Chapter 38
◎Storytelling Competition◎
For their eldest son to be able to join the army was a great relief to Su Huimin and his wife. Of course, they didn’t want their eldest son to return to farming after studying for so many years.
Now, their family had two people working outside the home.
Zhang Guixiang was so angry about this that she couldn’t sleep for two days and two nights. One of the reasons she had been so anxious to divide the family was that she was worried that the matter of Su Laosan hiding poems would affect the future of her Tiedan and Gousheng. But in the end, neither of her two sons became soldiers, while Su Juesheng had joined the army!
For the rural youths of that era, there was no better way out than to join the army. To be able to wear that military uniform not only meant eating from the “public pot,” but also the possibility of being promoted to a cadre and settling down in the city in the future!
After the primary school students from the various villages under the commune graduated, if they were still willing to study, they would generally go to Hongqi Commune Middle School. The entire junior high school had about two to three hundred students, with two classes in each grade. Tangtang, her brother Su Juesheng, and Sun Xiangrong were assigned to the first year, class (1).
The commune middle school was separated from the main street of the commune by a river. There were six or seven classrooms. In front of the classrooms was a playground. To the left of the playground was the canteen, and to the right was the student dormitory. A large poplar tree was planted in front of the dormitory.
Not long after the school year began, class cadres were selected. Everyone was not familiar with each other. Tangtang had entered the school with the first-place score in the entire commune, so the teacher personally elected her as the class monitor.
Her brother, Su Juesheng, because of his lively personality and better-than-average physical strength, was elected as the sports committee member.
May Day was Labor Day. The commune middle school organized a cultural performance, and each class had to contribute a program. As the class monitor, Tangtang discussed it with the other class cadres for two nights. In the end, they decided that their class would have two programs: a chorus of the revolutionary song “The Red Star Shines on Me to Battle,” with everyone in the class who could sing participating, and a storytelling program by Tangtang and her brother Su Juesheng, during which they would also act out some of the exciting parts of the story. Everyone was in their teens and loved to have fun. The preparation process was very actively participated in, and the class collective relationship became much more harmonious than in the first semester.
After the Labor Day cultural performance, Tangtang and Su Juesheng’s storytelling program won the first prize, and the chorus program won the second prize. This made the class teacher overjoyed. He personally brought the paste and pasted the two award certificates on the blackboard at the back.
Moreover, because Tangtang and Su Juesheng’s storytelling program was so well-prepared, the brother and sister worked together tacitly, their speech was clear and vivid, and they received the most praise. In June, the city was going to hold a revolutionary storytelling competition. The director of the county cultural center remembered the two children from the Labor Day cultural performance and had them participate.
This was to represent Yuanlin County in the performance. Such an important opportunity falling on the heads of these two children felt like it could knock them out. And it was in a big place like the city, performing in front of several thousand people. In the end, it was Tangtang who calmed down first and comforted her brother, “Don’t be afraid. We’ve rehearsed this story hundreds of times. We can even tell it with our eyes closed.”
Hearing Tangtang’s words, Su Juesheng also felt that it made sense. “You’re right.”
Although he said that, when they got on the bus to the county town, the two of them were so nervous that their hands were sweating. During the rehearsal at the county cultural center, they even made several mistakes.
But on the day of the storytelling competition, everything went unexpectedly smoothly. The audience below the stage was a dark mass of people. Su Juesheng’s voice was clear and bright, characteristic of a young boy. “It was a late autumn day, and the sun was setting in the west…”
Tangtang continued his words, the young girl’s voice was clear and sweet, but without any vague childishness. “Due to the long march on the desolate grassland, often suffering from hunger and cold, Comrade Chen Geng felt extremely tired. He had fallen behind, leading his equally tired and thin horse, walking forward step by step. Suddenly, he saw a little Red Army soldier in front of him, who, like him, had also fallen behind…”
At the end of the story, Tangtang said with a sob, “His hand touched the little Red Army soldier’s ration bag. The bag was hard. What was inside? He took it out and saw that it was a burnt-black ox knee bone.”
First, there were rustling sobs in the auditorium, followed by a deafening round of applause.
This time, Tangtang and her brother Su Juesheng’s program “The Stubborn Little Red Army Soldier” not only received high praise but also won a first-prize certificate, which made the director of their county cultural center so happy that his smile didn’t leave his face for three days.
It was already six or seven in the evening when they returned to the Yuanlin County Cultural Center. They were arranged to stay at a guest house for one night and would be sent back to the commune middle school the next morning.
Tangtang and Su Juesheng were both very excited. This was their first time spending the night in the county town without an adult accompanying them. There was an indescribable sense of novelty. “How about we go to the county high school to find Second Brother?”
They were now eager to see their family.
“Alright!”
Just as they walked out of the guest house, they ran into Zhou Shunian, who was pushing a black bicycle.
Tangtang’s eyes lit up. “Brother Shunian!”
“Brother Shunian.” Su Juesheng was also very happy. He felt a sense of closeness to Brother Shunian.
Zhou Shunian’s eyebrows were clear and his face was smiling. “Congratulations on winning the first prize.”
“How did you know?” Tangtang was a little surprised.
