Chapter 34 Basic Literacy...
Ren Qingsong didn't expect his mother to ask such a question. He glanced at Miya subconsciously and quickly looked away.
He cleared his throat, coughed lightly twice, and used a cold face to hide the barely perceptible restlessness in his heart.
"At the very least, they should have graduated from primary school and have some education. It doesn't matter if they don't know much, the main thing is that they have a willingness to learn, so we can progress together."
With her rich experience, Cui Dani saw through her son's little scheme at a glance; he wanted to find like-minded people.
Judging from the current state of the residential compound, finding a girl of marriageable age with at least a primary school education is really not an easy task.
"Alright, Mother will do as you say."
Miya, standing to the side, had a different idea.
If at first she was simply curious and longing for the idea that girls could read and write.
So now, she wants to meet Ren Qingsong's criteria for choosing a partner.
Although neither her mother nor Ren Qingsong mentions their childhood betrothal anymore, it is still very difficult for Miya, with her deeply ingrained beliefs, to quickly abandon the idea of marrying Ren Qingsong.
Naturally, Miya immediately decided that she also wanted to enroll in school.
"Third brother, I'll listen to you, I'll go participate in the literacy campaign."
"That's right!" Cui Dani clapped her hands excitedly; her daughter was finally willing to listen to advice.
Back in her hometown, she had urged her family to participate in literacy programs.
But everyone was rather unenthusiastic. It was fine at first, but later they turned the literacy session into a chat room, with people making insoles, weaving straw sandals, and twisting hemp ropes...
Anyway, they just chatted and joked around, not doing anything serious.
Surely the literacy campaigns organized by the military wouldn't be like that?
Ren Qingsong was also very satisfied with Miya's answer; Miya had finally taken the first step.
He believes that as long as Mia is willing to embrace the changes of the new era, things will definitely get better and better.
He no longer needed to spend time explaining the relationship between the two of them, and the family could live peacefully.
Before Mia could even volunteer to participate in literacy campaigns, Liu Limei went to her door with flyers.
"Sister-in-law, what brings you here today?"
Miya straightened up, saw the figure at the door, quickly dropped the weeds in her hand, and excitedly approached the door.
"I came to see you, and my sister-in-law has something she'd like you and your aunt to help her with."
"If there's anything I can help you with, please let me know, sister-in-law."
Upon hearing this, Miya's expression immediately turned serious, her wrinkled little face making Liu Limei both laugh and cry.
"Don't worry, it's a good thing. I can stay with Dani."
After speaking, Liu Limei displayed the promotional leaflet in front of Mia.com and said directly:
"Miya, you must have heard about the military starting a school recently, right?"
"I overheard it, and I heard there will be literacy programs too."
Liu Limei was surprised that before she could even speak, Miya had already revealed her main purpose, and she immediately nodded excitedly.
"That's right! It's literacy work, which is very important to our family compound."
"I'm here today to invite you and Auntie to participate in literacy campaigns, so you can learn more and make things easier for you when you go out."
"Don't worry, my daughter is going too, so you two kids can keep each other company."
"Really?" Miya's eyes widened in surprise, sparkling with excitement, and the fear in her heart vanished instantly.
Liu Limei grinned and continued nodding.
Miya was so excited she wanted to jump for joy. "That's wonderful!"
After the initial excitement subsided, she remembered the remaining details Liu Limei had mentioned and asked, puzzled:
"Sister-in-law, if I heard correctly, you just said that I should go with Mother?"
“That’s right. There’s no age limit for literacy classes, so older women can participate too. Any farmer who doesn’t know 1,500 characters needs to participate in literacy classes.”
"1500!"
Miya exclaimed in surprise. Although she didn't know exactly how many 1500 were, it was a lot of words that she couldn't count on both hands. Could she complete it?
Liu Limei was unaware of Miya's worries and continued to explain the situation.
"That's right, a score below 1500 is considered illiterate."
"Now the family compound is starting to operate more regularly. Commander Chen's wife is the women's director of the entire compound, and my wife, Sister Tong, the wife of the Third Regiment Commander, and I are the women's work liaisons for this mountain. You can come to us for help if you need anything in the future."
"Women's Director?" Miya discovered another new term.
Liu Limei noticed Miya's confusion and explained with a smile, "Anyway, any woman who encounters difficulties can ask us for help."
Now Miya understood: the women's director was an official who specifically managed women.
She couldn't help but feel envious of Liu Limei, "Sister-in-law, you're really amazing, you've even become an official."
