Chapter 22

The sky was dark, the night vast. He Xianqiu sat on her bed, rubbing medicinal liquor on her foot and then applying some Snow Cream.

Skincare products in the 1970s were very limited, but she had to admit—they were still made quite well, even if there were only a few kinds.

He Xianqiu was carefully applying the lotion, but someone, unable to stand seeing her so comfortable, started mocking her.

“It’s so late and you’re still putting that on. Don’t you know you’re disturbing everyone’s sleep? You really are selfish.”

He Xianqiu was speechless. She had waited until everyone was still awake before starting, and she wasn’t making any noise. It was only eight o’clock.

She lazily glanced at Yang Shuhua and said coolly, “I think you’re just looking for trouble. How much noise can applying a little cream possibly make?”

Yang Shuhua snorted coldly. “You are disturbing my sleep.”

He Xianqiu laughed. “Fine, go ahead and sleep. I’m almost done. I wouldn’t want to affect you—your ears must be so sensitive you can probably hear ants moving house.”

Seeing He Xianqiu’s nonchalant manner, Yang Shuhua felt as if she were being treated like a performing monkey, hopping around making a fool of herself.

Her face immediately darkened. “So what if you can go be a teacher? Do you think you’re so great?”

He Xianqiu was baffled. What did this have to do with being a teacher? This topic change was so abrupt that she didn’t know what to say.

She found it funny. “Comrade Yang, I haven’t said anything at all. But I think you could put on a whole opera performance by yourself. How about I set up a stage for you to show off?”

Yang Shuhua was enraged by He Xianqiu’s sarcasm. She glared at her fiercely.

At that moment, Zhou Hanmei hurried over to mediate. “We’re all educated youths here, let’s not argue. Comrade He, can’t you just give Comrade Yang some leeway? She’s in a bad mood. Shuhua, let’s go.”

Yang Shuhua was furious and had nowhere to vent it. Hearing Zhou Hanmei speak, she immediately yelled, “What business is this of yours?”

Zhou Hanmei’s eyes instantly turned red, full of grievance.

He Xianqiu watched coldly without saying anything. Zhou Hanmei was always hanging around Yang Shuhua, but Yang Shuhua never respected her, treating her like a maid—sometimes giving her small things if she was in a good mood.

He Xianqiu finished applying her cream, pulled up the quilt, and lay down to sleep. She didn’t care about the two women still beside her. She had to go to the school to recruit students in the morning, so she wanted to get some rest.

Yang Shuhua stared at He Xianqiu’s resting figure, her face livid, but since the other woman ignored her, she could only leave.

The moment He Xianqiu lay down and closed her eyes, she fell asleep.

Morning.

He Xianqiu opened her eyes. It was already bright outside. She looked at the clock—seven in the morning. She climbed out of bed and stretched.

To her surprise, her foot was no longer limping. She was astonished. Although it still stung a little, it was basically fine.

After washing up, she headed straight for the school. Just thinking that she wouldn’t have to do farm labor today made her happy. Digging fields was exhausting.

When she arrived at the school, the other teachers were already in the office. The moment she walked in, the laughter and chatter stopped abruptly. Everyone stared at her in a daze.

She was beautiful and delicate, her skin a cool, fair tone. She wore a teal knee-length dress and light-colored leather shoes. Her silky hair fell smoothly down to her waist.

Everyone just gaped at her until the quiet was broken by the sound of someone coughing, snapping them all back to reality.

He Xianqiu smiled faintly and greeted them. “Hello, everyone. My name is He Xianqiu. I’ll be working here as the art teacher.”

There were two men and two women in the office. They exchanged glances, then one woman responded.

“Hello, I’m Ke Jiamin. I teach Chinese.”

Then the others began introducing themselves in turn.

“Hello, I’m Liu Chunlian…”

“Hello, I’m Hu Hongliang…”

“I’m He Qingcheng…”

After everyone had introduced themselves, they started chatting.

“I wonder how many students will come to Qinggang Primary School to study.”

“There’s only our Qinggang Brigade and the neighboring Baisha Brigade with schools. Parents can only choose one—going to the commune school is too far.”

“People from Baisha Brigade have always looked down on us Qinggang folks—think we’re poor, can’t hand over as much grain as they do. In the past, our children could only attend Baisha’s school, and we were humiliated countless times, but there was nothing we could do. Now, at least, we finally have our own primary school, so we don’t have to go to Baisha anymore.”

The two teachers from Qinggang Brigade said this. Since He Xianqiu had only just arrived, she didn’t know much about these tensions, so she simply listened in silence.

After a while, the principal came in, followed closely by Song Wenzhong, who was carrying some books. Everyone fell silent when they saw the principal.

He Xianqiu glanced at Song Wenzhong and thought, No wonder I hadn’t seen Comrade Song—he must have been called away by the principal.

