What's the use of blaming?

  Liu Zhi didn't even know himself, that he had just gone through a life-and-death ordeal, and for the first time in his life, he had taken lives with his own hands, with three people's lives on his conscience. Now, however, he was surprisingly calm, and hadn't even given it much thought, simply thinking that maybe his nerves were a bit thicker than usual. He wasn't someone who was thick-skinned, but the pain of Yu Jiajia's departure still lingered in his heart to this day. In reality, he was actually a rather sensitive person, but today's events had brought out an indifference towards human life that came from his unintentional cultivation of the Five Ghosts Yin Soldier Technique. Knowing that there was a soul after death made him view life and death with a bit more detachment, after all, he had an impression in his heart that even if he died, he wouldn't disappear.

  In the following days, he visited some mountain schools and found the conditions to be more difficult than expected. The last two days were spent in Qiannan City, where the municipal education department invited everyone for dinner to discuss charitable donations. This charity foundation was a private organization with a relatively large scale, initially founded by several wealthy individuals from Hong Kong and Macau, known as the Longteng Charity Foundation. It had provided assistance to mainland China multiple times and was different from some so-called charitable foundations on the mainland that were actually official organizations. Except for necessary management fees, most of the charitable funds were used for charitable purposes. Liu Zhi's grandfather, Liu Xingxu, had carefully selected this charity after comparing several options as the organization to which he would donate his charitable funds.

  Sun Lao Ben didn't want to deal with the local education department, but after this inspection, the donations would go to these mountain schools, and it was only right that the relevant departments asked questions. Hu Changtan, the vice mayor in charge of education in Qiannan City, accompanied everyone on a tour of the city's education bureau. As soon as Liu Zhi saw Hu Changtan's plump face, he felt some unconscious disgust. The other party wore a famous brand Carducci, and just this set of clothes was enough to equip several primary schools with desks. On his wrist was an Omega watch, and on his finger was a thick ring. If they took off these flashy items from Hu Changtan's body, Sun Lao and the others wouldn't need to come here to do charity work! As for where this vice mayor in charge of education in a poor area got all this money, Liu Zhi didn't need to investigate to guess.

  Look at Old Sun again, his worth is over 100 million, and he's wearing very fitting clothes, but they're just a few thousand yuan from Goldlion or something like that. On the road, he's also being frugal, eating plain food. Liu Zhi didn't notice him shaking his head, it's not surprising that Old Sun wants to keep some for himself, supervising how the donations are used. The group returned from their investigation in the mountainous area and waited two or three hours for a bus. Not one of them had any money, but they didn't want to spend lavishly either. It's simple, their investigation fees were paid out of the donations, so every bit they could save was a bonus. Many of the donations came from themselves, and when used in meaningful ways, it felt worthwhile.

  The Municipal Education Bureau building is quite magnificent, but Old Sun shook his head. Liu Zhi and others understood the meaning of Old Sun, after visiting, Hu Changtan and the Director of the Education Bureau had already set up a banquet in the Night Lang Building, luxurious official cars picked them up, and the service was very thoughtful, but the faces of Old Sun and others didn't look too good.

  The hostess led the crowd into a large private room, which was quite spacious with three tables. Each table had a waiter standing by to serve them. Sun Lao discontentedly said: "Mayor Hu, isn't this a bit too grandiose?!"

  "I'm afraid we don't have much to offer here, it's a poor region after all! Just some local specialties from the mountains. Please, everyone, take a seat!" Hu Changtan smiled and invited the guests to sit down. The inspection team had less than two tables, but the accompanying officials had more than one table. Although Sun Lao and his group were dissatisfied in their hearts, they didn't leave in a huff. After all, they still needed to deal with these officials while doing charity work here.

  Hu Changtang ordered the waiter to serve the dishes, and the dishes and wine that came up surprised Sun Lao and others again. The wine was Maotai, and the dishes were indeed local specialties, but among them there were even nationally protected animals, such as pangolins. Hu Changtang toasted everyone, and Sun Lao declined, saying he had a physical condition and couldn't drink alcohol.

