Su Ye went to the communication room to receive the "holiday nutrition subsidy" from No. 1 Middle School, a bag of half a pound of food, eight-treasure porridge made of peanuts, mung beans, red beans... rice, and one or two sugar cubes.
If this were put in the future, it would be too shabby to be presented. But in the 1960s, this half a pound of grain and one or two cubes of sugar could really be considered a valuable gift. The welfare of the No. 1 Middle School in the city is really good, no wonder even technical secondary school students are scrambling to get in.
In the evening, Su Ye used it to make a pot of eight-treasure porridge, gave a bowl to Grandma Zhou who lived downstairs, and kept the rest for herself and ate it up happily.
On Sunday, Su Ye reported to No. 1 Middle School in neat and energetic attire.
The person responsible for receiving Su Ye was the invigilator at the time, Mr. He, who took Su Ye to the office.
Su Ye walked into the office, which was filled with more than 20 desks neatly arranged, with textbooks and students' homework piled densely on the desks. Although Sunday was a rest day, there were still teachers working in the office.
Teacher He adjusted his glasses and asked casually, "Comrade Su, is the Laba porridge delicious?"
Su Ye praised the school with a lot of flattery, "It's delicious, fragrant, sweet, soft and sticky. This welfare subsidy is really timely! To be honest, if the school hadn't given me the subsidy, I would have almost forgotten what Laba porridge tastes like. This kind of treatment is really hard to find anywhere else!"
Teacher He smiled and said nothing. At this time, another teacher with a serious look came over and gave Teacher He a look.
Teacher He coughed lightly and said, "Comrade Su, first of all, congratulations on being accepted by the school."
Then, he showed an embarrassment on his face: "But your academic qualifications are not enough to convince everyone. In order to be fair, the school has arranged a re-examination. You can write the re-examination questions here now."
The serious teacher said, "Write it, just as a formality."
Discrimination based on academic qualifications is an insurmountable gap. It seems that people still look down on her academic qualifications, and she still has to go through many hurdles to find a job.
However, the teachers' nutrition allowance had been paid out, and Su Ye had eaten it all, so she believed that the school was not deliberately making things difficult for her.
Su Ye said nothing and nodded. After receiving a test paper, she quickly glanced over the questions and borrowed a pen to write on the test paper.
Unlike the first test, Su Ye was being stared at by dozens of people. Several other teachers in the office also joined in the fun and watched Su Ye write the test questions.
I saw that this young girl was very patient and worked carefully on each problem, with a solid foundation.
Teacher He and Zhou Yi looked at each other, and their eyes seemed to say: See, he can really write it.
After finishing, Su Ye handed the paper to Zhou Yi and asked, "When can I get the result?"
Zhou Yi casually glanced at the test results and said, "It's OK now."
He turned his head and told Teacher He: "Old He, take Comrade Su to handle the formalities."
After completing the entry formalities, Teacher He handed a new set of teaching materials to Su Ye, "Teacher Su can come to school to teach starting tomorrow. You will be responsible for teaching science classes for the three grades of junior high school."
Su Ye nodded, stuffed the textbook into his schoolbag and said seriously: "Thank you for the opportunity given by the school. I will work hard!"
Teacher He smiled and said silently: I hope so. I hope the new teacher recruited this time will not disappoint us.
…
After leaving school, Su Ye went to the city library to apply for a card. There were many people in the library on Sunday, most of them wearing blue, gray and black work clothes, and at first glance it seemed like a sea of workers.
Entertainment activities in the 1960s were very scarce, and reading was considered a form of entertainment. Su Ye had to borrow some spiritual food to entertain himself.
After borrowing the book, Su Ye took a stroll around the scrapyard, intending to look for some "props" to win people's hearts.
In the 1960s, the productivity level was very low. The country vigorously "advocated conservation" and reused daily necessities. At this time, the role of the waste station was very prominent. It mainly recycled the waste discarded by residents, such as glass, scrap copper and iron, iron toothpaste, waste newspapers and magazines...