Upon hearing this, Liu Limei laughed so hard her eyes were almost closed, her bright red teeth swaying back and forth.
She didn't know how the organization had chosen her, but that didn't stop her from being happy.
She never expected that someone who was bullied in his hometown would become an "officer" in the army.
“Miya, you’re exaggerating. She’s just a liaison officer, not an official.”
"I'm in a hurry to spread the word about the importance of literacy to other families, so I won't tell you any more. The literacy session will be held in the cafeteria, starting at 6:30 pm. You and your aunt must remember to come."
"Sister-in-law, we will go."
Miya waved excitedly, gazing longingly at the departing figure.
The shock that Ren Qingsong brought to her when he described how women could work was far less than the shock of Liu Limei, a person close to him, suddenly becoming an official.
In an unknown corner, a thought secretly began to grow.
A little while later, Cui Dani returned from the fields, and Miya told her about Liu Limei's change in status and her upcoming participation in the literacy campaign.
Cui Dani hadn't expected that she was involved. She was an old woman with poor eyesight, and she was surprised that she was included in this.
But thinking of the help Liu Limei had given their family, they didn't say anything to refute her.
She'll go check it out first, just to make up the numbers, so the higher-ups won't say Liu Limei isn't doing her job properly.
Anyway, no one would really believe that a woman in her fifties or sixties could read and write.
Thus, it was decided that both family members would participate in literacy programs.
When Ren Qingsong returned home, he received this major news.
Considering that both of them would be traveling at night, he remembered that the army was also busy with literacy work for new recruits, and an idea immediately came to him.
“That’s perfect. I’ll be teaching new recruits basic literacy at the camp, while you and Miya will be working in the mess hall. We can go to and from get off work together, which will put my mind at ease.”
“Everyone in the residential compound comes and goes together, what are you worried about?”
Cui Dani glanced at her son who was talking nonsense and continued with her work.
These past few days, Miya has come to understand why her third brother can never get along with their mother, which is completely different from the scene she remembers.
She even began to feel that those things happened in her dreams, and were very, very far away from her.
Time flies, and soon the day arrived for the literacy class to officially begin.
Miya and Cui Dani ate a little earlier than usual, planning to find seats in the cafeteria as soon as possible.
Thinking that Da Ni was also one of them, and that Liu Limei was the organizer, the two headed towards Liu Limei's house as soon as they came down the mountain.
They happened to run into the family leaving home, and their appearance stunned Miya.
Some, confused, asked directly, "Sister-in-law, wasn't it said that only Da Ni was going to participate in the literacy campaign with us? Why are Er Ni and Da Wa here too?"
“I’m worried about Da Wa, that naughty boy, not having an adult watch over him at night. Er Ni wanted to go to the literacy class in advance to prepare, so I agreed.”
Cui Dani nodded in agreement with Liu Limei's explanation.
Erni, in particular, is especially endearing because of her love of learning.
"It's lively with many people, and it's even better when the whole family studies together. I, as an old woman, will join in the fun too."
The two families were quite similar in some ways, with everyone present except for the men in their families.
On her way to the cafeteria, Miya consciously observed her surroundings, trying to find out how many other families had come to participate in the literacy campaign.
The preciousness of knowledge lies in the memories etched into Mia's mind.
According to her expectations, there should be a severe shortage of cafeteria spaces.
But when they arrived at the cafeteria, the sparse number of people was astonishing.
"Sister-in-law, why are there so few people here?" Miya asked in confusion, pointing to the cafeteria where only a few seats were occupied.
A bitter expression appeared on Liu Limei's face, and she let out a long sigh.
"Perhaps everyone participated in literacy campaigns in their hometowns and is not interested in literacy campaigns anymore."
Erni, feeling disappointed and frustrated that no one was coming to the literacy campaign, said in a huff:
"If they don't want to come, they don't have to. If there are fewer people, the teachers will pay more attention to us."
“That makes sense.” Cui Dani nodded in agreement.
It was just 6:15, and there were still 15 minutes before class officially started.
Liu Limei, filled with anticipation, stared intently at the doorway. Seeing no one enter, her downturned lips curved into a smile.
In her view, the number of people who came was proof of their dedication to their work.
However, by the time class was about to start, only about thirty people had arrived.
It should be noted that there are at least nearly a hundred households living on three hilltops.
Only about thirty people came, with Liu Limei and Miya's families accounting for six of them, plus the two women's work liaisons from their respective mountain areas who organized and led their own families.
