CHONGQING (CQNEWS) -- Xiazhuang Village is a village in "Tiankeng", located in Zhuxian Town, Wushan County, Chongqing. In the past, there was no primary school in the village, and the teacher had to lead the children to have classes in the villagers' home in turn due to the lack of classroom. In 1995, the people of Xiazhuang built a primary school in the village by themselves. Later, with the support of government departments, the primary school has been renovated and expanded and it can accommodate nearly 100 students. However, as time has changed, now, there is only one teacher who have held fast to this school for 41 years and two students. This is a school of only 3 people now.

Zhang Zeyan, 57, is a native of Xiazhuang, whose father is an old teacher in the village. At the age of 16, Zhang finished high school in Luoping Town and returned to Xiazhuang to teach students under his father's influence. At that time, the villagers were busy working in the fields. Zhang Zeyan, still a youth, had to teach more than 50 children at most. In his own words, he was like "both a father and a mother".

Today, the primary school in Xiazhuang is much better than that in the past. The classroom is bright, the playground is spacious, and there are also computers and other equipment. As more and more young people go out for work and take their children out to study, there are fewer and fewer students in the village. Now, there are only two students in the primary school.

The only two students in the school are nine-year-old Wang Jiarong and eight-year-old Jiang Yuzhao, both in the second grade. They are cousins and have a good relationship. "The farthest place I've been to is Wushan County, and I came there when my mother took me to see a doctor," Wang Jiarong said with blinking eyes.

The two brothers go to and from school together, and they behavior themselves although laughing and playing along the way. "I like going to school very much, although there are only two people in the school. It is also much more fun than staying at home," Jiang Yuzhao said.

On the playground, Zhang Zeyan and the two students salutes the national flag. The waving red flags and quiet classrooms have witnessed the rural teacher’s perseverance for decades. "I used to want to work in the town, but I couldn't stop caring about the children here," Zhang Zeyan said. There were also some new teachers to come here to teach, but no one could stay here for various reasons.

After school, Zhang Zeyan watched the children to leave the campus. "I'm going to retire soon, and there's no new teacher now." Zhang Zeyan was a little worried, but then he said firmly, "if there is still no one to teach them, I will choose to stay here if they still need me." In the past 41 years, Zhang Zeyan has taught thousands of students in Xiazhuang village. Now, some of them work in the first-tier cities such as Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, and some of them stay in the village to develop their own business. Zhang Zeyan lit up the children's bright tomorrow with his perseverance. (Translated by Zeng Chenxi, Fathom Language Limited)