Chapter 80 Speech
After nearly three days of bumpy travel, everyone breathed a sigh of relief when the truck finally arrived at the headquarters of the Corps.
The city where the headquarters was located was naturally much more prosperous than the division headquarters and company headquarters. There were more houses and the clothing of pedestrians on the street was also more diverse, but it was still full of the simplicity and construction atmosphere unique to this era.
The car drove directly to the guesthouse arranged for the conference. It was a gray, three-story Soviet-style building that looked quite impressive.
As they got out of the car, Chen Yuanjiang took Shu Ran's wooden suitcase first and handed it to her, saying quickly in a low voice, "During the meeting, please observe the rules and pay attention to safety. If you have any problems, you can contact the conference organizing committee according to the procedures, or... inform Director Sun." He paused, then added, "Try not to go out alone at night."
Shu Ran looked up and met his deep gaze, which contained concern, responsibility, and perhaps something else, but it was quickly covered by his usual calmness.
She readily accepted the suitcase, saying, "Thank you for the reminder, Officer Chen. I will be careful. You've had a hard time on this trip too."
Chen Yuanjiang glanced at her, said nothing more, and turned to get his luggage.
Director Sun arranged for everyone to check into their rooms. Shu Ran was assigned a double room, sharing with a female representative from another division. The room had simple furniture and even a dial-up telephone.
Shu Ran put down her luggage, walked to the window, and looked at the representatives from various divisions coming and going in the courtyard downstairs. She was filled with curiosity about the new environment and anticipation for the meeting.
She turned around and began packing her luggage, preparing to be in top condition for tomorrow's meeting.
The auditorium of the Corps Headquarters was much simpler than Shu Ran had imagined.
The walls were plastered with yellow mud, with a few slogans hanging on them. The roof exposed wooden beams, and long wooden benches were neatly arranged. But there was electricity, and even a simple platform covered with a faded red cloth, making it more formal than any meeting Shu Ran had ever experienced.
Representatives from all divisions and regiments of the entire corps entered the venue one after another and took their seats in the pre-assigned areas.
Shu Ran followed Director Sun to their division headquarters—slightly towards the back of the middle. She carefully placed the cloth bag containing her speech and teaching aids on her lap, her palms slightly sweaty.
"Don't be nervous," Director Sun said in a low voice. "Just tell me what you did in the livestock company."
Shu Ran nodded, but her gaze unconsciously swept towards the back of the venue.
She saw Chen Yuanjiang.
He sat in the last row near the door, with two or three comrades who shared a similarly capable demeanor. He wasn't wearing a military uniform, but rather a dark blue Zhongshan suit. He tilted his head slightly, listening to the people beside him speaking in hushed tones, while his eyes scanned the entire venue, from the entrance to the windows, from the stage to the delegates below, leaving no corner unchecked.
When his gaze swept over the area where Shu Ran was, it barely lingered before naturally shifting away to continue his inspection. It was a purely professional alertness, devoid of any personal emotion.
Shu Ran, however, instinctively straightened her back after that glance.
The meeting began. The leader spoke, his tone filled with macro-level considerations for developing the frontier region. The people in the audience took careful notes, occasionally applauding.
When it was the turn of the division representatives to report, the atmosphere became more formal, but it was also filled with various technical terms.
As Shu Ran listened, her fingers unconsciously tightened around the cloth bag on her knee. These reports were vastly different from the folk remedies she had brought.
Finally, the host announced: "Next, please welcome Comrade Shu Ran, the person in charge of the literacy demonstration site of the Livestock Company of X Division, to introduce the experience of grassroots literacy work."
Shu Ran took a deep breath and, encouraged by Director Sun's gaze, rose and walked towards the stage. She could feel all eyes on her; a young woman from the lowest-ranking company. She could also sense that the gaze that had been steadily scanning the area behind her seemed to freeze for a moment.
After standing on the podium, she discovered that the microphone was broken, so she had to raise her voice.
"Distinguished leaders and comrades, I am Shu Ran. I am not an expert. I just worked with the staff, their families, and children in the livestock company, feeling my way across the river by trial and error, to carry out literacy work."
As she finished speaking, there was a slight commotion in the audience. This kind of opening was simply too unprofessional.
Shu Ran remained unmoved. She took out several notebooks bound together from waste newspapers, kraft paper, and even cigarette boxes from her cloth bag and held them up high: "These are the words written by the children in our company. At first, the paper was picked up from the ground, and the pens were charcoal sticks burned from wooden sticks. But now our children can write their own names and calculate simple work points."
Then, she took out several ledgers kept by the women, with crooked numbers and pictures of items drawn on them: "These are the tofu ledgers kept by the older women in our family factory. At first, they could only draw circles, but now they can write down most of the item names."
Finally, she showed several blurry photos that Yang Zhenhua had helped take—children writing on the ground, and women recognizing receipts by the stove.
