Scholarships

The canned meat sent by the Xibao Meat Processing Plant came in three varieties: ribs, braised pork, and pork belly with preserved mustard greens. Each can held about a jin, and the 480 cans weighed nearly half a metric ton, the equivalent of five dressed pigs. Only a gift between institutions could avoid setting tongues wagging.

With so many cans, Yang Rui could easily keep twenty or thirty for himself. For the director of a technical department, this was already a generous gesture.

But the supplies on the inventory went far beyond that.

Ten small cases containing 120 cans of fruit, 400 jin of fresh oranges, twenty fifty-jin bags of flour, and a large barrel containing fifty jin of lard-these were either the meat processing plant's own products or goods acquired through exchanges with other organizations. Every one of these gifts exceeded the usual scale.

Yang Rui could not help hesitating. Had Engineer Shao and his eldest uncle really carried that much weight?

Altogether, these things were worth at least four thousand yuan. More importantly, even money could not buy them.

Although gifts and exchanges between organizations were frequent, outright gifts were relatively rare. Of course, four thousand yuan's worth of goods would have been normal if given to County No. 1 High School, but the school would usually reciprocate with a few admission places, or lower its admission cutoff for several children of Xibao Meat Processing Plant employees.

Though Xibao Middle School was closer to the meat processing plant, it had never received such treatment. Since students could already attend without spending anything, why would anyone need to donate supplies?

State-owned enterprises might all be big spenders, but few were willing suckers.

Yang Rui could not work out the reason behind it, and Teacher Lu was even more astonished. He asked again, "How should we distribute these? The oranges probably won't keep for more than a few days."

Zhao Dannian had not wanted to handle this sort of thing personally, so he had entrusted it to Teacher Lu. Teacher Lu did not know how to discuss it with Yang Rui either. This student's performance had been far too unexpected. Moreover, the principal had specifically called a small meeting to explain that Yang Rui had authority over the distribution: the Xibao Meat Processing Plant had earmarked the supplies when sending them.

With no authority over their distribution, he could only cooperate. As Yang Rui's homeroom teacher, Teacher Lu felt somewhat awkward about that.

Fortunately, Yang Rui looked perfectly normal. Without saying much or making any particular display, he matter-of-factly hefted an orange, then inspected a few more. "Divide the oranges evenly among the classes. There are probably over a thousand here. Make sure every student gets one, and send them out by class during evening study. Divide what's left into two portions: one to be shared equally among the teachers, and the other among the students who helped produce the test papers."

Under his distribution plan, ordinary students would only get a taste, while each teacher would receive three or four jin, about the same as their holiday benefits. Quite a few students had helped produce the test papers, so each would receive less than an extra jin. It was hardly an extraordinary benefit, but it distinguished those who had worked from those who had not.

Hearing how clearly he had laid it out, Teacher Lu smiled. "That's easy enough. I'll borrow a scale and find a few people. We'll have it divided up in no time."

"Sorry for the trouble, Teacher Lu. Hmm, carry the flour and lard to the kitchen. They'll be just right for giving the teachers and students something extra at lunch every day." Even students who did not board at school ate lunch there, so adding to that meal was the fairest option.

Teacher Lu nodded in agreement.

"As for the canned food... leave it for now." When he reached the most important part, Yang Rui's decision left everyone dumbfounded.

Teacher Lu's pen had already touched the paper, and he nearly poked a hole through it.

He stopped distributing things just when he got to the most important part. Was that deliberate?

Couldn't he at least give a definite answer about whether the teachers would get any cans?

Teacher Lu remained restrained and watched Yang Rui leave, but the others could not help discussing it.

Having received instructions beforehand, Wang Guohua volunteered to take charge of the actual distribution.

As for the most tempting goods, the canned food remained piled in an immovable little mountain.

That very afternoon, students began coming to the sports equipment room to look at the cans as though visiting a spectacle.

Yang Rui returned to the classroom as though nothing had happened. First, he helped Duan Hang gather evidence and complete the chain of evidence. In the afternoon, he began looking over the Rui Study Group's accounts, then checked its members' homework. Only when evening study began did he take over the classroom and start explaining problems to everyone.

