Chapter 31
When Ye Manzhi was collecting educational information in the compound, he pulled out the police station's banner.
This made the residents' group leaders very dedicated, and they organized their group residents to come to the neighborhood committee to queue up for registration.
Residents in the same group are also neighbors on the same floor. When their educational backgrounds are announced, these familiar people are the first to hear it.
"Comrade Xiaoye, could you please keep your voice down? Why are you shouting so loudly?"
Ye Manzhi looked puzzled: "Do I have a loud voice?"
The onlookers immediately shouted, "No, no, haha, we can't hear it clearly."
Ye Manzhi cleared his throat, lowered his voice slightly, and asked, "Comrade Chen Dashan, right? Please tell me your occupation and education."
"My profession is a canteen chef." Chen Dashan said proudly.
"What about your education?"
"I'm not sure how academic qualifications are calculated. My cooking skills are inherited from my family. I was so focused on my craft that I never went to school."
"Can you read?" Ye Manzhi asked. "Have you ever attended a literacy class?"
"I attended the literacy class organized by the factory."
Ye Manzhi handed him a newspaper, pointed to a short news item and said, "Read this news."
"Xinhua News Agency, Lanzhou is building a huge power station. Now, this power station's division is... ..."
Director Liu from the neighborhood committee interrupted, "Alright, if you don't recognize more than half of the characters in a line, I'll register you as illiterate!"
"That means I still know half of them!"
Ye Manzhi explained, "Comrade Chen Dashan, according to the national assessment standards, urban residents who know less than 500 characters are considered illiterate, and those who know 500-1500 characters are considered semi-literate. Since you don't even know the words 'construct a thermal power station,' you can only be classified as illiterate."
"Oh, how did I become illiterate? I'm only semi-literate at best!"
"Okay, Old Chen, stop being so stubborn. You're illiterate! Hahahaha!"
There was a group of unemployed vagrants running around in the military industrial compound, a large number of whom were friends of Ye Manzhi's fourth brother.
Seeing Ye Manzhi setting up a table here, the group of people gathered in the front row to watch the fun.
Even though Ye Manzhi lowered his voice, he couldn't stop these brats from making trouble.
As soon as Ye Manzhi announced "Chen Dashan, chef, illiterate", they passed the message to the back one by one like a megaphone.
This disgusting behavior helped Ye Manzhi share most of the person's anger.
Chen Dashan is the chef in the cafeteria and he has the final say in the cafeteria. He was publicly identified as illiterate and his face turned pale.
After being teased by this group of young people, his face turned purple.
Seeing this, Ye Manzhi stood up and patted the table, signaling for silence.
"Let me explain. Our police station and neighborhood office organized this occupation and education survey primarily to support the city's census. Previously, the 'education level' column on many residents' household registrations was blank. After this survey is completed, we'll add information on education levels."
"By then, your household registration will have educational information like 'illiterate,' 'semi-illiterate,' 'primary school primary school,' and 'senior primary school high school.' The educational level you fill in now may stay with you for years, decades, or even a lifetime! So, comrades who don't want to be classified as illiterate or semi-illiterate and feel they can change, please seize this opportunity!"
Several people who had previously been registered as illiterate asked, "What opportunities are there?"
"Our neighborhood is about to open a literacy school, and it will include an after-school program!" Ye Manzhi asked. "Does anyone know what this means?"
Director Liu asked flatteringly, "What is it?"
"This means that all adults who haven't received any education have the opportunity to obtain a primary or secondary primary school diploma! We all know that primary schools only accept school-age children; adults are not allowed to attend primary school! Therefore, our street's part-time secondary primary school classes may be everyone's only chance to improve their 'education level' in this lifetime!"
Chen Dashan asked, "How is the tuition for this senior class calculated?"
Even primary and secondary school students have to pay tuition, so it is even more impossible for adults to go for free.
Ye Manzhi hadn't even seen the school yet, so of course she couldn't give the tuition amount. She could only hold her head high and confidently say, "The tuition is at most half of what it's like at an elementary school, and our school system is much shorter than an average elementary school."
Today's primary schools have a "four, two" system, with four years for primary school and two years for high school.
The tuition fee for primary schools in Binjiang City is generally 2.5 yuan per semester, which means 20 yuan for four years. The tuition fee for high school is doubled, which is also 20 yuan for two years.
If you want to get a junior high school diploma, you will have to pay at least 40 yuan and spend six years!
However, the street office's part-time high school classes only offer three subjects: Chinese, arithmetic, and politics, which can significantly reduce tuition and class hours.
Ye Manzhi returned to the point, saying, "If anyone is dissatisfied with their educational level and doesn't want to be listed as 'illiterate' or 'semi-illiterate' on their household registration, they can come to the neighborhood office to register for school! For all residents who register, the 'education level' column can be left blank for six months. It can be filled in once you obtain a higher level of education."
