It was dark and the night was endless. He Xianqiu sat on the bed, rubbing some medicated wine and some cold cream on his face.
Skin care products in the 1970s were too simple, but I have to say they were well made, even if they were simple.
He Xianqiu was wiping the bed carefully, but someone couldn't bear to see her so comfortable and started to mock her.
"It's so late, and you're still wiping. Do you know that you're disturbing other people's sleep? You're really selfish."
He Xianqiu was speechless. She had clearly wiped the floor only after she saw that everyone was still awake, and there was no sound. It was only eight o'clock in the evening.
He Xianqiu glanced at Yang Shuhua nonchalantly and said calmly, "I think you are just looking for trouble. What kind of noise can you make by applying vanishing cream?"
Yang Shuhua snorted coldly: "You just disturbed my sleep."
He Xianqiu smiled: "Okay, go to sleep, I'm done cleaning, it won't bother you, after all, your ears are very sensitive, you can probably even hear the sound of ants moving."
Yang Shuhua saw He Xianqiu talking in such a nonchalant manner, as if he was treating her as a performing monkey, jumping up and down like a clown.
Her face darkened instantly, and she said, "It's just being a teacher, what's so great about that?"
He Xianqiu was confused. What did this have to do with being a teacher? This change of topic made He Xianqiu speechless.
He Xianqiu was a little amused: "Yang Zhiqing, I didn't say anything, but I think you can perform on the stage by yourself, how about I build a stage for you to perform on?"
When Yang Shuhua heard He Xianqiu's sarcasm, she was so angry that she glared at He Xianqiu viciously.
Zhou Hanmei, who was standing nearby, saw this and immediately tried to persuade them: "We are all educated youth, so stop arguing. He Zhiqing, you should give in to Yang Zhiqing. She is in a bad mood right now. Shuhua, let me go."
Yang Shuhua was angry at the moment, but she had no place to vent her anger. When Zhou Hanmei spoke, she immediately yelled, "What does it have to do with you?"
After being yelled at like that, Zhou Hanmei's eyes immediately turned red, she felt very aggrieved.
He Xianqiu looked at her coldly without saying anything. Zhou Hanmei was playing with Yang Shuhua, but Yang Shuhua always looked down on her and treated her like a maid, giving her things when she was happy.
He Xianqiu finished wiping herself, then she covered herself with the quilt and went to sleep, not caring about the two people who were still beside her. She still had to go to school to recruit students tomorrow, so she decided to go to bed quickly.
Yang Shuhua looked at He Xianqiu lying down with a dark face, but the other party ignored her, so she could only leave.
As soon as He Xianqiu lay down, he closed his eyes and fell asleep.
Morning.
He Xianqiu opened her eyes and it was already dawn. She looked at the time and it was seven o'clock in the morning. She got up from the bed and stretched.
Then she unexpectedly discovered that her foot was no longer limping. She was a little surprised. Although there was still some slight pain, it was no longer a big deal.
After washing up, He Xianqiu immediately rushed to school. He felt happy at the thought that he didn't have to do farm work today. Hoeing the fields was too tiring.
When she arrived at school, other teachers were already in the office. As soon as she walked in, the laughter in the office stopped abruptly, and everyone stared at He Xianqiu in a daze.
She had a delicate and beautiful appearance, with a fair complexion. She wore a turquoise knee-length skirt and a pair of light-colored leather shoes. Her silky and smooth hair fell to her waist.
Everyone just stared at her blankly until a cough was heard in the quiet office and everyone's ears came back to their senses.
He Xianqiu smiled slightly and greeted everyone: "Hello, my name is He Xianqiu, and I'm an art teacher."
There were two men and two women in the office. They looked at each other, and then one of the women responded.
"Hello, my name is Ke Jiamin, and I'm a Chinese teacher."
Then the other people inside also introduced themselves.
"Hello, my name is Liu Chunlian..."
"Hello, my name is Hu Hongliang..."
"My name is He Qingcheng..."
They introduced themselves to each other and a few people started chatting.
“I don’t know how many students come to study at our Qinggang Primary School.”
"There are only primary schools in our Qinggang Brigade and the neighboring Baisha Brigade, and parents can only choose one of them. After all, going to the commune is too far."
"The Baisha Brigade has always looked down on our Qinggang Brigade, thinking that our brigade is poor and that the grain output we submit is less than theirs. In the past, the children of our brigade could only go to the Baisha Brigade to attend primary school. People in the brigade don't know how many times their faces have been stepped on, but they can't do anything about it. Fortunately, our Qinggang Brigade now has a primary school, so we don't have to go to the Baisha Brigade anymore."
The two people from Qinggang Brigade said so. He Xianqiu had just arrived at the Qinggang Brigade. She was not clear about these contradictions, so she did not say anything and just listened in silence.
After a while, the principal came in, followed closely by Song Wenzhong, holding some books in his hands. Everyone fell silent when they saw the principal come in.
He Xianqiu looked at Song Wenzhong and wondered why she didn't see Song Zhiqing just now. It turned out that the principal called him over.
