After graduation, I went home to keep bees

Chapter 1

Chapter 1

In May, Langshan is shrouded in mist and fog, and the air is humid. When the mist dissipates, you can see a few people on the mountain carrying bamboo baskets. They have all come up the mountain early in the morning to pick tea leaves.

Langshan has beautiful scenery, but because it is remote and desolate, the wild tea in the mountains is not well-known. The villagers mostly keep the tea they pick for their own consumption, or they roast it and carry it down the mountain to sell to people in the town who are too lazy to pick tea leaves at the market. They earn a few dozen yuan per kilogram, just enough to make a living from their hard work.

Jiang Xiaoman also carried a large basket on his back and went up the mountain with his father to pick tea leaves. He had been doing this job for more than ten years and was very skilled at it. However, this year he made a special trip home during the May Day holiday, not just to help the old man pick tea leaves.

"Baichuan invited us to his house for dinner tonight. The pens and notebooks you brought back this time really helped him a lot!" Jiang Youliang said to his son while picking tea leaves.

Langshan is too remote. There are countless villages of all sizes hidden deep in the mountains and forests. However, not to mention the villages, even the houses are far apart. For example, his family occupies a whole hilltop on their own. The nearest neighbor is a mountain that he has to walk over to reach. Jiang Xiaoman's teachers and classmates used to praise him for his "composure beyond his years." In fact, it wasn't composure, but rather a lack of communication over a long period of time, which made him too lazy to speak.

It is also known as the "hikikomori syndrome" or "hikikomori-suke syndrome".

However, upon hearing from her father that Jiang Baichuan was treating them to dinner that evening, Jiang Xiaoman smiled and said, "Dad, does this count as me picking up trash to exchange for meat?"

Upon hearing his son's words, Jiang Youliang couldn't help but burst into laughter.

He never married in his life. Jiang Xiaoman was a child he picked up at a market. There was no woman in the family, and Jiang Xiaoman ate his father's cooking from a young age. Jiang Youliang was a rough and uncultured man, how could he know how to cook any fancy dishes? His only specialty was stewed potatoes with cured pork. However, cured pork was expensive, and the family usually couldn't afford to eat it. They would usually cook a big pot of corn porridge or pumpkin porridge, and the father and son would eat this porridge three times a day. If they couldn't finish it at night, they would throw it away to feed the pigs.

Jiang Xiaoman was a clever child from a young age. He noticed that his father didn't usually buy him meat. Every time he went to the market, he would run to pick up trash. Sometimes, if he was lucky, he could even find money. He would sell the trash he picked up that same day. The father and son would stay until the very end of the market, when the stall owners were in a hurry to pack up and would usually have a clearance sale.

Jiang Youliang would haggle at the stalls, while Jiang Xiaoman would clutch the money he earned from collecting garbage and exchange it for meat at the butcher's stalls. Usually, the meat was what others had left over, so it was cheap! However, as far as his father's cooking skills were concerned, the quality of the meat didn't actually have much of an impact on the dishes, because his father only ever had two methods for cooking fresh meat—braised or stewed.

It's strange, they're both bachelors. His father's cooking is like boiling pig feed, and he can't even wash clothes. But Uncle Baichuan, who's only a few years younger than his father, can do everything from washing clothes to cooking.

Jiang Baichuan is the principal of their village primary school. According to seniority, he is Jiang Xiaoman's uncle. After graduating from a teacher's college, he could have stayed in the city. However, Jiang Baichuan resolutely returned to his hometown and became a rural teacher. A few years ago, the principal of the village primary school retired, and he became the principal.

However, his position as principal was truly pathetic. In recent years, anyone with a bit of ability had taken their children to school in the city. It was said that even the conditions at migrant workers' children's schools in the city were much better than in the countryside. Year after year, students were leaving, and teachers couldn't be retained either. Last year, only Jiang Baichuan and two other teachers, along with more than thirty students from different grades, remained.

In recent years, the country has been increasing its support for rural education, but there are simply too many teachers and not enough funds. While teachers' salaries are indeed guaranteed at the most basic level, the special education funds allocated to remote towns like theirs are pitifully small.

