Chapter 2

Back at the middle school, just as the students were lining up to get their meals, Ye Zetao carried a large bowl and got a bowl of rice. There wasn't much to choose from, just a single dish of stir-fried potatoes.

"Xiao Ye, come over to our house for a meal," the principal's wife, a plump woman, said warmly.

"Haha, I was just hoping to get some free food!" Ye Zetao didn't hesitate and went to the principal's house, where he helped himself to some stir-fried tofu and squatted in front of the door to eat.

The rural middle school could only offer junior high education, with several hundred students, making it a fairly large rural school. Despite this, the entire school consisted of only a few low, earthen buildings used as classrooms, and all the students lived in earthen houses.

Some students were already squatting in groups on the uneven ground, eating their meals.

There wasn't even a proper playground!

After finishing his meal, a few young teachers gathered together, chatting and laughing. Ye Zetao joined them.

Seeing Ye Zetao approach, the young teachers, who were already familiar with him, smiled and said, "Xiao Ye, doesn't your party office have a DVD player?"

Ye Zetao was taken aback and asked, "What about it?"

The faces of the teachers showed a strange expression, and one of the more active teachers whispered, "Xiao Zhou rented a DVD from the city!" As he said this, he made a look that suggested Ye Zetao should understand.

A young teacher surnamed Gu whispered, "I've already borrowed a TV from Old Li's house, and we'll bring it over tonight!"

Only then did Ye Zetao understand and laughed, "Alright, I'll bring it over."

"You're a good friend!" The teachers all laughed heartily.

For these teachers who had been in the deep mountains for a long time, it was rare to have such an experience.

After finishing his meal, Ye Zetao indeed carried the DVD player from the party office to Xiao Zhou's dormitory.

Since they were all teachers, they were still concerned about the impact, so even though everything was ready, no one dared to watch before the students had gone to bed.

Ye Zetao had nothing to do in the evenings these days. One day, when Xiao Gu went to the county town, Ye Zetao volunteered to take his place and supervised the evening self-study class. Unexpectedly, he became the most popular person among the students that night.

After the students finished their homework, Ye Zetao told a segment of "Journey to the West."

These rural children had never heard such a story before, and Ye Zetao's eloquence immediately captured their hearts. Every evening, the children finished their homework early, eagerly waiting for Ye Zetao to tell a story.

The classroom was an earthen building, with wooden boards dividing the space. When a story was told in one classroom, it could be heard clearly in the others.

The classroom was dimly lit, with each child's desk having a small kerosene lamp. These lamps were made from empty ink bottles, with a small tube made from toothpaste foil inserted into the bottle, filled with cotton, and the bottle filled with kerosene. Once lit, they could burn for a long time.

The room was filled with the pungent smell of kerosene. Seeing the children's eager eyes, Ye Zetao told the story with great enthusiasm, his loud voice echoing through the classrooms.

Each classroom was quiet, and the children's faces showed a dreamy expression. Whenever he saw this, Ye Zetao felt a desire to cry; it was too backward here!

The sound of the iron block hanging on the tree being struck rang out, and Ye Zetao stopped his story. He watched the children excitedly discussing and leaving, then slowly walked out of the classroom.

Shaking his head, Ye Zetao returned to his dormitory, washed his face and feet, and was about to go to bed when he suddenly remembered he had something to do that night. Thinking about the adult DVD Xiao Zhou had rented from the city, his young heart was somewhat excited.

He put on his shoes and went to Xiao Zhou's dormitory. Upon entering, he found that almost all the young male teachers in the school had already arrived, and five of them were crowded on Xiao Zhou's bed.

Ye Zetao passed around a pack of cigarettes and said, "It's great that everyone is here today!"

Everyone laughed.

Xiao Zhou glanced at the student dormitories across the way and whispered, "We still need to wait a bit!"

Everyone laughed again.

At this moment, Xiao Gu looked at the pot of hot water on the stove and said, "Let's cook some noodles first!"

After cooking the noodles, each of them carried a large bowl and ate.

Although there were no condiments in each bowl, Ye Zetao enjoyed eating with everyone.

The teachers were busy grading homework, each one working diligently.

Glancing at the TV, Ye Zetao sighed. There was no TV signal here, so having a TV was almost useless. Bored, Ye Zetao found a textbook to read.

Time passed slowly, and the entire campus became quiet.

Stretching, Xiao Gu looked outside, closed the door, and said excitedly, "Alright!"

As if receiving an order, the teachers who were grading homework quickly stopped.

Xiao Zhou closed the door and quickly turned on the TV, which was already connected.