Then I listened to the principal's gentle introduction: "From now on, you are all part of the school. Let me introduce myself. My name is Zhang Qingshou. Today is the enrollment day, so I will go to enroll students first, and then the class will officially start tomorrow."
Principal Zhang is a gentle person, but he is meticulous in his work, so he explained some important matters and then ended the meeting. He then asked the teachers to recruit students.
Several male teachers moved the tables and chairs out, and then at nine o'clock, parents of students came with their children to register.
In the 1970s, elementary schools only went up to the fifth grade, and He Xianqiu was mainly responsible for registration for the first grade, so when parents of students registering for the first grade came, she was responsible for registration and then collecting the registration fees.
Each desk had a piece of paper indicating which grade the students were in, but there were still problems because the students' parents could not read.
Whenever He Xianqiu heard parents ask what grade their child was in, she would patiently tell them.
At this moment, someone came to register for the first grade. He Xianqiu lowered his head and carefully filled in the information for the students.
Suddenly she heard some cursing. She had just finished writing, sent the parents away, and then looked up to see what was going on.
A mean-looking woman in grey coarse linen clothes led a seven or eight-year-old boy and glared at the crying little girl who was holding her legs. She lowered her head and roared in a sharp and piercing voice: "You are a money-loser and you still want to study. I have given you food and drink, and you still dare to ask for study, you little bitch."
The girl was about ten years old. She was wearing tattered coarse cloth with many patches on it, and her clothes were washed white.
She kept crying, grabbing the woman's legs, and begging in a sobbing voice: "Mom, please let me study, I will never delay my work, please, mom."
But the woman just felt annoyed with her and pushed her to the ground: "Why are you studying? Our family doesn't have the money to pay for your education. Besides, you are a money-loser. Why are you studying? When you get married, the money will be wasted."
The girl was pushed to the ground, which was covered with mud, and her already washed-white clothes were covered with mud.
Her eyes were red, but she kept saying, her eyes were full of pleading: "Mom, please let me study, Mom, please."
The seven or eight-year-old boy who was being led by the woman spoke up. He looked at the girl on the ground with disgust and cursed, "You are just a money-loser. You still dare to ask your mother for money to go to school. Mother, you can't give it to me. This is my money."
Although the boy was wearing coarse linen clothes, it was obvious that the clothes were newly made, and he was also carrying a new cross-body bag.
The woman looked at the boy and said, "All ours belong to you, Jianmin. We don't have any money to pay for them."
When the boy heard what the woman said, he nodded, and then said to the girl proudly: "See, there is no loss of money, the whole house is mine."
When He Xianqiu heard these words, his face was full of anger. What kind of words were these? She was only a few years old, but she kept calling the girl a money-loser. And the same thing went for that woman. She was also a woman, but she treated the girl she gave birth to like this.
He Xianqiu's face turned serious. She was born in a wealthy family and had never met someone who favored boys over girls. When she saw this for the first time, she was shocked. What kind of feudal idea was this?
The more He Xianqiu listened, the more uncomfortable she felt. She stood up and tried to walk over, but the female teacher next to her stopped her and said, "This is very common. No matter what you say, the other person won't listen. Teacher He, you'd better not get involved, otherwise you'll be in trouble later."
He Xianqiu declined her kindness, walked up to the girl, helped her up, and then said to the woman: "This parent, you discriminate against women. This should be punished by labor reform. Men and women are equal. This is what the great man said. You think the great man is wrong."
The woman looked at He Xianqiu who appeared out of nowhere and was about to curse him, but when she heard what she said, she choked.
But he still cursed and said, "What does it have to do with you? Where did you come from? Aren't you also a money-loser?"
He Xianqiu heard the other party's words and said coldly: "You are also a woman, but you look down on yourself. It is a feudal idea to favor boys over girls. Your idea is not good. If I report you to the Public Security Bureau, you will have to stay for more than ten days at least."
The woman was scared when she heard that she was going to be detained at the police station. She whispered, "I don't want to do that either, but our family is poor and we can't afford to support two people."
When the girl heard what her mother said, her eyes turned red and she said, "Mom, you are lying. I saw that you have money in your pocket. The tuition and book fees totaled five dollars, but you have dozens of dollars in your hand."
When the woman heard the girl expose her, her face changed and she reached out to hit her: "You money-loser, what nonsense are you talking about? I don't have that much money. My family is poor."
This damn girl actually saw her money and dared to say it out loud. This money-losing thing is really an ungrateful bitch who can never be tamed.
As soon as He Xianqiu saw the other party's actions, he took the girl back a step.
She said to the woman in a cold voice: "My dear parent, you really want to go to the police station, so you keep asking for compensation. I see that your son is wearing new clothes and pants, and carrying a new schoolbag, so he doesn't look like he has no money. What you bought is enough for the tuition of another child. This is what you call having no money."
The woman was about to retort, but He Xianqiu didn't give her a chance to speak: "Everyone is equal now. You don't let girls go to school. Do you think that equality is wrong? You have feudal ideas that need to be educated..."
When the woman heard what He Xianqiu said, she didn't dare to say anything. How would she know all this? Seeing that He Xianqiu said a lot, if she dared to say yes, she was afraid that she would really be taken to the police station.
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