  Hu Changtan recommended those rare wild game to Old Sun, saying they had a great nourishing effect on the body. Old Sun didn't want to make things awkward either, so he reluctantly took two bites. Zhang Wenlin, another middle-aged man in the inspection team, whom Liu Zhi knew as Uncle Zhang, drank a few cups of wine and asked under the influence: "Mayor Hu, how much does this table cost?"

  "Not much, just some local specialties from the mountains, only 200,000 to 300,000!" Hu Changtan said casually, for him, this was a normal thing.

  Liu Zhi Zhi and Old Sun exchanged a glance, their eyes revealing a sense of helplessness mixed with an inexplicable feeling. Liu Zhi Zhi had just taken out three assassins the other day, and now he inadvertently revealed a hint of murderous intent.

  "Not expensive! I recall a story, before liberation, in Sichuan there was a warlord named Liu Wenhui. One time a reporter went to his territory for an interview and discovered something strange: the local county government was shabby, but the school was extremely good, very strange indeed. So he asked the county head, do you know how the county head replied?" Zhang Wenlin asked the crowd with a hint of intoxication.

  Hu Changtan and those officials looked at each other in dismay, one of whom had also drunk a lot of wine and said dazedly: "Is it that the county head has put the money for repairing the county government into his own pocket?"

  Hu Changtan gave the man a stern look, feeling a sense of unease and annoyance in his heart. He hadn't heard this story before, but he knew it might not be good news. These charity people, after eating their fill and having nothing better to do, just donate money over here and that's it, what's the point of investigating? It's clear they don't trust the government, but can't afford to offend them, or else why would they send money over?

  Grandfather knew this story, Grandpa was originally from Bashu, Liu Dasanren Liu Xingting and Liu Wenhui were originally from the same family. Liu Wenhui made a fortune before liberation and was also a meritorious minister of the Republic. Unfortunately, after Liu Xingting's death, he was splashed with a lot of dirty water and became a representative figure of reactionary tyranny, saying that there was a dragon bed at home, a water dungeon, and later an art master created a "Mud Sculpture Rent Collection Courtyard", completely slandering Liu Xingting. These were all told to Liu Zhi by Grandfather later on.

  Zhang Wenlin smiled and said, "The county head said this: 'Director Liu has given a death order. He wants to see the county government built more beautifully than the school. If not, the county head will be dragged out and shot!'"

  As soon as this was said, the officials' faces clearly didn't look good, and the atmosphere suddenly became depressed. Sun Lao took a look and immediately mediated: "Little Zhang, you've had too much wine, don't talk nonsense! Who can say anything clear about things before Liberation?"

  Hu Changtan's eyes flashed with a hint of annoyance, but it quickly disappeared as he burst out laughing. Liu Zhi knew this time and saw Hu Changtan laugh and say: "You're right, a warlord who attaches importance to education, we new era officials should remember this story, can't fall behind others, Director Li what do you think?"

  Li Mingliang, the director of the Municipal Education Bureau, nodded repeatedly as soon as he heard Hu Changtan's words: "Yes! Yes! We party members must not fall behind and must do a good job in people's education to satisfy the people!" Other government personnel also echoed in agreement.

  Liu Zhi knew had some admiration for them, this Hu Changtan's face was thick enough, and shameless enough, without even drafting a script, he spouted nonsense, those officials were also used to nodding and flattering, Liu Zhi couldn't do it no matter what.

  Sun Lao saw this and also wanted to ease the atmosphere, so he spoke up: "Mayor Hu, I have a favor to ask of you?"

  "What's Grandpa's business is my business, no matter what you say!"

  "We have a young man named Liu here who is planning to volunteer for a year, please take care of him, Mayor Hu!" Sun Lao said, pointing at Liu Zhi. Hu Changtang's gaze turned to Liu Zhi, seeing that he was a young man in his twenties, and thought to himself that Liu Zhi must be here to gain some political capital. He nodded and said: "Welcome! Welcome! Don't worry, Sun Lao, should we find a better school for the young man?"

