Wang Ying returned home, and just as she put down the medicine box, Xu Shuang came in. He saw that Wang Ying seemed to be in a bad mood, so he hurried in to ask why she came back so soon from Tian Dazhu's house.
Wang Ying told the story, and Xu Shuang tightened her lips and said, "I won't go if they invite me next time!"
Wang Ying smiled: "Why do you look more angry than me? Not really."
She was angry that Tian Dazhu paid so much attention to a child of unknown gender, which might not be his, but didn't ask a single question about Mai Miao and Mai Sui. Not to mention Mai Miao and Mai Sui, even the youngest child, Mai Ya, was born prematurely. Qian spent more than 200 yuan from the family division on this child, but he, the biological father, didn't even ask a question, let alone look at the child. To put it bluntly, if Xiao Ya didn't keep her, I'm afraid Tian Dazhu wouldn't even come to take a look.
Wang Ying felt disappointed: "No matter what, she is still his biological daughter. Tian Dazhu doesn't seem to be a bad person, so how could he be so cold-hearted?"
This was in her own home, so Xu Shuang didn't hold back and hugged Wang Ying tightly: "He's been missing his son so much that his brain isn't working well."
Xu Shuang: "He always feels that people in our team point fingers at him and laugh at him for not having a son. But isn't Widow Sun in our team the same? And that family and that family, aren't they both sonless?"
"Our brigade is doing a good job. Don't underestimate his mother and his sister-in-law. They are just too soft. If he is tough, no one would dare to covet his family wealth, even if he has three daughters."
Wang Ying: "When I look at Tian Dazhu, I feel that people seem to be influenced by their parents throughout their lives. His temper is probably because he was suppressed by his mother since he was a child, and he can't read and write. Because of his inferiority complex, he is particularly afraid of being laughed at by others when he grows up. So he goes further and further on the wrong path."
Xu Shuang: "So?"
Wang Ying pouted: "So... I decided to propose to the team leader to open a village primary school!"
She saw the problem of lack of education from too many people. You know, in a few years, society will change drastically. If you don't study, you will still not be able to leave the mountains.
Xu Shuang didn't seem surprised at all: "What should we do? There aren't many people in our team who can go to school, right? I'm afraid the team leader won't agree."
Wang Ying snorted: "There are formal ways to deal with things. We can also keep it simple in our team's situation."
Having made up her mind, Wang Ying was not so angry anymore.
Xu Shuang happened to bring out lotus root soup. There was no meat at home, so she could only use lard to grease the pot and stew it with mushrooms and peanuts.
Although it is a vegetarian soup, it tastes just as good. The soup is tea-colored, the peanuts are soft, the mushrooms are plump, and the autumn lotus root is stewed to be soft, sticky and crisp. When you bite it, you can pull out long threads.
The vegetarian lotus root soup is served with vegetarian pie, which is made of carrot, egg and vermicelli filling, and has a thin layer of crust, which is baked until golden on both sides. A bite of pie and a sip of soup is not only delicious, but also warm and appetizing.
After dinner, Wang Ying took out paper and pen and started making plans.
After a few days, Wang Ying had an idea in mind and asked Wu Guihua to give suggestions to Tian Youfu.
Tian Youfu looked at Wang Ying in surprise. He had discussed with Wang Ying before and asked her if she was willing to be a junior cadre in the brigade. She could be the women's director or the accountant. Anyway, the women's director position was vacant at that time and the accountant was old. But Wang Ying refused without hesitation and just said that she was fine being a barefoot doctor.
Why did you stand up now
If Wang Ying knew Tian Youfu's question, she would definitely answer it.
It's natural for her to be a lazy person in other matters, since if she doesn't do it, others will do it. But when it comes to education, she is very willing to contribute a little.
This is nothing like anything else!
Wang Ying: "Captain, our brigade has four educated youths this year, and there will definitely be more in the future. So many educated youths only earn so many work points in the fields. I think we might as well apply to the commune for a primary school. I just checked with Director Wu, and there are more than 60 children between the ages of five and eleven in our brigade, but less than ten of them go to school. Director Wu is also worried because the commune also has requirements for the number of children enrolled in school, but we are too far away from the commune, and we can't go to Xipo Town to attend primary school. I think we should apply for a primary school, and the children from the two surrounding communes can be sent to our place nearby."
Tian Youfu hesitated: "But there is no place in our brigade to run a primary school. If we build a house now, won't we have to pay more money?"
The most important thing at the moment is money. How can the team afford the bricks for building a primary school, the tables, chairs and benches in the house, plus some additional expenses
and…
Tian Youfu didn't think he could take it back when the time came.
Everyone was poor. The tuition for a child in the commune was two yuan per semester. Don't underestimate these two yuan. Nowadays, everyone has many children. Normally, a family has two or three children, and some have six or seven. Few families can afford to send all of them to school.
