Hard core!, English class for 95 year old rural "strange old man"
Health first,
Otherwise, how can we serve the people! "
Author: Chen Lin
Today is the 39th Teacher's Day in China. For retired teacher Ye Lianping from Buchen School in He County, Ma'anshan City, Anhui Province, it is just another ordinary day to rush for students.
Four days ago was Ye Lianping's 95th birthday. He originally planned to cook a bowl of vegetarian noodles to celebrate, but his students secretly prepared a birthday cake for him. Surrounded by the children, Teacher Ye made a birthday wish - "Health comes first, otherwise how can we serve the people?"
A few years ago, Ye Lianping had a car accident and suffered a lumbar spine fracture, making it difficult to walk since then. But this couldn't stop him from continuing to stand on the podium to give the children extra lessons.
Ye Lianping's biggest anxiety at present is time. "I'm running out of time! My time is getting increasingly tight." "I hope my last breath is exhaled from the podium."
In 1991, Ye Lianping retired from Buchen School. Unable to stay idle, he self funded the construction of a "home for left behind minors". The children's tutoring here is not only free, but also includes meals and accommodation. Some families have attended his classes for generations.
In the midst of cold and summer, he stood on a three foot podium for over 40 years, every inch of his life
"A respected eccentric old man"
On the day of his official retirement, Ye Lianping lay on his desk, crying loudly, and the teachers around him were puzzled.
"I really don't want to quit," Ye Lianping shook his head as he recalled the scene from that day.
After retirement, he went everywhere to take advantage of loopholes. When a teacher fell ill, got married, or had to take leave, he went to substitute classes.
Later on, he decided to run tutoring classes at home and provide free tutoring to students.
There are more and more students, squeezing the yard to the brim. A student joked, "It's like climbing a mountain to use the restroom!" Later, the student was admitted to Renmin University of China.
·Ye Lianping started his own study class at home, which is known as the "home for left behind minors.".
In the impression of Longhua, the gatekeeper of Buchen School, Ye Lianping is very stingy. If he doesn't finish a meal, even if it's spoiled, he won't throw it away.
He often goes to Ye Lianping's house to make up for classes during middle school. Ye Lianping didn't have a refrigerator, so he put leftovers and food at the bottom of a cool well and covered it with a mosquito net to prevent mosquitoes from entering. In this way, a chicken can eat for a week.
Longhua couldn't see it and threw it away. Ye Lianping got angry at him and said, "I used to even gnaw on the bark!"
It usually costs a few cents more to take the bus, which Ye Lianping cannot bear to bear. He usually goes out by bike and rides 7 kilometers to the town to buy groceries.
·Ye Lianping is cooking at home.
In addition to being frugal, in the eyes of the villagers, Ye Lianping has a strange temper and is fond of calculation.
He once scrutinized the packaging of a box of nutritional products and said, "Look at the ingredient list, carrots appear twice! If fat is zero and sugar is zero, why write them on? The brand name needs to be capitalized when translated into English!"
However, the villagers all highly respect Ye Lianping because everyone knows that his "monster" is for the students.
Usually, Ye Lianping likes to sit by the door, next to the classroom light switch. The classroom is a bit dark. Whenever a student comes in, he turns on the lights; Seeing that the students had all gone out, he slammed the door shut.
13-year-old student Yu Ting often sits in the first row, which was specially arranged by Ye Lianping.
Once, Yuting copied the wrong question on the blackboard, and Ye Lianping harshly criticized her. She dared not speak up and kept crying.
Ye Lianping found out that Yuting's parents had a congenital disability, with fingers and toes unable to stretch, underdeveloped eyes, amblyopia and astigmatism, and inability to see clearly.
Ye Lianping's tears welled up. He then moved Yuting to the front row, copied the questions for her, and contacted the hospital for treating eye diseases.
Yuting's parents both work in He County and can accompany her to grow up. But many parents of left behind minors go out to work, and the children lack companionship.
Ye Lianping said, "I do not advocate calling it 'left behind'. Children from single parent families and children from Three Gorges immigrants may lack the care of their families."
·In May 2018, Ye Lianping took his students to the Geological Museum and led them to sing English alphabet songs in the car.
What moved the villagers the most was that he gave the saved money to students as scholarships.
Ye Lianping used over 20000 yuan saved to establish the Ye Lianping Scholarship in 2012. In 2019, he was awarded the title of "National Moral Model" and received a prize of 100000 yuan, donating all his resources to support students.
"In the future, when I leave, Ye Lianping's scholarship will not be terminated, and I will also donate my body to the medical school as a specimen."
·In February 2020, Ye Lianping will donate all 100000 yuan of the prize money for the National Moral Model Award.
Stay and repay the kindness
Ye Lianping said he doesn't have enough time, not only because he's over 90 years old, but also because he couldn't do education openly for over 20 years, and now he cherishes every opportunity to attend classes.
Ye Lianping was born in Qingdao, Shandong in 1928. At the age of 8, he moved with his family to Tianjin during the period of the Nationalist Government in Nanjing.
At that time, his family was poor, and he had no choice but to drop out of high school.
My father is a chef, and my employer is David White, the office director and first-class secretary of the US Embassy. Ye Lianping followed my father to the embassy to do odd jobs.
Once, Bai Ge called Ye Lianping from the office on the second floor and asked him to go upstairs: "A hammer, please."