Can it be postponed for half a year?
Upon hearing this, almost all the illiterate people who had just been ridiculed went to sign up.
Ye Manzhi knew that these people signed up on impulse and for the sake of face.
But no matter what the reason, we must first stabilize these people.
"Some comrades may be worried. What if I don't study well and can't continue studying? Will the tuition fees for the senior primary class be wasted?"
"Yes, can the tuition be refunded then?" someone asked immediately.
"You can't refund it, not even for a movie, let alone paying tuition. But," Ye Manzhi said with a smile, "our literacy school, in addition to the paid high school classes, also has free literacy classes. You can go to the free literacy class first, and you can graduate when you can read books and newspapers."
She originally wanted to say that students could graduate after knowing 1,500 words.
But the number 1500 is too scary for illiterate people. My fourth sister-in-law was often scared away by the number 1500 and dared not go to literacy classes anymore.
"After completing the literacy class, everyone can basically determine whether they have talent and whether they are interested in continuing to study in lower and upper primary schools."
Ye Manzhi, speaking with concern for the residents, said, "It's not easy for everyone to work and earn money. I don't recommend that you just impulsively sign up for advanced primary school. If there's a free course, take the free one first! After you've mastered the free one, then consider whether to pay for advanced primary school."
"Right, right, right!" Her words resonated with everyone, and someone immediately chimed in, "Let's not waste our money and go read the free one first!"
Ye Manzhi stood among the illiterate people and mobilized them in an inspiring tone.
"The benefits of literacy have been mentioned many times. Reading books and newspapers, preventing scams—these are all old clichés, so we won't emphasize them again! I just want to emphasize one point: Guangming Street only offers this one part-time high school class. I don't know when the next one will be. After all, running a school requires funding. Comrades who don't want to be labeled 'illiterate' on their household registration or resident ID cards, and who want to attend free literacy classes, please come and sign up with me first!"
All of a sudden, all the illiterate people present rushed forward to sign up.
Director Liu from the neighborhood committee: “…”
She talked her lips off, but no one volunteered to attend the literacy class.
The literacy scores of each unit only count the number of graduates from the literacy classes, and the literacy classes have always been free.
That part-time advanced primary school class is for adults who already know more than 1,500 words and want to obtain higher education.
Therefore, if these illiterate people do not go to literacy classes to learn to read, they will not be able to enter the senior primary classes even if they pay.
After the Ye family's daughter messed things up like this, the free literacy class suddenly became popular, and all the diehards came to sign up!
While Ye Manzhi was registering the comrades who had signed up, a woman squeezed in from the side and asked, "Leader, can I register my daughter?"
"Sure. What's your name? How old are you? What do you do now?"
"What kind of career can a 9-year-old have?"
Ye Manzhi was stunned for a moment, then looked up and asked, "Nine years old is school-age. Why don't you let her go to elementary school? Literacy classes are for adults to learn to read. The curriculum and teaching methods are not suitable for children. You should send her to elementary school."
The residents of the military industrial compound are all workers and their families. Even apprentices earn 16 or 17 yuan a month, so they should be able to afford the tuition of more than 2 yuan per semester.
The woman said, "I also want her to go to primary school, but I took her to the school for children of children last week to register, and the teacher said it was full and asked us to try another school."
"So you didn't go to other schools?"
Ye Manzhi didn't ask her why she enrolled her daughter in school at the age of 9.
When she was in school, there were many siblings of similar age who were classmates.
"Are there any other schools on our street? I took her to other streets to look, but they didn't have any places. Schools further away wouldn't be convenient, so I don't really want her to go."
Ye Manzhi wrote down the information of the parents and the girl, intending to help them go to the school to inquire about the situation.
However, just as she put down her pen, she heard the sound of gongs beating from the front.
In the military factory’s family compound, residents were summoned to leave their homes by beating gongs only when an emergency assembly was needed.
Everyone was startled by the sudden sound of the gong and looked blankly in the direction where the sound came from.
Immediately afterwards, the serious voice of the announcer suddenly rang out from the loudspeaker of the military factory, which claimed to broadcast only at fixed times.
"Residents of the family compound, please gather immediately at the East Gate Square! Residents of the family compound, please gather immediately at the East Gate Square! I repeat, please..."
Ye Manzhi was listening to the radio and turned to ask, "Director Liu, do you know what happened?"
The factory rarely requires family members to gather urgently.
Director Liu shook his head and boldly guessed, "Could it be an air raid alarm? Otherwise, why would they make such a fuss?"
The crowd that gathered here to watch the excitement dispersed after hearing the call for an emergency assembly.
Ye Manzhi's statistical work had just begun when it was interrupted by the sudden broadcast.
But she didn't dare to delay such a matter, so she quickly collected the materials on the table and followed everyone to gather at the east gate of the compound.
