Chapter 6 Slap

The so-called "classroom" was even worse than Shu Ran had anticipated.

It was a dilapidated shed hastily built from adobe bricks and tamarisk branches, standing at the base of the company headquarters. The walls were riddled with cracks and holes, and the reed mats and mud covering the roof had mostly collapsed. The door hung askew to one side, and the shed was empty. Broken farm tool parts, broken bricks, and clods of mud lay scattered on the floor. There were even several piles of dried manure in the corner.

This is just a ruin!

There were no helpers, and no extra supplies. Shu Ran took a deep breath, rolled up her sleeves, and revealed her fair and delicate arms.

She took off her Lenning coat and began to work. She bent down to pick up the remaining pebbles and bricks in the corner, carrying them out of the shed and piling them up.

She then found a worn-out broom and vigorously swept the floor, raising dust that made her cough. Her fair cheeks were quickly covered with a layer of dust.

Once the ground was mostly cleaned, she began moving the scattered adobe bricks and laboriously stacking them against the wall of the shed, trying to build a more stable base for the podium.

The mud bricks rubbed her palms red, and her fingertips were quickly cut with several bloody gashes. She just frowned, shook her hands, and continued.

The base of the lectern was almost finished. She sat on it to rest for a while, then picked up an old door panel that Zhao Weidong had sent, and laboriously lifted it onto the piled-up adobe bricks, then leveled it with broken bricks she had found. This would be her lectern.

After doing all that, she picked up a bucket of cheap ink and a worn-out brush, and started scrubbing the door panel.

Sweat mixed with dust, leaving streaks on her face. Her shirt was covered in dirt, and a small patch on her back was soaked with sweat.

Just then, a tall figure blocked the light at the entrance of the shed.

Chen Yuanjiang appeared there at some point. He stood in the shadows, watching Shu Ran busy in the shed.

The difference between her and the "capitalist pampered young lady" image in the file was too great. Was this almost self-torturous dedication to work, this tenacity, a facade? Or...? His professional habits as a security officer made him suspicious of Shu Ran's identity.

Shu Ran was struggling to stack a pile of adobe bricks neatly, so focused that she didn't notice the person at the door. She bent down again to move a heavy adobe brick, lost her balance, and stumbled.

"Need help?" Chen Yuanjiang's voice suddenly rang out.

Shu Ran was startled and sat up abruptly, only then noticing the person at the door. She instinctively hid her blistered hands behind her back, her face full of embarrassment. "No need, Officer Chen. It'll be done soon."

Chen Yuanjiang was silent for a few seconds, his gaze lingering on her hands for a moment. "Zhao Weidong made you clean this by yourself?"

“I chose this place, so it’s only right that I do the work,” Shu Ran said matter-of-factly. “The production tasks in the company are heavy, so it’s not good to trouble others.” She picked up the brush and continued to scrub the door panel.

Chen Yuanjiang didn't say anything more and went into the shed. He bent down, picked up a heavy adobe brick, and placed it on the foundation she had just built.

"..." Shu Ran was stunned for a moment, looking at his neat movements, she opened her mouth, but in the end she just whispered, "Thank you."

Chen Yuanjiang didn't respond, and continued helping her move the bricks. Only the muffled thuds of mud bricks hitting the ground remained in the shed.

As the podium began to take shape and Shu Ran prepared to paint the last section of the door panels, Chen Yuanjiang's voice rang out again: "Comrade Shu Ran."

He stood two steps behind her, his gaze fixed on her ink-stained profile. "Your file says you're the daughter of the Shu family of the 'Shufengyuan Yarn Factory' in Shanghai. You used to have cars when you went out, servants when you came in, and you played the piano and wore perfume. As far as I know, families like that probably never even touched a broom, let alone moved mud bricks."

He paused, his voice devoid of emotion, "Your hands, your strength, and your energy are not what a pampered young lady should have."

His gaze scrutinized her.

Shu Ran paused in her brushing of the door panel. The pampered young lady's life described in the file belonged to the original owner of this body, not her. A wave of guilt, as if she had been seen through, washed over her.

What could she say? That she was a time traveler from the 21st century? She'd probably be arrested as a madwoman.

She turned abruptly, facing Chen Yuanjiang's scrutinizing gaze with a reckless openness.

"Officer Chen, the file records the past! That's right, I used to be the eldest daughter of the Shu family! I didn't do much work before! But from the moment I woke up in the freight car, from the moment I learned that I had been assigned to teach here, the former Shu Ran died!"

She suddenly raised her hand and shoved it in front of Chen Yuanjiang's eyes. "Look carefully! How many adobe bricks have these hands carried today? How many bricks have they picked up? Are these cuts, ink stains, and dirt on my hands fake? Can my identity as a capitalist's daughter conjure them up?!"

Shu Ran stared at Chen Yuanjiang, her voice choked with emotion: "Officer Chen, I understand you. Your skepticism is your professional habit and your duty! Whether you believe it or not, I, Shu Ran, will stand here. Files are static, but people are dynamic! I had no choice in the past, but now, I've chosen this path! I'll see it through to the end! With these hands, I'll carve out a way to survive in this place and teach the children I can!"