It was quite a coincidence that Jiang Xiaoman was graduating from her senior year this year. Her counselor asked them to clean up their dorm rooms before graduation so as not to leave a mess for the younger students. Seeing that many students were throwing away unused pens and notebooks directly into the trash can, Jiang Xiaoman's sense of mission to pick up trash deep in her soul was suddenly awakened!

Such a good thing, if we bring it back to my uncle Jiang Baichuan, not to mention the trash in his entire boys' dormitory building, it would be enough for Jiang Baichuan to use for several years!

Jiang Xiaoman immediately borrowed a snakeskin bag from the dormitory supervisor and went door-to-door to collect garbage from each dormitory. He would take any unused notebooks and pens that people didn't want, and then he would even help them take the garbage downstairs to throw it away.

Jiang Xiaoman's classmates all thought he was a very helpful person, and Jiang Xiaoman also felt that his classmates were too kind to him. After sorting through the garbage, he sold the waste paper and beverage bottles he picked out for more than 400 yuan, which was just enough for his round-trip train ticket home for May Day.

The first thing Jiang Xiaoman did when she got home was to send two large woven bags full of notebooks and pens to the school. There was even half a box of unopened chalk in the bags!

“I went to help the teachers in the Youth League Committee clean their office. The teacher said that this half box of chalk was damp and expired, and asked me to take it to throw away. So I brought it back. Although the chalk was damp, I think it can still be used after drying it in the sun. It would be a pity to throw it away.”

Jiang Baichuan truly never forgets his mission to recycle and reuse waste. If it weren't for his intelligence and admission to university, Jiang Baichuan believes that this kid could have become rich by collecting waste sooner or later.

However, collecting scrap is impossible.

It is said that when Jiang Youliang brought this child back, he specially asked the mountain shaman to calculate the fortune. Originally, he wanted to give the child a name that would be easy to raise. Who knew that as soon as the shaman saw the child, he couldn't bear to let go of him. He kept muttering that this child would definitely bring good luck to the mountain people in this area. He was a "child sent from heaven". Jiang Baichuan just found it funny. Feudal superstition is no good!

However, Jiang Youliang firmly believed in the shaman's prophecy. From then on, this lazy bachelor had only one wish in his life: to sell everything he owned to support Jiang Xiaoman's education!

The people in the mountains are simple and honest. The older generation firmly believes that only by studying hard can one leave the mountains. Jiang Youliang is different. He has been telling his son since he was a child that he must return to his hometown after he learns a skill. After all, even the shaman predicted that he would change the fate of the entire Langshan Township!

In response, Jiang Xiaoman could only say that he should first find a job to support himself and his son!

A bachelor's degree is indeed a great achievement in the eyes of people in the mountains, but in a job market where master's degree holders are everywhere and bachelor's degree holders are as common as dogs, Jiang Xiaoman is not even sure if she can find a job.

He came back for two reasons. First, he wanted to send the paper and pens he had collected to the school to ease Jiang Baichuan's financial burden. Second, he took out half of the money he had earned at the school over the years and planned to have his father renovate the old house.

Jiang Youliang accepted the money from his son, but he had no intention of spending it on repairing the old house. He still firmly believed that his son was going to do great things in the future, and how could he do business without capital?

Not only this 30,000 yuan, but he has also secretly saved more than 20,000 yuan over the past few years. He will not touch a single penny of this money, as it is his son's "first pot of gold"!

Because someone invited them to dinner that evening, the father and son didn't have to go home to cook. They even spent an extra two hours picking tea leaves in the mountains. They both knew that Jiang Baichuan would take his children who lived far away home after school every day before returning to the village for dinner, so he usually ate very late.

Unexpectedly, they waited until seven o'clock that night, but Jiang Baichuan still hadn't called them to dinner.

"Something's not right!" Jiang Youliang jumped up and grabbed a flashlight to head to the school.

“Dad, I’ll go with you!” Jiang Xiaoman followed.

When the father and son arrived at the school, it was quiet. It was obvious that Jiang Baichuan had not returned at all.

