With the consent of all parties, Huang Dazhong started a kindergarten at his home, and the stonemason turned into a teacher. Huang Dazhong was truly responsible in teaching, and the villagers were willing to send their children to him.
For children's classes, he has worn out four prosthetic legs.
Huang Dazhong recalled that initially, each child paid only 7.5 yuan per semester. After deducting expenses for books, pens, notebooks, and candies, his remuneration was only 5 yuan. With fewer than 10 children per semester, his income every half year was just 50 yuan. This tuition standard persisted for four years.
Hardship
"His goal in running the kindergarten is not merely to make money or pass time," said Wang Daguo, the party secretary of Tiangshu Village. Huang Dazhong had already turned mountainous preschool education into a career, rarely calculating personal hardships and gains.
The teacher playing games has a fake leg.
Surprise
"I thought about giving up," Huang Dazhong recalled, especially on rainy days and in summer when he would leave home drenched in sweat and return soaked in rainwater, easily catching a cold. In a rainy day in 1999, Huang Dazhong fell at Sunjia Reservoir and knocked out his front tooth. Huang Dazhong said that thinking of the children, he still persisted.
Without his right leg, what could he do? At that time, his eldest son was 11 years old, the younger one was 3, and the entire family burden fell on his wife Wang Daqun. Huang Dazhong felt bored at home and called over some children from the courtyard to play with him. When he had free time, he taught them nursery rhymes and numbers, making his life more fulfilling.
Villager Liu Yingkui from Group 2 said that his son had attended kindergarten under Huang Dazhong. He felt that Teacher Huang was responsible and had methods, dragging his disabled body to vividly run the kindergarten. The villagers admired him greatly. He told the Chongqing Evening News reporter that every year when they slaughtered pigs, the villagers would vie to invite Teacher Huang to gather at their homes as an expression of gratitude.
In these years, for the sake of teaching the children, he has already worn out four prosthetic legs.
How did Teacher Huang lose his right leg?
Wang Daqun loved Huang Dazhong and spent 2400 yuan to install a prosthetic limb for him. Huang Dazhong said that during those initial days with the prosthetic, after one trip, large patches of skin would peel off from his right leg, and bloodstains would often dye his pant legs red. Each step caused excruciating pain.
Teacher Huang plays with the children.
This prosthetic limb has been used for four years without replacement.
Hardship
Half-year remuneration of 50 yuan persisted for four years.
Later, the tuition rose to 15 yuan, 40 yuan, 50 yuan, 70 yuan, 100 yuan, 150 yuan, reaching 200 yuan this semester. Huang Dazhong said that although the tuition increased, so did the expenses. Now, he earns around 1500 yuan per semester, and he feels content.
The spouse teaches dance lessons self-compiled and performed.
Excitement
"If it were purely for money, I wouldn't let him continue." Wang Daqun said that now their elder son has graduated from university and started working, while the younger son is also engaged in sales work. The economic burden isn't as heavy, and her husband has entirely turned early childhood education into a pursuit.
Grandpa Wang Jing passed away, his father works outside, and his mother ran away long ago. She couldn't even pay the tuition, and Teacher Huang had to provide her meals. A child named Yan Huimei is 18 years old now. Twelve years ago, when she attended kindergarten, her family faced difficulties. For four semesters, she didn't pay tuition or boarding fees, and even now, she still owes Teacher Huang 115 yuan.
The classroom is rented from a villager's house, and the desks and benches are discarded from the village school. However, regarding the children's homework, Huang Dazhong doesn't compromise at all. Language, mathematics, physical education, music, art—none of these subjects are skipped by the children. Without textbooks, he uses the ones his sons have read; without musical instruments for music class, he teaches orally; for physical education class, Teacher Huang grits his teeth and persists in accompanying the children to run and jump, always concealing the fact that he lacks a right leg. He said he fears the children might be scared if they find out, affecting their studies.
Teacher Huang said that he never told the children that his right leg was a prosthetic. Whether playing games or attending PE class, he grits his teeth and insists on playing with the children. He told the Chongqing Evening News reporter that this prosthetic has been used for more than four years and is already broken. Repairs cost nearly 1000 yuan each time, but due to tight funds, he has continued using it.
"I'm going to catch the chicks!" Teacher Huang spread his arms wide and wobbled forward, startling the children who dodged left and right. After several rounds of chasing, sweat seeped from Teacher Huang's forehead, and his legs became unresponsive. He made a final lunge and fell heavily to the ground.
Huang is the teacher currently instructing a class of 12 children, only one of whom has both parents nearby. Some children haven't paid tuition for several semesters.
Running a kindergarten in the mountains doesn't bring in the same income as in the city.
The children found it convenient to attend school, but Huang Dazhong endured much hardship. From Group 2 to Group 8, there are five miles of mountain paths. Every morning before 7 o'clock, Huang Dazhong would rush to the kindergarten with two bamboo sticks; in the afternoon after school, he would stagger back home, taking over an hour for a single trip.
He was once a stonemason, but an accidental incident left him without his right leg. Since then, he has dragged his prosthetic leg over five kilometers of mountain roads every day to teach the children, despite the pain and bleeding...
"This..." Teacher Huang hesitated for a moment, looking at the children's expectant eyes and limped to the edge of the yard with a smile.
"The leg broke!" The children screamed in surprise. Six-year-old Wang Jing ran over and picked up the "leg", only to find it was plastic. Looking again at Teacher Huang's empty right trouser leg, the children were amazed: why didn't Teacher Huang bleed when his leg broke? Where did his flesh-and-blood leg go?
"Our motherland is a garden, where flowers bloom beautifully..." On the evening of April 30th, at Teacher Huang's home, he sang loudly again. Wang Daqun danced to the song, performing dances like "The School Song", "Good Example Lei Feng", and "A Bouquet of Flowers" in front of the Chongqing Evening News reporter.
The elderly man is named Huang Dazhong, aged 58. He is the teacher at Tiangshu Village Kindergarten. Finished, the children wanted to play the game "Eagle Catching Chicks". Who would be the eagle? The children all rushed forward and asked Teacher Huang to take the role.
Huang Dazhong was originally a stonemason. In 1991, Huang Dazhong had his right leg crushed by falling rocks at the construction site and could no longer work as a stonemason.
"Why not open a kindergarten?" A comment from Wang Daqun enlightened Huang Dazhong, who had a high school education and could teach children to recognize characters and sing songs without issue.
Initially, his remuneration per semester was only about 50 yuan, and now it is less than 1500 yuan, yet he has persisted for 20 years. He said that teaching the children now is to relieve boredom, and continuing to do so now is for the children's success.
Huang Dazhong's home is in Group 2 of Tiangshu Village, located at the western end of the village. Some children spend two to three hours climbing three or four large mountains to attend school. On rainy days and hot weather, the safety of the children worried him. In 1998, Huang Dazhong moved the kindergarten to Group 8, the most central part of the village.
At first, his remuneration per semester was only about 50 yuan, and now it is insufficient at less than 1500 yuan, but he has persisted for 20 years. He said that teaching the children now is to relieve boredom, and continuing to do so now is for the children's success.
"On April 30th, in a courtyard in Group 8 of Shigang Township's Tiangshu Village in Fengjie County, a group of kindergarten friends were playing 'Pass the Handkerchief'. In the middle, an elderly man with graying hair looked at the lively children and smiled.
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