However, before Zhao Qinglan could speak, Sun Shuping scoffed.
"I'm willing to bring Qinglan and the others back just to see the old lady off on her final journey. As for anything else, don't even think about it."
Old Zhao's face turned bright red with embarrassment. He had finally managed to see his wife and daughters, only to subject them to such difficulties. Did they regret coming here?
Thinking of this, Zhao Laoda glared at his younger brother.
"With me here today, I won't tolerate the two of you causing trouble."
The village secretary also felt that the two brothers' behavior was too unseemly, so he quickly stepped in to smooth things over.
"Alright, alright, the old lady hasn't been buried yet. What's the most important thing?"
Realizing that their eldest brother would really take action if they angered him, Zhao Lao Er and Zhao Lao San reluctantly stood back.
Old Zhao smiled sheepishly at his ex-wife. "I'm sorry, Shuping."
Sun had considered the potential troubles before deciding to return, so she wasn't surprised at all.
She went to the mourning hall, lit incense, and began to pay her respects.
The three Zhao sisters followed closely behind.
There were many people watching the commotion in the courtyard, but no one dared to step forward and cause any more trouble.
After the mother and her three daughters finished their quiet prayers, they walked to the side.
Zhao Qinglan whispered a few words to her mother and sisters, then walked up to the Party Secretary.
"Secretary, we have something we'd like to discuss with you."
"No problem, no problem." The Party Secretary was quite polite to Zhao Qinglan.
"Why don't we find a place to talk this out slowly?" Zhao Qinglan said with a smile.
"OK."
The Party Secretary led Zhao Qinglan and the others to the house where the village committee was holding a meeting.
Besides the Party Secretary, a brigade leader also came along.
"Here's the thing, we've discussed it and we want to do something for our village. We're wondering how the primary school is doing in our village now?"
Upon hearing Zhao Qinglan's words, the village secretary's eyes lit up, and he immediately began to wail and complain.
“Our village primary school building is in dire need of repair; it leaks easily when it rains heavily. But the village is also facing difficulties now. Since the land was distributed, the village has had very little money to use.”
Although the Party Secretary exaggerated a bit, it was basically true.
Zhao Qinglan glanced at her mother, who nodded, and then continued, "We can donate some money to help our village rebuild the primary school. Secretary, how much do you think it will cost?"
"Are you serious?" The Party Secretary immediately instructed the team leader standing beside him. "Go quickly and call the accountant over."
After the brigade leader had rushed away, he smiled at Zhao Qinglan and the others and said, "We've always wanted to build a primary school. The accountant has already roughly calculated how much it will cost for the bricks and tiles. When he comes, I'll tell you about it."
The accountant was helping with the funeral arrangements at the Zhao family's house when the brigade leader rushed over in a panic.
"Quick, hurry up, the Party Secretary is calling you."
"What are you doing?" the accountant asked, looking puzzled.
"Great news! Qinglan and the others are going to build a school for our village!"
"What?" The accountant almost thought he had misheard.
"What are you waiting for? Everyone's waiting for you."
Once the accountant ran off with the team leader, the others who had overheard the incident erupted in uproar.
"Qinglan and the others are going to build a school for our village?"
"Really?"
"What's true can't be false, and what's false can't be true."
"Why don't we go and take a look at the village committee?"
Many people left immediately.
In other words, those who were tasked with helping the Zhao family with the funeral arrangements dared not leave, and most of the others who came to join in the fun left.
The sudden departure of so many people naturally surprised the Zhao family. After they found out what had happened, each of them had mixed feelings.
Zhao Lao Er and Zhao Lao San felt terrible. The two brothers had just asked for money under the guise of helping the mother and daughters, but they hadn't given a single penny. Then they turned around and said they wanted to help the village repair the school. Was this done on purpose?
Isn't that intentional?
Zhao Qinglan and her family would rather do some good deeds for the village so that the villagers would remember their kindness than give those parasites from the Zhao family a single penny.
Being able to come back to pay their respects is already the last bit of respect they have for the Zhao family bloodline.
Old Zhao felt very bitter, but then he smiled again.
Although Zhao Laoda has no sons, none of his daughters are bad.
Even if the children don't recognize him now, they are still his offspring, and he feels proud.
The accountant rushed over and started working on the abacus to calculate the accounts for Zhao Qinglan and her daughter.
Both the village secretary and the accountant were overjoyed when Zhao Qinglan and her team said they would help the village build a school.
When calculating the expenses, they were extremely meticulous, trying to avoid spending any money they could, for fear that the calculated amount would scare Zhao Qinglan and the others away.
When Zhao Qinglan heard the final calculation, she realized it was much less than she had expected, and could only sigh at the villagers' simplicity and honesty.
Their village primary school wasn't big; the main task was to renovate the classrooms where the children studied. As for the rest, the village secretary looked at Zhao Qinglan with some anticipation.
Now that she had decided to do good deeds, Zhao Qinglan wanted to do them well.
Finally, she, her mother, and her sister contributed a total of 5,000 yuan to help repair the village's primary school.
However, the women wouldn't carry that much money with them when they went out; they would just verbally tell the Party Secretary that the money would be delivered later.
They actually got five thousand yuan, which is much more than they calculated.
The village secretary immediately stood up and bowed to Zhao Qinglan and her daughter. "On behalf of the children in the village, thank you."
"We can't let the children suffer, no matter how hard things get. We've only done our small part," Zhao Qinglan said with a smile.
Of the five thousand, Zhao Qinglan contributed the majority, three thousand of which she contributed, Sun contributed one thousand, and Zhao Qingzhu and Zhao Qingju each contributed five hundred.
Regardless of how the mother and her daughters divided the money among themselves, when the villagers came over and learned that they really intended to contribute 5,000 yuan to help repair the village's primary school, they all looked at them with gratitude.
Since Zhao Qinglan and the others no longer live in Zhao Family Village, the renovation of the school will benefit their children.
In the past, many villagers felt that Zhao Qinglan and her daughters were too cold-hearted, and after Zhao the old lady died, even more people had this thought.
But now, not only have they rushed back to pay their respects, but they also want to do good deeds for the village. At this moment, apart from a very few people who are still jealous, none of the other villagers think they are bad.
When they returned to the county town, the village secretary even kindly arranged for the village's tractor to take them there.
On the tractor, Zhao Qingju asked her sister in a low voice.
"Sis, why did you suddenly think of this?"
Zhao Qinglan's lips curled into a smile. "I'd rather use the money for charity than give it to those despicable people."
“Yes, we won’t give them to them.” Zhao Qingju said cheerfully, recalling her two uncles’ behavior.
Their money is hard-earned, why should it be given to those worthless guys?
When the Zhao family learned that Zhao Qinglan and her daughter had donated 5,000 yuan to repair the village primary school, everyone except the eldest Zhao was deeply saddened.
That's five thousand yuan! If we gave it to them, they could do so much.
However, whether they feel regret, remorse, or anger, this money has absolutely nothing to do with them!
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