“We don’t have any profound theories, we just believe in one principle: what you learn must be immediately applicable! When teaching herdsmen, we start by teaching them the names of veterinary drugs; when teaching their families, we start by teaching them cloth ration coupons and oil ration coupons; when teaching children, we start with their names and work numbers. The method is old-fashioned and slow to show results, but it lays a solid foundation!”
She told a series of specific stories: how a child cried with excitement after correctly calculating work points for the first time, how women understood their grain ration slips on their own for the first time, how children from ethnic minorities wrote letters to their families using the Chinese characters they had just learned... There were no empty words, only vivid people and events.
The audience was completely silent. Many grassroots representatives' eyes lit up, and they nodded repeatedly.
Several representatives who appeared to be government officials in the front row frowned, clearly finding this too disrespectful. Shu Ran noticed that the elderly man sitting in the main seat, who had been leaning back in his chair, had somehow leaned forward slightly, his fingers lightly tapping the table, his gaze fixed on what she was displaying.
When she finished speaking, there was a moment of silence in the audience, followed by applause that was much more enthusiastic than before, especially the applause from the grassroots areas, which was particularly sincere.
Shu Ran bowed and stepped down from the stage, returning to her seat, her heart still pounding. Director Sun quietly gave her a thumbs-up.
During the lunch break, the delegates dispersed around the auditorium to rest and chat. Shu Ran was still thinking about the possible Q&A session in the afternoon, so she went alone to a relatively quiet spot by the red willows on the side of the auditorium, took out her speech notes, and wanted to reorganize her thoughts.
The thought of being questioned by those representatives with high theoretical levels made her feel a little anxious.
Just then, she saw Chen Yuanjiang and a middle-aged cadre in the uniform of the headquarters' security department walk by, talking in hushed tones. They appeared to be on a routine patrol.
Chen Yuanjiang's gaze met hers for a fleeting moment, but he remained expressionless before naturally looking away and continuing his conversation with his companion. The two slowly walked away.
Shu Ran let out a soft breath, preparing to continue reading the manuscript, when her gaze fell upon a slightly worn magazine that had fallen onto the stone bench beside her. She walked over and picked it up, wondering who had left it behind. A quick flip through it revealed a page with a barely noticeable fold at the corner.
The article was titled: "Avoid Forcing Growth: A Brief Analysis of the Lessons Learned from Overly Aggressive Literacy Campaigns." It criticized cases where, in pursuit of numerical targets, the actual learning capacity of the masses was disregarded, and complex teaching materials were forcibly promoted, ultimately leading to public resistance and the failure of the campaign.
Shu Ran's heart skipped a beat. The discussion in the afternoon would definitely involve questions and challenges, and the core argument of this article was her strongest basis for response—to be realistic and proceed step by step.
She immediately looked up to look for Chen Yuanjiang, only to see him and the cadre had already reached the corner of the auditorium, seemingly stopping to give instructions. Shu Ran, clutching the magazine, quickly walked over.
“Officer Chen,” she said softly, “you left your magazine behind.”
Chen Yuanjiang turned around, his gaze calmly sweeping over the magazine in her hand, then looking at her with no expression on his face. He simply hummed in response and took the magazine from her.
"Thank you." His tone was so casual, as if he had really forgotten something.
The security officer next to him glanced at Shu Ran curiously. Chen Yuanjiang introduced her simply: "Comrade Shu Ran from the X Division, the one who spoke at the meeting just now."
The official immediately showed an expression of realization and admiration: "Oh! It's you! Well said! We've all been praising you for your insightful remarks!"
Shu Ran smiled politely, and when she looked at Chen Yuanjiang again, she only saw his profile as he turned away, and a sentence he said to his companion: "...Go over there and make sure the venue for the group discussion this afternoon is okay."
The afternoon group discussion, as expected, hinted at a storm brewing. Shu Ran felt much more at ease. She looked up, her gaze unconsciously sweeping back to the seat near the door in the back row.
Chen Yuanjiang was still there, his posture seemingly unchanged, still vigilantly surveying the entire scene.
But Shu Ran knew that true protection often came under the guise of rules and distance.
In the afternoon's group discussions, which were divided according to professional fields, Shu Ran was assigned to the literacy and basic education group.
The meeting was held in a spacious, single-story classroom. The room was filled with smoke and crowded with people. The atmosphere was more casual than the morning's meeting, but also more tense.
Shu Ran had just found a seat by the window when the discussion began.
Sure enough, the middle-aged cadres who had been frowning during her speech that morning were in this group. The discussion was chaired by a deputy director of the headquarters' education department, surnamed Wang, who wore thick glasses and spoke slowly and deliberately.
First, several representatives spoke, but the content was still in the form of reports, focusing more on achievements and less on practical problems.
