PCJ – Chapter 379 Reconstruction

“Principal, Principal, the school district just called. They want you to go to the County Education Bureau immediately; it’s very important.” The Director of Education, Li Shuhai, rushed into Principal Wan Youming’s classroom, pushed open the door, and said loudly.

“What’s all the noise about? Can’t you see I’m in class? Students, this class is now self-study.” Wan Youming shot a displeased glance at Li Shuhai before stepping out of the classroom.

Li Shuhai hurried to follow behind Wan Youming.

Once they reached the area in front of the classroom, Wan Youming finally asked, “What did the school district say I needed to go to the county for?”

“They didn’t say. But the school district mentioned it should be a good thing. If it were bad, they probably would have come directly to the school. And the county wouldn’t let you go to the county for a bad reason,” Li Shuhai analyzed seriously.

“It seems you’re hoping for my misfortune too,” Wan Youming huffed, complaining internally about how this guy didn’t know how to handle things. He regretted letting this incompetent person become the Director of Education. He could at least say something nice.

“No, no! How could I wish for anything bad to happen to the principal? If anything happened to you, wouldn’t I be unlucky too?” Li Shuhai replied with a gloomy face.

Upon hearing this, Wan Youming almost felt like kicking this fool.

Wan Youming hurried to the county education bureau, where the bureau chief, Tao Bing, greeted him warmly.

“Principal Wan, the county education bureau understands that Yidushui Middle School is facing difficult conditions and hasn’t built any school buildings or infrastructure for many years. Yidushui Township is known for its jade tea, and it has been at the forefront of economic development in the county. Education cannot fall behind. Therefore, after careful discussion, the county education bureau’s committee decided that although schools across the county urgently need construction, in line with the county committee and government’s policy of promoting tea industry development as a leading direction and tourism as an important direction, the education bureau is prepared to allocate limited funds to first improve the conditions of Yidushui Middle School. The intention of the education bureau committee is to completely change the appearance of Yidushui Middle School. Teaching buildings, student dormitories, a cafeteria, a library, a science building, staff quarters, and various sports facilities will all be gradually constructed. We aim to completely transform Yidushui Middle School into a model school for Xintian County within a year or two…” Tao Bing threw this opportunity at Wan Youming, almost knocking him over with shock.

Wan Youming’s ears were buzzing; he didn’t hear a single task Tao Bing assigned him afterward.

Fortunately, Tao Bing was considerate of Wan Youming’s feelings after being principal in that poor place for many years, so he had already asked the office director to organize the necessary tasks.

Upon returning to Yidushui Middle School, Wan Youming still felt that the whole situation was somewhat surreal, as if he were dreaming. He pinched his thigh hard until it turned blue and purple to finally convince himself that this was real. However, he soon became worried about the construction; Yidushui Middle School simply didn’t have enough land for so many buildings! There was space around the school, but that land belonged to Yidushui Village, and the land had already been distributed to individual households. Moreover, there were rumors that land would no longer be adjusted and would continue to be contracted by household units. Getting land back from farmers was not an easy task. In the countryside, people would even start family feuds over a small patch of land. Yidushui Middle School had no right to demand land from Yidushui Village. So, this matter had to be taken up with the township government.

The township party secretary, Li Maoyuan, immediately laughed upon hearing Wan Youming’s words. “Other principals are worried about not being able to get funding from the education bureau, but why are you, as a principal, worried about not having a place to spend the money? Don’t worry about this problem. Doesn’t Yidushui Village still have a large area of collective land? You don’t need to take their good farmland; there’s plenty of wasteland. Just find a piece of wasteland.”

Wan Youming suddenly understood. Right! Since it was a reconstruction, if they couldn’t expand around the original campus, they could find a place to build a new school! Given the current state of Yidushui Middle School, what was there to cling to?

However, this way, Luo Changjun’s original intention could not be fulfilled. By the time the new campus was built, it would probably be two or three years later. By then, Zhang Jiaohua would have already graduated.

Yidushui Township had indeed been very poor; not every student ate at school for every meal. The amount of food varied as well. Therefore, the school required students to bring their own lunch boxes to school. Each student would bring a small bag of rice from home every weekend. The rice bags were locked in their wooden boxes. Students would take a bit of rice from their boxes for each meal, wash it, and then put it in the cafeteria to be steamed. A class could share a wooden rack, and everyone would neatly stack their lunch boxes on it before carrying them to the cafeteria’s large pot.

Zhang Jiaohua’s lunch box had his name written on it in black paint. Other students not only painted their names but also carved them into their lunch boxes with knives. Zhang Jiaohua didn’t worry about others stealing his lunch box, so it was enough for him to avoid mixing it up with others.

“Jiaohua, hurry up! I’ve heard that lunch boxes often get stolen at school,” Qi Xia urged.

“It’s so crowded. Let them go first,” Zhang Jiaohua frowned as he looked at the throng at the cafeteria door.

