Call Me Daddy

The director of the Education Bureau appeared at the commune primary school, which was a big deal, and the leaders of the commune also rushed over one after another.

Wang Yuemin was invited to the stage to speak a few words. He praised the efforts of the teachers and students of Hongqi Primary School, and dropped a bombshell; a stamped appointment letter.

In other words, Su Aobai was now an officially established teacher. Not only would his salary increase with seniority, but the school couldn’t easily dismiss him. Established teachers, like workers, had iron rice bowls in this era.

(T/N: iron rice bowl = an established job that will certainly put food on the table.)

In addition to that great news, Wang Yuemin informed everyone that the teaching materials written by Su Aobai had been unanimously recognized by scholars and had been published by the Capital Publishing House. This time, he brought back the sample books and royalties sent by the publishing house.

These days, it was already difficult to publish one or two essays in the newspaper, let alone publish books. How thick were those books? The words on them could equal dozens or hundreds of essays.

Su Aobai was just surprised at first. He had already given up hope of being published. However, although this news came suddenly, he quickly calmed down. His calm demeanor in the face of honor and disgrace once again impressed Wang Yuemin.

Everyone was jealous. Back then, they looked down on this educated youth member with his fair face, mocked Jiang Dajun for marrying his daughter to him without foresight. Now, they regretted it.

Educated Youth Su was already a teacher with an iron rice bowl. The teaching materials he wrote had been published by the Capital Publishing House. Most importantly, he was righteous. Previously, he didn’t even want the job of a worker in the city for the sake of Jiang Lianmei and his family. Now that he had become prosperous, he wouldn’t abandon them.

Moreover, it was obvious that the young couple were affectionate. Those who previously said that Educated Youth Su and Jiang Lianmei were only together because of Jiang Dajun’s connections could all shut their mouths now. What Educated Youth Su achieved was not something Jiang Dajun’s connections could help with.

Obviously, today’s biggest winner was Su Aobai, along with his family members who received congratulations with him.

Old Lady Yu was heartbroken but didn’t give up.

“My son is the Deputy Director of the County Public Security Bureau and the Director of the Xifeng Police Station,” she would tell anyone she met.

“Oh, has your son written any books?”

Her face flushed. What books could a man who rose through the ranks by his military achievements and then retired due to illness and transferred to a local position write?

” My son is the Deputy Director of the County Public Security Bureau and the Director of the Xifeng Police Station,” she repeated to another person.

“Oh, is your grandson ranked first in the exam?”

Her grandson hadn’t even been weaned yet! The older girl was barely old enough to be in first grade.

“My son is the Deputy Director of the County Public Security Bureau and the Director of the Xifeng Police Station,” Old Lady Yu said again, feeling a bit weak by now.

At this point, Old Lady Yu was starting to feel a little breathless. The person glanced at her and simply moved past her to talk to someone else.

Old Lady Yu felt it wasn’t suitable to go out today and just swallowed her anger.

She really was someone who didn’t know when to show off. While these parents were excited about their children’s grades, what did it matter if her son was the Director of the police station?

That day, Old Lady Yu, who had been proud for many days, finally returned home with a belly full of fire, feeling defeated.

Since then, Old Lady Yu had become much quieter, and there were rarely any more comparisons between the two families in the village.

***

Because both Yu Zhicheng and Su Aobai had performed excellently in their respective fields, reaching heights that these people couldn’t even dream of, they could only look up to them. Who dared to criticize them?

During the New Year’s holiday, Yu Zhicheng did come back with his wife and children. He even specifically visited Jiang Dajun’s house to ask him to introduce Su Aobai.

The purpose of Yu Zhicheng’s visit was for his daughter, Yu Baozhu, who was about to start school. Originally, he and his wife planned to send their daughter to study in the county. Their household registration had already been transferred to the Fengyang County Public Security Bureau, so Yu Baozhu was eligible to enroll in the county primary school.

However, Yu Zhicheng’s position as deputy director seemed more like an honorary title. Most of the time, he had to stay at the Xifeng Police Station in the town, so he was worried about leaving his daughter and wife in the county.

This time, when the county-wide exam results came out, he had another idea.

Hongqi Elementary School wasn’t far from town. Instead of sending his daughter to study in the county, why not send her to Hongqi Elementary School? That way, the whole family could stay together, and his wife could still take their child to school.

When Yu Zhicheng brought his wife and child to visit, it was the first time Su Mingcheng and his sister had seen this little girl who was supposed to have many intersections with them in their original plot.

But this time, their first meeting was completely different.

Su Mingcheng was from a complete family, a leader among his peers, the ‘outstanding kid’ in the eyes of other parents, affluent in every aspect, materially and spiritually.

When he saw Yu Baozhu for the first time, he just thought that this chubby little girl from this uncle’s family was quite cute, but still not as good-looking as his sister.

As for Su Mingmei, just like her name suggested, she was a bright and beautiful little girl. She also had pretty clothes like Yu Baozhu’s, colorful hair ties, and the love from her parents and older brother, just like a little princess.

In the past, both children envied Yu Baozhu’s harmonious family and carefree life. But now, these were just ordinary things in their lives.

Their lives had been completely rewritten since Su Aobai appeared.

***

Time flew, and suddenly it was 1977. That year, the college entrance examination was restored, and Su Mingcheng was about to move up from fifth grade to a higher level of junior high school.

The restoration of the college entrance examination brought about a series of significant impacts, especially in the field of education, which was like dropping a bomb on a calm lake.

The youth in the youth dormitory went crazy. Those who had already married locally were also restless. Some of them approached Su Aobai, but he had no intention of taking the college entrance exam. Instead, relying on his good relationship with the Capital Publishing House over the years, he provided several sets of study materials for those who wanted to take the exam.

When Su Mingcheng was in fourth grade, Su Aobai began preparing for junior high school textbooks. He spent a year compiling and integrating the one thousand sets of teaching materials. When his son was in fifth grade, he sent the compiled materials for the first year of junior high school to the Capital Publishing House.

******

The next fall, when school started, Su Mingcheng sat in the classroom of the county middle school, looking at the spacious school and unfamiliar faces, feeling excited.

Because he always ranked first in the annual exams, when it was time to move up to junior high school, Su Mingcheng was sought after by many junior high schools. Su Aobai let him choose for himself, and Su Mingcheng chose the county middle school because it was the farthest from home, and he needed to live on campus.

As a young teenager, Su Mingcheng thought to himself; Maybe this way he could finally escape his dad’s barrage of exercises, right?

But before he could enjoy it too much, a familiar figure walked quickly into the classroom.

“Hello, everyone. I’ll be your math teacher for the next 3 years of junior high. My surname is Su, and you can call me Teacher Su.”

Su Aobai turned around, wrote some bold characters on the blackboard, then turned back, smiling kindly at his son.

Over the years, he had earned quite a bit of manuscript fees through publishing textbooks, coupled with other undisclosed income, he had accumulated a considerable amount of savings. This money was enough for them to buy property in the county town. Some time ago, Su Aobai and his wife had already chosen a private house with a small courtyard.

Soon, the whole family would move to the town to live.

Looking at his son with his mouth slightly open and eyes wide; That expression, he was happy, right?

Su Mingcheng: “?”

Wasn’t dad a primary school teacher? Why did he come to junior high?

Suddenly, he had a somewhat ominous premonition. Could it be that dad would accompany me all the way up?