Chapter 57 Learning Culture
For the first few days, Sister Wang was full of energy. She carried an old cloth bag containing a new notebook and a pencil given to her by Shu Ran—although she was still a bit awkward using it, she had a very impressive air about her.
Every morning, before the company headquarters even sounds the whistle, she starts her investigation with great enthusiasm.
The first stop is usually the tofu shop. Li Xiulan was busy, sweating profusely, adding brine and pressing the tofu into bags. When she saw Sister Wang come in, she lifted her apron to wipe her hands and asked with a smile, "Representative Wang, what are your instructions today?"
"Forget about instructions," Sister Wang said in a loud voice, "Let's see if you're having any difficulties. Do you have enough beans? Is the millstone working properly?"
“It’s all good, it’s all good,” Li Xiulan said hurriedly, then lowered her voice, “It’s just… it’s just that the account for the salt we got last time, Accountant Shi said I didn’t remember it clearly and asked me to rewrite it, I…” Her face showed embarrassment and shame.
"Hey! I don't think it's a big deal!" Sister Wang waved her hand, showing a bit of a general's demeanor. "I'll talk to Accountant Shi later! Our Xiulan is busy all day long, how can she be as particular as those who sit in offices? Just keep it in mind!" These words warmed Li Xiulan's heart, and she worked even harder.
After leaving the tofu shop, Sister Wang wandered over to the family plot in the residential area. Zhang Guifen was bending over weeding when she saw her, straightened up, and patted her back: "Sister Wang, have you eaten?"
"I've already eaten! Your cabbages look pretty good!" Sister Wang squatted down, picking at the lush green cabbages. "But shouldn't you add some fertilizer?"
“That’s right!” Zhang Guifen exclaimed, as if she had found a kindred spirit. “I’ve told my husband about it several times, but he’s busy digging the canal all day long and doesn’t have time for this!”
“Men are all like this! You can’t count on them!” Sister Wang said with a look of deep agreement. “I’ll ask Old Chen from the maintenance team later to see if he can get some fermented manure to help you out of this emergency.”
"Oh! Thank you so much, elder sister!" Zhang Guifen was overjoyed.
She visited several other homes with elderly people and children, asking if they needed medicine and if the children were fussy. She encountered the Sun family's daughter-in-law hanging laundry at her door; although there was still some awkwardness between them, they nodded to each other as a greeting.
Sister Wang even stopped and praised, "These sheets are so shiny!" The Sun family's daughter-in-law was taken aback for a moment, but her expression softened.
After a few days, Sister Wang felt she was doing a pretty good job as a women's representative. Everyone really respected her, and they were willing to chat with her about anything, no matter how trivial. She felt like the "head of the family" for the women in the company, and her heart was filled with a sense of satisfaction from being needed.
However, this good fortune didn't last long. Before he could fully enjoy his role as the patriarch, reality gave him a harsh reality check.
That afternoon, Secretary Liu called her to the company headquarters and handed her a piece of paper and a new register.
"Comrade Guilan, you've done a good job, and the feedback from the masses has been very positive," Secretary Liu said, first offering his affirmation. Then, he changed the subject, "However, our work needs to be more meticulous and standardized. This is the newly issued 'Family Information Statistics Form' from above, which requires us to get a clear picture of the situation. Please compile a list as soon as possible of all the women in our company, including their names, ages, hometowns, education levels, special skills, and major difficulties in their families. This will provide a basis for issuing subsidies and organizing activities in the future."
Sister Wang took the form and the brand-new registration book. The dense grid and small print on the form made her dizzy.
"Secretary, do we have to fill in all of these?" she asked hesitantly.
“Yes, not a single one can be missed; that’s a work requirement.” Secretary Liu’s tone was gentle but firm. “You’re familiar with the situation and the people involved, so you’re the most suitable person to handle this. Get it done and submit it as soon as possible.”
Sister Wang held the stack of papers, feeling it was heavier than carrying a sack of wheat. She reluctantly agreed, "Okay, Secretary, I'll get it done as soon as possible."
For the next two days, Sister Wang continued to visit each household, but instead of just chatting, she went with a task in mind.
