Call Me Daddy

The Hongqi Commune Primary School wasn’t large. It consisted of a row of brick and tile single-story building, totaling six rooms. One room was the teacher’s office, and the other five were classrooms for grades one through five.

In front of the single-story building was a large open space, half of which was designated for student activities. In the middle of the open space stood an iron pole with the national flag tied to it. The other half was used for growing crops like sweet potatoes and vegetables. During agricultural labor classes, students would work in this area. The produce belonged to the teachers of the school, a form of teacher’s welfare.

Overall, the school was somewhat rudimentary.

“Dad, please wait a bit longer.”

Su Mingcheng turned his head, scanning the area. No one knew whom he was looking for.

They had already reached the classroom door. The children playing in the schoolyard had seen Teacher Su, who hadn’t appeared for a long time, bringing Su Mingcheng to school. Didn’t everyone say Teacher Su escaped back to the city and wouldn’t come back again?

Groups of children whispered among themselves, but they didn’t dare approach to inquire about the situation because Su Aobai was there.

Su Aobai thought his son’s purpose was achieved. Now that so many students had seen them, the message had spread, and he could go to the town.

But Su Mingcheng tugged at his clothes, still hesitant to let him go. “Dad, come pick me up after school.”

Su Aobai had important matters to attend to. The town was too small, and it was easy to run into acquaintances. He planned to go to the county town, which would take at least 2 or 3 hours’ round trip. If he left any later, he wouldn’t make it back in time for lunch.

Seeing his father’s serious expression, Su Mingcheng reluctantly got off the back seat of the bicycle, his expression somewhat sulky and unwilling.

At that moment, Su Aobai didn’t think much about it. He got on the bike and was about to leave, but he was stopped by a girl who was as slender as a reed.

“Teacher Su, are you coming back to teach?”

Su Aobai recognized her. She was one of the students he had taught before leaving the brigade. She had been in first grade at the time, and now, with the new school year, she was in second grade. If Su Aobai returned to teach, he would still be teaching the same students.

This girl’s name was Chu Ni. She was already 11 years old this year.

At this age, if school had started as usual, she should have been in fourth grade by now. In fact, she wouldn’t have had the opportunity to study at all originally. It was just because the Chu family’s only son, Chu Jiabao, had reached school age, and the adults at home were afraid he would be bullied at school, so they gritted their teeth and paid extra money to let Chu Ni attend school with him.

Chu Ni had 6 older sisters. The older ones were married off by their parents for the dowry, and the younger ones who hadn’t reached the right age yet were working as laborers at home. In comparison, Chu Ni, who served as a nanny for Chu Jiabao, was considered fortunate; At least she had the opportunity to study.

Chu Ni cherished this hard-won opportunity. Though she was young, she understood that studying and literacy were undoubtedly good things; otherwise, her parents wouldn’t have sent their beloved Chu Jiabao to school.

So, not only did she not dare to be inattentive during class, but when she returned home to do household chores, she also stole moments to learn a few more words. She not only learned for herself but also taught her unmarried sisters.

Since Teacher Su left, the school had a new teacher, Wang Fangfang.

She was the daughter of another brigade leader and barely managed to get a junior high school diploma. She came to the commune to teach, but it was purely for a comfortable job and a higher salary compared to farming.

Many times, she couldn’t be bothered to teach the children how to read. During class, she often let the students read on their own or turned regular lessons into agricultural labor classes. After more than a month of school, Chu Ni had only learned a little new knowledge, far behind when Teacher Su was teaching.

So, she boldly came to ask Su Aobai if he would return to teach at the school.

Regarding that matter, Su Aobai hadn’t made up his mind yet.

Now it was 1975, and the college entrance exam would resume in 2 years. However, at his age, taking the exam would be awkward. Su Aobai no longer needed a diploma to prove his intellectual abilities. He looked forward to the golden period after the reform and opening up. Before that, he could accumulate some wealth.

This job, especially as a temporary worker at the poorly regarded commune primary school, was honestly wasting his time. However, this job was obtained through a significant favor from the original owner’s father-in-law. Suddenly quitting without a suitable reason wouldn’t be appropriate.

Actually, continuing to be a teacher wasn’t a bad choice. Money was just a number once it reached a certain point, and he didn’t necessarily have to become a wealthy person. He was already tired of wealthy people and the like.

At first, it was just an instinctive thought. He always felt that if he didn’t seize the opportunity to make a profit in the 60s and 70s, it would seem like this trip was for nothing.

“It depends on the arrangement of the commune leadership,” Su Aobai gave a vague answer.

Without a definite reply, Chu Ni couldn’t hide her disappointment on her thin, pale face.

Watching her leave disheartened, Su Aobai mounted his bicycle and departed.

***

Before going to the city, Su Aobai disguised himself.

Last night, he took some flour from the kitchen cupboard, mixed it with soil and water, and made a crude version of foundation cream. He evenly applied the brownish flour to his face, then put on a straw hat and hung a ragged towel around his neck. Hunching slightly, he looked like a rare, somewhat reserved rural dweller.

There was no other way. Being too good looking could leave a lasting impression, so he had to try his best to disguise himself as unattractive as possible.

Su Aobai didn’t go to the big factories or the residential buildings; there were too many people and too much surveillance with many patrols wearing armbands. You never knew if the customer you thought was genuine was actually an undercover agent.

In the original owner’s memory, there were several black markets. These were passed down by word of mouth among the educated youth and some workers because only they had the spare money to buy scarce goods at high prices. The original owner had patronized these black markets before; they were relatively safer.

He rode his bicycle to a relatively secluded place in the east of the city. Many factories were located in the west, and residential buildings were mostly arranged nearby. Therefore, compared to the west, the east side of the city was much more desolate.

At this time, there were a few people standing in groups of two or three on the street, their eyes darting around, revealing vigilance.

As soon as Su Aobai appeared riding his bicycle, he was stared at by the people on the street. However, no one came up to strike up a conversation, they just watched him carefully.

Su Aobai parked his bicycle to the side. There was a basket hanging on the back seat of the bicycle, covered with a cloth. Su Aobai appeared to be reaching into the basket to take something out, but he was actually moving some of the smoked fish from the hidden space into the basket.

Because it was a reward provided by the system, he could retrieve the smoked fish at any time in case of emergencies.

He took out one of the smoked fish, and it was still emitting heat.

The smoked fish provided by the system was freshly cooked, steaming and crispy.

In one of Su Aobai’s past lives, he was the heir to a renowned restaurant. His grandfather was a master chef. Since he was young, he had been learning about spices and memorizing recipes. Before he was 30, he had inherited about seventy to eighty percent of his grandfather’s skills. Many people believed he was the next successor to Huaxia’s culinary arts.