Before Wang Ying could say anything, Wu Guihua said, "Captain, don't just refuse. If you don't cooperate, it will be very difficult for me to handle it."
It was only after Wu Guihua took on the job of women's director that she realized that the job of a women's director was not only to protect the rights of women and children, but also to pay attention to children's schooling.
She already had this matter in mind, and when Wang Ying mentioned it, she was very eager to come to Tian Youfu to discuss it.
Tian Youfu frowned and said, "You have seen the harvest of the brigade this year. Even if we want to build it, we have to wait two years, right?"
First he had a year with bad weather, so where would he get the money to build a primary school
Wu Guihua was very dissatisfied and snorted, "If we wait a few more years, I'm afraid our team won't be able to wait any longer."
Tian Youfu could only throw up his hands. The team had no money, what else could he do
Wang Ying took out a piece of paper and started to calculate with Tian Youfu.
"It's not necessarily impossible. You see, there won't be that many students at the beginning. It's already good enough for our team to accept 20 to 30 students."
"There is no need to build a house for 20 or 30 students. The houses at the youth education center are spacious and have many empty rooms. A room can accommodate more than 20 students. It is easier to arrange tables, chairs and benches. You need to find someone to make the tables, and the chairs are just long benches. For more than 20 children, six or seven long benches are enough. If there are fewer, you can ask the students to bring benches from home."
"As for the rest, the blackboard can be repainted, and the consumption of chalk is not great. Students who cannot afford to buy books can copy them themselves."
"We'll just make do with this for now. When we have more students, we can talk about building another house."
"With this calculation, the tuition fee does not need to be very expensive, just one yuan per student. The teachers will be educated youth. When there are few students, they will teach half a day and work half a day. When there are more students, the teachers will gradually become full-time."
Wang Ying’s meaning is quite simple and straightforward: the issue to be resolved now is not whether it is good or not, but whether it exists or not.
No matter how shabby a primary school is or how bad the conditions are, it is still at least a school.
Don't worry about anything else, as long as there is a teacher who can teach, then set up the framework first. As for other things, we can talk about it later!
Seeing that Tian Youfu seemed to be moved, Wang Ying added another one.
"If our team doesn't do it soon, the two teams next to us will probably do it soon."
Tian Youfu was stunned for a moment, and instantly understood what Wang Ying meant.
The difficulty of going to school not only troubles the Seventh Brigade, but also the two neighboring brigades.
All three of their brigades were unlucky, being too far from their own commune and too close to other communes. When it came time to do something that had to be done in their own commune, it was very troublesome.
Wang Ying was right. He had heard the two team leaders talk about building a primary school a long time ago, but at that time they said that the three teams would build it together. The address was chosen to be between the three families, so that it would be convenient for the children to go to school.
Later, due to delays again and again, and the constant panic outside, the three captains were all powerless.
The situation is now somewhat more stable. Primary education is taught by educated youth, so there are no other problems involved. The more Tian Youfu thought about it, the better it was.
Running the primary school in our own brigade not only provided some financial relief, but also provided arrangements for the educated youth.
He was lucky enough to have this benefit.
If we wait until other brigades are built first, won’t ours lose all the benefits
Tian Youfu rubbed his hands: "Wait for me to think about it."
The more I think about it, the more I feel that Wang Ying’s advice is very practical.
You said the houses built by the educated youth were shabby
It’s already good enough! It was newly built this year! Most families in the brigade live in houses that are not as good as those in the educated youth camp!
You said the bench is too shabby and there's no book to read
What kind of hardship is this? As long as you are six or seven years old or older, which child doesn't do some work at home? How can copying books be considered hard work
You said studying costs money
One yuan is already very cheap! It is cheaper than the two yuan in the commune! If you don’t even want to study, do you still expect the brigade to give you money to study
…
Tian Youfu made the decision: "I will find the branch secretary and the accountant right away, and we will have a meeting to discuss the details."
He thought it could work, but there were still many things to consider, such as what to do with the winter holidays, who to elect among the educated youth, and how to pay the teachers.
Wang Ying put forward an idea, which was quickly recognized and responded to by everyone.
Tian Youfu reported the situation to the commune as soon as the weather cooled down, and the commune sent someone to check it out. After a quick look, the commune gave its approval.
As long as the commune does not ask for funding, building a village primary school is not a big deal.
Tian Youfu quickly conveyed the news to the members.
The result was beyond his expectation, most people were actually happy about it.
"If it's only one dollar a semester, I think it's still okay."
"That's because you only have two! We have four, and it's really depressing to look at them."
"What are you afraid of? The two youngest children in your family are not even five years old, and they don't want them. Send the older ones first, and then talk about the younger ones later."
"My family has a little girl, so you don't need to send her off, right?"
