Chapter 72 The Old Leader (Bug Fixing)

The excitement from the division's performance hadn't even faded when the company's life quickly entered the intense rhythm of spring plowing and production.

Shu Ran was also extremely busy. During the day, she had to seize every spare moment to teach the children and supervise the learning of the literacy class. At night, she also had to organize the experience summary of the division's performance and figure out how to make use of the thirty yuan fund and the upcoming evaluation opportunity.

That afternoon, she was leading several older children in learning the names of various farm tools and seeds in the open space behind the classroom when a green jeep stopped in front of the gate.

The person who got out of the car was Yang Zhenhua. He had been promoted and was representing the division's propaganda department to investigate the development of grassroots cultural activities and, incidentally, to check on the follow-up work of the award-winning units in the performance.

After a brief conversation with the company leader, Yang Zhenhua walked straight towards the classroom.

"Comrade Shu Ran! Busy, are you?" Yang Zhenhua asked with a smile. "I've come especially to visit our hero and role model!"

"Officer Yang! What brings you here?" Shu Ran was a little surprised and quickly went to greet him, patting the dirt off her hands.

"I've come to see you! The division leaders gave you a very high evaluation of your performance in this event, and they asked me to come down here to understand the situation better, see if there are any difficulties, and what support you need."

Yang Zhenhua spoke warmly, his gaze sweeping over the simple classroom and the children with obvious appreciation, "Especially you, Comrade Shu Ran, you have great ideas and a lot of drive! I read your report on combining textbook drama with literacy education, and it was very well written!"

As he spoke, he casually took out a manila envelope from his briefcase: "Oh, by the way, this is a batch of old periodicals that the division library discarded. I thought they might be useful for your teaching, so I brought them to you."

Shu Ran took the envelope. It was quite thick, and inside were indeed some old magazines like "People's Pictorial." Although they were outdated, they were definitely good for broadening the children's horizons.

"Thank you so much, Officer Yang! This is truly a godsend!"

"Don't mention it! Supporting grassroots education is our job!" Yang Zhenhua waved his hand, appearing very easygoing.

He then enthusiastically discussed with Shu Ran how to further improve the program, how to consolidate and expand the results of literacy campaigns, and even mentioned the possibility of recommending her to the division headquarters for experience exchange.

The two stood at the classroom door, engrossed in their conversation.

Yang Zhenhua is knowledgeable and has a broad perspective; many of his suggestions were very inspiring to Shu Ran. From a distance, it looked like a harmonious scene of cadres caring for the grassroots and comrades exchanging ideas enthusiastically.

Just then, Chen Yuanjiang and Zhao Weidong returned from inspecting the spring planting in the fields, both covered in mud. Seeing the scene at the classroom door, Zhao Weidong muttered, "Why are the division headquarters people here again?"

Chen Yuanjiang paused, his gaze falling on Yang Zhenhua and Shu Ran, who were chatting and laughing. He noticed Yang Zhenhua's clean clothes and the excited glow on Shu Ran's face from their discussion. He remained expressionless, maintaining his cold and hard demeanor.

He walked straight past them, a few meters away, with a blank expression, heading directly towards the company headquarters.

As Shu Ran was listening to Yang Zhenhua speak, she caught a glimpse of that familiar figure and the mud on his trousers out of the corner of her eye. She felt a sudden pang of unease and instinctively wanted to greet him.

But Chen Yuanjiang walked away very quickly, giving her no chance at all.

Yang Zhenhua seemed to have noticed as well, and asked with a smile, "Is that Special Envoy Chen? He looks quite busy."

"Ah...yes." Shu Ran withdrew her gaze, feeling a strange, inexplicable unease in her heart, and her earlier enthusiasm had faded somewhat.

Yang Zhenhua chatted for a few more minutes before taking his leave to conduct research elsewhere.

In the evening, Shu Ran went to the company headquarters to deliver some materials and ran into Chen Yuanjiang, who was coming out of the door.

"Officer Chen," she called out to him.

Chen Yuanjiang stopped and looked at her.

"Officer Yang brought some old periodicals today, which will be quite useful for the children," Shu Ran said, making conversation as if explaining what had happened that afternoon.

Chen Yuanjiang simply hummed in response, his tone completely flat: "It's a good thing that the higher-ups are concerned."

After saying that, he seemed to remember something, took out a small notebook from his pocket, tore off a page, and handed it to her. There were a few lines written in pencil on it, which were about some recent prevention requirements in the border areas. His tone was businesslike: "This is a notice that the security department just issued. It involves the safety of the school and students. Take a look and organize a study session if necessary."

Then, without waiting for Shu Ran to say anything more, he turned and left.

Shu Ran held the note, watching Chen Yuanjiang's back, and comparing it with his attitude, she seemed to understand something.

