Back to 1988 35p1

Chapter 35 p1: Uprising (3)

After Mi Yang brought the class’s donation money home, he didn’t try to be a hero. He went directly to Mi Zehai, gave the money to his father, and asked for the adults’ help in purchasing the stationery.

Mi Zehai was taken aback. “Did all the children in your class raise this?”

Mi Yang nodded. “Yes. We took our unwanted toys and books and held a charity sale. I sold my little frog toy and the Chinese checkers Grandma gave me.” The Chinese checkers were even sold piece by piece, with a lottery for a glass marble at thirty cents a try. He didn’t tell Mi Zehai about these details.

Mi Zehai ruffled his son’s little head and said with a chuckle, “Not bad. You’re a quick thinker, kid, to come up with something like this.”

Mi Yang said, “Dad, I’ll make a list for you. Please help me buy these things, mainly notebooks and pencils.”

Mi Zehai nodded in agreement. “Don’t worry, leave the shopping to me. I’ll have it delivered to your school later.”

Probably thinking that his son’s organizational skills were quite good, Mi Zehai even told Cheng Qing about it again that night and specially made a dish of braised pork as an extra treat. Cheng Qing had learned this braised pork recipe from the elders in her family, and it was one of her signature dishes. The lean pork belly was stewed until it was glistening with oil, and some potatoes were added. When it was served, the small pot was a vibrant red, soft, glutinous, sweet, and fragrant. A single bite would fill your mouth with the rich aroma of meat.

Mi Yang’s favorite way to eat it was to mix the braised pork sauce with rice. The potato chunks were stewed until they were soft and tender, and it was most delicious to eat a large mouthful of the mixed rice with a spoon.

Seeing that her husband and son enjoyed it, Cheng Qing was also happy. She picked out some meat for Mi Yang. “Yangyang, don’t just eat the potatoes. Have some meat too. Otherwise, you won’t grow taller than Luochuan. You’re only two months younger than him, but he looks half a head taller than you…”

Mi Zehai said, “My son is tired from studying. He’s skipping a grade and has to learn a lot more every day.” He was quite proud.

Cheng Qing smiled. “Luochuan is studying too. I heard from Sister Luo that he’s planning to skip to the third grade next spring.”

Mi Zehai thought for a moment. “My son skipped earlier!”

Cheng Qing said, “Your son is also shorter than him. Why don’t you mention that… Yangyang, don’t spit out the mushrooms. Swallow them.”

Mi Yang’s attempt to be a picky eater was once again thwarted. His parents stopped arguing and stared at him, not allowing him to be picky. He could only chew a couple of times and swallow.

Mi Zehai was quick. The next day, he contacted a friend from his old unit who was in charge of procurement and had him help wholesale some stationery.

Mi Yang and the little class monitor went to pick up the stationery together. Mi Yang also knew the uncle who had come to help deliver the goods and went over to greet him first. The uncle, wearing a military uniform, was helping the stationery supplier unload the goods. He smiled and asked Mi Yang, “Yangyang, where should we put it? Should we send it to your class or directly to the school warehouse?”

Mi Yang said, “The warehouse, I guess. There’s a teacher there to keep a record. We’ll just say we’re from the first class of the third grade when we go.”

The little class monitor also went with him. Seeing Mi Yang bend down to move things, she immediately wanted to help but was quickly stopped. The uncle said with a chuckle, “No need. You two are too small. You can’t move these. Just lead the way for us.”

Mi Yang didn’t stand on ceremony with him and immediately ran ahead. The uncle behind him indeed followed with swift steps. They had trained a lot in the military camp, and this bit of weight was nothing. It wasn’t as hard as the training exercises in the mountains.

The warehouse was a separate empty classroom on the north side of the first floor. A lot of supplies were already stored there. Mi Yang’s things were numerous, and the ten-odd boxes were stacked up, looking very impressive.

