Su Le ruffled his hair and asked, "Do you live here by yourself?"
He nodded dejectedly, "Yeah."
Su Le squatted down and looked him in the eye, then asked gently, "How do you eat?"
The boy looked at the scattered villagers looking around behind him, then looked at Su Le and said, "Every family has the rice and flour we sent last time. I eat very little. Occasionally, Grandma Li and Grandpa Chen will bring me some food."
Su Le stared into his eyes and asked, "Do you want to study?"
The boy's eyes lit up, then dimmed again, "I don't have any money..."
Su Le smiled and said, "I have it, but I won't give it to you for free. I'll lend it to you. When you finish your studies and make money, you have to pay it back to me. Are you willing?"
The boy looked at her excitedly, "I do, okay?"
Su Le nodded, took off the bag on his back, took out a piece of paper and a pen from the bag, wrote a promissory note, and then read it to him. The boy held the pen awkwardly and could not write a single word.
Su Le picked up a stone and asked, "What's your name?"
The boy said seriously, "Li Dan,"
Su Le wrote his name on the ground in large strokes. The boy looked at it carefully and asked, "Is this my name?"
Su Le nodded. "You should practice your name first. When the school is ready, I will come to pick you up. Then you can study directly in the school and learn from the teacher. I won't bring you books, but I will pay your tuition. What do you think?"
The boy nodded, picked up the traces of the stone on the ground, and traced it stroke by stroke. Su Le did not urge him. He stood up and discussed with Su Fugui and others how big a house should be, how big the common area should be, and how big a building should be.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
