Chapter 24 Chapter 24

On the way back to Xiaoba Village, we passed Qingnan Village.

They played gongs and drums to celebrate the blindness elimination class. Those who didn't know would have thought it was an independent teaching center in their village.

The short, square-faced man standing in the front should be Wu Dan. He is even more stylish than Guo Qingwang. He is holding a pair of large scissors and cutting the ribbon amid the sound of firecrackers.

"The position of working wholeheartedly for the people has become a popular one among them." Sister Zhao took a look and then left.

Su Rui looked at the several people from Yiwang Village standing next to the blindness elimination class, and her faces all looked unhappy.

Su Rui sneered and said, "The class has already started, and they are still cutting the ribbon now. I'm afraid they are just picking an auspicious day. This is clearly feudal superstition."

Sister Zhao said: "Secretary Wu is very young, and I never thought he would have such a personality."

After returning to Xiaoba Village, two days later, women often came to inquire about the anti-blindness class. When they found out there were no vacancies, they left with regret.

Su Rui heard that the township's Department of Culture and Education might be able to run an anti-illiteracy class, so she said to Sister Zhao, "Why don't I try my luck? If it works, our comrades can go in and study, and if it doesn't, we won't lose anything."

Seeing that she was young and energetic, Sister Zhao took out two dimes from her drawer and gave them to her: "Take this and take the bus. I'll reimburse you."

Huang Bei said sourly, "She is still well-paid. She didn't even ask me to reimburse my expenses when I went to the village last time."

Sister Zhao lowered her voice and said, "You went to the village clinic to get a vaccination."

Huang Bei was exposed. She stood up and said, "I'm going to go out and draw a big-character poster."

Su Rui ignored her, took the two dimes, put it in her pocket and went back to the countryside.

On the way, I took a donkey cart for a while, then took a country bus to the station and went to the county culture and education department.

It was still nine in the morning when she arrived. The security guard at the door refused to let her in and told her, "All the comrades in the department are out for a meeting. If you have anything to do, come back tomorrow."

Suri asked, "Will the meeting last all day?"

The guard waved his hand and said, "Let's go. There are too many people coming to do business. We can't come."

Su Rui looked around and didn't see anyone coming to do business.

The guard refused to let her in, but Su Rui refused to leave and stood by the fence waiting. It was almost noon and she felt hungry, so she took out a steamed bun and took a bite.

After finishing his chewy sweet potato bun while pounding his chest, he stepped on the platform and looked inside while the security guard was eating.

She realized that to get out of the office building, she had to walk along a small path not far from the main gate to the cafeteria, so she simply stared with her beautiful almond-shaped eyes at anyone coming out of the office building.

After about a quarter of an hour, people came out one after another.

Both men and women looked quite educated and cultured, and most of them wore glasses. She looked around and spotted a middle-aged female comrade with a friendly face who looked like a leader.

Su Rui waved at her and said, "Big sister, I'm here!" She was so warm and enthusiastic that if you didn't know better, you would think they were real sisters.

The other person's glasses didn't fit well, and she squinted to see a slender figure waving at her. She actually thought it was an acquaintance, so she waved to the guard, and the guard let Su Rui in.

Su Rui ran in with a chuckle, and said with a sweet smile on her face: "Comrade——"

The other party was stunned and asked, "Who are you?"

Su Rui said quickly, "I'm here to do some work. I heard that the department responsible for eliminating illiteracy in rural areas is here, and I have something to report."

The other person held up his glasses and looked at Su Rui up and down. Seeing that her pretty face was pale from the cold, he sighed and said, "It's hard for you. Why don't you go in and warm yourself up?"

Su Rui said honestly, "The guard wouldn't let me in, but I wanted to go in."

The guard at the door saw something was wrong and ran over to say, "Minister Zhou, what's going on? Do you know this person? If not, I'll kick her out."

Minister Zhou picked up his lunch box and said helplessly: "We are doing mass work, how can we treat the masses like this? Look at how frozen she is. We are an office, not a feudal government office. How can we treat people differently and let some in while others are not?"

The guard said, "But she doesn't have the procedures."

Minister Zhou said, "Why don't you ask why she is looking for him? If you had asked, she wouldn't have been freezing outside for the whole morning!"

Minister Zhou noticed that there weren't many people at the gate, so it wasn't as if the people in the office building were overwhelmed.

She scolded the security guard, who apologized to Su Rui awkwardly and then took her to the cafeteria.

"You came at the right time. The tofu soup made in our office cafeteria is delicious. It's just right for you to drink it to warm yourself up."

