CHONGQING (CQNEWS) -- Xiazhuang Village experienced its first snowfall in the Year of the Loong recently. The brightly red flag of China and the brand-new playground in the Xiazhuang teaching site of Bayi Aimin Primary School (in Zhuxian, Wushan County) add a touch of color to the village covered with white snow. This village school simply consists of one teacher and three students.

"Spring is coming, spring is coming." The classroom on the second floor of the school was full of the sound of reading, where three children paid close attention to Teacher Peng Gan’s lecture – ‘Looking for Spring’. The classroom is warm and cozy, while it's rather cold out of doors.

CQNEWS reported ‘A Village School of Three People’ in 2020.

The Xiazhuang teaching site of Bayi Aimin Primary School was still a one-story building with a classroom equipped with computers and a spacious playground in 2020. It could not offer a sound learning environment warm in winter and cool in summer. It had only two students and one old teacher, Zhang Zeyan, who had been working there for more than 40 years.

No one expected that the school would be drastically changed in three years. Relocated to a new place, the 2-story school building offers classrooms paved with ceramic tiles and equipped with air conditioning and multimedia devices. The number of students has increased to 3, and a post-90s teacher has taken over the duties of the retired village teacher.

The post-90s teacher, Peng Gan, studied economics at university and worked in the field of economics in Chengdu after graduation. Unexpectedly, he changed his career after a serendipitous encounter with the children in a village school in his hometown in 2019.

“Mr. Zhang is also my teacher. I know what this campus means to the children,” said Peng Gan. When Mr. Zhang asked him if he could take over his duties as a village teacher after he retired, Peng hesitated for a moment about taking the job. Finally, gratified by the prosperous development of his hometown and the innocent smiles of children, he took up the mission resolutely.

Peng Gan passed the examination for working as a village teacher in 2022, taking over the duties of Mr. Zhang. Today, the local government sends teachers to the school to diversify children’s curriculum every year.

Grade 2 student Xiang Ruoqing likes the multi-function room best, where the electronic piano offers a small stage for her. Her chubby hands moved between the keys, playing the song ‘Descendants of the Loong’. She learned it from Teacher Shi when she studied in Grade 1, and she has practiced the song for one year, saying that she would like to play it for Teacher Shi when she comes back to school.

For Grade 3 students Liu Xuewen and Jiang Zongrong, the basketball court is their favorite place. Whenever they have a chance, they ask Teacher Peng to play basketball with them.

“It’s spring now, but why is it snowing?” Xiang Ruoqing asked Teacher Peng.

The seasons are divided by time while snowing is a natural phenomenon. We can call the snow that falls in spring ‘spring snow’, Teacher Peng answered.

Spring snow represents hope, and this 90-year-old is safeguarding hope in Xiazhuang. Peng said that he has found the value of being a teacher and understood the significance of Mr. Zhang's perseverance. His greatest wish is to do his best to teach children in every class. He will continue the mission as long as he is needed by those village children. (Translated by Yuki, Fathom Language Limited)