When it was Shu Ran's turn, she learned from her experience that morning and spoke concisely, only adding that the livestock company flexibly adjusted the literacy campaign time according to the production season, and how the "Little Health Worker" program was combined with cultural learning.
She had barely finished speaking when a clean-cut cadre from a division headquarters adjusted his glasses and spoke up, his tone laced with obvious superiority: "Comrade Shu Ran's experience is very vivid, ah, very specific. However, I believe that literacy work is first and foremost a political task, and ideological guidance must be given top priority. Isn't it a bit... pragmatic to overemphasize ticket recognition and work points, like in the livestock company? Won't it dilute the theme of ideological education? Our division has always insisted on teaching theory first, then learning characters, to ensure that the direction doesn't deviate."
As soon as he finished speaking, several people nodded in agreement.
Shu Ran was prepared. She remained calm and composed, even displaying a humble smile: "This leader is right. Ideological guidance is extremely important. When we, the faculty and staff, learn about work points and cloth coupons, the first thing we do is clearly explain that these work points and cloth coupons represent the state and the collective's affirmation and distribution of our labor results, and are a concrete manifestation of serving the people. If we detach ourselves from these tangible things and just talk about them in abstract terms, the masses will likely find it difficult to understand. Didn't Chairman Mao also teach us to be realistic and pragmatic?"
She cleverly deflected the accusation of "pragmatism" with "seeking truth from facts," and even pinpointed the highest directive.
The fair-skinned cadre choked for a moment, his face flushing slightly: "You...you're twisting the facts! Systematic political theory study is necessary!"
“Yes, it’s necessary.” Shu Ran continued, her tone still calm. “But for the families of employees who have to do ten hours of heavy physical labor a day and can only read a few words by the light of a kerosene lamp at night, is it more important to first understand the word ‘exploitation’ or to first understand how much food ration they should receive this month and not have it deducted? We believe that only when the masses benefit from learning will they truly believe that learning is useful and will be more motivated to learn more profound principles. This is called ‘only when they feel it can they understand it’.”
"Well said!" A loud voice rang out. It belonged to a dark-skinned middle-aged man sitting in the corner, whose attire suggested he was a representative from a more remote production and construction corps.
“We learned a lesson from this: if you start by reciting quotations, the masses won’t understand, they won’t sit still, and in the end, everyone will leave! We have to do what Comrade Shu Ran said: learn whatever is useful!”
“Exactly! We have to get people willing to learn first!” another representative chimed in.
The room immediately split into two factions, who began to argue.
Deputy Director Wang tapped the table to quiet everyone down, then turned to Shu Ran: "Comrade Shu Ran, your suggestion to adjust teaching time according to the production season is very creative. But wouldn't that be too scattered, making it difficult to guarantee teaching quality and progress?"
This question is more specific and more sophisticated.
Shu Ran calmly replied, "Director Wang, we believe that quality is not reflected in how beautiful the lesson plans are or how fast the pace is, but in how much the masses truly learn and can apply it. During busy farming seasons, we teach children to recognize the names of farm tools and crops during our breaks; when the herds migrate in pastoral areas, we teach them directions. It may seem slow, but what they learn is unforgettable. On the contrary, if we rush the pace and neglect production, the masses will have resistance, and that is truly a lack of quality."
She paused, looked at the fair-skinned cadre who had previously raised the issue, and said with a hint of seeking advice, "Like what this leader just mentioned about studying quotations, we are also studying them. But we don't just memorize them dryly; we combine them with real events. The children understand immediately, and they remember them much better than just memorizing the text."
The fair-skinned cadre opened his mouth, but couldn't find the words to refute it, so he could only lower his head dejectedly.
The atmosphere of the discussion completely shifted, with more and more grassroots representatives beginning to talk about their practical difficulties and seek advice from Shu Ran.
Shu Ran answers every question and shares practical tips that can be applied immediately, such as how to save money when practicing calligraphy with a sand tray and how to encourage students to teach and learn from each other.
At the end of the meeting, several delegates surrounded Shu Ran, asking for her mailing address and saying they wanted to keep in touch.
Deputy Director Wang also came over and said to her kindly, "Comrade Xiao Shu, your thinking is very flexible and your methods are practical. Write a detailed report after the meeting and submit it. The headquarters can consider publishing it in the internal communications to promote it."
"Thank you, Director Wang! I will get it sorted out as soon as possible!" Shu Ran quickly agreed, feeling relieved.
This trip to headquarters was worthwhile.
As she packed her things to leave, she glanced up and saw Chen Yuanjiang's figure flash by outside the back door and window of the classroom. It seemed he was just passing by on a routine patrol, without stopping.
Shu Ran walked out of the classroom, the afterglow of the setting sun shining on the poplar trees in the courtyard. She felt more confident for the upcoming meeting.
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