ষষ্টিতম অধ্যায় পড়াশোনা করতে আসা ছাত্রছাত্রী হাতে গোনা কয়েকজন মাত্র

since everyone agreed, the rest was easy to handle. even if it fell a bit short, they could easily use some money from selling medicinal herbs for emergency relief, since the money wasn't going into anyone's private pocket anyway.

the next day, yang dazhtang led people to select a site, and then gathered all the young people. some went up the mountain to cut down trees, while others went to the wasteland to fetch soil for making mud bricks.

in less than a month, three classrooms were built.

"xiaochen, now our kaoshantun has its own school too. but back then you promised me that once the school was built, you would find the teachers. now the school is built, where are the teachers you found?"

looking at the completed school, yang dazhtang sighed with emotion, and then turned his gaze to su chen.

"uncle yang, our village has its own teachers, why bother looking outside?"

"what? who are you talking about? don't tell me it's you? no, no, you still have to treat patients, how can you be a teacher?"

yang dazhtang shook his head repeatedly, signaling su chen not to joke with him.

"uncle yang, you're holding a golden rice bowl and begging for food. am i the only one at the educated youth station? most of them are high school graduates, teaching elementary school is a piece of cake for them."

"right, how could i forget about this! but who do you think should be the teacher? you started this matter, so you solve it."

yang dazhtang suddenly realized, slapped his forehead, and said.

"thanks, uncle yang. rest assured, if anyone feels unsuited later, we can change them. i'll go tell them shortly and see who is willing to come to the school."

su chen knew that yang dazhtang handed this matter over to him so that those educated youths would remember his kindness.

in the evening, he, along with bai peiyao and feng lan, went to the educated youth station together.

the people at the educated youth station had already received the news and were waiting in the courtyard early on. seeing su chen walk in from outside, they all looked at him longingly, hoping they would be chosen.

being a teacher meant not having to farm in the fields and still getting full work points. if it weren't for the fact that no one in the village had gone to high school, how could such a good thing ever fall to them?

"since you all know, i won't waste words. feng chengyu, you're a tractor driver, so don't participate. also, sister yaoyao and sister xiaolan won't participate either. there are about fifty people in the village suitable for schooling. after discussing with village chief yang, we divided them into two classes: senior and junior. therefore, we need four teachers..."

su chen briefly introduced the situation, then looked at the expectant crowd.

"i know everyone is very excited, but not just anyone can be a teacher. how about this, we use the old method: drawing lots. whoever has good luck and draws it will be the teacher. what do you think?"

"i have no objection!"

"i have no objection either!"

seeing that no one had any objections, feng lan and bai peiyao immediately went to the side, wrote a dozen slips of paper, rolled them into small balls, and threw them onto the table.

"i'll pick this one, it rolled right in front of me."

watching a small ball roll in front of her, yuan xiaomei reached out and picked it up.

very soon, a dozen people had obtained their own small balls.

"i got it, that's great!"

as the paper slips were opened, some faces showed smiles, but more showed disappointment.

"sister xiaomei, congratulations, i didn't expect you to be so lucky."

seeing that yuan xiaomei had drawn one, bai peiyao said with a smile.

"um... um su chen, can i give my spot to someone else? don't worry, she's also from our educated youth station."

lin xingshi looked at the paper slip in his hand, then glanced at wu yueting, who was looking disappointed not far away, and said in a low voice.

"no problem at all. the spot is yours now, you can give it to whoever you want, as long as you don't regret it."

"wu yueting, you should be the teacher instead. i am strong and fit, better suited for farming in the fields. you have a weak constitution, you should go be a teacher at the school."

lin xingshi walked up to wu yueting with a blushing face and handed the paper slip in his hand to her.

"lin xingshi, no need, i can farm in the fields. since it's yours..."

looking at the two of them, the people present quickly realized something was wrong, something was very wrong, and looked at them with curiosity.

"cough cough, lin xingshi, honestly confess, what's going on between you two? to hide it from us."

"i... i didn't..."

"yueting, you're really something, hiding it so tightly. we live in the same house and i didn't even know you two..."

"oh, what are you all talking about, i'm ignoring you!"

seeing the crowd looking at her, wu yueting ran back to her room with a blushing face.

"lin xingshi, this isn't over. tomorrow you have to treat us. to hide such a big thing from us, and you have to wash our socks for a week..."

the four spots were quickly decided: li delin, yuan xiaomei, wu yueting, and he yuwei.

because li delin was the leader of the educated youth team and had high prestige among the educated youths, su chen and yang dazhtang discussed it and appointed him as the concurrent principal of the school.

full of high aspirations and energy, li delin and the other four thought they finally had a stage to showcase their ambitions. but on the opening day, only seventeen or eighteen children came to school to report, and most of them were boys. the only girls were su nianchen and su muchen.

"principal li, what should we do now? i wanted to showcase my skills and pass on everything i've learned to these children. now look, only this few people showed up."

organizing the dozen or so children into senior and junior classes based on age, with only seven or eight children in each class, made he yuwei and the others feel half-cold.

"it's fine, it's normal for people not to adapt at first. after school lets out, i'll go talk to those parents and make them understand the importance of studying."

over the next few days, after people finished their work, li delin went door-to-door to every household with young children, but the results were minimal. however, li delin was not discouraged; he firmly believed that as long as he persisted, people would eventually let their children come to school.

"principal li, it's not that we don't want them to go to school, but we really don't have two yuan. besides, what's the use of a girl studying? she'll just get married in the future. with that time, it's better to earn a few work points."

"brother yang, sister-in-law, you can't put it that way. nowadays men and women are the same, we..."

"alright, alright! principal li, we've worked all day, we won't keep you, we need to rest."

running into another wall left li delin feeling quite helpless as he walked out of brother yang's house with his head lowered.

"where is principal li coming from? why does he look so unhappy?"

he hadn't walked more than a few steps, wondering whose house he should go to, when he heard a voice from ahead.

"ah, doctor su, i just came from brother yang's house. i originally thought..."

originally, li delin didn't want to trouble su chen, hoping to solve this matter through his own efforts, but after so many days with zero progress, he couldn't help feeling somewhat disheartened.

"so it's about this. principal li, i don't think going door-to-door like this will have much effect. how about tomorrow you go to school and tell the students that from now on, every sunday they should bring the children up the mountain to gather medicinal herbs, and then hand the herbs over to bai peiyao so she can record work points for each child. remember, only bring the children who are in the school."

"doctor su, your method is brilliant! many people's excuse is that going to school isn't as good as earning a few work points. this way, let's see what else they can say."

hearing su chen's method, li delin's eyes immediately lit up.

however, this method could only attract some parents to let their children go to school. in order to get more people to accept education, su chen decided to drop a blockbuster on everyone.

"uncle yang, busy? these little fellows are studying very hard, they'll definitely pass the college entrance examination in the future and find a good job in the city, so they won't have to suffer in the village anymore."

coming to yang dazhtang's house, seeing yang dazhtang sitting by the table watching a few little children do their homework, su chen walked closer and said with a smile.

"hahaha, i don't dare to dream of college. it would be a blessing just to finish middle or high school. why did you come over at this time? you kids stop writing, go outside and play for a while."

"uncle su, we're going outside to play!"

yang tiezhu said to su chen, and then led his younger brothers to leave the courtyard.

"uncle yang, i really do have a matter coming over this time. tonight i ran into principal li..."

su chen recounted what had happened when he ran into li delin earlier.