Chapter Twenty-Five: Supplemental Class

  Half a month later, on an evening, Yu Songyuan finally returned home, back to the temporary simple hut, the whole family was anxiously waiting for him. He had neither money nor food stamps, how could he survive? During his disappearance, many people wanted to go find him, but were prohibited by Yu Xinghe.

  Everyone gathers at Yu Xinhe's home every night, silently accompanying Si Wenfang in conversation. Si Wenfang is a very strong woman, although her heart is turbulent, she puts on a brave smile and repeatedly comforts everyone: "Don't worry, anyone can go hungry, anyone will think irrationally, anyone can do stupid things, Song Yuan won't."

  As a mother, she knew her son too well.

  Yu Songyuan returned home, and everyone didn't ask him where he went or what he did. He first kissed the faces of his three lovely nieces who were sleeping, and then voluntarily told the elders: "In the past few days, I have been contacting my studies, and there is some progress. In the past two weeks, due to falling ill after failing the exam, I had a high fever that didn't recede, and I was lying at home all the time."

  After finishing speaking, he went to sleep. Everyone had a premonition that something big must have happened, but no one dared to ask. That night, Yu Songyuan indeed began to develop a high fever, and the medicinal soup made by Yu Xiner was ineffective. Yu Xinmin invited the village's barefoot doctor over that night, and after examining him, the doctor asked: "How long has he had a fever?"

  She Wenfang said with tears: "It's been almost half a month since I came back from the college entrance examination."

  The doctor said: "With this kind of burn, no water or rice has entered for so many days, the family is probably going to have to make preparations." The doctor hadn't finished speaking when Jiang Wenfang burst into loud sobs.

  After the doctor gave him an injection of antipyretics, his body temperature only slightly dropped, but instead of going down further, it turned into a persistent low-grade fever. The doctor said: "I really can't do anything about it. This child's illness is caused by psychological problems due to failing the college entrance exam, and mental illnesses can't be cured with medicine." After finishing speaking, he left. After the doctor left, his mother stopped crying, but kept using a cold towel to apply to his forehead.

  Just as he was ill, a big thing spread throughout the commune.

  More than ten days ago, a case of injury occurred in the dormitory of Gong She Hospital. The hospital's main responsible person for forced labor on super-producing women, Nurse Qian, was tied up face to face with her husband, both naked, their mouths gagged, and then both had their Achilles tendons severed, and Nurse Qian's face was also disfigured.

  At the same time, the 11-year-old daughter at home was only tied up and gagged, but did not suffer any injuries. It wasn't until noon on the third day that the child's grandparents broke in and discovered the horrific scene. The nurse couple had their Achilles tendons severed for too long, causing severe muscle damage and atrophy, which could not be repaired, and they would have to spend the rest of their lives in a wheelchair.

  This is a case of malicious bodily harm.

  The commune quickly reported to the county, and the county public security bureau organized a full investigation, but when investigating the scene, it was found that there were no valuable clues left at the scene. Qian's nurse lived on the fourth floor, with intact doors and windows, no signs of anyone entering from the window sill, and no signs of struggle or fighting inside the room.

  Because Qian nurse had performed forced induced labor on several super pregnant women, many of whom were induced in the late stages of pregnancy, causing great harm. Many farmers threatened to take revenge, so with such a large number of suspects, it was impossible to investigate one by one, only key suspects could be investigated, and the case was eventually shelved.

  Among the people, it was widely rumored that Qian Huisheng had committed too many evil deeds and that those little ghosts she had poisoned to death had come to settle accounts with her.

  There is a traditional Chinese saying "seven live eight not live", which means that premature babies born at seven months of pregnancy may survive. For women who are over seven months pregnant, forced labor can be performed due to various reasons such as the strong vitality of the fetus. After soaking in medicinal water for a long time and using forceps or other tools to assist delivery, it is possible for the baby to occasionally come out alive after passing through the birth canal. Therefore, there have been cases where induced labor on women who are close to their due date has failed.

  From the human nature of cherishing life, when a small life goes through countless hardships and finally comes into this world, perhaps he (she) shouldn't have come, and very few doctors and nurses can bear to end a young life.

  Qian Huisheng was notorious for her ruthless and cruel behavior, earning the nickname "Iron Pliers" or "One-handed Plier". After Qian Huisheng was injured, there were not many people who sympathized with her. Those few days, every big team had people setting off firecrackers at night, all of which were over 20,000 rounds of long firecrackers.

  Yu Songyuan fell ill and had been bedridden with a low-grade fever every day. His family was the main suspect, and public security personnel had visited the village four times to ask questions and understand the movements of Yu's family members. Villagers all testified that on the day of the incident, no one in Yu Xinghe's family left the village, and neighbors and barefoot doctors also confirmed that Yu's youngest son failed the college entrance exam and fell ill nearly 20 days ago.

  After the public security personnel left, everyone gathered at Yu Songyuan's home that night, feeling like they had vented their anger and were excited as if celebrating a festival.

  The professor is a great scholar, and it's also said that he got what was coming to him. Yu Yue sat at the head of Yu Songyuan's bed, stroking his face and kissing his forehead. Young Master Yu Xinmin specially went to the river ditch to scoop up over ten kilograms of fish to nourish his body. The three little nieces were all curled up like gentle kittens at their young master's bedside.

  The fever finally subsided, but Yu Songyuan was still weak and ill. His master, Chen Laoshi, had also fallen "ill" during this time. That evening after dinner, Wang Feng came with Chen Jing to call for Yu Songyuan, saying "Your master wants you to go home, he has something to say to you."

  Yu Songyuan arrived at his master's house with many questions, only to see both the elder and younger masters sitting by the table. Teacher Chen had brewed a pot of tea, and the three were waiting for him. Upon seeing Yu Songyuan enter, none of them invited him to sit down. Yu Xianghe said, "Close the door!"

