Chapter 111 Newspaper Subscription
Literacy classes have been opened.
But most people in the village don't like to study.
I didn't dare to say it in front of the village chief. The village cadres and people in the village were not easy to mess with, and only Lu Xiang was young.
Mrs. Li was unhappy about Lu Xiang's parents building a pigpen.
Seeing that Lu Xiang had become a cadre, he had been keeping a low profile for a while, but now he's become a bit unruly again.
"What's the point of learning this? It's useless!"
"It would be great if we could take some time to get some sleep!" Mrs. Li's words touched everyone's heart.
I have no problem getting everyone up early and working late, but as soon as class starts I start to feel sleepy. Either my neck hurts or my butt hurts. I feel uncomfortable everywhere!
Others didn't want to learn. In the past, once the autumn harvest was over, the women would go to the market and the men would drink and play cards together. They lived a carefree life.
Nowadays, we just don’t have the patience to learn pinyin. What’s even more embarrassing is that children learn much faster than them. Where can we adults put our dignity?
Everyone had a general desire to study, but after Mrs. Li's intervention, they felt that studying was boring and a waste of time.
Gradually, those who were brave enough began to miss classes.
The village chief was furious when he heard about it.
The next day, he harshly criticized the students who had missed classes, saying, "We're asking you to study for your own good, but it feels like you're being harmed! The village pays for both work points and tuition, and you still don't know how to cherish them. You're like a hopeless case! I'll thoroughly investigate this matter, and anyone who refuses to study will be publicly criticized."
The village chief originally asked everyone to study because he wanted everyone to focus their energy and avoid a bunch of idle people causing trouble.
But Dayu Village had a good reputation with the county leaders. Every now and then, they'd show some concern. When they heard they were starting a literacy program for farmers, they gave it their full support and praised the village chief for his high level of awareness.
The village chief was very happy to be praised and boasted to the county.
Now everyone doesn't want to study anymore, isn't this a slap in his face?
He's been bragging about everything.
Seeing that the village chief was unhappy, the villagers hurriedly said nice things, fearing that the village chief would hold a grudge against them.
As a result of this incident, the attendance rate increased a bit.
Mrs. Li always says bad things about Lu Xiang outside.
The village chief even called Mrs. Li's husband over and said, "Tell Mrs. Li to calm down and stop causing trouble. I appointed Lu Xiang. If you are dissatisfied with anything, come to me."
Mrs. Li's husband also knew that his wife had offended someone, so he quickly smiled and said, "She doesn't have any bad intentions, but she has a bad mouth. I will definitely tell her when I get home. Don't take it to heart."
The village chief snorted, "He's not good at anything, but he's the best at picking trouble!"
Mrs. Li's husband smiled at the village chief, but when he got home he scolded Mrs. Li severely.
"Are you stupid? Lu Xiang is a village official now. What are you going to do to confront her head-on?"
The reason why Mrs. Li targeted Lu Xiang so much was because her husband had praised her a few times. She always felt that her husband was a little covetous of Lu Xiang.
She's been suspicious for a long time, and now when Lu Xiang is mentioned, she explodes: "Okay, just protect her!"
The tone was harsh, and Li's husband got angry: "What do you mean I'm protecting her?" Lu Xiang was a village cadre, and she needed his protection: "You always like to throw dirty water on others when you do things!"
Mrs. Li said, "You just want to see how pretty she is. No matter how much you protect her, she's not yours. Men are all bad!"
When Li's husband heard this, he said, "You seem to be sick. Do whatever you want. If you don't want to stay here, go back to your parents' home."
Seeing that her husband was really angry, Mrs. Li didn't dare to provoke him. She went into the house and started to sulk.
…
After more than a month of studying in the village class, most people have learned to recognize a large number of Chinese characters and have learned to use a dictionary. When they encounter unfamiliar characters, they can find the pronunciation after looking them up.
An old man from the village stopped Lu Xiang and asked her something: "I heard people say the village is going to subscribe to a newspaper soon. Is that true?"
There are rumors spread by people outside, but there is no definite conclusion.
Lu Xiang said, "It's true!" It was she who proposed the idea of subscribing to the newspaper.
The village chief also likes to read newspapers, but the newspapers he reads are all bought from newsstands.
Basically, the time limit has passed.
The village chief wants to subscribe to a newspaper, but he doesn't know how.
It is very troublesome to subscribe to newspapers these days. You have to write a letter and then transfer money to the bank.
Only after they succeed will we publish every issue for them.
Lu Xiang must read the newspaper because she knew that the situation in the 1980s was changing rapidly and new policies would be introduced every moment.
This idea coincides with the village chief's.
The village chief likes to read newspapers, and now someone helps him subscribe, which is great.
In the past, when he wanted to subscribe to a newspaper, he would ask the county clerk for help, and he would be ridiculed.
The newspaper hadn't come back yet, but the village chief had already spread the word that anyone who wanted to read it could do so.
The villagers were very excited. Few people in the village had radios.
To know the news outside, you have to rely on word of mouth. It is very convenient to be able to read newspapers directly. And reading newspapers makes you sound like an educated person.
With this motivation, everyone is more enthusiastic about learning to read.
The village subscribes to a current affairs weekly for thirty-two yuan a year.
This is a provincial publication.
It's quite troublesome to subscribe.
The county must have known about him, and they even called him to ask. After the county received a clear answer, the people in the county praised them for their knowledge.
There are many official newspapers and party publications nowadays, but this is the only one that contains substantial content.
The villagers didn't know which newspaper was good, so they just listened to Lu Xiang. Now that Lu Xiang was so knowledgeable, even the county people praised them for subscribing to newspapers, and they were suddenly happy again.
When the first issue of the newspaper arrived,
Everyone in the village rushed to see it.
I know some characters, but not others, so I have to look them up in the dictionary.
The educated youth who taught them to read suddenly discovered that reading newspapers was a good way to learn.
So we asked everyone to find someone to read the newspaper in the classroom every day, reading about three lines.
Reading the newspaper in front of the whole village scared most people to death.
They were afraid of losing face, but with this motivation, everyone started to study seriously.
Wife Li saw that even her husband started to study seriously.
She couldn't help but say sour words in front of outsiders again, and this time no one would tolerate her.
"My grandson can already read half the words now. Isn't it good enough that he taught you in vain?"
"You don't strive for progress yourself, but you drag others down with you?"
Mrs. Li's face turned red after hearing what she said.
The aunt continued, "People from other villages want to study, but they won't let them. They just ask them to work more. Now I understand. Why is studying more bad? Do you want to live like this for the rest of your life?"
Mrs. Li's face turned red and white.
The reason she was popular before was because most people supported her, but now they have turned against her and are all criticizing her.
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