Only Three People
In this era, teaching wasn’t like the modern method of following a textbook; it was mostly based on political quotations. Fortunately, she had a book in her magical backpack, so she memorised some quotes and selected some easier characters to teach in the first lesson.
Today, Lin Chuan finally stopped avoiding her because he had to escort Su Su to the village committee office.
This was a task assigned by Mother Lin, and he didn’t dare refuse. Otherwise, the wrath of motherly love could be quite formidable.
Sometimes, Su Su wondered if Lin Chuan was really Mother Lin’s biological son. Clearly, she cared for him, but she was quick to scold and even hit him, although never too harshly.
The two of them walked one in front of the other, and suddenly, Su Su asked, “Brother Chuan, I actually want to ask you—do you like Comrade Qin?”
He paused for a moment, then continued walking with his usual steady pace, leading the way.
“Do you like her or not?”
“What’s the point of asking? Just focus on your lesson.”
“Of course it matters.” If he said he didn’t like her, she could pursue him without hesitation.
But in the end, he didn’t answer. After dropping her off at the village committee office, he stood outside, smoking.
Was smoking really that enjoyable?
Su Su glared at him before heading inside. She found that there were only a few tables and chairs, and not a single person was there.
The blackboard was missing a chunk, and there were only a few pieces of chalk left. It was truly a tough situation.
She sat down and waited, assuming that people would come after they’d had their meals. But no matter how long she waited, not a single person showed up. Feeling discouraged, she rested her head on the desk. Did she really have to go door-to-door to gather people?
Lin Chuan wasn’t feeling any better about the situation.
Seeing a young girl travel such a long distance to teach, only to have no one show up, made him angry. It was clear that the villagers were doing this on purpose. Most likely, it was because she had offended those troublemakers last time, and now they were targeting her.
He angrily tossed his cigarette to the ground, stomped it out, and stormed off toward the village.
On the way, he ran into Lin Donghe, who asked curiously, “Brother, where are you going?”
“To find someone.”
“Who are you looking for?” Lin Donghe didn’t get an answer and could only continue to the village office. When he entered, he saw the young girl with the wavy curls lying on the desk, playing with a set of keys—the same keys he had given her to the village office.
Glancing around and seeing no one else, he understood what had happened. With a chuckle, he said, “Comrade Su, I apologize. I didn’t do my job well. Wait here for a moment; I’ll use the loudspeaker to call people over.”
Su Su looked up at him, noting that the male lead was indeed quite organized. She nodded and said, “Thank you,” her expression sweet and docile, making her look easily bullied.
Lin Donghe cleared his throat. Although he had someone he loved, it didn’t stop him from appreciating a pretty girl. However, he wasn’t interested in girls who appeared weak and delicate; he preferred those who fought for their dreams.
Even after using the loudspeaker a few times, only a few people showed up, and they were all loafers, bachelors, coming just to gawk at the girl.
When they saw Su Su’s appearance, they all looked as if they had taken a love potion, grinning lewdly as they sat down and said, “Little sister, what are we learning today? How about teaching us how to write the characters for ‘man’ and ‘woman’?”
“Song Laosan, sit up straight and stop talking nonsense,” Lin Donghe admonished from the side.
However, Su Su’s attention shifted to Song Laosan when she heard his name. He was dressed in rags, but his appearance wasn’t bad. He was young, probably around twenty-five or twenty-six, but he had a slippery, cunning look that marked him as trouble.
In the story, he was a character who emerged later as a major player. After the Reform and Opening-Up, he shed his “H5-class” label and ventured into business, eventually becoming one of the top tycoons. But because the female lead had once treated him kindly in the village, he ultimately sacrificed his life to save her and left all his wealth to her.
**Nomad: During the Cultural Revolution, the so-called “Black Five Categories” (黑五类), which included landlords, rich farmers, counter-revolutionaries, bad elements, and rightists, were particularly marginalised. People from these backgrounds faced persecution, discrimination, and severe social stigmatisation.**
What a man—should she admire his devotion or find it amusing? Clearly devoted, yet pretending to be a no-good rascal.
She turned and wrote the characters for “man” and “woman” on the blackboard, then pointed to the characters above and said, “This is ‘man’.” Then, she pointed to the characters below and said, “This is ‘woman’.”
Song Laosan chuckled and said, “Why is ‘man’ on top?”
That was starting to go beyond the lesson plan.
Just as Su Su was about to come up with a response, she saw a figure appear behind Song Laosan. Before he could react, he was lifted like a little chick and thrown outside. Then, there was a heavy thud as something hit the ground hard.
“Ouch! What are you throwing me for?”
“Get lost.” Lin Chuan’s icy voice sent a shiver down everyone’s spine. When this man got angry, he was truly terrifying.
Soon after, Mother Lin and father entered the room.
Mother Lin smiled and said, “I don’t know many characters, so I came to learn.”
Father Lin sat down beside her, holding his tobacco pipe, and said, “Girl, go ahead and teach.”
Su Su felt a wave of emotion. She hadn’t expected the Lin family to support her like this.
But just as she was about to start, Lin Chuan came in, snatched his father’s tobacco pipe, and walked out.
His father opened his mouth in surprise but didn’t say anything, eventually clenching his fist and scratching his head before straightening up to listen to the lesson.
Su Su thought, Lin Chuan might not escape a beating tonight.
Holding back a laugh, she began her first lesson. Since she was a vocational school graduate, teaching wasn’t too difficult for her, and she gradually took on the demeanour of a proper teacher.
After the hour-and-a-half lesson, they all dismissed and prepared to head home. Just as they stepped outside, the female lead was escorted over by a group of people. She held up a letter and ran over, exclaiming, “I got in! I got into university!” She was clearly overjoyed.
In this era, getting into university was a big deal. Unlike modern times, where simply getting into college wasn’t considered a major achievement—only excelling in academics or making significant contributions to a field garnered real respect—back then, university acceptance was a huge accomplishment.
So, as someone who had graduated from university and even earned a master’s degree, Su Su looked at the female lead with a faint, indifferent expression, finding it hard to share in her excitement.
According to the story, the female lead had only gotten into an ordinary university, nothing particularly prestigious, but it was still quite an achievement in the village.
Among the crowd, the only ones who were genuinely happy for her were Mother Lin, Father Lin, and Lin Donghe. When Su Su glanced at Lin Chuan, he stood motionless, as if this event had nothing to do with him.
Lin Donghe asked, “Which university?”
“It’s X East University, and the tuition is fully covered,” the female lead replied, her eyes sparkling with excitement. Then she ran over to Lin Chuan specifically, saying, “Brother Chuan, I got in!”
Was she showing off? Probably, because Lin Chuan had previously mentioned that she might not get accepted.
Lin Chuan remained indifferent and simply said, “Congratulations.”
“Is X East University a good school?” Mother Lin asked Su Su, since she was also a university graduate.
Since most of this world’s setting was based on reality, Su Su replied, “It’s decent, pretty good.”
“What kind of job will she get after graduating?” Mother Lin continued.
“Probably a worker?” Su Su wasn’t entirely sure about the job assignment system of that time.
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