"This kid! He probably ran into a wolf on the way! Hurry up, go to the village and call for help! Go into the mountains to search!" Jiang Youliang stamped his feet anxiously.

"Wait, Dad, I'll climb over the wall. There's a loudspeaker in the school!" Jiang Xiaoman, after all, graduated from the village primary school and was very familiar with the place. At this time, many families were eating, and it was inconvenient to call people from house to house. Calling people through the loudspeaker was the fastest way.

The village primary school's wall, long neglected and dilapidated, was practically useless. Jiang Xiaoman circled around to the spot where he used to climb over the wall to collect recyclables (?). Sure enough, the two protruding red bricks were still there. Now that he had grown taller, he didn't need to step on the second brick. Using his feet for leverage, he easily climbed over and rushed to the office. Seeing a lock on the door, his eyes lit up, and he jumped up and touched the top of the door, finding a spare key.

The school's loudspeaker worked like a charm; soon enough, villagers who lived nearby rushed over. When the village chief heard that Jiang Baichuan hadn't returned from taking the child home, he was terrified and ran so fast that he lost a shoe.

Speaking of Jiang Baichuan, everyone in Langshan Township admires him. He could have stayed in the big city and enjoyed a life of luxury, but he chose to stay in the mountains, earning a meager salary that barely covered his own needs. Every day, he worked as a teacher and a nanny, and even took the children home after school. Before he was even forty, his hair had turned completely white. Because of poverty, he still hasn't found a wife. When people in the village mention Jiang Baichuan, who doesn't give him a thumbs up?

It's no exaggeration to say that every single villager who heard the loudspeaker came out, even the elderly and children. Some grabbed flashlights, while others brought torches and woodcutting tools, just waiting for the village chief's order to immediately head into the mountains to search for people!

Chapter 2

The forest was especially terrifying after nightfall, as it was the time when nocturnal beasts came out to hunt. Jiang Xiaoman held a torch in one hand and gripped a wood-chopping knife tightly in the other. He walked and shouted as he went, and soon the silent forest was filled with shouts.

The group thought that even if they couldn't find him for a while, their shouting would at least scare away the wild animals nearby and buy Jiang Baichuan some time.

Their search route followed the route Jiang Baichuan usually took when dropping his children off at school. However, finding someone is not like walking, especially since the mountain path was particularly difficult to traverse at night. They also had to keep an eye out for any signs of being attacked or dragged by wild animals. No matter how anxious they were, they had no choice but to be patient and carefully make their way through the area.

After a difficult search of more than an hour, a joyful shout finally came from ahead: "Found it!"

Jiang Xiaoman's spirits lifted, and he quickly followed the main group forward. When he reached the location, the people searching ahead had already carried Jiang Baichuan up.

Jiang Baichuan's clothes and pants were torn, and he looked very disheveled, but he was still in good spirits, and he was still tightly clutching something in one hand.

Jiang Xiaoman was deeply moved, thinking that what he was protecting with his life must be a carefully prepared lesson plan or some other important item. After all, Jiang Baichuan hadn't even gotten married yet because of his students!

To my surprise, when I got closer, I found that the thing was fluffy and grayish, and it was actually still moving!

It turned out to be a wild rabbit, and quite plump at that...

Jiang Xiaoman narrowed her eyes dangerously.

Unexpectedly, Jiang Baichuan laughed when he saw him: "Xiaoman, help your uncle take this rabbit back! The children haven't had meat for quite a while. I happened to see this rabbit circling in the grass on the way, so I grabbed it right away, haha~"

"So, you fell down the mountain while trying to catch this rabbit?"

Jiang Xiaoman really wanted to stuff this rabbit ball into her uncle's mouth!

Reaching out to take the barely alive rabbit, Jiang Xiaoman pursed her lips and stepped aside, urging the two villagers carrying it to hurry over.

Turning to the side, he saw Jiang Baichuan's right arm limply resting in front of his chest, with a large, unnatural bulge at the joint. His eyes reddened, and he opened his mouth, but couldn't utter a single word of reproach.

