Light
As final exams approached, the atmosphere in the class changed.
With only one week left before the final exams, the classroom door of Class 1, Grade 1 was suddenly pushed open, and the door slammed against the wall with a loud bang.
Class teacher Li Yingjun slammed the test paper onto the podium with a bang, her face grim, and shouted at the students below:
"Sit down, all of you!"
The bell rang as soon as the self-study period ended. The classroom, which had been filled with people laughing and playing or exchanging comic books, fell silent instantly after the homeroom teacher's shout.
"Now that the monthly exams are over, you're all slacking off, aren't you?"
No one dared to speak.
"The class average score for this monthly exam was a full two points lower than last time! Did you think the final exams didn't matter? Did you think you could relax now?!"
Li Yingjun picked up the test paper and slammed it heavily on the blackboard. "This weekend, the school will arrange self-study sessions. No one is allowed to be absent! You need to be physically present, and your mind needs to be present too!"
No one in the audience dared to utter a sound; even a cough was immediately silenced.
While the homeroom teacher turned away to write on the blackboard, Li Qingmiao quietly pushed her unfolded draft paper aside, letting Wen Sheng glance at the small words she had written in the corner:
"You're coming to study on the weekend too? I want to sleep."
Below, there's a drawing of a round, teary-eyed head, with the caption: "[I still want to go to the supply and marketing cooperative to buy a comic book.]"
Wen Sheng shielded her eyes with her elbow, then pulled out a pen and wrote next to the round-headed man: "[Get through finals, happy holidays!]"
At this moment, Li Yingjun on the podium suddenly called out a name: "Wen Sheng".
Wen Sheng, who was secretly suppressing a laugh, immediately stopped smiling and sat up straight: "Here!"
"Come on, distribute these application forms for arts and sciences, and pass them down in order, one for each person."
Wen Sheng got up and walked to the podium. He took a stack of forms from Li Yingjun, which still smelled of ink. The paper was still warm, and you could tell by touching it that it had just been delivered from the printing factory.
After receiving the forms, the students huddled together with their deskmates to discuss them:
What are you planning to fill in?
"I don't know. My family is from the countryside; they wouldn't understand arts or sciences." The man scratched his head, looking somewhat bewildered. "They just told me one thing: 'As long as you pass the exam, you can choose any subject.'"
"And you?"
"I'm good at math, and not bad at physics and chemistry either, so I'll probably choose science."
“Hey, I’m different. I really want to choose humanities. I like geography and politics, but I’m afraid my family won’t agree.”
"Tell me, which is more lucrative, studying humanities or science?"
“It makes sense. So-and-so from our village got into a vocational school to study electrical engineering. Now he works at the county power plant and earns a really high salary. My parents are so envious. When he came back for the New Year, he was wearing a coat and looked so stylish that they didn’t even recognize him.”
"But you can also make money by writing books. I love reading novels. Ba Jin and Zhu Ziqing's works are all very good."
"That's because they write well. Do you want to be a writer?"
"I do want to," the man said with a smile, "but I also know it won't be that easy. My family is hoping I can earn money soon to help support them."
"Sigh, in the end, it's all about being poor..."
Listening to their conversation, Li Qingmiao nodded in agreement from time to time, nudged Wen Sheng with her elbow, and asked, "Sheng Sheng, what are you planning to choose?"
Wen Sheng looked at the form in her hand and shook her head. "I haven't decided yet."
"Aren't you the one with the best Chinese language score? Your essays are always posted at the back of the classroom as model essays."
"But I'm not bad at math either."
Li Qingmiao tilted her head and thought for a moment: "Did your parents say something?"
“They didn’t say anything, because they don’t understand these things either,” Wen Sheng said honestly.
"Then what are you still hesitating about?" Li Qingmiao asked, puzzled.
Wen Sheng cupped her face in her hands, propped her elbows on the table, and stared at the words on the form, murmuring, "I'm thinking... which one can help me earn more money?"
Li Qingmiao thought she meant to give money to her younger brother at home, so she immediately comforted her, "Sheng Sheng, how old are you? You're already giving money to your brother."
"Huh? No." Wen Sheng was taken aback by her words, shook her head vigorously, and hurriedly said, "It's not for him!"
"I'm thinking about which path I can take to go further in the future."
"farther?"
"Yes." Wen Sheng explained seriously, "The money I want to earn isn't just for myself. If I could earn more, I would like to use it to sponsor a few girls who want to study."
"So that they won't be stopped from pursuing their goals by saying 'studying is useless.'" She looked out the window, where snowflakes were falling one by one, melting into water on the windowsill.
Li Qingmiao nodded as if she understood, but Wen Sheng suddenly dropped her serious expression and shook her head with a smile: "Forget it, why bother telling you this?"
Li Yingjun clapped her hands on the podium, signaling the students below to be quiet and listen to her: "Alright, the forms have been handed out. Everyone go back and think carefully, and don't fill them out randomly."
"Wen Sheng, before evening self-study the day before the final exam, collect all the class's application forms and hand them in to my office."
“Okay,” Wen Sheng said, standing up.
Upon hearing that they could leave, the classroom immediately became lively. After Li Yingjun left the classroom, a student immediately lay on the desk and wailed, "We have to come to study on weekends too?! Help..."
A boy in the back row chimed in, "I also want to go to the supply and marketing cooperative to buy a comic book. A new issue of 'Black Cat Detective' has just come out, and I heard that there are new characters appearing in this issue."
Laughter rose and fell, even those who had just been scolded by their homeroom teacher and dared not lift their heads now felt their gloom dispelled, and were able to catch their breath occasionally in the high-pressure learning environment.