She finished speaking in one breath, her eyes welling up with tears, but her hands refused to fall.

Chen Yuanjiang's gaze shifted from her indignant face to her hands.

The shed fell into a deathly silence.

Chen Yuanjiang's Adam's apple bobbed, as if he wanted to say something, but in the end, he couldn't utter a single word.

He gave Shu Ran a deep look, then turned around abruptly and strode away from the shed, his back view even showing a hint of haste.

Shu Ran, feeling utterly exhausted, leaned against the newly built earthen platform and slid down to the ground. Looking at her own mangled hands and then at the classroom she had personally cleaned and decorated, tears finally streamed down her face.

The memories of the 21st century that were deep within my heart have long been washed away by everything before my eyes.

Shu Ran dragged her almost broken body back to the dugout in the female workers' dormitory.

She carefully took out the cotton and coarse cloth and began to sew a mattress. The cotton thread and needle moved between her hands, the stitches were crooked and uneven, and her fingers were marked with red marks.

Sister Wang clicked her tongue in amazement: "Oh my, Comrade Shu Ran, you're so skillful! You're clearly educated; you even know how to sew!"

Zhou Qiaozhen watched coldly from the side, her gaze lingering on the thick cotton and quilt, and she said sourly, "A capitalist's daughter, huh? She used to order servants around at home, so it's new to do things herself. I just don't know where she got the 'connections' to this cotton and cloth. We don't get that kind of treatment." She deliberately emphasized the word "connections".

Li Xiulan leaned closer, a fawning smile on her face, and reached out to touch the thick cotton: "Sister Shuran, this cotton is so good, so white and soft! You're so skillful! This mattress must be so comfortable!"

Shu Ran ignored Zhou Qiaozhen's sarcastic remarks and said calmly to Li Xiulan, "It was approved by the company to ensure the teaching tasks are completed." She focused on sewing the last stitch and laid the mattress on the straw mat. The thick, soft touch enveloped her tired body, and she sighed contentedly.

That satisfied sigh pierced Zhou Qiaozhen's heart. She looked at the new mattress and compared it to the old bedding beneath her, and jealousy surged within her.

Her tone was filled with malicious speculation: "Hmph! Approved by the company? Who knows if it's true or not? We're even struggling to get cotton coupons, why would we give them to you? Maybe you're using that face and some underhanded methods? Some people are just born with the dirty disease of capitalism, they can't shake their philandering ways no matter where they go! This quilt probably smells like something!" She became more and more vicious as she spoke, her eyes fixed on Shu Ran.

The air seemed to freeze instantly. Sister Wang looked embarrassed, and Li Xiulan withdrew her hand in fright, her gaze darting back and forth between Shu Ran and Zhou Qiaozhen.

Shu Ran slowly raised her head, stood up, walked to Zhou Qiaozhen's berth, looked down at her with a sharp gaze.

“Zhou Qiaozhen,” Shu Ran said in a low voice, enunciating each word clearly, “what did you just say?”

Zhou Qiaozhen was momentarily intimidated by her imposing manner, then stiffened her neck and shouted, her voice sharp but her tone weak, "You know perfectly well what I'm saying! This mattress of yours is of dubious origin! Who knows how you got it? You capitalist's daughter, besides knowing how to seduce..."

"Smack!"

A crisp, loud slap echoed through the dugout.

Shu Ran didn't give Zhou Qiaozhen a chance to finish speaking. Zhou Qiaozhen's head was knocked to the side by the slap, and a clear five-finger mark instantly appeared on her face. She covered her face, staring at Shu Ran in disbelief, completely stunned.

"This slap is meant to spit out your filth and slander my innocence!" Shu Ran's voice was icy. "You're jealous that I have a mattress? Fine!" She turned around abruptly, walked a few steps to her bunk, grabbed the cotton mattress, and slammed it hard onto Zhou Qiaozhen's face.

"Open your dog eyes and look carefully!" Shu Ran pointed at the mattress. "This cotton was approved by the company according to the 'Interim Measures for Temporary Hardship Subsidies for New Employees'! It's written in black and white that its purpose is to ensure I have the energy to participate in literacy work tomorrow! This cloth is the cheapest coarse cloth! These stitches were sewn by myself, stitch by stitch!"

She suddenly stretched out her hand and shoved it in front of Zhou Qiaozhen's eyes, "Look! This is what you call 'seduction'? This is the kind of work that 'capitalist filth' produces?!"

The dugout was deathly silent; everyone was stunned.

"I, Shu Ran, am upright and honest! Every penny of what I own is clearly earned!" Shu Ran stared at Zhou Qiaozhen's pale face, then glanced at the other roommates. "Anyone who dares to spread rumors, cause trouble, or slander will be punished severely! I'll drag her to the company headquarters and the security department right now! We'll have a clear talk in front of the leaders! Let's see who has a dirty mind, who is undermining unity, and who is hindering education!"

She bent down, grabbed her mattress, patted off the dust, and laid it out again.

Zhou Qiaozhen covered her face, filled with shame and indignation, her lips trembling, but she couldn't utter a single word. Li Xiulan was so frightened that she didn't dare to breathe, while Sister Wang looked at Shu Ran with surprise and admiration in her eyes.

A note from the author:

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