Su Tian was woken up early in the morning by the noise; it turned out that Ma Chunling was knocking on the door again.
"Coming, coming, stop knocking. Chunling, what's up? So early."
"It's getting late, Su Tian, it's seven o'clock."
She said happily, "Everyone went to plant rice seedlings today, but we don't need to go. We're going to the school later to help with the enrollment procedures."
"Why didn't I receive a notification?" Su Tian asked, looking bewildered.
"Hehe... I passed by the school yesterday, and the principal told me. I forgot to tell you, sorry."
"Go at eight o'clock, you have an hour to prepare."
"Okay, then wait for me."
Su Tian immediately got to work, brushing her teeth, washing her face, and starting a fire to cook noodles.
It was done in half an hour.
"Let's go, Chunling."
Today is the enrollment registration day. After they arrived at the school, the other two teachers were also busy.
When the principal saw Su Tian and her group arrive, he busied himself introducing them to the other teachers and assigning them tasks.
Ma Chunling was in charge of registration for grades one through three, while Su Tian was in charge of registration for grades four and five.
They sat in the registration classroom and waited, until one or two thirty or forty students came to pay the money themselves.
Only a few students came to pay tuition in the first grade, and most of them were boys.
They waited until noon when no one came before they stopped working.
Upon encountering the principal, Su Tian immediately said, "Principal, our brigade has several villages, but only thirty or forty people have signed up. There are only a few first-grade students, and very few girls have signed up."
“Our brigade has six natural villages, and thirty or forty people is considered a lot. Sometimes there are only a few people in a class. They all think that it is useless for girls to study.”
There's nothing we can do about it; these kinds of things can only be resolved through communication between village officials and the women's federation.
"Okay, I understand."
"Su Tian, are people in rural areas so closed-minded? My family wants me to study. If I could go to university, I would be on my way to university now."
"There's nothing we can do about this. We can only teach the children well and then have them go back and ask their families to let the girls go to school too."
"Hey, this is a great idea! Let's hurry, we're starving!"
The two chatted and laughed as they returned to the educated youth settlement. Everyone greeted them with concern. Su Tian and Ma Chunling explained the number of people who had signed up that day and the overall situation, which left everyone in disbelief.
"This is outrageous! There are actually places that don't allow girls to go to school?" Xu Wen was very surprised.
“Exactly, these people are too old-fashioned,” Zhao Liguo continued.
"We need to think of a way to get more children into school."
“What can we do? These are problems of our time,” Zhou Dajun said.
"Moreover, they don't want to spend money on girls' education, believing that even if she gets an education, she will belong to someone else's family in the future."
"Alright, alright, let's eat first. We're still busy this afternoon," Zheng Yuanyuan said.
"I'm going back to cook too, you guys eat first." Su Tian turned and went back to her room.
When Su Tian walked into the courtyard, she ran into Zou Daying, who came to call Chen Gang. "Hmph, what a scumbag, always flirting with other women."
"Brother Chen Gang, come on over to our house for dinner."
"Okay, but I don't have anything to bring with me. Would that be bad?"
"No, you can go directly. Go now."
When the two arrived at Zou Daying's house, the whole family was sitting at the table waiting for Chen Gang and his companion.
"Grandpa and Grandma, is it time to eat? I'm starving."
"Big Egg, wait a little longer," Sister-in-law Zou said in a low voice.
"Mom and Dad, I brought Brother Chen Gang with me."
"Come, let me introduce you. This is Chen Gang, a former educated youth. This is my parents, my older brother and sister-in-law, and my nephew."
"Hello, I am Chen Gang."
"Since you're here, sit down and eat. We'll talk after you've eaten your fill," said Accountant Zou.
Chen Gang quickly sat down and looked at the dishes on the table: scrambled eggs, cured meat, dried fish, pumpkin, green beans, and rice. Overall, it was better than what he ate at the educated youth settlement, and he was extremely happy.
"Here you go, Brother Chen Gang, this is your food, eat up."
Accountant Zou and his colleagues felt uneasy watching their daughter running around for a man.
Moreover, Chen Gang ate without any restraint, finishing four bowls of rice and more than half of the dishes on the table.
Seeing this, Sister-in-law Zou quickly served food to herself and her child, afraid that he would eat it all.
Chen Gang ate a little too much because he had never had a full meal while working in the countryside.
Seeing his beloved enjoying his meal so much made Zou Daying very happy, which proved that he didn't look down on his family.
"Mom and Dad, hurry up and eat! What are you standing there for? There's almost no food left," Zou Daying said.
They watched as Chen Gang kept adding bowl after bowl, eating more than they did, and they were all very worried.
What can we do? He's such a terrible worker, and he eats so much. Who can afford to feed him?
Seeing that everyone had almost finished eating, Accountant Zou looked at Chen Gang and asked, "Where are you from? How many people are in your family? What do your parents do?"
Chen Gang was a little dissatisfied with what he heard; the first day he visited the house felt like a census.
“Uncle and Aunt, I’m from Guangdong Province. There are six or seven people in my family: my parents and four or five siblings. They all work in a factory,” Chen Gang said quietly.
"Has your family never sent you any packages or money? I've seen other educated youth receive them from their families," Aunt Zou continued.
"No, there are too many people in my family, and we just have enough to spend. We don't have any extra to send."
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