What Su Ye wanted to find was "scrap copper and rotten iron". She rummaged through the waste for a long time and finally bought some broken electrical appliances that were almost unrecognizable for two dollars.
"Comrade, why are you collecting this?" the comrade working at the scrap yard asked curiously.
Su Ye borrowed tools from the scrapyard and began to dismantle the old electrical appliances. He casually replied, "I want to see what's inside."
Su Ye took out the dirty parts one by one and wiped off the dust carefully. She took out the books from her bag and put the pile of "garbage" back into her backpack with great care.
The comrades working at the scrap yard looked at Su Ye as if he were a fool, their eyes full of pity.
Su Ye returned to the military compound with a pile of books.
On the way, she ran into the director of the Women's Federation whom she met at the social gathering yesterday. She hurriedly greeted her and went up to the family building.
The director of the Women's Federation looked at Su Ye's hurriedly leaving back, and said to the person beside her with satisfaction: "Did you see that? The one just now is from Xiang Qian's family. She went out and came back with a belly full of books. She looks like an ambitious girl. I heard that she became a middle school teacher. I don't have to worry about them anymore."
After more than a month of delay, the "difficult" Su Ye finally solved his job problem and became a middle school teacher. This news had already spread throughout the entire compound.
The older sisters around her said critically, "Isn't he just a middle school teacher? No matter how capable he is, can he be better than Xiang Qian? With Xiang Qian's qualifications, he can be matched with someone better."
…
Women's Federation Office.
At five o'clock, Li Hongli finished sorting the materials and got off work on time. Her cousin rode her bicycle and waited for her at the door. In this era, not many people can afford a bicycle. A family with a good income would save up for a whole year without eating or drinking to buy a bicycle.
But the person riding it is a young girl. To own a bicycle by herself at this age is truly rare among people.
Although such a phenomenon was very common in the compound, girls could not help but feel envious when they saw it. Then they saw that the person sitting on the back of the bicycle was Li Hongli, and they immediately understood.
Li Hongli is the leader's daughter.
Li Hongli's cousin is Gao Anna. The year Anna was born, the relationship between China and the Soviet Union was as good as honey, and many families followed the Soviet Union's example and gave their girls Soviet-sounding foreign names.
Gao Anna drove Li Hongli home, took out a bag of sweet kumquats from her bag, shook it gently, and gave it to her generously, "Thank you for introducing me to this job."
This kind of high-end fruit is already very rare in the supply and marketing cooperatives. In the winter, many roads are blocked by snow, making it difficult to find some edible fruit.
Li Hongli peeled an orange and praised, "It's so sweet."
My cousin first expressed the job that Li Hongli had found for her, and then changed the subject, "It's a pity that I didn't get accepted to No. 1 Middle School, which I wanted to go to the most, and went to No. 5 Middle School instead."
Li Hongli almost choked on the fruit core, "How is it possible? Even Su Ye was admitted, and you are a serious technical secondary school graduate."
"Their requirements are high. I heard that the school has teachers with college degrees. This time, they only admitted two technical secondary school students." My cousin frowned, "Wait, who is Su Ye? This person is not on the admission list published by No. 1 Middle School."
"That's impossible. How could this person not be there? She received the teacher's subsidy from her school yesterday."
Li Hongli explained, "Su Ye is a military wife in our compound. She only has primary school education and just wants to find a good job. She is very ambitious. I just randomly recommended a junior job to her."
Li Hongli briefly introduced Su Ye's situation. After listening to it, Gao Anna's face was filled with indignation and anger.
The more she listened, the angrier she became. Tears of anger welled up in her eyes. She complained and yelled at Li Hongli, "How could you introduce a job to someone like that? She used backdoors and cheated! She squeezed out my spot!"
