Chapter 40 Stop thinking about crooked ways all day long. ...
In the scorching heat of July, the sun on the Gobi Desert made the saline ground steam. The rammed earth walls of Qiming Primary School were sturdy, keeping out most of the heat, but the sheds were still as stuffy as steamers.
Shu Ran brushed her sweaty hair aside and looked at the pitiful few pieces of lime, half an eraser, and a stack of rough notebooks cut from the back of discarded reports on the lectern.
The worst thing is the chalk—the kids have been holding chunks of chalk all the time lately, and their little hands are all chapped.
"We need to think of something," she muttered to herself, her voice not loud, but it made the dozen or so heads below her, of varying sizes, lift up. Shi Tou sat upright, Adil frowned as he stared at his crooked handwriting, while Bayan and Saidar, not yet used to holding a pen, had their fingers taut.
"Teacher, are we out of lime?" Stone asked softly, with a hint of worry.
"Yes, they're almost gone." Shu Ran nodded frankly. "So this afternoon, Teacher, go to the supply and marketing cooperative to see if you can bring back some treasures."
The children cheered softly, then obediently quieted down. Shu Ran put the remaining lime blocks into a small box.
afternoon.
The straw curtains hanging at the entrance of the supply and marketing cooperative couldn't block the heat. The woman sitting behind the counter was no longer the same one; instead, a lean, middle-aged man surnamed Hu was there. He was said to have been transferred from the regimental headquarters.
"Comrade Hu, could you please check if we have any pencils, notebooks, or erasers? Especially chalk, any amount will do." Shu Ran wiped away her sweat.
Comrade Hu looked up, recognized her, and smiled: "Oh, Teacher Shu! Come in quickly! You are a hero of our company, both wise and brave!"
As he spoke, he deftly rummaged through the counter. "We still have some pencil stubs; the troupe just allocated a few, so we can use them sparingly. Erasers are truly gone; even the troupe's supply and marketing cooperative is out of stock. Notebooks…"
He pulled out a stack of rough paper printed with the words "Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps Labor Insurance". "You can write on the back of this, will you make do with it?"
Shu Ran's eyes lit up: "This is great! Thank you, Comrade Hu! Where's the chalk?"
Comrade Hu spread his hands: "Teacher Shu, there's really no way around it. Let alone our small company, even the regimental headquarters is in dire need! I heard that the division headquarters and schools are also using it sparingly. There's not enough transport capacity, and this stuff is heavy and takes up a lot of space. We're prioritizing transporting more important supplies. Why don't you wait a little longer?"
"We can't wait, Comrade Hu, the children are waiting to learn." Shu Ran sighed, but didn't complain. She knew that in this day and age, having a few pencil stubs and work safety paper was already a pleasant surprise. She deftly took out her money and bought the pencil stubs and a thick stack of work safety paper notebooks.
"Don't worry, Teacher Shu, I'll save it for you first next time we have stock!" Comrade Hu said while packing the items. "Everyone's been talking about you. You're teaching the kids to read and writing, and you even help catch bad guys. You're amazing!"
Shu Ran smiled, thanked them, and left the supply and marketing cooperative carrying the hard-won "three treasures of the study" (writing brush, ink stick, inkstone, and paper). The chalk problem would have to be solved by herself.
The salt flats were blindingly white, steaming with heat. Shu Ran didn't go straight back to school, but instead strolled along the edge of the company, her eyes scanning every trace on the Gobi Desert like searchlights.
"Perhaps I could try charcoal pencils..." she murmured. The knowledge she'd learned in her previous life churned in her mind. Willow twigs? No, too soft. Poplar twigs? Perhaps she could try. She picked up a few fallen, relatively straight, withered poplar branches. Then she saw several patches of ashes from someone burning something, squatted down, and carefully sifted through them, picking out several thoroughly burned, hard pieces of charcoal.
She took the treasure she had found back to the "laboratory" that had been converted from an abandoned tool shed—which was actually just a small open space partitioned off from a corner of a classroom.
She sharpened a poplar branch and tried to write on the safety paper, but it was too hard; it scratched the paper and the writing was faint. The charcoal block could write, but it crumbled at the slightest touch, leaving her hands and the paper covered in black residue.
"It needs to be secured..." she pondered. Remembering some information she'd read before, she thought she could use some adhesive. Glue? Forget about it. Paste? Maybe she could give that a try.
She went to the canteen to ask Sister Wang for some paste. She was squatting on the ground, struggling with the charcoal pencil, trying to stick the charcoal shavings onto the sharpened poplar branch, when a cool voice drifted over: "Hey, Comrade Shu Ran, what kind of invention are you working on now? This is all black, don't ruin the good paper."
Shu Ran didn't even look up, but she knew who it was. Zhou Wenbin leaned against the door frame, his white shirt sleeves rolled up to his elbows, a self-assured, slightly pitying smile on his face.
"Get the children some pens they can write with." Shu Ran's hands didn't stop moving, her tone was calm.
Zhou Wenbin strolled in, glanced at the mess of charcoal scraps and sticky, failed attempts on the floor, and shook his head. "Shu Ran, save your breath. If Zhao Weidong knew you were wasting your time on this stuff, he'd criticize you for neglecting your duties. Why not just settle down, keep those kids in the company occupied, coast along, and wait for your chance to go back to the city? That's the proper way out." He lowered his voice, a hint of seduction in it. "The path I told you about last time, are you really not going to reconsider?"
