After finishing a hearty breakfast, Yun Zhen received a call from Brother Zhao.
“Have you eaten yet?
I’m taking you to register for classes.
Didn’t you say you wanted to learn how to read?” Brother Zhao asked over the phone.
“I’ll head out right now.”
Yun Zhen hadn’t waited at the entrance for long before Brother Zhao arrived, carrying a briefcase and dressed in a crisp work uniform.
Zhao Peng pointed ahead.
“The school is just up there, so we’ll walk.
I’ve already spoken to the teacher.
Since you work both noon and afternoon shifts, you’ll only study from eight to ten in the morning.
After class, you can rest for a bit before heading over to the restaurant.
“The restaurant shift starts at twelve noon.
That’s the peak time when everyone gets off work.
Since you might not have a good grasp of the time yet, you can listen for the meal alarm I set for you.
However, I’d suggest heading over there a little early.
“There’s a kindergarten not far from the restaurant.
They let out at eleven forty-five.
Once you see a large group of five- and six-year-olds flocking out, you can head straight to the restaurant.
The timing will be just right.”
“Okay, Brother Zhao, I understand.” Yun Zhen committed everything to memory.
Five minutes later, they arrived at the school.
Yun Zhen looked left and right.
The building’s exterior looked similar to where she lived—rows of houses stacked one on top of another—except the glass used for the windows was much larger than what she had in her dorm.
Strangely, there were no clear, ringing sounds of students reading aloud coming from inside.
Yun Zhen followed Zhao Peng up to the fourth floor and knocked on a door.
When it opened, she saw a remarkably spacious room.
Inside stood a man with parted hair and glasses, holding a book in one hand and a small white stick in the other.
“Zhao, you’re here.”
“Mr.
Gao, this is Yun Zhen, a newcomer at the organization.
I mentioned her to you on the phone last night.
She wants to join your class to learn how to read.
I’ll have to trouble you to handle her enrollment.” Zhao Peng introduced Yun Zhen to Mr.
Gao.
He then instructed her, “Yun Zhen, this is Mr.
Gao.
He is the homeroom teacher for the beginner’s class.
You’ll be learning how to read from him from now on.
Whenever you see him, be sure to greet him as Mr.
Gao.”
Following his instructions, Yun Zhen called out, “Hello, Mr.
Gao.”
Seeing that she was a sixteen- or seventeen-year-old girl, Mr.
Gao pointed in a direction.
“Take a seat in the middle of the first row.
I’ll get you a set of textbooks in a moment.”
Yun Zhen obediently sat down.
It was so quiet here that she didn’t even dare to breathe too loudly.
On the ceiling, several long glowing sticks shone even brighter than the large, round flatbread-like light in her dorm.
The students in the classroom were a mix of men and women of various ages.
There were even some scruffy older men.
“You can rest assured leaving her here,” Mr.
Gao said to Zhao Peng.
Zhao Peng nodded.
“Mr.
Gao, as I mentioned yesterday, she has to work at noon and in the afternoon.
She can only study until ten o’clock.”
“I understand.
I’ll remind her to leave when ten o’clock rolls around.”
After Zhao Peng left, Yun Zhen received a set of textbooks.
Curiously, she flipped open the books.
The characters in one of them looked very much like the ones on her communicator that indicated the time.
“Alright, class, first we will learn the characters for one, two, three, four, and five.” Mr.
Gao, holding his textbook, tapped a white screen on the wall.
To her amazement, tiny, bouncing figures suddenly appeared on the white surface.
Yun Zhen’s jaw dropped, looking completely like a country bumpkin who had never seen the world.
“The little figures on the screen represent the characters we are learning today.
By placing them into different everyday scenarios, you’ll be able to grasp them much better.
“My lessons are divided into three parts: listening, speaking, and writing.
First, you’ll watch the character animations and listen to their pronunciation.
Then, you’ll read them aloud.
Finally, it’s best to write them down on paper so you can firmly memorize them.”
Mr.
Gao taught them how to read the characters alongside the animations.
Throughout the morning’s lesson, Yun Zhen only grew more energetic the more she learned.
With bright, sparkling eyes, she stared at the bouncing figures on the white screen.
Inside that screen, the little figures lived their lives just like the people outside.
She realized that learning to read could actually be this simple.
