Chapter 60
Except for the new recruits, most people on the island know Dongsheng. Many veterans or sisters-in-law have watched Dongsheng grow up.
So everyone can see Dongsheng's changes.
Although Dongsheng was adopted by Lu Yuanzheng before, Lu Yuanzheng was away from home for more than half of the year. Even in the compound, he was busy with military duties and often sent Dongsheng to live in the family building.
So Dongsheng can be said to have grown up eating at many different places.
The journey was long and the tax collection and administration was strict, but Dongsheng was well-behaved and sensible.
It's just that sometimes I'm a little too well-behaved, and when I talk to people I always try to please them unintentionally.
He is young and his performance is not obvious.
After following Xu Wen, Xu Wen took care of him himself most of the time.
Xu Wen himself grew up with a high-quality education, so he must have more advanced educational concepts than people of this era when taking care of Dongsheng.
In addition, during the long journey and recuperation period, the family of three stayed together.
Dongsheng is still well-behaved and sensible now, but he is more lively and less timid.
If he was just a mud kid who grew up eating at other people's houses before, now he feels like a young master from a rich family.
His clothes remain as rustic as ever, but his temperament and behavior have changed.
There are also cultural changes.
Dongsheng, who just turned four, understands a lot of things that he shouldn't understand at his age.
Maybe he can't recite hundreds of ancient poems, but he can do simple addition, subtraction, multiplication and division.
He will know some knowledge that he shouldn't know at his age, but is particularly practical.
One time, Dongsheng and Gensheng from Mrs. Li's family were playing in the open space of the camp, while Mrs. Li and her friends were washing clothes nearby.
Wang Ying sat in the shade with her child in her arms to rest, watching Dongsheng and Gensheng laughing and playing.
Wang Ying suddenly sighed: "The children raised by this college student are different."
One of the sisters-in-law didn't want to hear such words, and asked as a counterattack: "What's the difference? Dongsheng grew up in the compound since he was a child. He eats the same rice and plays with the same mud as our children. Can you bring Dongsheng up in just a few days?"
"That's right! You're just being picky. Sister-in-law, we're not the ones who are asking too much. Although Squad Leader Zhao is a big, strong man, he's very kind to you. You have children now, so you should at least think more about them, right? If you always think about yourself, even if you get into college, your life won't necessarily be good. Look at Sister-in-law Xu Wen, she got into a prestigious university, but she's still suffering with us on this deserted island for the sake of her husband and child."
"She is she and I am me! I don't have the awareness that she does, okay? Anyway, you just can't stand me!" Wang Ying's eyes turned red with grievance, and she walked back holding the child.
Sister Li said to the sister-in-law who persuaded Wang Ying: "Why did you provoke her? You just came back exhausted from a day's work and now you have to comfort her."
The sister-in-law sighed and shook her head: "I really couldn't help it. You said the same thing about Captain Zhao. I am just an ordinary citizen. If you take off his skin, he will be just a poor boy from the countryside. Why did he have to hope for a down-and-out phoenix like Wang Ying! His life is so chaotic every day!"
"Forget it! If all phoenixes are like Wang Ying, who would still like phoenixes? Only someone like Sister-in-law Xu Wen deserves to be called a phoenix, right?"
Mrs. Li didn't say anything, just stared at Dongsheng and Gensheng in a daze.
The sister-in-law next to her nudged Sister Li and said, "Sister-in-law, what are you daydreaming about?"
Mrs. Li came back to her senses and raised her chin while rubbing her clothes, pointing to the place where the children were playing: "Look carefully, Dongsheng seems to have changed a lot. He has made such a big difference just by playing with sand. I think Wang Ying was right. The children brought up by these college students are different."
Gensheng just plays around with sand.
Dongsheng is different. He builds castles and draws on the sand.
Building a castle is not just piling up a pile of dirt like Gensheng did, but it is planned very carefully and he even mutters to himself.
What is laying the foundation and what is growing taller and wider?
When painting, I stick my butt out and pinch a tree branch and draw one stroke at a time. Although the painting is not very good, it looks similar.
If the roots are born, just draw them randomly.
The difference was so obvious that the sisters-in-law looked at it and nodded in agreement.
"Indeed. Dongsheng is now feeling more and more like Lu Ying when he first joined the army. Even though Lu Ying is now mixed with these rough guys and you can't pick him out, when he first came, he was always teased as a 'pretty boy'. Although he was not isolated, he was teased a lot."
"But Lu Ying didn't teach Dongsheng to be like this before. Dongsheng came to my house quite a few times before. Sometimes I felt sorry for him. He was so sensible that he didn't look like a child. I was afraid that he would cause trouble to us and make us angry."
"Yes! This child has changed a lot now. He still calls me Auntie Sun when he sees me now, and behaves as usual when he comes to my house, but not as... Anyway, he is not so reserved anymore and is very polite, saying thank you all the time."
Sister Li nodded: "Look, the children on our island are not very old. The oldest is only six years old. The older children have stayed in the city or returned to their hometown to go to school. But they are all in nurseries now, and we don't have a nursery here. Otherwise, let's talk to Sister Xu Wen and ask her to help us teach our children."
"This..." The other sisters-in-law were a little tempted, but still a little hesitant, "Okay, okay. But Sister-in-law Xu Wen is the battalion commander's wife, how can we let her be a kindergarten teacher? Besides, Sister-in-law Xu Wen is not idle either. Look at the things she is promoting, how can we not benefit from it? It's not appropriate to take up her time all the time, right?"
