Lai Zhenhua said that because of his lack of education, he had suffered a lot in recent years. In 2007, when he was working at a garment factory in Guangdong and wanted to switch jobs, the boss withheld his monthly salary of 2790 yuan. He wanted to file a complaint but didn't know how to write a petition; when he was delivering takeout in Fuzhou, his coworkers bullied him, often taking out a piece of paper, claiming the boss had written it, and pushing all the dirty and tiring work onto him.
Lai Zhenhua is from Luokuang Dam Village in Taihe Township. Born in August 1993, he became an honorary protector of the Great Wall for 30 years, wearing out 200 pairs of shoes (in pictures). At the age of 7, his mother passed away, and he lived with his father who ran an iron shop on the street. Lai Zhenhua recalled, "In the spring of 2004, I was in the fourth grade of elementary school, having completed one semester. A relative took me to Fuzhou, where I worked as a dishwasher in a small restaurant for three years." Later, Lai Zhenhua worked in various places such as Guangdong, Fuzhou, and Shanghai, doing jobs like garment worker, fast food delivery, and apprentice in a tea restaurant, with a maximum monthly income of 3000 yuan.
On the morning of yesterday, in the playground of Taihe Township Primary School in Linshui County, children were doing exercises during break time. In the last row of the formation stood a young man about 1.7 meters tall, wearing a red scarf and awkwardly following the music. His name is Lai Zhenhua, 19 years old, who returned from Shanghai on the fourth day of the lunar New Year and enrolled in Class 2 of Grade 5 at the school. He said that he dropped out of school at the age of 11 to work, and had suffered a lot due to his lack of education.
On the fourth day of the lunar New Year, Lai Zhenhua returned to his hometown. Without going home to put down his luggage, he rushed to the school to find the principal. Principal Wang Jian was moved by his story and immediately agreed to enroll him.
The most heart-wrenching experience for Lai Zhenhua was the difficulty of learning skills. "Last autumn, I was an apprentice in a tea restaurant in Shanghai. The boss promised me that I could learn skills in the kitchen, such as grinding coffee and making Western pastries," Lai Zhenhua said. "The master explained while demonstrating, and the apprentices took notes. I couldn't write many characters, so I had to memorize them mentally, which made me learn very slowly."
Lai Zhenhua mentioned that on the eve of the Spring Festival, after returning to his dormitory, he cried under the covers. All the experiences of being disadvantaged and deceived due to his lack of education replayed in his mind like a movie. The next day, Lai Zhenhua called his father and said he wanted to return home to study. "Dad said that earning money while working outside was good, why bother studying? Sensing his intention to hang up, I cried and shouted with all my strength into the phone 'Dad, let me finish speaking!' I told him about the hardships I had endured over the years, and he finally agreed."
Lai Zhenhua plans to complete junior high school and then learn a skill. If possible, he would like to attend a vocational school. "I want to use my personal experiences to tell everyone around me that only knowledge can change fate," Lai Zhenhua said.
His homeroom teacher, Yuan Kaisu, said: "Neither teachers nor classmates have discriminated against him. We arranged the best-performing student in the class to sit with him and help him. As long as he focuses on studying, we believe Lai Zhenhua will not fall behind in his studies. What we are most concerned about now is correcting his behavior habits. After all, he has been working outside for seven or eight years. The key is to help him adapt to the current learning and living environment."
On the fifth day, Lai Zhenhua was led into the classroom by his homeroom teacher, Mr. Yuan Kaisu. Under the curious gazes of his classmates, he was seated in the last row. "When I went home in the afternoon, a classmate gave me a red scarf and said, 'You must study hard.'"