Mi Yang took the list the supplier had given him and calculated with the little class monitor. There were a total of 12 boxes of things, 4 small boxes of pencils, and the remaining 8 boxes of notebooks. Two hundred yuan of the five hundred yuan was used to buy four thousand pencils, which averaged out to five cents each. The daily workbooks like character practice books, Pinyin books, and Tian Zi Ge notebooks were wholesaled for five to ten cents each, and they had bought three thousand of them. The thicker draft and composition books were twenty-five cents each. The uncle from the military who had helped, upon hearing that it was a donation for a school in a mountainous area, had paid out of his own pocket to make it a round five hundred and had sent them in a box along with the other things.

These were all much cheaper than what was sold in the stores around the school, and the quantity far exceeded their expectations. The little class monitor’s eyes lit up as she listened. She whispered to Mi Yang, “Mi Yang, your uncle is amazing!”

Mi Yang chuckled. “When you buy in bulk, it’s a wholesale price, so it’s much cheaper.”

After handing over the goods to the teacher in charge of the warehouse and signing for them, Mi Yang and the little class monitor returned to the classroom together.

The donation task was completed. During the class meeting in the afternoon, Teacher Wang looked at everyone, her brow furrowing slightly before relaxing. “I’ve heard about the donation drive from the class monitor. Everyone did a very good job.”

Many of the children in the class breathed a sigh of relief. Deep down, they still had a natural respect for the teacher and listened attentively with their little faces turned up.

Teacher Wang then called out a few students and praised them casually. When it was Mi Yang’s turn, her tone became a little heavier. “Some individual students, perhaps because they think their grades are excellent, feel that they are different from the other students and act recklessly.” She called his name. “Mi Yang, stand up and tell me what you did wrong.”

Mi Yang stood up. “Teacher, I don’t know.”

Teacher Wang said, “The other students all sold second-hand items. What about you? Look at what you did. A lottery is equivalent to gambling. Is that something an elementary school student should be doing? If you’re not careful when you’re young, you’ll break the law when you’re older…”

Mi Yang looked at her and asked with great innocence, “Teacher, isn’t there a welfare lottery booth at our school gate? Is that also against the law?”

A student beside him muttered, “There’s a lottery in the school’s tuck shop too!”

The boys in the back row even raised their voices a little. “That’s right! We even drew for a sticker today. The school’s own lottery is the same as Mi Yang’s. What did Mi Yang do wrong?”

“Mi Yang even donated everything. He didn’t make any money from it.”

…

The tuck shop was run by the principal’s relative, and the people who could open a welfare lottery booth outside were also well-connected. Teacher Wang naturally didn’t dare to say anything, but hearing the students’ refutation made her face even uglier. She was about to say something more when she heard a knock on the door. The principal and a director walked in with a smile. The principal seemed to be in a good mood. Seeing that everyone was there, he smiled and asked, “Teacher Wang, having a class meeting? That’s perfect. I’ll just interrupt you for a few minutes to say a few words.”

Teacher Wang’s expression softened, and she made way for him. “Of course, please.”

The principal walked to the podium, unfolded the newspaper in his hand, and smiled. “The children of the first class of the third grade, you’re very impressive. You’re even in the newspaper. Look, you’re being praised so highly. I thought I shouldn’t just let outsiders praise you, so I came in person to praise you as well.” He looked up and saw Mi Yang still standing. He had some impression of this well-behaved child, and his eyes lit up. “Oh, I was just about to call your name and praise you. Mi Yang, right? You did a very good job organizing this. Your class donated the most items in the whole school, and you were very loving. The method was also novel…”

The principal praised them at length. Besides Mi Yang, he also called out a few other children to stand up. They were all the little ones whose names had appeared in the newspaper, and he praised them specially.

This time, standing up was not for criticism. The children whose names were called were also very honored, and they puffed out their little chests.

When the little fatty’s name was called, he stood up, hardly believing his ears. His grades were poor, and usually, he would only be criticized when he stood up. It was the first time he had been praised by the principal. His eyes reddened a little, but he immediately grinned, his eyes narrowing into two slits, looking as happy as could be.

