Chapter 11 Section Eleven

Gao Guanghou moved to Sheke Village. Every morning, when Gao Guanghou left the family's yard, Bingbing cried and chased him away.The poor child has lost his mother, and he is afraid that his dear father will leave him like his mother. Gao Guanghou often went to school with red eyes.He can understand the child's mood. From then on, he got up very early and left Bingbing before he woke up.Lu Ruoqin missed Xiao Bingbing, and Gao Guanghou stopped her when she was going to see him.He was afraid that if this happened, the farmers in the front and back villages would gossip even more. All three were suffocated into an oppressive atmosphere.The vulgar notion of normal intercourse between men and women is a common occurrence in our society.Even some educated people cannot get rid of this habit, let alone farmers in remote mountain villages who cannot read a single word.

Perhaps the popularization and improvement of cultural education will eventually overcome these backward customs and make our entire social life more civilized.As teachers, did Gao Guanghou and Lu Ruoqin realize this? Maybe they haven't considered their responsibilities and missions in this way, but they did try their best to teach these dozens of dolls well with their own efforts. In such a mountainous primary school, there is not much money for one-year education, and it is not easy to pick up any activities, and sometimes it is very difficult to order several magazines.Lu Ruoqin used part of her salary to buy many children's books for the children, and set up a small library in Yikong Xianyao, which attracted the children to come to school even on Sundays.

In order to have a little extra income, Gao Guanghou decided to use his spare time to take his children to burn a kiln of lime to sell some money.He heard people say that one kiln ashes can be sold for three or four hundred yuan.It doesn't cost much.Lime-burning stones are everywhere in the river beach. At best, you can spend money to buy a little coal.As for firewood, he and the children can go up the mountain to chop. The leaders of the two villages supported them in doing so, and paid for them to buy coal and dug ash kilns for them. After collecting all the stones, Gao Guanghou took a group of senior students up the mountain to collect firewood.Lu Ruoqin wanted to go too, but he firmly refused.She grew up on the plains and was not used to climbing mountains. He was afraid that she might make mistakes.He made her teach the lower grades at school.

This afternoon, Gao Guanghou took a dozen older students to the mountain opposite the school to chop firewood as he did a few days ago. Doing farm work is no problem for Gao Guanghou.He quickly chopped a bundle of firewood.Then he chopped—a bundle—for him to carry in the morning.Rural student dolls have been chopping firewood since they were young. To them, doing this job is a very happy thing, just like the students in the city go on an outing.Before and after the sun went down, the team rowed down the ditch along the winding mountain road, and everyone was heavily burdened with the harvest they had cut all afternoon.The children didn't feel tired, and they babbled and sang Geng while carrying firewood.Gao Guanghou walked at the end.He yelled from time to time, telling the children to walk carefully.

When Gao Guanghou and the children returned to school, the students in the lower grades had already left school.He dismissed the children who were chopping wood, wiped the sweat off his face with his sleeve, and went to see if the doors and windows of the classroom were closed tightly. When he walked to Lu Ruoqin's door, he found that her door was locked with a hanging handle.Where has she gone?At this time, Teacher Lu is usually at home.He wanted to discuss something with her. There happened to be a junior student playing on the road below the school.He asked the doll: Where did Teacher Lu go?

The child told him that Mr. Lu went to the ditch in the village ahead to chop firewood.Gao Guanghou's heart was pounding suddenly.Ah, it's getting dark now, she's not used to the mountain road here, what if something happens to her! He asked the baby when Teacher Lu left, and the baby said that Teacher Lu left as soon as school was over. Gao Guanghou closed his mouth tightly, took big strides, and walked towards the big ditch in Sheke Village. Passing by the bottom of the slope of the family where he lived, he walked straight into the ditch without going back to say hello. It was completely dark.Gao Guanghou forgot that he was hungry and tired at the moment, and he was bumping and bumping on that mountain road that he was not familiar with.

He was anxious, his eyes searching nervously in the darkness ahead.How he wished that Lu Ruoqin would appear in front of him all at once! He had almost reached Gouzhang, but there was still no sign of Lu Ruoqin.So he yelled loudly: "Ms. Lu——" His cry echoed in the empty and dark trench, but there was no echo. Gao Guanghou stood in the dark, sweating all over his body, not knowing what to do.He immediately decided: go back to the village as soon as possible, call some farmers, and go to Mr. Lu together with him. He turned around like a whirlwind, spread his long legs, and ran towards the village.