hope
After dinner, it was already dark.
After helping to wash the dishes, Erniu was busy doing some housework. It was not until after eight o'clock that she had time to take out her book and start doing her homework on the kitchen stove in the dim light.
She closed the book, and Xia Zhitang, who was sitting outside the camera, suddenly asked, "There's a desk in the living room, why don't you do your homework there?"
"That's my brother's desk. My grandma will scold me if I leave it there." Erniu said calmly, as if she was used to all this.
Xia Zhitang didn't reveal too much emotion or criticism, but continued to ask calmly like a qualified interviewer: "Which school did your brother get into?"
"Qingshui County Vocational and Technical School."
Xia Zhitang silently complained about Erniu's grandmother's exaggerated favoritism towards her grandson, but his face didn't show anything: "Do you know what level it is? Is it a junior college or a technical secondary school?"
"You don't need to take the college entrance examination to get into a junior college."
Erniu's expression revealed an inexplicable bitterness.
Despite her brother's poor academic performance, her father and grandmother still did their best to support him through high school, with her father running around everywhere to help him get into high school. Meanwhile, she, even though she was attending a free high school, was still criticized by her grandmother for not being as filial as the older sister next door.
Even with the crew's fill lights, Erniu's kitchen still exudes a dim atmosphere.
Xia Zhitang looked at the girl in front of him, who didn't know what she was thinking, and couldn't help but change the subject: "Which school do you want to apply to?"
Erniu's eyes lit up a little, and a desire and yearning emanated from the bottom of her heart: "I want to go to university in Suzhou."
Xia Zhitang felt a little curious: "Why?"
Erniu lowered her head shyly. It was the first time she revealed her ideal university to others. Fortunately, she did not receive ridicule or abuse.
"The Jiangnan water towns described in the Chinese textbook are so beautiful. I want to go and see them."
Xia Zhitang seemed to see a small flower thriving in the cracks of the stone: "Keep going."
When I came out of Erniu's house, the moon was already high in the sky, and the surrounding area was filled with the chirping of cicadas and the occasional barking of dogs.
On the country road with few street lights, the camera crew, not used to the darkness, turned on their mobile phone flashlights and walked in the mountains.
Xia Zhitang walked in the middle of the team, with an lingering depression in his heart.
On a quiet night, the only grocery store in the center of the village was still bustling with the sound of men shouting from afar.
In a village with a lack of entertainment facilities, men socialize by drinking and playing cards together.
Lin Jingming suddenly stopped and Xia Zhitang, who was walking behind him, almost bumped into him.
"Telephoto, quick." Lin Jingming lowered his voice and said, "Aim at the two little girls on the roadside."
The well-coordinated team immediately sprang into action, setting up the camera in the dark and aiming it at two little girls squatting at the door of the grocery store, writing under the incandescent light coming through the door.
The dim night light blurred their faces. Under their loose, stained clothes, their thin hands held paper and pen, writing stroke by stroke.
The older men behind them were holding cards, feeling happy or sad in the light. They were like sculptures growing in the soil, their hearts and eyes focused on the books in front of them.
When Lin Jingming's warm thumb touched her cheek, Xia Zhitang realized that her tears were sliding down uncontrollably and dripping into the darkness.
When walking back, Lin Jingming pulled Xia Zhitang far behind the team.
"Lin Jingming, in this day and age, I really didn't expect all this to be true." Xia Zhitang's accumulated sadness since arriving in Yun Province burst out at this moment. "What right do they have? Just because they have two ounces of extra meat?"
"Xia Xia, it's been thousands of years, but now it's only been a few decades." Lin Jingming knew that she was a girl from Taipei and grew up in a staff dormitory.
"It's really not easy for ordinary people to survive in this world." She inexplicably thought of her late husband's death.
"Survival has never been easy." Lin Jingming held her slightly slender wrist, silently feeling her negative emotions surging like a storm.
"Lin Jingming, I don't know what I can do." Xia Zhitang suddenly felt very sad. "To be honest, if I was born and raised here, I might not be able to do better than Erniu or those two kids just now."
Lin Jingming stopped and looked at Xia Zhitang in the moonlight: "Xia Xia, what you can do is make them visible."
He gently brushed away the strands of hair stuck to Xia Zhitang's cheeks. "This matter itself is very meaningful. Don't be pessimistic because of people's different backgrounds. People can't decide their own backgrounds, but they may encounter many different opportunities and end up in different places."
"But I still feel sad." Xia Zhitang couldn't help crying again.
"I feel bad, too." Lin Jingming sighed. "Perhaps in other villages we can't see, this kind of thing is happening all the time. That's why Principal Wang is so remarkable, for splitting the darkness and ushering in a ray of light for the girls."
"Let's set the theme of this film as hope." Under the hazy moonlight, Xia Zhitang's watery eyes were twinkling with stars.
Lin Jingming couldn't help but gently embrace her in his arms: "Okay."
After a busy day, Xia Zhitang finally returned to her overnight accommodation. She began to feel sleepy. She picked up a set of sportswear and a towel and prepared to go to the bathroom in the yard to wash up.