“It’s all over the county. I guess your parents have also heard about it. You two children are really something.”
Tangtang’s face turned a little red, and Su Juesheng scratched his head in embarrassment.
“Have you had dinner?”
“Not yet.” They had originally planned to go to the county high school to find Su Juexiao and then go out to eat together.
“Come to my house. I’ll make something special for you two.”
Zhou Shunian took Tangtang and Su Juesheng back to the county revolutionary committee. This was their second time at Zhou Shunian’s house. Hearing that the two of them had won the first prize in the revolutionary storytelling competition, Wang Chunlan was so happy she couldn’t close her mouth. She went into the kitchen to make something delicious for the two children.
Sweet and sour pork ribs, salt and pepper chicken, sweet and sour shredded potatoes, stir-fried mung bean sprouts, and a chicken soup made from a chicken frame, with chicken gizzards and intestines, and several kinds of dried mushrooms. It was so fresh and sweet to drink.
Wang Chunlan was afraid that the two children would feel constrained, so she found an excuse to go outside, leaving Zhou Shunian and the Su family siblings in the main hall.
Tangtang heard Wang Chunlan talking to someone in the courtyard. The man looked to be in his forties, with his hair combed back, carrying a briefcase, wearing a dark gray tunic suit, and had a dignified air about him. His brows were tightly furrowed. She guessed that this must be Auntie Wang’s husband, Brother Shunian’s dad—the director of the county revolutionary committee, Zhou Tingchang.
Wang Chunlan said something, and Zhou Tingchang frowned. “This is not something you women should be asking about.”
Hearing this, Wang Chunlan complained with dissatisfaction, but in the end, she didn’t dare to contradict her husband, only muttering in a low voice, “You’re so busy every day, you don’t care about the family’s affairs.”
Zhou Tingchang looked into the room. “We have guests today?”
“Two little children, Shunian’s friends. They came to our house last time, but you were in a meeting and didn’t see them.”
“Oh, it’s the family Shunian stayed with during the agricultural learning, right?” Hearing this, Zhou Tingchang raised his foot and walked into the room.
“Hello, Uncle Zhou.” Tangtang and the others had already stopped their chopsticks. Seeing Zhou Tingchang come in, they stood up to greet this important figure.
Although they were rural children, they looked well-behaved and polite, and were generous and not petty at all.
“This is Tangtang, and this is Juesheng. The two children are really something. They just won the first prize for our county in the district’s revolutionary storytelling competition!”
“That’s really good. To have such skills at such a young age, you’ve really brought honor to our Yuanlin County!” Zhou Tingchang was obviously also very happy. Although his expression was still dignified when he said this, the appreciation in his tone was obvious.
Tangtang and Su Juesheng were a little embarrassed by such praise, their cheeks slightly flushed.
“Are you eating? I’ll make you a bowl of noodles…” Wang Chunlan asked Zhou Tingchang.
“I’m not eating. I have a meeting later.” As he spoke, Zhou Tingchang extended his hand to Tangtang and Su Juesheng and nodded with a smile. “You two little friends, come and play at our house whenever you have time.”
The brother and sister were instantly a little flustered. It was their first time having such close contact with a “high-ranking official” like the director of the county revolutionary committee, and Director Zhou even wanted to shake their hands. This was putting them on an equal footing.
Tangtang forced herself to remain calm and shook hands with the county party committee director. Her hand was a little cold, and when it touched Zhou Tingchang’s broad palm, she still couldn’t help but feel a little nervous. Zhou Tingchang shook the little girl’s hand, then released it, and extended his hand to Su Juesheng.
Su Juesheng took a deep breath and tried his best to act natural. He shook Zhou Tingchang’s hand. “Uncle Zhou, thank you for your praise.”
Zhou Tingchang smiled and nodded, patting Su Juesheng’s shoulder. “Then I’ll go and get busy. You two have fun.”
After dinner, Wang Chunlan insisted on having the brother and sister stay for a while and cut them some watermelon. Tangtang wanted to help Wang Chunlan wash the bowls, but she was pushed out.
So, Tangtang listened to the radio in the main hall. It was exactly eight o’clock in the evening. The announcer’s clear and standard voice came from the radio, and he began to broadcast the day’s important news.
It was her first time listening to the radio, and her wide eyes were full of novelty. She had only heard the big loudspeakers of the broadcast before. The sound from the radio had a very distant and empty feeling, but also a sense of closeness, as if it were right next to her ear.
Tangtang knew that what was being broadcast on the radio was the news. Her dad would read the newspaper every day, and Tangtang would often take her dad’s newspaper to read, but seeing and hearing were completely different feelings.
Su Juesheng was very interested in Zhou Shunian’s self-made airplane models. Zhou Shunian simply gave him several of the airplane models. “I made these for fun a few years ago. I don’t have much time to play with them now. If you like them, you can take them.”
Su Juesheng was too embarrassed to take them all. He only accepted one. Seeing that it was getting late, he said, “Tangtang, we should go back!”
When Zhou Shunian went in, he saw Tangtang clutching her stomach, her face pale and pained, lying on the table. Next to her was a half-eaten piece of watermelon.