Chapter 493: Building a Branch Campus of Xingcheng No. 1 Middle School in East River New City

Chen Yang went home to wait for news, and after a week he still hadn't received a reply from Liu Jianghua.

He was about to return to Qingshui City to keep his wife company when Lin Xiaomi suddenly called, saying that Principal Cai Chongming of Xingcheng No. 1 Middle School wanted him to come to the school.

Chen Yang still thought something had happened to Lin Xiaomi at school, and he rushed anxiously to the principal's office of Xingcheng No. 1 Middle School.

"Principal, did my Xiaomi get into a fight with someone?"

Cai Chongming waved his hand and said, "Chen Yang, you don't need to worry. Student Lin Xiaomi has always been well-behaved at school, and her grades have consistently been among the top."

Upon hearing that it had nothing to do with Lin Xiaomi, Chen Yang immediately let out a sigh of relief.

"Principal, is the school short of funds again lately? How much do you need? I'll have my company's finance department transfer the money."

Cai Chongming shook his head again and got straight to the point: "Chen Yang, our school is preparing to expand. I heard you've undertaken a big project near East River Bridge; could you greet the higher-ups and get them to allocate a plot of land there for us to build a branch campus?"

Upon hearing that Principal Cai planned to build a branch campus of Xingcheng No. 1 Middle School near East River New City, Chen Yang was very pleased. With the backing of Xingcheng's four famous schools, the real estate projects in East River New City would surely become hot commodities.

He said to Principal Cai, "Principal, I'll make sure the land matter is taken care of. But I have a request: I hope the Xingcheng No. 1 Middle School branch campus can allocate more admission slots to East River New City."

Principal Cai's purpose in building a branch campus in East River New City was to facilitate enrollment expansion, but he also had his own bottom line: "Chen Yang, the school can give you some admission slots. However, while expanding enrollment we must also guarantee student quality—you can't just stuff anyone into the school!"

Chen Yang naturally didn't want to lower Xingcheng No. 1 Middle School's standards either, as that would drag down property values in East River New City. After thinking, he said to Principal Cai, "Principal, I have an idea: could we build two branch campuses in East River New City, one for junior high and one for senior high? You can handle the selection for the senior high campus yourself, while the admission slots for the junior high campus should be given priority to East River New City."

"As repayment, I'll take full responsibility for the construction costs of these two schools!"

Principal Cai could hardly believe his ears and asked Chen Yang again: "You're not joking with me, are you? The cost of building two campuses isn't low at all!"

Chen Yang nodded and said, "As long as the principal can provide convenience for the students of East River New City, these costs are nothing. If further sponsorship is needed later, just let me know."

Principal Cai immediately said, "Chen Yang, since you're so caring, I also guarantee that from now on, all admission slots for the junior high department of Xingcheng No. 1 Middle School will be given priority to the children of East River New City. The senior high department will also prioritize selecting students who have outstanding performance in the junior high department."

"Thank you, Principal!" Chen Yang didn't care much about how many senior high slots Principal Cai was willing to give East River New City; what he wanted was to give the children of East River New City a chance to enter a prestigious school.

The junior high department of Xingcheng No. 1 Middle School is itself a prestigious school's junior high department. That alone would be enough to attract most parents to settle in East River New City.

After reaching the agreement, Chen Yang immediately ran to Liu Jianghua's office.

"Chen Yang, why are you here again? The land matter is still under discussion……" Seeing Chen Yang come again, Liu Jianghua rubbed his forehead with a slight headache.

Knowing Governor Liu's time was precious, Chen Yang didn't waste words and said directly, "Governor Liu, today the principal of Xingcheng No. 1 Middle School came to me, saying he hopes to build two branch campuses near East River New City—one junior high, one senior high—and hopes I can give him some convenience."

"I was thinking the government here happens to need to compensate me for some land, so I came to ask whether we could transfer that land to Xingcheng No. 1 Middle School for building a branch campus."

Upon hearing that, Governor Liu immediately became interested. He told Chen Yang, "Building two campuses requires at least several hundred thousand square meters of land. If you give it away, the commercial land promised to you will be gone."

Chen Yang nodded and said, "As long as you agree to let Xingcheng No. 1 Middle School build a branch campus near East River New City, I don't need that land."

Governor Liu studied Chen Yang for a while, then said in a doubtful tone, "Come clean, you little brat—did you reach some shady agreement with the principal of Xingcheng No. 1 Middle School?"

Chen Yang laughed and confessed, "I arranged for the junior high department of Xingcheng No. 1 Middle School to give priority admission to East River New City's students—doesn't that count as a violation?"

Governor Liu snorted, "You little devil, you're tying East River New City to a prestigious school just to make it easier for you to raise property prices later, aren't you?"

Chen Yang immediately protested, "Governor Liu, I swear on heaven and earth, I'm wholeheartedly supporting Xingcheng's education cause! I absolutely have no other motives!"

Governor Liu wouldn't believe Chen Yang's nonsense. But East River New City, such a large commercial-residential community, indeed needs matching educational facilities.

Now that Chen Yang is willing to proactively sacrifice himself to provide convenience for Xingcheng No. 1 Middle School, he naturally won't stand in the way.

"Since you're willing to give your own land to Xingcheng No. 1 Middle School, I'll call Mayor Sun later to have him arrange people to do some planning near East River New City. I'll try to get you a reply within a week."

Chen Yang hadn't expected Governor Liu to be so straightforward; he couldn't help but mutter, "No need to discuss this time?"

Governor Liu, who certainly understood Chen Yang's thoughts, smiled and said, "Education is a major undertaking that benefits the country and the people; of course it should be prioritized. Here I thank you on behalf of East River New City's children for your generosity."

Chen Yang was quite speechless.

However, his purpose in coming this time was originally to handle the land issue for Xingcheng No. 1 Middle School's branch campus. Since Governor Liu agreed, that also counts as a perfect outcome.

One week later, Sun Longqing called Chen Yang and said the locations for Xingcheng No. 1 Middle School's two branch campuses had been finalized: the junior high campus is near Phase One and Phase Two of East River New City, while the senior high campus lies between Phase Two and Phase Three.

After receiving the news, Chen Yang first got in touch with Principal Cai to confirm the construction start date. Then he posted the news of his gratuitous support for building Xingcheng No. 1 Middle School's campuses on the official websites of Old Commoner Financial Investment Company, Agricultural Products Trading Company, Meat Industry Company, and Food Limited Company.

He did this for two reasons. First, to send a message to the public: whoever buys a home in East River New City will have their children qualified to attend a prestigious school.

Second, more simply, it was to boost the brand image of the companies under Old Commoner. A caring enterprise tends to win public approval more easily.

After the message was released, the level of online discussion about East River New City immediately tripled.

Moreover, Chen Yang also received calls from three other prestigious schools in Xingcheng, all intending to build branch campuses near East River New City.

Regarding that, Chen Yang also didn't refuse. He promised that as long as they could obtain land near East River New City and were willing to provide sufficient junior high admission slots for East River New City, Old Commoner Financial Investment Company would also build their campuses for free.