Chapter 78 Building a School

Seeing Su Xiangwan's confidence in her country, Vivian and Anthony both showed a hint of surprise.

He then nodded and said, "Yes, Su, although your country is still very poor, I feel an extraordinary power in your people, which is why we chose to invest here."

Su Xiangwan nodded. "Vivian, thank you for your trust."

After ending that topic, Su Xiangwan finally brought up the matter of asking her to help contact experts from the United States.

Upon hearing that the surgery was for Gu Yanxiao, Vivian agreed to Su Xiangwan's request without hesitation.

"Su, don't worry, after I get back to the city I'll call my father and ask him to help me contact the best specialists to perform the surgery for your loved one."

"Thank you, Vivian." Su Xiangwan hugged Vivian tightly, her voice trembling as she spoke.

"Don't mention it, Su, we're best friends." Vivian hugged Su Xiangwan back, her smile sincere and warm.

Vivian and Anthony stayed in the village for three days.

Whenever they go out, they always carry various snacks and chocolates in their pockets to share with the children and elderly in the village.

The villagers initially just watched, but later they also became bold enough to nod and greet them.

Vivian and Anthony gradually learned to respond to the villagers' greetings with the simplest phrases like "hello" and "have you eaten?"

When it was time to leave, many children followed the car, crying and reluctant to let it go.

Su Xiangwan was very suspicious. Was it because they were reluctant to part with the kind and enthusiastic Vivian, or because of the snacks and chocolates in their pockets?

After reluctantly seeing Vivian and Anthony off, Su Xiangwan went to find Tong Liqun again.

"You mean, Director Ding and the others are going to donate money to build a school in the village?"

Upon hearing Su Xiangwan's words, Tong Liqun stood up in shock and asked incredulously.

“That’s right, Secretary Tong. Before they left, they asked me to take charge of this matter,” Su Xiangwan nodded and said.

Actually, she lied about this, because the person who actually funded the school was herself.

However, being a big tree attracts a lot of attention, and after discussing it with Gu Yanxiao, she decided to pin the blame on Ding Yaping.

Only in this way can she avoid a lot of trouble.

After all, there are all sorts of people in the village. If everyone knew that she was the one who funded the school, not only the villagers but also many village officials might have some inappropriate thoughts.

Only by relying on the high-ranking leader from the capital, whom they instinctively fear, could they dispel some of their evil intentions.

The saying "petty people fear power but not virtue" is never without reason.

"That's wonderful! That's really wonderful! Our Bakushu Village will finally have a school!"

Tong Liqun paced back and forth happily, his face beaming with undisguised joy.

"Let me think, is there any house in the village suitable to be used as a school..."

Hearing Tong Liqun say this, Su Xiangwan raised an eyebrow and said, "Secretary Tong, the school shouldn't use the old building anymore! Putting aside the safety issues, the room layout is not suitable for teachers!"

Most of the houses in the village are mud houses with small, deep windows that do not provide any light at all.

Not to mention, there are only two or three rooms at most, which is hardly enough to be a school.

"You mean you want to rebuild the school?" Tong Liqun was taken aback. "That would be quite expensive!"

"It's alright, don't worry about the money, Party Secretary."

Su Xiangwan gave Tong Liqun a heads-up.

In the countryside, building a house costs only three to five hundred yuan, and even a brick house costs at most eight hundred yuan.

Her budget was two thousand yuan to build a two-story teaching building, complete with toilets, a canteen, and other amenities.

Thinking it over, she directly presented the drawings she had finished the night before to Tong Liqun.

He began by saying, "Secretary, these are the school blueprints I drew last night. Take a look and see if there's anything I need to add."

After seeing the blueprints that Su Xiangwan had unfolded, Tong Liqun rubbed his eyes in disbelief and said, "Su Zhiqing, a school building like this must have cost a lot of money! This... this is really a school building donated to our village? Are you sure you're not mistaken? Su Zhiqing, you didn't bring blueprints from some school in the city, did you?"

Even the schools in town aren't this extravagant!

This is almost as good as the schools in the city.

Upon hearing Tong Liqun's words, Su Xiangwan couldn't help but chuckle: "Don't worry, Party Secretary, I drew this myself, how could it be wrong? Now we just need the village to set aside this piece of land to build a school."

Hearing Su Xiangwan say this, Tong Liqun nodded solemnly and said, "Su Xiangwan, don't worry, I'll take care of this."

As he spoke, he took a deep drag of his cigarette, his mind racing, thinking about where in the village would be a suitable place to build such a large school.

“Su Zhiqing, what do you think of that piece of land at the entrance of the village? It's located at the entrance of the village, so it's convenient for everyone to send their children to school.”

Su Xiangwan nodded: "That's fine. Not only is it convenient for transporting things there, but there are also many open spaces nearby. If the school wants to expand in the future, we won't have to worry about land issues."

Upon hearing this, Tong Liqun couldn't help but twitch his lips. The teaching buildings are already so big now, how could they possibly need to be expanded? And where would they get the funds to expand them? Su Zhiqing is indeed too young.

However, the facts several years later made Tong Liqun realize that Su Xiangwan was right.

Once the school's location is determined, the next step is to arrange for construction to begin.

Just then, the autumn harvest was almost over, and the cold winter had not yet arrived.

This is the best time to build a teaching building.

Tong Liqun quickly issued a notice, asking all the villagers to gather at the threshing ground for a meeting.

When everyone dragged their tired bodies to the threshing ground and heard this unbelievable good news, they cheered together.

"Great news! A school is going to be built! This way, the children in our village can go to school in their own village!"

There are also people who are indifferent to the issue of schooling: "Even if a school is built, so what? My family has a problem even eating, where would we get the money to pay for our child's tuition?"

Tong Liqun had clearly anticipated this issue and said, "Su Zhiqing said that she has already tried to help everyone. You can rest assured and send your children there. The school does not charge tuition!"

"What? No tuition fees?"

Upon hearing this, even those who had previously been indifferent changed their expressions.

Is it really possible to study without paying tuition?