The principal said, “You all did very well this time. Next Monday, the school will present your class with a collective honor award certificate after the flag-raising ceremony. Don’t be late. If you’re late, you won’t get it.”

The whole class of children laughed and shouted, “We’ll definitely be on time!”

The principal left, and Mi Yang and the others also sat down. The entire class’s gaze was fixed on Teacher Wang, waiting for her to speak.

Teacher Wang’s face turned red and white. Hearing the bell for the end of school ring, she said in a low, angry voice, “Class dismissed!”

She was the first to walk out. Just two steps out, she heard a cheerful cheer from the class. It was originally a sound of happiness for receiving the award certificate, but to her, it sounded like she was being deliberately humiliated by the students. She pursed her lips, a flash of annoyance on her face.

Mi Yang left early this time and went to the first-grade entrance to wait for Bai Luochuan. A child who knew him saw him but didn’t dare to greet him. In their minds, Mi Yang was already a “big kid” from the third grade.

Bai Luochuan came out soon. On the way home, Mi Yang suddenly asked him, “Did you tell Auntie about our flea market?”

Bai Luochuan said, “What’s wrong?”

Mi Yang said, “It’s nothing, really. I just found it a bit strange. The principal suddenly came to our class to praise us today.”

The corner of Bai Luochuan’s mouth lifted, as if waiting for praise.

Mi Yang looked at him. “Or did you do something?”

The young master Bai’s chin lifted. “I learned from you.”

Mi Yang was puzzled. “Huh?”

Bai Luochuan glanced at him, a little proud. “Didn’t you submit an article to the newspaper to have them praise you? I learned from you and also wrote a letter, then put it in the principal’s mailbox along with the newspaper. He would definitely come and praise you when he saw it.”

Mi Yang chuckled and gave the young master Bai a thumbs-up. This person was amazing. He had just demonstrated it, and he had immediately learned the importance of controlling public opinion. He controlled the outside, and the young master Bai controlled the inside. The control of public opinion was very well done.

Perhaps because she had been embarrassed in the class meeting, Teacher Wang didn’t bother Mi Yang for a long time. She didn’t call on him to answer questions in math class either, completely marginalizing him.

This had basically no effect on Mi Yang. Let alone the fact that he could answer the questions with his eyes closed, even if he really needed to catch up, he had the renowned teacher Wei Xian’s tutoring at night. Because he was no longer called on, Mi Yang had a period of peace. When the final exam came, Mi Yang, not surprisingly, got first place again.

After the final report cards were handed out, Teacher Wang said a few things to pay attention to during the winter break and then said to everyone, “Students who need to attend the winter break tutoring class can sign up with the class monitor. It’s not mandatory. But you should know that while you are playing for a whole winter break, other students are still working hard. Even during the holidays, you can’t relax, you know?”

Everyone agreed. She then announced the end of class. Next, they would just have to wait for the winter break homework to be handed out before they could go home.

When Mi Yang got his winter break homework, he saw the class monitor taking out a notebook to register names. The little class monitor, who was usually the first to do everything, hesitated this time and didn’t write her own name first.

Mi Yang was her deskmate and found it strange. “Aren’t you going to the tutoring class?”

The little class monitor pouted. “I don’t want to go to Teacher Wang’s house. I don’t like her anymore.”

Mi Yang was taken aback. “The tutoring is at the teacher’s house?”

The little class monitor scribbled on her notebook with her pen and said in a muffled voice, “Yes. Oh, you just came, so you don’t know. Every semester, the winter and summer break tutoring classes are at Teacher Wang’s house. It’s two hundred yuan for ten days.”

Mi Yang was speechless. Two hundred yuan in 1995 was not a small sum. Cheng Qing had just gotten a raise recently, and her monthly salary, including the night shift allowance, was only about four hundred yuan. Teacher Wang’s ten-day tutoring class cost half a month’s salary, and it wasn’t even one-on-one tutoring. It sounded like many children went at once.

A few students came over to sign up, including Sun Qian, who also looked reluctant.