Chapter14

School Observations (1)

That was Yu Manyi’s first day of class, and then she started attending daily. After their final exams, Song Qi’s students had a two-month summer break, all of which they spent attending this literacy class in Shaoxing. She began to get used to wearing the student uniform, used to riding in the carriage, and getting up early to review what she had learned the day before. She could feel Yu Shen’s cold, scrutinizing gaze upon her, but this time her participation in the course was personally approved by Third Uncle and Master Yu, which left Yu Shen unable to find a fault.

Moreover, Fang Qian’s presence added pressure on Yu Shen.

Some contests were not appropriate for men to participate in, and Fang Qian often held the upper hand in such contests. She was very good at responding expressionlessly to Yu Shen’s remarks, her sharp thinking and incisive wording silencing onlookers, who dared not make a sound for fear of being drawn into the battle.

Yu Manyi sensitively perceived that Fang Qian’s family might have some similarities to hers, but her education was more advanced, her environment more open, and the opportunities she received greater, thus she possessed more authority and confidence.

Her former world had been very simple, consisting only of herself, Yu Shen, and many indistinct Yu family members. However, the literacy class was a very different place. Nearly everyone around her could be described as commoners, people from all walks of life; their conversations revealed an entirely new world.

The reasons people came to learn literacy varied: some took arithmetic classes to learn bookkeeping and help elders calculate debts clearly. Others came to learn to read and write to avoid relying on others when writing family letters to distant relatives. Those learning English were the fewest, mostly with some literacy background, and they were the youngest and most diligent group inquiring eagerly.

After class, Fang Qian was always followed by a group of people asking questions. Among them was a young man wearing a green postman’s uniform, round glasses, probably a few months younger than Yu Manyi. Seeing Yu Manyi interacting closely with several teachers, he proactively approached her and Miss You when they were discussing exercises, hoping Yu Manyi could help him get closer to Fang Qian so he could have more time for questions.

At first, Yu Manyi didn’t understand the young postman’s diligence and eagerness to learn, but later she found out he had joined a nearby post office a year ago. His Chinese, arithmetic, and general knowledge scores were good, but he scored zero in English, causing him to miss promotion to a managerial position, relegating him to the lowest postal worker rank, only slightly better than a general laborer.

Although no superiors had mentioned a promotion path to him yet, it didn’t stop the young postman from secretly resolving to learn English well. In the future, he could work in the office, stamp mail, send domestic and international letters, and if he performed well, he might be transferred to a big city!

“Where counts as a big city?” Miss You rarely spoke to anyone outside the You family and was curious about the young postman who spent all day riding a bicycle everywhere.

“Ningbo,” the young postman pushed up his glasses that had slipped down his nose and seriously showed off his worldly knowledge to the two pretty girls. “It’s closer to Shaoxing; you all know Hangzhou. Oh, and Nanjing, but the biggest—”

Suddenly, he stood up from his chair, pointed northeastward across the distant Qiantang River rushing into the sea, indicating a faraway destination: “That’s Huangpu River’s mouth—Shang—hai—Tan!”

“That’s where Teacher Fang and Teacher Song come from,” Miss You nodded.“That’s right,” the young postman withdrew his hand, looking reluctant to stop. “The ten-mile foreign concession, Shanghai Bund—so prosperous, so much money. You know Nanjing Road? Early on, they wanted to build a tramway. The big Jewish boss spent a fortune to level the ground. The new road was paved with redwood, each piece this wide, this long, soaked in tung oil, then paved over with asphalt. Four million bucks, just to pave the ground—it’d take knocking down all the wooden furniture in your and Miss You’s homes to cover it…”

“What does that have to do with the furniture in my house or Sister You’s?” Yu Manyi laughed quietly.

Most other students had already left, the young postman finished his big city speech, glanced at the sky, and hurried off on his bike. Miss You had wanted to stay longer with Yu Manyi, but the You family’s carriage driver was already waiting outside, so she could only pick up her textbooks and leave in a rush, leaving Yu Manyi alone in the classroom.

Song Qi and the others had not arrived yet. Their teachers also had assignments to grade in the afternoon and usually left after the students. Yu Manyi flipped to the last page of the Chinese textbook, which had a very rough map of China, showing only the names of prosperous regions. She found Shaoxing was a well-known old city on the border of Jiangnan; following the waterways upstream led to the Shanghai Bund the young postman had mentioned.

For the first time, Yu Manyi felt curious about where Song Qi came from.

Before meeting Song Qi, the farthest place she had been to was the local market in the village. Later, to buy his newspaper, she frequently went back and forth along the town’s commercial street. Yu Manyi could not imagine places beyond the water towns; as far as she knew, even Third Uncle had only been to Shangyu, next to Shaoxing County. The Yu family had grown wealthy through land deeds and then passed down a tradition of farming and studying, generations guarding their homeland. Yu Manyi suddenly thought maybe it was because her father, who had left home to study, was different from others, causing her sense of alienation.

This Yu Manyi, alienated from her family, thought while picking up a brush. Starting from Shaoxing on the map, she traced a thin line past rivers and foothills pointing toward Shanghai.

Her brush strokes were shaken by the sound of a slamming desk from the neighboring lesson preparation room.

The voice wasn’t from Song Qi or the students—older, but also not the usual teachers who accompanied students to class. Flustered, Yu Manyi put down her brush and hurried next door to see what had happened.

At the door, a loud reprimand rang out.

“Mr. Meng, you are really ungrateful!”

