Courtyard House: My Wife is Xu Huizhen

Page 316

He Yumei's small, translucent earlobes blushed instantly, and she murmured, "But you still bullied me."

"That's because I love you."

As he spoke, he lowered his head and kissed her cherry-like lips again.

He Yumei's eyes widened, then she closed them tightly in embarrassment. This bad man, it's still broad daylight, how could he be so bold as to kiss her?

Wasn't he just walking into the lion's den again, getting taken advantage of by He Yuzhu?

A moment later, their lips parted, and He Yumei muttered "you big hooligan" under her breath before turning and running away.

He Yuzhu went to the braised meat shop, found Cui Xiangjin, and said, "Old Cui, now that literacy classes are being held in the streets, should we follow suit?"

"Literacy classes? Aren't those only offered by government agencies?"

The literacy campaign was divided into three steps: first, government agencies; second, factories and mines; and finally, rural residents and ordinary city dwellers.

After all, it involves the literacy problem of hundreds of millions of people and will take a total of 5 to 7 years, which is a major achievement in human history.

He Yuzhu explained the policy of the higher-ups, and then said, "We are a collective enterprise in the street, and we should also respond to the call of the higher-ups and first promote literacy classes. Moreover, our braised meat shop is also capable of doing so."

Making braised meat mainly starts at 4 a.m., and by the time it's done, around 8 or 9 a.m., the factory provides the workers with a meal, and then they can go home.

As long as they have a class here after meals, learning a few words each day, it won't affect their normal work.

Cui Xiangjin thought for a moment and said, "You said this is too sudden, let me think about it some more."

He Yuzhu pursed his lips, indicating that he didn't want to implement the literacy classes. It seemed that it would be better to implement it from top to bottom.

He Yuzhu turned around and went to the neighborhood committee, where he found Tian Zao.

"Sister, I want to set up literacy classes in the braised meat shop and the cannery."

Tian Zao's eyes lit up. She had never attended school as a child and had spent her time wandering the streets. Later, in order to become the director of the neighborhood committee, she worked hard to learn to read and write, knowing the bitterness of being illiterate.

“That’s good. I heard that you started a literacy class at the tavern. I thought you’d forgotten about your sister.”

"No way, I've been thinking about this for the past few days, and I've come up with a pretty good solution."

"How did you find a teacher to help you?" Tian Zao asked.

We had wanted to promote this work before, but it was easy to find teachers who knew traditional Chinese characters, but we couldn't find teachers who knew simplified Chinese characters at all.

The scanning classes are for adults in their twenties, thirties, and forties, some of whom are quite old. If we were to teach them traditional Chinese characters, it would be better not to teach them at all.

He Yuzhu said, "There is a girl in our compound named Xu Xiaomei who has graduated from junior high school and is currently working in a cannery."

Tian Zao asked, "Does he know simplified Chinese characters?"

He Yuzhu said, "I have already taught her."

Actually, Xu Xiaomei doesn't know many simplified Chinese characters right now, but she knows at least a hundred.

After all, it's easier for a young woman who has just graduated to learn new knowledge; she almost never forgets what she's learned.

With these hundreds of characters as a foundation, I can continue learning every day, ensuring that there are always new characters and that I won't run out of things to teach as a teacher.

Tian Zao smiled and said, "Okay, let her give it a try. If she does well, let her be in charge of the literacy class."

The current problem for neighborhood committees and street offices is the lack of suitable teachers. If there are any teachers who can read simplified Chinese characters, they can be used as role models.

After discussing the details, the jujubes from Hotan returned to the cannery.

Upon entering the cleaning room, one sees more than 20 women eating and chatting while washing and transferring fruit.

The person who stole the fruit smiled sheepishly when he came in, then put the fruit aside and diligently went to wash it.

Most of them were married women, so Xu Xiaomei, who was not yet an adult, stood out.

"Little sister, come out for a moment."

Xu Xiaomei blankly put down her tools, got up, and followed him out into his office.

He asked, "Brother Zhu, what's wrong? You didn't steal any food."

"That's not it. I have something else to ask you. How many simplified Chinese characters do you know now?"

"There are probably more than 200. Why are you asking this? Do you want me to write something?"

"You can recognize more than 200 characters, so it seems you've been studying very diligently." He Yuzhu poured him a glass of water.

Then he said, "I'll give you an easier job now."

Xu Xiaomei asked with surprise, "What kind of job?"

Although washing fruit meant I could eat it for free every day, being with those old women meant I was always being teased while doing chores.

Everyone says men are scoundrels, but when a group of older women get together, they can talk dirty more savory than anyone else.

