Chapter 9 Visiting the Rent Collection Courtyard Sculpture

  Not long after the start of school, the school organized students to go to Binjiang City Exhibition Hall to receive proletarian ideological education and visit the "Rent Collection Courtyard" exhibition.

  That day, the sun was shining brightly, with a gentle breeze blowing. Although it was already late September, there was still a warm feeling. Since there were too many schools to visit, we had to line up and enter one by one. While waiting, everyone sat on the ground in their respective classes.

  To liven up the atmosphere, the principal asked each class to sing against each other. Watching the older students singing in unison, one after another, and competing fiercely with each other, Qí Bīng and his friends felt envious. Because they had just started school, they didn't know many songs, let alone participate in a sing-off.

  To break the dull atmosphere of the class, Mr. He asked everyone: "Who can sing a song and compare with them?" The classmates looked at each other in dismay, no one made a sound.

  After a while, Daming said: "Qī Bīng will sing a song!" Qī Bīng had been in a bad mood for several days, with inflamed mouth corners that hadn't fully recovered. As soon as he heard Daming say this, Qī Bīng became anxious: "I won't sing songs, I can only hum a few segments of 'The Red Lantern'." "Not bad, being able to sing 'The Red Lantern' is even better! Everyone welcome Qī Bīng to do something, how about it? Do you want him to or not?" Teacher He urged. "Want... want..." The classmates below shouted in unison. Qī Bīng hastily tried to decline, but Daming came over and pulled him up, pushing him to the center of the stage.

  Qī Bīng saw that he couldn't get out of it, so he thought: "Sing then sing, who's afraid of whom?" Qī Bīng only knew a few segments, including the part about Li Yu and his daughter Li Tie Mei: "Carrying a small basket to sell coal ash, relying on her for water and firewood, inside and out she's in charge, poor people's children grow up early." He didn't know the rest, he had learned it from listening to his dad sing at home. One time he was happy and hummed a few lines in front of Dà Míng, so this time Dà Míng came to catch him off guard.

  Qí Bīng didn't dare to look at the classmates below, gazing into the distance, and started singing. Before she had sung two lines, the classmates below burst out laughing. Qí Bīng was unaware of what was going on and insisted on finishing her song.

  After sitting down, Qi Bing felt uneasy in her heart. What were they laughing at?! Qi Bing asked Da Ming, and Da Ming continued to laugh. Finally, he couldn't hold it in and said: "You're all crooked like that, but you can still sing, not simple." "What's crooked like that?" Qi Bing asked, puzzled. Da Ming pointed to his mouth. Upon saying this, Qi Bing remembered that because of the inflammation on the corner of her mouth, it hurt so much that when she opened her mouth to sing, one side would open small due to pain and the other side would open big, making her mouth naturally crooked. From then on, Qi Bing had another nickname: Qi Xiao Xiao.

  Qī Bīng inadvertently brings a bit of joy to everyone. This is also something Qī Bīng didn't expect. After entering the exhibition, the joyful atmosphere from earlier was quickly diluted by the oppressive and terrifying scenes in the "Rent Collection Courtyard". As the guide explained with tears in her eyes, everyone seemed to be transported back to those dark and difficult times when people struggled to survive. "Mama, I'm hungry! I'm so hungry!" A skinny little girl cried out, tugging on her equally emaciated mother's hand.

  Qí Bīng felt that this girl was too pitiful, the old society was so cruel, what was it like to be hungry? Qí Bīng had never experienced it. This is one of many sculptures. There are also scenes of water dungeons, punishment, labor, and the luxurious life of the evil landlord Liu Wencai. This visit made Qí Bīng feel the contrast between the old and new societies, and left some material for understanding and discerning the old society in "Rent Collection Courtyard".