  Yu Songyuan closed the door and his legs began to tremble. "Today there is no one else, you have to tell the truth, was Qian nurse injured by you?" asked Teacher Chen.

  "It's not true!"

  Yu Songyu paused for a moment, then calmly said, "I did hate her and had thoughts of harming her out of anger. But later I came to my senses, she was just implementing the country's family planning policy. She would have her own retribution, it wasn't worth me hurting her? This bit of discernment, I still have."

  Upon hearing this, the three people in the room seemed to let out a collective sigh of relief.

  Yu Xinhe said, "Man proposes, heaven disposes. If it's you who did it, I and your master will make you lose all your skills and refund the nurse a fair price. You've grown up, from today on, consider yourself graduated. Your skills need to be practiced for a long time, can't be neglected. What do you plan to do next?"

  "I'll keep reviewing and take it again next year!"

  Yu Xinmin poured him a glass of water, "Good, you have ambition, I support you! In these years, the three of us have taught you all we can. Now, in terms of skill and physical strength, none of us three individuals are your match anymore. Your greatest advantage is your physical strength, it's a pity you didn't become a soldier. We discussed it, you review and next year take the military academy exam!"

  "From now on, you can be considered as having your own school. The master has nothing more to teach you. At the age of 18, it's time for you to go out and make a name for yourself. Tomorrow, you'll go to Tang Xianghe Town Middle School to substitute teach, teaching Chinese and history classes in junior high school. Your sister Yuqin is also helping you contact them to review, as it's closer to the county middle school, so you can substitute teach while trying to get into the county middle school's remedial class next year."

  Tang Xianghe Town Middle School is just a private junior high school. The principal and Teacher Chen were both transferred from the provincial capital at the same time, so they have some connections.

  Yu Songyuan followed the teacher's orders and came to Tang Xianghe Town Middle School, teaching Chinese and history to more than 50 children, with a salary of 15 yuan per month. Having taught for less than a week, his sister, who was following the army in Fujian, wrote a letter to inform their family that she had already asked her classmate Zhang Yu to contact them, letting him go to the county middle school's supplementary class to take part in the high school entrance examination supplementary lessons.

  He was overjoyed and immediately resigned from his job, bringing his luggage and textbooks, rushing to the county middle school to register.

  After paying the tuition, the registration procedure was quickly completed, but the problem came immediately. The teacher from the school affairs office informed him that he could not arrange accommodation. It turned out that the remedial class had long been full, and there was no place to accommodate him now. Those who are allowed to enter now are all "commuting students" with a plug-in nature, relying on relationships, listening to classes is possible, but teachers do not take responsibility for correcting homework, and the school does not take care of food and accommodation.

  You're joking, right? This place is over ten kilometers away from home and I only have a few dollars on me, how am I supposed to afford school?

  The county middle school's high school entrance exam review class started in early September, and by the time Yu Songyuan arrived, it was already overcrowded. The original classroom for over 60 people was packed with nearly 100 people. Two classes, almost 200 students. After the restoration of the college entrance examination, this small mountain path has become the only way for rural children to jump out of the countryside.

  Now, the "auditing students" who come in through connections are all children of county-level or above cadres with a good family background. Yu Songyuan, without any "background", is absolutely an exception. The school administration office clearly stated that Yu Songyuan was temporarily inserted and belonged to auditing status, listening to classes could only sit in the last row, without a desk.

  Miss Zhang Yu from the English teaching and research group rushed over. After a battle of wits with the school administration, they finally reached an agreement: first handle the admission procedures, the school does not take care of accommodation arrangements, and the rest enjoy the same treatment as normal students.

  The formalities were completed, and the class bell rang. Teacher Zhang said: "Don't worry, there's a place to live. I'm about to go to class, you put your things in the delivery room first, and after class, I'll come to find you to solve the accommodation problem." After finishing speaking, he hurried away.

  Yu Songyuan left his luggage in the delivery room and decided to take advantage of this time to familiarize himself with the surrounding environment of the school, hoping to find a relatively cheaper place to stay.

  The school is located in a remote area, about 4-5 kilometers away from the county town. Except for a few small shops in front of the gate, there are no residential areas around. He simply walked along the main road in the middle of the school, from the teaching area, comprehensive service area, student dormitory area, teacher dormitory area, from south to north. After passing through the teacher's family area, a large vegetable field appeared in front of him, extending all the way to the edge of the forest.

  The school is by the river, he knows that going further north should be the embankment of the river. Passing through the vegetable field, entering the forest. The forest is full of tall trees, blocking out the sky and sun, dense and windless. Walking along the winding path in the forest for about 500-600 meters, they came out of the woods and entered a dense reed marsh, the reeds were thick and swaying in the wind.

  Along the winding path inside the reed marsh, I walked about 200-300 meters and came to a river ditch about 4-5 meters wide. On the river ditch, there was a simple bridge made of two thick logs, which was extremely unsafe. The water in the river ditch flowed slowly, with aquatic plants floating on the surface.

  Yu Songyuan is an expert, with just one glance at the water, he can be sure that this river must have a lot of big fish.

  His heart couldn't help but feel a thrill, if he had discovered such a river ditch in his hometown, he would have taken his brothers to fish at the first opportunity. Suddenly, he felt a sense of loss again, his brothers had all gone to school, and only Su Yun and Qiao Yun, two young girls, were left at home. Yu Si Leng was now a lone commander, an empty household, what's the point of having such a big river ditch?

  Although he felt a little disappointed, the scene in front of him filled him with expectation. On the other side of the riverbank, within the dense forest, there seemed to be a new world calling out to him.