Siheyuan: Starting from the driver

Chapter 773 My First Night School Experience: A Tale of Two Extremes

It was almost the end of August.

The registration day finally arrived.

After work, the three of them dragged their legs, which felt as heavy as if they were filled with lead, and followed Li Kailang, who looked as usual, to the night school.

The bulletin board was crowded with people, mostly young people like them, wearing oil-stained work clothes and looking tired.

His gaze swept over the densely packed names, with three names mixed in among them.

"There are quite a lot of people this year, about a third more than when I was born."

Li Kailang glanced at the names on the notice board and saw that there were a dozen or so more people than in his year.

Without much thought, he led the three of them to the classroom.

The small classroom was already filled with more than a dozen people, their faces, each with its own distinct features, clearly showing a mix of emotions: fatigue, confusion, curiosity, and trepidation.

In the corner, several young men of similar age leaned against the wall, their work clothes buttons casually undone, their eyes vacant, looking as if life had drained them of their energy.

Most of them shared the same plight as Xiao Zhao and his ilk, and were mostly "brothers in distress" forcibly assigned by their work units.

In stark contrast were the people in the front row.

The group looked around the document room with eager and curious eyes; they were clearly looking forward to it.

"This will be your classroom from now on." Li Kailang glanced around the slightly messy classroom.

"Don't just sit idly by, take a look at the cleaning."

"Oh, okay." The three of them responded almost reflexively, immediately getting up and searching for brooms and rags.

The commotion attracted the attention of others.

Looking at Li Kailang, who was "commanding with composure," standing in a conspicuous position with a natural tone, many people subconsciously regarded him as a staff member or teacher representative of the night school.

"What are you standing there for? Get cleaning!"

A young man who had been forced into the corner seemed to have found an outlet for his frustration and shouted at his companion.

This command broke the deadlock.

The people in the classroom started moving.

Without any organization or division of labor, everyone tacitly found something to do: some swept the floor, some wiped the tables, and some arranged the chairs.

Li Kailang stood to the side with his arms crossed, watching this "spontaneous" scene with a puzzled look in his eyes, muttering to himself:
“It’s so weird”

He didn't say anything extra.

Then more students came in to register.

Seeing Li Kailang calmly "supervising" the work, and then looking at the busy crowd, the newcomers silently joined in the cleaning.

This sight made Li Kailang even more puzzled, but then he was relieved and nodded to himself: "This year's students are quite high-quality and have good awareness."

His idea was caught by several students who were secretly observing him, so everyone worked even harder.

We can't let this seemingly dignified "teacher" down!

After a while of work, the classroom was finally clean and bright, with desks and chairs neatly arranged.

Everyone was exhausted, so they found places to sit down in twos and threes, massaging their sore backs and legs.

After all, I came right after work, and I was quite tired both physically and mentally.

A young man, also dressed in work clothes and with a bit of engine oil on his face, wiped his sweat and walked up to Li Kailang.

"Teacher, what do we do next?"

"Teacher?" Li Kailang was taken aback. He turned around and looked at the empty podium and his surroundings in confusion. After confirming that there were no other teachers around, he pointed to himself.

"Are you talking to me?"

"Yes, aren't you a teacher?"

The young man's expression instantly changed from respect to suspicion, his gaze scanning Li Kailang up and down like a searchlight.

His ordinary work clothes, stained with oil, made him look nothing like a refined schoolteacher.

“I am not a teacher,” Li Kailang said frankly.

"Not a teacher?!" The young man's voice suddenly rose.

"What are you doing standing there, teacher?! You're just watching and not cleaning! We're all here to class, why are you the only one who doesn't do anything? Are you trying to show off your authority?"

He pointed at Li Kailang, his tone full of hostility. This sudden accusation immediately drew the scrutinizing gazes of everyone, and the air instantly froze.

"Who told you I'm a student?"

Just as Li Kailang was about to explain the misunderstanding, a familiar voice rang out from behind him, defusing the awkward situation like timely rain.

"Li Kailang? What are you doing here?"

Hearing the voice, Li Kailang turned around and immediately put on a sincere smile: "Teacher Yan! What brings you here?"

The person who came in was Yan Wanbin. He pointed to the classroom and said, "I teach this class. What about you?"

He looked Li Kailang up and down, a hint of mockery in his voice, "What? Going back to the drawing board for a second chance?"

