Step by step, a gentle breeze leads to a smooth path

As he continued running around, summer arrived, the off-season for business, and Song Tingnan had less time to run errands.

Relatively speaking, she is not as busy every day.

Although her eldest uncle had a bad temper, he was not mistreated when it came to food, so he was not short.

Two rice harvests are barely enough after paying the grain tax. Every year, we plant a lot of potatoes and sweet potatoes.

Song Tingnan had eaten her fill of the once soft and fragrant sweet potatoes, whether roasted or boiled.

After falling into the pond last time, Song Tingnan insisted on learning to swim. When she was submerged, she felt like she was suffocating, her breathing becoming heavy, as if a thousand pounds weighed on her. She thrashed about with her hands but couldn't float at all, and the more she struggled, the deeper she sank. She was pressed down by the water, and then she had no strength left.

She has great reverence for life.

Especially after running the business, reading books in the library opened up some new worlds for me. I felt that life has endless possibilities, but I still have to live well.

Summer came again, and she begged her grandmother, "Grandma, I want to learn to swim."

Actually, back in our old home, my older siblings all knew how to swim. It was a water town with many bodies of water, and the children often spent time in the water during the summer, so they naturally learned to swim.

In this village, a brigade only has a few ponds, used for washing clothes and vegetables, and storing water to irrigate farmland, so most of the girls are not good at swimming.

When Song Tingnan asked her grandmother to teach her to swim, Qian Shuzhen hesitated for a moment, but then, remembering her previous fall into the water, she agreed.

As long as Grandma agrees, my eldest uncle won't say anything. He just wants it to be free and not cause any trouble.

Qian Shuzhen was terrified of seeing her grandchildren die young again, so Song Tingnan's younger brothers also asked to learn to swim.

Grandma was considering who should teach him. At this point, Nan was still young, so it didn't matter whether he was a boy or a girl.

Coincidentally, the village chief had the same idea.

Another child from the neighboring brigade has had an accident. Every summer, after school, on weekends, and during holidays, is the peak time for drownings.

It's natural for children to love playing in the water, but most of them can't swim, while some who can do a little bit of the doggy paddle are eager to try.

He's also incredibly loyal; despite being only a novice himself, he confidently declares, "I guarantee I'll teach you in half an hour."

Sometimes, when they encounter someone falling into the water, they will rush into the water to save them or form a "human chain" to rescue them!

Village chief Song Dazhuang broadcasts every day: "Keep an eye on your children, don't let them play in the water, don't let them get too cold, and prevent them from drowning."

Qian Shuzhen approached Song Dazhuang: "Prevention is worse than cure! Solving the problem at its source and teaching children how to swim is the only way to prevent drowning."

Song Dazhuang completely agreed, "Auntie, you're right. Children are the flowers of our motherland, and our children are the future of our brigade. We must protect them."

He was a pragmatist and immediately organized a meeting of party members and cadres to discuss the matter.

Qian Shuzhen didn't care about the time, the pond, or who would provide training in batches; she only required that "girls should also learn."

Song Dazhuang also knew about Song Tingnan falling into the water, and readily agreed.

As the sun was setting, we taught the children to swim, and they still earned work points. Adults who knew how to swim enthusiastically signed up.

Male coaches are easy to find; we selected two from a group of people who were not only good swimmers but also had good tempers.

Choosing a female coach is a bit awkward, as most women don't know how to coach themselves but want to learn.

In the end, they found a young woman from a water town to marry into, and then paired her with a middle-aged male coach, all to avoid gossip.

There are quite a few people in this group. Besides children, there are teenage girls and young married women.

After all, there aren't many activities in the countryside, and learning this skill is a good precaution.

The men in the family didn't object. Almost everyone in the brigade shared the same surname, so they were all from the same family. There were many people, so there wouldn't be any trouble. Their brigade was also called Songjia Village.

And sure enough, it was a great success. The team leader even received praise from his superiors, who told other brigades to learn from him. Song Dazhuang was very proud and came to thank Qian Shuzhen: "Auntie, your idea is the best."

"Thank you for your hard work! Thank you to all the coaches, it's all for the children's good, to cherish life." Qian Shuzhen said happily.

This summer vacation went by quickly. Song Tingnan got a tan, learned to swim, and made many friends.