Fortunately, Dawang was not afraid as he worked nimbly. His movements were meticulous and it seemed like he could do it better than a very skilled woman.
It’s just that he still had to go to school and wasn’t able to work all day, but somehow, he managed to coax Han Qingsong into letting him take two classes each in the morning and the afternoon. He would then use the remaining time to bring the other children to the field and start working on drying the sweet potatoes.
With their help in arranging the potato slices, the adults were much more relaxed.
After lunch, Lin Lan sent the children away and took Xiaowang along with her to work. However, she was stopped by Dong Huaihua.
Dong Huaihua looked anxious, “Lin Lan, come and help me.”
Lin Lan wondered, “Director, why are you in such a hurry?”
“The thing you mentioned before— what kind of health publication is that? Come and give me some advice.”
Lin Lan asked Xiaowang to play with the other children on the street as she was taken to Dong Huaihua’s house.
Dong Huaihua’s house was similar to that of Old Man Han’s house. There were pillars in the house because there were north and south kangs, so the separation of the sides weren’t that clear and the house was not high enough. Now that she was used to living in her own tall and spacious house, she felt overwhelmed upon entering such a small house.
Lin Lan looked at a pile of paper, pens and books on the kang along with some posters showing women holding up half the sky.
Dong Huaihua showed Lin Lan the things that were spread out on the kang before she felt a little embarrassed, “Oh, I forgot, you never went to school.”
Lin Lan said with a smile, “It’s okay, the children all go to school and I learn alongside every day. It was a very cost-effective way to have more people learning without paying tuition fees.”
Maisui was a fast learner and she also borrowed higher-level books from Han Qingping to read. Lin Lan ‘learned’ pinyin along with her, so she could read some books on her own now. In addition to that, with some occasional guidance from Han Qingsong, she was improving much faster than her children.
The children all thought that it was amazing and even though Han Qingsong felt like something was amiss, he couldn’t say anything. After all, Lin Lan seemed to be proficient in reading and reciting. Since she had yet to reveal her writing skills, she wasn’t under too much suspicion.
Han Qingsong was her husband after all. Hence, it would be natural if he were to figure out there were little inconsistencies between the current Lin Lan and his actual wife. Though, most of the time, he was always convinced otherwise by Lin Lan herself.
She told Dong Huaihua that she learned both from the children and Han Qingsong. But on the other hand, she told Han Qingsong that she learned from the children, Dong Huaihua and the teachers.
No one was scrutinising her 24/7 anyways, so she could make her words go round a full circle if she wanted to.
Dong Huaihua said with emotion, “Lin Lan, you really were right. The County has issued a notice to let the communes and brigades learn whilst publicising the knowledge of the relationship between men and women,” The term ‘physiological hygiene’ was a bit too modern, so Dong Huaihua couldn’t remember the exact phrasing for a bit.
Her level of knowledge was really limited, which was equivalent to something along the lines of an elementary school standard in both literacy and wisdom. Although she always went to the Commune for meetings to talk about domestic issues and whatnot, it was hard for her to discuss professionally specific topics like the one at hand.
She was practically going into it blind.
But as she remembered what Lin Lan mentioned before, she hurriedly got her to ask for aid.
Lin Lan was overjoyed, “Really?”
Aiya, it truly was like giving a pillow to a person who’s falling asleep(3). She was only just worrying about her lack of work points and wanted to find some other form of work to subsidise it. Who would have ever thought that opportunity would come knocking on her door that quickly?
(T/N: Providing services/help or giving someone something that would aid them in their situation)