The sun was shining brightly as Li Baolong drove his Mercedes-Benz towards his rural hometown. The car traveled along the cement road leading to his uncle's house, but due to years of disrepair, the road was riddled with potholes of all sizes, making for a bumpy ride before finally reaching the town. In town, Li Baolong carefully selected two boxes of fresh fruit and packed a large box of delicious braised meat before heading straight to his uncle's house, about seven or eight miles away.
Although his uncle had a leg disability, his face immediately lit up with a bright smile upon seeing Li Baolong. Li Baolong and his uncle sat together, enjoying the food and chatting happily. During their conversation, Li Baolong sincerely said, "Uncle, I've always wanted to do something for our town. I plan to fund the construction of a road to support the development of our hometown." Hearing this, his uncle beamed, his eyes filled with pride and satisfaction: "Baolong, if you truly have this intention, that's wonderful! This is a great thing for our hometown!"
After dinner, Li Baolong drove his uncle to the village chief's house. Li Baolong was quite well-known in the village, and the village chief had heard of him before. Upon meeting the village chief, Li Baolong got straight to the point: "Village chief, I'd like to ask you to take me to the town party secretary's office. I'd like to donate some money to our town's road construction project." The village chief immediately realized this was a significant matter concerning the development of his hometown, and without hesitation, he quickly got into Li Baolong's car, and they headed to town together.
The three arrived at the town party secretary's house, and Li Baolong politely explained their purpose. The secretary looked the distinguished young man up and down, then glanced at the expensive Mercedes-Benz parked outside, and couldn't help but feel more impressed with his good deed. The secretary nodded slightly and said, "Comrade Li Baolong, it's excellent that you have such an idea. I will report this matter to the municipal party committee first thing tomorrow morning. I will compile the details of the road construction plan, the required funding, and so on, and inform you as soon as possible." Li Baolong smiled and replied sincerely, "Secretary, I'm quite pressed for time here, only three days. I'm going abroad next week. I hope this matter can be pushed forward as soon as possible." The old secretary quickly said, "Don't worry, I will definitely report it as soon as possible and give you an answer tomorrow."
This night may mark a new beginning for this small town. Driven by Li Baolong's good deeds, the construction of roads in his hometown is about to begin a new chapter, and his deep affection for his hometown will leave a lasting mark on this land.
Li Baolong spent the night at his uncle's house and drove to the town early the next morning. As soon as he entered the town government building, wow, the scene was incredibly lively. Many people lined up to welcome him, drums and gongs were beating loudly, and a large banner read, "Welcome Mr. Li Baolong to invest in the development of his hometown." Mayor Chen Yun of Jianzhou City proactively went up to shake his hand and repeatedly expressed his gratitude.
Li Baolong was very low-key, requesting no media coverage or appearances on television or in newspapers. So, there were only four people in the office at the time: the mayor, the municipal government secretary-general, and the town party secretary. Mayor Chen Yun mentioned plans to build a 52-kilometer road, estimated to cost 50 million yuan. Upon hearing this, Li Baolong immediately said, "Include the road from the town to my uncle's village in the project. It needs to be widened and paved. I'll contribute another 10 million yuan, and the rest will be donated to the town's primary school." Mayor Chen, upon hearing this, quickly expressed his gratitude profusely, showering the mayor with compliments.
Next, Li Baolong obtained the bank account numbers for the municipal and town governments and immediately transferred 50 million and 10 million yuan respectively. This display stunned everyone present, and they couldn't help but applaud. Li Baolong then said, "Let's name this newly built road Longteng Avenue. This road was donated and built by our Longteng Company."
Afterwards, Li Baolong had a simple lunch with Mayor Chen Yun and the others, exchanging phone numbers. During lunch, Li Baolong mentioned his plans to donate to schools and hospitals in Jianzhou to build a welfare school and a nursing home, with an initial investment of 100 million yuan. This astonished the leaders, who were all thinking to themselves, "This young Li Baolong spends money like water, without batting an eye. He's truly a kind-hearted and compassionate person. With someone like him returning to invest and build in our hometown, things are bound to get better and better!"
Li Baolong had just driven his car to the entrance of the newly built Taoist inn on the back of Qingcheng Mountain when he spotted Master Qingfeng inside. Master Qingfeng, with his sharp eyes, quickly got up to greet him, his face beaming with smiles: "Grandmaster Uncle, you've been gone for a month, and you're finally back! The construction is progressing incredibly smoothly; the road leading up the mountain is half-finished, and several hundred people from the town have come to help with the road construction. The Taoist temples on the mountain are also being renovated. My master talks about you every day, and many Taoist abbots are hoping to get to know you and exchange Taoist teachings with you."
Li Baolong nodded slightly: "Yes, it's good to exchange ideas with other Taoist priests. How's the Taoist seal script you translated last time coming along?" Taoist priest Qingfeng quickly rummaged through his pocket and pulled out a piece of paper: "Grandmaster Uncle, this took a lot of effort. I found two old Taoist priests from Taoist temples to work on it together, and it took more than ten days to finish it. Look, we've only translated these eighteen characters."
Li Baolong took it and frowned: "Why are there only a dozen or so characters? I gave you quite a few." Master Qingfeng explained with a wry smile: "Grandmaster Uncle, many of the characters you gave me are radicals. You need two or three of them to make a character. There's a lot of knowledge involved, and many mysteries are hidden in them."
Li Baolong nodded again, folded the paper and put it away: "Qingfeng, the project is going well right now. If you have any ideas, just say so. I'll definitely help if I can."
Master Qingfeng's eyes lit up, and he rubbed his hands together, saying, "Grandmaster Uncle, I was thinking that once the road is repaired and the Taoist temple is renovated, could we organize some Taoist cultural promotion activities? Like giving lectures on Taoist scriptures, demonstrating Taoist health practices, and so on, to let more people understand our Taoist culture. It's just that I don't know much about promotion, so I'll have to rely on your guidance, Grandmaster Uncle."
Li Baolong pondered for a moment and said, "That's a good idea. But we need to lay a solid foundation first. The cultural activities must be done thoroughly and not carelessly. Here's what you do: draft a preliminary plan first, and see which aspects of Taoist culture people are interested in—whether it's health and longevity, or the culture in Taoist scriptures. Then we can discuss it further." Master Qingfeng quickly agreed, "Alright, Grandmaster Uncle, I'll go prepare right away." The two chatted about some trivial matters related to the project before Li Baolong got up to take his leave. Master Qingfeng escorted him all the way to the post station, and only after watching the carriage drive away did he turn back to the post station to continue his work.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
