Youjia's recruitment this time did not go to the normal school. Students at the normal school were now guaranteed an assignment. It was not yet like later on when there were too many normal school students, to the point that they had to lay off private school teachers across the board to make room for them.
However, the news that Youjia was recruiting also reached the normal school. 'Your family's Feng Yiping is getting more and more powerful. Not long ago, he was in the newspapers and on TV, and now he's recruiting dozens of people. No wonder you're not worried about being assigned.'
Still on the bench under the big tree by the playground, Zhang Qiuling teased Huang Jingping.
'What Feng Yiping from someone's family? It sounds terrible.'
After the internship, their assignments were also decided. With Vice Principal Zhang, who had been in the education system for more than ten years, as her father, Zhang Qiuling's assignment was of course good. She was assigned to the elementary school in the town. Although she would only be teaching music at first, it was a good start.
Vice-principal Zhang also discussed her future career with her and enrolled her in the English major at the provincial foreign language university, so that Zhang Qiuling could study English while working.
People now see the importance of English more and more clearly, and most of the English teachers in these rural schools are non-professionals. In the future, after Zhang Qiuling has completed her self-study, she can then find a way to transfer to the town middle school or return to Liangjiahe Middle School to teach.
Huang Jingping's family, which had no resources within the education system, could not help much with her job assignment. Her parents had also asked her if she wanted to go to an activity, but she had refused at the time. Since she had already made up her mind not to do it, why should she let her family spend this waste of money?
However, her destination was not bad. Fangjiaping Township Central Primary School, about a half-hour drive from the town, was perfectly located for living at home in the town. Every time they went from home to the normal school, they would pass by the school, and the hardware was not bad.
'What are you going to tell your family?' Zhang Qiuling asked her again.
The two of them had been classmates for six years, and after they started at the normal school, they went from being ordinary classmates to best friends who could talk about anything. In recent years, they had grown up together and witnessed each other's romances. They could be said to have become very close sisters. At this moment of parting, they were both filled with a deep sense of loss at the thought of not working together in the future.
'No matter what, my family will never agree to this, so I've decided to just do it and tell them afterwards.' Huang Jingping had been struggling with this problem for a long time. She had always been a good and obedient daughter, and she really didn't want to do this, but there was no other way. If she told her parents about it first, then from what she knew of them, her parents, especially her father, would definitely want her to confirm the relationship with Feng Yiping first, and they might even go and see Feng Yiping's parents. Wouldn't that be more of a hindrance than a help?
For Huang Jingping, on the one hand were her parents and her job, and on the other was Feng Yiping. Whether emotionally or rationally, she had a hard time choosing. She hesitated for a long time, but in the end, at the beginning of the year, she decided to follow her intuition: Feng Yiping would be more important in her future life.
In June, Huang Jingping and Zhang Qiuling received their assignment certificates from the school and went to the county education bureau together to complete the formalities. Next, they took the assignment certificates and acceptance letters to Fangjiaping Central Primary School to complete the formalities and transfer their personnel records.
The family was quite happy that their daughter would become a teacher in the second half of the year. Although the salary was not high, the job was stable, and teaching was a respected profession. It was quite a good job for a girl.
'I'll see you off tomorrow!' Huang Chengzhong took a sip of wine and said to his daughter.
'Dad, I'm not going to school, I'm going to be a teacher, so why would I need you to see me off? Are you trying to make me look bad?'
'Haha, you're right, I still think of you as that little girl!' Huang Chengzhong looked at his daughter, a little sentimental, and before he knew it, his daughter had already grown up.
The next morning, Huang Jingping took a bus to Fangjiaping by herself to complete the formalities. She didn't actually go into the school. Instead, she sat under a tree on the opposite side of the road from the school, listening to the sound of children's young voices coming from the school. She watched the children swarm out of the classrooms after the bell rang and play on the playground. She just watched for an entire class period.
If she went there now, she would be greeted by the stable life that her parents expected. Of course, there would be no Feng Yiping in such a life. She stamped her feet, which had gone numb, and never looked at the school again. She stopped a minibus going to the town by the roadside and jumped on.
The next morning, Huang Jingping told her parents that she had made a date with some classmates to go to the provincial capital for a few days while they were still not at work. 'Apart from Qiuling, who else?'
Huang Jingping casually mentioned a few names that her parents were familiar with, 'They're all girls. Then be careful when you go out, and remember to call home if anything happens.' Huang Chengzhong didn't suspect anything, and told his daughter while drinking his congee.
After her father went to work, her younger sister went to school, her mother went to the shop, she put her packed luggage in the suitcase, and slipped a letter between the clothes she had changed into. Then she pulled the suitcase and walked to the bus station.
When she passed by her family's shop, her mother chased after her and gave her a few more pieces of advice: 'Don't go out and play at night, no matter who you're with. Don't drink, and be careful with your money, don't put it all in one place... and come back early!'
'I know, Mom,' Huang Jingping replied, bowing her head and walking as fast as she could.
She took a bus to the county seat, then a bus to the city, thinking that she would see Feng Yiping in an hour or two. She thought about what might happen when her parents read the letter, and she felt a mixture of nervousness, worry, fear and excitement.
'What's wrong with me? Have I gone crazy?' she asked herself, thinking about what a book she had read a while ago had said: "A woman has to go crazy at least once in her life." Then let me go crazy for once!
After closing the shop in the afternoon, Huang's mother went into her eldest daughter's room and picked up the clothes that Huang Jingping had changed out of. She shook them a few times to see if there was anything in the pockets that she had forgotten to take out, but instead found a letter fall out. She picked it up curiously and read it. On the envelope, her daughter had written in a delicate handwriting, 'For parents.'
She instinctively felt that something was wrong and immediately called out to Huang Chengzhong in the next room, 'Lao Huang, come quickly!'
'What's wrong? Are you on fire?' Huang Chengzhong jokingly walked in, seeing his wife's pale face and a letter in her hand. He also felt that something was wrong, and immediately snatched it from her and read it in one go.
The letter was very simple. Huang Jingping said that she had never reported to Fangjiaping Primary School at all, and asked her parents to forgive her for being unfilial. She had gone to the city to find a job, and would let them know when she settled down. At the same time, she asked her parents not to worry, as she was staying with a classmate and was safe.
'What can we do? What can we do?' Huang's mother was at a loss for words. "Huang, quickly ask your colleagues to help look for her. Go to the county and the city,'
Huang Chengzhong stood there in shock, holding the letter. He never imagined that his daughter would do such a thing without telling them. After he came to his senses, he looked at his wife, who was beside herself with worry. "Okay, what's the point of shouting like that? Are you afraid the neighbours won't know?'
They were going to invite the neighbours and colleagues to a meal to celebrate their daughter's start at work when she returned. Now that the news had been released, if they made a fuss before they knew the reason, who knew what gossip they would spread.
'It's been twelve hours since she left, how can we find her now?'
'So we just do nothing? If something happens to my daughter, I don't want to live either!' Huang's mother started to cry, but she kept her voice down.
'Crying won't help. Give me the keys to the store, I'll go call Zhang Qiuling.'
Huang's mother also reacted, 'Wait, I'll go too!'