"You are so stupid, why don't you send it? It's good to know more words. Look at Wang Ying, she can become a doctor if she can read. I heard from Guihua that even now you need to be a midwife."
"That's right. After studying for a few more years, you will learn more words and it will be easier for you to find a husband in the future."
The arguments among the members were not so bad, after all, they were all friendly, and most people thought that reading a little bit of education was not a bad thing.
But when we arrived at the educated youth training center, the atmosphere was very different.
Almost every educated youth was a little tempted.
Teaching is a rare good job in the city.
Although there is a lot of fun outside, most of the fun happens in middle schools. There are still few in primary schools.
Teach the kids to read without having to work too hard, and keep them clean and presentable...
The leader of the educated youth team, Yang Hong, quietly looked at everyone. Regardless of whether they were male or female educated youth, they were basically all eager to try.
It wasn't just for the teaching position in the village primary school, but also for the news that Tian Youfu brought back.
This year, the commune allocated a quota for the Seventh Brigade and asked Tian Youfu to report someone to study at the Workers, Peasants and Soldiers University.
Tian Youfu went to find Wang Ying when he came back. In terms of education, there were few people in the brigade who graduated from high school. In terms of ability and performance, Wang Ying was even more outstanding. As for the most important factor, Wang Ying was also very strong.
It can be said that as long as Wang Ying agrees, Tian Youfu can directly send the person's name.
But Wang Ying refused without saying a word.
Tian Youfu felt a little sorry, but he didn't try to persuade her. He had already seen that after Wang Ying got married, she became more and more opinionated. She would not change her mind easily.
Therefore, the vacant spot has become an apple hanging in everyone's heart.
This quota can be given to educated youth, and there is no requirement to be a member of the commune.
Bai Ling was very anxious, she wanted both. The Workers, Peasants and Soldiers University was good, and the elementary school teacher was also good.
She wanted both, but she also knew it would be difficult for her to compete for either one.
Primary school teachers are judged by their knowledge level. Although she felt that she was qualified, she was not the best among the educated youth in terms of cultural level. She only graduated from junior high school, but there were many educated youth who graduated from high school! There were also one or two who were said to have often written articles for newspapers when they were in school, and they also actively contributed articles to Wu Guihua during this period.
The odds were against her.
Not to mention the Workers, Peasants and Soldiers University, Bai Ling knew that her reputation was not very good.
This quota had to be voted on by the team leaders, but she had offended Wu Guihua and did not have a good relationship with the non-staff barefoot doctor Wang Ying.
And Jiang Lei, ever since Bai Ling humiliated him during the wheat harvest, Jiang Lei has almost seamlessly switched to being angry with Bai Ling. He becomes cold when he sees Bai Ling, not even looking at her straight in the eye.
Jiang Lei had lived in the accountant's house. Bai Ling was very annoyed, fearing that Jiang Lei would tell the old accountant something wrong about her.
After this calculation, Bai Ling felt that the number of votes she could win was pitifully small.
Bai Ling bit her nails mechanically, her eyes rolling around.
She had been through a lot since the wheat harvest, she had become darker and thinner. But fortunately, there had been some progress, Yu Pengcheng had developed a relationship with her that was more than just friends, and they were just one step away from finalizing the relationship.
Bai Ling wanted to find a way out. The best one would definitely be the Workers, Peasants and Soldiers University, where she would be able to get a job after graduation. Even if she didn't return to the city, she could still find a decent government job in the commune here.
Primary school teacher Bai Ling also plans to do both. In case she cannot go to the Workers, Peasants and Soldiers University, at least she will have a backup.
With this in mind, she turned around and went to find Yu Pengcheng.
Yu Pengcheng, on the other hand, had no interest in either. He had a little secret recently, which he hadn't told anyone, and he was feeling anxious.
Seeing Bai Ling coming, Yu Pengcheng put away the letters sent from home and started chatting with Bai Ling.
Without saying a word, Bai Ling started talking about university places and elementary school teachers.
"Pengcheng, I feel that my health is not very good. Even if I work, I can't compare with everyone else. It would be great if I could go to a workers', peasants' and soldiers' university. Then I can arrange a job for myself after I finish my studies. Then... we can also..."
Bai Ling pretended to be shy and passed the conversation to Yu Pengcheng.
Yu Pengcheng frowned and said, "Bai Zhiqing, how can you think like that? We went to the countryside to build the countryside. Of course it's hard to go to the fields. It's because of the hardship that we have to face it even more! If you want to know how hard it is, think about the 25,000-mile Long March. If you want to know how tiring it is, think about the old revolutionary predecessors. We live in a peaceful time, which is already very good. If we can't endure this hardship, then we're running away wherever we go..."
Bai Ling has been getting more and more annoyed with Yu Pengcheng lately. This guy never stops talking about great truths.