"Wait, I'll go with you." Lin Jingming looked at Xia Zhitang's suspicious eyes and hurriedly explained, "Didn't you notice there's a big hole in the window over there? It's in the yard next to the kitchen. If something really happened, I wouldn't have time to run over there."
Xia Zhitang thought about the geographical location over there and nodded.
On the way to send Xia Zhitang off, Lin Jingming saw the village chief's son squatting in the yard smoking.
His eyes moved from Xia Zhitang to Lin Jingming and he nodded at him.
Xia Zhitang subconsciously leaned towards Lin Jingming, and Lin Jingming put his arm around her shoulders.
Seeing this, the village chief's son stood up, put out his cigarette, turned around and walked back into the house.
Lin Jingming walked around the bathroom that was added outdoors before nodding to Xia Zhitang and letting her in.
As the sound of water dripping could be heard from inside the thin plastic door, Lin Jingming leaned against the wall and lit a cigarette.
When the cold water from the mountain stream poured over his body, Xia Zhitang couldn't help shaking.
Before coming here, she thought she had made sufficient mental preparations. However, humans are not plants or trees. When she had long-term contact with those lively children, she realized how arrogant she was.
She struggled to wipe the water off her body with one hand and slowly put on her clothes.
When she opened the door and saw Lin Jingming standing outside, she suddenly felt relieved that she was not alone and had like-minded companions.
Someone who could understand what she was saying, someone who could walk side by side with her in the darkness.
When Xia Zhitang and Lin Jingming were filming a mobilization meeting for the college entrance examination in the senior high school classroom, they heard students screaming downstairs.
Mixed in with words like "My water broke!" and "I'm giving birth!"
Lin Jingming and Xia Zhitang looked at each other and realized that Teacher Ye was about to give birth.
He left his assistant and a camera to continue filming the senior class, and rushed down to the freshman office with his men.
There was chaos downstairs. A group of students surrounded Teacher Ye who was lying on the ground and were almost crying.
Teacher Ye's face was pale as he instructed and reassured the students: "This is water breaking, it's normal. Don't crowd around, notify the teacher to come over."
Director Feng rushed in hurriedly: "Don't panic, don't panic, call an ambulance, call an ambulance."
He wanted to help Teacher Ye up, but Teacher Ye shook her head: "If I stand up, my amniotic fluid will flow. Call an ambulance."
"What's the ambulance number?" Director Feng's mind suddenly short-circuited. "119?"
"120, teacher, it's 120." Erniu interrupted.
"Yes, that's right." Director Feng's hands were shaking as he held the phone.
Xia Zhitang looked at the chaotic scene and couldn't help but interrupt: "It would be faster if we send her there."
Lin Jingming added: "The bed boards in the male teachers' dormitory can be disassembled and used as stretchers. We can then load them into the car and head to the hospital."
"Thank you for your help." Teacher Ye forced a smile and nodded. "My delivery bag is in the blue bag in the office. Please find someone to help me get it."
"You two go help Director Feng remove the boards." Seeing that Director Feng was the only man working at the scene, Lin Jingming selected two more people to give them to him.
"Teacher Li, go help get the delivery bag." Director Feng calmed down when he saw the camera crew was willing to help. "Leave one person to manage the classroom discipline, and the rest of you can do what you need to do."
"Students, please go back to your seats first. There are adults here!" Xia Zhitang patted the podium to organize discipline.
After a period of chaos, Teacher Ye was carried to the back seat of the car.
Xia Zhitang squatted in the back row, holding Teacher Ye's hand and comforting her: "It's only 10 minutes from here, don't be afraid."
Although she had never experienced childbirth, she intuitively felt that people would be more vulnerable and need comfort at such moments.
The contractions began to come, and Teacher Ye couldn't help but close her eyes and recall the breathing method she had practiced before.
Xia Zhitang looked at Teacher Ye, panting and looking at him in pain, and unconsciously urged Lin Jingming: "Drive faster."
"Don't panic." Lin Jingming comforted Xia Zhitang, but unconsciously stepped on the accelerator deeper.
When the nurse appeared pushing a trolley, Xia Zhitang couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.
While everyone was waiting at the door of the delivery room, a group of middle-aged women came in hurriedly.
"Here, right here."
"That's what I told you. Go home and rest early. Your water broke in school again."
They gathered at the door of the delivery room and chattered loudly. Director Feng recognized Teacher Ye's mother-in-law and hurried forward to greet her.
"Director Feng, your school is too inhumane. You detain people and don't give them leave." Teacher Ye's mother-in-law scolded Director Feng.
While the two of them were chatting, Teacher Ye's lover came running over, panting and sweating profusely: "Where's Huaizhu?"
At this time, the door of the delivery room opened and a nurse came out: "Where are Ye Huaizhu's family members?"
"Here!" A group of people rushed over in a hurry.
The nurse handed the form to the family and said, "The baby's fetal heart rate is not good and a caesarean section is required. The mother has signed it. Please sign it too."
"What? Can't go smoothly?" Teacher Ye's mother-in-law exclaimed.
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