Chapter 13

After Hu Feng’e was driven off by He Xianqiu, she never came back. When it came time to tally work points, the scorekeeper simply gave her zero.

He Xianqiu didn’t have any thoughts about it. Wasn’t it what she deserved?

Weeks passed, and He Xianqiu didn’t see her in the nearby fields again—but she didn’t care.

What she did care about was that the brigade leader announced today that the village elementary school had been officially established, and anyone who wanted to apply for a teaching position had to sign up today. The exam would be held tomorrow.

He Xianqiu immediately went to register. The brigade leader didn’t specify how many teachers they needed—he only said that the people from the elementary school would inform them later.

After signing up, He Xianqiu returned to the educated youth compound. The other educated youths were all there and immediately asked what position she had signed up for. She casually said she wanted to teach Chinese.

After that, one of the female educated youths, Sun Xiaoyan, kept asking her if she was solid on her high school knowledge and whether she could tutor her.

He Xianqiu said she was just average, but Sun Xiaoyan thought she must still have a firm grasp of high school content—it hadn’t been long since she graduated—and kept pestering her.

“Comrade He, you must still remember your high school knowledge well. You only just graduated. Do you have any review materials? Or could you maybe tutor me?”

He Xianqiu frowned. “I didn’t bring any review materials with me. I didn’t think to pack those when I came.”

“You just graduated, so you must still remember everything you learned. Can’t you write out a few key points for me?”

He Xianqiu was annoyed and replied a bit colder, “I don’t remember that much. And even if I did, there’s not enough time to list them out for you. The exam is tomorrow.”

Elementary-level content could be taught just by having a textbook. Besides, she was applying to teach Chinese, and her scores back then were always over 100 in that subject—more than enough for primary school teaching. Plus, she was a university graduate, after all.

Zhang Zhijuan chimed in, “What Comrade He said makes sense. The exam’s tomorrow—there’s no time to prep all that.”

Yang Shuhua, standing nearby, mocked, “Who do you think you are? You and Comrade He are competitors—why would she help you?”

Sun Xiaoyan looked embarrassed when she heard that. Her mouth opened as if to speak, but she stayed quiet.

A moment later, she mumbled resentfully, “We’re all educated youths—shouldn’t we help each other?”

He Xianqiu heard that and looked at her. Sun Xiaoyan shrank back and didn’t dare speak again.

He Xianqiu replied calmly, “Only if it’s within one’s ability.”

Sun Xiaoyan winced, clearly not expecting He Xianqiu to hear her.

He Xianqiu didn’t bother with her anymore and went to lie down and rest.

The dormitory fell silent. He Xianqiu slept straight through to the next morning. Once she woke up, she and Zhang Zhijuan, who had also awakened, headed to the elementary school together.

The newly established elementary school was housed in some old, unused mud-brick buildings in the village, but it was fairly spacious, with six classrooms. Originally, there were only four, but the brigade leader had organized people to add two more.

When He Xianqiu and the others arrived, the other applicants were already there. The dilapidated schoolhouse was bustling with activity.

Once everyone had gathered, the elderly teacher—who had transferred in from town to serve as the school’s new principal—motioned for everyone to quiet down. He had something to say.

The crowd fell silent, waiting for the principal to speak.

“I’ve been a teacher for decades—I’m sixty years old now. I’m taking over Qinggang Elementary School as its new principal. I personally wrote the test papers and will be responsible for hiring three teachers. We need teachers for Chinese, math, music, art, ethics, and history. Each teacher will be assigned two subjects.”

“Whichever subject you want to apply for, come collect that subject’s test paper. If you pass, there will be an interview, and the final candidates will be selected from there.”

When He Xianqiu heard they were also hiring an art teacher, she was pleasantly surprised. She’d planned to apply for Chinese, but art—that was her specialty!

She had studied fashion design, though unfortunately, she had transmigrated into the novel before ever starting work.

So, He Xianqiu picked up the art test paper. It was full of drawing questions—piece of cake! Elementary-level stuff. But the art teacher would also be expected to handle music, which was still manageable.

He Xianqiu quickly picked up a pencil and started sketching. She finished in no time and handed in her paper. Seeing how fast she finished, the others kept glancing her way.

The principal had said the written test was today, and those who passed would be interviewed tomorrow. The results would be posted then. Those who finished the test could leave.

So, He Xianqiu left early. When she returned to the educated youth compound, no one else was back yet—they were still at the elementary school taking their tests.

Bored, He Xianqiu wandered around the village and came across several aunties whispering among themselves, clearly gossiping about someone.

She caught snippets of conversation—something about Juan being heartless and selling her youngest son’s work quota, keeping all the money for herself without leaving him anything.

It sounded familiar to He Xianqiu, like she’d heard it somewhere before, but she couldn’t place it, so she didn’t dwell on it.