There were only about ten people who were actually willing to attend the literacy class.
Looking at the pitiful number of people, Liu Limei and the other liaison officers all showed expressions of self-reproach.
Before they could process their frustrations, Cui Baozhu, who was in charge of the literacy class, stood up from her stool with her head held high and stepped onto the makeshift podium with great enthusiasm.
Cui Baozhu tried hard to keep a straight face, forcefully pulling back her puffed-out cheeks, not wanting people to look down on her because of her youthful appearance.
"Hello everyone! Our literacy class teacher is Cui Baozhu. You can just call me Teacher Cui."
As Cui Baozhu spoke, she wrote her name on the blackboard with chalk.
Miya looked at the dazzling people on the stage, and the envy in her eyes was impossible to hide.
After Cui Baozhu finished writing, she turned her head and immediately met Miya's sparkling eyes.
In an instant, a wave of heat spread across her cheeks, and she almost couldn't hold back her laughter.
To maintain her dignity as a teacher, Cui Baozhu had to tighten her expression even more, completely forgetting the words she had prepared beforehand, and immediately began her teaching work.
"Our literacy classes start directly with the simplest things."
After saying this, Cui Baozhu erased her name, rewrote the word "People" and added the pinyin.
"Come on, everyone, repeat after me: '人' (rén, person)."
Miya followed the sounds around her and repeated the pronunciation of the word "person".
"civil!"
"So these two characters together mean 'people.' In our country, the people are the masters, and the people are the most important. Therefore, today we will first learn the two characters 'people,' and the pinyin is on top. We will learn them one by one."
Cui Baozhu guided her word by word, and Miya unconsciously became immersed in the atmosphere she created, learning with great enthusiasm.
She was especially moved when she heard the teacher's explanation.
Who could have imagined a country where the people are the masters?
Seeing Miya learning with great interest, Cui Dani couldn't help but smile. It was a good thing that she was willing to learn.
Seeing her friend so engrossed, Da Ni also focused all her attention on the blackboard, following the teacher's steps and learning diligently.
Erni came here to study, so naturally she wouldn't be distracted.
But it's hard to say for others.
Da Wa is naturally playful; making him sit still in one spot for hours is no different from torture.
Less than half an hour after I sat down, the chair beneath me started to shift constantly, as if it had grown thorns.
Liu Limei had no interest in reading or writing, but considering her current status, she forced herself to recognize the crooked characters.
Sensing the movement beside her, she immediately gave her son a very intimidating look.
The eldest child was so frightened that his body trembled, and he didn't dare to move like a little quail.
The others, however, began to whisper among themselves, clearly showing no interest in reading and writing.
Cui Baozhu was completely unaware of this; every time she turned around, she would meet Miya's shining eyes.
At that moment, she wished she could pour out all the knowledge she had accumulated.
As a result, the chatter of the crowd below grew louder and louder, while Cui Baozhu's interest grew higher and higher, much to the amusement of Commander Cui, who had come to observe.
Commander Cui proudly raised his head, turned to look at his wife, and said smugly:
“I told you long ago, our Baozhu is capable. Look at her now, she is completely unaffected by external things, teaching with great enthusiasm, and her whole being is radiant.”
Upon hearing this, Xu Qingyan glanced helplessly at her husband, then said with a smile:
"Good, good! You're the best at judging people and their actions."
Seeing their daughter so focused on her work, the couple didn't want to disturb her, so they turned and left to wait to pick her up from get off work.
*
Miya felt she hadn't learned much when suddenly it was time to end.
She gazed longingly at the figure on the blackboard, her eyes filled with sorrow.
Cui Baozhu felt a pang of fear upon seeing this and couldn't help but reassure everyone, "Classes will start at the same time tomorrow, everyone remember to come."
"Teacher Cui, we will definitely be there on time tomorrow."
Miya shouted the loudest, which once again made Cui Baozhu laugh heartily.
Cui Baozhu tried hard to suppress her fluttering heart, and warned in a sweet voice, feigning seriousness:
"Remember to finish the homework assigned by the teacher when you get home, and be sure to write your own name correctly."
"yes."
Miya only realized when she was being taught to write her own name that she and her teacher shared the same surname, which was her mother's surname, Cui Dani.
On the way back, she couldn't help but ask her mother, Cui Dani, about the origin of her name and why she shared the same surname as her mother.
Cui Dani spoke of this with some pride and satisfaction, the fatigue from the entire night's incomprehensible lecture instantly vanishing.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
