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Everyone stopped talking and looked at him. Secretary Gou stood in front of the podium, cleared his throat and said:
"Dear members, in order to respond to the call of the country and in accordance with the arrangements of the commune leaders, our village has opened a literacy class. I don't need to say much about the necessity of the literacy class, and Teacher Wang will tell you about it later. I will just make a few requests: First of all, the comrades who came here today have a high level of consciousness, so since you are here, you should study hard. Secondly, we are all adults, and we must abide by classroom discipline. Don't always talk while the boss talks. Finally, you must respect the two teachers and unite with your classmates. In short, I hope that everyone here will listen carefully, take notes carefully, learn something, and serve the country..."
Secretary Gou kept on talking, and gradually some people started to make noises. Secretary Gou looked around and said, "If any of you come here and don't study hard, and disrupt the classroom discipline, I will embarrass you in front of your kid. His parents don't go to school as well as the kid, I want to see if you are embarrassed or not..."
There was a pause before Secretary Gou was satisfied with the ending.
Secretary Gou stepped down from the stage, and teachers Wang and Li took turns to speak on stage, and the night school began.
The evening school lasts for one month. The class time is set from 7:00 to 9:00 in the evening, with two classes in total. Teacher Wang teaches literacy and Teacher Li teaches arithmetic.
Because of the start of school today, I only attended Mr. Wang’s class.
Teacher Wang turned around and wrote the word "China" on the blackboard with chalk. He pointed with a pointer and said, "This is China, our country. Now everyone, repeat after me..."
Hu Yufeng read it several times with the teacher, and then wrote it down in a notebook with a pencil, stroke by stroke.
In the second half, the class became noisy again. The teacher stopped them twice and then ignored it. Only a few people in the front row followed the teacher attentively.
When the time was up, the teacher announced the end of get out of class and left. Xizi also stood up from the bench, stretched himself and complained:
"This is too boring. I don't remember a single word you taught me. I know the words but I don't. Auntie, please forgive me. I won't come tomorrow."
Hu Yufeng rolled her eyes at her and said, "You don't have to work hard, how can it be harder than letting you farm the land?"
"This is harder than farming. Farming doesn't require much brainpower, but learning this makes my brain hurt."
Hu Yufeng ignored her, handed the notebook to Yang Xiu, put it in her bag, then turned and walked out of the classroom. Yang Xiu and Xizi hurriedly followed.
The soft moonlight shines on the quiet mountain village. In the past, even the dogs in the village would be asleep at this time. Tonight, this group of night school students were in the middle of a lively conversation, and the dogs were so startled that they started barking one after another.
Hu Yufeng walked briskly. The first day of class was certainly difficult, but when I thought about being able to write my own name and no longer being blind when I went out, I was excited from the bottom of my heart.
This is such a good day! She never thought that after living half her life she would be able to go to school and learn to read. Thanks to the country and the party, for this she must learn to write "Chinese" tonight.
In the west room, Qin Wenli patted the child gently, then heard the door being pushed open, and knew that the three of them had returned from school.
Sure enough, the sound of Hu Yufeng and Yang Xiu talking could be heard in the yard.
After a while, Yang Xiu pushed the door open and closed it quietly. After a rustling sound, she groped her way up to the bed.
"How's your learning going? Are you adapting?" Qin Wenli asked.
Yang Xiu was startled: "You are not asleep yet, and you didn't say anything when I came in. It's scary."
"It's OK, it's pretty good. Those who came are people from around the village, and Sister Lanhua is here too."
Qin Wenli hummed, then asked who the teacher was and what he learned.
Seeing that he was interested, Yang Xiu told him everything he had experienced at school.
"Everyone was very surprised to see Mom coming. Even Secretary Gou praised Mom and asked young people to learn from her..."
"Mom studied hard. As soon as I got home, I asked for her notebook and said I wanted to learn how to write..."
Qin Wenli raised his eyebrows in surprise. He thought his mother was just curious for a moment, but he didn't expect that she was the most motivated of the three.
The ambitious Hu Yufeng was soaking her feet while drawing in the air with a pencil.
When Qin Shengtian got up to relieve himself, he saw Hu Yufeng lying on the kang, writing something in a notebook under the dim light of an oil lamp.
He gave her a mocking look, then turned over on the kang and continued to sleep with his back to her.
Hu Yufeng looked carefully at the two neatly written words on the notebook, then closed the notebook with satisfaction.
*
The second night, Xizi said she would not go no matter what, so Hu Yufeng went with her.
As they went out, they ran into Li Lanhua, who came over quickly with a notebook in her hand: "Second Aunt, Xiu'er, let's go together."
She had decided last night not to come today, but when Qin Wen Zheng heard that Hu Yufeng had gone, he asked her if such a young person was not even as good as Second Aunt.
Li Lanhua felt a little ashamed when asked by her husband. My second aunt is in her fifties and is still studying, but I am only thirty years old and I am impatient.
The three of them were still the first to arrive. As soon as they sat down, Hu Yufeng took out her notebook and started reviewing. Li Lanhua and Yang Xiu looked at each other, then took out their notebooks and started studying.
For a moment, the only sound in the classroom was the rustling of paper and pens, and the learning atmosphere was particularly strong.
There were more and more people on campus, and the noise was becoming louder. Li Lanhua and Yang Xiu quickly closed their notebooks and sat up straight, for fear that people would discover that they were secretly learning.