She asked detailed questions, and the answers were fragmented. She tried hard to remember everything she heard: Zhao's wife was thirty-two, from Linyi, Shandong, and knew how to embroider; her mother-in-law had a chronic cough. Qian's wife was twenty-eight, from Xinyang, Henan; she was efficient at work but had many children, a heavy burden. Sun's wife… wait, what was Sun's wife's name again? I think her surname was Zhou?
Information flooded into her mind like a tidal wave, quickly turning it into a jumbled mess. She found herself unable to distinguish between "Zhao Qianshi" and "Qian Zhaoshi," confused the difficulties of the Zhang and Li families, and even mixed up the ages of many people.
That evening, she sat at the small table on the kang (heated brick bed) in her dugout, under the dim light of a kerosene lamp, and unfolded the brand-new register and the form that made her scalp tingle. She picked up a pencil, her hand trembling slightly. A jumble of information rushed out of her mind, but she didn't know how to put it into those squares.
She knows a few characters. For example, she can barely write her own name, "Wang Guilan," although the "wood" and "earth" parts of the character "Gui" are always separated, and the three horizontal strokes and one vertical stroke of the character "Lan" are written crookedly. She also knows simple characters such as "man," "woman," "work," and "separate."
However, the terms "place of origin," "education level," and "special skills" on the form were too unfamiliar to her, and the sheer number of strokes made her dizzy.
She tried writing in the register. She wrote "Zhao" first, a character she had seen many times and knew how to write. Then she got stuck. What was the name of Zhao's wife? "Shuhui"? How did she write "Shu"? She only remembered that there seemed to be a "Shu" character in it, but what else was next to it? "Hui" was even more difficult.
Her face flushed red as she drew the word "uncle" on the paper, then added a few more random strokes next to it, making it look like a scribble to herself.
Age? "Thirty-two"? She knows the characters for "three" and "ten," and she also knows the character for "two," but which grid should she write them in together? Place of origin? "Shandong"? She can draw the character for "mountain," but what about the character for "east"? She only remembers the general shape, and when she writes it, the left horizontal stroke is long, the right horizontal stroke is short, and there's a bump in the middle, making it look neither fish nor fowl.
As she drew, she became confused herself. Was she writing about the Zhao family or the Qian family?
Frustration gradually overwhelmed her confidence and enthusiasm from the day. She angrily threw down her pencil and ruffled her hair.
"What's wrong? Who are you arguing with?" a voice came from the doorway. It was Li Xiulan, who had just finished working at the tofu shop and was carrying an empty basin. She had obviously come to check after hearing the commotion.
Sister Wang was startled and quickly ran her hands through her hair, trying to regain her composure. She forced a smile and said, "No...nothing, it's just that this pen isn't working properly." She instinctively tried to use her body to block the pile of things on the table that were bothering her.
Li Xiulan approached curiously and, by the light, saw the spread-out forms and paper covered with strange symbols on the table, as well as the pencil lying to one side. Although she wasn't very literate, she understood that this must be related to Sister Wang's new position as a representative.
"Is it...is it a form that the company made us fill out?" Li Xiulan asked cautiously, with a hint of sympathy. "This thing is really tedious...I get a headache every time I keep track of tofu accounts."
Sister Wang reached out and haphazardly closed the forms and notebook, shoved them into the back of the kang table, covered them with other odds and ends, and forced an unnatural smile: "No...nothing! Just some scraps of paper, just looking at them!"
Just then, Shu Ran returned after grading the homework. As soon as she entered the room, she sensed that something was wrong in the dugout.
Li Xiulan, being simple-minded, didn't notice much and continued to laugh, saying, "Women's representatives are so busy! Big things have already happened so soon after taking office!"
Sister Wang felt a pang in her heart, but she laughed it off: "It's nothing serious... just running errands... well, you guys go wash up and go to sleep, I'm tired too, I'm going to sleep!"
As she spoke, she took off her coat, turned over, and lay down facing the wall, clearly indicating that she did not want to talk anymore.
Shu Ran and Li Xiulan exchanged a glance. Li Xiulan was a little confused and mouthed to Shu Ran, "What's wrong?" Shu Ran gently shook her head, signaling her not to ask.
At night, Shu Ran vaguely heard rustling sounds coming from the opposite kang (heated brick bed), along with a sigh. She knew that the strong-willed Sister Wang must have encountered a problem that she couldn't solve on her own, and was too ashamed to ask for help.