“Some who didn’t steam their rice secretly take other people’s lunch boxes when it’s crowded!” Qi Xia warned. He had received warnings from fellow villagers when he first arrived at school, and he had memorized various precautions.

Zhang Jiaohua didn’t take this to heart. He just found it novel to eat in the school cafeteria.

The temporary sports committee member Ma Yingjun and the temporary class leader had already carried out the wooden rack for Class 1 and were calling on the classmates to find their lunch boxes.

“Come over quickly; you’re all moving like old people. If your lunch boxes get stolen later, don’t blame us,” Ma Yingjun complained, looking dissatisfied with the graceful Zhang Jiaohua. His targeting of Zhang Jiaohua wasn’t without reason; he wanted to be the sports committee member, but Zhang Jiaohua had more support for that position. Zhang Jiaohua had good grades, and the class teacher, Cai Kaiming, originally wanted Zhang Jiaohua to be the class leader, but Zhang Jiaohua refused. Now everyone in the class knew that Zhang Jiaohua was good at basketball, and there was a strong push for him to be the sports committee member, which posed a serious threat to Ma Yingjun.

Ma Yingjun felt very handsome leading the morning exercises in front of the class. Although he wasn’t great at basketball, he did the exercises perfectly. How many students in Xintian County’s middle schools could play basketball? But which school didn’t do morning exercises? Ma Yingjun thought that everyone in class was blind; wasn’t he the most suitable candidate for the sports committee member?

Zhang Jiaohua ignored Ma Yingjun’s shouts and strolled over slowly. Qi Xia had already found his lunch box and even specifically located Zhang Jiaohua’s.

Taking a steaming hot lunch box requires a lot of skill; otherwise, you’d be juggling it in the air like a monkey, and one slip would send it into the ditch. The simplest method is to open the lid, let it cool down, then place the lid under the lunch box, and lift it up with your hand, so it wouldn’t be too hot.

“Jiaohua, your lunch box is here,” Qi Xia said, touching the lunch box before quickly retracting his hand.

Zhang Jiaohua nodded and swiftly grabbed his lunch box.

“Be careful, it’s hot!” Qi Xia exclaimed, but soon his eyes were filled with astonishment.

Zhang Jiaohua held the lunch box directly in his hand as if nothing was wrong.

Qi Xia thought the lunch box must have cooled down and imitated Zhang Jiaohua, grabbing his lunch box, “Ouch!”

Qi Xia hurriedly put down the lunch box and looked at his hand; his fingers were already burned red.

“How come you’re not afraid of getting burned?” Qi Xia asked.

“He practiced martial arts,” the mute boy with a lunch box smiled as he walked over.

There was a place in the cafeteria that sold vegetables, with small dishes priced at fifty cents and meat dishes at one and a half. The sellers were all family members of the school’s teachers.

Having just come from home, some people brought vegetables from home and took advantage of the hot rice to put the vegetables in their lunch boxes, which would warm them up.

Zhang Jiaohua didn’t bring vegetables from home, so he bought two dishes from the cafeteria.

Nie Tong’s family was average, and they couldn’t afford to buy vegetables, so he took his meal back to the dormitory. In Nie Tong’s box, there was a jar of chili sauce; he would scoop out a bit and mix it with his rice to finish a box of rice.

“Nie Tong, do you have any chili sauce left?” Zhang Jiaohua and Qi Xia returned to the dormitory with a few others.

“Why? Do you want to eat some?” Nie Tong unhesitatingly took out the chili sauce stored in a glass jar from an orange can.

“Today, the cafeteria’s dishes have no spiciness at all. I’ll add some of yours,” Zhang Jiaohua’s bowl was full, “Oh no, I filled it a bit too full; it’s hard to mix in the chili. You take some too.”

As Zhang Jiaohua spoke, he transferred some of the food from his lunch box into Nie Tong’s bowl.

“This isn’t right; you spent money on it,” Nie Tong was taken aback.

“Aren’t you afraid I’ll eat all your chili sauce? There’s plenty of food; I can’t finish it anyway, so it’s just right to trade for some chili sauce,” Zhang Jiaohua picked up a chopstick full of chili sauce and seriously mixed it into his dish.

“Jiaohua, don’t waste like this in the future. Your parents earn money with difficulty,” Nie Tong vaguely understood Zhang Jiaohua’s intentions.

“Nie Tong, stop overthinking. We’re at the age where we’re growing; you can’t eat like this every day,” Zhang Jiaohua knew he couldn’t fool Nie Tong.

“But, but…” Nie Tong’s throat choked a little.

“Stop with the ‘buts.’ Your chili sauce is really delicious. After we finish eating, can you tell me about your family situation?” Zhang Jiaohua was particularly concerned about this quieter classmate. It wasn’t that Zhang Jiaohua wanted to play the good guy; he just felt that Nie Tong was different from others.