He was well aware of the situation in his village. Those who stayed at the village primary school to complete their compulsory education were basically from extremely poor families and went to school just to get free education and a diploma.

When students go home, they usually just roast or boil potatoes. Eating meat is a special treat only during holidays. Many children here have never even tasted the junk food that city parents avoid like the plague, such as fried chicken, barbecue, and milk tea.

Jiang Baichuan's injuries weren't too serious. He had several abrasions, a dislocated right arm, and soft tissue contusions in his joints. He was fine, but he would need to rest for a while.

"How long should we keep them? Final exams are coming up soon. I should have known better than to catch rabbits." Jiang Baichuan leaned against the hospital bed in the clinic with a look of frustration.

"My goodness! I'm begging you, please lie down and rest!" Jiang Xiaoman was at her wit's end with her uncle. "How about this, since I've already finished my thesis defense and there's not much left at school, if you're comfortable with that, how about I cover your classes for a month?"

"I'm not at ease!" Jiang Baichuan wasn't very at ease with his college student nephew. This kid had a dark past. Back in school, because he didn't want to memorize pinyin, he actually memorized all the new words in an entire Chinese textbook by rote!

With this level of foundation, how dare he teach first grade? Don't ruin his few remaining thirty-odd students!

Jiang Xiaoman really wanted to say, "Why don't you just use your left hand to draw it?" But after thinking about it, she couldn't bear to do it. Considering that he was injured, she took a step back and said, "How about this? Anyway, you only have an injured arm, and your leg is fine. If you need to write something on the blackboard, you can dictate it and I'll write it on the blackboard for you."

"You really won't delay your graduation? What about your job search then?" Jiang Baichuan suddenly asked this seemingly irrelevant question.

"Don't worry, with the job market this year, it's really not easy for ordinary undergraduate graduates like us to find jobs." Jiang Xiaoman rolled her eyes at him, annoyed.

"Hey! Don't worry, foreign trade has indeed been tough these past few years. I saw it on the news. But things will get better sooner or later," Jiang Baichuan comforted him.

When Jiang Xiaoman was choosing his major in college, he was aiming for employment. He even consulted education experts in the province. He heard that the foreign trade industry in the neighboring province was thriving and the employment situation was particularly good, so Jiang Xiaoman directly filled in foreign trade as his major. Who knew that before he even graduated from his senior year, foreign trade would become a dead end?

The village arranged for several people to take turns caring for Jiang Baichuan, who was hospitalized. Seeing that there was nothing much going on at the hospital, Jiang Xiaoman got the keys from Jiang Baichuan and then called her counselor to let her know.

Actually, after May Day, there's basically nothing for seniors to do. It's just a matter of tidying up the dorm, taking graduation photos with classmates, having a few farewell dinners, and sending out resumes everywhere to look for jobs.

The thought of the current state of the foreign trade industry, which is as cold as the Ice Age, made Jiang Xiaoman's heart turn cold instantly. In any case, even if she went to submit her resume now, she might not be able to find a suitable job. She might as well stay at home, help Uncle Baichuan with his classes, and help pick some tea leaves at home.

The next morning, Jiang Xiaoman took the key to open the school gate. When she arrived at the school, she found several children already standing at the gate. They all seemed to live nearby and probably knew about the principal's accident last night. They were waiting here early in the morning. When they saw Jiang Xiaoman with the key to open the gate, a hint of disappointment flashed in the eyes of the students.

Fortunately, Jiang Xiaoman and the others knew them, and the day before yesterday they even gave them a lot of paper, pens, notebooks and the like.

"Brother Xiaoman, where is Principal Dad?" A girl with big eyes and short hair looked up at him nervously, as if she was afraid of hearing some bad news from him.

"Don't worry, your principal is fine. He just injured his arm and needs to stay in the hospital for a couple of days. He'll be back to teach you in a few days." Jiang Xiaoman opened the school gate and let them go into the classroom for morning reading. He still had a lot to do.

Although Langshan Township occupies a large area on the map, many of the scattered villages in the mountains are now uninhabited. Life in the mountains is too hard; food is worthless, and even growing potatoes requires guarding against wild boars. After the older generation passed away, the young people would rather work in the city than return to farm.

