Wenhao 1979, starting with contributing to Story Club

Chapter 4 The Sorrow of Leaving Home

News of the urgent telegram arriving from Shanghai quickly spread throughout the entire village.

After lunch, several cadres from the brigade headquarters, including the primary school principal, arrived upon hearing the news. Upon seeing Yu Zhen, they all expressed their feelings.

In the afternoon, Yu Zhen borrowed a bicycle, went to the county town, and sent a telegram back to the editorial department.

The telegram indicated the intention to go to Shanghai immediately.

Upon returning to the village, a scene unfolded that surprised and moved Yu Zhen.

Good heavens, while he was away in the county, the villagers brought him piles of food and drink supplies. One neighbor brought him a few boiled eggs, another a few pounds of dried sweet potatoes, and a large, still-warm cornbread. All sorts of food and drink odds and ends were stuffed into a carrying pole.

This was because they were afraid he would get hungry or thirsty on his way to Shanghai.

The brigade cadres also proactively provided him with a letter of introduction and a series of supporting documents to ensure that he would not be unable to move around freely due to his unclear identity.

In short, this great poet and writer was truly regarded as a person of importance by men, women, and children both inside and outside the village.

That evening, a farewell banquet was held at the village chief's house.

Brigade cadres, the primary school principal, and several respected elders from the village gathered together to bid farewell to Yu Zhen.

If someone treats you with respect, you will surely repay them tenfold.

Yu Zhen got drunk and started rambling incoherently. He declared that from now on, Chiling Production Brigade would be his mother's home, the hometown that gave him a second life. He said that if he made something of himself outside, he would definitely return home in glory to repay his hometown.

Yu Zhenren was truly moved by the villagers' simple and honest feelings, even though he was intoxicated by their presence.

Having traveled to this time and space, I was originally free and unattached, but also like a rootless duckweed, with no idea where I would drift to in the future.

To put it more bluntly, they have no sense of belonging and always feel detached from time and space. All their so-called creative efforts are nothing more than survival, and the only way to live a better life.

When he first arrived here, if given the chance, he would leave Chiling Production Brigade without hesitation and go to a wider world to find a place where his soul could belong.

But that night, he got drunk and couldn't sleep. His mind was racing, and he kept thinking about this and that. There was even a fleeting impulse to think that he should just settle down here permanently, be a primary school Chinese teacher, and write articles in his spare time to earn some extra income.

Life is but a lifetime, so why bother going out into the world to brave the wind and rain for fame and fortune?

When I woke up the next day, the sun was already high in the sky.

Before he could even get up from the kang (a heated brick bed), he first heard a series of soft voices coming from the courtyard. He looked towards the window and saw, through the curtains, the shadows of several small heads illuminated by the sun.

He turned over, reached out and pulled back the curtains. He immediately saw that there was a row of seven or eight children's heads crowding outside the window, and the window paper had been torn in several places.

"teacher!"

"Teacher Yu..."

"Teacher, you're just woken up? The sun's already high in the sky!"

"You little rascal, how dare you say the sun is shining on Teacher Yu's butt! You're such a hooligan, peeping at Teacher Yu's butt! I'm going to tell the village chief on you!"

"You little brat, if you dare tell on me, I'll beat you up!"

"If you want to beat me up, I'll beat you up first!"

"They're fighting! They're fighting again! Gou Danwa and Lu Wazi are at it again..."

Yu Zhen shouted through the window, "No fighting!"

There was a brief moment of silence outside the window.

But soon, before he could even climb off the kang and go outside, he heard a sudden burst of chaotic footsteps rushing through the yard. When he hurriedly stepped outside, he only saw the backs of several mischievous children rushing out the door.

Yu Zhen chuckled to himself, a wave of melancholy washing over him.

Those kids were all students from the village primary school. The two troublemakers, Gou Dan and Lu Wa, were the two mischievous kids who won first and second place in the village primary school essay competition organized by the production brigade before the New Year.

The girl who came in third place was the one who started the commotion.

I went to the washstand and got a basin and a towel, and then I picked up a toothbrush.

He came home late last night after drinking, and the stove had already been turned off. He instinctively picked up the thermos, hoping that at least there would be enough hot water to brush his teeth. But when he reached for the thermos, he paused.

The thermos was full, and the water poured out was scalding hot, clearly indicating it had only been filled recently.

"Those little brats!"

Without a doubt, it must have been the little ones who first took the empty thermos from the educated youth's post, then filled it with hot water, carried it back to him, and quietly put it back in its original place.

I just finished washing up and am applying hand cream to the back of my hands to prevent my skin from cracking.

Footsteps sounded again outside the courtyard gate.

This time it was the sound of adults' footsteps.

"Yu Zhiqing, my mom asked me to come and call you over for dinner."

The girl who entered was named Xiaofang. She had a long, shiny black braid that reached her waist, and she was wearing a slightly bulky cotton-padded jacket and trousers.

Even so, her slender figure is still noticeable.

Xiaofang is a veteran substitute teacher at the village primary school.

Before Yu Zhen started teaching Chinese, she single-handedly taught all the Chinese, math, and music classes at the village school, as well as physical education and labor classes.

Speaking of this young lady, the uncles and aunts in the village who love to play matchmaker have hinted to him more than once that if he continues to suffer from amnesia, cannot remember his family, and cannot return to the city, the whole family of the young lady is very fond of him, Yu Zhen. As long as he agrees to marry her, he will receive a generous dowry, and the young couple will surely live a life that everyone in the surrounding villages envies after marriage.

"Comrade Wang Fang, there's no need for a meal. I need to pack my luggage and leave soon..."

Yu Zhen was quite embarrassed. It's hardest to accept a beautiful woman's kindness, so how could he afford to eat this meal?

Wang Fang spoke in a relaxed tone, her large eyes smiling with a hint of self-deprecation, "Yu Zhiqing, don't be afraid. Our home isn't some den of dragons or tigers. We're just inviting you for a casual meal. I know I'm not good enough for you, and we're not destined to be husband and wife. Anyway... I won't pester you!"

"Uh, no, no, please don't say that! What do you mean by 'stubbornly clinging on'? That sounds awful!"

Yu Zhen waved his hands frantically, instinctively trying to comfort her: "Comrade Wang Fang, you don't need to underestimate yourself. We women can hold up half the sky too. Your future... well, you really should consider studying harder and taking the summer college entrance exam to go to university or something. After all, you're only 19 years old..."

However, as soon as the words left his mouth, Yu Zhen regretted it. His voice grew softer and softer as he spoke, too ashamed to continue lecturing.

They just don't want to apply for university.

What the girl was thinking was that if she really got into university and left her hometown, the village school would suddenly be without a substitute teacher, and it would become a major headache for the younger children in the village to go to school.