Shu Ran's heart tightened, but she remained outwardly calm. She tossed aside the crookedly wrapped "charcoal pencil," dusted off her hands, stood up, and looked directly at Zhou Wenbin: "Technician Zhou, you're really meddling. If the kids want to learn, I have to find a way to teach them. Just coasting along and waiting to go back to the city? That's your path, Zhou Wenbin, not mine." She deliberately raised her voice, "Stop thinking about crooked ways all day."
"You!" Zhou Wenbin was speechless, his face darkening.
"Teacher Shu! Teacher Shu!" A clear voice called out. Li Xiulan, carrying a small basket, ran in breathlessly, her face flushed from the sun. She immediately saw Zhou Wenbin there, paused for a moment, and a hint of panic flashed across her face, but she quickly looked at Shu Ran: "Teacher Shu, I... I heard you were looking for something that can be used for writing? Do you think this will work?"
She proudly handed over the basket. Inside were several grayish-white, soft stones, like some kind of mineral. There were also some broken animal bones, which looked like sheep leg bones, charred black from being burned.
“I picked it up next to the lime kiln waste pile behind the sideline production team! This white stone leaves a mark with just one scratch, much better than clods of dirt. This bone is thoroughly burned, it’s very hard, and you can write on it!” Li Xiulan’s eyes sparkled, with a hint of expectant praise, completely ignoring Zhou Wenbin beside her.
Shu Ran was overjoyed. She picked up a piece of white ore and drew it on the work paper. Sure enough, it left a clear grayish-white mark. Although it wasn't as smooth as chalk, it would definitely work. The burnt sheep bone, with its dense texture, might also be usable if sharpened with a knife.
"That's wonderful, Xiulan! You're a lifesaver!" Shuran praised sincerely, picking up a white stone. "This is called limestone, it's good stuff. The bone charcoal pencil is good too! You've been a great help!"
Li Xiulan blushed even more at the compliment, smiled with pursed lips, and then, as if just noticing Zhou Wenbin, quickly glanced at him, her smile fading slightly, and greeted him politely, "Technician Zhou."
Zhou Wenbin looked at Li Xiulan, a gentle smile appearing on his face, and said softly, "Little Xiulan, you're here too. What a coincidence. You two go ahead with your work."
As he spoke, he paced away, humming poetic verses.
Only after he had walked away did Li Xiulan seem to breathe a sigh of relief, subconsciously brushing her hair aside and relaxing her posture.
Shu Ran patted her hand: "Xiulan, you're so clever! How did you come up with the idea of looking for it at the lime kiln?"
Li Xiulan was a little embarrassed: "I... I overheard the old storekeeper mention it when I was making tofu. He said there are all sorts of strange things in that waste pile. I thought you might need it, so I went to look for it. I'm glad I could help you!" Her tone was sincere, but deep in her eyes, there seemed to be something else on her mind, though it was quickly overshadowed by the joy of finding the materials.
Over the next few days, Shu Ran and Li Xiulan became a "scavenging duo".
They searched for more suitable limestone blocks in the Gobi Desert and rummaged through the company's garbage dumps and canteen coal ash for thoroughly burned, hard animal bones. Shu Ran was responsible for breaking large pieces of limestone into smaller, hand-held pieces, while Li Xiulan carefully used an old kitchen knife to whittle sheep leg bones into rough but practical "bone charcoal pencils."
This kind of thing couldn't be kept secret. One day, Zhao Weidong strolled to the classroom door with his hands behind his back and saw Shu Ran leading a few older children to knock stones at the door. His brows furrowed again.
"What is Comrade Shu Ran up to now? All this banging and clanging. Instead of wasting time on this, why not..." He instinctively wanted to scold her, but then softened his tone.
Shu Ran picked up a piece of limestone that had been chipped away and wrote several large characters that read "Labor is glorious" on the old door panel next to it. The grayish-white characters were clear.
She turned her head, a hint of slyness on her face, but her eyes were clear and honest: "Director Zhao, look, this is 'chalk' grown in our Gobi Desert. It's free, no tickets required, and it doesn't delay the children's learning to read at all! It's a piece of chalk made from bone, and it can write, even more durable than a pencil! I call this self-reliance and solving problems! Don't you think so?"
Zhao Weidong looked at the clear words on the door panel, then at the simple but effective writing tools in the basket next to him. He opened his mouth, then finally smiled and said, "Be careful! Don't hurt your hands!" Then he put his hands behind his back and walked away quickly.
The children looked at each other and covered their mouths to chuckle. Adil imitated Zhao Weidong's posture with his hands behind his back, taking a couple of steps before being gently poked by a stone and managing to suppress his laughter.
Watching from the side, Li Xiulan couldn't help but smile, but when her eyes glanced in the direction of the sideline production team, a faint layer of emotion clouded her expression. Zhou Wenbin seemed to be going to the sideline production team to "guide the work" more frequently these past few days…
Shu Ran saw all of this but said nothing. She simply handed a newly sharpened bone charcoal pencil to Li Xiulan: "Xiulan, try this. Is it easy to use? We need to prepare a set for Bayan and Saidar as well."
"Yes!" Li Xiulan responded, taking the pen and temporarily setting aside her worries. Helping Teacher Shu and the children made her feel at ease.
Shu Ran weighed the heavy homemade chalk in her hand, looked at the children's bright eyes, and thought to herself: The chalk problem is temporarily relieved, but Li Xiulan... I need to find an opportunity to have a good talk with her.
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