"Wanru, Xiaoxiao, I'm back."
As soon as I entered the house, Yang Baiyi started shouting in the yard.
"Brother is back. Brother, Sister Wanru taught me two poems, and I memorized them both. Sister Wanru even praised me for being smart."
Yang Xiaoxiao rushed out of the house, pulled Yang Baiyi and started showing off.
"Really? Xiaoxiao is so amazing! Recite it to your brother."
Yang Baiyi held his sister's hand and walked into the house. Lin Wanru stood at the door, looking at the brother and sister with a smile.
"When the sun is at its highest, I hoe the field, and my sweat drips down to the earth..."
From the main room, the clear voice of Yang Xiaoxiao's recitation could be heard.
During dinner, Yang Baiyi told Lin Wanru about his part-time job on the farm, and Lin Wanru was very supportive.
"Gold will always shine. Ever since you brought out the ointment that can cure rheumatism, I have full faith in your medical skills.
"He's offering you a salary of 27.5 yuan right after you start working, and you don't even have to work in the office. Director Sun can be said to be desperate for talent."
Lin Wanru looked at Yang Baiyi with admiration in her eyes.
"Actually, I'm not really interested in the salary or benefits. I just feel sorry for those cadres who have been sent down to the countryside. I want to help them if I can."
Yang Baiyi knew that although they would be rehabilitated in a few years, not many people would actually make it to that point. Most of them died with hatred after suffering both mentally and physically.
"Little sister, why don't you come to play with us these days? Is it because the weather is too cold?"
The next day, Goudan and Erya brought a group of little kids to Yang Baiyi's house.
"No, it's because Sister Wanru wants to teach me how to read and write, and doesn't want me to go out and play every day."
Yang Xiaoxiao said aggrievedly.
"Goudan, Erya, how old are you this year?"
Yang Baiyi had just finished breakfast and made a cup of tea, sipping it slowly.
"Big brother, I am the same age as Erya. I am nine years old this year."
Goudan answered politely.
"You're nine years old, and you don't go to school?"
In this era, although it is generally believed that children start school late, they should still start school at the age of nine.
"There was no school in the village, so if we wanted to go to school, we had to go to the Majiahezi production team. My father and the team leader said that going to school was useless, so we didn't go to school."
Goudan’s answer made Yang Baiyi frown.
"Is the Majiahezi Production Team far from our village?"
After the Chinese New Year, Yang Baiyi plans to send his sister to school. If the school is too far, he will buy a bicycle in the spring of next year.
"My grandmother's home is in Majiahezi. My mother said it's five miles away from our village. Every time we go to her home, we have to walk a long way."
Dachengzi spoke and gestured, as if otherwise he could not show how far Majiahezi was.
Yang Baiyi lowered his head and thought for a moment. It was a five-mile journey. Even if he brought lunch for Xiaoxiao at noon, it would take him twenty miles round trip just to send her off in the morning and pick her up in the afternoon.
"Oh, do you want to go to school?"
Yang Baiyi suddenly asked.
"I do want to, but Majiahezi is too far away. My parents both have to go to work and don't have time to take us there."
When children reach a certain age, no one doesn't want to go to school. The scorekeepers carry pens in their pockets every day and read newspapers to the members in their spare time. The children admire them very much.
"Then why don't you learn to read with Xiao Xiao? It's a good opportunity to keep Xiao Xiao company."
Looking at the children's eager eyes, Lin Wanru's heart softened.
Although Xiaoxiao is very smart and learns things quickly, every time she has a break, the little girl always stares at the gate in a daze, probably thinking about her friends.
"Like a sister, can we?"
Erya looked at Lin Wanru nervously.
"Of course you can. Whether you go to school or not, it never hurts to know a few more words."
"Thank you, Sister Wanru. I'm willing to learn to read and write with you."
"Wanru, my sister, I also want to learn to read. If I could read, my uncle wouldn't have to find a scorekeeper when he writes letters back from the army, and I could read them to grandma."
"I want to study too, and be a scorekeeper when I grow up."
…
Seeing the children so excited, Yang Baiyi got up and went into the bedroom.
"Wanru, sister, we won't study anymore. After spring comes, my parents will go to work, and I will have to cook and take care of my younger brother."
Erya secretly glanced at the bedroom door.
"I don't study either. I was just joking. The captain said that all the high schools in town have been closed. There's no point in studying in elementary school for a few years."
"I'm not going to study anymore. Farmers are the most glorious. When I grow up, I want to follow my father and farm."
The children thought Yang Baiyi was angry and said they didn't want to study and learn to read anymore.
The oldest of them are eight or nine years old and already sensible. They were a little carried away just now and didn't consider Dr. Yang. With so many people crowding into someone else's house to learn to read, Dr. Yang would definitely not be happy with the chaos, right?
Although they all said they didn't want to learn to read and write, their eyes and expressions betrayed them and this was not what they really meant.
"I took out your pencils and notebooks. Why did you change your mind?"
Yang Baiyi came out of the bedroom with a stack of notebooks and a bunch of pencils in his hands.
Yang Baiyi heard everything the children said clearly. Children from poor families have to grow up early, and they are so sensible that it makes people feel distressed!
"Big brother, there are so many of us and it's so noisy, don't you find it annoying?"
Goudan looked at Yang Baiyi's expression cautiously.
"Don't worry, I also want to thank you for being willing to study with Xiaoxiao."
Yang Baiyi said gently.
In the living room of Yang Baiyi's main hall, a burst of cheers from the children broke out.
"Okay, we don't have enough stools at home. You all go home and bring some stools over. Your Wanru will teach you how to read and write in the future."
As soon as Yang Baiyi finished speaking, the children rushed out of Yang Baiyi's yard like arrows and went home to move the benches.
From today on, there are fewer naughty kids jumping around in the village, and more diligent and studious primary school students.
Every day, the sound of children reading aloud can be heard from Yang Baiyi's blue brick courtyard.
The children all cherish this hard-won learning opportunity and attend every class very seriously.
After Yang Xiaoxiao had classmates, her enthusiasm for learning became even higher and she was full of energy every day.
The little girl was smart and started learning a few days earlier than the others, so she became the most educated among the children.
The admiration and praise from her friends kept the little girl smiling all day long.
With more students, Lin Wanru will inevitably have a harder time, but looking at the hungry eyes of the children, no matter how hard it is, Lin Wanru feels sweet in her heart.
When he feels like it, Yang Baiyi will also teach the children to read for Lin Wanru, so every day is quite fulfilling.
On the way home from school, the children would recite ancient poems and pinyin together, which attracted the envy of other children and the praise of fellow members.
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