Recalling this scene, Ye Lianping hugged his head and said, "I just thought to myself, I don't understand what he said at all! But I don't dare to ask, he's Mr. Bai!"
Ye Lianping rushed downstairs and asked his father's friend for a translation. When he learned that the word was a hammer, he went to the warehouse and took one upstairs.
Bai Ge was particularly satisfied and touched his head, saying, "Good, good!"
Ye Lianping spends his days dealing with ambassadors and secretaries, practicing fluent English.
·On Bilibili, in Ye Lianping's teaching video, netizens compared him to the magical principal Dumbledore from Harry Potter, calling his pronunciation comparable to London accent.
After the liberation, the embassy was withdrawn, and Ye Lianping was unemployed at home.
The area near his house is a shantytown, where many people work hard, riding tricycles, pulling carts, and sweeping the road. "Most people have no education, so I want to teach everyone how to read," he said.
He started classes in the dormitory of Fu Zuolu Elementary School, and everyone worked during the day and came over at night.
But some people had to take care of their children, so he found a place and asked the local old lady to take care of the children, which formed the early daycare. At that time, Nanjing Radio Station also commended this daycare center.
More and more people are attending night schools, and some of the students led by Ye Lianping are working in hospitals or entering factories.
However, misfortune struck.
In 1955, the police suddenly came to the school and captured Ye Lianping. He was suspected to be a spy, but was later demoted and traveled multiple places to reach Ma'anshan and County.
He was often caught, criticized, and beaten. The pregnant original partner, afraid of being implicated, had to have their child aborted and cut off their relationship with him.
Now Ye Lianping has a wife who he took in when he was in his seventies, and they live together.
In his early years, Ye Lianping had nowhere to live, and the butcher Zhao Erge took him in.
Once, someone posted a big character poster for Ye Lianping, and the "patrol team" rushed to Zhao Erge's house to arrest Ye Lianping.
Zhao Erge blocked the door with a knife and patted his chest, saying, "My family has three generations of poor farmers. If Old Ye breaks the law, I will go!" At that time, the identity of a poor farmer was a credit guarantee, and Zhao Erge saved Ye Lianping.
"If it weren't for him, I would have been driven away." Later, Ye Lianping was transferred to take care of the pigsty and worked as a pig shepherd for nearly 10 years.
"November 22, 1978," Ye Lianping muttered to reporters twice, saying that he would never forget this day in his lifetime.
That year, the central government began to rectify the chaos, and those who were transferred from the city were able to return to the city.
Ye Lianping stayed in He County. "When I came here, I was a poor person and exchanged all my shoes for money. The villagers gave me food and took me in, which was kind to me and I can't forget."
Buchen Middle School is short of teachers, and some people recommend Ye Lianping. The school sent someone to find Ye Lian, who is currently picking up pig manure.
He was very tall and excited when he heard that he was going to teach. He stepped over the high fence and when he arrived at the office, there was still a smell of pig meat.
He tried speaking for a while, and the teaching director immediately decided to let him teach.
From then on, Ye Lianping became a private teacher, earning 36 yuan per month.
·Ye Lianping supported the blackboard to write on the board.
Becoming a "person" is more important
Ye Lianping has just taken the podium, and his primary task is to improve his grades in the third year of junior high school.
"Home visits are my magic weapon." There were over 40 people in the class, and he went door-to-door to see students and their parents to understand the situation.
As the exam approaches, he will try to visit the students who live nearby and gather them in a certain place, setting up a total of 5 points, and going to give lectures each night.
During a heavy rain, Ye Lianping crossed the embankment with an umbrella in the dark and accidentally slipped, causing the umbrella to break.
He was covered in mud all over, and when he arrived at a certain point, his parents and students were startled and said, "Teacher Ye has become a water ghost!"
"They will be more proactive in learning when they see the teacher working so hard." Ye Lianping is proud that many talents have emerged here, "Vice Dean of Wujiang Hospital, Teacher of Nanjing Academy of Fine Arts..."
But improving grades is not the ultimate goal. "At the very least, students should become qualified individuals and not engage in illegal activities."
·Students came to Ye Lianping's house to ask for his advice, and the old man's house was filled with calligraphy and paintings gifted by friends. Chen Lin/Photo
In 1986, Ye Lianping became a member of the Member of the Communist Party of China. Due to his outstanding teaching performance, he was exempted from the exam and converted to a formal teacher.
In those years, many private teachers gradually became regular teachers, and by 2000, this group had basically withdrawn from the historical stage.
Ye Lianping said that the state has organized the conversion of civilian teachers to regular positions, providing rural teachers with a living guarantee. "With food, oil, and tickets, teaching is also more vigorous.".
Since 1978, Ye Lianping has been a teacher for over 40 years, and many people praise him for "sticking to He County and making up for the shortcomings of rural education.".
Ye Lianping waved his hand and said, "I don't have that much to do."
He said that overall, rural education in China is not as good as in counties or cities, and cities are also divided into different levels. These differences are difficult to solve for a time. "I can only try my best to solve problems in a certain aspect or stage."
In order to accompany more rural children, Ye Lianping has been racing against time. He said his slogan is, "Life never stops, fight endlessly, dedicate oneself wholeheartedly, and die endlessly.".
Nowadays, this old man with white hair is still working day and night. He guarded the spark of rural education with his passion.
Wishing Teacher Ye a happy birthday and Happy Teacher's Day!
