Chapter 98
Recently, teachers and students at the provincial university have held several major debates, and the long bulletin board at the entrance of the cafeteria is covered with large-character posters of various colors.
Unlike those professors who focus on academics, Miao Jigeng is very good at analyzing problems from a political perspective. He also pays close attention to the direction of public opinion on campus. He visits the bulletin board every now and then to check the latest developments of students.
The discussion over the past two days on "implementing the Party's education policy" made him feel a little excited and encouraged.
He felt that his educational philosophy was 80% consistent with the Party's educational policy.
What is the Party’s education policy?
“Education serves the politics of the working class and is combined with productive labor.”
His consistent educational philosophy is that theory cannot be separated from reality, and book knowledge must be applied to life and practice.
Miao Jigeng prides himself on having a keen political sense. When other educational scholars believe that "education is just reading", he should make his educational philosophy, which is often criticized for "focusing on practice rather than theory", as consistent as possible with the Party's education policy.
And find an opportunity to express your position.
Therefore, he had all three meals in the school cafeteria these days. After eating, he walked around the bulletin board at the cafeteria entrance with his hands behind his back.
I want to draw some inspiration from the big-character posters posted by young people.
However, some students' big-character posters had no real content and were filled with empty words and clichés that looked like they were copied from newspapers.
Miao Jigeng reached out and smoothed his short gray hair, muttering to himself that it was a waste of paper and ink, and then shifted his gaze to the other side.
Well, this student praised the coke plant that the Power Engineering Department had just opened at great length. It must be that the students of the Power Engineering Department were bragging about themselves.
Lao Miao felt half disdain and half envy of Lao Liu. Look at his students!
That coke factory was actually organized by several fifth-year students in their department, who took advantage of the opportunity of steelmaking.
A lot of coke has been produced and sold during this period, and now it has become a hen that lays golden eggs.
Miao Jigeng didn't want to hear the students bragging, so just as he was about to look away, he saw the words below:
"The Department of Industrial Economics has a solid theoretical foundation and rich practical experience. We should fully leverage our strengths to establish a machinery factory or machinery repair shop to provide a 'three-in-one' base for teachers and students that combines study, labor, and scientific research."
Lao Miao stared at the "three-in-one" and stood in front of the propaganda column for a long time.
There is nothing uncommon in combining study and scientific research, but combining it with labor is something that can be explored.
Apart from the coke factory set up by students, there were no other factories in the school.
The practical classes for senior students and some of the teachers' work are all completed in factories outside the school.
If we could open a factory on campus and let teachers and students work in the department's factory, balancing study and scientific research, wouldn't that be "combining education with productive labor"?
His eyes quickly swept over the signature below - Group 201, Class 1, Grade 1, Department of Industrial Economics.
He paced back and forth at the cafeteria entrance, and when no one was paying attention, he took down the big-character poster and took it back to the office.
…
"Director Miao, didn't you say we're not a business and that not issuing invoices to the coal furnace factory would risk tax evasion?" Ye Manzhi said, standing in the department head's office. "Opening a factory just solved our problem. What's there to argue about?"
She thought that if others could open a coking plant, they could also open a machinery factory. There was a precedent, and many problems could be easily solved.
But Miao Jigeng said, "Since the school is organizing a big debate, there must be disagreements on this issue. The school is not a place where one person has the final say; it has always valued democracy. The big-character poster was posted by your 201 group. 201 group should prepare in advance and speak at the debate."
"Director, when will the debate be held?"
"Tomorrow or the day after tomorrow."
Ye Manzhi asked, "Can it be arranged on Friday or Saturday? Our class has physics and chemistry tests on Thursday, and everyone is busy reviewing. They may not have time to prepare for the debate."
"First-year physics and chemistry are all basics. What's there to review?"
Ye Manzhi said with a dull expression, "People are different. Our group 201 all applied for liberal arts in the college entrance exam, and three of them were transferred to our major. No one expected that the Department of Industrial Economics would also require science and chemistry."
"Well, let's set it for Saturday afternoon."
Ye Manzhi did not disrupt everyone's review plan. Only after the quiz on Thursday did he inform the other four people about participating in the debate.
Xu Hongdou's eyes widened as she asked, "Can a school run a factory?"
"Didn't I show it to you before the big-character poster was posted?"
"I thought it was just an errand."
