Chapter 279: 275. Blocked at the Village Entrance (Please subscribe, please vote for monthly tickets!)

As Zhang Xiaotao prepared for the end of his final exams, the Summer Camp activity for their primary school was about to begin.

The students were only given two days to rest at home before they had to set off.

Basically, all students eligible to go signed up; for one, it was truly a good activity, and compared to ordinary summer camps, such an activity could increase the students' hands-on abilities and allow them to experience life.

In the past, some children were like little emperors or little princesses at home, basically doing nothing and not knowing how to be considerate of adults.

But after participating in such a Summer Camp activity, they underwent great changes upon returning; although they were much more tanned, they had started to learn to help with chores, and the biggest point was that they learned not to waste food.

This point was especially rare, as in the eyes of children today, food is not something that is lacking, and eating until they are full and throwing the rest away is a deeply ingrained idea, especially for children living in a big city like Shanghai.

Parents teaching them didn't have much effect, as after all, the current living conditions are what they are.

But after participating in the Summer Camp activity, many children learned not to waste food; sometimes at home, when adults didn't finish their meals due to appetite or work, the children would even say a few words to them.

Especially the most moving point was that some children, upon seeing their parents unable to finish their food, would silently help their parents eat it.

This Summer Camp activity at Fuyuan Primary School had long since become famous, and many parents from other primary schools also demanded that their schools do the same.

But apart from Fuyuan Primary School, no other primary school did this, because it was truly thankless; not to mention that it couldn't improve the children's academic grades, just finding a suitable place and keeping the children safe was a time-consuming and laborious task, and no one was willing to do such a thankless job.

Zhang Ran set off early with the two children; there was no help for it, because Zhang Ran did not take airplanes, so he could only drive there in advance.

It is worth mentioning that the school originally planned to take a bus there, as the budget was limited.

But due to Huo Zhiyuan's sponsorship, their activity budget became sufficient, and they also asked Huo Zhiyuan about it, and Huo Zhiyuan agreed to let them take an airplane there.

However, this was limited to teachers and students; the parents' money could not come from the sponsorship fee.

Principal Su also agreed with this point very much.

Originally, Zhang Ran was prepared to let the two little ones suffer with him, but he didn't expect that the two little ones insisted on following their grandfather, so he could only bring them along.

Fortunately, Huo Zhiyuan prepared an RV and brought a driver, so they could take turns driving with He Yong on the road, and Zhang Ran didn't have to take the wheel.

The RV Huo Zhiyuan prepared was a small one, and it wasn't very spacious inside, but since He Yong and the driver were sitting in the driver's and passenger's seats, and the two little ones, Susu and Taotao, were small and didn't take up much space, it was still relatively roomy.

After the two little ones got over their initial excitement, they sat in their chairs watching cartoons, and then fell asleep without realizing it.

Zhang Ran was originally sitting with Huo Zhiyuan chatting and talking, but as they spoke, Zhang Ran felt his shoulder sink, and immediately turning his head to look, he discovered that Huo Zhiyuan had fallen asleep at some point and had rested her head on his shoulder.

Zhang Ran looked at Huo Zhiyuan's somewhat sleepy face, sighed, and didn't say much, just closed his eyes to rest.

In his view, this was because Huo Zhiyuan was in charge of such a large company, and on top of that, she must have been rushing to handle many things before this, which caused the overtime.

In his heart, Huo Zhiyuan was still his little sister who had been abandoned by her parents, so he couldn't help but feel a bit of heartache.

But what he didn't know was that Huo Zhiyuan had this sleepy face because she was too excited to sleep at night and had gotten up so early.

He Yong watched the driver constantly looking in the rearview mirror, narrowed his eyes, and said gloomily, "Don't look around, and don't go out and talk nonsense."

The driver felt his scalp tingle from He Yong's gaze, nodded, and began to drive seriously.

Although He Yong said this to the driver, he himself subconsciously took a peek; he discovered that a trace of a smile seemed to appear on the corner of Huo Zhiyuan's mouth—was she having a sweet dream?

Zhang Ran originally just wanted to close his eyes and rest, but he fell asleep without realizing it, and he only woke up because the two little ones were hungry.

"Grandfather, I'm hungry," Susu said pitifully.

Zhang Ran immediately said, "Dayong, find the nearest exit; we'll go into town to eat something."

If it were just the few adults, Zhang Ran wouldn't care and could just make do with anything, but he couldn't bear to let the two little ones make do like that.

He Yong nodded, then drove out at the next exit; this was a small county town, and they found a decent restaurant and sat down.

It was already summer, and the weather was relatively hot, so Zhang Ran ordered some refreshing and tasty side dishes and didn't eat any heavy meals.

Susu and Taotao, the two little ones, also ate with great relish; they weren't children who liked to be picky eaters, and for Susu, it was because of the family atmosphere when she was young, so she didn't dare to be picky.

Zhang Xiaotao could also be said to not dare to be a picky eater, but the reason he didn't dare to be picky was because of the slaps from his own mother, Liu Lu.

After eating, Zhang Ran and the others continued on their way, but because everyone had taken a nap in the morning, they were all full of energy.

"Dayong, why don't you come over and rest for a while? I'll drive for a bit," Zhang Ran said.

He Yong said, "Brother Zhang, no need, I'm not sleepy at all."

"Enough, stop pushing yourself; how old are you? If you ruin your health, I'll have you go home to retire directly." After saying this, Zhang Ran had He Yong go to the back to rest at a service area, and he himself started driving.

However, He Yong only rested for about an hour or so before switching back.

According to the location given by Principal Su, they arrived at their destination at three o'clock in the afternoon.

The scenery here was indeed very good, with green mountains and clear waters, and it was very well protected; furthermore, it had unique Miao architecture and was completely untouched by modernization.

However, Zhang Ran recognized this place; Principal Su hadn't told him the specific name of the Miao Village before, and he wasn't very clear about it either.

So it was only when he arrived at the place that he recognized it—wasn't this Chang Meilan's hometown? He had also come to this place back then, helped this village overcome its difficulties, and even gave them a development route.

But the current appearance was already very different from back then; when Zhang Ran came back then, it was overgrown with weeds, the ground was full of potholes, and as for the houses and such, there was no need to mention them—"dilapidated" was a kind way to describe them.

Thinking about these things, when Zhang Ran got out of the car, he discovered that Principal Su and the others were all blocked at the entrance of the village, and there were some people wearing Miao clothing blocking the front, and it seemed that the two sides were even arguing.