The summary of the book contains Hua Xuan Pu Hua Zhang and Ying Zu Hua Tong’s liberal arts.
Generations of gardeners guard the apricot altar, and students take a bath in the spring breeze.
——The door couplet of the office building of Micheng Middle School
Xiao Shi told me on WeChat that my commission had been fulfilled. She sent photos of the refill pens and homework books she bought for her primary school student Baijinxian. I appreciate it. Because of this little thing, it reminded me of my days in Secret City again.
The days of teaching in Miss City are tense and rhythmic. People in the mountains are diligent in spring, and students arrive at school to study at around 6 o'clock. All year round, the campus is always filled with the sound of books. In addition to normal teaching, there are many other activities in the school, but due to the compact organization, they generally do not take long. The work intensity is not high, but the pace feels quite fast. After running and doing exercises in the morning recess every day, each class also conducts collective reading activities, Chinese and English once every other day. The class I teach is the best first-level student in Micheng Middle School in recent years. The overall situation of the students is good, and they have obtained good rankings in the county's unified examination in both semesters. Honors come suddenly and I always feel a little unprepared. Because for such a good student, it is necessary to teach him well, but he should not teach him poorly
.
The teachers at Miss City Middle School have a strong sense of time. They are ready for meetings and group activities in advance and are waiting to start. There are few employees in Miss City, and attendance is very strict. There is a morning sign-in, and there are inspections and assessments by the star leadership. If a teacher or team member is late or absent, it will be recorded truthfully and reported to the regular meeting the next week. The star-rated teacher has to patrol classes and report at the regular meeting next week.
The leadership team of Micheng Middle School is hard-working, united and cooperative, and takes the lead in setting an example. What is particularly eye-catching is the flag-raising ceremony held every Monday. In the early morning in Miss City, the breeze was blowing, and the five-star red flag was rising slowly accompanied by the solemn international singing. The principal took the lead, and all the team members consciously stood in a row, standing at attention like the students, and participated in the solemn flag-raising ceremony. This was undoubtedly a beautiful scenery.
Micheng teachers have many extracurricular activities. For example, play basketball, badminton, table tennis, chess, flute, cucurbit flute, practice calligraphy, write calligraphy, play erhu, and sing Qin opera. Interested people can get together and start anywhere. After lunch, young teachers rode variable-speed bicycles to practice on the asphalt road, and middle-aged and elderly teachers took a "half-city and one lap" walk like me.
Missheng Middle School has a profound cultural heritage. I think the most representative thing is the door couplet on the teacher’s office building. "The summary of Gou Xuan is a splendid chapter, and it contains Yingzui Huatong's liberal arts. Gardeners from generation to generation guard the apricot altar, and numerous students enjoy the spring breeze." I once understood it in private: "The summary of Gou Xuan" in Bian School (Science), Mongolian School (liberal arts) "Hanying Yingzuihua", teachers "guard the apricot altar", and students "soak in the spring breeze". I don’t know if my understanding is thorough, but I will record it here as a souvenir.
The happiest thing is to have three meals a day together in Micheng Zaofang. Although the meal was simple, with two dishes and one soup, men, women, young and old, and leaders gathered together happily, chatting and laughing. Its atmosphere makes everyone happy! Under normal circumstances, we start by eating a few steamed buns and making a few gangs, and finally talk about "five golden flowers" and "a bunch of candied haws". When it comes to telling jokes, the two Xiao Lis are indeed masters. The two of them responded very quickly, spoke easily, and spoke sharply. Always makes everyone laugh. At this time, the principal also participated and said a few words to make everyone happy. Lao Yang, the general affairs director, always eats leftover noodles from the day before and says he likes it, but I don’t know whether it’s true or not.
The funniest thing is Miss City Middle School going to the toilet. First, in the early morning of every day, when the night has not yet receded, teachers and students become active. The strange thing is that each teacher is carrying a plastic bucket of different sizes, colors and shapes. At first, I was a little uncomfortable with it, but later I joined the team carrying buckets downstairs in the early morning. As time went by, I even felt a bit like Beijing’s hutun in old Beijing! In addition, there is another strange thing that has made me curious for a long time. Every time I finish peeing in the toilet, I hear someone peeing behind the toilet. And every time I do this, I get confused because I can't go back to see it.
It wasn't until one day when I was taking out the garbage in the garbage dump behind the toilet that I discovered that there was a plastic pipe connected to the toilet pit. The mysterious men's restroom in Secret City, it turned out to be like this. Also, the corridor leading to the toilet of Miss City Middle School is half empty, with wires passing through it. Every morning, there are always two little sparrows chirping there. Based on this situation, I actually wrote the fable "Two Birds".
The people in the mountains are thick-skinned and not as thin-skinned as the people in the city. Calling Lao Li "Tieguai Li" and Xiao Wang "Bald Qiang", the two of them are always cheerful and have never been seen getting angry. Mongolia and Xiao Ma helped me many times to change the water, install the chimney, and move the stove. It was Xiao Ma who helped me until I finally left, dismantling the chimney and returning the stove. I am grateful. I always wanted to invite him to have a casual meal, but it never happened, and I still feel a little sorry to this day.
I am an emotionally fragile person. I am easily affected by the situation and get hurt easily. Every semester when school starts and ends, there is always an inexplicable emotion. A kind of faint unhappiness lingers in my heart, lingering, constantly cutting, and still confused. This happens every time after working for decades. On the occasion of parting last year, it felt even more real. In the few days before leaving Miss City, we had a few meals and drank a few drinks, which was regarded as a temporary farewell to relatives and friends. Remember to take a small walk at noon the day before leaving. The sun is blurry, the sky is pale gray, there is snow in the cave mountains, and ice forms in the river. People are busy shopping and doing errands on the streets. My mood is not as bright as when I walked in the past. That night I went to the primary and secondary school to say goodbye to Brother Bai. Brother Bai has published another new work, I am very happy. After sharing the award-winning performance of his recital poem Baili Ode, he stopped talking because there was still a teacher working in the room, wished each other good luck, and said goodbye again at the school gate. Because of Brother Bai, the year he lived in Mi City was quite interesting. After work, he wrote some poems and pretended to be a man of culture, and he also entertained himself. After lunch, the school ended for the winter vacation, and I took the principal’s private car home. I am very grateful to Principal Bian for his support and care for my work, and for providing free transportation back and forth every week.
Nowadays, although people have returned to Chengguan and have heavy work on their shoulders, every time it is quiet at night, they will always think of the scene of working in Mi City. In 2016, during my time in Miss City, although my work was tense, it went smoothly. Although life is hard, it is very happy. I am grateful for my years in Miss City, and I am grateful for my colleagues at Miss City Middle School. Baili spirit, Miss City culture, and friendship with colleagues have become an indispensable part of me.