Ye Manzhi waved her hand and said, "Let's get back to the point. Since the department head has taken down our big-character poster alone, he's probably already thinking about opening a factory. But there's a split in the department, so we're holding this mass debate to gather broad opinions. Let me ask, are our group's opinions unified? Is there anyone who disagrees with opening this 'three-in-one' base?"
Bian Queqiao said, "The big-character poster was posted in the name of our group. I'm sure everyone agrees with it! Go on."
"Since everyone agrees, let's side with Director Miao and support the department's factory. At the debate the day after tomorrow, we won't be engaged in a heated debate, but we're sure to encounter many problems. Besides the branch secretary and I," Ye Manzhi smiled and looked at the other three girls. "Hongdou, Jinhua, Liang Ning, who among you three is willing to speak on behalf of our group?"
Zhao Jinhua's wheat-colored face showed determination as she said in a resounding voice, "I'll go with you!"
"This isn't steelmaking or war," Bian Queqiao joked, "Why take it so seriously?"
Zhao Jinhua is now a famous iron girl in the whole department. Not only is she the sports commissioner of the class, she is also at the forefront of steelmaking.
All in all, very capable.
Zhao Jinhua's shoulders relaxed a little, and she forced a smile and said, "I can speak on behalf of the group."
"Okay then. Jinhua, the Party Secretary, and I will be in charge of the front convoy," Ye Manzhi looked at Xu Hongdou and Liang Ning. "You two will be in charge of collecting information for everyone and providing ammunition support when the time comes. Is that okay?"
Liang Ning asked the same question Ye Manzhi had just asked, "Squad Leader, opening a factory is a great idea! It's in line with the Party's educational policy. Why would anyone object?"
"Haha, you'll find out at the debate."
Director Miao wanted to express his position through this event, so the scale of this mass debate was particularly large.
In addition to the student representatives sent by each class, there are also all the teachers in the department.
At the beginning of the meeting, someone raised a very critical question.
"Our Department of Industrial Economics isn't an engineering school, and we're not focused on technology. When it comes to implementing our educational policies, we should focus on optimizing the content of our lectures, not on running factories. We train industrial economics professionals, not skilled workers. Our technical courses are simply to help you understand basic mechanical knowledge."
"Yeah, other engineering schools don't even have factories, but our finance major is actually going to open a factory! If we want students to participate in social practice, then we should organize more off-campus visits!"
Zhao Jinhua stood up and retorted, "Teacher Chen, the government hasn't assigned jobs to our department's graduates yet. If some of our students are assigned to large machinery or metallurgical factories, having technical knowledge will always give them an advantage over not having it, and it will also make it easier for them to communicate with the grassroots workers."
“Moreover, Comrade Chairman has said, ‘The knowledge in books is one-sided for students. This knowledge is proven by others, but not by them. The most important thing is to be good at applying this knowledge to practice. Therefore, I advise those who only have book knowledge but have not yet come into contact with practice, or those who have little practical experience, to understand their shortcomings and be more humble.’ [1]
Teacher Chen: “…”
If you bring out the Chairman's instructions, what is there to debate about?
Ye Manzhi gave Liang Ning a thumbs up under the table, saying that the information was well collected.
Liang Ning smiled with her lips pursed. Although it was not her speech, her eyes were bright and she applauded Zhao Jinhua.
Huang Zhiqiang, a junior, coughed lightly, stood up, and said, "It makes sense that theory must be integrated with practice, but running a factory does have its practical difficulties. I'm currently interning at the Binjiang General Machinery Factory. Building a machinery factory requires advanced technology and large equipment. But we don't have the necessary equipment or technical expertise, and our department's funds are also used for teaching. Can we afford to invest large sums of money to build a factory?"
Although the Institute of Technology has such unique conditions, it has not considered opening a factory. A big reason for this is that building a factory requires huge financial support.
The amount of educational funds allocated to universities by the government is limited. Who would be willing to use the limited funds to set up a factory?
As for the coke plant of the Power Engineering Department, it was actually opened by students who discovered that the city's coke supply was insufficient, so they went to several companies that needed to purchase coke and obtained a large deposit in advance, and then the plant was opened.
What Huang Zhiqiang mentioned is indeed a very practical difficulty.
Setting up a factory is easy, but where does the money come from?
Ye Manzhi glanced in the direction of the sophomores and juniors, and saw them gathered together chirping, but no one stood up to refute.
