"How is it? How much?" Yang Jianguo asked nervously.
Accountant He Pengcheng closed the account book, and was also very excited. "Village head, the total is 15,673 yuan!"
Everyone in the conference room was stunned when they heard this number.
The person pouring the water didn't even realize that his cup was already full, and everyone just stood there in a daze.
Yang Jianguo swallowed unconsciously, "Are...are there so many?"
"Dad, that's it. Uncle He and I counted it three times!" Yang Lemei said with a smile.
The village cadres knew that they could make money this time, but they didn’t expect to make so much money!
By this calculation, every household can get hundreds of dollars, and large families with large populations can get even more!
"I have a suggestion! We don't need to divide all the money. We can keep some of it in the village collective."
Just when everyone was immersed in joy, Yang Jianguo suddenly spoke.
Everyone looked at each other, not understanding why the money should be left in the village collective.
But the villagers knew Yang Jianguo's character and it was impossible for him to want to embezzle.
So everyone fell silent and waited for Yang Jianguo to continue speaking.
"You are all old enough to be grandparents and parents. I hope you will think carefully about what I am going to say today."
Yang Jianguo's words confused everyone, but they all realized that what he was going to say was not a trivial matter, so they straightened their backs and listened carefully.
"There are 323 children under the age of 16 in our village, but less than 50 of them can read and only 20 can go to school."
"We are old, and this is how our lives will end. But what about our children? Should we let them live like us?"
"Feng Zhiqing's younger brother Huaiqing has read many books and understood many principles at a young age. Isn't it because he can read and write?"
"We didn't have the conditions in our village before, but now... we have a lot of money, enough to build a school. Think about it, is it better to use this money to eat and drink, or to give the children a future?"
Yang Jianguo's words sounded rather heavy, and those present felt uncomfortable.
Yang Jianguo was right, this was how their life would be, but the children could not be delayed.
"Village chief, you are right, I support you!" He Pengcheng was the first to express his opinion.
As soon as his children reached a certain age, regardless of gender, they would be sent to school.
"Village chief, my grandson has reached the age where he should go to school, and I want to send him to school too!"
…
Everyone expressed their opinions, and no one objected.
"I have been thinking about building a school for a long time. You all should listen to me." Seeing that there was no objection, Yang Jianguo continued.
"We will use the remaining 5,673 dollars of the money we received this time to build the school."
As soon as this was said, someone frowned and asked, "It doesn't cost that much money to build a school, right?"
Even if we build 10 bright and spacious classrooms, it would not cost more than 1,000 yuan in total. Five thousand is too much.
"Just listen to me. In addition to building classrooms, there are also various dilapidated places in the village that need to be repaired. For example, the cowshed. Last winter, if it weren't for that guy, our cows would have been killed by the collapsed shed."
Everyone knows who the "someone" he is referring to, and everyone has an impression of this matter.
The cows in the village are the main force for farming next year and are related to the future harvest, so no one in the meeting room objected.
Feng Lingyu lowered her eyes. This was the request she made to Yang Jianguo.
She has put in a lot of effort this time, so there is no reason for her not to provide benefits for her people.
This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to improve Grandpa Shen’s living conditions in an open and aboveboard manner.
When the cowshed is built, it will be built together with where Grandpa Shen lives, so that he can also spend a warm winter.
However, the villagers of Qingshan Village are relatively simple and honest. Knowing Shen Xiuyi's identity, at most they will ignore him or not get close to him, but they will not take the initiative to bully him.
Just pretend he doesn't exist.
"The remaining money from repairing the house will be used to pay the teachers' salaries. All children in the village, as long as they are seven years old or above, can go to the village primary school for free!"
Everyone was shocked when these words came out.
Did they hear that right? Free?
"Village chief, this is all for the sake of the children. We have no objection!" He Pengcheng was still the first to express his opinion.
He understood clearly that Yang Jianguo did not use the money for personal gain and spent it all on the children, so why would he disagree?
"Okay, I agree too!"
"I agree!"
After a while, everyone in the conference room expressed their attitudes.
Yang Jianguo breathed a sigh of relief. As long as these old people agreed, there would be basically no resistance in the village.
Soon, everyone in the village knew the news.
Some are happy and some are sad.
Most of the people who are worried are those who favor boys over girls. "What kind of school will the little girl go to? Who will take care of her younger brother? Who will do the housework?"
"Yeah, it's all our money that's being spent. It's fine to give it to the boy for free, but it's a waste to spend it on a girl!"
Yang Jianguo happened to pass by and heard what these people said.
He was very unhappy.
Xiaoyu specifically told him that if the girl could not go to school, his kindness would be in vain.
Anyone who doesn't know how to respect women is useless even if he has studied!
"If you don't like my idea, you don't have to enjoy the village's preferential treatment! I tell you, if you don't send your girls to school, the tuition for all boys will be doubled!"
Yang Jianguo said unhappily.
Several women in the village looked embarrassed. They didn't expect that Yang Jianguo had heard what they had just said.
"Village chief, we are ignorant and talk nonsense. Don't worry, I will definitely send my daughter to school when school starts!"
"Yeah, my girl will also deliver it..."
If the tuition for boys in the family is doubled, it would be a huge loss.
It would be better to send these money-losing kids to school.
The two girls following them had light in their numb eyes and looked at Yang Jianguo with gratitude.
They can go to school too!
Facing the bright eyes of these girls, Yang Jianguo suddenly understood why Feng Lingyu specifically told him about girls' studies.
If he didn't care, even if the school was free, people in the village might not send their girls to school.
In their eyes, girls will get married sooner or later, so now they have to do more work for the family so that they will not suffer any loss.
Yang Jianguo felt a lump in his throat and touched the head of one of the girls. "After the school is repaired, you must study hard." Don't waste Xiaoyu's hard work.
"Okay, thank you, village chief."
The girl grew up to become a famous educator and helped countless out-of-school girls.
In the afterword of her own book, she wrote:
If it weren't for the seemingly "biased" rule set by the village chief, I would not have the opportunity to study, and I would have no chance to help thousands of girls like me.
ps: I was born to be a mountain, not a stream. I want to look down on the mediocre valleys from the top of the peaks. I was born to be a hero, not a weed. I stand on the shoulders of great men and look down on humble cowards.
Tribute to Principal Zhang Guimei.
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