Director Zheng, accompanied by the principal and homeroom teachers of No. 1 Middle School, knocked on a door.
The atmosphere inside the room was somewhat oppressive.
The principal warmly introduced, "This is the Qiao family, and this is Director Zheng from the county education bureau. His two children have been admitted to Tsinghua University, and he specially took time out of his busy schedule to visit them."
Mr. Qiao tapped his pipe, looking panicked: "How could we disturb such a high-ranking leader? Please sit down, please sit down. Our home is humble, please don't mind."
Director Zheng waved his hand: "It's alright, your two children have brought honor to Chishui County, they are both excellent!"
"You flatter me. As a father, I didn't offer any help; it was all thanks to my child's own abilities."
As Mr. Qiao spoke, his face was full of regret.
Director Zheng asked, "Where's the child? Why doesn't he come out to see us?"
"He's gone out to find work..."
"ah?"
Director Zheng looked around the room; it was dilapidated and had very little furniture.
The only household appliance was an incandescent light bulb.
"Great talents can emerge from humble backgrounds," Director Zheng muttered to himself.
The principal chimed in, "Doing odd jobs?"
Mr. Qiao nodded: "We really can't afford to send two children to school. The living expenses and tuition alone cost more than two thousand yuan a year. I'm not in good health and have to take medicine often. This... sigh."
The principal looked up at Director Zheng, then took out two thousand yuan: "Take this, it'll solve our immediate problem first, and we'll figure out a solution later. We can't have one student attending school while the other drops out."
Mr. Qiao quickly declined, saying, "No, no. The children's education is a family matter; we dare not trouble the officials."
"Take it." Director Zheng also took out five thousand yuan: "This is the county's care bonus. As long as the child studies hard, comes back to build his hometown in the future, and doesn't forget his roots, our Chishui County will be satisfied."
Tears streamed down Mr. Qiao's face like hot lava: "This, this... thank you so much, leaders! I'll have my son come back and kowtow to express my gratitude!"
Director Zheng quickly stopped them, saying, "Let the children continue to express their unwavering feelings, since they are just passing by to offer their condolences. There's no need to bring them back."
Director Zheng shook hands with Qiao's father: "If you have any difficulties, just tell the county. As the local officials, our job is to solve problems for the people."
“There are no more difficulties now, that’s enough, more than enough!” Mr. Qiao said, wiping away his tears.
Director Zheng and his entourage left the Qiao family's residence.
Then he said to the principal, "Our county has a large number of impoverished people, but you must always pay attention to their education. If any students are in difficulty, report them to the Education Bureau. We have scholarships to ensure that every child who is willing to learn can have access to education!"
The principal nodded: "The scholarships from last time have been disbursed, and we have used them specifically to solve the problems and difficulties of many children."
"But Director," the principal said awkwardly, "are there any scholarships left? Although the two students who got into Tsinghua University are shining brightly, there are other students in other key universities as well, and some of their families are even more struggling than the Qiao family."
Director Zheng sighed, "There's not much left, and we also need to consider other schools. To tell you the truth, this scholarship comes from a businessman, but if he doesn't mention it, I'm too embarrassed to ask for it."
The three of them stood silently on the side of the street for a while.
Indeed, they are powerless and incompetent.
If Wu Changfeng doesn't offer to inject funds voluntarily, and the Education Bureau asks for them, wouldn't that be a joke?
Moral blackmail is something intellectuals cannot do.
Otherwise, they wouldn't have dragged Gu Yuanming along when they went to find Wu Changfeng this time.
With Gu Yuanming, who has been dealing with businessmen for many years, around, he can smooth things over if any problems arise during the discussion.
Director Zheng left alone and took a car to the Jiangcheng City Education Bureau.
I still need to consult with my superiors about what I promised Wu Changfeng.
We arrived at the Municipal Education Bureau.
Director Zheng received a warm welcome. Leader Qin, holding a teacup, said with a smile:
"Old Zheng, are you here to claim credit, or just dropping by?"
Director Zheng replied with a smile, "I wouldn't dare to take credit. I just haven't visited the leaders in a long time, so I came to show my face."
Leader Qin pointed with his finger: "You, you're not being honest. Your Chishui County did very well in this year's college entrance examination, with the only two students in the city admitted to Tsinghua University. Other county bureau chiefs are all clamoring to go there to learn from your advanced experience."
Director Zheng scoffed: "I think they're just trying to freeload off me."
Leader Qin laughed heartily.
Let alone the education sector, once role models and advanced individuals emerge in any industry, it's a different story.
Other sister units flocked over to learn from their experience.
Putting aside everything else, let's just talk about the shirt manufacturer and the paper maker.
After the newspapers reported that the factory had turned a profit, people from all over the country flocked to it. The two factory directors became arrogant and gave speeches and received visitors everywhere.
The head chef in the kitchen was exhausted, having to cook dozens of meals a day.
The factory manager who makes shirts, flattered by others, bought over 100,000 ties from the visiting factory in one go.
Those in the paper manufacturing industry embarked on a massive acquisition spree, traveling all over the country to directly acquire any paper mills that were not performing well.
I don't want anything that's profitable!
As you can imagine, neither of the factory managers fared well...
Leader Qin straightened his hands and said, "Speak, what brings you here? You can't just come here to ask for a free meal."
Director Zheng said, "Sir, I have a problem and would like to ask you for advice."
Leader Qin gestured for him to continue.
"It's like this." Director Zheng gathered his thoughts: "A local businessman wants to invest 500,000 yuan to set up a research institute in Huaqing. What should we do about this..."
Leader Qin frowned immediately and slammed his hand on the table: "Are you kidding me? There are plenty of bosses in the south who do this. What has Tsinghua University become? Is it still a prestigious university?"
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