  "It's not necessary, the school has already been decided, it's at Mazhai Elementary School!" Old Sun was old and cunning, seeing through Hu Changtan's thoughts, amused in his heart, completely two different kinds of people, how could this Hu Changtan understand their way of thinking!

  "Ma Jia Village Primary School?" Hu Changtan slightly furrowed his brow, seemingly without any impression. Li Mingliang immediately whispered: "It's on the other side of Qingxian Mountain dozens of miles southeast of the city, the principal is that stinky old Du Weimin, he submitted a report to repair funds a few days ago!"

  "Why don't we just take him down!" Hu Changtan said in a low voice.

  "That poor rural place, nobody wants to go there!" Li Ming complained in a low voice.

  Although the voice was low, others might not have heard it clearly. Liu Zhi knew that he was close and had practiced martial arts, so his ears were sharper and he could hear it clearly. He had an even worse impression of this so-called Vice Mayor Hu, who seemed to be not only corrupt but also completely ignorant of his own work, a muddled official with no human touch at all.

  "Young people like to go to tough places, so I won't stop you. Xiao Liu, I'm older than you, so let's just say I'm an uncle. If you can't take it, just tell Uncle and I'll transfer you back to the city. It's still considered a teaching experience, and it won't affect your future prospects!" Hu Changtan thought that Liu Zhi was a young master from a wealthy family who came to gain experience, so he started investing in his own official career. After all, it didn't cost him a penny, why not?

  "Then thank you Mayor Hu!" Liu Zhi was annoyed in his heart, but he didn't show it on this occasion.

  "Xiao Liu, in my opinion, it's better to go to the city, to that mountain valley, at that time even if you complain, no one will know, heaven won't respond, earth won't care, why bother suffering!" Hu Changtan's words were heavy with emotion, showing great concern for Liu Zhi.

  "Didn't those kids in the mountains come over like that? If others can do it, I can naturally do it too. I volunteered to go there, and my heart is willing, what's there to resent! Instead, I hope Mayor Hu will take more care of those children!" Although Liu Zhi knew was being insincere, he couldn't help but look down on Hu Changtan's attitude, and his tone inadvertently revealed it.

  Hu Changtan's eyes flashed with a hint of displeasure, but considering that Liu Zhi might have a powerful background, he decided not to make an issue out of it for now. He chuckled and said, "Young man, your courage is commendable!"

  It seems that everyone is in harmony again, but in fact, neither side is happy. Hu Changtan endured his temper for the sake of the donation and was thinking about how to embezzle it. Sun Lao's determination grew stronger, deciding to explain the situation when he returned, exchange the donation for goods, and hand them directly over to the school, absolutely not giving it to these officials.

  After the banquet, everyone declined the activities arranged by the municipal education institution and returned to the hotel. Everyone simply exchanged opinions, and it was clear that all those who came to inspect were truly enthusiastic about charitable causes. They reached a consensus that this donation could not be handed over to these officials. Just today's meal alone would be enough to guarantee various expenses for a semester at a mountainous primary school. If the donation fell into their hands, it would be unknown where they would squander it.

  Back in Shencheng, Old Sun handed the report over to the foundation. Liu Zhi didn't have anything to do with it; his support and supervision were handled by the foundation and relevant parties, and he just waited for notification when the time came.

  Liu Zhi knew that someone at the edge of the cliff wanted to kill him, so he went to the foundation's telephone exchange to check, and didn't encounter any obstacles. The Longteng Foundation's various activities are all open and transparent, and can withstand social supervision. This is also the reason why this charity foundation has not been affected by the scandal of receiving donations without being supervised by the official charity organization.

  The result was beyond Liu Zhi's expectation, and he even doubted whether he was being overly suspicious. Indeed, someone had inquired about the inspection team's detailed itinerary, a woman. When Liu Zhi saw the phone number, a feeling arose in his heart that he couldn't tell if it was sadness or anger - this phone belonged to his stepmother, Lan Minzhu. Liu Zhi shook his head and pushed the unpleasant thought out of his mind; he would rather believe it was just a coincidence, and there must be others who had obtained the information through other channels.