All kinds of hard work are training. If he really thinks it is training, why does he go out to eat every now and then? Why doesn't he work hard instead of slacking off
The only thing that is hard in his whole body is his mouth.
After being scolded by Yu Pengcheng, Bai Ling didn't even say the words she wanted to borrow some money to get connections.
Bai Ling estimated that if she said it out loud, Yu Pengcheng would keep nagging her until her ears were covered with calluses.
Bai Ling was so worried that she went out and saw Jiang Lei taking clothes out to wash.
She quickly stepped forward and said, "Jiang Zhiqing, do you need my help?"
Since Yu Pengcheng couldn't help her, she had to find a way.
Jiang Lei didn't look happy when he saw her: "No need."
Bai Ling trotted after Jiang Lei: "Jiang Zhiqing, I have something to tell you!"
She didn't care about anything else and just took whoever she could get!
She knew that Jiang Lei had no money, but she also knew that Jiang Lei had a strength, which was that he was good at math.
When he was in school, Jiang Lei could only get a dozen points in other subjects, but he always got high scores in mathematics.
Bai Ling wanted Jiang Lei to help her with math. The competition in Chinese was fierce, but there was still some hope in math.
She is very weak in certain subjects, which is the opposite of Jiang Lei. She is terrible at math, and now her only hope lies in Jiang Lei.
Jiang Lei pretended not to hear anything and walked away with his basin. No matter how many nice things Bai Ling said, she just wouldn't give in.
Bai Ling was furious and said without thinking: "Jiang Lei, I never thought you would be this kind of person! Didn't I just reject you? Why are you so petty?"
Jiang Lei sneered: "You don't have to say it so nicely. You came to me just because you want me to work for you? If you were fine now, you would definitely say that you only see me as a brother... Why are you pretending!"
Bai Ling was humiliated by Jiang Lei for the first time, and she was a little annoyed: "Isn't what I said the truth? Aren't you taking revenge on me just because I don't want to be with you? Otherwise, why don't you want to tutor me? You are just holding a grudge! Jiang Lei, can't you learn from Yu Pengcheng? Be more broad-minded? Why do you have to be so fussy about anything?"
Bai Ling seemed angry, but she was not angry at all. She deliberately mentioned Yu Pengcheng to Jiang Lei. Why? She just wanted Jiang Lei to fight with Yu Pengcheng. If she didn't fight, how could she look precious
I don't know what happened to Jiang Lei during this period of time. He didn't come to bother her. If Jiang Lei came to bother her, I'm afraid she would have taken Yu Pengcheng down long ago.
All men are the same, they lose motivation if they don't fight.
Jiang Lei seemed to be moved by her words. He lowered his head and said nothing. Bai Ling quickly continued, "Jiang Lei, please help me. You are the only one I can rely on now. Only you can help me."
After a long while, Jiang Lei seemed to suddenly react and said sullenly, "Let's wait a few days, when everyone is free."
Bai Ling was very proud, because she knew that she had never failed with Jiang Lei!
"Thank you very much."
Bai Ling turned and left. Once the matter was settled, she was too lazy to agree to Jiang Lei's request anymore.
Little did she know that after she left, Jiang Lei gave her a sarcastic smile behind her back.
The brigade discussed the village primary school for a while. It was expected that the village primary school would start in the spring of next year, and the teachers would be selected this winter. The members were gossiping about the educated youth institute, and finally November came.
In November, the weather became much colder and the brigade was also in the stage of preparing for winter.
Grinding tofu, exchanging dried vegetables, slaughtering pigs and dividing the pork, hunting wild boars in the mountains...
All kinds of things.
Last year, Wang Ying had just come here, and she was busy preparing for her wedding. This year, she had a lot more free time. She made a list and went to the county town with Xu Shuang several times, and finally bought everything she needed.
That day, Tian Youfu came over.
"What? The brigade wants to buy a radio, too?"
Tian Youfu nodded: "The prices of apples and dates are a bit higher this year. I think it would be best to buy a radio, like the one you have at home, a big box, and put it in the meeting room. When everyone gets bored during the meeting, they can listen to the radio."
Of course Wang Ying was happy to do so. Old Mrs. Xu treated her own box as a treasure. She could go home to listen to the music, but she was not happy at all when asked to carry it around everywhere, for fear that the box would be damaged.
It would be perfect if the team bought one, so there wouldn't have to be people at the Xu family's door all day long.
Wang Ying found Zhang San, who sold the box to her, in the county town without much effort. This time she bargained again and got the price down to thirty-two yuan, successfully bringing back an assembled radio box.
It was like Chinese New Year in the team. Although it was not unusual, it belonged to the team! In other words, it belonged to every one of them!
This joy continued until it reached its peak on the day when the pork was about to be distributed.
"Oh my God, how did they raise this pig? How can it be so fat?"