Training the Heavens

Chapter 59 I don't have the face to ask this question

"Crackle. Crackle." Ten thousand firecrackers exploded, and red confetti was everywhere. A group of brave children couldn't wait for the sound of firecrackers to stop, and they went back into the smoke to carefully search for every dud.

The women of Gaojia Village gathered in a newly built shed in the corner of the threshing ground, talking loudly about the latest gossip in the surrounding area and their envy of Gao Yangshi.

Gao Yude passed out cigarettes with a smile on his face. Wherever he went, men took them with both hands and gave him a string of compliments, saying, "Your Jialin has made a name for himself now. Our Gaojia Village has produced a talented person."

"Uncle Yude, I don't think you and Auntie will be able to live in these three new kilns for many more years!" As soon as these words were spoken, the threshing ground suddenly fell silent, and everyone looked over. Who on earth had said such unpleasant things on such a happy occasion? If they met someone with a bad temper, wouldn't they be given a few good beatings?

Some young men were ready to roll up their sleeves, but the man who was speaking showed no sign of panic. He looked around and suddenly raised his voice, "When you graduate from Jialin University, you'll be city cadres. Won't we take you to live in the city?"

"Hahaha!" Everyone burst into laughter, and the young men put their sleeves down again.

"Yes, yes. Jialin still has three and a half years of school to go. Uncle and Auntie can probably only stay in Gaojia Village for three years! Even if he goes to Shanghai in the future, I'm afraid we won't be able to eat the delicious millet and red dates from northern Shaanxi!"

"Are you stupid? By then, uncle and aunt will eat sour soup dumplings for every meal, so who would want to eat millet?" Just like what was written in "Blood Romance", the people in Gaojia Village also regard sour soup dumplings as the most delicious thing in the world.

Gao Yude was so happy to hear this that he kept giving cigarettes to the young man who had just spoken. Two cigarettes were not enough, so he simply gave him the remaining half box. The young man was immediately overjoyed and showed off the cigarettes everywhere.

Joyful laughter filled the threshing ground until Gao Yuhou came out of the cave with incense, candles and red paper. Everyone immediately quieted down and looked at this famous kiln builder who was well-known in the surrounding area.

Gao Yuhou walked to the place where he was going to dig a new kiln, muttered something, lit incense sticks and paper, bowed around, pasted red paper on the foot of the mountain, looked up at the height of the sun and waited for a moment.

These customs were interrupted for more than ten years and were only gradually restored in recent years. Now almost no one cares about them.

The other skilled workers picked up their tools and walked up to Gao Yuhou, and the unskilled workers followed them and stood in a row.

As the sun climbed over the mountain, Gao Yuhou shouted, "The auspicious time has arrived, start digging!"

The skilled worker who had been prepared for this immediately picked up the tools in his hands and started chiseling towards the place where Gao Yuhou had drawn the lines while shouting ancient work songs. The unskilled workers were busy assisting the skilled worker, and the scene suddenly became busy.

From that day on, Gao Jialin's doorstep has always maintained this bustling scene, and the villagers are happy to work. Winter is the slack season for farming, and it is a great thing to be able to earn some money at home at this time.

Skilled workers have no shortage of such opportunities. Nowadays, ordinary people have more and more money to earn, and the first thing they think of when they have money is often to build new kilns. So as long as they want to do it, there will be people hiring them all year round.

It’s different for laborers. There is no shortage of good laborers in any village. These hard jobs are generally only done by people from the same village. Even if there is work, they may not get paid because there is a custom of exchanging labor in the village. Now you help me build the kiln in my family, and when your family needs labor to farm or build the kiln in the future, I will help you!
Gao Jialin, unwilling to let his father work so hard, gave them the opportunity to earn two yuan a day. Once the three kilns were completed, they would have money to buy fertilizer next year. The owner provided three meals a day. In the morning, they had a few bowls of mutton noodles, which gave them the strength to work. At noon, they rested for a while and ate a few bowls of dumplings, which filled them up with energy.

The evening was even more lively. Eight large bowls of four meat dishes and four vegetable dishes were placed on the table, and jars of wine were brought over. The young and old men drank and ate as much as they wanted! After eating and drinking to their heart's content, they snored all night and woke up in the morning as strong men again.

His father helped to look after the kiln, and the steward and his mother were also looking after the kitchen. Gao Jialin was free at the moment. He took advantage of this time to take the gifts he bought from Shanghai and Xi'an to wish his relatives and friends a happy new year in advance.

No matter whose home he visited, Gao Jialin always received the warmest reception. Relatives and friends listened to him talk about the prosperity of Shanghai with envy in their eyes.

In addition to relatives and friends, Gao Jialin also did not forget the teachers who taught him in the past. Whether they were private teachers in elementary school or teachers in the junior high school in the town, he visited them one by one to express his gratitude and gave them gifts.

When these teachers received the gifts, their faces were all beaming. Nowadays, being able to teach a college student is something they can brag about for years. Even if they attend weddings or funerals, as soon as people say that this is the teacher of college student Gao Jialin, they will definitely be arranged to sit at the top seat.

In addition to expressing his personal gratitude to them, Gao Jialin also donated some things to the school. The primary school in Gaojia Village had been in disrepair for many years, so he took lime and wood from his home and asked someone to help repair it.

The junior high school in the town lacked extracurricular books, so Gao Jialin gave them some books so that these students from the mountainous villages of the Loess Plateau would have the opportunity to know what the outside world is like.

He also gave a class to the third-year junior high school students who were taking supplementary lessons. He told them about his own experience of taking the high school and college entrance exams, and encouraged them to study hard so that they could go to big cities to see the world like him in the future.

When he was giving the lecture, not only the third-year junior high school students were listening, but also many high school students who had returned home for the winter vacation. They pricked up their ears, afraid of missing even a single word, and their eyes were full of longing after listening.

The teachers at Kuanzhou Middle School soon learned about this. The new principal wondered, since Gao Jialin was so grateful, should he also return to his alma mater?

It would be best if you could donate something to your alma mater.

It’s okay if he doesn’t donate. He can give a class to the senior high school students, talking about their experience of taking the college entrance exam and the beauty of college. This will also be of great help to Kuanzhou Middle School. He has already taught the junior high school students, so he should be able to teach the high school students as well, right?

Unfortunately, after waiting for several days, Gao Jialin still didn't come.

If he doesn't come, then we'll go and invite him. So the principal found Mr. Jing, Gao Jialin's former homeroom teacher, and asked, "Mr. Jing, I heard Gao Jialin is back. Do you have any students in your class who are close to him? Ask them to go to Gaojia Village and invite Gao Jialin to give a class to the senior students?"

Teacher Jing's face drooped, and after a long while, he managed to utter, "I'm too embarrassed to ask this."

(End of this chapter)