Moreover, this problem is probably related to her newly appointed position as the women's director.
The next morning, Sister Wang was the first to get up again. She dressed herself neatly as usual, but she couldn't hide the dark circles under her eyes and the frown between her brows.
Instead of chatting and laughing with Shu Ran and the others as usual, she quickly took two bites of the cold cornbread, put a register in her pocket, and went straight to the company headquarters to find Accountant Shi.
Accountant Shi's desk was piled high with ledgers and reports; she was so busy she didn't even look up.
"Comrade Wang Guilan, what's the matter?"
"Accountant Shi, could you do me a favor? This form... I don't recognize all the words on it, could you..."
Accountant Shi glanced at her from the top of his glasses, sighed, took the form, and read it aloud quickly: "Name, age, place of origin, education level, special skills, main family difficulties. That's all, just fill it out."
"No... I mean, what exactly should be filled in these boxes..." Sister Wang wanted to ask more details.
Accountant Shi, however, was already impatient. She handed the form back to him, saying, "I still have a bunch of reports waiting to be sent to the regimental headquarters! This form isn't difficult; just ask someone who can read. If that doesn't work, you can ask Teacher Shu." After saying that, she buried herself back in the ledger.
Sister Wang stood there awkwardly, clutching the form, her face burning with embarrassment. How could she possibly bother Shu Ran every day?
The statistical work reached a stalemate, and another unpleasant thing followed.
The company's logistics department notified us that there was a batch of used work gloves and aprons that had been disposed of, and family members who wanted them could pick them up that afternoon. Sister Wang quickly ran off to inform them.
She ran to Zhao Weidong's house and said to his wife, a woman surnamed Qian, "Qian's wife, go pick up your gloves and apron this afternoon!"
The other person stared at her blankly: "Sister Wang, who are you looking for?"
Sister Wang was also stunned: "Aren't you Old Qian's wife?"
“My husband is Zhao Weidong! My maiden name is Qian!” Zhao Weidong’s wife said, both amused and exasperated.
Sister Wang slapped her forehead, blushing deeply, and quickly apologized before rushing to Technician Qian's house. However, Technician Qian's wife was out at work, and no one was home. When the supplies were distributed in the afternoon, Technician Qian's wife didn't receive any, and her face darkened. She implied that Sister Wang had been unfair and deliberately left her out.
Sister Wang was speechless and felt extremely aggrieved. She had meant well, but because she couldn't remember the person's name, this misunderstanding occurred, and she even got blamed.
In the evening, she walked into the classroom dejectedly. Shu Ran had just seen off the last few students and was wiping the blackboard.
"Oh, I'm so angry!" Before Shu Ran could even speak, Sister Wang slapped her thigh and began to complain.
Shu Ran put down the eraser and asked with concern, "Big sister, what's wrong? You look so pale."
"Who else could it be? Just that piece of tattered paper!" Sister Wang angrily pulled a crumpled piece of paper from her bosom and placed it on the podium.
Shu Ran took it and saw that it was a "Family Information Statistics Form" issued by the company. It required statistics on the age, place of origin, education level, special skills, and main difficulties of the women in each household.
The table wasn't overly complicated, but for people with limited literacy, it was like a foreign language.
"Secretary Liu asked me to find out the situation of the families in our company, so that we would have a basis for organizing activities and distributing subsidies in the future."
Pointing to the form, Sister Wang said, "I've been running around like crazy these past few days, asking all sorts of questions, and I finally managed to memorize everyone's information! But when I looked at this form, I was dumbfounded!"
She became more and more agitated as she spoke: "Where should I fill in these little squares? The characters recognize me, but I don't recognize them! I took the form to Accountant Shi to ask, but she's so busy she doesn't have time to read it to me word by word. She told me to find someone who can read. Who can I ask? I can't just bother you every day, can I?"
Shu Ran took the form and read it softly: "Name... Wang, Gui, Lan. Age... Forty-two. Place of origin... Henan, Fugou. Education level... Literate, illiterate, or semi-literate, illiterate..."
As Sister Wang listened, her face flushed red and then turned pale. Especially when she heard the words "illiterate or semi-illiterate," her lips twitched down and her eyes dimmed.
"Special skills..." Shu Ran paused, then looked at Sister Wang, "Sister, what are your special skills? For example... are you particularly good at sewing shoe soles? Do you cook well? Or are you exceptionally efficient at housework?"
