Back to 80: My literary life.

Chapter 526 A volunteer teacher's diary

"Wang Zi, you go to Baiyin to teach. I heard from Minghua that the life there is quite difficult." Song Tangtang said.

"It's OK. When I first went to Liushudian Village, the county bus went directly to the township government. Later, I took a donkey cart driven by a fellow villager to the village. This was my first time riding a donkey cart. I sat on the cart and listened to the old man driving the cart singing folk songs while walking. They were called "Hua'er". It was really beautiful."

"It took us nearly two hours to get to the village. My God, it's so shabby, even shabby than the description in Uncle Fang's book Skywalker!"

After hearing what Wang Zi said, Song Tangtang smiled and said, "Do you feel a little regretful?"

"Yes, it's true. It's cold there and the conditions are bad. I can hear wolves howling while sleeping in the house in the middle of the night. I was so scared that I hid my head in the quilt and dared not come out. I think the courtyard houses in Yanjing are better!" said the girl with a smile.

"But now that I'm here, I can't just run away, right? I persisted for a while and slowly got used to it. Although the conditions were a bit tough, the villagers were very kind to us. When someone's family made something delicious, they would invite me to their house for dinner, saying that it's not easy for a girl from a big city to come to our place and teach children to read, so I shouldn't treat her badly."

The girl talked about her teaching experience in the Northwest over the past six months, and Fang Minghua and his wife listened very carefully.

"Uncle Fang, I also wrote down in a diary some interesting things that happened to me during the past six months of teaching." Wang Zi said.

"Really? Can you let me take a look?" Fang Minghua immediately became interested.

"sure."

As the girl spoke, she took out a diary from her small backpack and handed it to Fang Minghua.

The couple watched carefully.

"Monday, February 1990, 2, cloudy,"

"Today is my first day at Liushudian Primary School, but when I walked in, I found that the classrooms were very dark. It turned out that there were no lights. I thought it was very strange, so I ran to ask the principal, how can the children have classes without lights in the school?"

"The principal said that although the school has electricity, the school is poor and has no money to buy lamps and pay electricity bills, so the electricity has become a decoration. Therefore, the children go to school late. Classes in the morning are after 9 o'clock, and it is already bright in the sky."

"But today, it's already ten o'clock, and the classroom is still very dark."

"There is still a lamp in the school, which is on the teacher's office desk. The place of origin and production date are written on the lamp. I took a look and found that the lamp should have been produced in Chongqing in 1979. The lamp has been used for 10 years, and the teacher is reluctant to use it except for correcting homework."

"Wednesday, February 1990, 2. Strong winds."

"Today is Valentine's Day in the West. Many young people in Yanjing have started celebrating this Western holiday, but people here don't know anything about it."

"I gave the students in my class the pencil cases I brought with me today, but unfortunately there were not enough. In the end, four children were left without one, so they all scrambled for the last one. Only a little girl, about six or seven years old and not very tall, sitting in the corner of the classroom did not move. I know her name: Liu Hongxia."

I thought it was very strange, so I walked up to her and squatted in front of her and asked, "Liu Hongxia, they are all fighting for the pencil case, why don't you grab it? Don't you want the pencil case?"

"She said, "Teacher, of course I want it. I have never had a pencil case. My father passed away, my mother left with someone else, and I live with my grandmother. Our family is not well off and we don't have a pencil case." As she spoke, she stretched out her little hand, with a small piece of pencil lying in the palm of her hand. She said, "I only have this one pencil. If I had a pencil case, this pencil would not be lost."

After hearing what she said, I couldn't stop crying. If I had known, I would have bought some pencil cases and brought them here. I will definitely find a way to buy a pencil case for Liu Hongxia tomorrow."

"Tuesday, April 1990, 4. Sunny."

"Haizi once wrote a poem: "Facing the Sea, Spring Blossoms", but there is no sea here, only endless Gobi Desert and loess. Spring is late, but it has finally come. A rose is blooming beside the wall of our school, swaying in the spring breeze. It is so beautiful. Who says roses can't be grown in the desert of the northwest?"

I wrote dozens of diaries on and off. Some were about my students' studies, and some were about my own life. They were very real and detailed.

Fang Minghua found it very touching.

He said to Wang Zi, "Wang Zi, do you want to publish these diaries?"

"Diary, can it be published?" Wang Zi asked. "Of course." Song Tangtang interrupted: "Lu Xun, Palladium, and Yu Dafu have all published diaries. I think yours is not bad. Let Minghua take a look at it and revise it for you."

"That's what I meant." Fang Minghua nodded.

"Thank you."

"Wang Zi, you can stay in Xijing for a few days. Let Minghua take you to climb the Big Wild Goose Pagoda and visit the Terracotta Warriors. By the way, I can help you look at these diaries." Song Tangtang made a decision.

Fang Minghua really didn't want to climb the rotten Big Wild Goose Pagoda again, but since this was the girl's first time in Xijing, she naturally had to play the role of a good host.

After dinner, Fang Minghua drove home. He originally wanted to find a hotel for Wang Zi to stay in, but Song Tangtang said that it was not safe for a girl to stay in a hotel. Anyway, there were two guest rooms at home, so you can stay at my house. Lele and Ruirui also like to play with you.

The girl agreed without insisting.

After returning home, Song Tangtang took out her home clothes for Wang Zi to change into, and then went to the bathroom to take a shower.

Fang Minghua was a little surprised.

Song Tangtang is a very clean woman and rarely lets others live in her home.

When the two children fell asleep at night and the couple lay in bed, Fang Minghua joked, "Tangtang, I really didn't expect you to be so enthusiastic about Wang Zi."

"For a girl to go to the Northwest to teach, this alone is worthy of my admiration!" Song Tangtang said seriously.

"But, since you live at home, you have to be careful."

"Look at what you said. People call me uncle."

"I'm just kidding you." Song Tangtang smiled sweetly: "I know you're not that kind of person, so I dare to keep Wang Zi in our house."

"Okay, let's not talk about this." Fang Minghua changed the subject: "The students at Liushudian Primary School that Wang Zi described are like that. I think they should be funded."

"That's what I meant. I'll hold a meeting after work tomorrow to discuss this issue. The company will then send someone to Baiyin to understand the actual situation, and then donate money and materials. We'll try to get it done before the children start school in the fall." Song Tangtang expressed her opinion.

"Let's donate some individually, anonymously."

"Well, the company needs to be famous and build an image, but as an individual, it's better to keep a low profile."

In the following days, Fang Minghua drove Wang Zi to see various tourist attractions in Xijing. Of course, the two babies were not left out, and the children and Wang Zi had a lot of fun.

In my spare time, I helped Wang Zi revise those diaries. In fact, they were all true feelings and there was no need to make major changes, except that some of the wording and sentence structure needed to be considered.

"Uncle Fang, where do you plan to submit your manuscript? "Youth Literature"? " Wang Zi asked.

The last article Wang Zi wrote, "Lalalal", was published in "Youth Literature", so the first publication Wang Zi thought of was this one.

Fang Minghua shook his head.

"You can submit your articles directly to Yanhe. In addition, select a few good ones and submit them directly to the newspaper."

"What newspaper?"

"Of course it's the People's Daily," Fang Minghua said with a smile.

(End of this chapter)