Late to Catch On

To someone in the twenty-first century, a thousand yuan might have been no more than half a month's or a month's living expenses, a piece of clothing, or the cost of a meal.

But in 1982, a thousand yuan exceeded most families' savings. Even an ordinary family of four, with both parents working and perhaps one child already earning money, would still have struggled to save a thousand yuan.

In fact, it was only in the past two years that people had begun to feel they had a little money to spare. As for escaping a life of financial hardship, the Chinese people still needed nearly another decade of effort.

Wages at the time were meant to cover basic survival, and savings were scraped together by stinting on food. Spending one mao less on each meal meant saving nine yuan a month. A hundred yuan saved over a year could go into a fixed-term deposit, to be nurtured with painstaking care. But one occasional indulgence, even once every two months, would wipe out all that earlier scrimping. Whether they lived in that era or were young people thirty years later, nobody wanted such a life, or found it easy to endure.

Fortunately, ideals generally cost nothing. Comparing life in the eighties with the sixties and seventies gave people ample cause for satisfaction too. Without foreign capitalism as a comparison, without knowing how foreigners lived, the eighties were actually a purely wonderful era, almost an era of beauty unprecedented in China.

Most students had no concept of a thousand yuan, and few had ever seen what a thousand yuan looked like all together. The ten-yuan "Great Unity" notes inside the white envelope were the highest denomination in the third series of renminbi, enough to conjure countless beautiful visions in their minds.

Yet even the most extraordinary fantasies could not describe the excitement now surging through them.

Score their teachers? Evaluate their teachers?

They had never even imagined doing such a thing.

China's tradition of respecting teachers and their teachings had not been established in just a few years. Thousands of years of tradition carried their own inertia.

Unlike in Western countries, teachers in China had always enjoyed high social and economic standing. Teachers in the imperial examination era needed no further discussion, and even in the eighties, teachers generally had at least a high school or specialized secondary school education. Saying they controlled public discourse would have been going too far, but they could certainly claim a share of it.

Whatever their standing relative to other members of society, schoolteachers now held overwhelming power over their students. Administering corporal punishment at will was merely one of their powers. Those with a little more clout could even influence students' records and determine their futures...

That was precisely why Yang Rui wanted all the more to place limits on that power... Teachers had too much influence over students. Especially when parents were uneducated, whether a student amounted to anything depended largely on the teachers.

But evaluating teachers was another matter. Favorable evaluations were naturally fine, but what if an unfavorable one was seen?

As if he had heard their discussion, Yang Rui stepped onto the dais again, picked up the megaphone, and said, "Attention, everyone. This vote is anonymous. You don't need to put down your names or write any words, just numbers. We're using a five-point scale, with one as the lowest and five as the highest. Take the first item, teaching ability. If you think it's average, write three. If you think it's good, write four. If you think it's excellent, write five. If you feel it's below average, or doesn't reach a level you find satisfactory, give it two points or one..."

Numbers had identifiable handwriting too, but comparing them was much harder. Anyone paying attention could also easily change how they wrote them. Given the standards at Xibao Middle School, probably none of the teachers possessed that sort of handwriting identification skill.

Yang Rui finished in one breath, and sure enough, the students' expressions shifted from doubt to excitement.

Voting was an innate human instinct, with no fundamental connection to a population's level of education or civic development. Even primitive tribes voted. The method carried an inherent thrill.

Because you could decide someone else's fate. Perhaps only a tiny part of it, perhaps your own role in the decision was insignificant, but whatever the case, it was a rare kind of power, covered from head to toe in appealing qualities.

Once everyone had begun writing, Yang Rui went down below the dais and gave Cao Baoming a few instructions.

Before long, two large iron buckets were carried onto the dais. They contained firewood and wheat straw, ready to burn as soon as they were lit.

Meanwhile, several members of the Rui Study Group carried desks and chairs onto the dais as well. Four sets stood on either side, with paper and pens laid out, the paper rustling in the light breeze.