She waited for a moment, then stood up and said, "Factories come in all sizes. When we build a factory, we shouldn't always assume that being a provincial powerhouse means we should build a large factory. Some of you may have heard that I secured an order for blowers from the Guangming Coal Furnace Factory. Recently, my sophomores and juniors have been working on this order in their spare time."
"In fact, I used to be the director of the Guangming Coal Stove Factory. Without being too modest, I built this factory myself. Back then, I was a grassroots cadre in the neighborhood committee. The neighborhood committee wanted to produce and sell a new type of honeycomb coal stove, but we only had five yuan to build the factory."
"..." Mr. Luo interrupted and asked, "How much is the budget for building the factory?"
"Five yuan," Ye Manzhi said with a smile. "It happened the winter of the year before last. With that five yuan start-up capital, we rented a small courtyard in a resident's home as a workshop. Initially, we only had seven workers on piecework wages, and we relied on credit for the raw materials for the coal stove. To save costs, we only bought paint cans on credit from the scrap collection station to use as the coal stove shell."
"With just five yuan in start-up capital, we were able to turn a profit in just one month. Now, the factory has formal workshops and buildings, employs more than 40 regular employees, and produces six types of products."
"So, I think we should first clarify the purpose of setting up a factory. If the goal is simply to create a base where students can combine study, labor, and scientific research, then there's no need to demand anything grand or comprehensive. Start with a small factory, or even a small workshop, using traditional methods to produce simple products with high market demand. Once we've accumulated enough capital, we can then purchase more mechanized equipment like electric machine tools to start production..."
After Ye Manzhi expressed her opinion, she sat down. The conference room was buzzing with discussions, but no one stood up to refute her.
Dean Miao tapped the table and said, "Student Ye Manzhi's point of view is quite practical. Building a factory from scratch, from small to large, involves many economic issues. Our Industrial Economics Department is setting up factories not only to train students to become skilled workers, but also to allow everyone to integrate classroom content with practical problems..."
After a long chatter, he finally changed the subject and said to Ye Manzhi, "The process of your coal furnace factory is very interesting. Some of the details are worth studying. Please find some time to write a paper on the subject and give it to me."
Ye Manzhi: “…”
She hasn't even started writing the paper for the Material Supply Vanguard Team, so why is she asked to write a paper again?
Apart from the fact that Ye Manzhi was hurt, the debate was quite fruitful.
Bian Queqiao, Zhao Jinhua, and two sophomore boys all gave wonderful speeches.
Director Miao did not announce on the spot whether the factory would be built. It is said that more in-depth discussions will be held within the department.
But the five people in dormitory 201 were all very happy. This was their first time participating in a big debate, and their performance was quite remarkable.
Everyone in the dormitory went to the cafeteria to have dinner together. We had planned to organize a group activity for the weekend and have everyone go out of the school to play for a day.
As a result, the chemistry class representative and the physics class representative handed out the test results for Thursday.
In the entire dormitory 201, the student with the highest physics score was Liang Ning, with 69 points, ranking 20th in the class. The student with the highest chemistry score was Ye Manzhi, with 82 points, ranking 9th in the class.
Let’s not talk about chemistry, the key is physics. The highest ranking among the five people was only 20th, so you can imagine how bad the results of the others were.
The idea of going out to play completely disappeared. The five people no longer had the high spirits they had in the debate meeting. They all picked up their textbooks and buried their heads in reading.
Ye Manzhi took her test paper and transcript back to the military industrial compound.
The first thing Wu Zhengrong saw was the chemistry paper. Ye Lai Ya hadn't studied chemistry for several years and hadn't reviewed this subject during the college entrance examination review. Getting 82 points was considered a good result.
However, when he saw the physics test paper with the blood-red score of 61, his mood was indescribable.
He was pursuing a doctorate in engineering, while his wife's physics grades were almost failing.
Ye Manzhi rested her chin on his hand and said contentedly, "At least I passed, that's good! They all looked so sad, I was too embarrassed to show any joy in the dorm!"
"61 points, is that worth being happy about?" Wu Zhengrong reached out and smoothed the loose hair on her forehead.
"Although my score was a little low, I ranked 25th in physics," Ye Manzhi chuckled. "Bian Queqiao ranked 27th, and Chen Teye ranked 30th! They both failed in physics!"
The three of them were transferred students, and the other two were recommended by their units. Their academic performance was not as good as hers, who was admitted by herself.