Having their homework checked was currently the only direct benefit enjoyed by the Rui Study Group's fifty-odd members. Although Yang Rui did not mark every problem one by one, he focused on checking certain students' answers to certain questions to gauge their grasp of the material, then provided individual guidance or targeted lessons.

Of course, when he taught, it did not matter whether someone belonged to the Rui Study Group. Anyone could sit in, and these listeners were usually the ones eager to join.

During his last two years as a tutor, Yang Rui had taught both one-on-one lessons and large classes of over two hundred people. His classroom management skills were exceptionally strong.

Compared with teaching methods in the eighties, anything he did was fresh. The eighties were a blank slate. The old professors at teacher-training colleges had outdated knowledge and were still using Soviet-style teaching methods from the fifties and sixties to train new teaching students. Even more teachers had never received systematic teacher training, and it did little good even for those who had, because textbooks and exam syllabuses changed faster than what they had learned.

In an era when no one could even be certain which subjects would appear on the following year's college entrance examination, innovative teaching methods abounded. Useful ones were another matter.

After three days of this, Yang Rui had made up the lessons missed during his absence.

Meanwhile, the students' and teachers' curiosity about the canned food had reached its peak.

Who could stand being allowed to look but not eat?

Even Hu Yanshan caught the mood at school. He went down the mountain, bought two cans himself, and squatted in his dormitory to polish them off.

Only then did Yang Rui gather the Rui Study Group and begin printing two new sets of test papers.

Surprisingly, the two sets were complete series for junior and senior high school, covering six subjects: mathematics, physics, chemistry, Chinese, English, and biology.

Huang Ren, who was responsible for arranging the mimeographing, felt dizzy when he received the papers. He looked at Yang Rui as though he were a god. It would take an ordinary person ages just to copy these papers out, let alone prepare six subjects spanning four grades.

And there were the Rui Study Group Secret Papers used to seize the market two days earlier. Taken together, even if Yang Rui had worked without eating or sleeping, surely he would not have had enough time to write them all.

Huang Ren could not help asking, "Are all these papers going to be printed for sale? Won't someone come after us?"

Huo Laosi had been arrested for piracy, and Huang Ren somehow felt as though it had happened to him.

Yang Rui smiled. "They're not for sale. Print enough for the students at our school, plus ten percent."

"So print the junior high sets according to the number of junior high students?"

"Yes. They're for them to take as exams, so keep them confidential. Hmm, have the top ten in the Rui Study Group cut all the stencils."

"Won't that interfere with their revision?" Huang Ren asked uncertainly.

Yang Rui laughed. "Our Rui Study Group wasn't built by simply piling on study hours. If a student still can't learn after studying ten hours a day, spending longer won't help. Go assign the work. If anyone is unwilling, explain the reason to them. If they still refuse, report it to me."

As Yang Rui saw it, his Rui Study Group should contain two kinds of people: those willing to dedicate their lives to the country and its people, and those willing to form an alliance of interests and strive together for life.

Whichever they chose, he had no use for bookworms.

Nor should the Rui Study Group's resources be wasted on them. In particular, bookworms who could not even pass exams themselves could probably only be called worms.

With a complete set of mimeographing equipment, it took only a day to print several hundred copies of the papers.

Even the five hundred sets of Rui Study Group Secret Papers that sold out each day required only four hours of mimeographing.

After inspecting the papers, Yang Rui headed straight for the cafeteria at noon.

With several hundred students eating at school, the two thousand jin of white flour would soon disappear. The fifty jin of lard, however, was being used sparingly. The cooks used it to stir-fry vegetables, giving them good flavor while using very little.

With such a good food subsidy, even fewer students brought their own meals. Entering the cafeteria courtyard, he saw students squatting beneath trees and along the roadside banks.

Yang Rui had timed his arrival for when food was served. Once everyone had collected their meals, he chose a large stone table, climbed onto it, and called out, "I have a short announcement."

"It's Yang Rui!"

"Yang Rui?"