Su Rui was very moved and said quickly, "Thank you, Minister Zhou. I just ate a sweet potato bun and I was choking."

Minister Zhou was amused by her, and personally went to make tofu soup for Su Rui, served the food, and talked with Su Rui while eating.

Minister Zhou, who had learned about the blindness eradication class, said in confusion: "Didn't they just catch a corrupt official? How come something like this happened again?"

Su Rui wanted to say that the feng shui of that place was bad and that it produced only unruly people, but she held back.

"I understand what you are saying. Many grassroots people want to get an education. The country is implementing a preliminary literacy program. This literacy class has been scheduled for some time. I am afraid I can't do anything for you."

"Is it true that the higher authorities can't do anything about it?"

Minister Zhou said, "This time they did something unkind and too narrow-minded. I will criticize Wu Dan. I promise you that next time there is such an educational activity, Xiaoba Village will be given priority. Is that okay?"

"Thank you, you are a good leader."

Su Rui understood. This was the same as what the cadres said last time. They were operating within the policy limits, had not violated any regulations, and met all the requirements of the anti-illness class. Therefore, even if the superiors wanted to interfere, they couldn't. At most, they could only criticize them verbally.

"Comrade Xiao Su, if you hadn't come, I wouldn't have known about this kind of loophole in grassroots work. I will take this as a warning when setting up anti-illness classes in other villages in the future."

Although Minister Zhou is a leader, he should have more dealings with rural people and speak frankly and sincerely.

Su Rui still likes her kind of leader very much. Although Xiaoba Village suffered this incident, it can prevent other situations similar to Xiaoba Village from happening again, so today's suffering will not be in vain.

"Thank you again. Your words are like a mouthful of hot soup in the cold winter, warming my heart."

Su Rui put down the bowl. Although she was disappointed, she was more grateful for Director Zhou's patient explanation, otherwise she would have resentful of her superior.

Before leaving, Su Rui asked Minister Zhou: "What if we teach in our village ourselves?"

Minister Zhou said: "Of course you can do that. We encourage independent teaching. By the way, I have two more textbooks on literacy here. The last two are for you. If you want to teach on your own, you can let educated comrades follow the instructions."

"That's great, thank you Minister Zhou." Su Rui followed him to the office to get the textbooks back.

***

The spring training lasted for three weeks.

Fang Chiye checks the soldiers' physical fitness and training status every day.

In half a month, he would go to other places for conscription. He finally got some time off and came down from Zhuye Mountain to Xiaoba Village.

These days he has been thinking over and over about how to explain things to Su Rui. After thinking it over, he decided that it would be best to confess everything and then apologize.

He thought she was an enemy spy after getting the photo, but gradually learned the truth through communication. He also did some background check during the process, and it turned out that Su Rui was a very motivated revolutionary young man. She was beautiful, worked hard, and was warm-hearted.

He guessed that Su Rui was still in the office, so he went straight to the village committee to look for her, but he came up empty-handed.

"She went to the countryside to try her luck." Sister Zhao poured a cup of tea for Fang Chiye and said politely, "This girl is very enthusiastic about her work and cares about every plant and tree in Xiaoba Village. I know that she feels the same as I do, and hopes that the women in Xiaoba Village can live a better and more progressive life."

"Yes, she is indeed a comrade with this kind of personality." Fang Chiye took a sip of tea, thought for a while and said, "Maybe she doesn't have to attend the blindness elimination class."

***

Su Rui stood on the side of the road, holding two textbooks for the blindness elimination class, and felt that her trip was not in vain.

Later, she mobilized the cadres to copy it together and teach it two days a week in the threshing ground, which can be regarded as an enlightenment for the women in Xiaoba Village. The purpose of the literacy campaign is to prevent them from being blind, and Su Rui's goal is the same.

Thinking about Auntie Song and Wanzi's mother, they all love to study. But the comrades who love to study cannot participate in the study, but let those who love to be idle and hate to work get the benefit, she felt dissatisfied.

There happened to be a bookstore turned into a grocery store across the street, so she waited for the traffic police's instructions and crossed the street.

Su Rui was usually very stingy and reluctant to spend her husband's money. She thought that the village committee didn't have much money after the Chinese New Year. She didn't want Sister Zhao to reimburse her for the teaching equipment, which was considered a personal donation.

She will marry a virtuous person in the future, and the virtuous person should understand.

“Is there a small blackboard?”

On the left side of the store, there is a bookshelf that reaches the ceiling, which contains revolutionary books and quotations. On the opposite shelf, there are large scissors, razor blades, comic books, calendars, red armbands, hero posters, etc. The counter next to it also contains envelopes, stationery and pens.