Chen Teye has been busy making steel recently. He ranked last in the physics test and second to last in chemistry, only one point higher than the last one.
With the two of them supporting him from the front, the psychological pressure on squad leader Ye Manzhi was suddenly reduced a lot!
"You're so proud of yourself for being ranked sixth from the bottom! You even have the mood to laugh at the fourth and last place."
Wu Zhengrong's academic ranking has never appeared outside the first row.
I don't quite understand her mentality of looking down upon others.
I just think she is being silly.
Ye Manzhi didn't need his understanding and snorted, "What do you know?! Students like me have a lot of room for improvement. One more point on the next test will be considered progress. If I improve a little bit on each test, by the time I graduate, maybe I can be on par with the top student!"
"Besides, I'm only bad at physics, but I'm pretty good at other subjects. I'm not asking for anything else right now. I'm just waiting for the final Russian exam to get first place. Then I'll make a big splash! Hehehe~"
“…”
Faced with such a silly and cheerful Ye Lai Ya, Wu Zhengrong was rarely speechless.
When she took out her pipa and played "Bu Bu Gao" with great joy to celebrate, Wu Zhengrong politely applauded her, then pushed her onto the desk and kissed her fiercely.
Ye Manzhi was breathless from the kiss, and she hung on him and asked, "I want to take our mother to climb Caomao Mountain next weekend. Do you want to go?"
"Why do you want to climb a mountain?"
"I just want to take my mother out for a walk. My third sister-in-law just gave birth to a baby, and my fourth sister-in-law is also pregnant. I don't want her to be around the baby every day, so I want to take her out for a walk."
Wu Zhengrong kissed her on the lips and apologized, "I have to report to the Military Academy for the next few weekends. You and Mom should go hiking. I'll take you there when the time comes."
"Well, if you don't go, I'll call my eldest sister to climb the mountain with me."
Ye Manzhi knew that he had something to do on the weekend and didn't expect him to accompany her to climb the mountain.
However, her proactive questioning showed how much she valued Wu Zhengrong!
hey-hey.
*
Chang Yue'e really didn't expect that her daughter would take her out to climb the mountain. When she got off the jeep and looked at the lush green mountains not far away, she was still a little dazed.
Ye Manjin held her arm and said, "You should have gone out for a walk a long time ago. You've been taking care of pregnant women or children lately. What's the point?"
"My third son's wife and I are not compatible. I didn't interfere much with her confinement period. I just helped with the cooking. The third son took care of her almost all by himself during the entire period." Chang Yue'e sighed, "The third son loves his wife quite a lot."
Ye Manzhi jumped out of the jeep carrying a water bottle and secretly kissed driver Xiao Wu. "You go to school and study hard. We will take a carriage back tonight."
"Well, be careful climbing the mountain."
Wu Zhengrong gave a few instructions and turned the car towards the Military Academy.
Ye Manzhi didn't just stand there and eat dust. She quickly caught up with the two of them and said, "Now my third and fourth brothers are married and have children. My fourth brother is about to have a second child. Mom, don't worry about them anymore. Find a partner for my fifth brother!"
"Yes, what Lai Ya said is serious. You guys stop first, I'll take a picture of you at the foot of the mountain."
Because she was going to go hiking with her mother and younger sister, the eldest sister borrowed a camera from the director of the drama troupe and wanted to take a few photos of Chang Yue'e as a souvenir.
Chang Yue'e took a photo with her younger daughter under the century-old pine tree, and then with her older daughter. As she walked up the gravel path up the hill, she sighed and said, "Old Five is like that. He's neither high nor low. How can I arrange things for him?"
Although her fifth son has poor legs and feet, he has outstanding appearance and can make money.
His job as a horse-drawn carriage driver was just his official job. Since the free market was reopened, Lao Wu used the horse-drawn carriage to transport goods from the countryside to the city, making a profit of at least 60 yuan every month.
If you catch the big fair during festivals, you may earn one or two hundred yuan.
With the wealth that the fifth brother has saved in the free market, it is enough to buy a house and marry a wife.
But this money cannot be taken out openly. What outsiders see is that Lao Wu is just a coachman with a problem with his legs.
Some people are also worried that his disability will be passed on to the next generation.
The people the matchmaker introduced to him were either disabled or from very poor families. Not to mention Lao Wu, he couldn't even pass this test.
