Chapter 185: Literacy Campaign Begins
Wen Wan was also smart, but she didn't think as far ahead as Xu Qingming: "This is a good thing. What are we here for? Isn't it to do something for the people in these remote areas? We can't compare with them in terms of farming, but we can read. Seventh Brother, now is the time for you to shine."
Xu Qingming laughed: "That makes sense. If nothing else works, all those years of studying are not in vain. It should be no problem for me to teach people to read." Anyway, I'm hibernating now, and I usually just chop firewood or something, and there's nothing else to do.
After talking about the literacy campaign, Xu Qingming asked her, "Did your uncle write to you?"
Wen Wan said, "It's still the letter he sent after the autumn harvest. I haven't replied yet. I made a piece of clothes for him, but it's not finished yet. I guess it will be spring when it's finished. The bacon at home is also smoked, so I'll send some to him and grandpa, and then send it together with the letter." The letter was already written, just like writing a diary. She would write down whatever she thought of. She already had quite a few, but she never sent them.
Xu Qingming glanced at her and said, "It's not easy for people to feed a pig. You still have to send meat home this year. There's only so much meat left after cutting off a pig. If you send so much, how much will be left?"
Wen Wan didn't turn around: "I gave them money and tickets. That's what I did at the beginning of the year."
"Wen Wan, are you stupid? You were dating at the beginning of the year, and now you're married. You're part of the Lu family. If you give me money and tickets, will Lu Dongping's family want them?"
Wen Wan: ——Okay (╯▽╰), she forgot about it.
"No need to send it. Grandpa and grandma don't lack food and drink. Just be well. As for your uncle, didn't he tell you in his letter that he's divorced?"
After saying that, he added, "It's normal that he didn't tell you. I guess he probably hadn't divorced you when he wrote to you."
Wen Wan was shocked: "Divorced?"
Xu Qingming nodded. "Well, I heard it. I don't know if I should tell you. He shouldn't be in the compound right now. He's been suspended for review. He must be temporarily on a farm not far from there. That woman and he just want a good life. He's suspended, so she can share his good times, but not his bad times."
"How could this happen? Why is he suspended for investigation? He didn't do anything wrong!"
Xu Qingming sighed. "Who can guarantee that they haven't done anything wrong in their life? I'm not sure about the details. Anyway, he shouldn't be in the compound now. Don't send anything for now, not even letters. I guess he will contact you once the situation stabilizes. We'll talk about it then."
Wen Wan was stunned and didn't come back to her senses for a long time, which made Xu Qingming sigh.
His family secretly warned him not to tell the little girl about this, but he felt that since it concerned the Wen family, he definitely had to tell her. Wen Wan was smart and independent-minded. Only when she knew the situation over there could she know what she should and shouldn't do.
Wen Wan didn't know that this was how he thought of her. If she knew, she would definitely laugh. Xu Qingming really praised her too much.
She was feeling very confused at the moment.
Xu Qingming continued, "You know, from childhood to adulthood, I've never hidden anything from you, and this time is no exception. But I'm telling you this not to make you panic, but to let you know what you should and shouldn't do here. If you're well, your uncle will be more relaxed."
Wen Wan sniffed and raised her eyes, her eyes already red. "Seventh Brother, tell me, was I wrong back then? I shouldn't have been angry with him and shouldn't have come so far. Even if I was going to the countryside, I should have stayed closer so that it would be more convenient for him to go back and see him. At least I can go back and see him now."
"Don't, don't cry. If Lu Dongping sees it later, he'll think I did something to you. Regarding this matter, you can ask yourself, there is no right or wrong in this world. What you did is done. Didn't you say that life is too short, so you should do whatever makes you feel comfortable? Did you make it difficult for yourself when you made the decision at that time? No, right? Are you sad here now? Although it's not as bad as when you were at home, it's not sad either, right? It depends on how you feel. Your uncle might think it's a good thing for you to stay away right now."
Wen Wan sniffed, reached out and wiped her eyes, and was about to speak again when Lu Dongping came over.
"You two haven't finished your private conversation yet? It's freezing outside. Come inside and warm yourself by the fire. Dinner will be ready soon."
Xu Qingming waved his hand: "No more exams, I'm going back. I've already reported the fire at the educated youth camp. We can't waste food." After saying that, he left in a hurry. He wasn't very good at coaxing people, so he left it to Lu Dongping!
"What's going on?"
Wen Wan didn't say anything, nor did she go into the kitchen, but returned to her room.
Lu Dongping followed him into the house.
He closed the door, reached out and carried her to the desk, sat down, and put her on his lap: "What did Xu Qingming say to you? Did he quarrel with you?"
Wen Wan shook her head: "No, I just talked about some family matters. I missed home."
Lu Dongping shut up. He had no way to deal with this matter.
He heard from Xu Qingming that it would take more than a week to get to the capital from here. Without any delays, the round trip would take more than half a month. It was really too difficult to make a trip.