"What kind of special skill is this?" Sister Wang was stunned for a moment, a little confused. "In our rural family, who doesn't know how to sew shoe soles or cook a meal? This... how do I write this down?"
Shu Ran sighed and pushed the form back: "It is indeed a bit difficult. How about this, sister, you tell me, and I'll fill it out for you."
“No way!” Sister Wang immediately shook her head. “You’re busy as a bee all day long, how can we let you do this all the time? Besides, this isn’t the first or second time! Secretary Liu said there will be many more things like this in the future!”
Sister Wang grew increasingly frustrated as she spoke, her voice lowering: "Ran, tell me... am I really incapable of being a women's representative? I can't even write a few words, and I always mess up announcements... I'm just a hindrance! I might as well go back to growing vegetables..."
Seeing Sister Wang's head drooping, all her previous enthusiasm gone, Shu Ran felt a pang of sadness. She had only thought about what Sister Wang had, but overlooked the fact that basic literacy skills were essential for the work.
In this position, the inconvenience caused by semi-literacy is magnified infinitely.
"Big sister, please don't say that." Shu Ran put down the form and her tone became serious. "This is not your fault. Our company didn't pay much attention to this kind of work before, and now that it's suddenly become formalized, it's normal for you to feel uncomfortable."
She pondered for a moment: "People mix up names because it's easy to get confused if you just rely on your brain to remember them. If you write them down, it's less likely to make mistakes."
"I'd like to write it!" Sister Wang looked up, her face full of helplessness. "But can I even write it? I can only write my own name. My husband taught me that back then, and it looks like a chicken scratching its head. I know a few characters, but not many!"
"Then let's learn!" Shu Ran looked at her, her eyes brightening. "Big sister, have you ever thought about learning to read and write, learning about culture?"
"Learn to read and write?" Sister Wang was stunned, as if she had never thought of this question before. She then shook her head vigorously, "No way! How old am I? I'm practically half-buried in the ground. Do you think I should learn like a little kid? People will laugh at me! Besides, is learning to read and write so easy? Just looking at those characters gives me a headache!"
"What's so funny?" Shu Ran retorted. "You're never too old to learn. Besides, you're learning to read not to compose poems, but to do your job better! If anyone laughs at you, just ask them if they can help you fill out this statistics form, or if they can guarantee that the person notifying them won't make a mistake."
She paused, slowed her speech, and said with a hint of encouragement, "Sister, think about it. If you could read and write, would this be a problem? You could fill out the forms neatly and write the notices clearly. Wouldn't everyone look up to you then? Wouldn't Secretary Liu and Company Commander Ma value you even more? Wouldn't you be a more respected women's representative?"
These words truly resonated with Sister Wang. She didn't want to be laughed at, and she wanted to do a good job as a representative. Her previous competitive spirit returned. She looked at Shu Ran hesitantly: "Can I learn it?"
“Who said you’re stupid?” Shu Ran laughed. “You’re good at everything: managing the household, tending your private plot, and handling neighborly relations. That shows you’re quite clever! Learning to read isn’t that hard, especially since you’re learning it to use your skills, so you’ll learn quickly! Start with what you need most, like the names of the people in our company, and the commonly used characters.”
Sister Wang's eyes flickered, clearly tempted, but she still had concerns: "Then... then who should I learn from? I can't really have you, my teacher, give me private lessons every day, can I? You're busy too."
"Don't worry about this, I'll figure something out." Shu Ran already had a preliminary idea in mind. "Just make up your mind first, to learn or not to learn?"
Looking at the chart on the table that seemed like an incomprehensible book, and recalling the embarrassment she had experienced that day, Sister Wang finally gritted her teeth and stamped her foot: "Learn! Why shouldn't I learn! I refuse to believe that these few words can kill me!"
As if encouraging herself, she regained her usual loud voice: "Ran, you're right! I have to learn! For my job, and for myself! I can't let those people look down on me!"
Seeing her renewed fighting spirit, Shu Ran smiled with satisfaction. She knew this was only the first step. Getting Sister Wang to decide to study only solved the "ideological problem"; the more practical "teaching problem" was yet to come.
Moreover, she vaguely sensed that Sister Wang was probably not the only one who needed to learn to read and write.
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