Chapter 18 Part II Teacher B

Teacher B should be sixty years old.When he graduated from high school and came to our elementary school, I was in the second grade.In elementary school, there are many female teachers, and if a male teacher comes, it will attract attention.It is also noticeable because he always wears a faded military uniform; we still think he is a demobilized soldier, but he is not. The military uniform may be used to dispose of materials for the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea. Because of the military uniform and because he was slightly hunched, few people could guess Mr. B's age correctly. "Are you in your thirties this year?" Or: "Are you forty, you?" Or even: "You look old, but you are actually not over fifty." Teacher B answered with a smile and did not correct him.

He taught us art, calligraphy, and later history.Probably because of his youth and versatility, he became the chief counselor of our brigade again. Since he became the chief counselor, I remember that the day of the brigade began to go on a regular basis; the flag was raised, music was played, and the team flag circled the field for a circle.With the team flag fluttering and the team drum beating, the children felt a solemnity they had never had before. Teacher B raised his fist again, and said in a high-spirited tone: "Get ready, fight for the cause of communism!" The children responded in unison: "Always be ready!" At that moment, the blue sky and white clouds made everyone feel sacred and proud.

Since he became the chief counselor, the brigade room has also become tidy and solemn. The "star torch" is hung in front of the chairman's portrait.Team flags and team drums are displayed aside.On the surrounding walls are colorful calligraphy, such as "study hard and make progress every day".Several of our brigade committees hold regular meetings there, knowing that we have heavy responsibilities on our shoulders, but doing nothing. Teacher B asked us to "go deep into the grassroots" and go to each squadron to listen to the opinions of the masses.So, the study committee, the labor committee, the cultural and sports committee, the health committee, and myself, the propaganda committee, acted separately.But the opinion of the masses is usually unanimous: nothing.

The Propaganda Committee is in charge of the blackboard newspaper.I first wrote three artistic characters on the front page: blackboard newspaper (really nonsense).Then draw lace around it.What about the content?It is nothing more than "good people and good deeds", "praise and criticism", and "Lei Feng's diary" taken from books, or riddles copied from evening papers.The two blackboards, once a week, are filled with writing during the Sunday break. In spring, we plant flowers on campus.The students brought seeds from home and scattered them on the open space in front of and behind the building. Teacher B nailed a few wooden signs, wrote on them, and inserted them on the soft ground: Let the motherland become a beautiful big garden.

In autumn we harvest sunflowers and castor beans.Although the sunflowers are small and the castor beans are only a bamboo basket, the ceremony is still solemn.This time an additional item was added: a dedication was read by a beautiful female brigade.Then a few representatives were elected, holding sunflowers and bamboo baskets, leading the way with the team flag, and dedicated them to the motherland.Where is the motherland?It was my question for a long time. The days at that time seemed to be particularly full and colorful, like a full stream, flowing happily, never thinking that there would be any difference between dreams and reality.

The same is true for Teacher B. He was only 21 or 2 years old at the time, and his thin body seemed to have endless passion. During the "May 1st" festival, he dressed up as a big tree, and we dressed up as flowers of various colors.He stood among us, covered with green paper, waving his arms like a spring breeze, so we opened up one after another.His voice was mellow and high-pitched: "Ah, spring is here, the mountains are green, and the water is blue. Look, children, what is that thick smoke in the distance?" The flowers replied: "It's the burning fire in the factory." It’s burning waste and sowing seeds in the fields! It’s the wheels of the times rolling forward!” “Think about it, peach blossoms, apricot blossoms and pear blossoms, what are you going to do for this great era?” “Study hard, grow up healthily, and contribute to mankind Sweet fruit!"

There was another show in the New Year, and this time he was dressed as Santa Claus—an old leather jacket he borrowed from somewhere, and then pasted with cotton to make a beard. Under his feet were a pair of red women's rain boots.The stage lights suddenly went out, and when they came back on, Santa Claus fell from the sky.The children rushed forward.Santa Claus said: "Guess children, what gift did I bring to you?" Blueprint!"—this line should say that the design is good, but it is broken, how come the blueprint of communism was sent by Santa Claus?How can it fall from the sky?At that time, some critics in the school would give up, but it is said that later, during the Cultural Revolution, as soon as this line was connected with Teacher B's background, it became a serious crime for him.

Teacher B's appearance, what should I say?It's kind of confusing in my mind.It's not that he is not distinctive enough, but because most people think he is ugly—the neck is too slender, and the Adam's apple is too prominent; but I can't agree with it anyway.Of course, I can't ignore the facts and say he is beautiful, so I have an ambiguous attitude on this issue.For example, the nickname "B Chicken Neck" has long been circulated among classmates, but I voluntarily don't listen to it, don't talk about it, and don't laugh. In fact, when someone asked me about his appearance, I would say "he is very thin" at most.

It seemed to me that his neck and his thinness, together with his faded military uniform, made him look very plain; His neck and his thinness, together with his smile, make him look very kind and humble. Yes, Mr. B has no shortcomings - there was once a teenager in this world who saw it that way. I even secretly hope that the most beautiful female teacher in the school can marry him.Let's call her G. Teacher G teaches music. He is about the same age as Teacher B and has just graduated from high school.It is not good? Teacher G can play the piano well, teacher B can write well, teacher G can sing, and teacher B can draw, what else can we say?What's more, Teacher G and Teacher B are both single and have no home in Beijing. They both live in the school.As for appearance, of course it is Teacher B who should be worried.

