Chapter 88 Parachute Arrival
The truck came to a stop at the bottom of the earthen slope at the entrance of the gate, and Shu Ran and Xu Junjun jumped out of the truck carrying their things.
Before the person could even stand up straight, the rocks that had been waiting on the slope excitedly rushed down.
"Teacher Shu! Teacher Shu! Is it true? Did you become an 'Outstanding' in the Corps?" Shi Tou asked breathlessly.
Shu Ran and Xu Junjun exchanged a glance, both somewhat surprised. The news spread so quickly?
"Who told you that?" Shu Ran smiled and patted Shi Tou's head.
"Everyone in the company is talking about it! They said the division called to inform us!" Shi Tou danced with excitement. "They even said there's a bonus! Teacher Shu, you're amazing!"
At this moment, Sister Wang also rushed over from the cafeteria after hearing the news, forgetting to take off her apron. "Teacher Shu, you're finally back! You must have had a long journey. Is everything... settled?" She asked tactfully, but the expectation in her eyes was obvious.
"It's settled, eldest sister." Shu Ran nodded, meeting Wang's gaze. "Those from the corps and division headquarters have all been selected."
"Great! Great!" Sister Wang slapped her thigh loudly, attracting the attention of several busy workers in the distance. "This has really brought great honor to our company and our school!"
The news spread quickly throughout the livestock company. As Shu Ran walked towards the women workers' dormitory, people kept greeting her, their tone more enthusiastic and respectful than usual.
"Teacher Shu is back!"
Congratulations, Teacher Shu!
"Our livestock company has produced a notable figure!"
Shu Ran responded with a smile, neither humble nor arrogant. She could feel the weight in those gazes. Some were genuinely happy for her, like Sister Wang and Zhang Guifen, family members who had benefited from the literacy campaign; some were simply there for the spectacle; and naturally, there were also those scrutinizing and weighing the situation.
Sure enough, before they even reached the dormitory entrance, Zhao Weidong strolled over from the direction of the company headquarters with his hands behind his back and an inscrutable expression on his face.
"Comrade Shu Ran is back? Did the performance review go well?"
"Successfully, Director Zhao." Shu Ran stopped and spoke respectfully.
"Yes, that's good." Zhao Weidong nodded, his gaze sweeping over Shu Ran's face as if to confirm something. "I heard... you've received several honors outside?"
"It's an affirmation of our livestock company's educational work by the organization and leaders." Shu Ran repeated what she had said to Director Sun, cleverly transforming personal honor into collective achievement.
Zhao Weidong hummed in response, his tone unreadable: "Honor is a good thing; it can boost morale. However..."
He then shifted his tone, returning to his recurring theme: "Production is currently at a critical juncture, with labor and resources stretched thin. We must maintain a balanced perspective and never allow these 'icing on the cake' matters to disrupt the overall production schedule. Don't you agree?"
His words were impeccable, but the core meaning was clear: I acknowledge that you have received the honor, but I will not allow you to use it to demand more resources or labor.
Shu Ran understood perfectly well, but showed no sign of it on her face. Instead, she nodded in agreement with his words: "Director Zhao is right. Production is the foundation, I understand. Educational work will definitely be carried out under the premise of serving the overall production situation, and will not cause trouble for the company."
Zhao Weidong seemed fairly satisfied with her tact and offered a few words of encouragement: "Be humble and avoid being arrogant," and "Keep up the good work," before leaving with his hands behind his back.
Xu Junjun pursed her lips and whispered after the person had walked away, "Look at the way he's acting, like he's afraid you'll get carried away with this little bit of honor."
Shu Ran smiled but didn't speak. She had expected this. Zhao Weidong had drawn a very clear line. This honor was more of a protective shield for her, making her more cautious about making things difficult for him, but it was far from enough to break his ironclad rule of prioritizing production.
Back in the dugout, Li Xiulan was sewing shoe soles. When she saw them come in, she quickly put down her work and looked at them with a questioning gaze.
"Xiulan," Shu Ran spoke up, her tone light and cheerful, "she's been selected, both by the corps and the division."
Li Xiulan's eyes lit up, and she said sincerely, "That's wonderful, Teacher Shu! You're amazing!"
Shu Ran saw what she was thinking, walked over and patted her on the shoulder: "You deserve credit for this too. You've helped so much with the literacy class, and you're doing a better and better job as a women's affairs officer. When the bonus comes in, let's make some plans and buy some things for the school and for ourselves."
Li Xiulan felt a little embarrassed by what she said, but her eyes lit up and she nodded vigorously.
That evening, Shu Ran was organizing the books and materials she had brought back from the division headquarters under the kerosene lamp. Sister Wang came in carrying a bowl of steaming hot vegetable soup and gently placed it on her table.
"Quickly, eat it while it's hot. You must be exhausted from running around these past two days," Sister Wang said, looking at her. "Don't just focus on being busy; your health is important."
"Thank you, big sister." Shu Ran felt a warmth in her heart.
"No need to thank me." Sister Wang sat down beside her bed and lowered her voice. "As for Director Zhao... don't take his words to heart. That's just the kind of person he is; he only cares about production targets. But now that you have this honor, he'll have to be a little more considerate."
"I know, big sister." Shu Ran stirred the bowl with a small spoon. "Honor is both pressure and motivation. Director Zhao has his difficulties. We should just do things at our own pace."
The next morning, Shu Ran appeared at Qiming Elementary School in high spirits.
The children had clearly heard the news from their parents, and the classroom atmosphere was exceptionally lively. Adil even led the way by shouting, "Hello, teacher! Congratulations!" as Shu Ran entered the classroom.