Before Yu Manyi could enter, Song Qi, standing inside, saw her. His gaze shifted, and he gave her a look, waving his hand behind his back to the side, signaling her not to enter. Yu Manyi immediately stepped back and hid behind the half-open door, peeking through a hole in the wooden door to watch inside.

The scene inside was tense, as if swords were drawn and bows bent.Standing on the right was a man Yu Manyi had never seen before. He wore a dark blue Zhongshan suit, buttoned all the way to the top with five buttons, tightly wrapping his thick, short neck. He looked so angry it seemed like he might suffocate. After slamming the table, he stood up and paced back and forth in the room a few times. Finally, he stopped, trembling as he raised his hand and pointed directly at the nose of the scholar opposite him.

Following the direction of his finger, Yu Manyi unsurprisingly saw Teacher Meng, the one who had brought Song Qi and the others to the literacy class.

Compared to the furious man in the Zhongshan suit, Teacher Meng sat unmoved like a rock. However, several students behind him, pretending to be busy, couldn’t help but turn their heads to look at the man in the Zhongshan suit. Song Qi placed the graded test papers back on the desk, glanced coldly at the man, and said:

“Director He, as a government official, it’s somewhat improper for you to point your finger like that at our teacher.”

Director He awkwardly withdrew his hand.

After a moment of thought, Director He changed his expression and began to speak earnestly:

“Teacher Meng, your understanding of literacy education is still too naive, too intellectual. Everyone in this world does things for a purpose. Christian literacy efforts are for missionary work. The Qing government’s literacy campaign was to teach Han people Manchu. Now times have changed; the higher-ups allocate funds for you teachers and students to hold literacy classes—not just to teach reading and writing!”

“By coincidence, I, Meng, really only hold classes to teach reading and writing.”

“Mr. Meng, we’re all intelligent people; no need to be so blunt. You refuse to use our officially compiled textbooks and privately delete the ideologies the government wants to promote. If anyone asks about your intentions...”

“My intention is to transform millions of illiterate Chinese into literate, knowledgeable citizens. As for what you mentioned, I won’t teach your content today, nor others’ tomorrow. Literacy is literacy, knowledge is knowledge—that’s all.”

“Mr. Meng, although I am a politician, I understand what scholars like you think. You academics want purity, want not to take sides. But have you considered that in today’s world, you have to pick a side? If you don’t stand on this side, how can you prove you’re not on the other? In the end, you’ll be disliked by both. I speak from the heart!”

“I, Meng, stand only on the infinite truth. Director He, please see yourself out.”

Although Yu Manyi didn’t fully understand their words, she leaned on the window frame and could still feel the tense atmosphere inside. After a moment of reflection, she realized this literacy class might not be as simple as it appeared. No wonder their textbooks were compiled by Song Qi and others; it seemed the previous textbooks contained content Teacher Meng did not approve of.

Teacher Meng refused to take either side, but Director He said the current world would not allow neutrality. What were they choosing between? Yu Manyi continued leaning on the window and saw Song Qi stand at Teacher Meng’s signal, escorting Director He out. She slightly turned aside, hiding behind the open door panel, and saw Song Qi and Director He standing face to face once more.“Your Teacher Meng is really stubborn, completely inflexible,” Director He complained as he walked away. “He uses the allocated funds to teach you literacy, but refuses to teach the content the funders want. If the higher-ups find out and blame us, I can’t guarantee whether your classes will continue.”

Song Qi didn’t respond, only nodded politely and gestured with his hand to show him the way out.

“I’m not lying to you,” Director He said with concern as he left, hands behind his back. “You’re still students and don’t need to worry about consequences. When you grow older, you’ll understand that in this world, you can’t just refuse to choose a side when doing anything. Eventually, you must pick a path—and once chosen, there’s no turning back.”

Director He’s voice gradually faded until it disappeared beyond the towering ancient pine tree in the schoolyard. Song Qi, hands behind his back, saw him walk farther away and shook his head. When he turned, he noticed Yu Manyi watching him curiously.

They exchanged looks for a moment before he averted his gaze and started walking toward the preparation room. Yu Manyi quickly stepped out from behind the door panel and walked alongside him, looking up to meet his pace.

“What was he talking about—about choosing sides?” Yu Manyi asked curiously. “Will I need to choose a side in the future too?”

Song Qi was momentarily stunned by her question, then chuckled softly and shook his head silently. Yu Manyi pressed on beside him without giving up, persistently asking, “What does your shake of the head mean? Song Qi, do you have to choose? If you really have to choose, maybe you could tell me, and I’ll choose the same side as you. The side you pick has to be the right one—”

Earlier, seeing Song Qi sit behind Teacher Meng had put her in a bad mood, and after seeing Director He off, his expression had grown even more serious. Yet Yu Manyi’s chatter beside him, treating these matters like a child’s game, turned even the gravest problems into a childish play.

A few days ago, Song Qi had noticed that Yu Manyi was speaking much less than usual, worrying that she had suffered too much in the Yu household over the past year. Unexpectedly, after only a few days of classes, she had regained her lively, relaxed, talkative self—a very happy little bird who, once given a place of freedom, could flutter about joyfully.

Her ease made Song Qi feel at ease too, so he stopped walking and said to Yu Manyi, “Of course I have to choose. Today, I’m choosing not to eat at your house. Instead, I’ll go eat the famous Shao San Xian in the eastern part of the city. Do you want to come with me?”