“Thank you, Teacher Lin.” Xie Yujuan’s eyes turned red, her face full of helplessness.
“Teacher Lin, you’re the village chief’s favorite right now. Just focus on doing your own work. I won’t say anything unpleasant to you.
“But if my daughter-in-law learns knowledge from you and then turns around and abandons my son and grandson, I won’t let you off.”
Xie Yujuan’s mother-in-law stiffened her face. Though she said she wouldn’t speak harshly, every word was a threat.
“Mother, when did I ever say I was leaving?” Xie Yujuan stamped her feet anxiously. If Lin Qiuman stopped teaching her high school lessons because of her mother-in-law’s words…
Taking the crying child into her arms, Xie Yujuan said helplessly, “Teacher Lin, please don’t take it to heart. We’ll head back first.”
“Hmph. If anyone dares to break up my family, I’ll make sure she pays dearly.” Xie Yujuan’s mother-in-law followed behind her, not forgetting to throw out another warning to intimidate Lin Qiuman before leaving.
“That mother-in-law of Educated Youth Xie is too much. If she doesn’t want her to study, why take it out on Teacher Lin?”
“Having a mother-in-law like that—Educated Youth Xie is really unlucky.”
“Luckily we’re not married yet. Our parents support us studying more. If we were already married…”
The other female students couldn’t help sighing.
“Alright, let’s start copying,” Lin Qiuman said. “Ten people, pair up in twos. Here’s a complete English book and the four Chinese textbooks from the entire high school curriculum.”
Lin Qiuman also knew that once the college entrance examination resumed, many families would break apart as people returned to the cities.
People always strive to climb higher—who could stop them?
Lin Qiuman sat in the middle of the group. Everyone held up kerosene lamps for her while she used a pencil to mark the key points.
The originally pitch-dark primary school classroom became bright because of those few lamps.
Everyone quietly copied the notes in unison. The room was completely silent.
“You little rascal—you can’t even recognize a single character, so what are you doing here?”
The old village chief and two cadres had strolled over to the school. When they heard Lin Qiuman explaining high school knowledge in standard Mandarin—without a trace of dialect, her voice clean and clear—they became completely absorbed.
Turning around, he saw Li Qiang craning his neck to peek inside and immediately scolded him, “Li Qiang, I’m warning you now—if you dare bully Teacher Lin, I’ll hand you over to the inspection team and slap you with a charge of immoral conduct. I’ll have you driven out of West Hope Village.”
Their village had no highly educated residents. Even the educated youths sent down to the countryside looked down on West Hope Village, and the township leaders thought it was the poorest and least ambitious village in the surrounding area.
Now, by chance, a high school graduate had appeared and was inspiring the young people to work harder.
The village chief felt proud—so proud he wished he could attend a township meeting immediately and tell the leaders about it.
“Hehe… Village Chief, I didn’t do anything. I was just passing by, just passing by.” Li Qiang laughed awkwardly and quickly left.
Originally, he had planned to sneak into Teacher Lin’s dormitory under the cover of night. That way, without reputation left, Lin Qiuman would have no choice but to marry him—no bride price or family approval needed.
But now that Lin Qiuman had the village chief protecting her, he had to give up the idea and instead set his sights on a young widow in the village.
“Teacher Lin, some of us have attended literacy classes in the county before. Your teaching is really good—comparable to those teachers,” the village chief said as he and the others walked into the classroom to praise her.
“You’re too kind, Village Chief.” Lin Qiuman smiled shyly.
The village chief looked around the room. “All female students? What are the men in our village doing?”
He frowned. Learning knowledge was good for anyone—but did none of the men in the village have ambition?
“Village Chief, maybe it’s not that they don’t want to learn… maybe they just feel it’s inconvenient,” Lin Qiuman said softly, her heart fluttering.
Whether in her previous life or this one, the village chief had always valued and cared deeply for Shen Linghua.
If he wanted the men in the village to learn as well, then Shen Linghua—who was still staying in the village for the time being—would definitely be called over…
“What’s inconvenient about it? They’re here to study, not to fool around,” the village chief said unhappily. Turning to the two men beside him, he instructed, “Go call Maohua, Guodong, Jianzhong, Jianye, and Qingye. Those boys all graduated from junior high—are they just going to sit at home making babies instead of learning high school knowledge?”
“Make sure Maohua comes. Let him call the others—it’ll work better if he does it.”
The village chief could name every person in the village who had graduated from junior high, which showed just how low the overall education level was.
But it wasn’t just West Hope Village. Most rural areas were the same. Even if someone finished high school and couldn’t find a factory job, they would still have to work in the fields.
Most people simply chose to farm from the start rather than waste time studying.
That also meant the ceiling was very low. If Shen Linghua slightly improved his education, with his abilities he might even become a leader.
Lin Qiuman’s thoughts drifted to Shen Linghua.
She wondered when she might find a good opportunity to tidy up that unconventional hairstyle of his—and shave that prematurely aging stubble.
Before long, Shen Linghua and several other men entered the classroom one after another.
The moment they stepped inside and saw the female students looking up at them, they couldn’t help feeling nervous. Their steps even became awkward and stiff.
Luckily, the classroom was dimly lit, so no one could see whether their faces had turned red.
The village chief thoughtfully handed them kerosene lamps and said earnestly, “From now on, you all should study high school knowledge with Teacher Lin.”
“I heard news from those educated youths returning to the cities. They say the college entrance examination might resume soon.
“You all already have some education. If even two of you become university students, West Hope Village won’t be laughed at anymore.”
The reason the village chief kept Lin Qiuman was because he valued her high school education. Once she registered her household in West Hope Village, she might even represent the village in the college entrance examination.
Shen Linghua casually found a seat and sat down, clicking his tongue in disagreement.
“Village Chief, that way of thinking is wrong. Whoever gets into university will still think about our little mountain village? The more people who pass the exam, the fewer young people we’ll have left in the village.”
“That’s crooked logic!”
The village chief rushed toward Shen Linghua and raised his hand to hit him.
“Village Chief, I have something to say!” Lin Qiuman suddenly raised her hand and called out when she saw how furious he was.
The village chief cleared his throat. “Teacher Lin, you’re the teacher—why are you raising your hand? If you have something to say, just say it.”
Lin Qiuman chuckled awkwardly. She didn’t dare speak carelessly—what if the village chief rushed over and hit her instead?
He was just like a strict dean—very formidable.
“I think… what Student Shen said actually makes some sense.”
Just moments earlier, Shen Linghua had been shielding his head with his elbow, afraid the village chief might smack him.
When he heard that Lin Qiuman shared his viewpoint, he glanced sideways at her.
Under the kerosene lamp’s glow, her face looked as white as snow, her lips bright red, and there was a hint of laughter in her eyes…
He quickly withdrew his gaze, as if he had been burned.