A choice

Let her regard education as her lifelong mission

Taoyuan, a natural village in Xiejiaping Village, Hengshui Town, Linzhou City. The village is not big, with a population of just over 300, but half of them have the same first teacher. She is Wang Shengying, who was just nominated by CCTV as the 2006 Personality of the Year candidate for "Touching China".

On December 21, 2006, the reporter came to this place that seemed like a paradise. Starting from the choice made 32 years ago, the reporter walked step by step into the life of this rural female teacher——

Wang Shengying was born in 1956, the first child of an ordinary farmer in Xiejiaping Village. Most peasant families in that era lived in embarrassment, and the Wang family was no exception. The difference is that a sudden high fever when she was young caused Wang Shengying to contract polio, leaving her right leg disabled for life. From then on, for Wang Shengying, Taihang Mountain became increasingly steep and the mountain road became more and more bumpy.

The family is poor and cannot afford to send their children to school. There are many people in the village who do not go to school. Moreover, Shengying is a girl and her legs and feet are not convenient. Looking at the hesitant eyes of her parents, Shengying cried and fussed, insisting that she must go to school. At a young age, she seemed to have had a premonition that without education, her future life path would be even more difficult.

There are no parents in the world who don’t love their children, especially for such a disabled child. They finally agreed to Xiao Shengying’s request and sent her to school. My father said: "If your parents don't stop you, you have to worry about it yourself. If you succeed in learning, you will be lucky; if you fail in learning, don't blame anyone!"

The health of your parents is bad. It’s not good, but in order to support Shengying’s education, he not only saves money but also works hard. My father braved dangers to go into the mountains to collect stones, and my mother stayed up late at night spinning cotton for the family. "You can spin one or two cotton threads in one night and earn 30 cents." Teacher Wang gestured to the reporter with his fist to look like one or two cotton threads, with tears in his eyes.

Elementary school. junior high school. high school. Seeing the hardships of his parents and realizing the difficulty of studying, Shengying gritted his teeth and studied all the way. His grades were always among the best in the school and he became a rare high school student in the village. Because she is disabled, she has a deeper understanding of the pain. She is determined to be a doctor so that more villagers will no longer suffer from the pain.

However, a piece of news during the summer vacation of 1974 changed the direction of Wang Shengying's life: Dongping Village School wanted to recruit a private teacher.

Wang Shengying’s heart moved. Over the years, she has seen many of her peers either never go to school, or drop out of school after a short period of schooling. They can only go to the mountains to collect sheep dung, firewood, and forage for food in the nooks and crannies of the mountains. Life is still very tight. "Having a good body is not enough. Without education, there is still no way out." Wang Shengying said to her father, "I am not going to be a doctor anymore. I want to be a teacher so that all the children in our village can go to school!"

Dongping Village School is recruiting a junior high school mathematics teacher. It can only recruit one, but more than 50 people can apply. Wang Shengying was under great pressure, but she did not back down. She was determined to go all out for her choice. In the days before the exam, she didn't eat often, slept very little, and was focused on reviewing. The sacred podium seemed to be calling her not far ahead, waiting for her...

It was a summer On the afternoon of that day, she was washing clothes in the yard, and the village party secretary walked in excitedly: "Best born hero, born hero, first place!"

Huh? ! She threw her clothes in the basin, stood up, raised her face, and laughed. More than 30 years later, when talking to reporters about that scene, Wang Shengying was still so excited: "At that time, I felt that the sky was exceptionally blue and the sunshine was exceptionally good. The road in front of me suddenly became spacious and smooth. What's going on? It doesn’t even look like the mountain road it used to be…”

In the autumn of 1974, Wang Shengying stepped onto the podium and never came down again. This difficult and determined step determined her to regard dedicating herself to education in mountainous areas as her life's mission.

Xiejiaping is an administrative village, including 6 natural villages. The villages are separated by either mountains or rivers. There is a big river between Wang Shengying's home in Xiping and Dongping Village where she teaches. It takes half an hour to walk from home to school. Teacher Wang, who was dragging his broken leg, hurried along the mountain road and fell down often.

The rainy season is coming, the river water is swollen, and the small wooden bridge over the river cannot withstand the violent and lasting impact of the flood and breaks. Standing by the river without a bridge, Wang Shengying was a little anxious looking at the fast flowing water. The students were still waiting for her to go to class at the school on the other side of the river. Without hesitation, she took off her shoes and rolled up her trouser legs. The rain was still falling and the water was still rushing. Moving slowly on the river was the limping figure of a thin woman, as if she was in danger of being washed away by the river at any time. However, she didn't look back.

At that time, Wang Shengying was a private teacher, and her salary was pitifully low. At first it was only 5 yuan, and later it was 10 yuan, and then 30 yuan. Not to mention subsidizing the family, it was also difficult to maintain her own livelihood. Wang Shengying's tailoring skills were well-known in the village. A relative suggested that she open a tailor shop, where the income would be many times higher than being a teacher, but she was not tempted.

Linzhou's construction team is world-famous, and most people in Linzhou earn huge profits when they go out to work, so it is known as "a hundred thousand troops leaving Taihang". In 1985, Wang Shengying's husband, Wang Hesheng, contracted a construction project in the Northeast. He excitedly discussed with her: "Let's go to the Northeast together. I'll be in charge of the construction site and you can be an accountant. You won't have to be burdened. You can make more money than you." Teaching at home is a hundred times better!”

Teacher Wang knows her husband’s feelings best. He feels sorry for himself and for the good of the family. "But what will happen to this student when I leave? I became a teacher just because the previous teacher quit. How can I leave the students alone?"

Persuasion Unable to move her, her husband went to the Northeast alone. Still unwilling to give up, he wrote three letters to Shengying, asking her to think about it again. "What's there to consider? I won't go. I can't leave the students without a teacher." Teacher Wang read the letter, burned it, and cried, but he didn't waver at all about his ideal choice. "We mountain people Not only are they short of money, they are also short of knowledge and culture! ”