They were all uneducated, their mouths were full of foul language, and they would say anything and everything.

Xu Xiaomei was just a junior high school student who had just finished school, and she was also the target of teasing from older women. How could she stand it?

I'm bombarded with their foul language every day, and I've long since stopped wanting to be around them.

He Yuzhu said, "The higher authorities require government agencies to run literacy classes, and our unit also needs to do so. We just lack teachers. I think you know more than 200 characters, so you can also serve as a literacy class teacher."

"What? You want me to be a teacher?" Xu Xiaomei asked in surprise.

He Yuzhu nodded: "Yes! I think this job is pretty good."

"No, no, how can I be a teacher?"

Xu Xiaomei quickly shook her head. This is no joke. She's just a little kid. She feels she can't handle standing in front of the blackboard and teaching others.

"Don't be so quick to object. What's so difficult about this? You should think about it: would you rather wash fruit here every day or pick up chalk and become a teacher?"

Xu Xiaomei thought about how she was mocked by those old women in the cleaning workshop every day, and some of them even wanted her to be their daughter-in-law. Her face turned as pale as if she had constipation.

But suddenly being asked to become a teacher makes me feel like I don't have the ability.

"Can I do this?"

"Why can't it work? In many rural areas, people become private school teachers after graduating from junior high school."

Let alone now, even 30 or 40 years from now, many private school teachers in remote areas will pick up chalk and become substitute teachers directly after graduating from primary or junior high school.

Xu Xiaomei was aware of this situation, but she hadn't thought of it before. It was only after He Yuzhu said that she realized she didn't have the ability.

"In other words, since we're neighbors, it's quite easy to find a junior high school graduate to be a substitute teacher these days."

He Yuzhu was lying to him, since he had only learned traditional Chinese characters before.

Junior high school graduates are easy to find; they're everywhere.

However, nowadays, junior high school graduates who can recognize simplified Chinese characters are extremely rare and hard to find.

It was just a coincidence that He Yuzhu had taught a few women to recognize simplified Chinese characters a few days ago, which allowed Xu Xiaomei to get ahead of the others and learn about 200 simplified characters.

"Shall I give it a try first?" Xu Xiaomei asked.

"Here's what we'll do. You can put off the cannery job for now. This afternoon, there's a literacy class at the breakfast stall in front of my house. Go listen in and see how Teacher Xu teaches. Think about it later and prepare your own lessons."

"Okay, I've been wanting to stop washing fruit for a long time. My fingers get peeled from soaking in the water every day, and they look so white and scary."

"Then you should study hard. If you can become a teacher in this literacy class, you can do it for at least several years."

This time, it's a nationwide literacy campaign. Even ordinary people on the streets who don't have jobs will be taught to read and write, and be able to read books and newspapers.

The longest plan is seven years, which means that literacy classes will be held one after another until everyone has been taught.

"Yes, I will definitely study hard."

In the afternoon, He Yuzhu noticed that Xu Xiaomei had become a new student in the literacy class.

After two days of classes, Xu Xiaomei had gained some insights and then went to ask Uncle Yan Bugui how to make lesson plans.

He was given two pounds of fruit, and with Yan Bugui's help, he perfected the lesson plan.

In this way, the scanning team at the cannery had completed all the preparations, clearing out two rooms to set up a classroom.

Xu Xiaomei transformed from an ordinary cleaning worker into a literacy class teacher.

Tian Zao brought Director Li over to listen to half a lesson. Seeing that Xu Xiaomei was speaking very seriously, he felt relieved.

After they came out, Director Li praised Tian Zao and He Yuzhu a few times before being sent away.

Tian Zao smiled and said, "Zhu Zi, you handled this matter beautifully."

"I'm just supporting your work!"

Next, Xu Xiaomei got busy, not only teaching at the cannery, but also being assigned by Tian Zao to give lectures to the street staff.

I also have to go to other institutions to teach, and it takes two or three days to teach the same lesson.

She is very busy from morning till night every day, but the subsidies provided by the neighborhood are quite generous, which keeps Xu Xiaomei very motivated.

That evening, Fan Jinyou stopped Xu Hesheng, who had come for drinks, and said, "Teacher Xu, there's something I'd like to talk to you about."

"whats the matter?"

The two walked a few steps to a secluded corner by the roadside, where Fan Jinyou said, "Teacher Xu, you work so hard teaching every day, doesn't He Yuzhu give you any subsidies?"

“No, how could I take his money? That would be disgraceful,” Xu Hesheng said.

Fan Jinyou said, "Wouldn't he be getting a huge advantage? Why would you ask for help without any benefit?"

Why did you suddenly decide to tell me this?