"How could that be, Teacher Yan?" Li Kailang laughed, pointing to Xiao Zhao and his two companions who were sitting to the side watching the commotion.

"I brought these three colleagues from our steel rolling mill here to report for duty. It's their first time at Ye Da University, and I was worried they wouldn't know the way, so I'm showing them around and getting them familiar with the environment."

Yan Wanbin nodded, indicating that he understood.

Then, facing all the students in the classroom who were casting curious glances, he cleared his throat and introduced in a loud voice:
"Perfect timing, let me take this opportunity to introduce it to everyone."

"This Comrade Li Kailang is an outstanding graduate of our evening university this year! He graduated with top marks in both theoretical and practical exams."

After a brief introduction, everyone exclaimed in amazement at Li Kailang's achievements.

The young man who had just criticized Li Kailang blushed bright red and awkwardly shrank back into the crowd, wishing he could disappear into a crack in the ground.

Li Kailang waved his hand modestly, saying, "It's all thanks to Teacher Yan's excellent teaching and strict requirements that I have a solid foundation."

With his identity clarified and the misunderstanding resolved, and Yan Wanbin already present to preside, Li Kailang prepared to take his leave.

On the first day of registration, there were no classes. After receiving a stack of textbooks and listening to the rules and regulations of the evening university, as well as the class schedule, we arrived at the crucial step of forming study groups.

“Studying at night school is not easy; time is tight and tasks are heavy, and it is even more difficult to succeed by working alone.”

"Let's share our approximate home addresses and see if anyone lives nearby. It would be best if we could form a study group."

"This way, we can get together after get off work or on weekends to discuss problems, answer each other's questions, and share the pressure. Study groups are very useful."

"Past experience has shown that study groups that work well together and help each other have a much higher graduation rate and better learning outcomes."

Study groups are very important; look at Kim Geon-hyun's group of four—they all graduated successfully.

Only a few students from the other groups graduated.

It is clear that a good study group is still very important.

Soon, the classroom was filled with the sounds of people giving their addresses, each with their own regional accent. "I live near Xizhimen."

I live in Huangzhuang, Haidian District.

Nanluoguxiang.

"Dongsi Archway".

My home is located at…

As they introduced themselves, they glanced at their neighbors.

Region undoubtedly becomes a natural grouping line.

Although Xiao Zhao, Huang Jin, and He Yu lived a little far apart, they all belonged to the technical department of the steel rolling mill, so they were naturally grouped together.

After all, we come from the same factory, we know each other well, and it's easier to communicate with each other. It's much better than getting along with strangers.

The whole process took only an hour or two, but it felt like it had exhausted everyone's last bit of energy.

Everyone should bring their books, and then school is over.

When Xiao Zhao and his two companions returned with the thick stack of books, their faces immediately darkened.

"When I was in school, I had to study, and now that I'm working, I still have to study. It's tough!"

The three of them quickly flipped through it, but there were still quite a few complex formulas and abstract concepts that left them dizzy and disoriented.

Fortunately, Li Kailang was there, so we could ask them if we didn't understand something.

The next day at work, the three of them appeared in the technical department with dark circles under their eyes.

His listless state drew sidelong glances from everyone in the office, a mixture of sympathy and a touch of schadenfreude.

"Wait, what's wrong with you three? Didn't you go to the night school to pick up your books yesterday? What happened? Did you attend classes all day?" the others asked curiously.

Xiao Zhao didn't even bother to lift his eyelids; he practically slumped into his chair.
"Don't even mention it. I got the book yesterday and went back to read it. Good heavens! It's like a book written in heaven; I can't understand it at all."

"Who says otherwise! I've been reading for half the night and only managed to understand about 70-80%. How am I supposed to live like this? It's killing me!" Huang Jin sighed to the heavens.

He Yu remained relatively calm, but the bloodshot eyes betrayed his torment.

He looked at Li Kailang and said, "Brother Li, we'll really have to trouble you in the future. We'll beg you to take the time to tutor the three of us, highlight the key points, and tell us some tips."

"Otherwise, with this night school, we might not even make it through the first month before we have to surrender."

Looking at the three people's miserable appearance, Li Kailang couldn't help but laugh and cry. "No problem, no problem."

“We’re all brothers in the same department, so I’ll definitely help if I can. But when it comes to studying, the key is still to put in the hard work yourself. After get off work in the evening or on the weekend, you can gather up your questions and come to me anytime.”

Director Wang was helpless as he looked at the situation of the three-person team he had "forcibly assigned".