It wasn’t dry or boring in the slightest.
She wasn’t just learning characters; she was also picking up basic common knowledge about everyday life.
Yun Zhen tirelessly absorbed the new knowledge.
Time slipped away, minute by minute.
“Yun Zhen, time’s up.
Head back to your dorm to rest for a bit.
You still have to work later.” She had been so immersed in her studies that she completely forgot herself, only realizing with a start that she still had a job to do when Mr.
Gao reminded her.
She was somewhat reluctant to leave, but she hadn’t forgotten the hundreds of hungry mouths waiting to be fed back in her village.
After saying her goodbyes to Mr.
Gao, she didn’t return to her dorm but headed straight for the restaurant.
Brother Zhao had said there was a kindergarten near the restaurant that let out at eleven forty-five, and that she should clock in once she saw the kids appearing in droves.
Not seeing any children walking on the street, Yun Zhen knew it was still early.
She first made a detour to the dumpster she used for her scavenging hunts, pulling out a plastic bag she had prepared in advance from her pocket.
This kind of bag was sturdy and could hold a lot.
She scavenged, scavenged, and scavenged!
Wood scraps?
Take them!
Dark green winter shoes with fuzzy insides?
Take them!
She also found a pack of stiff cardboard cards adorned with pictures of fruits and pastries.
In the middle of each card was a large character, while some had two.
She remembered how Mr.
Gao had tapped the white screen that morning, causing character-shaped figures to appear.
These cards were probably similar—tools used to teach people how to read.
She would take them back to teach Xiaobao how to read.
Yun Zhen also found a box of green glass bottles emitting a bitter scent of alcohol.
She was ecstatic.
This was glass!
Although it wasn’t as crystal-clear as the cups she had taken back before, it was still a highly valuable treasure.
Before long, a white-haired old woman approached.
Seeing a sixteen- or seventeen-year-old girl scavenging through the garbage just like the elderly folks, she found it peculiar.
“Little girl, you’re here scavenging too?
Don’t just pick up useless junk.
Grab more cardboard boxes—they can be sold for money.”
Yun Zhen stared at the yellowish-brown cardboard boxes, her mind going blank.
She asked, “Granny, aren’t these used for starting fires?” She wondered if they could actually be sold for money.
But wait, if they could be sold, why would people throw them away?
Besides, she had scavenged so many of these yesterday and brought them home for her father to burn as firewood.
The old woman laughed.
“Of course they can be sold for money!
Yesterday, I sold three days’ worth of saved cardboard and made twenty dollars.
Using them for fires is far too wasteful.”
“What?
This kind of cardboard can really be sold for money?!” Yun Zhen’s heart bled with pain.
Just last night, she had stuffed quite a few of them into the fire.
Recalling the CRACKLE of the flames burning through the cardboard, she remembered exclaiming how warm it was last night.
But thinking about it now, that was merely the sound of her own heart breaking.
“Naturally.
If you neatly stack the cardboard and keep it clean, you can get fifty cents a pound.” The old woman had initially thought that a young person resorting to scavenging must be in a bad spot, but seeing how clueless she was—not even knowing cardboard could be exchanged for cash—she gave her a look of pity.
“Granny, where can I exchange these for money?” Yun Zhen asked urgently.
Twenty dollars meant twenty pounds of refined white rice.
Last night, she had literally burned through several pounds of refined white rice just to keep warm!
Just thinking about it made her heart ache.
“They won’t accept a small amount.
You need at least a pound,” the old woman said.
“Save up a few more pounds.
Let’s exchange contact info.
I know a reliable boss, so I can take you with me when it’s time.”
Seeing her pull out a flat board, Yun Zhen froze for a moment before taking out the small, blocky communicator Brother Zhao had given her.
“Oh my!” the old woman gasped in surprise.
“You must be from Sister Zhang’s charity foundation, right?” Yun Zhen hadn’t expected the kind-hearted Sister Zhang’s reputation to be so widespread!
“I’ve donated money to your organization before,” the old woman smiled, “and I even attended a charity event there just last week.” She had been wondering how anyone could possibly not know that cardboard could be traded for money.
It turned out the girl was just a poor child from the charity.
Utterly confused, the old woman asked, “Doesn’t your organization have a cafeteria?
They let you learn skills for free, too.
So why are you out here scavenging?”