Li Qingmiao said to Wen Sheng, "Let's go, let's grab some food first, or there won't be any meat or vegetables left."
Wen Wensheng shook her head, shoved the book into the table, wrapped her scarf around her neck and said, "You go first, I'm not eating, I want to go to the bookstall."
"A bookstall? You want to buy books again?" Li Qingmiao looked incredulous. "Didn't you just buy some?"
“I’m not buying books,” Wen Sheng said as she walked out. “I’m just… browsing around.”
"Are you crazy? It's so cold."
"I'm wearing a scarf."
After saying that, she walked out of the classroom door, her figure quickly disappearing into the crowd of students leaving school. Li Qingmiao called out to her, "Remember to eat!"
"Okay!"
Wen Sheng walked forward with the flow of people. The cold wind blew in through the gaps between the teaching buildings, making her ears turn red. No matter how tightly she wrapped her scarf, it couldn't keep out the winter wind.
Winter days always end quickly, especially after the last class in the afternoon. The sky darkens suddenly, as if a light has been hastily turned off.
The bookstall was the same as always, with a semi-open canopy made of canvas, the corners of which rustled in the cold wind. A small light bulb hung from the ceiling, its dim light appearing brighter than usual because it gets dark quickly in winter.
The stall owner huddled in a chair, wrapped in a thick cotton coat, with a blanket over his legs, holding a cup of hot tea in his lap. The steam rose up, but it quickly dissipated in the cold wind.
Upon seeing Wen Sheng approach, he greeted her warmly, "Little girl, you're here again."
Wen Sheng nodded, smiled at the stall owner, her nose red from the cold, and breathed warm air into her palm as she spoke.
"Want to look at some books?" The stall owner rubbed his hands together. "I just went to the city today to buy some books wholesale; they're in those boxes over there."
"Okay, okay."
Seeing her stamping her feet from the cold, the stall owner quickly invited her in, "Come in a bit, don't stand by the door in the wind. I've lit a small brazier inside the stall, it'll be warmer if you're next to it."
Upon hearing this, Wen Sheng immediately crawled into the canvas shed. Sure enough, there was a dark brazier in the corner, burning wood chips and honeycomb briquettes, which drove away some of the chill.
She crouched down stiffly to flip through the book, and when the warm breath touched her nose, she couldn't help but sneeze.
"Little girl, your hands are all red from the cold." The stall owner brought out a small stool and moved the brazier around. "Sit here and sit by the brazier to keep warm. Little girl, don't let your hands get frostbite."
Wen Sheng thanked him, obediently sat down, spread his hands out, and warmed them by the brazier for a while. After his hands slowly regained feeling, he reached over to rummage through the box containing the new books.
"boss!"
"Hey! What's wrong, little girl?" the stall owner asked.
"I'm afraid I'll forget the time and miss my evening self-study session, so please remind me, boss," Wen Sheng said.
The stall owner chuckled and said, "Okay, don't worry. I have a clock here, I'll remind you when it's time."
Wen Sheng breathed a sigh of relief and nodded with a smile, "Then I'll trouble you."
She flipped through the new books one by one, some of which were extracurricular reading materials from earlier years. She randomly picked up a book titled "Selection of Excellent Essays by Middle School Students," flipped through a couple of pages, and then closed it. As she continued flipping through the pages, she suddenly caught sight of a book with a slightly worn cover.
Walking Towards the Light.
The cover features a girl with a backpack standing on a sunlit road, walking towards the sun.
Wen Sheng was drawn to the cover, pulled it out, wiped off the dust, opened the book, and read it line by line.
The protagonist of the book is named Zhou Xialan, a girl who came from a mountainous area in southwest China. She comes from a poor family with many siblings, and is somewhat similar to herself.
She was sensitive to numbers from a young age and loved the feeling of clarity after solving a problem. She often used a charcoal pencil to write on the wall. Later, the village primary school teacher discovered her outstanding academic performance and wrote to the county to apply for a scholarship. He also paid for her travel expenses to take her to the middle school and college entrance examinations.
After graduation, she was assigned to the county power bureau as a meter reader. She passed the professional title exam, was promoted, and became the bureau's first female technician.
It's a short story with few words.
Wen Sheng read the book to the last page in one go, following Zhou Xialan through her life from beginning to end, and she also got the answers she wanted.
Actually, she's always been better at science subjects. When faced with a difficult problem, she can calmly work through it, and even if she makes a mistake at first, she's willing to start over again and again. She likes the kind of logic that can be followed, like climbing a mountain, where you'll eventually stand at the top and see the distance.
Selected texts can gently connect us with the world and touch people's hearts with words.
Even with reason and data, one can shake up conventional prejudices.
Her slight talent in science might just come in handy.
She wants to be a light, not necessarily dazzling, not necessarily illuminating the whole world.
But at least in some corner, like this lamp in the bookstall, it shines when it gets dark, allowing more girls to see a glimmer of light when they are lost.
"Boss!" Wen Sheng suddenly called out.
The stall owner was startled and quickly sat up straight from the brazier: "What's wrong? What's wrong? I didn't miss the time. Didn't you say you wanted me to remind you at 6:30?"
Wen Sheng raised her head, her eyes slightly brightened by the firelight beside her, hiding a small glimmer of light.
"I've found the answer!" Her voice was filled with barely suppressed joy.
The stall owner was taken aback, looked down at the old book she was holding in her arms, and scratched his head: "Is the analysis in this book so well written? I thought it was a novel."
Wen Sheng smiled and said goodbye to him. As she walked out of the bookstall, she suddenly remembered something Xu Jianing had once said:
"Novels can also provide answers."
She hadn't taken it seriously before, but now she suddenly understood that some answers weren't in the exam paper or the explanation, but in someone else's story.
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