I had no choice but to have a talk with them.

"The factory is watching. You represent the face of the steel rolling mill, so you have to hold on no matter how difficult it is. The technical department is your support. We will try our best to reduce your workload."

"I will arrange for other people in the department to take on some of the trivial and time-consuming tasks, such as running errands and filling out forms."

"As for technical issues, consult Li Kailang. He's been through this before and has experience."

After listening to Director Wang's speech, the three of them still had to go to work, so they went to inspect the workshop with Lao Zhang and others.

Immediately, the three men's "tragic" state became the topic of conversation among the workers.

"Have you heard? Those three guys from the technical department just went to night school yesterday, and today they're all sporting panda eyes and looking like wilted eggplants!"

"Serves them right. Who told them to get stuck with this? I wouldn't go either. They work themselves to death during the day, and then suffer like that at night? What's the point?"

"You can't say that. Li Kailang made it through, didn't he? Look how successful he is now!"

"How many Li Kailangs are there? He's a ruthless guy! We're just ordinary people, content with a wife, kids, a warm bed, and a stable salary. Why bother with all this fuss?"

"So, the factory's policy is good, but it's too out of touch with reality. If someone isn't cut out for it, can you really force them to drink water?"

"Director Yang meant well; he wanted to cultivate talent."

"Good intentions can sometimes lead to bad results!"

These discussions, more or less, reached the ears of Director Yang.

He stood by the office window, looking out at the rows of factories and busy workers, his brow furrowed.

The difficult situation that Xiao Zhao and his two companions were struggling to adapt to felt like a thorn in his heart.

He anticipated difficulties, but he did not expect the workers' resistance to be so widespread and intense.

"Could it be that I'm out of touch with reality, or is there something wrong with our methods?" Director Yang began to doubt his own decisions.

He recalled Wan Shen's earlier tactful remark: "Factory Director, everyone understands the principle and knows that learning technical skills is important."

"But now that promotion assessments have been suspended for so long, it's the same whether you do a good job or a bad job, and there's no hope in sight."

“No one is willing to learn and do more if they don’t see obvious benefits in the short term, but instead have to sacrifice their rest time and even affect their life.”

Most importantly, promotion assessments have been suspended.

Promotion assessments have been stalled for over a year and a half now.

When people's hearts are scattered and there is a lack of motivation to move forward, even the best policies will be distorted and twisted at the implementation level, and ultimately fail.

Factory Director Yang decided that they could not wait any longer and had to immediately begin establishing their own training system within the factory. He summoned Wan Shen again.

After much painful reflection, Director Yang said, "Xiao Wan, the issue of the night school quotas has served as a wake-up call for us. Relying on external 'waiting' and 'assigning' won't work."

"We must focus on our own capabilities and make the training a priority! We'll conduct it right here in the factory! We'll utilize workers' spare time!"

"Factory manager, what do you mean?"

"You need to do a few things right now:"

"First, go to the workshop and ask around, talk to experienced workers, ordinary workers, and especially young workers."

"We asked them what the most challenging technical problems they faced at work were, what kind of assistance they hoped the factory would provide in terms of skills development, and what kind of recognition and rewards they hoped to receive from the factory after mastering the skills. We wanted to hear their most honest opinions!"

"Bring in experienced technicians as key technical personnel and let them apply their knowledge to actual production to solve real problems! The goal is for them to learn and be able to use what they've learned, and for it to be effective! Let's not get into fancy formalities."

"There are also rewards, which we have neglected in the past."

"Think about it carefully. Can we link training assessment results to job promotions, salary grades, and bonuses? We must make sure everyone sees tangible benefits and experiences the sweetness of learning!"

Factory Director Yang's vision became increasingly clear: "We need to make those who excel in learning and have advanced skills truly 'valued' in the factory! We need to make everyone feel that learning and mastering technology is a promising career path!"

"Considering everyone's actual difficulties, the training time should be flexible, such as a short period of time after class or half a day on the weekend. The format should also be diverse, whatever is effective."

"We can even implement a 'master-apprentice pairing' system, encouraging experienced masters to mentor apprentices and pass on their skills. Masters who mentor apprentices well will also receive substantial rewards!"

Wan Shenfei quickly took notes. He could sense that the factory director had made a great decision this time, and his thinking was more practical.

"Yes, Factory Manager! I understand! I'll get on it right away."

"Go."

(End of this chapter)