She still had the jar of mentholatum in her pocket, its minty scent faintly lingering.

In the evening, Shu Ran had just finished organizing the journals Yang Zhenhua had given her, preparing to select some for the children to read the next day, when there was a knock on the classroom door.

She opened the door, and Chen Yuanjiang was standing outside, carrying a bulging old burlap sack.

"Officer Chen?" Shu Ran was somewhat surprised.

Chen Yuanjiang didn't say anything, but simply put the sack down at the door with a dull thud.

“These are unwanted scraps of paper,” he said, his voice deeper than usual, his gaze fixed on the neatly arranged old periodicals beside him, refusing to look at her. “They came from the division’s security department clearing out the old archives. Nobody wants them anymore. If you think they’re useful, take them. If not, just throw them away.”

After saying that, he didn't wait for Shu Ran's response at all, turned around and left, his steps quick and heavy.

Shu Ran stood there, stunned, staring at the burlap sack. She squatted down, puzzled, and untied the rope binding it.

It wasn't just "unwanted waste paper" as he casually described; it was a whole sack of books. A wide variety of kinds.

Besides common practical technical books, there were also Xinhua Dictionary, Idiom Dictionary, and even several well-preserved translations of Soviet children's literature with yellowed pages, as well as a complete set of "100,000 Whys". Although these books were old, they were obviously well preserved.

Looking at the sack of books, Shu Ran recalled Chen Yuanjiang's awkward demeanor earlier, and combined with his cold expression when Yang Zhenhua delivered the books that afternoon, this didn't seem like a garbage disposal.

He must have felt a strange, inexplicable unease when he saw Yang Zhenhua giving him books, and he felt he had to outdo the other person! So he must have rummaged through some corner of the house, or perhaps even used some personal connections, to gather this sack of books and throw it at her.

Shu Ran took the books out of the sack one by one, wiped off the dust, and then took the periodicals that Yang Zhenhua had given her, placing them together with the books Chen Yuanjiang had given her. She pondered how to make the best use of these valuable resources. It seemed that the upcoming literacy and general education classes could be much more diverse and engaging.

The next morning, Shu Ran was leading the children in an outdoor class, teaching them to identify newly sprouted wild vegetables. It was both a literacy lesson and a life skills lesson.

Suddenly, the sound of a car engine came from the entrance of the company. A moment later, Company Commander Ma and Secretary Liu accompanied a sprightly old comrade in his fifties as they walked over.

The old comrade walked with his hands behind his back, his pace unhurried, his eyes scanning everything in the company, from the piled-up farm tools to the old workers sunbathing in the corner.

Company Commander Ma walked along, his face radiating obvious respect, explaining something as he went. Secretary Liu occasionally chimed in with his comments.

As Shu Ran was trying to guess who the newcomers were, she saw the group of people walking straight towards her.

"Teacher Shu! Come here quickly!" Company Commander Ma called from afar, "Director Sun from the Education Department of the Division Headquarters has come to visit everyone!"

Director Sun? Shu Ran's heart skipped a beat. She had heard Yang Zhenhua mention this old leader before. He was in charge of culture, education, health and sports, and was known for his pragmatic and strict style, as well as his unconventional approach. He was notoriously difficult to deal with in the division, but at the same time, he was also known for valuing talent and having a unique vision.

She quickly told the children to rest where they were, straightened her clothes, and hurried to greet them: "Hello, Director Sun! Company Commander, Secretary."

Director Sun glanced at her, his face expressionless, and simply nodded. His gaze, however, had already passed over her and landed on the group of curiously watching children: "Class is in session. Continue. Just pretend I don't exist, and continue with what you're teaching."

It was said lightly, but the pressure was immense. Shu Ran took a breath, composed herself, and then said to the children, "Okay, let's continue. We just learned about alfalfa and wild onions. Now, everyone look down and see who can find one first?"

The children immediately bent down excitedly to search through the clods of dirt, temporarily forgetting the big leader next to them.

Director Sun didn't say anything, just stood by and watched. Occasionally, he would squat down to look at what the children had found. He even casually picked up a weed and asked one of the children what it was. The child was stunned and couldn't answer. Shu Ran quickly and naturally guided him by its characteristics, and the child finally remembered. Only then did Director Sun nod.

After listening to the lesson on wild vegetables for about fifteen minutes, Director Sun suddenly stood up and walked straight towards the classroom. Shu Ran and Company Commander Ma quickly followed.

Inside the classroom, younger children were writing under Li Xiulan's supervision. Director Sun walked over and casually picked up a few notebooks to look through.

He looked very carefully, not only checking if the characters were written well, but also how the mistakes were corrected, and even whether the back of the notebook was being used.

