Chapter 41
A year and a half later.
"Clang—clang—"
The sound of iron sheets being struck was heard, and many children rushed out from the adobe houses next to the threshing ground. The originally quiet open space suddenly became noisy.
"School is over, school is over!"
"What did you learn today?"
"Let's go home together."
"Teacher Zhang gave me a lot of homework today. I have to finish it quickly, otherwise it will be too late to waste the kerosene lamp, and my mother will scold me again."
In one of the rooms, Meng Dongran was leisurely packing his schoolbag, a grass-green shoulder bag that his grandmother Li Lanxiang had sewn for him from a piece of clothing, with a shining red star on it.
While most children don't have school bags, Meng Dongran's small school bag attracted a lot of envious glances.
After packing his schoolbag, Meng Dongran did not rush home, but instead cleaned the classroom with the broom in the corner.
"Zhuangzhuang, you haven't left yet?"
Meng Dongran looked at the person who came and found that it was his teacher Sun Yating. She was holding a book in her hand. Her long hair had turned into shoulder-length hair. She had a gentle and capable temperament.
"Teacher Sun, I'm an adult now. Don't call me Zhuangzhuang anymore. Just call me by my real name." Meng Dongran still had baby fat on his face, his eyebrows were twisted, and he looked very serious, like a little adult.
Sun Yating couldn't help laughing, "Yes, yes, classmate Meng Dongran."
Time flies. The little Zhuangzhuang who sweetly called her beautiful sister when they first met has now become a reserved and elegant scholar.
Meng Dongran used to have a personality similar to Meng Wanqiu, but since starting school, he's become more and more like Pei Xingzhi. This might be because Pei Xingzhi is the one who controls Meng Dongran the most. The person who values Meng Dongran's studies the most in the family isn't Meng Yanchun, Dong Hanyun, or Meng Wanqiu, but his uncle, Pei Xingzhi.
Pei Xingzhi is very strict with Meng Dongran. He does not allow Meng Dongran to slack off in his studies. In addition to the content taught in school, he also gives him extra lessons in private and teaches him a lot of extracurricular content.
Over time, Meng Dongran's admiration for Pei Xingzhi grew. Children subconsciously imitated whoever they liked, and Meng Dongran was now a miniature version of Pei Xingzhi.
"Dongran, why haven't you gone home yet?" Sun Yating asked curiously.
Meng Dongran picked up his schoolbag from the table and hung it on his shoulder. "We're leaving soon. Shuanzi from Dawan Village is on duty today, but his home is far away. It will be dark when he gets home after cleaning the classroom, so I'll help him clean. My home is close anyway."
When Sun Yating heard the reason, she was stunned. She knew Shuanzi from Dayuan Village, and he had only started school a week ago.
Dayuan Village is six or seven miles away from Qinghe Village. Logically, children who live far away should not be assigned to be on duty. Maybe Yang Xue didn't pay attention.
Looking at Meng Dongran's soft head, Sun Yating felt warm in her heart. The Meng family was really good at educating their children. Other children wouldn't have thought of this at all. But Meng Dongran not only thought of it, but also took the initiative to take the duty for Shuanzi. What a thoughtful and kind child.
Sun Yating touched Meng Dongran's head and said, "Don't worry, Shuanzi won't have to be on duty anymore."
When Meng Dongran was suddenly praised by Teacher Sun, her face instantly became rosy, like a pink apple that had just ripened in the early morning, very cute.
Although very shy, Meng Dongran still maintained the demeanor of a little adult, "It should have been like this a long time ago."
Sun Yating smiled and said, "Go home quickly. Your aunt should be off work by now."
Meng Dongran nodded, said goodbye to Sun Yating, and walked towards home. But after taking a few steps, his steps became lighter and lighter, and it felt like he was about to jump up in the next second.
Sun Yating smiled and shook her head. She was still a child after all.
The primary school in Qinghe Village was built a year ago. At that time, the village even held a villagers' meeting to vote on whether to build the school.
At that time, many villagers scoffed at this. They thought it was a joke that he could not even afford to eat and was still going to school.
"What's the point of studying? Even the commune school is closed. Our village not only allows children to go to school, but also built a special school. Those red-armed clergymen outside will definitely criticize us. Let's just leave it at this. Team leader and party secretary, you guys should stop getting involved. The children can still do some work at home, picking grass for pigs, taking care of the children. If they go to school, who will do these chores? Won't that cause us trouble?"
The villagers who opposed the plan all said one thing after another, and the general meaning was that they didn't want to cause trouble and didn't agree to build a school.
