Preface.
In 1981, Zhang Xiurong, a teacher in Hohhot, Inner Mongolia, bought a pair of cotton shoes for Chen Zhide, a poor student, with a meager salary of 20 yuan.
This small act warmed Chen Zhide's life and planted the seeds of gratitude in his heart.
Twenty-six years later, Zhang Xiurong received a return gift from the successful Chen Zhide - an expensive house.
A pair of shoes, an apartment, what kind of touching story is hidden in it?
Zhang Xiurong, who returned to his hometown.
Zhang Xiurong was born in a small village in Wuchuan County, Inner Mongolia. In that era when everyone was poor, it was common for children to drop out of school early to help their parents work, especially girls.
But Zhang Xiurong was lucky. She has shown seriousness and intellectual curiosity from an early age. This attitude touched her parents and eventually allowed her to escape the fate of dropping out of school.
In this way, Zhang Xiurong got the opportunity to study at the No. 1 Primary School in Wuchang County.
But although the conditions in the county are much better than in the village, the conditions in the school are still very bad. It was dark, damp, cold, and even the table was made of stone.
However, the difficult conditions did not stop Zhang Xiurong from pursuing his studies. On the contrary, it inspired her indomitable spirit. She must study hard, change her destiny, get out of this small mountain village, and come back with more knowledge. Change your hometown!
Motivated by this goal, Zhang Xiurong studied harder and harder, and her grades were always among the best. This relieved her parents chose to continue to support her in middle and high school.
Soon, Zhang Xiurong successfully graduated and took the college entrance examination. Years of hard work also paid off for her, and she successfully passed the college entrance examination.
The news shocked the whole village. No one expected that the little girl at that time would be on the list and become an extremely rare college student. According to the previous statement, it was the Wenqu star descending on the earth.
The parents even happily held a banquet, invited relatives and friends to celebrate, and constantly praised their daughter for her promising future, and she would definitely be able to develop in the big city and live a much better life than them. Done.
But whenever she mentioned it, Zhang Xiurong just smiled faintly. She may be destined to disappoint her parents.
In her heart, she was still determined to achieve the goals she had set when she first started studying. She wants to succeed outside and come back to build her hometown.
Therefore, Zhang Xiurong chose Normal University. These years of study have made her more aware of the importance of knowledge and learning. If she wants to change the poverty situation in her hometown, education is the most important and critical link.
The four years of college are fleeting. With Zhang Xiurong's efforts, she was successfully assigned to her alma mater, Wuchuan County No. 1 Primary School in Hohhot, Inner Mongolia, as a teacher.
Looking at his alma mater after many years, Zhang Xiurong felt so familiar and so sad.
Nothing has changed here, the conditions are still the same, the environment is still dilapidated, but all the same, in the eyes of the students, there is still the same thirst for knowledge as before.
The working conditions here are very difficult and the wages are very low. It is far less than the work remuneration assigned to big cities by Zhang Xiurong's classmates, but Zhang Xiurong is very satisfied. The children's aspirations are her biggest motivation.
Principal student Chen Zhide.
Zhang Xiurong is undoubtedly qualified for the position of teacher. Despite the backward educational resources, she never lost heart and insisted on treating every student seriously and passionately.
In Zhang Xiurong's view, every student is unique and contains their own potential.
This attitude has also made Zhang Xiurong the most popular teacher in the school. All the children have developed a strong interest in learning under her guidance, and the whole school is filled with a strong learning atmosphere under her influence.
Soon, Zhang Xiurong was appreciated for his outstanding performance, and he was soon transferred to teach in junior high school.
The conditions in junior high school are no different from those in elementary school. Educational resources are still very scarce, but Zhang Xiurong has not changed. She still cares so much about every student and fulfills her responsibilities as a teacher.
Every day after class, Zhang Xiurong is not in a hurry to leave. Instead, he stayed in the classroom and waited until late at night for students in need to help, answer their questions, or provide free tutoring.
Since there were not many children who could go to junior high school at that time, and the number of students in the class was not large, Chen Xiurong gradually got acquainted with each student and understood the stories behind them.
But only one student was special, and there was very little communication with Zhang Xiurong. His name is Chen Zhide.
Every time he got out of class, Chen Zhide turned around and left, never staying too long. This made Zhang Xiurong suspect that his teaching did not satisfy Chen Zhide, or that Chen Zhide had no interest in learning.
But in class, Chen Zhide listened carefully to every word she said and took notes in detail, which made Zhang Xiurong give up this idea.
Indeed, in this era when families are not wealthy, if there is no fundamental desire to learn, who will continue to study in junior high school after graduating from primary school? But why is Chen Zhide so eager to leave after class?
With such questions, Zhang Xiurong began to pay special attention to Chen Zhide.