How could a person who applied for a primary school be chosen to be a middle school teacher
How can a person with only primary school education be qualified to teach junior high school students
Compared with No. 5 Middle School, although No. 1 Middle School receives the same salary and food every month, No. 1 Middle School also gives various teacher subsidies during festivals. She gets one more pound of melon seeds and peanuts during the Spring Festival, one pound of moon cakes during the Mid-Autumn Festival, and one pound of rice on New Year's Day... After all the calculations, how much money did she lose
Li Hongli was dumbfounded. She never expected that her cousin would not be selected
Li Hongli didn't think much about it at first, she just thought Su Ye was lucky to be admitted.
No wonder Su Ye was so confident that she would be admitted. She also wondered where Su Ye, a primary school graduate, got the confidence from.
In Li Hongli's eyes, her cousin was naturally several times better than Su Ye, but No. 1 Middle School rejected her cousin and chose Su Ye...
It must be said that Li Hongli was also angry at this moment. She patted her cousin on the shoulder and said, "Our compound will never tolerate such a situation. Go to No. 1 Middle School and ask. If there is really a backdoor situation, the organization will definitely take care of it for you!"
Gao Anna nodded with anger in her eyes.
…
The other side.
After Su Ye returned home, she opened the book she borrowed from the library.
She has never been able to figure out what the "labor" defined in the live broadcast room means. What Su Ye can be sure of is that it is not the "labor" in her understanding.
Su Ye flipped through the information in the book and read softly: "Engels said that labor created man himself."
Labor is defined in the Selected Works of Marx and Engels as "the purposeful activity of people using certain production tools to act on the objects of labor to create material and spiritual wealth."1
Capital defines labor as the activity of human beings creating material or mental labor2.
Create material and spiritual wealth? Su Ye fell into thought. During this period of time, she really had not created material wealth, or participated in the labor of creating material wealth. The only reward she received was cooking. This means... the food she cooked pleased her fans and created spiritual wealth
Having found a specific direction, Su Ye suddenly gained confidence. To create spiritual wealth, being a teacher is very convenient.
Su Ye suddenly rubbed his hands excitedly, his eyes full of eagerness to try.
Monday morning, No. 1 Middle School.
Su Ye carried her record book and wore clean clothes to report to the school. After arriving at the office, Su Ye spent a class to get to know her new colleagues.
The entire middle school has six grades and seven subjects, with 2 to 4 teachers for each subject.
There are 45 teachers in the school. In addition to the principal and the vice principal, Mr. He is the director of the school's logistics department, responsible for miscellaneous matters and teaching Chinese.
Although Mr. Zhou Yi, who set the test papers, didn't talk much, he seemed very important and everyone respected him.
This time, No. 1 Middle School only recruited two teachers, both of whom were fresh graduates from technical secondary schools: one was a thin, pale boy named Fang, and the other was a girl of medium build with a ruddy complexion named Liu. All three of them were forced to teach science, a minor subject.
Su Ye figured out something. This school is quite responsible.
The bell rang for the end of get out of class. New teacher Fang had just finished a science class and returned to the office. His hands and feet were shaking and his face was as white as a wall. Other teachers asked him how he felt. Teacher Fang tried to stay calm and said, "Not bad. I just forgot the words in the middle of the class and looked at the textbook a few times."
Teacher He smiled, "It's always like this for the first class. Su Ye, the next class is yours, Class 1, Grade 2..." He turned and looked at Su Ye.
Su Ye slowly took out a bunch of scrap copper and iron from his bag: broken copper wires, a green circuit board, and a welding gun.
Teacher He asked: "Hey, what is this?"
The other teachers looked at Su Ye with curiosity. Zhou Yi took a look and his gaze remained on the pile of things for a few seconds.
Su Ye said, "The bell rang and I'm going to class now. I'll talk to you guys slowly after class."
Teacher Fang sighed inaudibly, lowered his head, and a trace of contempt appeared in his eyes. He and Teacher Liu, who was admitted this time, were both graduates of the Electric Power and Water Conservancy Engineering College. He and another excellent classmate were not selected.
Yes, he accidentally found out about Su Ye's education background. After knowing this, this honest man was worried all night.
Not knowing how to deal with this injustice, should he fight against it to the end without hesitation
After Su Ye left, a woman walked into the office. She was Li Hongli's cousin Gao Anna.
