inner, on the table is a bowl of vegetables boiled in plain water, Cheng Zhenbo covers his head and says: “I have chickenpox, so I cannot eat too much oil. The day before yesterday, I had a fever, didn’t take any medicine, but now I’m a bit better. I think a pox has grown in my throat, it is a little painful, so I can only eat light/non-oily food. After I get better, I can eat sour peppers or whatever.” When he was 2-years-old, his father died. When he was 9-years-old, his mother remarried, while his older sister and brother went to school away from home. Normally, he cooks, chops firewood, sleeps, and takes care of two younger brothers by himself. Cheng Zhenbo is a fifth grade student at the Lixue Elementary School in Daguan Town of Wangmo County of Guizhou Province. The Lixue Elementary School he attends, from kindergarten to sixth grade, has a total of 7 classes, 8 teachers, and 194 students. Recently, the media reported, that for several consecutive years, a portion of the educational funds given to Wangmo County of Guizhou Province were misappropriated/embezzled by staff in the County Poverty Alleviation Office, never reaching the students.
Only when going to bed every night is Cheng Zhenbo willing to turn on a dim incandescent bulb. Last month, his home’s electricity bill was only 1 mao. Before going to sleep, he will review that day’s lesson once, because only this way can he sleep at ease. The Cheng family’s three siblings all have good grades, known by the entire Lixue village. Big sister Cheng Lanzhen earned a scholarship, is in Xingyi City of Guizhou Province studying “春晖班 [chun hui ban, I do not know what this is]“, her expenses all covered; Big brother Cheng Tao was admitted into a middle school in the county, currently studying his third year; Cheng Zhenbo is attending fifth grade, and is number one in his class. Covering the wall behind him is the three siblings certificates of accomplishment.
Every day, Cheng Zhenbo must make the fire and prepare meals by himself, one hen and five chicks adding a bit of life to the empty home. Dinner is green vegetables cooked in plain water, and seeing the reporter arriving, he scooped a bowl of soy beans to be the day’s extra food.
Normally, Cheng Zhenbo eats boiled green vegetables every day, and it has already been three months since the last time he tasted meat. On this day, before going to school, Cheng Zhenbo heated up the leftover boiled vegetables from the last night. Eating a bit of breakfast, lunch can be skipped, and by eating a roasted sweet potato in the afternoon, he can make it until school is out.
On the mountainside across from the forest where Cheng Zhenbo’s house is, every day, after getting out from school, he uses half an hour to finish his homework, carrying a bamboo knife to go cut firewood. “It’s winter, firewood burns quickly”, Cheng Zhenbo points to the opposing mountainside and says, “that is the forest where my home is, the trip takes an hour’s walk.”
Every day, after Cheng Zhenbo finishes the chores, there are people who call to him from the path outside his window. The children in the village all like to form groups when going to school, Chen Zhenbo says this is the happiest part of his day.
The children in the village like to go to Cheng Zhenbo’s home to play, because there are no adults to bother them. It is also during these times that the home has some liveliness.
The winds are strong in the mountains, Cheng Zhenbo and his little cousin Chen Jiajia cover their heads with their clothes to keep warm. When bringing up his remarried mother, Cheng Zhenbo says: “I do not hold a grudge against mom, she does not have it easy there either, yet still mailing us money for living expenses. Sleeping at night, I often dream of my family together going up the mountain to pick wild berries.”
Lixue Elementary School, a child looks aimlessly in a hallway in between classes, behind him a plaque carved with the names of the good-hearted people who donated to the school. Teacher Wang Yan says Cheng Zhenboy is very smart, attentive, and his midterm essay on “what truly moves me”, written about the country’s help towards impoverished mountain areas, was treated as the model essay and read aloud in class.
When having class at school, Cheng Zhenbo’s 2-year-old little cousin Chen Zhenwei plays alone in the schoolyard. He has not yet reached school age, yet likes going to school with the big children. Chen Zhenbo knows that only through education can one truly get out of the mountain areas. “I want to be an architect when I grow up. I don’t have to earn a lot of money, 50 kuai a day would be enough”, Cheng Zhenbo bashfully says.