Zhang Xiurong soon learned the truth of the matter. It turned out that the reason why Chen Zhide left early every day was because of family conditions:
Chen Zhide's family is arguably the poorest in the village. Counting six children, life is extremely stressful. His mother was in poor health and was often sick. This makes all the stress of life fall on the father.
But even so, they still firmly believe that learning is the only way out and that children must go to school.
But the emergency situation at home was so bad that in the end, only Chen Zhide, the brightest of the six children, was given the opportunity to go to school, shouldering the expectations of the whole family.
Although Chen Zhide is young, he is already very sensible. He knew how difficult the conditions at home were, so he studied very seriously. However, because of this, he always rushes home after school to help his parents with some work and relieve their stress. their stress.
As she learned more about Chen Zhide's family situation, Zhang Xiurong's heart became more and more painful, and she decided to help this student more.
Since then, Cheung has often tutored Chen Zhide and, more importantly, provided him with spiritual counseling, alleviating the pressure he was under due to his family's expectations, and at the same time strengthening his belief in learning.
This made Chen Zhide gradually relaxed, his tension was reduced, and his results were getting better and better.
A pair of shoes, a set.
At the beginning of the third semester of junior high school, Chen Zhide did not appear in the classroom. This immediately attracted Zhang Xiurong's attention, and she decided to go to Chen Zhide's house to find out the situation in person.
After passing through a long and rugged country road, Zhang Xiurong finally arrived at Zhang Zhide's house under the guidance of the students.
Pushing open the door, a wave of revelations hit directly. For the first time, Zhang Xiurong really realized how difficult it was to get to know Chen Zhide's family, and Chen Zhide was also very shocked by the arrival of the teacher.
After communication, Zhang Xiurong finally knew what happened and understood Chen Zhide's difficulties.
In the past, Chen Zhide's father had been the main breadwinner of the family, raising and caring for six children and a sick wife, but now his father's health is poor due to overwork.
In desperation, his father had to let Chen Zhide drop out of school and go out to work to help the family tide over the difficulties.
But Zhang Xiurong was not willing to give up just like that. She clearly knows that only learning can change the status quo of the Chen family. If Chen Zhide gives up halfway, such a tragedy will only repeat itself.
Subsequently, Zhang Xiurong found Chen Zhide's father to persuade him, and said that he was willing to bear part of Chen Zhide's tuition fees and would also provide them with some financial help.
In the end, the persuaded father decided to let Chen Zhide return to school, and Zhang Xiurong also fulfilled her promise. She gave nearly half of her salary to Chen Zhide's family.
Without worries, Chen Zhide cherished this hard-won learning opportunity more and more, and put all his energy on learning. His grades got better and better, and he firmly occupied the first place in his class.
Time passed quickly, Chen Zhide successfully participated in the college entrance examination and was admitted to Changchun Institute of Geology with the second place in the county.
The moment he received the admission letter, Chen Zhide excitedly told the teacher the news and shared the joy.
While Zhang Xiurong was happy, she also noticed that Chen Zhide was still wearing a pair of shoes full of patches, which made her very sad.
So after Chen Zhide left, she took out 20 yuan, chose a pair of cotton shoes for the students, and sent it to Chen Zhide along with the rest of the money. You must know that Zhang Xiurong's monthly salary was only 37 yuan at that time.
Chen Zhide was very moved after getting the cotton shoes, and his heart seemed to be on fire. He will definitely repay the teacher in the future.
With this belief, Chen Zhide actively studied and worked the university campus. He has obtained a master's degree and a doctorate degree. He became a person who truly contributed to the country and achieved great success in his career.
Unfortunately, during this period, both of Chen Zhide's parents passed away, and he was unable to see the achievements of his children. However, with Chen Zhide's help, the other five siblings are living a good life.
Chen Zhide naturally did not forget his kindness to his teacher Zhang Xiurong.
In 2007, when Mr. Zhang Xiurong turned 60 years old, his classmates put down their work and returned to their hometown to celebrate the teacher's birthday, including Chen Zhide.
Chen Zhide's gift is very special. Here are the keys and title deeds for the new home.
Although Teacher Zhang Xiurong was reluctant to accept such a valuable gift at first, under Chen Zhide's continuous persuasion, she finally accepted the student's kindness.
In 2016, Ms. Zhang Xiurong's husband passed away, and she began to have problems with her body, suffering from high blood pressure, heart disease and other geriatric diseases.
After Chen Zhide learned about it, he not only often accompanied Zhang Xiurong to see a doctor, but also bought him a lot of expensive medicines, just so that the teacher could spend his old age healthy and safe.
The story of the master and apprentice pair is now a good story. Whether it is the noble teacher of Zhang Xiurong or the kindness of Chen Zhide, it is worth learning from all of us.