"Isn't it market day tomorrow? Let's go to town and take a look."
"OK."
The 15th of each month is market day in town, and the women of Shanyao Village look forward to this day every month.
This time, Gou Cuifen didn't come on the tractor; only Old Lady Wu and some other women from the village were there.
They chatted and laughed all the way to Xishang Town, and once they arrived, they all went off together.
As was her habit, Old Mrs. Wu headed towards the telegraph building first.
Sure enough, I received another letter.
The document was signed Guo Zhixia. Old Mrs. Wu was overjoyed; finally, there was news.
The tone of the letter was not as complaining or happy as before; instead, it had a faint air of disillusionment with the world.
Grandma Wu frowned as she looked on. Guo Zhixia said that her family had been implicated by Jia Hua. After an investigation by the organization, Qiao Jianguo was indeed found to have problems with his personal conduct. In addition, he had been accused of embezzlement and bribery in his work, and was directly labeled as a monster and sent to a labor camp in Northeast China.
Although Director Jia's situation wasn't quite as dire, he was still stripped of his position and lost his source of income.
When sending Jia Hua off, Director Jia couldn't bear it, so he made sure his daughter was settled in and took her with him as they left with Jia Hua.
Seeing this, Old Mrs. Wu looked speechless, opening and closing her mouth several times.
This sister-obsessed guy doesn't even know the beginning or the end.
The letter concluded by expressing gratitude for the items sent by Grandma Wu, which she took with her when she left and which proved very helpful when she settled in Northeast China.
After reading the letter, Old Mrs. Wu stuffed the things into her bosom, feeling quite uneasy.
Guo Zhixia was wholeheartedly concerned for Director Jia, but she never expected that she would have to suffer in the countryside when she was over fifty years old.
Grandma Wu sighed.
I was just about to go out and buy some things to send to the address on the letter when I stopped at the door.
A thought slowly surfaced in my mind.
There were quite a few people in the town. After a quick scan, Old Lady Wu got on the tractor and waited for everyone to return.
When Tie Niu saw Huang Xiaoqiang's mother, he hesitated for a moment before going up to her and saying, "Auntie, Aunt Wu?"
Grandma Wu turned her head and asked, "What's wrong?"
Tie Niu scratched his head, a little embarrassed. "I just passed my driving test and found a transportation job at the town's trucking company. I happen to need a partner, so I'd like Xiao Qiang to learn to drive with me. We can work together and look after each other when we go out."
Grandma Wu was surprised. "This is a good thing! Go ahead and ask him if he's willing."
"I'm willing! I'm willing!" Tie Niu's smile stretched from ear to ear. "I've already told Xiao Qiang, and he's very interested too, but he's worried that Aunt Wu won't agree..."
Grandma Wu was completely bewildered. She hadn't even said anything, so how did she know the other woman disagreed?
As the two were talking, people began to return one after another. Tie Niu thoughtfully changed the subject and didn't bring it up again.
After all, he grew up in Shanyao Village, where there were many people his age. The job of transporting vehicles was no less impressive to the rural people than that of being a worker.
If they knew that I'd rather team up with someone who just arrived in the village than with them...
It would be bad if this got out.
To put it another way, he didn't think that the young people in the village who spent their days chatting about cats and dogs could pass the driving test.
They pulled along a bunch of people and things, swaying and staggering back towards Shanyao Village.
Before the car had even come to a complete stop, someone jumped out, excitedly grabbing the relative who was there to take him home, and said, "I went to town today, and I can recognize what's written on those signs now!"
"real?"
"Of course it's true! I recognize everything, like eggs, clothes, and steamed buns!"
As he spoke, he gestured to people, explaining how big the characters in the town were and how they were written.
"Hey! Looks like your class tonight wasn't a waste of time, you haven't forgotten it."
The woman puffed out her chest proudly and said, "Of course! I'll be literate now too."
Grandma Wu listened to them chattering about what words they had learned in town that day, and how they proudly taught people from other villages. Their excitement was palpable, and they couldn't wait to go to the town market again.
Grandma Wu smiled, shook her head, and left.
The atmosphere in the evening classes was exceptionally lively and enthusiastic.
Grandma Wu didn't teach them any new characters today. Instead, she brought out the characters they had learned in the previous two weeks to reinforce their memory.
"Oh dear, we already know and remember all of these. Comrade Wu, could you teach us some new characters?"
Grandma Wu raised an eyebrow, "You've memorized it all?"
"Yes, you've really memorized them all. Now, let's teach you something new."
Grandma Wu smiled but didn't say anything. Instead, she took out all the characters she had taught the next day and wrote them on the blackboard.
He pointed to a word at random and asked, "Look, do you recognize it?"
Everyone frowned and stared intently at the words in front of them. They looked familiar, but they couldn't quite put their fingers into words.
What's the pronunciation of this character again?
He moved his finger away again, skipping two or three dots on a single character, but the villagers below still frowned.
Do we need to learn new characters now?
"But it's all so boring, optics and stuff."
Grandma Wu nodded, admitting, "It's very boring, so I'm teaching you pinyin today. With pinyin, even if you encounter unfamiliar characters, you'll be able to recognize them."
"Then let's get started."
With pinyin, you can even recognize characters you don't know?
Why don't you hurry up and teach them?
Despite being urged, Grandma Wu's class went smoothly tonight. All that was left was to teach them to add pinyin to all the characters they had learned before.
For the remaining two weeks, the learning atmosphere in Shanyao Village was strong, and even the teachers from the literacy class in Xiayao Village brought villagers to Shanyao Village to audit classes.
The village party secretary was so angry he was practically puffing up his beard and glaring at the scene.
The two village secretaries of Xiayao Village put their arms around each other's shoulders as if they were brothers. "Look," one of them said, "none of the educated youth in my village are as capable as you are. The only literate person in the village is Doctor Zhou."
The village secretary glanced at him and said, "If the educated youth can't do it, then let Dr. Zhou go up and give it a try."
“Hey, you think I didn’t try? But I just couldn’t pull it up. He said his main job is treating patients, and being a teacher doesn’t suit him.”
The village Party secretary of Xiayao Village clapped his hands and said, "Tell me, what can I do?"
"I really had no other choice, so I came to your Shanyao Village to learn from your experience. We all live in the same valley. We're all neighbors, you can't just leave our fellow farmers in trouble, can you?"
The village party secretary shrugged and stood three feet away from him. "If you're going to help, then help. Why make such a big deal out of it?"
Seeing his expression suddenly change, the village secretary of Xiayao Village slapped his own mouth and said, "I misspoke, I misspoke."
"Alright, let them listen." Since there are only a few days left anyway, the village secretary stroked his beard, a barely perceptible smile appearing on his lips.
The surrounding open space was so crowded that people at the back couldn't see what was in front.
"Your light cable isn't very good either; it can only illuminate a tiny area. I'll bring the light cables from our Xiayao Village here sometime."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
