A Tale of Two Cities Supporting Xinjiang

When the villagers heard that Li Chao had been so badly injured while tending to the saplings, yet still cared about the work in the fields, they all brought their tools and came to the fields to build insulation measures for the saplings.

Director Ai was also very surprised after hearing the village secretary's account. This was not something he could handle at his level, so he immediately contacted Zhou Mingyu.

That afternoon, Zhou Mingyu personally called Li Chao, his tone gentle and concerned: "Comrade Li Chao, you have worked hard for the villagers of the Ninth Company. We know about your injury and have arranged a car to pick you up and take you back to the aid-to-Xinjiang apartment to recuperate."

On the other end of the phone, Li Chao tried to sound relaxed, saying, "Director Zhou, it's nothing, just a minor scrape and a few stitches. It's nothing serious. The shed was just set up, so I'll stay in the village a couple more days to keep an eye on things before I leave."

"Li Chao, we all see your sense of responsibility, but health is the foundation of everything. The wound required eight stitches, which is no small injury. You need to rest and recuperate properly to recover."

Don't worry, the villagers are very attentive. I'll also have Director Ai keep a close eye on the fields, and he'll let you know immediately if there are any problems.

After a pause, Zhou Mingyu added earnestly, "Planting trees is a long-term endeavor, a few more days won't make a difference. Once you've fully recovered and are in top form, come back to the Ninth Company to see your saplings, and they'll definitely be much stronger by then. Right now, the most important thing is to go back and rest well, and don't let everyone worry."

Li Chao was silent for a few seconds, then finally nodded: "Well... alright then, thank you Director Zhou, and thank you everyone for your help."

Not long after hanging up the phone, Simayi Maimaiti excitedly ran over to find Li Chao, showing him photos on his phone: "Cadre Li, look! The sheds are all set up; the saplings definitely won't freeze at night!"

Before long, the car arrived at the village. Simayi Maimaiti patted his chest and said, "Don't worry, go back and recover. We'll take turns checking on the fields, repairing any damaged sheds promptly, and dealing with any equipment problems immediately. We guarantee that when you come back, the saplings will all be growing lush and green!"

Li Chao held Simayi Maimaiti's hand, looked at the other villagers who had participated in planting the saplings, and said with a choked voice, "Thank you all for helping me so much. Once I'm healed, I will definitely come back to see you all and see these saplings."

Holding the registration form from the Shihezi Education Bureau, Chang Peng repeatedly studied the literal meaning of the terms "junior high school teaching reform" and "vocational college education support position."

Before coming to Xinjiang, he worked in the office of the Dalian Education Bureau for five years. His daily work consisted of organizing documents, checking reports, and writing work summaries. Although he was familiar with the education system, it was all through screens and paper.

Until this trip to the frontier thousands of miles away, where he was to personally promote teaching reforms and solve students' practical problems, he had absolutely no confidence.

"Chang Peng, don't be nervous. You have experience in government agencies in Dalian, so you know how to connect with policies and streamline processes. Our bureau is just short of people like you. Spend half a month in the bureau to familiarize yourself with the local education records, and then we'll gradually move forward with the specific work."

Chang Peng had other plans despite the arrangements made by the director of the Shihezi Education Bureau.

"Director, thank you for trusting me, but I really don't dare to sit in the office in the bureau."

In Dalian, I've only ever dealt with documents; I've never been to a middle school classroom, nor have I ever chatted with teachers or students at a vocational college. Asking me to develop a reform plan now would be like reinventing the wheel!

No matter how well-written the plan is, if it doesn't fit the local situation, it won't be implemented and will only delay the children's progress. I want to go to schools at the grassroots level first, talk to teachers about teaching difficulties, and have heart-to-heart talks with students to understand the situation before taking action. After all, practice makes perfect, don't you agree?

"Good! It's rare to find someone as down-to-earth as you, not one to mince words! Alright, then you can go to Shihezi No. 2 Middle School and Vocational College first. These two schools are the key schools for our junior high school and vocational college education."

"If you lack any resources or encounter any difficulties, just tell the bureau anytime, and we'll cover for you!"

With permission, Chang Peng repacked his suitcase that very night.

Half of the box was filled with changes of clothes, and the other half was full of materials for his dual-teacher classroom that he had prepared while staying up all night in Dalian.

There was a thick instruction manual for the live streaming equipment, with annotations all over the margins; there was also a teaching design that had been revised five times, with each version marked with the reasoning behind the revisions in a different colored pen.

He lay on the table, pondering over a map of Shihezi: "In junior high school, we should start with English. Children in border areas have little contact with the outside world. If we can use a dual-teacher classroom, letting them look at marine specimens and practice their spoken English with famous teachers from Dalian, and combine the starfish and waves in the textbook with the cotton and grasslands they are familiar with, it will definitely make the classroom more lively."

Chang Peng, dragging his bulging suitcase, took a car to Shihezi No. 2 Middle School.

But as soon as he arrived at the gate of the Second Middle School, before he could even ask the security guard for the location of the Academic Affairs Office, he bumped into an old teacher carrying a thick stack of lesson plans.

Lesson plans were scattered all over the floor, with textbooks and lesson preparation notebooks for Chinese, math, and English mixed together. Chang Peng quickly threw down his suitcase and bent down to pick them up. Just as he picked up an English lesson preparation notebook, he looked up and met a pair of eyes full of hostility.

What do you do for a living?

The old teacher's loud voice made Chang Peng's ears ring.

"I am a teacher sent by the Education Bureau to provide guidance to the school."

An older teacher noticed the live-streaming equipment label on Chang Peng's suitcase and couldn't hide her displeasure. "Is this another one from the Education Bureau trying to pull some new trick? I advise you not to cause trouble; our school can't afford this!"

Chang Peng, still holding the English lesson preparation book, quickly handed it over, smiling and explaining, "Hello teacher, my name is Chang Peng, and I'm here to observe and understand the teaching situation."

This equipment is intended to test the dual-teacher classroom model and help students access high-quality resources from mainland China; it's not just for tinkering...

"Dual-teacher classroom?"

Before he could finish speaking, the old teacher pointed to the red and white slogan on the wall of the teaching building that emphasized seeking truth and being pragmatic, and raised his voice a few decibels: "Look at the foundation of our ninth graders!"

In the last diagnostic test, half of the students couldn't recognize all the words in their English textbooks, they stumbled over their words when reading the text, and they couldn't even speak a complete sentence!

Will the students even understand the tenses and clauses taught by renowned mainland teachers? They won't learn anything in class, and instead will just be looking forward to watching the screen all day, their minds completely elsewhere. Isn't that typical formalism? Are you helping the students or harming them?

Chang Peng learned from passing students that this was Wang Dezhong, a senior English teacher at No. 2 Middle School who had taught English for thirty years and had led several classes to achieve outstanding English scores in the high school entrance examination.