But what does appearance matter?What men look at is their ability. Teacher B's paintings are really good. In the eyes of that young man, he is a painter at all.He painted Lei Feng very much like him.He first painted a woodcut style, which is easy, and I have also painted it.He drew another pencil sketch, which was more difficult, and I failed to draw it several times.He did another painting in gouache. I know how difficult it is, if one stroke is wrong, it's all over, but he did it impeccably. In his dormitory, there is a bed, a table, and a washbasin. In addition, there are only a few brushes, a box of paint, and a large bottle of ink.Apart from drawing Lei Feng, he didn't seem to draw much else; when writing, he also wrote Lei Feng's quotations, in regular script and seal script, and posted them on the wall of the dormitory.Some of my classmates also love calligraphy, so I wrote them for him. Teacher B admired the paper before looking at the characters: "Hey, Shengxuan! I only bought two sheets of such expensive paper."

The boy back then couldn't figure out why a person as talented as Mr. B didn't go to college?I asked him, and he said in an official tone: "Lei Feng never went to college, why isn't he doing revolutionary work?" I asked another way: "You originally wanted to study art, right?" He shook his head with a wry smile, and finally missed: " No, study architecture." I thought it was because of his poor family background, but I found out after a long time that it was because of his background, which was not the slightest bit bad. I was writing blackboard newspapers at school on Sundays, and I often saw him and Teacher G washing clothes in the bathroom and eating sesame seeds in the office together.But one day, I saw Mr. B was the only one left. He was sitting at his desk reading a book, earnestly improving the food for himself—two biscuits were replaced by a pack of snacks. "Where's Teacher G?" "Go home." "Home?" "Hey~" He stretched out his hand to catch a piece of broken dim sum, so the word "hey" turned a corner.After all, he didn't catch the dim sum scum, so he went to add the second half of the sentence: "She has a home in Beijing." "Her family moved to Beijing?" Teacher B smiled and looked up at me: "She's married." Teacher G is married?With whom?I know this is not what I should be asking. Teacher B continued to enjoy his lunch with his head down. But, is this the end?It's that simple?What about Teacher B?I stood there in a daze. Teacher B said: "Have you finished writing the blackboard newspaper?" "It's finished." "Then go home quickly, it's getting late." Many years later, I rolled my wheelchair to see Teacher B, and heard other teachers talk about his marriage, saying that he got married in his thirties and married a rural woman. "Life, of course, is not rich. Two children and a family of four depend on his little salary." "However, it's passable." "Actually, there used to be a very nice girl who liked him, talked with him for several years, and then broke up." "Why? Cough, I'm still talking! People didn't despise him, but he despised others. The woman's background is not good. He said that we both have bad backgrounds. What should we do in the future? He refers to the child, and he is afraid that it will affect the child in the future. future." "That girl is good-looking and good-looking, and she graduated from college. People have a crush on you, but you still have the qualifications!" "That girl really fell in love with him, she cried so much when we parted..." "All our teachers persuaded him that it doesn't matter what his background is? You have a good background?" "Guess what he said? He said, if I had a good background, why wouldn't I marry her?" "Mr. B, you are really smart for a lifetime, and you are confused for a while." "Let me tell you, he was smart for a while, but he was confused all his life!" "I don't know if it was out of anger or something, so he found one in the countryside. This background is really good. He has been a poor peasant for several lifetimes, but he has no education. How much do you think the two of them can talk when they sit together?" "He still can't forget the girl from before. Sometimes when people talk about that girl, he just avoids it." "But now he is doing well, his wife treats him very well, and his son and daughter are all promising." "Teacher B is now a model teacher every year, in the district and in the city." I saw him once in seven years or so, and the military uniform has been outdated. He wears a cleanly washed "Jialiang" and a pair of plastic sandals on his bare feet. It was the era of "criticizing Lin and Confucianism" and "criticizing the dignity of teachers".He was standing by the flower bed in front of the building and talking to me. A group of school students passed by and shouted at him: "B chicken neck, class is on!" I really wanted to teach those kids a lesson, but Teacher B persuaded me: "It's okay, what is this?" I saw him again in the summer of 1980s. "Chenliang" was changed into a T-shirt, but he still wore a pair of plastic sandals on his bare feet.This time, both students and teachers respectfully called him Principal B. "Principal B, it's time to go!" Someone urged him. "I have a meeting, I have to go." He jumped on his bicycle and hurried away. The teacher who urged him to the meeting chatted with me. "Principal B has joined the party, do you know?" "Why, he just joined the party?" In my impression, Mr. B was already a party member. "Yes, I have been thinking about joining the party all my life. Principal B, you are a good man! But the world cannot find such a good person!" After saying that, the teacher put his hands behind his back and paced back and forth, looking at the sky and the ground, with ridicule and wry smile alternately on his face. I heard something in his words and asked, "What's wrong?" "What's the matter?" He stopped: "It's a rare event in a hundred years, and it just happens to catch up with a long salary!" "What's the matter, is it a good thing?" "But the number of places is limited, and the masses choose. Do you think this is evil now? Some people say that since your boss has joined the party, what salary will you get? You can't have both..." The teacher was a bit nervous, and before he finished speaking, he turned around and retreated, without saying hello, but leaving a mouthful of phlegm on the ground far away.