Zhao Dannian

Biodata

Background / History

Zhao Dannian joined the Young Pioneers while still in primary school, carrying a red-tasseled spear and delivering urgent dispatches marked with chicken feathers. By the time the country was liberated, he had joined the Party and completed his studies at the county secondary school—an unusually high level of education for his circumstances 12.

Xibao Middle School was built up largely through his efforts, developing from a primary school into a high school. His credentials helped it survive periods when classes were suspended and resumed without losing its foundations. His protection was also the reason Little White Tooth’s father sent her there 12.

By the time he encounters Yang Rui’s exercise papers, Zhao has worked as a secondary-school principal for twenty years. He occupies two connected rooms in the teachers’ dormitory area: an office in front and living quarters behind 15.

Appearance

• Elderly and nearing retirement, though still vigorous enough to forcefully shove open a classroom door when angry 25.
• Has a mustache, which he puffs out in annoyance during his conversation with Feng Yun 23.

Personality

Zhao is stubborn, authoritative, and explicitly results-oriented. Rather than prolong the teachers’ investigation into Yang Rui’s sudden perfect scores, he insists that the college entrance examination will provide the answer. His reputation frightens local students even when he greets them with a smile 12 15.

His frugality reflects the school’s chronic shortage of funds. He initially reacts furiously to brightly lit classrooms, but readily approves additional lighting once Yang Rui explains that the Rui Study Group will cover the electricity bill. His objections concern how improvements are funded, not the improvements themselves 25 27.

Zhao regards protecting students as an active responsibility. When Feng Yun warns that inspecting Yang Rui’s accounts could implicate him in future trouble, Zhao insists on intervening before a student makes a mistake. He is equally pragmatic about administration, persistently seeking favors and using connections to obtain facilities for the school 27 40 43.

Abilities & Skills

School Administration and Fundraising

Zhao sustains and expands a school whose tuition and miscellaneous fees cannot cover its expenses 23.

• Makes several trips to the education bureau each year to seek support 23.
• Secures facilities approaching those of county-seat schools, including two rows of teachers’ dormitories, a cafeteria, and a Sports Room 40.
• Pursues difficult infrastructure applications despite delays, including drilled wells requiring pumps and an open drainage channel 43.

Educational Judgment

His long experience enables him to recognize unusual teaching materials without immediately understanding their source 15.

• Notices that Yang Rui’s categorized mathematics exercises differ from existing collections 15.
• Uses his familiarity with provincial education specialists and available publications to question claims that the papers were bought from a bookstore 15.
• Arranges a comparison test while Feng Yun assesses Yang Rui’s ability 25.
• Limit: He has no accounting background; although he checks the Rui Study Group’s ledger, he cannot determine whether its entries have been falsified 27.

Local Standing and Connections

Zhao possesses considerable local prestige despite his low administrative rank 12 23.

• Knows numerous education-bureau personnel through seniority 23.
• Is confident he can find an acquaintance in public security, although he has not deliberately cultivated a network 28.
• Has such a trusted reputation that Duan Hang immediately accepts Yang Rui’s financial claims upon learning Zhao inspected the accounts 30.

Story Role / Major Arcs

Assessing Yang Rui

Zhao summons Yang Rui after his abrupt improvement from an ordinary student to a perfect scorer. After hearing his explanation, Zhao asks whether he can maintain those results and urges him to aim for the University of Science and Technology of China or Peking University. He also approves of classmates learning from one another through Yang Rui’s study group 12.

When Wang Guohua and Cao Baoming request printing supplies, Zhao becomes interested in the unfamiliar exercise papers. He lends them the mimeograph roller, permits the use of ink, supplies two quires of paper, and requests a printed copy for himself 15.

Feng Yun’s Mistaken Identification

While seeking funding and teaching materials at the city education bureau, Zhao meets his old friend Feng Yun. Feng wants to recruit an author named Yang Rui for a textbook-compilation team, assuming that the author is a teacher. Zhao reveals that the school’s only Yang Rui is a repeat-year student and produces his exercise papers 23 24.

The misunderstanding becomes more serious when Feng admits that he described Yang Rui to Huang Weiping as an educator who had not yet been rehabilitated. Huang had been asked about the author during a potentially central-level meeting. Zhao rebukes Feng for guessing, then considers whether they can correct the account 24.

The two return to Xibao Middle School, where Zhao helps arrange a comparison test. He is astonished when Yang Rui answers every mathematics question correctly, then ends Feng’s questioning for the night 25 26.

Supporting the Rui Study Group

After discovering that test-paper proceeds are subsidizing cafeteria food, Zhao demands to inspect the group’s ledger. He finds clear entries showing a daily profit of fifty yuan and approves Yang Rui’s proposed uses for the surplus 27.

When pirated papers appear, Zhao initially offers to handle the matter himself and forbids the students from fighting. Unable to dissuade Yang Rui’s group from going to the county town, he lectures them on safety and decides to accompany them 28.

His oversight subsequently helps establish the operation’s legitimacy. Secretary Yang telephones him to verify Yang Rui’s account before mobilizing the militia to protect the school’s collective property 31. Zhao also confirms to teachers that Yang Rui controls the distribution of supplies specifically earmarked by the Xibao Meat Processing Plant 36.

Infrastructure and Teacher Evaluations

Zhao tolerates Qi Yuan’s poor attendance while trying to obtain infrastructure approval through Qi’s uncle, Section Chief Xiong. The requested wells and drainage channel would address summer water shortages and flooding of the sports ground, but Xiong repeatedly delays approval 40 43.

Zhao arrives during the dispute over Yang Rui’s student-organized teacher evaluations looking for Xiong. After learning that Yang Rui has burned the ballots, he disperses the crowd and takes Yang Rui aside 42 43.

Their conversation turns to Yang Rui’s success in obtaining Xiong’s agreement to the wells and drainage channel. Zhao initially worries that Yang Rui has misrepresented a connection to County Magistrate Luo. Once Yang Rui explains their genuine family acquaintance, Zhao commits to visiting the county the next day to pursue flush toilets as well. He also warns Yang Rui to act more carefully and maintain unity with teachers and students 43.

Relationships

• Yang Rui — Student whom Zhao initially scrutinizes, then supports through printing resources, financial oversight, and approval of school-benefit projects 12 15 27.
• Feng Yun / Old Feng — Longtime friend and education-bureau official. Their blunt exchanges reflect familiarity, although Zhao sharply criticizes his speculative identification of Yang Rui 23 24.
• Teacher Lu — Teacher to whom Zhao delegates handling the donated supplies, while explicitly recognizing Yang Rui’s distribution authority 36.
• Secretary Yang / Yang Feng — Yang Rui’s father; consults Zhao to verify the test-paper operation before arranging militia protection 31.
• Qi Yuan — Teacher whose family connection Zhao uses to pursue infrastructure funding. Zhao later reminds him that Party members must take the lead in carrying water if the school runs short 40 43.
• Section Chief Xiong — Infrastructure official whose approval Zhao repeatedly seeks for the school’s wells and drainage channel 40 43.

Notable Quotes

“Good or bad, the college entrance exam will put it to the test. The results will tell us everything.” 12

“I can't wait until he makes a mistake before trying to rescue him. I have to protect him before he makes one. Isn't that what a principal is there for?” 27

“When the school runs short of water, Party members have to take the lead.” 43