Huan Mei realizes her dream of living in poverty

Huan Mei is the principal of Taoyangou Village Primary School in Hubei Hui Township, a representative of the Second Party Congress of Shiyan City, and the Eighth Party Congress of Hubei Province Representatives of the National Congress of the Communist Party of China, representatives of the 16th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, representatives of the 17th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, representatives of the 6th "China's Top Ten Female Outstanding Women", etc.

On the tenth day of the first lunar month in 1992, the north wind was howling. During the teaching pilot project in Huodigou, Huan Mei's father, Hu Derong, a 51-year-old private teacher, suddenly collapsed on the three-foot podium in the severe cold.

Before his death, his father Hu Derong tremblingly took out a bill and handed it to Juan Mei: "Father didn't...leave you anything...only this...bill." After that, He closed his eyes forever.

At that time, people in Taoyuan Valley, located in the hinterland of the Qinling Mountains, lived like "cave people". In 1971, in order to allow school-age children to go to school nearby, *** opened a teaching point here, and Hu Derong became the only private teacher here.

Over the past 22 years, he has exhausted his efforts and sent away students one after another, leaving behind students who owed 960 yuan in tuition fees. one. Holding the yellowed debt note, Huan Mei couldn't help but shed tears in an instant.

After the death of Teacher Hu Derong, there were no more literate people in the village to serve as teachers, and teachers from other places were unwilling to teach here. Therefore, the teaching pilot had to be suspended, and 23 students had to drop out and return. Home.

That summer, 18-year-old Huan Mei had just graduated from junior high school. After her father passed away, the originally impoverished family lost its financial support, which seemed to make matters worse. Although Huanmei had excellent academic performance in school, she had to give up her desire to study. She had secretly made an appointment with several classmates to go out to work, but at this time, her mother said tentatively: "Anmei, after my father passed away, you were the only one who finished junior high school in Huodigou. The children are looking forward to your coming back to teach!"

Looking at the 23 children wandering idle up and down the mountain, recalling the yellowing bills left by her father, after some serious consideration, Huan Mei decided to stop going out to work and give teaching a try for half a year.

On September 1 of the same year, Juanmei resolutely walked up to the platform where her father had fallen. For a moment, she had mixed feelings: the school only had one broken classroom, and because the blackboard was faded, it had to be blackened with ink before writing; Since the ground was wet, she had to step on it for the water to seep out...but she was undeterred by the harsh conditions.

After one semester, 70% of the students taught by Huan Mei had scores of 80 or above, and three of them had scores of 90 or above. For this reason, she was rated as an outstanding teacher by the township. Looking at the progress made by the students and the 23 pairs of eyes hungry for knowledge, she couldn't help crying and said: "I won't leave!"

At that time, the monthly salary of private teachers was only 59 yuan. Within half a year, Huan Mei not only failed to recover a cent of her father's debt, but instead used all of her salary to pay tuition and fees for students. As the more she taught, the poorer she became, she unconsciously came up with the idea of ??going out to work.

One time, when Juan Mei was in class, she suddenly noticed a pair of big eyes staring directly at the blackboard outside the window. When she walked out of the classroom, a little girl rushed in front of her and asked her: "Teacher, can I study?"

"Yes, of course I can!" Huan Mei replied without hesitation. .

"But my father said that my family is poor and cannot afford to study!" the little girl continued.

After some thought, Juanmei said to the little girl: "There is no money to go to school, no money!" At night, Juanmei tossed and turned in bed, unable to sleep. She finally realized the connotation of her father's persistence in teaching despite being poor: he just didn't want to make his fellow villagers poor from generation to generation.

Although the children in the mountains did not have enough to eat or wear warm clothes, they still brought an apple or a few popcorns that were extremely precious at home to Juan Mei to eat. Not only that, she is often moved by the sensible mountain village children: due to poverty, many children carry their shoes in their hands and walk barefoot on the way to school, and then put them on after arriving at school. At the same time, they often said humorously: "If your feet are worn out, they will grow again; if your shoes are worn out, they will be gone."

Huan Mei's strong sense of responsibility drove her to believe that she must not let Any school-age child drops out of school.

In the second semester, nine students gradually dropped out of school. Villager Fan Changxue was once a student of her father. He studied for three years without paying a penny in tuition. Now, his two children are out of school at home.

Huan Mei said to him earnestly: "Uncle, let the children go to school."

"Teacher Hu, I still remember the tuition fees I owed your father in the past, but their mother He died early, how can he have money to study?" Fan Chang said shyly with his money in his pocket.

"I'll pay if I don't have any money, but they have to study!" Huan Mei replied without thinking.

Fan Changxue cried and said to the two children: "You must remember Teacher Hu's kindness!" In this way, she persuaded all nine out-of-school children to return to school.

In the summer vacation of 1996, Wu Wenrong, a cadre of the Hubei Provincial Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, sent him the first donation. Looking at the 650 yuan in front of her, simple Huan Mei felt at a loss for an instant. Money was especially needed for her personally and for her family.

The five members of the family are crowded into two dilapidated stone houses. Except for the Chinese New Year, the whole family has never eaten oil. Even if they eat salt on a daily basis, they will feel nervous; because his mother He has serious stomach problems, and every time he gets sick, he borrows some pills from nearby; the interest on his loan to study correspondence courses is also increasing day by day...

However, once I think of the children's poor life and eyes eager for knowledge, , Juanmei will feel unable to calm down in her heart. So, she discussed the matter with her mother. After thinking deeply, her mother replied: "Your father's greatest wish is to educate his children well. It's up to you."

The next morning , Huanmei took the initiative to find village cadres and actively organized labor. She used the money to buy glass, steel bars, and lime, paint the walls of the dilapidated teaching pilot, renovate the roof, repair tables and chairs, etc. Remittances came one after another, 10 yuan, 100 yuan, 1,000 yuan, 10,000 yuan... That winter, donations from 28 provinces and cities across the country and Singapore totaled more than 30,000 yuan, and more than 4,000 letters from the community.

Dong Aihua, a former cadre of the Guangdong Provincial Public Security Department, came all the way to Taoyuangou to visit Huanmei and donated 20,000 yuan to her on the spot; Li Feng, a private teacher in Xinrong County, Shaanxi Province, sent him hawthorns sold by his wife With the 16 yuan earned, more than a dozen colleges and universities invited Huan Mei to give lectures to college students...Suddenly, remittance orders and letters made her feel the slightest care and encouragement.

In the winter of the same year, Huan Mei submitted an application for party membership to the township party committee, and wrote in the application: "I am willing to dedicate everything I have to the education in the valley."

< p> At the end of the New Year, as soon as Huan Mei, who had just returned from winter vacation, came home, she heard her younger brothers and sisters complaining: "We don't even have meat to celebrate the New Year, and we don't even have a new piece of clothing. Is this still called 'New Year'?" Juan Mei She suddenly felt guilty, and early the next morning, she took 30 yuan with her and prepared to go to the market to buy new year's goods and a new dress for her brother.

However, on the way, Huanmei met Chu Lianying, who was carrying firewood to the market. After some inquiries, she learned that her mother was ill. Since she didn't have enough money to pay for school fees after the vacation, her mother asked her to find ways to make money on her own.

Looking at little Lianying who was shivering in the cold wind, Juanmei felt a sore nose and said to her: "Lianying, I have 30 yuan here. You can take it home to treat your mother. You don’t have to pay any fees when you go to school next year.”

This young female teacher is like a candle, using her crystal love and selfless feelings to serve the poor children in the mountainous area. Private teachers from poor families devote their red youth.