  Liu Zhizhi was unwilling to believe and didn't want to investigate further. In the end, this was a kind of avoidance, consciously not wanting to believe, but deep down, it had already left a deep impression. If he really believed it wasn't someone from his own family who did it, he would spare no effort in investigating the truth.

  He just called his father to tell him about his recent situation, not wanting to go back, and then dialed Yu Jiajia's phone number, which was already invalid. He went to Zhen Dan University and found out from Yu Jiajia's roommate that she had not returned yet. His heart felt extremely anxious, but he didn't notice that he no longer felt the same intense pain as before. After walking around the school for a while, he realized that graduation was still some days away, and his classmates were all busy with their own things - those looking for jobs were doing so, and those taking the postgraduate exam were studying. Only he had relatively nothing to do. Thinking about it, he decided to head back to his own villa.

  Aunt He saw Liu Zhi come back, and she was busy, still nagging in her mouth, saying that Liu Zhi had become thinner and darker. Liu Zhi felt a warmth, Aunt He was busy cooking, Liu Zhi tidied up his things, took out the lingzhi and wild beehive, looked at Aunt He preparing a sumptuous meal in the kitchen, feeling ashamed, he hadn't brought any gifts for Aunt He, thought for a moment, then wrapped up that smaller lingzhi, intending to give it to Aunt He.

  After dinner, Liu Zhi sent the Ganoderma lucidum to He Shu, but she refused to accept it. With Liu Zhi's support, He Shu finally accepted this wild Ganoderma lucidum.

  Liu Zhi knew that the remaining Ganoderma lucidum and beehives were valuable, so he went to his study to look for a recipe. He remembered that there was a recipe that used Ganoderma lucidum as an ingredient, which was a nourishing and calming formula. After searching, he found it - "Ganoderma and Ginseng Nourishing Spirit Formula". The main ingredients were Ganoderma lucidum, San Qi, and ginseng, combined with several other Chinese herbs, ground into powder, stir-fried until slightly yellow, mixed with honey, and formed into small pills the size of a Chinese olive. When taken orally, it could greatly replenish energy and vitality, regulate bodily functions, prolong life, and was especially beneficial for martial artists to strengthen their muscles and recover from injuries.

  There was a piece of lingzhi by Zhi's side, as well as a wild beehive with crystallized honey on it. Other medicinal herbs could be bought at the pharmacy, although they might not be as good as what Zhi had in hand. Thinking of this, Zhi mentioned it to He Shu and then went out to buy them. Not only did he get all the medicinal herbs, but also a mortar and a pot for decocting medicine - not a metal one, but an earthenware one. As someone who studied science, he knew that iron pots might react with the ingredients in the Chinese medicine, whereas earthenware ones wouldn't have this problem. That's why people usually don't use iron pots to decoct Chinese medicine.

  Things are bought, Liu Zhi is ready to start practicing medicine tomorrow. The next day, Liu Zhi gets up before dawn and starts practicing boxing. He feels that compared to the past, he has made significant progress. It seems that the life-and-death test at the edge of the Tiankeng last time was a boost to his own kung fu.

  When the exercise was over, the sun had already risen to a pole high, and He Shu's breakfast was also ready. Liu Zhi knew that he used a dry towel to wipe away his sweat, took a break, and when he picked up his bowl, a warmth suddenly surged into his heart. It turned out that this bowl of porridge was not ordinary porridge, but a medicinal congee made with blood-enriching herbs, lotus seeds, Job's tears, and a piece of wild ginseng, which was a complete nourishing tonic. He Shu had also made medicinal congee before, and yesterday Liu Zhi gave her some wild ginseng, which she accepted but asked others for advice on how to use it. Today, when Liu Zhi got out of bed, she also got up and simmered this pot of sticky medicinal congee. When Liu Zhi took a sip of the porridge, a warm energy began to spread throughout his body as soon as it entered his stomach.

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