Chapter 119 - 117 She’s his Achilles’ heel!
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Speaking of culture, one must mention the uniqueness of Qingfeng Village.
Due to the existence of two once-great literary giants from the ’Xie, Zhou’ families, practically every child in the village, boys and girls alike, has attended school. Those who have not are immigrants who moved during the mass relocations of the fifties and sixties.
Qingfeng Village is not large, but not small either, home to roughly three hundred families. Here, ninety percent of the children have completed at least primary school.
Since 1975, when the down-to-the-countryside youth began to return to the cities, the village primary school has been taken over by the well-respected elders from the Xie and Zhou families. From the first to fifth grade, education is free for the villagers. Even older individuals who wish to learn can attend school in the village.
However, regardless of whether in the first or fifth grade, all schooling is full-time. Students are not allowed to go home for lunch but must remain at school to do work within their capabilities, a form of mandatory labor considered as ’tuition fees’.
Although the village school may seem modest, it teaches following the old private schooling traditions, attracting no small number of people from the surrounding areas. Naturally, this fame stems from the results it has achieved.
Before 1975, the Zhou Xie Private School was merely known as Qingshan Primary School [Darn, what an awkward name!], run by down-to-the-countryside youth.
From 1975 on, as eligible youth gradually returned to the cities, the school faced a shortage of teachers. The retired elders from the Xie and Zhou families were thus called back.
Ever since the elders from the Xie and Zhou families took over, not only family disciples and children from the Qingshan Team but also other applicants have had to pass an entrance exam. Those who didn’t meet the passing mark were not accepted by the school!