"We have blackboards." The salesperson walked to the warehouse and took the dusty blackboard to the counter with great effort. "We don't have small ones. We only have the one that's three meters long and one and a half meters wide."

"It's so big." Su Rui asked, "Then do you have any chalk?"

The salesperson looked outside and said in a low voice, "What do you want these for? Now is not the time to study."

Su Rui also lowered her voice and said, "For the village to run a blind elimination class."

The salesperson heaved a sigh of relief, walked out from the counter, went under the shelf, took out three boxes of chalk and said, "Why didn't you tell me earlier? I thought you were going to do something. Here you go, a total of five dollars and six cents. I'll give you an extra box of colored ones, they're a little damp but still usable."

"Thank you!" Su Rui paid the bill.

The salesperson gave her change and asked her, "How are you going to take such a big thing back?"

Suri said, "Do you have a rope? I'll carry it back."

"Is it okay?" The salesperson looked at the thin and small Su Rui, went back to the warehouse, took out the old rope and handed it to her.

Su Rui swiftly tied the blackboard with a rope and put it on her back: "It's a bit heavy, but it's okay."

The salesperson said admiringly, "You are really capable. Be careful when you go back. You will suffer a lot."

Su Rui smiled and said, "Serving the people, not afraid of hardship or fatigue."

The salesperson raised his thumb and said, "Goodbye."

Su Rui was standing at the door of the grocery store, carrying a heavy blackboard on her back, looking at the station. It was still two stops away, so she had no choice but to grit her teeth and go there.

The sky was overcast in the distance, and the air smelled of dust.

Feeling the wind coming, Su Rui walked forward with all her might. As the saying goes, a long journey reveals a horse's strength, so today she treated herself as a mule.

The women of Xiaoba Village will never admit defeat.

She walked forward without noticing a military jeep slowly approaching from the side of the road. The jeep followed her at a distance of about ten meters.

Fang Chiye looked at the blackboard that was moving forward rapidly, blocking the entire person in front of it, with only the heels of the shoes embroidered with small grass flowers barely visible.

Qin Shan complained: "Why are you acting like a little turtle?"

"If you don't know how to say it, don't say it." He held back his smile and recognized who it was at a glance.

Qin Shan was about to honk the horn when Fang Chiye stopped him and asked him to stop the car.

Fang Chiye got out of the car and chased after Su Rui at a brisk pace, leaving Qin Shan behind to continue driving.

"Young cadre Su."

Su Rui walked forward against the wind, hoping to return to the village quickly before it rained.

There was a person walking in the opposite direction on the opposite side of the road and Su Rui was hit. She was fine, but the blackboard behind her tilted and was about to fall into the gutter.

Su Rui tried to grab it with her backhand, but she grabbed a hot hand. She turned her head back suddenly and was startled. She never expected Fang Chiye to appear here.

Fang Chiye held up the blackboard and saw Su Rui's expression change from surprise to shock and then to joy. He pressed his lips and said, "What a coincidence."

Su Rui relaxed and quietly moved her hand away, ignoring the touch of hard bones and muscles: "Yes, what a coincidence. I thought someone was stealing my things from behind."

She grabbed the rope and said, "Give it to me. It's quite heavy. I can just tie it again."

Fang Chiye smiled and said, "I'll take the heavy ones. Come on, the car is behind, I'll take you back."

Ah, a ride!

Fang Chiye picked up the blackboard without waiting for Su Rui to answer.

Su Rui found that the 188.5 centimeters he said were not an exaggeration. Not a centimeter was wasted. The blackboard, which was so big for her, was much smaller in his hands.

Su Rui said happily, "I'm really lucky today. I can still get a car home even though it's about to rain. Does it bother you?"

Fang Chiye smiled and said, "It's just on the way, no trouble."

On your way? I came all the way here.

Qin Shan looked at her deeply through the rearview mirror, but he didn't dare to tell the truth. He said jokingly, "Comrade Su bowed his head for the people and carried the blackboard on his back."

Su Rui waved her hand and said in a very leadership style: "Not worth mentioning."

Fang Chiye tied the blackboard to the roof of the car, and Su Rui sat alone in the back and pounded her shoulders.

On the way back to Xiaoba Village, co-driver Fang Chiye told Su Rui some good news.

"Secretary Zhao told me about the Qingnan Village incident." Fang Chiye turned around, looked at Su Rui with his phoenix eyes and said, "Do they often bully you?"

Su Rui said: "It's not just once or twice. I thought they would be more restrained after Guo Qingwang was arrested. But they can't control us. Our Xiaoba Village is independent."

