The room was filled with the rich scent of ink. Zhan Aiping sat by the window, looking at the trees and grass outside from time to time. There was a large lawn in Shen Liqing's yard. She couldn't grow anything in her yard except for this piece of grass. There were sunflowers in the corner and a rabbit box made of wooden boards under the eaves. The Wang couple would take their two children to the mountain to cut grass for the rabbits.
Shen Liqing teaches four children calligraphy. This can be considered a calligraphy class. There are two tables put together to form a long table. Two pairs of twins stand on each side. The ink is shiny and the spread out white paper is rough and mottled with different marks.
Shen Liqing said: "You guys, practice your calligraphy well."
The four little kids nodded, picked up their pens, dipped them in ink, and started writing on the paper in front of them.
Among the four people, the one who studied the hardest was Sweet and Sour Pork. He had a spirit of never admitting defeat and a strong desire to win pushed him to get first place in everything. He wanted to be the one with the best handwriting among the four.
Little Tangyuan wrote quickly and well, but she lacked patience. She and her sister Yuyu finished quickly and went to play somewhere else. The two girls drew three cat whiskers on each other's faces. Little Tangyuan also took the initiative to write the word "king" on her forehead. She and Yuyu surrounded Zhan Aiping and shouted "Awoo awoo awoo awoo..."
He put his hands beside his cheeks and opened his mouth to roar like a wild animal.
Zhan Aiping: “…”
She almost laughed, but when she saw the ink stains on her daughter's clothes, she couldn't laugh anymore, these were new clothes!!!
Shen Liqing couldn't laugh either, and said uncomfortably: "Why are the girls from our two families so naughty?"
When teaching children calligraphy, I made them wear sleeves to prevent ink from splashing on their clothes. Now, their faces, foreheads, and clothes are all covered with ink, which is really a headache.
Generally, in other families, boys are naughty while girls are obedient, but it is the other way around in their two families.
Sweet and sour pork and Little Fish Brother, on the other hand, stood obediently by the table and practiced calligraphy.
Guo Bao Rou was practicing calligraphy very seriously, but Xiao Yu Di was just trying to slack off. He would take a break after writing each character and scratch his butt from time to time.
Zhan Aiping said: "Yuanyuan, go back and ask your dad to teach you how to wash clothes."
Little Tangyuan and Dayuyu played around for a while, urging their brothers to finish writing quickly, as they still had to jump rubber rope after finishing.
Little Tangyuan rubbed her face. The ink on her face made her feel a little itchy. The more she rubbed it, the blacker her face became. It was like a lotus root dug out of the water, her tender little face stained with black mud.
"Brother, hurry up!"
Yuyu encouraged her brother: "Brother Yu, don't be lazy!"
Wang Xiaoyu: “…” He scratched his butt and just wanted to sit down and didn’t want to write.
"Brother, write quickly!"
Shen Liqing was very pleased to see this. She said to Zhan Aiping, "It's good to have a sister at home. She can encourage her brother to make progress."
Her youngest son was too lazy. He would only move when someone pushed him. He was as slow as a little turtle and did everything without haste or delay.
Zhan Aiping: "My brothers and sisters encourage each other."
Guo Bao Rou finished writing. He was very particular. He took a handkerchief and dipped it in water, wrung it dry, and wiped his sister's face. "Yuanyuan, don't move."
Zhan Aiping had a headache. She covered her forehead with her hands and felt a little sorry for the handkerchief, but she did not stop it.
The handkerchief turned black after being wiped off with ink.
Little Tangyuan's face was barely whitened, and she chuckled happily, "Brother, let's jump rubber rope."
Guo Bao Rou and Wang Xiaoyu brought a small stool and sat on it with the rubber bands wrapped around their legs. Xiao Tangyuan and Yu Yu jumped the rubber bands happily. Wang Xiaoyu was also very happy. He just liked to sit still.
The two little girls, Xiao Tangyuan and Yuyu, felt that it would be boring if only the two of them danced, so they had to let their brothers participate. To ensure fairness, Xiao Tangyuan and her brother were older, and they could not bully the younger. So - Xiao Tangyuan and Wang Xiaoyu were in one group, and Guobaorou and Dayu were in another group.
They played skipping rope in two groups.
Guo Bao Rou found that he was not as good as Wang Xiaoyu, so he worked hard to learn skipping rubber rope.
Zhan Aiping said: "My eldest brother is really powerful."
It was as if all her and Gu Sheng's competitive spirit was focused on their son, Sweet and Sour Pork.
Zhan Aiping and Shen Liqing looked at the child and chatted for a while. Not long after, guests came to the house. Shen Liqing's cousin Zeng Jiang, who had gone to the countryside, came to visit.
"Cousin, there are guests at your house." My cousin was wearing the white shirt and green trousers that the educated youth often wore at that time. His hair was long, like a fluffy sea lion. He wore a pair of glasses and his face was weathered, but he was in high spirits and did not have the panic that the ordinary educated youth had when they came to a foreign place.
Shen Liqing was surprised and asked: "Xiao Jiang, you've already arrived?"