The eldest sister said, "Or let him marry a country girl like the fourth brother did. Don't underestimate country girls. Some of the daughters of team leaders or party secretaries are also very good."
"You should stop it soon." Ye Manzhi supported Chang Yue'e and walked up the mountain. "Fourth brother and fourth sister-in-law are in a free love relationship. He went to the other village and saw that she was pretty, so he married her."
Although my fourth sister-in-law is illiterate, she is very pretty and much better looking than my fourth brother.
People like my fourth brother don’t have any major advantages except having a city hukou.
He didn't pick on his fourth sister-in-law's rural household registration and married a beautiful wife early on. He was self-aware.
The fifth brother is good-looking, smart, and good at making money. Most importantly, he is a little proud.
Unless he falls in love at first sight like Fourth Brother, asking him to go to the countryside specifically to pick a wife would probably hurt his self-esteem.
General Ye Manzhi handed Chang Yue'e a canteen of water and urged her, "Mom, if you have nothing to do, go stay with my fifth brother for a few days and help him with things. My fifth brother is not really ignored. When I went to the Anti-Imperialist Fair, I saw many girls hanging around his carriage."
"Those are all bad peach blossoms," Chang Yue'e said nonchalantly, "They all go there to feast their eyes on him because he's good-looking. There's no practical significance to it."
"Who can last a year or two after enjoying such a feast for the eyes?" Ye Manzhi muttered. "I noticed that one of the girls was dressed quite fashionably. She must come from a well-off family."
Chang Yue'e took a deep breath of the fresh mountain air and said casually, "Forget it, let him do whatever he wants. I finally got out to relax, so don't mention his troubles!"
The two sisters shut up obediently.
Ye Manzhi shared some interesting stories about her school life, and said that she scored 61 points in physics, ranking 25th in the class, and was ridiculed by Wu Zhengrong.
Chang Yue'e smiled and said, "At least you passed the exam and didn't come in last. Isn't that good? You weren't good at physics to begin with, so just passing is good enough."
Ye Manjin: “…”
This is differential treatment.
Back when she was in school, she scored 62 points in math and was looked down upon by Chang Yue'e, who asked her how she got such a low score.
The mother, daughter and their two children played in Caomao Mountain for most of the day. Near dusk, they went to a state-owned restaurant in the county town for dinner.
When getting on the carriage back to the city, Chang Yue'e, who was still reluctant to leave, said that next time she would go to the riverside to take a boat and visit a more distant city, and she would bring Lao Wu with her.
The whole day was pleasant, but when the three returned to the military industrial compound, they unexpectedly met an uninvited guest.
A woman with short hair and wearing a cadre uniform was waiting at the door of Old Ye's house.
As soon as she saw Chang Yue'e, she asked, "Are you Ye Manlin's mother?"
Chang Yue'e nodded, "Who are you?"
"I'm Wu Tongyue's mother. I came to you today to discuss the issue between Ye Manlin and my daughter."
Ye Manzhi stood in front and asked, "Who is Wu Tongyue? We don't know your daughter."
"It doesn't matter if you don't know him, as long as Ye Manlin knows him." The woman's face was serious and her words were harsh. "We both know what Ye Manlin's situation is. He has difficulty walking, and his job as a coachman is not very respectable. Do you think he is a good match for Xiaoyue?"
Ye Manzhi glanced at Chang Yue'e, whose face was as gloomy as water, and said disdainfully, "My brother does have difficulty walking, but I can guarantee that because of his leg problem, he would never take the initiative to provoke any female comrade. If you think we are not a good match for your family, you should control your daughter and tell her not to take the initiative to meet with male comrades who are not a good match. Instead of running into other people's homes and making irresponsible remarks like this without any reason. You look like a cadre. Is the Party's teaching that you should be rude and show off your power to strangers?"
The woman reiterated, "I'm here to discuss this with you, not to show off. I'm just reminding you that Ye Manlin is so much older than Xiaoyue. He should know his limits and maintain the proper distance between men and women. If he..."
Listening to the aggressive threats from the opposite side, Ye Manzhi felt upset for her fifth brother. She felt so suffocated that she couldn't breathe. When she was about to chase the man away, the figure in front of her suddenly began to shake. She lost strength in her feet, her eyes went dark, and she collapsed.
The elder sister thought her younger sister was pretending to be unconscious, so she supported her from behind and threatened the middle-aged woman opposite: "You made my younger sister faint. If anything happens to her, our family will never forgive you!"
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