Fang Chiye saw the textbooks of the blindness class on her lap. Seeing how hard the little girl worked, he did not shy away. "After the Spring Festival, the military region issued the 'Three Assistance Policies'. The main content is to assist agriculture, education and ideology. It is used to help the people around the troops make progress in their lives, labor, ideology and learning."

"'Three-assistance policy'?" Su Rui said seriously, "Does this mean that not only can the people learn, but they can also be taught labor knowledge?"

Fang Chiye said: "That's right. Our troops have also received such instructions. Because the troops are newly established and have a lot of things to do, this matter will be postponed to after the beginning of summer. However, the troops saw the urgency of the people in Xiaoba Village and Yiwang Village to learn, so they followed the original plan and tried to start the class in early March."

He paused and said, "Due to limited conditions, I'm afraid I can only have three classes a week. However, all stationery such as pens and paper in the ideological classroom will be provided by the troops. Just as you think, not only will we provide literacy education, but we will also teach agricultural knowledge based on the latest achievements of the Ministry of Agriculture, learn and explain the quotations of great men, sing and play revolutionary songs, make agricultural and sideline products, learn basic handicrafts, etc."

Su Rui was astonished: "There are so many things to teach? They are all what we desperately need! Can we really participate?"

Fang Chiye smiled and said, "Yes. The responsible soldiers will adjust the teaching content in a timely manner according to the needs of the people, so as to achieve the goal of common progress between the military and the people and promote the philosophy of the army."

Su Rui kept rubbing the anti-blindness teaching materials with her hands. She was so excited that she didn't know what to say. It was as if a big pie fell from the sky and hit her on the head.

Fang Chiye saw it and said considerately: "As for your anti-illiteracy textbooks and blackboard, they are just right for rehearsing and consolidating knowledge. Everyone's foundation is different, so we need Su Xiaogan to take care of it."

"Of course, I'm happy to." Su Rui grabbed the anti-blindness teaching materials. The more she looked at Fang Chiye, the better he seemed to her. He was full of the aura of a leading man!

The jeep took Su Rui directly to the village committee.

Before getting off the car, Su Rui leaned forward and asked in a low voice: "Is the size of the insole suitable?"

Fang Chiye was still thinking about how to confess to her, and said, "It's quite suitable." He was embarrassed to say that he was useless. Such a delicate and gorgeous peony flower should not be stepped on and should be cherished and preserved.

Su Rui asked again: "What about the cotton hat?"

Fang Chiye said: "I gave it to you."

Su Rui nodded, and when she got off the car, she stood at the door and said, "Thank you, Mr. Fang, you are such a good person."

Fang Chiye was caught off guard by the nice guy card and was speechless for a moment.

After taking down the blackboard, Su Rui happily rushed into the office to tell Sister Zhao the good news.

Fang Chiye stood by the car and waited for a while. He heard the excited voices inside and the little mouth chattering. He touched the confession letter in his pocket... and went back to the car.

Qin Shan raised his eyebrows and said, "Just leaving like this?"

Fang Chiye said: "Shall I open it?"

Qin Shan said, "Then what should I do?"

Fang Chiye said, "Follow him and run back."

Qin Shan secretly thought that Lao Fang was probably irritated by the word "good guy" and was unable to tell the truth to Comrade Su Rui for a while.

Why are you already afraid when the fate hasn't even started?

"Wait, Captain Fang." Sister Zhao came out of the office and asked Fang Chiye, "Where is the teaching location? I can have people prepare in advance."

Fang Chiye said, "How is Qingfeng Middle School?"

The vacant Qingfeng Middle School was used as a temporary office space for the troops at the end of last year, and it is almost ready for repair. The location is also suitable, and it only takes 20 minutes to walk to the Xiaoba Village Committee.

"That would be the best." Sister Zhao said hesitantly, "But wouldn't it be too big? It would be a waste of such a good place."

"Then prepare it as a teaching place for primary and secondary schools. I will inform the county, and you don't have to worry about it."

Fang Chiye said: "There are many school-age children in the nearby villages. We can't have no schools at all. Even if there are none now, there must be some in the future. The flame of knowledge must be passed down from generation to generation after all."

Sister Zhao nodded repeatedly: "You are right, we should plan for the future."

After Fang Chiye left, Su Rui stood beside Sister Zhao and saw that she was very happy.

Sister Zhao is a person who doesn't show her emotions very much. Su Rui couldn't help but ask, "Sister Zhao, why are you so happy?"

Sister Zhao was an experienced person, so she smiled and said, "Thanks to you."

Su Rui was confused: "I just went to the village, but I didn't get anything done."

