Xia Baozhu sent her 3,000-word manuscript, which contained elements of suspense and horror, to her email address on her way to work.
Her writing style is mediocre; she would be better off writing short stories with strong narrative elements.
Hopefully, this will be a good start.
When they arrived at the entrance of the teachers' college, Lu Pingping was already waiting there.
"Xia, we haven't gotten you an access pass yet. Let's go in together."
"Thank you, Sister Lu." Xia Baozhu was deeply moved; her heart had felt like it was bathed in a warm ocean these past two days.
The good people of this era are truly good—simple, warm-hearted, and not indifferent—which gradually made her feel a sense of belonging to this era.
Upon entering the campus, Xia Baozhu expressed her gratitude by mentioning that Professor Deng had taught her English and had even asked her to listen to English nursery rhymes while she was working.
"I've heard before that Professor Deng is cold on the outside but warm on the inside, and it's true. Xia, you must study hard. If you learn English well, you'll be able to find a job anywhere."
"Don't worry, Sister Lu, I'll definitely study hard. Professor Deng is going to check my homework today. Can you listen to how accurately I pronounce the words I've memorized?"
Xia Baozhu appeared somewhat nervous, afraid that she might not memorize it well and anger Professor Deng, and seemed to want Lu Pingping to help her with some pointers.
"No problem, you can just memorize it."
Xia Baozhu deliberately mumbled the pronunciation of the three complicated words.
Lu Pingping thought it would be good if Xia Baozhu could memorize a few, but she didn't expect that only three of them were pronounced incorrectly.
Her expression shifted from admiration to surprise.
"Xia, you're amazing! You memorized so many words on your first day of learning. No wonder Professor Deng offered to teach you English."
"I spent a long time memorizing last night. Sister Lu, were there many mistakes? There are a few words I'm not sure about."
“There are three. Repeat them to me a few times.”
Lu Pingping waited until Xia Baozhu pronounced the three words correctly before leaving for the office building.
When Professor Deng examined it, he showered it with praise once again.
To prevent her husband from having too much contact with Xia Baozhu, Feng Huafang deliberately stayed at home a little longer.
Hearing Xia Baozhu recite a string of English words in a clear and fluent voice, I immediately felt a chill run down my spine.
She's beautiful, intelligent, and has a strong learning ability. If she continues to study smoothly like this, her future will definitely be incredibly bright.
Feng Huafang even hoped that Xia Baozhu was a spy, so that her family would see her true colors and hate her.
Today, after Xia Baozhu finished her housework, Professor Deng called her to study.
In one hour of study time, Xia Baozhu read through seven of the most basic English dialogues.
Then the two of them went out and bought a fresh blackfish at a nearby market. It had just been caught and was still alive.
Along the way, Professor Deng described the things he saw in English, such as the road, the bank, the sky, and the big trees...
Applying what she had learned, Xia Baozhu repeated the sentences, using similar sentence structures but changing the nouns.
The students applied what they learned to other situations, and Professor Deng found even greater enjoyment in teaching than in the school classroom.
She felt that this student absorbed knowledge at an astonishing speed, like a sponge soaking in water.
The two of them slowly walked back along the sidewalk outside the school.
A force suddenly came from the basket Xia Baozhu was carrying, and Xia Baozhu immediately stopped, using the hand holding the basket to steady her wheelchair.
A tan hand appeared before her eyes. She grabbed the wrist of that hand and with a slight pull, she heard a crack.
A man's cry of "Ah—" came from behind.
Xia Baozhu turned around on the spot to face the man, twisting his arm again, and then heard another scream.
Professor Deng turned around at the first scream and, upon seeing the scene, felt a mixture of shock, anger, and relief.
This person must have seen her sitting in a wheelchair, so they didn't care if they were chased after them after stealing her things.
But he didn't expect Xia to be so strong and not afraid of him at all.
"Professor, what should we do with this person?" Xia Baozhu asked.
"Leave it to the school security guards, they will handle it."
Xia Baozhu asked a passerby to call the security guard at the school gate.
She never expected that someone would snatch her basket of vegetables. This is the downside of not having cameras; people can be as daring as they are.
She used to watch movies from the 80s and 90s and remembered that there were several crackdowns, and even a crime of hooliganism could lead to the death penalty. She felt that this was an overcorrection.
It now seems that in special times, severe measures are necessary. Only in this way can we deter those with ill intentions and make them think twice about whether it is worth it before committing a crime.
"The crackdown has just ended, and some people are already trying to get something for nothing again," Professor Deng remarked, still reflecting on what had just happened.
"A while ago, Professor Sun's second son drove to the south to buy goods and was robbed five or six times along the way. He was too scared to sleep at night and could only doze off for a while during the day. Luckily, the three of them went together, otherwise they might not have made it back."
"Can't we just call the police?"
“Most of those robbers were from the neighborhood. When the police went, the whole village testified that they didn’t leave unless they were caught red-handed.”
"Why not use a train for transport?" Xia Baozhu wondered.
"Maybe the train station is chaotic too. A few years ago, before I retired, I was on a train to a meeting and watched as a teacher's bag was snatched. We teachers stayed close together the whole way, and we didn't respond to anyone who came up to us until we got on the bus."
“Going out to work is quite dangerous.”
Xia Baozhu thought of Leng Minghui. To be able to make it in such an environment, besides luck, one must have used ruthless methods, and might even have killed someone.
"Yes, but since the pay is good, quite a few people are still willing to go out."
"If these people had jobs, they probably wouldn't have committed robbery."
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