In contrast, Hu Yufeng turned a deaf ear to all the noise and worked extremely carefully on every stroke. Yang and Li looked at each other and felt inferior.
The people who came today brought all kinds of things, some were knitting sweaters, some were sewing shoe soles, and some were making straw sandals, but only a few brought notebooks... Yang Xiu felt a little out of place for a moment.
The first class was Teacher Li’s math class. She wrote numbers from one to ten on the blackboard and then picked up the pointer to explain them one by one.
Maybe arithmetic is more interesting than literacy, so everyone listened more attentively than yesterday, but they couldn’t last halfway through and started whispering.
Teacher Li was not like Teacher Wang who just let it go. She picked up the pointer and knocked on the table:
"What are you arguing about? Do you have something to say that you don't have time to say? If you have something to say, please go outside and say it. Don't disturb other comrades' studies."
"And those who are knitting sweaters and sewing shoe soles, please stop for a moment. This is a classroom, not a field. Since you have signed up, study hard and don't waste your time or mine..."
The classroom suddenly became quiet, and Hu Yufeng relaxed her brows and listened attentively.
*
After three nights of classes, perhaps because Teacher Li had strict discipline, those who were knitting sweaters and straw sandals gradually dropped out, and by the fourth night there were noticeably fewer people. However, those who stayed behind were those who listened attentively, and for a while both teachers and students were particularly satisfied with the current situation.
Both teachers noticed Hu Yufeng, an active student in the class. They did not expect that the oldest student was the most serious. They were moved for a moment and taught more attentively.
The teacher taught carefully and the students studied seriously, so Hu Yufeng made rapid progress. She asked the teacher how to write her name during the break, and practiced on paper over and over again at night. When she was almost done with it, she solemnly wrote three big words on the cover of the notebook.
"Hu Yufeng"
Hu Yufeng looked at her own name carefully. It was great. Her name was so beautiful.
Yang Xiu found it when she was packing the notebook. Although she didn't recognize it, she knew it was her mother-in-law's name.
She asked enviously, "Mom, have you learned to write your name?"
Hu Yufeng nodded, unable to hide the pride on her face.
Qin Yu squeezed in: "I want to see, I want to see... I know this is 'Jade'."
Now it was Yang Xiu and Hu Yufeng's turn to be surprised: "How did you know him?"
"My father taught me. I can also write my name." Qin Yu's face was full of pride.
Yang Xiu had a complicated expression. Well, it was okay that her mother-in-law had left her behind, but now even her daughter was going to surpass her.
With a sense of crisis, Yang Xiu became extra serious and never dared to daydream in class again.
Hu Yufeng was famous for her seriousness, and Yang Xiu also followed suit. Seeing this, Li Lanhua had to follow suit. The other students looked at what was going on and wondered what was wrong with the old lady and the wife of the Qin family. If they continued like this, they would not be able to catch up with them.
Everyone in the classroom was competing with each other and the atmosphere was unprecedentedly tense.
At 6:40, Secretary Gou, who had come to receive the commune leaders, stood at the school gate with a nervous look on his face.
I heard that students in several villages were undisciplined, the teachers went on strike, and the night school could no longer be run. The leader came to visit suddenly today and didn't allow him to inform the school in advance, which caught him off guard.
Seeing the leader and his group coming over, he quickly stepped forward and said:
"The class doesn't start until 7 o'clock. You haven't come yet. Why don't you go sit in the team..."
"It's okay. It will be soon. Let's take a look at the school environment first." The leader said as he stepped in.
Secretary Gou followed hesitantly, praying in his heart that these ancestors would behave themselves today.
The courtyard was dark except for one classroom, which was brightly lit. The leader smiled and said, "It looks like someone is here. Let's go and take a look."
Now that they were here, they took a step forward without much hope, and then, the group of people seemed to be fixed at the door.
Secretary Gou stretched his head out tremblingly: My goodness, who can tell him what is going on? Are all these students who are studying so hard from their village?
He was surprised and happy and couldn't believe it.
After a while, the leader turned around and patted him on the shoulder: "Lao Gou, you are too modest. You said you haven't come yet, but look at the people in this room, look at the end of the study... Oh... It shows that you have put a lot of effort in it. Good job..."
Secretary Gou's hunched back straightened instantly, and he said loudly, "It's all what I should do."
Someone in the classroom looked up when he heard the voice: "The Party Secretary is here..."
Upon hearing this, the others looked towards the door and then went back to writing and drawing.
Secretary Gou: ...
Secretary Gou: "Everyone, everyone, stop for a moment. Our commune leader is here to see you. Let's applaud and welcome him."
Upon hearing the words of the commune leader, everyone stopped writing, looked up, and applauded.
The leader smiled warmly: "Hello, comrades..."
The leader praised them highly for their study with a smile, pointed out the importance of learning from a high vantage point, and finally sincerely wished them success in their studies.
The people in the audience were so praised by their leader that their cheeks flushed. The leaders were warmly sent off, and a group of people cheered:
"I never thought that there would be a day when I would be praised by my leader..."
"That's right. I didn't want to learn it originally, but now I have to study hard..."
"That's right... ours is the first one. I heard from someone in my uncle's family that several villages were scolded for not being able to run night schools..."
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