Sister Zhao said, "That's not it. I mean Qingfeng Middle School should be used as a reserve site for nearby elementary and middle schools. In the future, our children will no longer have to go through Qingnan Village to the outskirts of the county to go to school. This has a more far-reaching significance than the ideological class."

Huang Bei came out at some point and also said, "I remember hearing people say that the people in Qingnan Village are really bad people. They used to set up a gate on the road leading to school. They wouldn't let the children from our village go there to take the exams. Now it's our turn to set up a gate for them."

Su Rui said, "It takes them three hours to go to Qingfeng Middle School and back. I don't think they would be happy to do so."

Huang Bei said: "It would be even better if they are not happy about it. Books are the ladder of progress. If they are not happy about progress, there is no need for us to drag them forward."

"Go back and arrange for someone to clean up Qingfeng Middle School and prepare at least three classrooms."

Sister Zhao walked to the office and said, "Since Head Fang has said this, I believe it will not change. I will announce this good news to everyone later."

"Then I'll put the blackboard in the empty office and organize everyone to come and learn pinyin in two days, so as to lay a good foundation." Su Rui handed the anti-illiteracy teaching materials to Sister Zhao: "Leader Fang said that we can use this to learn first."

"You actually got the anti-illiteracy textbooks?" Huang Bei said in astonishment, "Auntie Song and her friends asked people in Qingnan Village to borrow them, but they refused to lend them to anyone. They even said they would rather use them to heat the kang than give them to us."

Su Rui said, "They are nothing. I have nothing to do, so come and copy it with me."

Huang Bei said with gritted teeth: "Then I'll find a few more people. We can't just suffer alone."

This was exactly what Su Rui wanted. She said hello to Sister Zhao and went with her to find someone in the office to start copying the teaching materials.

Huang Bei's big mouth worked. Knowing that Su Rui had obtained the anti-illiteracy teaching materials, Aunt Song and a few other close friends called the educated youth and young comrades who could write, and they came to the office first to copy the books together.

Compared to her previous days of depression and frustration, Aunt Song was smiling from ear to ear. She watched them copying the whole night and even made an appointment to continue copying in the next few days.

The next day.

Su Rui carried a big broom and came to Qingfeng Middle School with others to clean the school.

The places used by the troops are different. They are cleaned up very neatly, and many places with peeling walls have been simply repaired.

After a few days of cleaning, Qingfeng Middle School regained its former dignity.

The only flaw was the potholes on the playground. Su Rui reported this to Sister Zhao and planned to buy cement to fill them up.

Sister Zhao reimbursed Su Rui for the money she spent on the blackboard, and also installed an iron general as big as a fist on the big iron gate of Qingfeng Middle School.

Su Rui locked the door and put the key into her floral purse. A hypocritical voice greeted her from behind her ear: "Hello, comrades. Are you going to clean the school?"

Wu Dan arrived a step too late and didn't see what was happening in the school. He stretched his neck to take a look, but was blocked by Su Rui.

Su Rui said with a fake smile: "Secretary Wu, you are such a busy man, why are you here in our Xiaoba Village?"

Wu Dan forced a smile, the wrinkles at the corners of his eyes bursting open: "I heard that you, the military and civilians, are going to organize a thought class together? How come no one in Qingnan Village has informed us of such a big thing?"

Su Rui said, "Hey, isn't Guo Qingwang in jail? Why is there still someone who wants to care about the affairs of our Xiaoba Village?"

Wu Dan knew that things were different now. Seeing that Su Rui didn't want to tell him the truth, he didn't beat around the bush and said, "The ideological class is much better than the literacy class. They are not even on the same level. How can you in Xiaoba Village be so greedy when you encounter good things?"

Su Rui was so happy, this was the case of the bad guy complaining first.

She said with a smile: "I also want you from Qingnan Village to sign up and participate."

"Is it too late to sign up now?" Wu Dan's eyelids jumped when he heard the familiar tone and words.

Su Rui said hypocritically: "We have already registered in advance, and you didn't know how to come earlier. There is nothing we can do about it. We can only wait until the next session."

"The key is that no one notified us." Wu Dan said in a cold voice: "When is the next session? I will sign up everyone in Qingnan Village now!"

Before Su Rui could say anything, Auntie Song, who had just returned from Qingnan Village after being upset, shouted, "The next period is full! The period after that is also full!"

Wu Dan suppressed his temper and said, "If you guys are so cautious, I will report it to the army. Then no one will be able to recover!"

Su Rui was exhausted from all the hard work she had been doing these days. Upon hearing this, she stepped forward and said with relief, "Then go ahead."