Wen Wan didn't tell him in detail about Lao Wen's suspension. With his comfort, she quickly recovered. However, she didn't eat much at night and had no energy, so she went to bed early.
Zhang Hongying called out to Lu Dongping, "What happened? Did you have a fight with her? I saw she was unhappy when she came back this afternoon."
"No, maybe it's the New Year and she misses home and her father." What a joke, why would he quarrel with a little girl? He doesn't even have time to feel hurt.
Zhang Hongying sighed: "Then you should talk to her nicely and be patient. It's too far. Otherwise, you can go back and take a look."
She didn't need to say this at all, Lu Dongping naturally knew it.
Knowing that Wen Wan was in a bad mood at night, he was considerate and didn't bother her. He just hugged her and gently stroked her back.
It's a rare opportunity to just cover herself with the quilt and do nothing. The embrace was warm, and Wenwan slept very comfortably.
I felt better the next morning.
After getting up, he started playing with his tapes in the room and turned on the radio, which he rarely played. When Zhang Hongying and the others heard the sound, they ran over.
"Why did you think of putting this up so early in the morning?"
Wen Wan asked her, "Does it sound good?"
"It sounds nice."
Wen Wan took the radio to the kitchen: "Let's listen while we warm ourselves by the fire and see which songs you like. I'll take it to the commune later so everyone can listen and pick out a few popular ones."
Lu Chun'e asked her, "Sister-in-law, what are the programs?"
"Have you ever seen the community performances in previous years, like the Yangko dance?"
Lu Chun'e shook her head: "No, I have heard that it will be performed at the commune around the New Year, but I haven't been to see it."
"Then do you want to go and take a look? Are you busy today? Would you like to come with me?"
Lu Chun'e glanced at Zhang Hongying twice.
Zhang Hongying asked Wen Wan: "Can I go over and take a look? I hope it won't disturb you." She was afraid that others would gossip. After all, this was a task assigned to Wen Wan by the public agency. If she brought someone else with her, it would be embarrassing for people to talk about her.
Wen Wan didn't think too much about it: "Don't bother me. It's a big place, and there's a fire, so there are quite a lot of people. There are two people from Chun'e's school, one is called Zhang Qingqing and the other is called Hu Yueya. They are both here and will participate in the performance."
Lu Chun'e's eyes lit up: "They are here too!" Then she looked at Zhang Hongying with a look of longing: "Mom, if the house is not busy, I would like to go and see it with my sister-in-law."
Zhang Hongying thought for a moment and said, "That's fine. I don't have anything to do at home right now. If it doesn't interfere with your studies, you can go and have a look."
There was light in Lu Chun'e's eyes.
After dinner, she specially put on the flowery cotton-padded jacket that Wen Wan made for her, combed her hair into two braids, and tied the red gauze hairband that Wen Wan gave her during the Chinese New Year the previous year.
Lu Donglin was whining, wanting to go but feeling embarrassed to speak up: "It's just a commune, why are you showing off so much? You're so weird."
Lu Chun'e was happy and too lazy to argue with him. She curled her lips at him and ran to Wen Wan's room: "Sister-in-law, do you need anything? I'll help you get it."
Wen Wan slung a bag over her shoulder and said, "No need, your brother is here, so we don't need to take anything. Let's go!"
When he went out, he called Zhang Hongying, "Mom, let's go!"
"Hey! Go ahead, come back early this afternoon. I'm going to make pig brain and heart and lung soup today."
Wen Wan happily responded: "I know!"
The two of them trotted down to the road, and Lu Dongping followed behind them leisurely, holding the bag containing the radio.
They went to the commune, and the team was not idle either.
Right after breakfast, Lu Minghai was shouting in the wheat field with a loud speaker that a meeting was about to start. He asked Lu Dongcai and Lu Donglin to run errands to notify those who lived far away. They had already been notified in the morning.
The people shouting at this time were all from nearby. When they heard the sound, those who had just picked up their bowls or had already put down their bowls went to the wheat field in twos and threes. Soon, a large group of people gathered.
Lu Minghai, holding a loud speaker, stood on a high stool, his hands on his hips, and shouted in full force: "Quiet, quiet, talk nonsense later. I want to tell you something. The higher-ups have given instructions for each of our production teams to start a literacy campaign. Do you know what literacy means? It means eliminating illiteracy. People without education are called illiterates. We have quite a few educated youth in our team now, all of them educated people. But there are also quite a few people in our team who can't read. Let's not talk about other things. You have to know your own name, ah, what are the characters? You have to know it, right? And work points, can you keep track of it? And money, those notes, do you know everything written on them? Can you do accounting?"
"I think most of us can't do it. Now's our chance. The educated youth in our team can give us lessons, teach us how to read and do accounting. If you want to learn, come and register with me. Adults and children, regardless of age, can all learn. We'll arrange the time later, and it will definitely not delay everyone's work."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