"Yang Rui!"

"Which Yang Rui?"

"Yang Rui from the Rui Study Group. The one subsidizing the cafeteria and distributing the canned food."

"Oh, the Yang Rui distributing the cans. You should've said so sooner."

"I just did..."

"Shh, the guy distributing the cans is going to speak. Can you stop making noise?"

After a few whispered exchanges, the students quieted down on their own. The teachers sitting indoors marveled at the sight. Whenever they wanted to hold a meeting, enforcing order was exhausting. Yet this fellow only had to jump onto a stone table and stand there to get results...

"Students probably just find it easier to communicate with each other," the teachers consoled one another.

Yang Rui waited a minute, then smiled and raised his voice. "I know everyone is very interested in how the canned food from the Xibao Meat Processing Plant will be distributed. Today, I'll explain the plan. The first batch will consist of one hundred cans, half meat and half fruit. They will be distributed to three categories of students as part of a scholarship."

"Scholarship?"

"Three categories of students?"

The students listening intently were all puzzled.

In the eighties, the concept of scholarships was still uncommon in China. Secondary schools either waived tuition and miscellaneous fees for families in hardship or organized collections, usually for students with excellent character and grades, difficult family circumstances, and so on.

Still, everyone understood the word "scholarship" as soon as they heard it. They craned their necks, waiting for Yang Rui to explain further.

Yang Rui paused briefly until everyone's attention was focused on him, then continued, "The three categories of students eligible for scholarships are: first, those with good grades; second, those who have made significant progress; and third, those who actively participate in social practice activities. I will decide the specific assessment criteria."

"What counts as good grades? What rank do we need?" a student with good grades immediately asked, licking his lips.

Yang Rui smiled slightly. "Academic performance will be determined by an assessment. Students willing to participate should register with Huang Ren before evening study today, then go to the designated location to take the exam..."

"An exam?" This time, not only the students but the teachers were thrown into confusion.

As Yang Rui's homeroom teacher, Teacher Lu had no choice but to come out of the room and ask, "Yang Rui, did Principal Zhao approve this exam?"

"No."

"Then how can you just hold an exam?" Teacher Lu's tone was gentle, but his expression was stern.

Yang Rui smiled. "Anyone who wants to take it can take it, and anyone who doesn't, doesn't have to. But to receive a scholarship, you must take the exam."

At that, he raised his voice again. "The scholarships being awarded this time are one-off scholarships. One hundred and twenty-five students will receive them: the top twenty-five in each grade-junior high years one and two, senior high years one and two, and the repeaters' class-as well as the ten Rui Study Group students helping print the papers. Each will receive ten yuan in cash... Depending on their ranking, they will also receive cans of braised pork, ribs, or fruit..."

Nobody heard the rest. First, the students were stunned by the ten yuan. Then the courtyard erupted.

Teacher Lu was dumbfounded. "Can you hand out money directly? And where will all that money come from?"

"I checked the Rui Study Group's accounts. The new test papers have recently driven up both production and sales. Including our previous savings, we have just over a thousand yuan in profits. That's just right for distributing it all." With Huo Laosi's gang taken down, the Rui Study Group could now sell over eight hundred sets of papers a day, operating on roughly the same scale as the underground newspapers in the JF district. Yang Rui had no intention of leaving the money in the accounts. Spending it all was more appropriate.

At the same time, this would give his scholarship plan an opening.

Ten yuan was just enough to cover a semester's tuition and miscellaneous fees at Xibao Middle School. For students from struggling families, it would be far more helpful than a few sets of test papers.

Everyone in China knew that doing well in school could earn money, but before they could earn any, many boys and girls were forced to drop out because of family hardship. Brothers drawing lots, one going to work in the fields and the other attending school, might sound like a heartwarming story to outsiders. To those involved, however, it was life at its cruelest.

This was impoverished China's greatest curse upon its younger generation, and its greatest injustice.

Yang Rui could not lift everyone out of poverty. But if he could ease even a little of the burden on a few dozen students, or even just a few, this money would accomplish more than a month of explaining test papers until his voice gave out.