After listening to the villagers' words, both Jiang He and Meng Aiguo fell silent. Although they were the leaders of the village, such a major matter as building a school still depended on the opinions of the majority of villagers.
Just when everyone thought that building the school was impossible, something unexpected happened.
"You're wrong. Chairman Mao said, 'Study hard and make progress every day.' If we could read and learn to read, we could recite Chairman Mao's quotations to you and become revolutionary warriors like Wang Xiaoer. You wouldn't have to find someone who could read to recite them word for word."
"That's right. We don't know what picture books Xu Cheng's family has. We just look at the pictures. Even if Xu Cheng and his family know them, they won't teach us. It's meaningless."
"We want to study and don't want to be blind. When we go to the supply and marketing cooperative in the city to buy things, people laugh at us for being peasants who can't even count, not even counting on ten fingers." The little ones thought of the contempt they received when they went to the commune, and their eyes became red with grievance.
Unexpectedly, the first ones to jump out and ask to go to school were these little kids in the village.
After hearing the children's words, the villagers who had been clamoring for opposition fell silent.
Yes, if children are not asked to study, they will be blind like them, knowing nothing when they go to the city, and will often be laughed at by city people. Even adults like them will feel ashamed sometimes, let alone these little kids.
If he studied, he would at least be able to recognize his own name, do accounting, and not have to look for someone to read or write his letters. If he studied well, he might even become like Feng Dong, the son of the Party Secretary, who had a teacher from the county high school come to his home specifically, fearing that the Meng family would not allow him to continue his studies.
By the time you finish high school and get your certificate, you can be recruited for work in a factory in the city and earn a living from the government.
The children's words woke up the ignorant villagers and they unanimously agreed to build a primary school in the village.
The teachers were the educated youth from the Youth Academy and Xu Cheng and several other people in the village who had finished junior high school.
Everyone works half a day and attends classes half a day, and still gets work points during class time.
Of course the educated youth were willing to do so as they didn’t have to work hard in the fields under the sun.
In this way, the primary school in Qinghe Village was built. At first, the students were only children from Qinghe Village. Later, children from nearby villages also sent their children to school.
There are many people with foresight, which makes the villagers of Qinghe Village feel fortunate that they agreed to build the school at that time, otherwise the children's future would have been really ruined.
As to why Qinghe Village suddenly wanted to build a school, Sun Yating always felt that it was closely related to Meng Wanqiu and Pei Xingzhi.
Meng Wanqiu, who was being thought about by Sun Yating, was harassed by someone after finishing work.
"Sister-in-law Xiuzhi, please take it back quickly. I don't need these things. Take them home and give them to Niuniu."
"Sister-in-law, I know you don't need it, but this isn't something valuable. It's just wild fruit from the mountain. I heard your sister-in-law say you like to eat it, so I picked some and brought it back. You helped me so much, but I didn't even thank you properly. What's the point of these wild fruits?"
The person who kept stuffing wild fruits into Meng Wanqiu's backpack was Zhou Po's daughter-in-law, Xiao Zhou Sao Xiuzhi.
A few months ago, Meng Wanqiu and Pei Xingzhi came back from the mountains after digging spring bamboo shoots. On the way, they met Xiuzhi walking towards the river with her one-year-old daughter Xiuxiu in her arms. It was obvious that she was going to commit suicide.
Of course Meng Wanqiu couldn't just stand by and watch the person die. After the couple pulled the person out of the river, Sister Xiuzhi burst into tears and told them the reason for her suicide.
It turned out that the mother-in-law, Mrs. Zhou, was too cruel and mean. She was extremely partial to her eldest son's family, treating her second and youngest sons as blood bags for her eldest son. She gave all the work points she earned in a year to subsidize her eldest son's family.
The second and third wives never had any food all year round, and they couldn't even see the money they earned, as it was all firmly in the hands of Mrs. Zhou.
When Sister Xiuzhi gave birth to a daughter, Niuniu, Mrs. Zhou became even more disgusted with her. Not only did she not allow Sister Xiuzhi to have confinement after the baby was born, she also wanted to give Nini away, thinking that Niuniu was a girl and a baby girl was a waste of money.
Finally, it was Xiuzhi's husband who discovered the situation in time and got his daughter back. Seeing that her youngest son did not listen to her, Mrs. Zhou was furious and thought that Xiuzhi had instigated it, and she became more and more dissatisfied with her.
During her confinement period, Sister Xiuzhi was asked to help with the preparation of pig food and cooking pig feed, which made her so tired that she fainted.