This time, Gao Anna's technical secondary school teacher also came with her, apparently to seek justice for the student.
Gao Anna challenged Mr. He, who was in charge of the assessment: "I want to ask why I failed the selection. I think I was treated unfairly. I want to retrieve the test paper from that time and take a look."
The secondary school teacher said sternly, "Although the children in our school may not be the best, the school has always been fair, and we will never allow any unfair oppression to occur on students."
The words were harsh and unkind, but fortunately the school was well prepared, and Teacher He calmly took out the file and handed it to the teacher.
Gao Anna turned over her test paper and saw a bright red 32. Her face turned red with embarrassment.
Gao Anna knew that the test questions were difficult, and it was not surprising to get this score. However, the teacher was looking at the paper at the moment, and Gao Anna couldn't help feeling a little short of breath.
Soon she turned to Fang Zhou and Liu Qiu's test papers. One scored 38 and the other 36. Her shame faded away. She was only four points behind the first and second place! She couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. Everyone was the same. It wasn't her problem after all!
At this moment, her feeling of shame turned into relief, and she didn't notice the fleeting sarcasm in Teacher He's reflective glasses.
Gao Anna asked: "Where is Su Ye's paper?"
As expected, Gao Anna got Su Ye's paper, and there was a neat 100 on the score column. She was so shocked that she couldn't believe it, "No, this is impossible."
My cousin said that Su Ye only graduated from elementary school. How could she possibly get such a high score? Gao Anna gritted her teeth and said, "You leaked the test questions to her, that must be the case."
Anna Gao suggested that Su Ye come out and confront her. Teacher He said impatiently, "That's impossible. Not to mention that Teacher Su has already gone to class, this is not the place for you to cause trouble. Comrade Gao, please rest assured that our school will not tolerate a grain of sand in its eyes, and the admission is the most fair and just."
He turned to the technical secondary school teacher and said politely: "You have also seen that, with your knowledge, do you think our school should admit Comrade Su Ye?"
If these technical secondary school students weren't so unpromising, would No. 1 Middle School have to hold their noses and make an exception to admit Su Ye
A well-written test paper can easily test the students' basic skills. Moreover, even if she, a secondary school teacher, wrote this test paper, she might not get full marks. The secondary school teacher was silent immediately. She was also confused.
Does Comrade Su, who "got in through the back door", really have the ability, or was the question leaked to him in advance
Fang Zhou and Liu Qiu looked at Gao Anna's pitiful and helpless appearance, with a hint of support on their faces, and they stood on the same front with a common hatred of the enemy in their hearts.
Teacher Zhou, who had been watching for a long time, finally couldn't help but say, "Forget it, Lao He, just take them to one of Su Ye's classes and you'll know."
Teacher He widened his eyes and glared at Teacher Zhou angrily. What kind of stupid teammate is this
He was going to ask the principal to come over and take them to Su Ye's class? Forget it! If they were to meet Su Ye, they would insult him in front of the students.
Zhou Yi said: "Teacher Su's class today must be very interesting."
Seeing Teacher He's disapproval, Zhou Yi said, "If she can't even handle this little bit of pressure, she's not suitable to be a teacher in our school."
Teacher He thought about it and thought, yes, Su Ye himself couldn't handle this kind of pressure, how could he survive in school if the news got out? So he took these two people to Class 1 of the second grade.
At this time, Su Ye was already standing on the podium. She looked around the audience, which was full of half-grown children. Looking at the tender and youthful faces, she couldn't help but think of her own junior high school days. At that time, she was also ignorant and full of curiosity and desire for knowledge.
Su Ye said, "Hello everyone, my name is Su Ye, and I will be your science teacher from now on."
She wrote the word "Science" in big chalk on the podium and started talking: "What is science?"
"Its English pronunciation is science. Decades ago, great revolutionaries had a strong interest in it and called it 'Mr. Science'. A hundred years ago, the gates of the Qing Dynasty were broken by the swords and gunfire of the invaders. Waves of patriotic young people set out on a long journey to explore it, going to the West to study, in order to strengthen the country in science and technology, because falling behind would lead to being beaten..."