When she rushed over, several young officers were setting up the rostrum. Wu Zhengrong, wearing a full military uniform, stood beside the rostrum with a serious expression and talked with Chief Liu from the police station.
"Captain Wu, Captain Liu, what happened?"
"It's not a big deal, don't be nervous." Wu Zhengrong's gaze passed from her tense face to the pile of materials in her arms. He asked with a relaxed smile, "Comrade Xiaoye, are you working overtime again?"
"I'm helping the police station compile educational records and mobilizing illiterate people in the prison to attend literacy classes."
Seeing that his tone and expression were very relaxed, as if it was really not a big deal, Ye Manyzhi's tense shoulders suddenly relaxed.
She didn't want to talk to him in front of Chief Liu, so she greeted the two of them and went into the crowd to meet up with the Ye family who had just arrived.
Almost all the residents who heard the broadcast announcement gathered in the square at the east gate.
They asked each other noisily what had happened.
Deputy Director Zhang of Factory 656 took the lead and walked up to the podium. He tapped the stand-up microphone and said, "I've called everyone here to inform you of something. This year marks the 25th anniversary of the September 18th Incident. The city's air defense headquarters will be sounding the air defense alarm soon!"
"The specific situation has already been explained at today's factory-wide staff meeting, but to be completely safe, we'll also brief the families on some precautions. Next, please allow Chief Military Representative Comrade Wu Zhengrong, on behalf of the Municipal Air Defense Command, to announce the emergency procedures during the air defense alert..."
When they heard that the military representative was going to speak, many family members stretched their necks like giraffes, ready to catch a glimpse of the military representative.
The military representative's name is well-known, but not many of his family members have actually met him in person.
Chang Yue'e even stood on tiptoe, determined to see whether this military representative was really better looking than Xu Jisheng from the drama troupe.
Wu Zhengrong, standing on the rostrum, saluted the staff and their families and said solemnly, "The air defense sirens are expected to sound starting at 9:00 a.m. tomorrow and will continue to do so day and night."
"During an airborne alert, no one without a special permit will be allowed to travel, except for ambulances, firefighters, and police vehicles. Buses and trucks must stop running, and pedestrians must take cover immediately. Therefore, families who need to commute to work are advised to plan their travel time in advance."
"When an air raid alarm sounds at night, all lights in our factory and residential areas must be extinguished! If lights are not extinguished, or if the shading and extinguishing procedures are not done properly, resulting in lights being exposed, the patrol team and residents' committee will correct the situation. Those who fail to correct their behavior after repeated warnings will be detained by the police station."
"Anyone suspected of stealing, robbing, setting fire, transmitting signals, or destroying important supplies during an air raid alert will be arrested immediately."
“In addition, to avoid unnecessary misunderstandings, please refrain from using radios and radios during the alert period…”[1]
The residents who had originally stretched their necks to admire the military representatives retracted their necks after hearing these serious reminders.
At this time, it was less than ten years since the liberation of the whole country. The terrifying memories of the past were suddenly awakened and instantly hit everyone's mind.
Chang Yue'e was in no mood to peek at the military representative's beauty. She sighed and said, "It's okay during the day, but it's a bit troublesome at night. I don't know when the alarm will go off. We have to wash up quickly then. The bathroom will definitely be crowded tomorrow. No, we have to fetch a few buckets of water in advance today to avoid being crowded together tomorrow..."
There were many people who shared the same idea as her. After listening to the military representative's introduction, the residents immediately dispersed and went home to make preparations.
Everyone has lived through the war years, especially the older people, so they still have many ways to deal with this kind of air raid warning.
When the alarm sounded the next morning, Ye Manzhi was working in the office. Although there were no pedestrians or vehicles on the road, it was daytime after all, so the feeling was not very strong.
At ten o'clock that evening, as the alarm continued to sound, residents of the entire military industrial compound turned off lights and fires one after another.
The family compound, which had just been brightly lit, quickly fell into dead silence and darkness in just a few seconds.
Ye Manzhi gathered with her family. Although she knew that the alarm was just a drill, she still felt a little panic for no reason.
She leaned over the windowsill and looked out. The whole city was hidden in the darkness, with only the terrifying sound of the air sirens constantly drilling into her ears.
The air raid alarm didn’t sound for long, but after it ended, the Ye family didn’t turn on the lights again.
Ye Manzhi returned to her room and fell asleep in a daze.
Although this alarm was just an air defense drill, the psychological impact of the alarm on people was too great.
The sharp and long sound made many people feel a sense of urgency that time was running out.
The next day when Ye Manzhi went to work, Director Mu called her over as soon as she walked into the office.
"Xiaoye, how's the literacy campaign going?" Mulan said, rubbing her temples. "The alarm yesterday kept me awake for half the night. Falling behind means getting beaten. Just thinking about all those illiterate people on our street makes me angry!"
