Song Yan's words were a wake-up call, and everyone, including the village chief, stood there dumbfounded.
Just then, footsteps came from the courtyard, and Shi Jianjun walked in.
He had just gone to the commune and had just returned to the village when someone reported that his wife had gotten into an argument with the village elders.
Fearing that his wife would suffer, he hurriedly went home.
As soon as Shi Jianjun entered the main room, he saw his radiant wife and the villagers with mournful faces.
After shaking his wife's hand, Shi Jianjun felt a little more at ease.
"What's going on?" Shi Jianjun looked at the village chief, then glanced at the others in the main room.
The village chief sighed and told Shi Jianjun what had happened.
After listening to the village chief's words, Shi Jianjun looked at Song Yan.
"My wife is right. She started the family business from scratch, and it's her decision whether or not to hire people. I respect her decision," Shi Jianjun firmly supported his wife.
Song Yan tried hard to suppress the smile on her lips and looked at everyone with a smug expression.
"Junzi, aren't you afraid people will say you're afraid of your wife?" At this moment, a man of Shi Jianjun's age suddenly spoke up.
"It's my life, what business is it of others? In our family, we always listen to whoever's idea is better. My wife didn't do anything wrong, so why can't I listen to her?" Shi Jianjun didn't think about changing anyone's mind. Traditional ideas are deeply ingrained, and they can't be persuaded with just a few words.
"Everyone just wants the children to go out and broaden their horizons, that's why we came to discuss this," the village chief said helplessly.
"You're not negotiating, you're coercing me!" Song Yan said bluntly.
"Song Yan!" Shi Jianjun tugged at his wife and shook his head at her.
"My wife meant no harm; she's just straightforward."
Upon hearing this, the expressions on everyone's faces were varied. The couple played good cop and bad cop, letting them say whatever they wanted.
"It's not that we don't want everyone to go. Beijing is right there, and there are plenty of job opportunities. As long as you get accepted, making money won't be hard! The only crucial point is that they require a certain level of education; at the very least, you need to have graduated from high school. Do we have any in our village?" Shi Jianjun pointed out the crux of the matter.
To be honest, there are almost no high school graduates like the Shi siblings in Xiaogu Village. Most of them only attended primary school for a few years, learned a few words, and then dropped out.
When the Shi siblings went to school, the Shi couple were often ridiculed by the villagers.
It's fine for the son to go to school, but the daughter will belong to someone else in the future, so why bother with all that trouble!
Hearing Shi Jianjun's words, everyone felt a bit emotional.
"Fangfang graduated from high school, so at least she has a basic understanding of academics and can handle things like shop management. What are you all going to do with me?"
Song Yan also had mixed feelings about her in-laws. They were kind-hearted, and no matter what anyone said or how tiring it was, they would send their two children to school.
Seeing that the couple had made their decision, the village chief sighed, knowing that their plan to go to the city was doomed. He stood up from his seat and prepared to leave.
"Wait, Uncle Village Chief, I have a few things to say while everyone is thinking about them," Shi Jianjun called out to everyone.
"I asked my dad about our land. Apart from the area around our ancestral graves, we have about four acres, mostly mountainous with little flat land. We plan to rent it out, and anyone in the village is welcome to rent it. The price will be determined by the village head."
Upon hearing this, several families in the village stopped in their tracks. The more land they could cultivate, the more money they could earn, and perhaps they could even send their children to school.
"As for the money collected, the village committee will keep it on their behalf and use it to subsidize the village children's schooling, starting with those entering junior high school." Everyone was stunned. What was the Shi family doing...?
"The supervision will be handled by the villagers and my comrade who works at the commune. He will come over to check the accounts on our behalf from time to time. I've already spoken to him about it." Shi Jianjun had just gone out to discuss this matter. He had discussed it with his family, and his parents had agreed.
Shi Jianjun doesn't actually blame the villagers. He grew up here and knows everything about it.
Bound by the feudal ideology of valuing sons over daughters, villagers judged a family's success by whether the wife gave birth to a son or a daughter.
The idea that studying is useless has always been supported and endorsed by everyone. Guangshi Jianjun knows that several children who used to be good students are now farming at home with their parents.
What others considered foolish and ignorant was supported by the majority of people in the village and even in Nanjiang County.
Shi Jianjun came from here, and he has feelings for the mountains and rivers and the people here.
He wanted to do everything he could to bring about some changes to this small mountain village, so he decided to start with the children!
"Me too!" Song Yan pouted and said unhappily.
"I'll contribute five thousand yuan, and the villagers can all work together to fix this road into the village as soon as possible. It was so bumpy on the way here that I almost died." Song Yan took out the money she had prepared in advance from her bag and put it on the table.
The village chief's hands trembled with excitement: "Junzi, you..."
"Uncle Village Chief, we also hope that Xiaogu Village will get better and better," Shi Jianjun said emotionally.
Song Yan rolled her eyes. She knew it; Jun Ge had gotten all the credit.
"Hmph, after I get back to Beijing, I'll go see my cousin. He works at the Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences. I'll see if he has any good varieties suitable for this area. Consider it a side job for everyone," Song Yan said proudly.
She only cared about these things because they had to go back to their hometown to pay respects at their ancestors' graves; otherwise, she wouldn't care about such things at all!
The people in the main room were so excited they didn't know what to do. The Shi family was so kind!
Even as he was about to leave, he didn't forget his fellow villagers, helping them repair roads and sponsoring the children's schooling.
Song Yan touched her stomach. Why weren't these people leaving yet? She was starving.
They came back suddenly, and Mom and Dad didn't prepare lunch for them. Everyone just ate a simple meal. Mom said she would make cured meat for them that night.
And the kimchi she ate at noon was sour and spicy, it was so appetizing, and just thinking about it makes my mouth water.
Seeing this scene, everyone surrounded Shi Jianjun, and some elderly people had already started wiping away tears while holding him.
Just then, someone tugged at her clothes. Song Yan turned around and found Shi's mother standing behind her.
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