A young man from another world returned to his hometown.

Chapter 60 A Spark That Starts a Prairie Fire and the Darkest Corners

Lin Jiayao laid out his plan.

"From now on, I will allocate a sum of money every year for this purpose. During the period before the high school entrance examination, those who aspire to further their education, whether they are taking the high school entrance examination or the vocational school entrance examination, regardless of gender, can live and eat in the school cafeteria for free throughout the entire period. They don't need to go home and can focus on preparing for the exam."

After hearing this, the principal was completely stunned.

During his years as principal of this rural middle school, he would often find several empty seats when he made his rounds, only to find out that the students had gone to work elsewhere.

He hated himself for being incompetent. If the school had the resources, which parent would still use the excuse of taking their child home to help to drag them away?

"Boss Lin..."

He held Lin Jiayao's hand, as if afraid that if he let go, the promise would fly away.

"I...I thank you on behalf of those dolls."

The renovation was completed quickly. The old stove in the canteen was replaced with a new one on the same day, some of the dilapidated beds in the dormitory were replaced, and each dormitory and classroom was finally equipped with a fan.

The school was still the same old school, with no major physical changes, but the oppressive feeling in the air seemed to have been blown away overnight.

In the past, during the morning reading sessions of Class 2, Grade 9, when the homeroom teacher was present, everyone would casually recite a few words. As soon as the homeroom teacher left, the boys in the back row would start talking about games, while the girls would gather together to read novels.

For most of them, the high school entrance exam is just a meaningless countdown. Once they get their graduation certificates, they can go to big cities or help with farm work.

But today, as usual, Ah-Jie shuffled into the classroom through the back door in his slippers.

He intended to yell at his friends, who were known for their womanizing, as usual, and make what he thought was a humorous joke, but as soon as he stepped across the threshold, the words caught in his throat.

The classroom was unusually quiet. There was no teacher supervising, but the students in the front row all had their heads down, and the rustling sound of turning pages was particularly clear.

Ah Jie paused for a moment, then subconsciously slowed his pace as he walked to his seat. Even pulling out the chair became unusually cautious, as if he was afraid of breaking the atmosphere.

His deskmate, Er Gou, who usually loved to chat with him, was sitting upright today.

"What are you doing? Are you possessed?"

Ah Jie lowered his voice and nudged Er Gou lightly with his elbow.

Er Gou just mumbled something vaguely. In fact, he couldn't understand the textbook knowledge at all, but at this moment, he was feeling a strange and indescribable feeling.

For these teenagers, they may not yet understand the concept of knowledge changing destiny, but they have the most basic self-respect and sense of justice. They cannot squander the opportunities of their classmates. It's one thing for them to rot in the mud, but they cannot drag others down with them.

As a result, a wonderful tacit understanding spread through the classroom, and the atmosphere of the entire school changed.

……

But Uncle Liu couldn't sleep. He sat in the yard, holding his water pipe, taking one puff after another.

My son is still playing games in his room, and the loud music is really annoying.

"Go on, go on! Screw you!"

Uncle Liu was so annoyed that he couldn't help but yell into the house.

"Could you please keep your voice down!"

The room was quiet for a moment, then the noise continued.

Uncle Liu started doing calculations in his head.

The agreed-upon dowry of 100,000 yuan is gone. The daughter is going to school, and for the next few years, the family will be short of someone to do the work.

What about the son? Going to a technical school is good, but there's no income from studying. Although wages are high in Tiancun now, who can predict the future? And if he wants to get married, he'll need to buy a car and a house in town, right? Otherwise, he can only look for someone from the village.

"Now all I do is lie around playing video games all day; I don't even wash the dishes."

Uncle Liu cursed, then lit another fire and took a puff of bamboo. "Where can we fill this hole?"

"Oh shit……"

Just then, someone arrived.

Is Lao Liu home?

Who's here so late? He turned his head and grunted in response.

A middle-aged man with a limp walked in. He was Liu Shu's brother-in-law, from Niushi Ridge Village, the most remote village in Guanzhen.

Zhou Derong had a limp in his right leg and walked with a stagger, carrying two bottles of loose liquor as he entered the house.

"Old Zhou?"

Zhou Derong grinned.

"I heard something happened to your family recently, so I came to see you."

Uncle Liu frowned, but still let him into the house.

The two sat down, and Zhou Derong unscrewed the bottle and poured a glass for Uncle Liu.

"Here, have a drink."

Uncle Liu took a sip in a sullen voice.

"Old Zhou, what brings you here today...?"

"It's nothing."

Zhou Derong took a sip of wine.

"I heard your girl ran away, and I figured you must be feeling bad, so I came to have a couple of drinks with you."

Uncle Liu sighed.

"Sigh, don't even mention it, I lost 100,000 yuan..."

"One hundred thousand?"

Zhou Derong gave a cold laugh.

"Old Liu, do you know how much a random worker can earn in Tiancun these days?"

"How many?"

"At least ten thousand a month!"

Zhou Derong slammed his hand on the table.

"The people in Tian Village are all rich, while we from remote villages are left with nothing!"

Uncle Liu didn't say anything, he just continued drinking. Zhou Derong became more and more agitated as he spoke, and his eyes even turned a little red.

"Do you remember that big factory in Haishi back then?"

Uncle Liu paused, realizing he must have forgotten.

That was back in the days of processing trade. There was a large factory in Shanghai that made display panels and planned to build a factory in the Guanzhen area. Once the factory was established, it would create hundreds of jobs.

The town was abuzz with excitement for a long time, but in the end, the factory never opened.

"Back then, the people in the town and the village colluded to take advantage of them and leave them with nothing."

Zhou Derong's voice carried a hint of self-deprecation.

"I joined in the commotion back then, and what was the result? What did I end up with? A cripple, haha..."

He stretched out his right leg, while Uncle Liu drank his wine in silence.

In the nearby villages, who among the elderly doesn't know about that incident? But no one mentions it, because everyone is somehow involved. Some took the lion's share, some took a smaller share, but in the end, the blame fell on Zhou Derong, the man with the broken leg. The villagers thought he was unlucky and that he had ruined the village's reputation.

"Back then, who didn't take a cut?"

Zhou Derong slammed the bottle on the table, his voice hardening.

"Just because I broke my leg, I became a scapegoat. They spent money on me while talking behind my back, saying that I corrupted the village's morals."

He bit down, and his cheeks puffed out.

"What am I in this village? Everyone hates me. Even the village chief avoids me, afraid that people will see them standing with me."

Uncle Liu didn't respond. He couldn't respond to that; any response would only rub salt into the wound.

However, before he could speak, Zhou Derong put aside his previous emotions, put down his wine glass, and lowered his voice.

"Old Liu, I'm here today because I have a business deal to discuss with you."

"What kind of business?"

"A business that makes a lot of money."