Sister Xiuzhi's husband is a coward. The only extraordinary thing he has done in his life is to take back his daughter who was sent away by her mother. When he saw his wife being wasted by Mrs. Zhou, he turned a deaf ear to her in front of her, but advised Xiuzhi behind her back to be patient.
This went on for a year. Xiuzhi finally couldn't stand this kind of life anymore and told her husband that she wanted to separate. This was overheard by Mrs. Zhou, who slapped Xiuzhi on the spot because her status was challenged.
Then they dragged her into the yard and asked their eldest daughter-in-law for help. The two of them beat Xiuzhi severely. Mrs. Zhou was so angry that she asked her youngest son to divorce Xiuzhi. Then they threw Xiuzhi out of the door and threw her daughter out as well.
Unable to bear this kind of life, Xiuzhi suddenly lost her mind and planned to commit suicide by jumping into the river with her daughter Niuniu. However, she met Meng Wanqiu and Pei Xingzhi on the way and was rescued. Only then did everyone know what had happened.
Afterwards, Meng Wanqiu brought her sister-in-law Xiuzhi home and told her family about her story. Everyone was very angry.
Meng Aiguo and Li Lanxiang went to Zhou's house immediately, but Mrs. Zhou was arrogant and refused to admit her mistakes. She even threatened to give Xiuzhi another beating when she came back.
As the director of the Women's Department, Li Lanxiang was really angry this time and reported the matter directly to the Women's Federation of the commune. On the same day, the leaders of the Women's Federation took away Mrs. Zhou and Mrs. Zhou, and Jiang He also decided to divide the Zhou family.
Mrs. Zhou didn't come back until three days later, and Mrs. Zhou didn't come back until half a month later. When she came back, she had lost a lot of weight. No one knew what Mrs. Zhou had experienced, but when she came back and faced the situation at home that had already become a foregone conclusion, she was neither able to do anything nor dared to object.
After seeing the miserable state of Mrs. Zhou, many people in the village who beat their sons and daughters-in-law were deterred.
After what happened to Sister Xiuzhi, Li Lanxiang realized how inadequate her actions were. She began to reflect on herself and corrected her mistakes in the following days. She took women's work seriously and called all the women in the village to a meeting every month to see if the men or mothers-in-law in the family had any violent behavior.
Since then, Sister Xiuzhi has been very grateful to the Meng family. Meng Wanqiu and his wife saved her and her daughter's lives. Meng Aiguo and Li Lanxiang also sought justice for her and freed her from the oppression of Mrs. Zhou.
After reluctantly accepting Sister Xiuzhi's kindness, Meng Wanqiu walked towards home. Time passed so quickly that in the blink of an eye, she and Pei Xingzhi had been married for two years.
Just when Meng Wanqiu was thinking about something, the sound of a bicycle bell suddenly rang behind her. Meng Wanqiu subconsciously turned around to look.
On a simple country road, Pei Xingzhi rode a bicycle against the light. The wind blew up his coat, revealing the white tight vest underneath. His neat abdominal muscles and thin waist were clearly visible.
A smile appeared in Meng Wanqiu's eyes, and she stayed where she was, waiting for Pei Xingzhi to come over.
Pei Xingzhi curled his lips, rested his elbows on the handlebars of the bicycle, and lay prone with his upper body. He raised his eyes slightly and looked at Meng Wanqiu with his eyebrows raised, like a frivolous man who couldn't help but want to tease the girl he liked.
"Come on up, I'll give you a ride!"
Meng Wanqiu glanced at him and said, "No, I don't know you."
Pei Xingzhi hooked her hand, pulled her towards him, and whispered to Meng Wanqiu, "No way, we were sleeping in the same bed last night, and now you're turning your back on me. That's really heartless."
Thinking of last night's scene, Meng Wanqiu's ears began to burn. She pinched his waist and said unhappily, "Stop joking. Go home quickly. You haven't cooked yet?"
Two years passed, and the two became more and more compatible in that aspect. Pei Xingzhi became more and more shameless and dared to try anything. The originally bold Meng Wanqiu became more and more shameless, and was often embarrassed by Pei Xingzhi's bold actions.
Pei Xingzhi just laughed and stopped teasing Meng Wanqiu. Even though she was getting angry, he was still the one who had to be coaxed.
In the evening, Meng Aiguo returned home and Pei Xingzhi handed him the letter he had retrieved. Ever since the Meng family bought a bicycle, they had indirectly become the village messenger.
Every time I go to the city, I go to the post office to see if there are any letters from the villagers.
Meng Aiguo took it and saw the sender's address and name on the envelope. His eyes fixed, and he stood up and went back to his room before carefully tearing open the envelope.