The principal spoke warmly: “From now on, you are all part of this school. Let me introduce myself. My name is Zhang Qingshou. Today we’ll be enrolling students, and tomorrow we will begin formal classes.”

Principal Zhang was gentle in manner, but meticulous in his work. After explaining a few important matters, he concluded and instructed everyone to start recruiting students.

The male teachers carried tables and chairs outside. By nine o’clock, parents began arriving with their children to register.

In the 1970s, primary school only went up to the fifth grade. He Xianqiu was in charge of first-grade enrollment. Whenever a parent came to sign up a first grader, she handled the registration and collected the fee.

Each table had a sign indicating the grade, but there were still some problems—some parents couldn’t read.

Whenever she heard someone ask which grade her table was, she always patiently explained.

Just then, a family came to enroll a first grader. He Xianqiu lowered her head and carefully filled out the information.

Suddenly, she heard cursing. She had just finished writing and, after seeing off the parent, looked up to see what was happening.

A woman with a harsh face in a gray coarse-cloth dress was gripping the hand of a seven- or eight-year-old boy. She glared furiously at a little girl clutching her leg, crying. The woman looked down and shrieked in a sharp, grating voice:

“You worthless money-waster, you still want to go to school? I already feed you and clothe you, and you dare to ask for more? You little bitch!”

The girl was about ten, wearing ragged patched clothes so faded they looked white.

Crying nonstop, she clung to the woman’s leg and pleaded through sobs: “Mother, please let me go to school. I swear I won’t let it interfere with work. Please, Mother!”

But the woman only found her annoying. She shoved her to the ground. “School? What school? We don’t have money to waste on you. You’re a useless girl—when you get married off, all that money will be thrown away!”

The girl landed in the dirt. Her already shabby clothes were now caked with mud.

Tears welled in her eyes, but she kept begging, her gaze full of desperation. “Mother, please let me go to school. I’m begging you.”

The boy standing beside the woman sneered down at her. “You worthless girl—how dare you ask for school money? Mother, don’t give her anything. That money is mine.”

Although the boy also wore coarse fabric, it was obviously newly made, and he even had a new satchel slung over his shoulder.

The woman quickly turned to soothe the boy. “Everything in this house belongs to you, Jianmin. Nothing for worthless girls.”

Hearing this, the boy smugly told the girl, “You hear that? This is all mine.”

He Xianqiu’s face filled with anger. What kind of talk was this? He was just a child, already calling her a worthless girl. And that woman—she was a woman herself but treated her own daughter this way.

Her expression grew stern. She had grown up in a new era and had never encountered such blatant discrimination. Seeing it firsthand was shocking. What kind of feudal nonsense was this?

The longer she listened, the more upset she became. She stood up and was about to step forward when a female teacher stopped her. “This is very common. No matter what you say, they won’t listen. Comrade He, it’s best not to get involved—you’ll only bring trouble.”

He Xianqiu declined her kind advice and walked over to the girl. She helped her up and looked coldly at the woman.

“Parent, you are discriminating against girls. That’s grounds for reform through labor. Men and women are equal—our great leader said so. Are you saying he’s wrong?”

The woman stared at He Xianqiu, who had appeared out of nowhere. She was about to curse her out but choked on her words when she heard what she said.

Still, she spat resentfully, “What business is it of yours? Aren’t you also a worthless girl?”

He Xianqiu’s voice turned icy. “You’re a woman yourself, yet you look down on your own gender. This is feudal ideology, and it’s unacceptable. If I report you to the Public Security Bureau, you could easily be detained for ten days or more.”

The woman was frightened at the mention of the Public Security Bureau. She lowered her voice. “I don’t want this either, but we’re too poor to afford school for two children.”

The girl’s eyes were red as she whispered, “Mother, you’re lying. I saw the money in your pocket. The tuition is only five yuan, but you have dozens.”

Hearing her daughter expose her, the woman’s expression changed. She raised her hand to strike. “You worthless brat, spouting nonsense—where do we have that much money? We’re poor!”

This damn girl actually saw her money and dared to say it out loud. She was a thankless wretch, an ungrateful little bitch.

Seeing the woman’s movement, He Xianqiu quickly pulled the girl back a step.

She glared coldly at the woman. “Parent, you really want to spend some time in the Bureau, don’t you? You keep calling her worthless. But look at your son—new clothes, new shoes, a new bag. Doesn’t look like you can’t afford it. All that would have covered your daughter’s tuition. Is that your idea of ‘no money’?”

The woman was about to argue, but He Xianqiu didn’t give her the chance. “These days, everyone is equal. By refusing to let your daughter go to school, you’re saying you think equality is wrong? This is backward thinking, and you could be re-educated.”

Hearing this, the woman didn’t dare speak. She had no idea about any of this. Seeing He Xianqiu rattle off so many words, she was terrified that if she said the wrong thing, she’d really end up in the Bureau.