"Village chief, what good way has Gu Zhiqing come up with to make money this time? Whatever it is, I'll approve of it."

"Me too, I wholeheartedly agree."

It was one thing for the young people to be excited, but there was also an old man over eighty years old who looked at Gu An'an with teary eyes, saying, "Gu Zhiqing is truly a blessing to our Xiaowang Village. As long as Gu Zhiqing says something, I, this old man, will be the first to agree. Anyone who dares to oppose him will have to step over my dead body."

Gu An'an's lips twitched slightly, her previously composed expression cracking.

That's an exaggeration! It's really too exaggerated!

But the village chief liked this atmosphere. "Uncle, you can't say such things. You still need to live well and enjoy these good days. Besides, I can't speak for others in our village, but if there is any heartless person, I will be the first to not forgive him."

The old man thought of the meat he had eaten a few days ago, and the can of malted milk powder that his juniors had bought for him with the money they had received. He nodded vigorously, "Yes, I have to live well."

After comforting the old man, the village chief continued amidst everyone's anticipation, "Our village's current situation is inseparable from An'an, and An'an's ability to lead our village to this point is inseparable from her ingenuity. So why is it that she can come up with so many solutions while we can't?"

As soon as he finished speaking, someone immediately raised their hand to answer, "Gu Zhiqing is smart."

"Gu, the educated youth, has a lot of experience."

"Gu, the educated youth, was well-read."

The village chief immediately looked at the person who said Gu An'an was well-read, "Yes, An'an is smart, but another reason is that she is willing to read and study hard, which allows her to come up with good solutions and ideas no matter what the situation."

“We don’t have the same chance as her now, but our children still do. An’an saw that many children in our village don’t have the opportunity to go to school, so she specifically proposed to build a primary school in our village. Secretary Liu agreed and is willing to apply for half of the funding for our village. We will start construction next spring and build our village’s first school. What are your opinions?”

The village chief made it very clear, and everyone understood that the purpose of today's meeting was to secure the remaining half of the funds.

"Village chief, where will the remaining funds come from?"

That one question struck a chord with everyone.

The village chief cleared his throat and said, "We originally planned to distribute dividends to everyone again before the New Year, but now that we're going to build a school, we have to set aside half of the funds. Once the school is built, the children in our village won't have to walk to the commune to study. What do you all think?"

It would be great if there were a school in the village, so the children would be safer without having to be sent back to school. But some people hesitated because they had to spend their own money to run the school.

"No, village chief, does our village have to pay half the money?"

The village chief looked at the man and said, "Yes, this is the result of my discussion with Secretary Liu. If our village still receives all the funding from the higher authorities this year, other villages will also have objections. We can't put the secretary in a difficult position."

Everyone realized that this made perfect sense. Not to mention others, even they themselves would feel uncomfortable, wondering why they should get all the good things.

But it's still a bit hard to let them pay for it themselves.

"What are you hesitating for! How much does it cost to build a school? It's even less when divided among each family. But if the village has a school, not only will the children's studies improve, but we ourselves will also have more free time to do more work. We can easily earn back the money we spent!"

The first to speak was the old man who had initially voiced his support, banging his cane loudly as if he were disappointed in his son.

However, no one was angry with him because his age and seniority made his words reasonable, and they were not just being unreasonable.

Thinking about the work that had been delayed because of their sons and daughters, and then considering the actual benefits that educated youth like Gu An'an and Zhou Yue had brought to the village, everyone was deeply moved.

Yes! It sounds like taking half the money is a bit much, but there are many households in their village, so when it's divided up, it's not actually that much.

Moreover, they have already received a share of the money this year, which is enough to buy enough for the New Year's goods, so their lives are definitely better than in previous years.

"Oh, I misunderstood. I have five children. If there were a school in the village, I could send them all there. Not to mention high school, even if they just finish junior high, they would have more options in the future."

"Village chief, can a two- or three-year-old child be sent to school?"

The person who asked this question was one of the main contributors to the hair accessories. She was the kind of daughter-in-law her mother-in-law liked. She had two children in three years, one two years old and the other three years old. When she was annoyed, she would want to send the two brats back to school for a second chance.

If the school could take in those two rascals, she would absolutely be all for it.

The village chief looked at Gu An'an, and Gu An'an nodded, "We'll build a nursery next to the school, and children over two years old can go there. We can also select a few patient and meticulous older women from the village to take care of the children, and the village will pay them a salary."

Everyone was genuinely pleasantly surprised, and some even started thinking about working as childcare workers at daycare centers.

Although you can make money by hiking in the mountains, it's not suitable for everyone. Besides, there are snakes, rats, insects, and ants to be found while hiking. If you could work as a conservationist and get paid, some people would be tempted.

With so many benefits right in front of them, it would be hard for anyone not to be tempted.

Of course, some people still prefer money, but in such important matters, the minority must submit to the majority, so they can only suppress their thoughts.

"Okay, everyone raise your hands in agreement. If more than half vote, then it's settled."

It's supposed to be a show of hands, but who dares to stand against the village officials these days? It's not that the village chief and his few friends are dominating the village, but seeing the village getting better and better and having more and more opportunities, everyone definitely wants to have a good relationship with the village officials.

That's human nature.

The village chief looked at everyone, glanced at them briefly, and seeing that no one hadn't raised their hand, he made the final decision: "Alright, since no one has any objections, this matter is settled."

The village chief knew, of course, that not everyone would agree, but it was something that was good for the village, and they hadn't used it for their own personal gain, so he had a clear conscience.

The school hadn't been built yet, but the village was bustling again, and you didn't need to ask why.

However, Gu An'an didn't care too much. Anyway, those people weren't looking for her, so she let the village chief and the others have their headaches.

"An'an, I'm really impressed by them. The school hasn't even been built yet, and everyone's already showing off their skills. I heard that the village chief and village secretary's doorsteps have been worn down by people these past few days."

Zhou Yue listened to gossip all morning and still looked on with great interest during lunch.

Do you know Wang Laizi's daughter-in-law?

Although Gu An'an had never met him, she roughly knew who Zhou Yue was talking about.

"Huh? What did she do?"