After reading the contents of the letter, Meng Aiguo slowly exhaled, looking at Pei Xingzhi and Meng Wanqiu in the yard, with a look of joy in his eyes that everything had been settled.
Pei Xingzhi planned to build a pressurized water well to replace manual water extraction, which would save time and effort and be safer as there would be no need to worry about falling into the well.
The idea for the pressurized well came about when Pei Xingzhi discovered Meng Zhuangzhuang drawing water from a well by himself, without an adult by his side. Meng Zhuangzhuang was small and weak, and Pei Xingzhi was worried he might accidentally fall into the well. To avoid this potential safety hazard, he decided to build a pressurized well.
Pei Xingzhi went to the city to collect materials these days and started assembling it today.
Meng Wanqiu and Meng Zhuangzhuang were helping him. While Pei Xingzhi was installing the equipment, he was explaining the principles to the two people, one big and one small. He also asked a question from time to time and asked them to answer it.
Now Meng Wanqiu is no longer the same person she used to be. After two years of studying seriously with Pei Xingzhi, she has reached high school level in all subjects except foreign languages.
Pei Xingzhi planned to let Meng Wanqiu take the junior high school diploma and then the high school diploma. If the college entrance examination could be resumed in the future, Meng Wanqiu would be able to take the exam based on her academic qualifications.
"Xingzhi, come here for a moment."
Meng Aiguo shouted to Pei Xingzhi in the yard.
"good."
Pei Xingzhi washed his hands, patted Meng Wanqiu on the head, and asked her to help mix the cement, which would be used to fix the water pressure well later.
"Dad, what's going on?"
Meng Aiguo looked at Pei Xingzhi, who had become increasingly stronger in the past two years, and nodded with satisfaction. Only when a person is tall and strong can he have strength and avoid being bullied.
"Sit down first and let me explain." After pulling Pei Xingzhi to sit down, Meng Aiguo patted his strong arm and said, "Not bad, you're getting stronger."
Pei Xingzhi smiled lightly, embarrassed, "I've been eating well at home these past two years, and I've gained weight."
Meng Aiguo: "You need to gain some weight. You were a little thin before. This is fine."
Pei Xingzhi nodded.
"Xingzhi, it's like this. Please take a look at this letter first." Meng Aiguo handed the letter that had arrived earlier to Pei Xingzhi.
Pei Xingzhi raised his eyebrows, took it and opened it, his expression gradually becoming serious. After reading it, he frowned slightly and asked, "Dad, what do you mean by this?"
Meng Aiguo looked at Pei Xingzhi and asked with a smile, "Why, even at this time, you still don't understand?"
"No, Dad, that's not possible. You should leave such a precious spot to your eldest brother, or to Fengdong. He will graduate this year and will just happen to be admitted here, and--" Not to me.
"Okay, I know what you mean, but I shamelessly asked my former comrades to prepare this spot specifically for you."
Before Pei Xingzhi could finish his words, he was interrupted by Meng Aiguo.
Pei Xingzhi was stunned. This was specially prepared for him. He turned his head and looked at Meng Aiguo. There was a relieved smile in the other's eyes, as if he was looking at his own child, happy that Meng Aiguo had a good future.
"No, you can't, Dad. You should leave it to my eldest brother and the others." Pei Xingzhi shook his head. Now is the time. An opportunity to work in a factory cannot be bought even with money, let alone two.
A rural family with a worker is the pride of the whole family. There is no rural person who does not want to leave the countryside and work in the city to eat the government's food.
Pei Xingzhi couldn't accept it precisely because he knew the quota was precious. He didn't want to destroy the harmony of his family because of this matter. Although he knew that Meng Yanchun and his family were not such people, Pei Xingzhi, who had seen the ugliness of human nature, didn't dare to gamble with this matter.
He cherishes these hard-earned family members, so he is unwilling to do so.
"Xingzhi, didn't you see what's written here? Dachun and Xiaodong aren't suitable for the 715 Machinery General Factory. Dachun knows nothing about machinery, and Xiaodong just graduated. Your mother and I don't trust him going so far away. So, this spot can only be yours."
"I know what you're worried about, but let me tell you, I've been asking my comrades to help you find a way out for you for a year and a half, and it took me until now to find the right one for you."
"Xingzhi, child, I know you have talent. You are still young. Don't be trapped in this small village. Go out and try your luck. Don't let your father down."
Meng Aiguo stood up, put his rough hands on Pei Xingzhi's shoulders, looked down into Pei Xingzhi's eyes, and advised him earnestly.
Pei Xingzhi slowly lowered his head, closed his eyes, and tightly grasped the letter in his hand. "Please, let me think about it carefully."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
