Chapter 593 Disputes Arising from Raising Ducks
At this moment, President Yu was also keeping a close eye on everything around him.
Seeing the old principal's eager look, and worried that he might rush forward and say something inappropriate, she quickly grabbed his hand and warned him in a low voice, "Let me tell you, these are all very important people. Our commune's sideline income depends on them now."
"Of course, I know you're doing this for the good of our commune. That's why... Factory Director Lu is here to resolve this matter. You know, she's a renowned and excellent mediator in the military factory's neighborhood office. See how she handles it before you speak, okay?"
The old principal nodded.
Although he was just the principal of a primary school with one teacher.
Although he is actually a teacher.
But he had indeed heard of Lu Qiaoge's name.
Since they value him so much, it's best not to rush up and say anything. Besides, President Yu is right; let's see what they have to say first...
After getting out of the car, Lu Qiaoge exchanged pleasantries with the leaders of the Satellite Commune, and then said very seriously, "Take me to the village where this situation is most serious. This is no small matter, and we cannot treat it as a small matter. If the commune members follow suit, then our sideline business will be meaningless."
The factory manager of the down jacket factory is surnamed Lin.
They were specially sent down from above and were very cooperative with Lu Qiaoge's work.
At this time, they also made a strong statement.
"Director Lu's thoughts are the same as our down jacket factory's. No matter what, people of school age must go to school..."
Director Yu on the other end quickly said, "The data has already been compiled here. This is the former principal of Qinggang Village Primary School. He was the one who first reported the problem. Let's go to Qinggang Village and take a look."
Lu Qiaoge looked at the old principal.
He is indeed very old; his hair is all white.
No need to look, these are private school teachers, the kind who don't retire.
Private school teachers are having a tough time these days.
Sometimes a teacher has to teach several classes of students. Although there are fewer students, the different learning levels make it very demanding.
Moreover, the teaching conditions were poor, and the environment was rudimentary. Some villages were wealthy and might not have food arrears, while in other poor villages, even the food arrears meant to cover the salaries of privately-run teachers would be delayed.
Private school teachers of this era are actually very great.
Regardless of their motives, this behavior is commendable.
Lu Qiaoge thanked the old principal with a big smile, but the old principal was embarrassed.
Somewhat awkwardly, she said, "This job isn't easy either. To be honest, those kids never liked going to school. I had to do a lot of persuasion to get them to come. But now... since we started raising ducks and geese this year, they've gradually stopped coming to school. They say they get a headache just looking at books. They prefer to go to the low-lying area to let the ducks roam and catch small fish to eat..."
President Yu's expression was one of helplessness.
The old headmaster continued, "However, there were two families whose children loved reading and had excellent grades. But their parents wouldn't let them come. When I went to their homes to talk to them, the parents chased me out with a big stick, saying that if their child didn't go to herd the ducks, then nobody would herd the ducks they raised..."
The old principal didn't mention that the girl's mother had a bad temper.
The old woman even said that if he helped her herd ducks and geese, she would agree to let her daughter go to school.
Lu Qiaoge listened very attentively.
This is actually a common phenomenon, not only now, but also decades from now.
They didn't linger in the commune. Since the old principal was there, they drove him directly to Qinggang Village.
Qinggang Village is very close to Xiwa wasteland, but there are only a little over a hundred households in the village. It used to be a production team with a small population. Later, the population increased, and then the higher authorities changed many production teams directly into villages.
This place became Qinggang Village.
The arrival of so many vehicles into the village naturally attracted a large crowd of onlookers.
There's a lot of work to do in the fields right now, but Lu Qiaoge and her group came after lunch.
This is the time when these people finish their work and go home.
The weather is already quite hot this time of year, and most of the commune members get up early to work.
So you can find someone at this time.
President Yu said to the former principal, "First, take us to the home of the student who wants to go to school but whose family won't allow it."
The old headmaster shared the same idea, so he led everyone toward a house in the west of the village. A group of children followed behind, looking with great curiosity at the three jeeps parked at the village entrance.
The family's surname is Cao.
Before I could even get close, I heard a woman cursing.
"You're a troublemaker and a jinx. You still want to go to school? You're just daydreaming all day. Who doesn't want to study? You're sheltered from the wind and rain. But how are you going to manage all the housework? You're making me do it all by myself. Are you trying to kill me with work?"
Look at all the neighbors, who goes to school? What's the use of going to school? You don't get a single penny back, and you still have to pay for it. I've raised you with such hardship until you're ten years old, and this is how you treat me? You still dare to look at me like that? I might as well just beat you to death..."
She couldn't finish her sentence because the old headmaster, who was walking at the front, had already raised his voice and shouted, "Are you hitting the child again? Can't you talk to him properly? Why are you hitting and scolding him? What kind of talk is that? Stop hitting him, even our commune's head, Director Yu, is here."
Upon hearing that it was Yu, the commune's head, the woman who was cursing immediately stopped both her hands and mouth.
Lu Qiaoge had already seen what was happening in the courtyard.
There are no high walls or large courtyards here, only low fences.
Even from a short distance away, you can see the scene in the courtyard: a haggard-looking woman is hitting a girl who is squatting on the ground with her head in her hands, using a willow branch.
The mother and daughter were not the only ones in the courtyard.
A middle-aged man sat on a bench not far away, legs crossed, looking at the mother and daughter with disdain...
There was an old woman not far away, holding a stick. I don't know what she was going to do, but she probably saw someone coming and put the stick down against the wall.
Should we go and beat the child?
There were three girls and four or five boys in the yard. The oldest was fourteen or fifteen years old, and the youngest was two or three years old. They couldn't even walk steadily.
But no one stepped forward to stop them.
Two other women seemed to be watching with schadenfreude.
It should be a large family living together, in a state where they haven't separated.
Because on the other side, there was an old man with gray hair smoking a cigarette.
The woman hitting her child seemed to have no effect on him at all.
This should be normal, right?
Standing behind President Yu was the head of Qinggang Village. He looked displeased and glared at the Cao family, who had caused the trouble.
Even though it's a village now, people aren't used to calling him the village chief.
The village's women's director rushed over upon hearing the news.
Seeing this scene really startled me, and then when I saw it was the Cao family, I couldn't help but frown.
(End of this chapter)
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