Xiao Mingqi brought the two of them to the door of the village chief's house. The gate was open and a row of brick and tile houses came into view. They were considered the best houses in the village.
Fan Hua walked into the courtyard and called out, "Is the village chief home?"
After a while, an old man with gray hair but in good spirits came out.
"Excuse me, are you the village chief?" Fan Hua asked politely.
"It's me. Who are you, girl?" The village chief looked at Fan Hua in confusion.
Fan Hua quickly introduced herself, "Hello, village chief. My name is Fan Hua. I am the daughter of Fan Ershuan, and the niece of Fan Dashuan. I came back to the village to visit my relatives."
When the village chief heard this, a look of realization appeared on his face, and he said enthusiastically, "Oh, it turns out to be the daughter of Ershuan's family. Come in and sit down."
Fan Hua followed the village chief into the house. After sitting down, she didn't beat around the bush and directly explained her purpose: "Village chief, my family is cooking and waiting for us to go back and eat. I will tell you directly why I am here!"
"I just talked to Mingqi and learned that the children in our village have to go to town to go to school, which is a long journey and very inconvenient. I was thinking, can we set up a school in our village so that the children can go to school at their doorstep. I am willing to donate some money as a reward for my father's neighbors."
The village chief was excited at first, then became a little solemn. After thinking for a moment, he said, "Girl, I thank you on behalf of all the villagers for your idea, but running a school is not a small matter. In addition to funding, we also need to solve problems such as teachers and venues. Our village is poor, and many things cannot be done immediately if we want to do them."
Fan Hua nodded in understanding and said sincerely, "Village head, as for teachers, when we return to Ji City, I will ask the newspaper to publish an article to see if there are any comrades who are interested in education and are willing to come here to teach. At the same time, we can also go to the township government to apply for a teacher to be transferred from the town. As for the venue, are there any idle houses or vacant land in the village? We can renovate them. After all, there are ways to solve all problems."
The village chief looked at Fan Hua's determined eyes and was moved. Although this girl lived in the city, she still cared about the education of the children in the village. It was rare. He couldn't help but ask, "How much do you plan to donate?"
Fan Hua thought about it and decided that it would only cost three to five hundred yuan to build a bigger house in the village. If she bought tables and chairs and hired a teacher, one thousand yuan would be enough.
So he said, "I can donate 1,000 yuan this time. If it's not enough, please ask the village chief to ask the villagers to raise more. If there is any extra money, it can be used as scholarships for outstanding students."
The village chief didn't expect that the girl would give him 1,000 yuan at once. It was enough to build a school, and even the first year's salary for two teachers was covered! They made a living by farming, and could only save 100 or 200 yuan a year. Even in the county, not many people could easily take out 1,000 yuan!
So he immediately said excitedly: "Girl, it is rare for you to have such a heart. Since you are so determined, I, the village chief, cannot hold you back. There are a few old houses in the east of the village. While everyone is idle during the New Year, I will call a meeting of the villagers and arrange for them to renovate and rebuild them. There will be no problem using them as classrooms.
I will go to the town and apply, asking for help to transfer two teachers here. With your money, we can give the teachers a few more dollars in salary or other benefits every month, and there will definitely be people willing to come!"
The village chief said a lot in one breath, and his saliva almost splashed on Fan Hua's face.
Fan Hua took two steps back without leaving a trace, with a delighted smile on her face, "That's great, Village Chief. With your words, there is hope for this matter. We must implement this matter as soon as possible, the children's time cannot be wasted. I only have one request, I hope that after the spring, all the children of school age in our village can go to school!"
Xiao Mingqi finally realized what Fan Hua was talking about with the village chief, and immediately looked at Fan Hua with surprise. Was this beautiful aunt going to build a school in their village? Then he would be able to go to school soon, and in his own village, which was great!
He knew that Fan Hua was discussing serious matters with the village chief and did not dare to disturb her. He could only excitedly hold one of Fan Hua's hands with his little hand unconsciously. He really liked this aunt so much!
Fan Hua looked down at Xiao Mingqi, and the corners of her mouth curled up unconsciously. When she was a child, she also liked to hold her father's hand like this!
Afterwards, Fan Hua discussed some details of running the school with the village chief, including curriculum setting, school management and other aspects.
Before they knew it, it was noon. Fan Hua smelled the fragrance of food cooked by the village chief's daughter-in-law. Then she realized that they had been out for a long time, so she stood up and prepared to say goodbye.
The village chief wanted to keep her for dinner, but then he remembered that they had just reunited with their family and the Fan family must have prepared delicious food, so he did not force her to stay. However, he still kept telling Fan Hua to come over for dinner next time and personally sent her out the door.
Sure enough, when Fan Hua returned to the Fan family, the three adults of the Fan family were waiting for her at the door.
"Where did you take your aunt and uncle? Why did it take so long?" Zhang Yumei pulled Fan Mingqi over and asked with some reproach.
Fan Mingqi didn't hear the blame in his mother's words at all, and answered happily, "Mom, I took my aunt and uncle to the village chief's house. My aunt also told the village chief that she wanted to pay for building a school in the village. The two have already discussed it!"
"What? Pay for building a school? Oh my god...how much money does that cost?" Fan Dashuan's jaw dropped when he heard that.
"It's nothing, uncle, cousin, and cousin's wife. Just think of it as me doing something for the villagers on behalf of my father. I'm going to the county town to get some money this afternoon. After I give the money to the village chief, we'll leave. You all take care of yourselves. When the school is built, send Mingqi to school. He looks like a good student. He will definitely be able to get into college and have a bright future. Then I'll take you all to the city."
"Are you in such a hurry to leave? You've come here with great difficulty, so stay a few more days!" Fan Zhiyong advised.
"That's right, aunt, I can't bear to see you go!" Fan Mingqi's face was also full of reluctance.
Fan Hua smiled and touched Fan Mingqi's head. "I'll come to see you again when I have the chance. Aunt has her own things to do, so she can't stay longer."
Although everyone was reluctant, they could understand that everyone has their own problems, so they had no choice but to pull Fan Hua into the house to eat.
Zhao Yilu didn't quite understand why Fan Hua suddenly changed her mind and wanted to leave so quickly, but he had always supported Fan Hua unconditionally. He felt that since Fan Hua had made such a decision, she must have her reasons, so he didn't say anything more.
We had a lively meal at Fan’s house. The taste of the food cooked by her grandmother was still the familiar taste in Fan Hua’s memory. It was so salty!
Fan Hua originally thought that her grandmother's cooking became so salty because her family became better off later on, but she didn't expect that her cooking would become so salty from that time on!
After finishing her meal, Fan Hua silently drank two more bowls of water, then she and Zhao Yilu took Fan Mingqi to drive to the county town to get money. Fan Mingqi was very excited at first because it was his first time riding in a car, but soon he began to feel sleepy because of the bumpy ride.
Fan Hua looked at the sleeping Fan Mingqi in the rearview mirror and couldn't help but chuckle, "It turns out that Dad has had this problem of getting sleepy when riding in a car since he was so young!"
"I remember that when my family went out, my dad had to be the one driving because he would not get sleepy unless he was the driver. Otherwise, he would definitely fall asleep as soon as he got in the car."
Zhao Yilu also looked back at the sleeping Fan Mingqi, and then looked at Fan Hua, "Why are you in such a hurry to go back? Didn't you originally plan to stay here for a few more days?"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