She just sighed inwardly. Was that even her biological son? How could she be so cold?

The aunties immediately stopped gossiping when they saw He Xianqiu and called out to her.

“Comrade He! Come chat with us. Where are you off to?”

He Xianqiu gave a polite, awkward smile. “No thanks, I’m just walking around the village.”

What was she supposed to do—go gossip with them about whose chicken got stolen or whose duck got butchered?

Just imagining the endless village gossip, she even suspected they might’ve gossiped about her. The thought made her uncomfortable.

But the moment they spotted her silk dress, their eyes lit up, and they called her over. Helplessly, He Xianqiu walked over.

“Oh my, Comrade He! This dress is beautiful. It must’ve cost a fortune.”

“And those little leather shoes too—seven or eight yuan at least! That’s almost a whole year’s savings for me!”

He Xianqiu didn’t like being touched, but the aunties kept reaching out to feel her clothes, marveling at the fabric. She stepped back a few paces.

“Aunties, I’ve got something to do, so I’ll be going now.”

With that, He Xianqiu quickly walked away, picking up her pace to escape.

She headed toward the back mountain and finally shook them off. That was terrifying, she sighed with relief.

The area at the foot of the mountain was flat and full of dense greenery. She saw a few small children, around seven or eight years old, their clothes covered in patches, thin and yellow-faced, using long sticks to knock some kind of fruit from the trees.

Curious, He Xianqiu walked over and asked, “What’s this?”

“It’s called guaizao,” one child said. “Also called chicken-foot fruit. It’s really sweet.”

She’d never eaten guaizao before. “Do you want to trade some for White Rabbit candy?” she asked.

The kids lit up with excitement. “Yes! Yes!”

They poured all their guaizao—wrapped in leaves—into her hands. He Xianqiu counted six children and gave each one a White Rabbit candy.

Each kid took their candy and carefully tucked it into their pocket, visibly thrilled.

Noticing they weren’t eating it, she asked, “Why aren’t you eating them?”

One child replied, “It’s too precious. I want to bring it home and eat it little by little.”

The others all nodded in agreement.

He Xianqiu chuckled and asked, “How do you eat this guaizao?”

“Just peel the shell!”

Then, as if thinking of something, the children hesitated before one of the bolder ones spoke up: “Big sister, we know of another fruit—it’s called cibao. Super tasty and sweet. We can help you pick some!”

He Xianqiu smiled. “Sure. I’ll give each of you another White Rabbit candy when we’re done.”

Delighted, the kids led her to a patch thick with cibao.

The bushes were lush and green, filled with ripe red cibao and some still-yellow unripe ones.

The children picked some taro leaves and used them to collect the fruit. He Xianqiu grabbed a taro leaf herself and began picking. The red cibao looked a bit like raspberries—shiny and tempting.

The children encouraged her to try one, their eyes sparkling with anticipation.

Not wanting to disappoint them, He Xianqiu hesitated, then wiped one off with a handkerchief and popped it in her mouth.

It was sweet. She tried a few more—sweet and slightly tart.

There’s truth in the saying: a little dirt won’t kill you. She kept eating.

The cibao surprised her—it was delicious.

Soon, she was picking like mad, filling her taro leaf full of fruit.

After a while, all the children’s taro leaves were piled high with cibao. He Xianqiu gave them each a White Rabbit candy. They cheered with joy. With this one, they now had two candies each.

But looking at the huge pile of fruit in the leaves gave He Xianqiu a headache—it was too much, and she didn’t have a basket or anything.

So she took some from each child’s stash to fill her own leaf and left the rest to them.

“You can keep the rest. I can’t carry any more.”

“Thank you, big sister!” the kids said in unison.

He Xianqiu raised her eyebrows, smiling. “You’re welcome. It’s getting late. Let’s head back.”

The children chattered excitedly, following her.

“Sister, we’re getting a school here, but I don’t want to go.”

“Me neither! Class is so boring.”

He Xianqiu looked at them and said, “You have to go to school, kids. If you learn lots of things, you can go to new places. When you have money, you can eat lots of delicious food.”

“Really? Bigger than the commune?”

“Much bigger. Way livelier. There are big shopping malls, parks, amusement parks filled with fun stuff… That’s why you have to study hard.”

The children’s eyes lit up with wonder at her description.

“Then we’ll go to school!”

“Yeah, we’ll go!”

He Xianqiu nodded in satisfaction. “That’s the spirit. You’ll learn a lot. Later, you’ll go to middle school, then high school.” And maybe even college, she thought—but didn’t say aloud.

The college entrance exam hadn’t been reinstated yet.

Right now, there were Worker-Peasant-Soldier Universities. The brigade would get a few slots—but not many.

Once the exams returned, only those who passed would become university students. Those from the worker-peasant-soldier system would be in an awkward spot.

But for now, in 1972, those students were still highly valued.