Chapter 314: No matter how bitter, I won't let the children suffer; I'm going to build a school!

Wang Ming left in a hurry, carrying the slip of paper that could change his life.

Lu Qingshan stepped out of the office building, the north wind brushing his slightly long hair and bringing the crisp, clean scent of the forest.

He watched Wang Ming's silhouette disappear around the factory corner before slowly withdrawing his gaze.

Going to Europe and America is just another piece placed on the map of the Xinghan Commercial Empire.

But his roots, his foundation, have always been here.

Shanwan.

For two days, Lu Qingshan neither went to the factory nor met anyone.

He simply wandered quietly like an ordinary villager, inside and outside the village, along the field ridges, and around the factory, watching.

At dawn, as the sky was just lightening, he saw children from Qianyingcun and Shanwan Village carrying bleached schoolbags, moving in groups of three or five, braving the biting cold wind toward the town primary school several miles away. A boy of about seven or eight slipped on the icy road, fell hard onto the stone path littered with ice shards, and the two roasted sweet potatoes he had packed for lunch rolled far away from his arms.

The boy could not attend to the searing pain nor brush off the sharp stones and dust from his body; his reddened eyes instantly filled with tears, yet he clenched his purple‑tinged lips to keep them from falling, scrambled up from the cold ground, limped, and tried to retrieve the two mud‑caked sweet potatoes.

Those were his day's longing and calories.

His face and hands were frost‑red, some spots already cracked open with bleeding, his breath forming a white cloud, and his tiny figure seemed especially frail in the bleak winter.

Lu Qingshan's heart felt as if a huge hand had seized it hard, stabbing with pain.

He recalled his daughter Xiao Xue, who had attended a kindergarten opposite the old father‑in‑law's house in Qianyingcun, but the conditions there were terrible: a few drafty broken houses and dozens of wobbly long benches, so shabby it was heartbreaking.

The children are Shanwan's future, and also the softest part of his heart.

On the third day, Lu Qingshan went straight to the village chief Zhao Yongnian and the production team leader Zhao Dazhi.

Inside the village committee office, an old coal stove blazed brightly, warming the small room, while the air was thick with the mixed smell of cheap tobacco and coal ash.

Zhao Yongnian was puffing on a dry tobacco, the smoke curling, and when he saw Lu Qingshan enter, a hint of smile flickered in his clouded eyes.

"Qing Shan is here, sit down quickly."

Zhao Dazhi also rose hurriedly and fetched a stool for Lu Qingshan.

Lu Qingshan did not sit; he stood before the two pillars of Shanwan Village, his demeanor unusually solemn.

"Uncle, Uncle Dazhi, I'm here today to discuss something with you."

Zhao Yongnian exhaled a thick ring of smoke, nodded, and gestured for him to speak.

"You speak."

"I want to build a school for the village."

Lu Qingshan's voice was soft, but each word landed like a hand‑grenade, booming through the quiet office.

The air in the room seemed to solidify. Zhao Yongnian's puffing halted, the Smoke Pipe Bowl slipped from his mouth unnoticed. Zhao Dazhi's newly‑sat bottom twitched as if pricked, then jolted up, his eyes bulging like copper bells.

"Build... build a school?" Zhao Dazhi's voice sounded dry and trembling; he scratched his ear, almost thinking he was hallucinating, "Qing... Qing Shan, say it again? Build what?"

"Yes, build a school." Lu Qingshan repeated, his tone steady and unquestionable. "It will be called Shanwan Zidi Primary School."

"In Shanwan Village, together with Qianyingcun, there aren't few school‑age children; making them travel so far to the town school every day is too hard. Winter is cold, summer is hot, and the road is unsafe."

"We need our own school so the children can study right at their doorstep and get a good education."

Zhao Yongnian finally reacted; his hand trembled, and the Smoke Pipe Bowl clanged onto the cement floor. He didn't bother to pick it up, instead rubbing his hands hard on his trousers as if trying to rub the shock out of his mind. His brows knit into a knot: "Qing Shan, this is a great, even monumental, good thing! But... it's not something you can just say. Building a school isn't like building a pigsty; how much will it cost? Where are the permits? The land? Most importantly, where will we hire teachers from?"

These are the most realistic problems, each one like a mountain pressing down on a person.

Lu Qingshan seemed to have anticipated the question, a calm smile appearing on his face.

"The money, I'll provide. From constructing teaching and dormitory buildings to buying desks, chairs, benches, stationery and books, every single cent is on me."

"Teachers, we'll pay high salaries to hire from the county and the city! As long as they're willing and competent, the salary and benefits are easy to arrange. I'll offer them a salary that's one times higher than public schools—no, two times higher!"

"Then we'll hire an experienced principal to manage, and equip the school with the best teaching facilities!"

"Two‑times the salary!"

"Shhh—" Zhao Yongnian and Zhao Dazhi both inhaled a sharp breath of cold air, their napes tingling, utterly stunned by Lu Qingshan's proposal. In these days, a public school teacher's monthly salary is only a little over thirty yuan; double that is just under a hundred yuan! One hundred yuan! That's even higher than the county magistrate's salary! At that rate, even teachers from the county's top high school or the city's premier school would scramble for it.

Zhao Yongnian's lips trembled, unable to speak; after a while, his eyes suddenly flashed with a bright light, as if he had grasped a lifeline, and he slapped his thigh hard.

"Principal!"

"My daughter‑in‑law, Sun Hui! Haven't you met her? She's the director of the kindergarten in Qianying. Though she oversees few children, she's a proper teacher‑training student, even went to the county for further study a few years ago, and she manages kids methodically. Let her give it a try, okay?"

Lu Qingshan heard this, a flash of brilliance in his eyes, and a perfectly timed surprise spread across his face, as if this were the answer he had been waiting for.

"Sun Hui sister‑in‑law? I remember her as a very cultured person." He paused briefly, then clenched his fist and said decisively, "That's great! Uncle, it's settled then! There's no one more suitable than Sun Hui sister‑in‑law! We know her well, she's one of us, trustworthy! Let her be the principal!"

He nailed the decision, leaving Zhao Yongnian no chance to backtrack or hesitate.

Zhao Yongnian was still a bit stunned; he had just blurted out a suggestion, thinking that at least she was a teacher‑training student and could be a candidate, not expecting Lu Qingshan to decide on the spot, and apparently trusting Sun Hui even more than he did.

Lu Qingshan looked at their still‑astonished faces, knowing the first step had succeeded. He smiled and continued, "Uncle, if you let her be principal, this school will bear the mark of the Lao Zhao Family, becoming our own village school! Then, in the village and across the surrounding ten‑mile radius, your words will carry even more weight, right?"

This sentence, like a surge of heat, poured straight into Zhao Yongnian's heart, making his blood boil throughout his body.

But still, he had more to say.

Lu Qingshan walked to the desk, picked up a pen, and drew a circle on a clean sheet of paper.

"Uncle, Uncle Dazhi, the principal is set, but that's only the first step." He pointed at the circle, his voice steady and strong. "I've already scouted the school site—on the barren slope far east of the village, taking no farmland. As for the county and city permits, I'll handle them tomorrow. All you need to do is spread the news so the whole village, even the entire town, knows that Shanwan will have its own school!"