Jiang Xiaoman remembers that when their village primary school was first merged, it had several hundred students at its peak, but now there are only thirty or so left, averaging less than ten students per grade.

There are few students, and even fewer teachers.

Currently, only Principal Jiang Baichuan of Langshan Village Primary School has a formal teaching position, but the county is poor, and those with formal positions don't receive much salary each month. Of the remaining two, one stayed on as a substitute teacher for two years when he came to teach in the area and saw that they were really short-staffed, but it seems that he has resigned for personal reasons.

Another one is a high school graduate who married into the village. She didn't meet the requirements for a substitute teacher, but the problem is that those who did meet the requirements didn't want to come here. I don't know what Jiang Baichuan said to the township, but he managed to recruit her. Although she only graduated from high school, she can still teach the lower grades.

Because there are few teachers, in addition to regular teaching, many miscellaneous tasks also need to be done by the teachers themselves.

Jiang Xiaoman went to the kitchen first and boiled two large pots of water. She then poured the water into a large stainless steel bucket. This bucket was custom-made; after the lid was put on, there was a tap at the bottom, which could be turned on to dispense water. To prevent the children from getting stomach aches from drinking unboiled water, the first thing the school did every day was to boil water. After it cooled down, this large bucket of cooled boiled water was enough for all the teachers and students to drink for a whole day.

After boiling the water, seeing that there was still some time before class, Jiang Xiaoman quickly mixed some broken rice with bran and helped Jiang Baichuan feed the pigs and chickens raised at the school.

That's right. In order to ensure that the children could eat some meat and eggs every now and then, Principal Jiang even spent his own money to buy piglets and chicks and raised two pigs and dozens of free-range chickens in the open space behind the school!

Jiang Xiaoman: "..."

Meat and eggs can improve the children's meals. Principal Jiang also didn't want to waste pig and chicken manure. He opened a vegetable garden at the foot of the mountain behind the school to grow vegetables for himself and the children. He used farmyard manure, so the vegetables were truly pollution-free and green.

After feeding the pigs and chickens, and seeing that it was almost time, Jiang Xiaoman washed her hands and went to the office, where she saw that the other two teachers had also arrived.

The handsome guy sitting at the table near the door is Mr. Qu Jingjiang, who is about to leave the company. He looks only a few years older than Jiang Xiaoman. He has short hair, sharp features, and long, thin single eyelids. He looks a bit serious when he's not smiling.

Two tables at the back were put together to form an L-shaped independent space. One table was filled with students' homework, lesson plans, teaching aids, etc., while a little girl with two pigtails sat on the other table.

The little girl seemed to have already gotten to know everyone at school and wasn't shy at all. She glanced up at Jiang Xiaoman, then went back to playing with her doll. The doll was quite old, but it was clear that the little girl cherished it very much, and had even made her an apron out of floral fabric... This little girl was the eldest daughter of another teacher, Jiang Caiyun.

Jiang Caiyun was also from their village. Her family used to be well-off, so even though she was a girl, they still supported her through high school. But then tragedy struck. Jiang Caiyun's father's small coal mine collapsed, resulting in a death. Her father went to prison, and all the savings the family had accumulated from their business were lost. Jiang Caiyun had no choice but to drop out of school, get married, and use the dowry money to support the family.

Her husband was alright, but her mother-in-law was a real handful. She kept pressuring her to have a son, and when Jiang Caiyun didn't want to, her mother-in-law told her to return the betrothal gifts and get out. All that money had been spent, so where was Jiang Caiyun going to get more betrothal gifts? She could only endure it and get pregnant with her second child. She didn't dare to quit her substitute teaching job at the school, and even with such a big belly, she still insisted on teaching while taking care of her child.

"Brother Qu, Sister Caiyun, the hot water is ready. You two go to class first. I'll cook lunch." Jiang Xiaoman rubbed his nose. He really had never taught students before, so he shouldn't go and bother those elementary school kids.

Author's Note:

Here's an explanation of the gender setting of the protagonist in this article.