran freed one hand and pounded on the door. Rainwater streamed down her hair and cheeks, soaking her to the bone.

"Who is it?!" came an impatient voice from inside. It was Old Sun, who was in charge of guarding the warehouse.

"Uncle Sun! Open the door! It's me, Shu Ran from the company's primary school! The children are getting wet in the rain, can we come in and take shelter?" Shu Ran shouted through the door.

The door creaked open a crack, and Old Sun's face peeked out. He paused for a moment when he saw a group of drenched children outside, then his brows furrowed even more.

"Teacher Shu? This...this won't do!" Old Sun rubbed his hands in distress, but didn't move aside. "This is a warehouse, a place of great importance. It's full of grain, farm tools, and supplies! The kids are soaking wet, bringing in mud everywhere, and they've soaked and dampened everything. I can't take responsibility for that! Company Commander Ma will skin me alive!"

"Uncle Sun! Let's just wait a little while! We'll leave when the rain gets a bit lighter! Look, the children are all soaked; they'll get sick!" Shu Ran said anxiously, the rain stinging her eyes.

Old Sun blocked the doorway, refusing to let anyone in: "Teacher Shu, it's not that I'm heartless... This warehouse is a sensitive area, full of public supplies, farm tools, and seeds. If a bunch of kids go in all wet, they might bump into things, get dirty, or damage them. I can't take that responsibility! Besides, it's against regulations..."

"Rules are rules, but people are flexible! Uncle Sun, look how soaked the children are! They'll just stay out of the rain for a little while, and leave when it gets lighter! I'll keep an eye on them and make sure they don't touch anything!" Shu Ran was extremely anxious.

A child behind us was sneezing because of the cold.

Old Sun still hesitated, peeking out to look at the sky: "This rain doesn't look like it's going to stop anytime soon... How about... you go to the company headquarters and ask Company Commander Ma? I'll open the door if he approves it..."

Ask the company commander? By the time we find Company Commander Ma, the children will be covered in frostbite.

Shu Ran's heart sank. She knew Old Sun wasn't entirely wrong; the things in the warehouse were the company's lifeline, and she couldn't afford to pay for them if they were damaged. But looking at the children behind her, she couldn't bear to do it.

Just as the stalemate was at its peak, the sound of galloping hooves came rushing in.

Chen Yuanjiang, wearing a military raincoat, spurred his horse forward and dismounted nimbly. A splash of water rose from the hem of his raincoat. He must have been forced back by the downpour during a patrol; a few strands of his hair were wet.

"What's going on?" He glanced at the children crowded at the warehouse entrance.

"Officer Chen!" Shu Ran exclaimed as if she had seen a savior, forgetting all about her image, and quickly said, "The classroom is leaking so badly that I can't stay here. I want to bring the children to the warehouse to take shelter from the rain..."

Before she could finish speaking, Chen Yuanjiang turned directly to Old Sun and said, "Old Sun, open the door. In special circumstances, I will take full responsibility."

"Hey! Hey! Good! I'm glad you said that!" Old Sun breathed a sigh of relief and stepped aside to make way for him.

The warehouse door was pushed open, and the dry air inside, mixed with the smells of grain, farm tools, and engine oil, rushed out.

"Go in quickly!" Chen Yuanjiang said.

Shu Ran gave him a grateful look, and without saying anything more, she quickly called to the children, "Quick! Hurry up and go in! Don't push! Walk slowly!"

The children rushed into the warehouse, crowding onto a dry patch of ground near the entrance. They stomped the mud off their feet and curiously looked at the spacious warehouse filled with supplies.

Shu Ran was the last to come in. She put the child down and shivered as she did so.

Chen Yuanjiang instructed Old Sun, "Go find some old burlap sacks and rags to wipe the water, and boil some hot water. With so many children, they're prone to getting sick."

"Hey! I'll go right away!" Old Sun replied and hurried off to get to work.

Chen Yuanjiang then walked over to Shu Ran and handed her a dry gray handkerchief.

Shu Ran paused for a moment, then took it and said softly, "Thank you."

Chen Yuanjiang's gaze passed over her, looking at the group of children, then at the torrential rain raging outside the warehouse door. "Is that shed like this when we usually have class?"

Shu Ran said helplessly, "It's usually just cramped and drafty, but we haven't had such heavy rain in a while. I didn't expect a hailstorm to cause this much damage."

She looked up at Chen Yuanjiang and said, "Officer Chen, the kids can't stand that place, and I can't teach them anymore."

Chen Yuanjiang looked at her but didn't speak immediately.

There must be a real classroom!

This thought had never appeared so clearly or so intensely in Shu Ran's mind.

She wanted a classroom that could shelter her from the wind and rain, a place where the children could sit comfortably, and where she could hang the blackboard upright! It had to have windows, a roof that wouldn't leak, and a desk where she could write.

This idea wasn't for any noble cause, or even entirely for the children. It was more for herself.

She was fed up with this cramped and chaotic teaching environment! She needed a place where she could freely express herself and maintain the most basic teaching skills. She wanted to be able to stand confidently on the podium even in wind and rain, instead of leading her children to run away in panic!

The rain was still falling, and Shu Ran wiped the rain off her face.

She, Shu Ran, couldn't continue like this.