"You wrote the character '农' (farm) wrong three times before you got it right. Why?" he asked with a smile, pointing to Adil's workbook.

Shu Ran's heart tightened, and she quickly explained, "Adil's family are herders, so they're not familiar with the character 'farmer.' I had him practice writing it five more times after class, and it seems he's memorized it."

Director Sun remained noncommittal, then picked up Shi Tou's notebook, which contained Shu Ran's comments in red pen: "Improvement! Pay attention to neatness next time." He glanced at Shu Ran but said nothing.

Next, he randomly selected a few students and asked them to read a passage from the textbook or answer a practical question, such as "How do you write the character '拾' on a work point ticket?" or "What should you pay attention to when making an IOU?" The questions were tricky yet practical.

Some of the children answered well, while others stammered. Shu Ran's heart rose and fell with their answers, but she noticed that although Director Sun was stern, he did not scold the children who did not answer well; he simply made notes of something.

Just then, Yang Zhenhua arrived after hearing the news. He obviously recognized Director Sun and quickly stepped forward to greet him respectfully: "Director Sun, why didn't you tell us you were coming? We could have made some preparations."

Director Sun glanced at him and snorted, "Prepare what? Prepare to show me what I want to see? Xiao Yang, when did you learn to do this kind of formalism?"

Yang Zhenhua was a little embarrassed, but he still smiled and tried to smooth things over: "Look at what you're saying, I was just afraid of neglecting you. Comrade Shu Ran has indeed done a very thorough job..."

"Whether it's solid or not, I can tell for myself." Director Sun interrupted him, then turned his gaze to Shu Ran, "I heard you also have a literacy class? Where are the students?"

Shu Ran quickly said, "At this time, the women are all busy with production, and we will have a unified study session in the evening."

"Oh? Let's go take a look then, just pick two places at random." Director Sun said as he walked out.

The group had no choice but to follow. On the way, Yang Zhenhua took the opportunity to whisper a few words to Shu Ran about Director Sun's habits and preferences, which gave her a little more idea of ​​what was going on.

They randomly entered the home of Zhang Guifen, the nearest house. Zhang Guifen was sewing shoe soles when she was startled to see so many leaders enter.

Director Sun didn't stand on ceremony and directly took out several grain coupons and cloth coupons from his pocket, handing them to Zhang Guifen: "Miss, take a look at these coupons. What do they say on them? When are they valid? How many can you buy with them?"

Zhang Guifen nervously took the coupons, her hands trembling slightly. But under Shu Ran's encouraging gaze, she carefully examined them and, albeit haltingly, managed to give a roughly correct answer! She added, "These cloth coupons... we have to save them for the kids' new clothes for the New Year!" This brought a smile to Director Sun's face.

Then another company was checked, and the situation was generally good.

Back in the company headquarters office, Director Sun's expression softened considerably. He sat down, took a sip of water, and looked at Shu Ran: "Where did you use the teaching materials?"

Shu Ran honestly replied, "It's mainly the unified literacy textbooks issued by the higher authorities. In addition, I also compiled some supplementary materials based on the actual situation of our company's staff and children in the pastoral areas."

As she spoke, she took out several handwritten notebooks bound together with scrap paper from the cloth bag she was carrying and handed them over with both hands.

Director Sun took it and flipped through it. He saw that it contained content such as "Common Livestock Names Comparison Table", "Work Point Tickets and Grain Tickets Identification Chart", "Common Tools in the Company", and "Three-Character Classic of Hygiene and Epidemic Prevention", which were richly illustrated. In particular, the Chinese language learning materials prepared for the herders' children took into account the things and environment that the herders were familiar with.

Director Sun examined the document for a long time, pointing to a spot and asking, "Why is there a camel painted behind this tractor?"

Shu Ran replied, "Because many children in pastoral areas have never seen a tractor, we first use camels as an analogy to understand the machine that pulls things."

"Did you compose this rhyme about preventing foot-and-mouth disease?"

"It was written together with medic Xu Junjun; it's easy to remember."

Finally, he closed the notebook and looked at Shu Ran: "The idea is good, and you put a lot of thought into it. However, isn't the content too fragmented? It's not systematic. Have you thought about making it more systematic, specifically tailored to the characteristics of your kind of agricultural and pastoral integrated production team?"

"I've thought about it! But... I have limited time and energy, and I lack references..."

Director Sun hesitated for a moment, neither agreeing nor disagreeing, but simply stood up and said, "Alright, I've finished reading. I'm leaving."

He arrived suddenly and left just as abruptly. Company Commander Ma and Secretary Liu quickly saw him off.

Yang Zhenhua, lagging behind, quickly and quietly said to Shu Ran, "Old Sun never praises people easily, but his mention of systematization is quite interesting! Wait for my news!" After saying that, he hurriedly followed.