Su Ye started the topic with deep emotion, talked about history for five minutes, and finally concluded:
"Today, we study science to cultivate our sentiments and to protect and build our motherland. Science has its own unique charm. Today, Teacher Su will use his own perspective to explain to everyone what science is."
Su Ye took out her treasures and asked her classmates what their favorite electrical appliances were as if they were chatting. If anyone mentioned a radio, she would ask them to be her assistant.
The students of No. 1 Middle School had never seen such a teacher before. The class didn't feel like a class at all. There was a glimmer of curiosity in their eyes. Their mischievous and restless emotions were temporarily suppressed.
A boy raised his hand excitedly: "Me, me, me, I like the radio the most. My dad receives news from China Central Television and I hear a lot of good songs from it."
Su Ye asked: "What's your favorite song?"
The children immediately started chattering excitedly, "The Shining Red Star," "Singing the Motherland," "Returning from Target Practice"... "
Su Ye took out the parts while listening and introduced them one by one: "This is the circuit board, this is the relay, this is the switch, this is the coil..."
"The teacher will perform a magic trick for you in a moment and make your favorite radio."
Su Ye spent half an hour assembling them one by one. Before picking up the welding gun, she gently told the students to close their eyes and began to solder the circuit boards.
The pendulum of the silent clock ticked minute by minute, and time passed slowly. Su Ye connected the circuit and adjusted the magnetic wire coil.
Finally, under the curious and surprised gazes of the children, Su Ye pressed the switch, and a crackling sound of electricity came out of the old speaker.
“The five-star red flag flutters in the wind, and the song of victory sounds so loud—” a melodious music flowed out.
Zizizizi, Su Ye switched to a channel, "According to the People's Daily report on January 13, the central government has allocated relief grain in a timely manner, and the famine problem in Province S has been initially alleviated..."
Su Ye moved again and returned to the melodious music just now. The students under the podium were almost dizzy with joy, and their watery eyes were full of fear and fanaticism.
The junior high school students exclaimed in shock: "Oh my God, teacher, you made a radio!"
“Is this based on science?”
A precocious student said in a crackling voice: "My father said a radio costs 85 yuan, which is his three months' salary! Teacher, you are amazing, you saved a lot of money!"
"Singing to our beloved motherland, which is now moving towards prosperity and strength—" The high note coming from the loudspeaker was the most exciting music of the whole song.
It is like the voice of the students at this moment.
Su Ye smiled and turned down the music. She looked at the enthusiastic students under the podium and answered them: "Yes, the teacher used science to create the radio you like. It costs nearly a hundred yuan in the store, but the teacher only spent two yuan to make it."
“That’s the power of science.”
The passionate high notes expressed a strong patriotic sentiment, and through the old speakers, it seemed to sing out the power of life, and the song hit every child's heart hard. Sparks flew in their eyes, and they all looked at their teacher with admiration.
At this moment, the "radio" made of simple circuit boards and the teacher beside the radio seemed to be coated with a layer of light in their eyes. A fire called "science" was sprinkled in their hearts, burning their blood and making their eyes bright.
They looked at their new teacher with moist and admiring eyes, their gazes fixed on the teacher intently for a moment.
This is... the power of pretending to be cool. Su Ye thought silently in his heart, making them completely obedient.
Ding—The host worked hard at the podium, taught by words and deeds, changed the fate of three students, and was rewarded with 1,000g of pork belly.
Su Ye stretched his body comfortably, feeling happy all over.
Labor... It smells so good, finally I have meat to eat.
Outside the classroom, Gao Anna and her teacher looked at the "radio" on the podium and fell into silence for a long time.
Teacher He said, "Did you see that? How many teachers can assemble a radio with their bare hands? Comrade Gao, ask yourself, can you do it? Teacher, can you do it?"
"This teacher Su Ye is different. She has the ability to make us willingly accept her as an exception."