Back to 80: My Literary Life

"Wang Zi, you go to Baiyin to support teaching. I heard from Minghua that it is more difficult there." Song Tangtang said.

"It was okay. At first I went to Liushudian Village. The shuttle bus from the county seat went directly to the township government. Then I took a donkey cart from a fellow villager to go to the village. This was my first time riding a donkey cart. I sat in the car and listened to the old man driving the cart. Singing folk songs while walking, they called "Hua'er", it was really nice. "

"It took us almost two hours to get to the village. Oh my God, it's so shabby. It's even worse than what Uncle Fang wrote in the book "Skywalker"!"

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

"Well, it's true. It's cold there and the conditions are bad. I could hear wolves howling in the house in the middle of the night. I was so scared that I hid my head under the quilt and didn't dare to come out. Thinking about it, the courtyard house in Yanjing is better!" Girl smiled.

"But, now that we're here, we can't just run away, right? We persisted for a while and gradually got used to it. Although the conditions were a bit difficult, the folks were very kind to us. If anyone cooked delicious food, they would ask me to go to their house for dinner. It’s not easy for a girl from a big city to come to our place and teach her children to read, so we can’t treat her badly.”

Fang Minghua and his wife listened attentively as the girl talked about her six months of teaching in Northwest China.

"Uncle Fang, I also wrote a diary of some interesting things I encountered during the past six months as a teacher." Wang Zi said.

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

"sure."

The girl said, taking out a diary from the small backpack she carried with her and handing it to Fang Minghua.

The couple watched carefully.

"February 12, 1990, Monday, cloudy,"

"Today was the first day at Liushudian Primary School, but when I walked in, I found that the classrooms were very dark and there were no lights. I felt very strange, so I ran to ask the principal. If there were no lights in the school, what would happen to the children? Where's the class?"

"The principal said that although the school has electricity, the school has no money to buy lamps and pay the electricity bill, so it has become a decoration. Therefore, the children go to school late, and the morning class is after nine o'clock, and it is already broad daylight."

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

"There is still a lamp in the school. It is a lamp on the desk in the teacher's office. The lamp has the place of origin and production date. I looked at it and found that this lamp should have been produced in Chongqing in 1979. This lamp has been used for 10 years. Teachers are reluctant to use it except for grading homework.”

"Wednesday, February 14, 1990, high winds."

"Today is Valentine's Day in the West. Many young people in Yanjing have begun to celebrate this foreign festival, but people here don't know about it at all."

"Today I gave the students in my class the pencil boxes I brought, but unfortunately there were a little bit, not enough to give out. In the end, four children couldn't get it, so the children went to fight for the last one, and they were the only ones sitting in the classroom. There was a little girl in the corner who looked about six or seven years old and was not very tall. I knew her name was Liu Hongxia."

I felt 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 box. Why don't you grab it? Don't you want the pencil box?"

"She said: "Teacher, of course I want it. I have never had a writing box. My father passed away, my mother left with someone else, and I lived with my grandma. Our family is in poor condition and we don’t have a pencil case." As she spoke, she stretched out her little hand, and there was a small pencil in her hand. She said, "I only have this pencil. If I had a pencil case, This pencil will not be lost."

After hearing what she said, my tears couldn't stop streaming down my face. If I had known I would have bought some pencil boxes and brought them over, I would have found a way to buy a pencil box for Liu Hongxia tomorrow. "

"Tuesday, April 3, 1990, sunny."

"Haizi once wrote a poem: "Facing the sea, spring flowers are blooming", but there is no sea here, only the endless Gobi Desert and loess. Spring came belatedly, but it still came, and the flowers bloomed beside the wall of our school. I picked up a rose and it was swaying in the spring breeze. It’s so beautiful. Who said roses can’t be grown in the desert of the northwest?”

I wrote dozens of articles intermittently in my diary, some of which were about students' studies, and some of which were about my own life, which were very real and delicate.

Fang Minghua found it very touching.

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

"Can the diary be published?" Wang Zi asked.

"Of course." Song Tangtang interjected: "Lu Xun, Palladium, and Yu Dafu have all published diaries. I think your writing is also good. Let Minghua help you take a look and revise it."

"That's what I mean too." Fang Minghua nodded.

"Thank you."

"Wang Zi, just spend a few days in Xijing and let Minghua take you to climb the Big Wild Goose Pagoda and visit the Terracotta Warriors. By the way, I will help you read these diaries." Song Tangtang made a decision.

Fang Minghua really didn't want to climb the Big Wild Goose Pagoda again, but this was the girl's first time in Xijing, so she naturally wanted to show her loyalty to the landlord.

After dinner, Fang Minghua drove home. He originally wanted to find a hotel for Wang Zi to stay, 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. You can stay at my house, and Lele 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 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 stay 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."

"A girl can go to the northwest to teach, just for this reason, I admire her!" Song Tangtang was very serious.

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

"Look at what you said, people call me uncle."

"I'm kidding you." Song Tangtang smiled: "I know you are 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 of Liushudian Primary School that Wang Zi said are like that, I think they should be funded."

"That's what I mean, too. I will hold a meeting after work tomorrow to study it specifically. At that time, the company will send someone to Baiyin to understand the actual situation, and then donate money and materials, and try to get it done before the children start school in the fall." Song Tangtang expressed his opinion.

"Let's donate some as individuals, anonymously."

"Well, the company needs to be famous and establish an image, and individuals should keep a low profile."

In the following days, Fang Minghua drove Wang Zi to see all the tourist attractions in Xijing, and of course he would not leave out the pair of babies. The child and Wang Zi had a lot of fun.

In his spare time, he helped Wang Zi revise those diaries. In fact, they were all true feelings and there was no need to make major changes, but some words and sentences needed to be considered.

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

The last time Wang Zi wrote "La La La" was published by Youth Literature, so Wang Zi first thought of this magazine.

Fang Minghua shook his head.

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

"What newspaper?"

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