Ye Manzhi had the same idea. She took out the statistics table and said, "I have mobilized 150 people to participate in the literacy class in the past few days. These people have signed and fingerprinted the registration form. If nothing goes wrong, they will all be able to attend the class."
"However, I think motivating everyone to attend class is only the first step. The key is to ensure everyone's learning outcomes and prevent students from dropping out midway. Therefore, our literacy classes should not be large classes. It is best to keep the number of students within 30..."
Mulan nodded and said, "I've asked a few sister units. They have literacy classes for 50 or 20 people. Comparing them, the dropout rate is lower in smaller classes. But this involves funding. Assuming 30 students per class, we'll have to open at least five parallel classes. Lao Zhang..."
She turned to look at Zhang Qinjian next door and asked, "How much funding do we have left in our street? Is it enough to support the cost of teachers and textbooks?"
"Five parallel classes require at least two teachers, and each literacy class must last at least four months. Even street activists can't work for nothing. Teacher salaries alone will cost at least 50 yuan, so we need to ask the district to allocate some literacy funds."
The street only had two dollars of funding per month, and even if he lived frugally, he couldn't save fifty dollars.
However, if the district could allocate funds, the literacy work in Guangming Street would not have been delayed until now.
Each unit must find its own way to raise funds for literacy.
However, the street office is a government agency that can only serve the people and has no reason to charge fees.
Ye Manzhi asked quietly, "Can you use the marriage registration fee to pay for it first?"
"That money has already been used to repair dilapidated buildings," Director Mu said helplessly. "I'll go back to the district office to figure out a solution for the funding. Xiaoye, don't stop the literacy campaign. You should keep pushing it forward."
Ye Manzhi nodded in agreement, but he was worried in his heart.
Without money, you can't move forward.
What if we can’t get the money or hire teachers? Will the leaders let these people from the street office teach?
Just thinking about working during the day and attending classes at night made her feel dizzy.
She wanted to look through some recent newspapers. Some news would introduce the literacy achievements in various places. Maybe she could learn some lessons from the successful cases. After all, not every unit was so wealthy.
However, most of the old newspapers in the street office were sold by Zhang Qinjian as scrap and converted into cash.
She had no choice but to go to the post office to borrow a newspaper from her third sister-in-law Huang Li.
Huang Li didn't give her the old newspapers, but gave her several thick scrapbooks.
"Whatever news you're looking for, look in these notebooks. These are the main clippings from the People's Daily for the first half of this year. I've cut out the useless news."
Ye Manzhi was overjoyed. After thanking her third sister-in-law, she took a large stack of clippings and went back to the street office to study.
Liu Jinbao was annoyed by the new arrival Zhao Erhe. He stood up from his seat, walked over to Ye Manyi and asked, "What's the use of these newspapers? They don't provide funding!"
"I'm mainly looking for ideas!" She pointed to a news item and said, "Look at this, the National Illiteracy Eradication Association. I think our neighborhood could try to apply to join the association and become a member or something."
"Forget it! Joining these associations is completely useless. They will only dictate your work and restrict the work of grassroots units!"
Ye Manzhi pointed to a line of small print in the newspaper and said, "Look here! It says, 'The association's funds are covered by the national budget.' What does this mean? It means that if you join the literacy association, you can get money! But I don't know where the entrance to the association is, and how do I apply to join?"
Ye Manzhi was thinking of having the street office join the National Literacy Association. In the afternoon, he went to several units to inquire about how to contact and join the National Literacy Association.
However, several sister units have never heard of this association and feel that it is not a mass organization.
The leaves on the branches were all white and they were busy for most of the day.
When she got off work in the evening, she packed up the scrapbooks and prepared to take them home to continue studying.
However, as soon as she walked out of the office, she saw Wu Zhengrong waiting across the street.
Wu Zhengrong took the pile of clippings from her hand, a look of surprise on his face: "You still have to work overtime tonight?"
"It's not overtime. What do you want to talk to me about?"
"Well, the Cultural Palace just released a movie called 'Dragonfly Girl'. I came to ask Comrade Xiao Ye if he's interested in watching a movie together."
Ye Manzhi hasn't watched a movie for a long time, so of course she wants to watch one!
"Where was this movie filmed? What is it about?"
Wu Zhengrong said bluntly: "Soviet romance film."
"..." Ye Manzhi said angrily, "Can't you just say it's a Soviet feature film?"
"Well," Wu Zhengrong readily corrected himself, "a Soviet feature film."
Ye Manzhi was a little embarrassed to watch a romance movie with him. While she was hesitating, she heard him say, "I see that among the students your street is working on literacy programs, there are quite a few military families and families of martyrs. Supporting the military and caring for their families is also one of the key tasks of our military representative office. After watching the movie, we can have a good talk about the literacy work you are in charge of..."
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