Shu Ran stood on the podium, looking at the energetic faces below. She cleared her throat and, instead of mentioning the honors, placed a booklet bound with old report paper and kraft paper on the podium.
This is the prototype of the first volume of her self-compiled practical Chinese language reader for the children of Qiming Primary School, which she prepared by combining her experience and ideas from her time in the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps and pastoral areas with the experience and ideas she gained from compiling teaching materials at the division headquarters.
"Class, we're not in a rush to learn new characters today." Shu Ran picked up the booklet. "Let's see what the characters we've learned can actually be used for."
She turned to a page where she found the text she had carefully written in drawing pencil, with simple line drawings by Xu Junjun.
"Stone, you read this passage," Shu Ran called on him.
Shi Tou stood up, chest puffed out, and read out, slightly stumbling but mostly smoothly: "Notice: All students will stay after school tomorrow afternoon to participate in the class cleaning. Bring your own rags. Qiming Elementary School. [Date]"
"Very good." Shu Ran gestured for him to sit down, then looked at the whole class, "Did everyone understand? What did Shi Tou say?"
"Let's do a big clean-up!" Tiger said eagerly.
"Bring a rag!" Xiao Ya added.
“Yes, this is a notice.” Shu Ran wrote the word “Notice” in big letters on the blackboard. “If we learn these words, we can understand the notices on the company’s blackboard, know when the meeting is, where the movie is shown, and we won’t miss important things.”
She turned to another page and called on Ayman this time. Ayman was a little shy, but under Shu Ran's encouraging gaze, she read aloud softly. The content was about how to record what chores she did for the family each day, such as "gathering a basket of firewood" or "feeding the chickens three times," accompanied by simple drawings.
“What Ayman is reading sounds like the things some of our classmates do at home,” Shu Ran prompted. “If we write down what we do with simple words and drawings, can we clearly tell our parents that we didn’t slack off today?”
Bayan and Saidar, who came from the pastoral area, lit up, seemingly very interested in this kind of knowledge that was so relevant to their lives.
Next, Shu Ran showed the simulated IOU format from the reader: "I borrowed a pencil from classmate XX today, to be returned tomorrow. Borrower: XXX."
Next came a lost and found notice: I have lost a pencil. If anyone finds it, please let me know. Thank you.
Instead of giving abstract lectures, she used readers closely connected to children's life experiences to demonstrate how literacy and culture can change lives, solve problems, and improve efficiency.
The classroom atmosphere gradually shifted from initial restlessness and curiosity to focus and reflection. For the first time, the children intuitively felt that every word they learned might come in handy at some point in the future.
"The honors our teachers have received," Shu Ran said, steers the conversation back on track. She holds up the self-compiled reader. "It's because every student at Qiming Elementary School is diligently learning this useful knowledge. It's because everything we do here makes our lives, our company, and our border region a little bit better. This glory comes from our attentive listening every day, our loud readings, and our neat handwriting."
She looked at the children and said, "Honors are proof of past efforts, but the future is more important. I hope you can all work with me to continue learning every word and every article in this reader, turning them into tools in our hands. Do you all have confidence?"
"Yes!" the children answered in unison. They may not fully understand the meaning of honor, but they felt the usefulness of learning and the expectations in their teacher's words.
Just then, a figure appeared at the classroom door. It was Zhao Weidong. He had arrived sometime earlier and had been standing there quietly listening for a while. Shu Ran noticed him, paused her lecture, and looked towards the door.
Zhao Weidong's gaze lingered on the self-compiled reader for a moment, then swept over the children sitting upright in the classroom, and finally nodded to Shu Ran before turning and leaving.
Shu Ran looked away, tapped the blackboard to bring the children's attention back to the lesson, "Alright. Let's continue. Next, we'll practice writing an IOU..."
*
Since Shu Ran returned to the livestock company with the honor, she clearly felt that some people in the company looked at her with more seriousness. Even Zhao Weidong's tone softened slightly when he mentioned Qiming Primary School at the production scheduling meeting. Of course, behind this softening was the unspoken message: "Now that you've received the honor, you must consider the overall situation and not get cocky."
Shu Ran was fully aware of this, and she methodically managed her small plot of land. The children in the pastoral area gradually adapted, and everything proceeded steadily along the established path.
That afternoon, a vehicle belonging to the regimental propaganda department stopped in front of the company headquarters.
The news was brought back by Xu Junjun from the regimental headquarters. She approached Shu Ran, who was grading students' homework, with a mysterious look on her face: "Ranran, I heard that you're getting a new teacher. She's been sent down directly from above, and I heard she's quite influential!"
Shu Ran paused, pen in hand, and looked up. The news was somewhat sudden. She had single-handedly built Qiming Elementary School from scratch, and there had never been any mention of sending more teachers. This time, sending people directly—what did that mean?
"Male or female?" Shu Ran asked.
"It's a man named Lin Xuezhou. It sounds like a very scholarly name." Xu Junjun curled her lip. "I secretly inquired about it, and they said it's to strengthen grassroots education and promote standardized teaching. I think it's because you received an honor that some people are getting restless, wanting a piece of the pie, or... stealing the fruits of your labor?"
Shu Ran shook her head: "Don't make wild guesses. Since the demonstration site was built, our company's educational work has become very heavy. It's a good thing that more teachers are sharing the burden."
Even so, she wasn't entirely unmoved. The way this person was brought in, and the formal explanation given, made her vaguely suspicious.
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