Zeng Jiang smiled and said, "Cousin, these are some I brought from Shanghai..."
He did not come empty-handed, but brought some souvenirs, which were specialties of Shanghai. They were not valuable things, but pastries from a time-honored brand. Shen Liqing had not eaten them for a long time and was very surprised. She called a few children to come and try them.
Shen Liqing introduced Zhan Aiping to Zeng Jiang: "This is Comrade Zhan, the director of Yanxin Hospital and the wife of Captain Gu."
"Hello, hello, Comrade Zhan, my name is Zeng Jiang, and I'm an educated youth from Shanghai!" Zeng Jiang was very happy to meet Zhan Aiping. He was a very talkative person and they chatted a lot.
Zhan Aiping discovered that the cousin Shen Liqing mentioned was not as quiet as she had said before. On the contrary, Zeng Jiang was very scheming.
Zeng Jiang said: "I read a lot of books when I went to the countryside this time, including the "Barefoot Doctor Manual", "Militia Training Manual", "Friends of Military and Civilian Talents"... "
There were many educated youth from Shanghai who came to Yunnan Province. Zeng Jiang was not in the first batch, nor would he be the last. As an unpopular child at home, he was introverted, shy, and not good at speaking. This was the evaluation given to him by his family. Zeng Jiang loved reading. He had heard a lot of disdain from outsiders since he was a child, saying that studying was useless, that he was just a nerd, dull, and could not read people's expressions, and would not have much future in this society.
The elders nowadays like those who are extrovert, good at speaking and can make people happy. Zeng Jiang felt that he could not say those flattering words, and he didn't know how to say them... Perhaps he knew from the beginning that the quota for his family to go to the countryside would fall on him, so Zeng Jiang accepted his fate. He was depressed for a few months, but later he came to his senses.
There's nothing wrong with becoming an educated youth. It's just leaving Shanghai and living in a different place. Instead of feeling sorry for yourself, you might as well be adequately prepared.
Zeng Jiang was a book lover, so he prepared a lot of books and learned how to do agriculture and learn militia techniques in advance. At that time, almost all people in the border areas were soldiers and had to undergo militia training. Even primary school students had to do training every year. When he came to the family compound, he saw soldiers practicing crawling, shooting, and mine clearance on the roadside...
These things are very new to Zeng Jiang.
Perhaps it was because he had made sufficient mental preparations and had read a lot of books and materials. After Zeng Jiang came to Yunnan Province, he originally thought that he, who was described by others as "introverted" and "unpromising", would shrink back and be afraid. However, he did not expect that he would adapt very well. The country people here respected him very much. Knowing that he had read a lot and had learned agricultural knowledge in advance, they did not laugh at him for being a nerd, but thought he was amazing and knew a lot.
Zeng Jiang was very excited by such comments, as this was an opportunity for change.
Zeng Jiang is a scholar, and the characteristic of scholars is that they think a lot. After Zeng Jiang arrived in Yunnan Province for a few days, he immediately made various plans and plans. Other educated youths could not go back for ten or eight years, and he probably could not go back either, so - he wanted to put down roots here!
Since he was going to settle down here anyway, he planned to find a local girl with good conditions as soon as possible, marry and have children, run his business well, and live a good life with a wife and children.
Zeng Jiang was not very familiar with his cousin Shen Liqing, but he knew that Shen Liqing married an officer. Although he was not good at flattery, he was not stupid and knew that he had to contact this relative well, which would always be convenient.
He has a good relative, and if he finds a good local girl, he shouldn't have a bad life.
Zhan Aiping said: "You have made a lot of preparations in advance."
Zeng Jiang said: "President Zhan, can I borrow some medical books from you? I also want to learn some skills as a barefoot doctor..."
At that time, many educated youth worked as barefoot doctors and teachers in the countryside, which was more comfortable than working in the fields.
Zhan Aiping said: "Okay, I'll get you some books."
Zeng Jiang was extremely grateful: "Thank you."
Zhan Aiping couldn't help but remind her, "Don't rush to get married or date in the next two years. You can read more books, especially those from high school. Who knows, maybe in a few years, the college entrance examination will be resumed and you can go back to the city to study in university."
Zeng Jiang shook his head: "I don't want to go to university anymore. I want to find a local girl to marry as soon as possible and settle down here."
"I think the mountains and water here are nice, the air is good, and life here will be pretty good."
Zhan Aiping: “…”
She felt that Shen Liqing's cousin had a lot in common with Shen Liqing.
*
After the chat, Zhan Aiping took her two children home and received a call from her father Zhan Bo. It turned out that Zhan Mingkang had also gone to the countryside recently.
Zhan Aiping thought he wanted her to take care of Zhan Mingkang
Zhanbo said on the phone: "You and Xiao Gu, you two must not deliberately take care of him, just let him suffer more."
"Okay." Zhan Aiping didn't care. She didn't want to take care of this younger brother anyway.
Zhan Mingkang went to the countryside and was assigned to the same place as Zeng Jiang.
(End of this chapter)