Some students guessed what was coming and worked faster, while others had no idea and could only keep their heads down and attend to their own forms.

Wang Guohua led several students from the repeaters' class, calling out from time to time, "Don't look at anyone else's, and don't whisper to each other. Treat it just like an exam. Once you've finished, or if you don't want to fill it in, just hand your paper up. Anyone who wants to go home can go. Anyone who doesn't can stay and wait for the results."

In schools at the time, older students bullying younger ones was very common. If younger students resisted, the older ones would see it as outrageous defiance, often earning them a thorough beating. Unless they were exceptionally tough, younger students did not dare provoke their seniors. Most Rui Study Group members were from the repeaters' class, naturally making them the most senior students in the school. As they patrolled, they were even more effective than exam invigilators.

Not a single student stood up to hand in a paper.

Yang Rui had expected this too. The bird that stuck its head out got shot. Anyone who handed in a paper and left now might end up being remembered, bringing needless trouble on themselves.

Teacher Lu and the others stood anxiously outside their rooms, which doubled as offices, gathered in several circles to discuss the matter.

The results were not out yet, so the teachers' emotions had not become intense, but dissatisfaction was already brewing.

Students evaluating teachers? Some places had indeed done it, so it could not be called outrageous defiance. But those efforts had been organized by the government, alongside large-scale commendations. What was this supposed to be?

Only because Yang Rui had already done so much did several younger teachers restrain their agitation. Of course, Section Chief Xiong and Qi Yuan's defeat had also played a part.

Within Xibao Middle School, Qi Yuan had the strongest connections. His father's cousin, Section Chief Xiong, held a position neither particularly high nor low, but wielded considerable power. Many schools had fallen into disrepair, and even more wanted new buildings and equipment. No matter how senior an official approved such matters, responsibility for carrying them out ultimately landed with Section Chief Xiong. Within the education system, even the principal of County No. 1 High School had to greet him with a smile.

Although none of them had heard what the two sides had said, they had seen the outcome perfectly clearly.

Students knew that the protruding rafter rotted first, and teachers wanted to keep themselves out of trouble too.

For a long while, only a few young teachers who were usually close to Qi Yuan approached him, trying every means to draw information out of him.

Amid an atmosphere of tension, excitement, and strangeness, Yang Rui announced that the papers would be collected.

Wang Guohua, Cao Baoming, and Huang Ren led several teams to collect the Teacher Evaluation Forms. They saw Arabic numerals in all sorts of handwriting covering them, with no blank forms to be seen.

"Let's count them here." Yang Rui divided the evaluation forms between two groups according to the junior and senior divisions. Both groups consisted of Rui Study Group members. Sitting on either side of the dais, they began tallying the numbers furiously.

Some students went home, but most stayed to wait for the results.

Liu Shan quietly came up beside Yang Rui and said softly, "I thought you'd read out the votes here."

A little surprised that Liu Shan had approached him of her own accord, Yang Rui replied naturally, "Reading them out would offend too many people. I only intend to give the highly rated teachers some encouragement."

"So there are things you're afraid of after all." Liu Shan turned slightly, bringing her long, slender legs together.

Yang Rui smiled. "Someone who wasn't afraid of anything wouldn't be human. I'm doing this so our fellow students can get a better education too."

"Just through this evaluation form?"

"Academic results are built up bit by bit. Only by getting every point available do you have a chance to compete. The quality of the teachers' instruction is a crucial factor. Students spend hours every day listening to their lessons. We need to improve efficiency and scores there as much as possible." Yang Rui had somewhat sidestepped the question, but he had said everything he needed to say.

Liu Shan's gaze shifted, her thoughts unknown.

Yang Rui took the opportunity to look her over. Girls dressed very conservatively these days. For anyone to make out their figures, their physiques first had to be exceptionally striking.

Someone like Liu Shan, whose loose track jacket and sweatpants still revealed her curving figure, would leave people staring even in an ordinary, well-fitting tracksuit from later years, never mind tight fashionable clothes.