Teacher Xiao Hu turned off the lights and said, "Pull the curtains, so no one can see!"

Being young, everyone's eyes were on Ye Zetao, who was the only one who knew how to operate the DVD player.

The DVD was inserted, and Ye Zetao felt everyone's breathing quicken. All five teachers were from rural areas and had rarely seen such things.

Time passed, and Ye Zetao's brow furrowed as he looked at Xiao Zhou. "Is the DVD you rented really that kind?"

Xiao Zhou said, "The boss said it was new stock from out of town!"

More time passed, but the TV only showed static. There was no content, let alone adult content.

The young men were frustrated and asked Ye Zetao, "Xiao Ye, is there something wrong with the machine?"

"There's no way. We only used it to play educational content for party members yesterday, and it worked fine!" Ye Zetao said confidently.

After saying this, the physics teacher, Xiao Lin, stepped forward and carefully examined the machine, nodding and saying, "The connections are fine!"

"It must be a problem with the machine!" Xiao Zhou said, looking at Ye Zetao.

Ye Zetao was also anxious and said, "I have a DVD with educational content for party members in my dorm. I'll bring it over to test."

He quickly rushed back to his dormitory, took the educational DVD, and brought it to Xiao Zhou's dorm. After inserting the DVD, the TV showed a picture.

Seeing the DVD play normally, the young men's faces turned sour.

Xiao Zhou said angrily, "Damn, they tricked me!"

Ye Zetao laughed and said, "It's perfect. The township has a training task for party members, and I was at a loss on how to start. Let's consider this a training session!"

They tried multiple times, but the rented DVD still wouldn't play. Everyone gave up and, at Ye Zetao's suggestion, decided to watch the educational DVD, chatting idly.

Forcing everyone to sit and watch the entire DVD, Ye Zetao secretly laughed.

Seeing Ye Zetao tidying up the machine, Xiao Gu sighed, "Damn, the whole night turned into a party education class!"

Xiao Lin rubbed his temples and said, "It's almost four. I have the first class tomorrow. This is going to kill me!"

As they were talking, they heard the sound of nails being hammered outside. Hearing this, everyone fell silent and looked outside cautiously.

After a while, as the sound disappeared, Xiao Zhou shook his head and said, "Old Niu!"

Xiao Gu said, "Family planning must have really affected Old Niu."

Ye Zetao said, "I was just going to ask you about this. What's wrong with Principal Niu? Why does he often get up in the middle of the night and hammer things?"

Everyone laughed, and Xiao Lin said, "It's all because of the sterilization. The last time the township asked Old Niu's wife to get sterilized, she refused. Old Niu, being a good party member and principal, secretly went to the county to get sterilized. Who knew it would affect him like this! Sigh!"

Ye Zetao was taken aback; he had never heard of sterilization having such an effect.

Stepping outside, the rain was drizzling, and although it was autumn, the weather in Chunzhu Township was already very cold. Ye Zetao shivered and looked at the dilapidated, low student dormitory, then walked over.

The mountain wind was blowing, and the sound of the dilapidated student dormitory creaking could be heard.

Hearing this, Ye Zetao's heart raced.

As he walked closer, the creaking became louder.

The wind grew stronger, and Ye Zetao felt that something was definitely going to happen tonight.

He rushed back to his dormitory, grabbed a flashlight, and ran to the building. Shining the flashlight, he saw the building swaying.

Seeing this, Ye Zetao was even more alarmed and ran to Principal Niu's house, knocking on the door. Principal Niu, in his pajamas, opened the door.

Without saying much, Ye Zetao pulled Principal Niu and ran, shouting, "The student dormitory is about to be blown down! Let's go check!"

When they reached the student dormitory, the creaking was even louder. Principal Niu was also shocked and said, "How can this be!"

"Quick, get the students out! Move them to the classrooms!"

Seeing the building swaying, Principal Niu quickly called some teachers to help. They woke the students and helped them move out.

The wind grew stronger, and the students, not understanding what was happening, rubbed their eyes and followed the teachers, carrying their bedding.

The building was crowded with about eighty students, and it took them about half an hour to move all the bedding out.

The creaking grew louder, and the wind became even stronger.

A strong gust of wind blew, and a loud crash was heard.

The student dormitory collapsed with a loud noise.

Seeing the collapsed building, Principal Niu's lips trembled, and he grabbed Ye Zetao's hand, trying to say something but unable to speak.

Ye Zetao was also shaken and shouted, "Check if all the students are out!"

After counting the students, Principal Niu was relieved and said, "They're all alive! They're all alive!"

...

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