In order to let in light, the classroom windows were opened very large, but due to the poor quality of the glass, the school could only make more panes and then insert smaller pieces of glass. The back door of the classroom was open, and the teacher's voice came from inside: "My motherland is China..."
She read it once, and the children below followed her. Ola looked in through the crack in the door and saw more than 30 children aged five or six to eleven or twelve, sitting in groups of two behind a crude long table, nodding their heads and following their teacher in reciting these words.
Most of these children were dressed in plain clothes, and they were obviously children of common people and slaves, but seeing them sitting in the classroom at this moment touched her deeply. She had never known that those dirty little kids could sit in the classroom in such an orderly manner and have such a thirst for knowledge.
"China... is your country?" Ola asked.
"Yes." Ji Yijun sighed and said, "It's very far away. But now that we are here, China is naturally here too."
"You like this name so much?"
"Of course, I like it anyway. It's a country with a history of 5,000 years. Humph, you don't know how beautiful our mountains and rivers are, how big our cities are, and how many people there are." Ji Yijun pointed to the students in the classroom, "These little kids will also be one of us in the future. They will also know our history, legends and culture."
"They don't look like you."
"They all have two eyes and one mouth, right? That's enough."
Ola rolled his eyes and said, "Can we sit down and listen for a while? There's an empty table in the back."
Ji Yijun showed an embarrassed look: "It's not good, right? It disturbs the children's class."
But Aola didn't care about him. He dragged him into the classroom with his fighting spirit, and two more "college students" appeared in the classroom. The children in the room became excited and whispered to each other, and stopped attending class. The female teacher who was teaching angrily smashed the blackboard brush on the podium and shouted angrily: "Ji Yijun!"
"Xiao Lian, don't blame me. It's this guest who wants to come to listen to your class. This is a very important foreign affairs mission."
The female teacher's sharp eyes swept back and forth between the two of them, and finally she shouted, "Shut up, everyone, and continue the class."
"I think she's targeting you." Ola whispered after a while.
"Ahem, between her and me... well, there were just some small misunderstandings. It's all in the past." Ji Yijun whispered.
"But why does she always mention that men who don't dare to take responsibility cannot become pillars of the country and are the scum of the scum? What does scum mean?"
"There is a saying that goes, 'Don't seek to understand too much when reading,' which means we shouldn't get bogged down in details."
"Can… "
“There’s also a saying that goes, if you waste time talking about missing the sunset, you’ll miss the starry sky.”
"Wow, that's a beautiful thing to say."
"Because I said so. Listen, the teacher is talking about the Great Wall!"
Ola finished a class with great interest, and Ji Yijun took her hand and rushed out of the classroom like a flash.
Running to the corridor, Aura held his stomach and laughed for a long time. Finally, when he saw Ji Yijun's face getting darker and darker, he pursed his lips and praised: "This Great Wall is really magnificent, and it should also play a role in resisting foreign enemies, but what if the other side has mid- and high-level warriors?"
"Is your city wall a defense of the highest order? It's fine as long as ordinary soldiers can't get through." Ji Yijun said unhappily.
"That's right." Ola nodded in agreement.
The two of them continued walking forward. Every time they came to a classroom, Ola would stop and listen for a while. They walked past four or five classrooms in a row, all with children in class. Ola could understand a lot in the Chinese class, but she was a little confused when the math class was talking about fractions. However, she listened to the music class for a long time and even sang for a while. When she was about to leave, the bell rang. Students walked out of the classroom in groups of three or four and headed for the cafeteria.
"Are you going to raise every child as a noble?"
"Noble?" Ji Yijun smiled and said, "How is that possible?"
"But... I think they will learn more than me in the future."
"Why, are you worried that you are not as good as them? Then come to class."
"Is it really possible?" Ola looked at Ji Yijun with sparkling eyes, but then his expression dimmed again: "Alas, people like me can't make their own decisions."
Ji Yijun was about to say something when he heard someone behind him calling out, "Brother Ji!"
He looked back and saw a handsome boy waving at him.
"Hey, the middle school students are here."
"We middle school students are not much better than primary school students except that we are older and know more words." The boy said with a smile, "We have many classes together with them."
"This is Krit." Ji Yijun patted Krit's shoulder, "This is Miss Aura, um, a visiting guest."
The two greeted each other, and Ji Yijun said, "Let's go. It's rare for me to come and see you go to school. Let's go and try the food in the cafeteria."
The canteen is on the ground floor of the building in the middle. It is similar in style to the canteen of Ji Yijun's middle school, with long tables and benches, and a plate for each person, but the tableware is made of wood, and the environment is much worse.
Ji Yijun took out a voucher and paid for Ola's meal. This was the temporary currency used within the school. The three of them began to line up to get their food.
Aola saw that Ji Yijun had brought her to the end of the line, with many teachers and classmates in front of her. She couldn't help but wonder, "We have to queue too?"
"Why shouldn't we queue up?" Ji Yijun asked back.
"Because, because I am..."
"Sister Ola, this is the rule here. If my teacher Xiao Chen were here, he would also have to queue up." Crete said.
Aura followed the team helplessly, but when she saw the contents of the meal, she was surprised again. There were eggs, meat, fish, vegetables, and white dough (steamed buns). To be honest, she didn't eat these things every day in her own camp. But here, every student could eat these, although the amount was limited.
After the three of them sat down, she couldn't help but ask, "Why are you so generous? Let these civilian children eat such good food. I don't understand."
Ji Yijun raised his chin and said, "Krete, tell me why?"
Krit took a bite of the food and said, "Sister Aura, I don't know much. But our teacher once told us a simple truth: Talent is the most important wealth of a country."
"I understand this. My brother said that the people are the lambs and we are the shepherds. If the sheep go in the wrong direction, we will whip them back. Under our discipline, they eat grass well, and we can get wool, which is wealth."
"No, you're wrong. We never regard a person as a lamb." Ji Yijun shook his head, "On the contrary, we regard them as part of the country. The smarter and stronger the citizens of a country are, the more powerful the country will be. The more powerful a country is, the more it can protect the interests of its citizens. I'm not a political scientist, but my understanding of the country and the people is so simple and direct. So we should give every child the opportunity to grow up well. You have to know that we don't have emperors or kings. Maybe our next generation of leaders will appear among these children?"
"I'm suddenly a little scared." Aura held the fork but hesitated to move. She looked at Ji Yijun, her eyes less lively and more fearful. "I can't explain why, but I always feel that you... will turn this world upside down."