Mrs. Li sighed, "That will definitely cause trouble for her. But, we don't want to raise our child to be a wild child, do we? We don't know how long it will take for this island to be populated. Most of us who come to join the army are those who can't stay in our hometown or don't want to be separated from our husbands. You can't really ignore your children if you get what you want, right? Dafa is six years old now, and he should be in the first grade in the fall. If we stay here and go back to our hometown next year during vacation, other people's children will be able to read and write, but we will send a child who can only go fishing in the sea. Is that reasonable?"
Dafa's mother sighed, "Who said it wasn't? It was fine in the past. Boys! If you raise them carelessly like this, won't they all do hard labor when they grow up? If it's really not possible, they can be sent to the army. But times are different now! The college entrance examination has been liberalized, who doesn't hope that their children will become successful? I'm not like Niuniu's sister-in-law, who has some education and can teach Niuniu to read and count. I can't even compare with Xu Wen's sister-in-law. A few days ago, I discussed with our Lao Wang that if it really doesn't work out, I will take the child back to my hometown in a few months."
"You don't even have a place to live when you go back to your hometown?"
Dafa's mother sighed, "Isn't it? There are three rooms in our hometown, and there are five brothers in Lao Wang's family. Now the fourth brother is married, and there is not even a side room left. It is difficult anyway! But we adults have to make do with it and cannot hinder the children's future."
"So, we still have to discuss it with Sister-in-law Xu Wen. Ask her to help teach the child."
There are a total of six children among these military wives, plus Li Sao’s son Gensheng, making a total of seven.
Wang Ying's child is the youngest and is still breastfeeding, so he does not count.
There is also a one and a half year old who cannot be counted for the time being.
There are five left, three boys and two girls, all of whom are about the same age and should be going to kindergarten.
After a discussion among the sisters-in-law, they decided to shamelessly go to Xu's house and ask for help.
Xu Wen was a little hesitant.
To be honest, she doesn't really like children.
Just because I get along well with Dongsheng doesn't mean I'm willing to be a kindergarten teacher.
But with so many sisters-in-law asking for help, he couldn't bring himself to refuse.
Mrs. Li had a lot of dealings with Xu Wen, and she knew that Xu Wen preferred quietness and did not like quarrels, so she discussed with her: "You help us first. Take one or two hours a day to teach them. When the island can be inhabited in the future, we will try to hire a kindergarten teacher. Now that we can prepare for college, no one wants to delay the children. We are only bothering you because we really have no other choice."
Xu Wen certainly knew the situation on the island. He bit his lip and agreed.
Teaching these children is not difficult for Xu Wen; what is difficult is knowing what to teach.
Fortunately, there is the omnipotent magic mirror.
"What do children usually learn in Magic Mirror Kindergarten?"
"Mirror, mirror, how many Chinese characters do children aged three to six generally need to recognize?"
"Mirror, mirror, what were kindergarten books like in the 1970s?"
“…”
Combining the information provided by the magic mirror, Xu Wen roughly drew up a teaching plan and spent some time preparing lessons every day.
After seeing this, Lu Yuanzheng praised her for solving the problem of the next generation on the island. He actively supported her work and not only gave her his desk, but also had someone make a movable blackboard for her.
It's just some black paint on the wooden board, but there is no black paint on the island.
Lu Yuanzheng asked people to take out all the used batteries from aluminum flashlights, and took out the carbon rods inside, and drew a blackboard for Xu Wen.
There was no chalk either, but luckily I could just pick up a small stone and write on it.
But writing on paper and writing on a blackboard are two different things.
Xu Wen's handwriting on paper is relatively nice, but when he writes on the blackboard, his words are often slanted upwards.
It's not ugly, just a little unsightly.
Lu Yuanzheng saw that Xu Wen was about to wipe out the black background that they had painted with great difficulty, so he had to pick up a stone and write the Chinese characters he wanted to teach her on the blackboard.
Xu Wen looked at the straight and standard blackboard writing and said with a sour tone: "How come you know everything?"
The blackboard writing is better than hers.
Lu Yuanzheng threw away the stone and brushed the dust off his hands: "We don't always sit in the office when we are on the march. Sometimes when the conditions are bad, we can still draw maps on the sand! I can still draw straight lines even when the boat is shaking so much."
"Great!" Xu Wen raised her thumb, "Speaking of painting. Can you draw? Children like beautiful things." She pointed to the corner of the blackboard, "Can you add some decorations?"
Lu Yuanzheng glanced at her and actually did as she was told and drew some shells and fish.
Xu Wen narrowed his eyes.
It may take one or two years to master this painting technique.
This man of mine has a lot of secrets.
After seeing Xu Wen teaching, each company voluntarily contributed paper and pens.
Xu Wen usually teaches for one or two hours after breakfast and before dinner.
She doesn't teach children reading and arithmetic by simply asking them to memorize them, but rather makes learning fun.
Sometimes I learn things while playing games.
Some uneducated warriors who wanted to improve themselves would also voluntarily bring a bench over and learn from them.
However, they have to work and cannot complete the course, usually only half an hour at most.
After a few days, when the morning classes ended or the afternoon work was over, the soldiers rushed back home, eager to learn a few more words.
Shi Lei felt unbalanced, and asked Lu Yuanzheng while holding his waist: "When we were on the shore, when there was no war, did we take out two days a week to teach cultural classes? Which of these scoundrels didn't ask for leave by pinching their temples and holding their stomachs? Even if they came to class, their snoring would soon be louder than my lecture!"
Lu Yuanzheng raised his eyelids and glanced at Shi Lei, "Maybe because you are not as pretty as my wife!"