Chapter 123 Donation to the School
"Well..." Lin Ruoyan was embarrassed by Teacher Deng's question.
Could she truly claim that she was only responsible for eating, drinking, and having fun at home, and that her only reading was novels? As for her son's studies, she truly had no control over them. If she did rack her brains to manage them, it was all about coaxing her son into playing games and watching cartoons with her to relax, as if these things had no positive meaning for ordinary parents.
"Boss Lin, what's wrong?"
Lin Ruoyan smiled awkwardly and said, "Our family situation is rather special. As you know, I run a company and am very busy with work, so I don't have time to take care of my children. He likes reading, and our family can afford it. We let him read and learn whatever he wants."
Lin Mengxi kindly didn't expose his mother's claim of being busy with work. During the two months of summer vacation, his mother, aside from taking him on trips and occasionally going to work, spent most of her time at home watching movies and reading novels, rising until noon each day. Her leisure time was practically identical between weekdays and weekends. Subconsciously, he felt it was safer to keep this truth a secret.
Teacher Deng nodded. "That's right. Career is more important. His uncle doesn't have time to take care of him, right?"
"Well, his uncle lives in a big villa in the suburbs. He's busier than me, flying all over the country. I can't see him for ten days or half a month." Lin Ruoyan answered truthfully.
"..." Teacher Deng, so a wealthy family is a wealthy family. There are only three of them, and they live in two large houses? And the maids have two sets? Are they still in need of a tutor? He flirted with the thought for a moment, but quickly adjusted himself. He still had over twenty years before retirement, and he needed to cultivate more young talents for the country, not be blinded by immediate gains. He had long vowed to teach his life's work to more children, so that his students would flourish across the world.
"Does our elementary school have a computer classroom?" Lin Ruoyan changed the subject. She remembered that when she took her son to the school for an interview, she seemed to have seen a large classroom in the teaching building, the kind with an inner and outer dressing room, with a sign outside that said "Computer Classroom."
Computers were still a novelty back then, and before entering the classroom, teachers and students were required to wear shoe covers, and some even had to wear head covers to prevent dust and hair from falling into the room. The classrooms certainly had two doors, one inside and one outside, and the tables where the computers were placed were spotless.
In Beijing, aside from universities, few primary and secondary schools had computer labs. Back then, computers weren't even called computers; they were just computers. Computer classes weren't offered in every class, and those that did, typically two students shared one. These machines had very small hard drives; 128MB was considered a large drive. Furthermore, computers were considered expensive teaching equipment, so upgrading them every three to five years was a rare opportunity, unable to keep up with the ever-changing market trends.
Back then, many students didn't see a computer until college, or even learn how to turn it on and off. City kids, at least, had access to internet cafes, and better-off schools offered computer courses throughout elementary and middle school, giving them a leg up.
For example, this key primary school in the city now has a computer classroom, but the equipment was purchased three years ago and is already seriously outdated. There is not even room to install the w2000 system.
Teacher Deng said, "Well, the school is still applying for funding to upgrade the equipment in the computer classroom. Also, for the gifted class, we need to build a new dedicated classroom for various scientific experiments..."
"Why didn't you tell me earlier? I'll have someone from my company help with the latest computer equipment. How much will that science lab cost?" Lin Ruoyan saw Teacher Deng's embarrassment and guessed she wouldn't be able to directly ask parents for donations. She'd only brought it up to get the conversation started. Even if the classroom equipment was newly purchased this year, it wouldn't necessarily be the latest. She might as well donate a new computer lab and a science lab.
Before Teacher Deng came, the dean of studies actually gave him a task, asking him to mention it at an appropriate time. It would be best if General Lin was willing to donate money to update the equipment.
He wandered around the courtyard for a long time, unsure how to bring up the topic. He hadn't expected Mr. Lin to be so clever. It seemed the notes were all substantial. He thanked him, "Mr. Lin, we'll be more polite. The children's studies are more important. Look, school's about to start, and the classrooms are actually vacant. All that's missing is the equipment..."
"Then I'll arrange for someone to contact the school right away." Lin Ruoyan picked up the phone and immediately made arrangements, asking Hao Heshan to send a subordinate who was computer savvy to help the school with this matter. As for the scientific laboratory equipment and other things, the school had a procurement budget. Lin Ruoyan saw that the amount was less than 500,000 yuan and directly wrote a check.
She didn't transfer the money immediately because August's expenses had already exceeded 100 million yuan. The school had received the check, and if it was a legitimate corporate purchase, there would be a payment period. By the time the bank she issued the check cleared it, it might already be September, creating a time difference. Of course, if the corporate payment was settled this month, she would accept it. It was only an extra 500,000 yuan, and her company's revenue this month was over 10 million yuan more than she had expected.
Hao Heshan sent his subordinates, whom he had trained for several months, to cooperate with the school in purchasing matters. The next day, all forty computers were purchased and placed in the designated classroom.
Lin Ruoyan also had someone set up the learning website and Go website in advance, and issued free learning website memberships to the school based on the number of students in the gifted class.
After donating money to the primary school that Lin Mengxi was about to attend, Lin Ruoyan thought of the international school again.
After all, she was a school board member at the new campus. She talked to the principal about strengthening the teaching of computer-related courses and expressed her hope that the school could purchase memberships for a number of learning websites and Go websites.
Since she owns a stake in the school, she doesn't need to donate. She can just openly offer some teaching suggestions. Purchasing the appropriate learning software and memberships is not difficult for an international school that positions itself as high-end and aligned with international standards.
As a result, learning websites and Go websites were pre-installed on computers at international schools, not just for new campuses but also for other campuses. Even if not every student actually needed a membership, each campus purchased membership based on the number of computers, which ensured a stable renewal of memberships.
Not to mention, when students see that the school has these websites, they will definitely install them if they have computers at home. Why would people who go to international schools need to buy membership themselves?
Lin Ruoyan also gave some advice to the people in the marketing department who were responsible for website promotion. They should let the teachers try out the membership version from the source. If the teachers found it useful, they could then promote it to the students.
The sales pitch was simple and direct: "Look, the gifted students in key elementary schools are all using this website for practice. Are you, the average elementary school, willing to lag behind? The teaching staff is not good enough, so students should have more opportunities to practice. What? You don't need a Go website. This is the free version, buy one get one free. Learning websites require membership, and Go is free, so you can play with others. Isn't that a great way to relax?"
In short, starting in September, membership on both the learning and Go websites has exploded. This is due to bulk purchases by schools and word-of-mouth among parents. Beyond Beijing, the marketing department has expanded the website to major cities, with question banks designed specifically for each city.
After all, the website's practice questions and computer grading have liberated teachers and parents. Anyone with a computer at home, or whose children can use a computer, will buy them a membership on the learning website. A membership on the learning website is only 100 yuan a month, and a one-time purchase of a year can be discounted to 1,000 yuan, which is equivalent to giving away two months for free. How cost-effective is that?
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