Before anyone else discovered this, Yang Rui was quite pleased with his own eye, and took his mental picture even further: a few pretty outfits and some light makeup, and Liu Shan could easily be called a goddess or the school beauty.

She was actually a beautiful white swan, only temporarily mingling with a flock of ducks.

Before long, the votes had been tallied, and the braziers on the dais had been lit.

Under everyone's astonished gazes, Yang Rui walked up and announced clearly, "Since this is our first selection, we're using anonymous ballots and keeping no records. Once the results have been copied out, they'll be posted on the school's blackboard bulletin board."

As he spoke, he tossed stack after stack of evaluation forms into the braziers.

The sports ground fell silent, then erupted into an uproar.

The unexpected move inevitably set off another surge of discussion.

Yang Rui merely smiled. Only after Chen Hongxuan, a Rui Study Group member who had practiced calligraphy, filled a sheet of red paper did he lead the large crowd over to the blackboard bulletin board and hang it in the most conspicuous spot.

Most popular female teacher-Teacher Li Xiumei.

She taught Chinese in the junior division, was around thirty, and had a sweet smile and an open, attentive manner.

Most popular male teacher-Zhuang Musheng.

The senior division's chemistry teacher had ranked near the top, which surprised Yang Rui a little. But thinking it over, although Zhuang Musheng's lessons were not particularly good, he was straightforward and warmhearted, and chemistry was not especially difficult. It was no surprise that some people liked him.

The most dedicated teacher award went to the English teacher, Wang Fang.

To correct her students' mistakes, she often came to work an hour or two early, solely to ensure their morning reading sessions were productive. Everyone had noticed.

Reading through the row of ten names, Yang Rui gained a rudimentary understanding of Xibao Middle School's teachers.

Footsteps approached from a distance.

The students parted of their own accord, and seven or eight teachers squeezed in, all relatively young men.

"Yang Rui, this isn't very appropriate, is it?" The physical education teacher, Fang Xuesong, considered his position neutral and was the first to voice an objection.

There were ten names on the list altogether, which meant more than twenty names had been left off. For teachers whose names were not on the red paper, that did not feel pleasant.

Yang Rui smiled and said, "It's something we students organized ourselves. There's no question of it being appropriate or inappropriate."

"Who gave you permission to do this?" The ugliest expression belonged to Liu Kang, a junior division mathematics teacher. He thought very highly of himself and was one of the school's few specialized secondary school graduates trained at a teachers' school. Seeing the senior division's Teacher Lu listed as "most responsible teacher" while he himself had failed to make the list soured his entire impression of the evaluation forms.

Was this fellow sucking up? Could it have been rigged behind the scenes?

With that thought in mind, Liu Kang naturally assumed the worst when guessing at Yang Rui's motives.

But Yang Rui said, "Nobody said we couldn't, either. We students are making the selections and paying for it ourselves. We don't need approval."

"Without standards, isn't this just fooling around?"

"Maybe. Fooling around is practically a student's duty, isn't it..."

"What nonsense are you talking?"

"There's really no need to say anything. This is our Rui Study Group's business, just an unofficial activity. It's like you discussing whether your superiors are any good. There's no need to demand authority, and it won't affect your work." Yang Rui's matter-of-fact manner infuriated several of them.

Even the physical education teacher, Fang Xuesong, could not help saying, "How could it possibly not affect our work?"

"If it does, there's nothing we can do about it. That's how public opinion works..." Yang Rui held his ground without being either aggressive or yielding. The red paper hung high up, with one person guarding either side, leaving it out of anyone else's reach.

As they were speaking, someone called from behind them, "The principal's here! Let the principal through."

The watching students parted like the tide, then surged back in like the tide.

"What are you doing?" Zhao Dannian arrived, and his very first words left everyone bewildered.

"You came over because..." Teacher Lu drew the question out.

"Didn't someone say Section Chief Xiong was here? How come I haven't seen him?" Zhao Dannian looked as though he was only just catching on.