Meet with Tongzhou school principal

  Bai Yunfei arranged for the mortar team to bombard the bandits' campsite, and Lu Shuangyong left some incendiary materials at the campsite according to Su Xiaofeng's instructions. The incendiary materials were ignited by the artillery fire, causing a large fire. Bai Yunfei had someone shout near the fire before it was extinguished, then concluded that all the bandits had been eliminated and returned triumphantly.

  Luo Yi slept soundly in Bai Yunfei's tent and was sent to Tongzhou County by two guards driving a truck after dawn.

  The county town of Tongzhou is only 700-800 meters long and wide, which is about the size of 1,000 mu. Apart from the county government, there are some grocery stores, inns, restaurants, clinics and so on in the county town. The business is not very prosperous, but it has everything one needs.

  Luo Yi entered the county town and found a guest house to stay in. The name of the guest house was very common, called "Yue Lai", I guess it didn't have any connection with other Yue Lai guest houses elsewhere, so it's probably a knockoff version. There were not many guests in the guest house, only two or three businessmen from outside who came to purchase agricultural and forestry products. Tongzhou was not an important city, and there were no special local products, so there weren't many visiting merchants. The cost of staying at the guest house was very cheap, one jiao per day, including three meals a day, and 30 yuan was enough for a month's living expenses. The food in those days was all natural and tasted great, Luo Yi had plenty of money, and his life was very comfortable.

  Luo Yi had never been to Tongzhou in his past life or this one, and he wasn't familiar with the various allusions around the city. He spent a few days wandering around the city, getting a feel for the current social and economic situation. He went to a tailor's shop and had a set of student clothes made for himself, making him look like a scholar. Then, he asked the owner of the inn to introduce him to the principal of a small school in the city.

  The principal of the primary school is Wang Dewei, in his 30s, who had studied in Beiping for a few years. According to the introduction of the inn owner, this man has some ideas about governing the world and benefiting the people, promoting popular education in the local area, and often opens free short-term literacy classes for children who cannot afford to go to school. Due to his knowledge and good interpersonal relationships, Wang Dewei has a certain reputation in Tongzhou County, belonging to the type of opinion leader, especially with an extremely good relationship with the county magistrate.

  The meeting place was chosen in a tea house in the county town, Wang Dewei wore a long shirt and arrived at the agreed location on time. Luo Yi wore new student clothes, had already ordered a pot of good tea and several plates of snacks waiting in the teahouse. When he saw Wang Dewei arrive, Luo Yi hurriedly stood up to greet him:

  "Excuse me, is this Principal Wang? I am student Luo Yi, and have been waiting for you here for a long time."

  Wang Dewei returned the courtesy, and after they sat down as host and guest, Wang Dewei said to Luo Yi: "I heard from Old Liu that Mr. Luo has just returned from abroad and has some instructions for me."

  "Hey, no, no, Liu must have gotten it wrong. I meant to say that I have something to ask Principal Wang for guidance, not to lecture him."

  The two men exchanged more pleasantries, and Luo Yi said: "My ancestors were from Tongzhou, my father went to Nanyang when he was young to make a living, and over the years, he has accumulated some family property. He has always wanted to repay his hometown folks, so he sent me back to see if I can do something for my hometown. As a student who grew up abroad, I have little understanding of the local customs and practices in our country, please forgive me if there's any impropriety, Principal Wang."

  After saying all this, Luo Yi wiped the sweat from his forehead. Speaking like this is really tiring, and he also knew that there might be some grammatical errors. Anyway, since he was speaking as someone who had returned from overseas, it could be understood even if his words didn't follow the usual rules.

  "Wang Dewei replied: 'How dare I? Your esteemed father's selfless love for his hometown is truly admirable. I wonder, Mr. Luo, what specific things do you plan to do for your hometown this time you've returned? And how can I assist you?'"

  "In foreign lands, although we overseas Chinese have earned some money, our social status is not high. We all deeply feel that if the country declines, overseas Chinese will be unable to hold their heads up. To think of ourselves having a place in society, behind us there must be a strong motherland. This time back, I want to follow the example of Liang Shuming and Yan Yangchu, choose a remote mountain village in Tongzhou, do a pilot project for rural construction, help local villagers get rich and build a harmonious society, lead farmers to work together towards prosperity, develop low-carbon... That's all. There are many other ideas, what does Principal Wang think?"

  Thanks to the university's politics class, Luo Yi had put in a lot of effort to memorize books back then in order not to fail this course. Now that I mention it, allusions and concepts are like treasures, sounding very formal. It seems that there isn't any useless course in college after all.

  "Good!" Wang Dewei gave a thumbs up and said, "You father and son have this kind of thinking, it's really a model for the masses. Alas, I'm just a scholar, with a heart to serve the country, but unfortunately my abilities are limited, I don't even have the ability to help some poor children in the county town go to school, it's truly shameful."

  Luo Yi smiled and said, "If Principal Wang wants to help poor children go to school, it's not that difficult. Some things can be done through certain operational methods. The students have a suggestion, the principal might as well give it a try."

  Wang Dewei showed great interest, leaned forward and said: "Mr. Luo, please go ahead and speak, Wang will listen with a humble ear."

  "In fact, from what I understand, there are still many people in society who are willing to help those in need. Why not make helping dropouts return to school a project, mobilize everyone to contribute money or effort, and count every bit of help? I've even thought of a name for this project - 'Hope Project', how about it?"

  "Hope Project..." Wang Dewei muttered to himself, "Good, this name is good. These children are originally the hope of my China. However, this fundraising thing is not a small matter. What if everyone thinks I'm seeking fame and fortune, or even suspects me of embezzling donations?"

  "This issue is simple, just set up a foundation, and all donations received are publicly disclosed. All expenditures are also publicly disclosed. The names of the children receiving aid must be made public, so that everyone can supervise and see if their families are really very poor. In this way, both income and expenditure are transparent, and there is nothing to say. Moreover, donors will know who their money has helped, and they will have a sense of accomplishment."

  "Excellent, wonderful! Mr. Luo is indeed a genius, how come I couldn't think of such a method?"

  "This... actually this isn't my invention, I just picked up other people's ideas."

  "Great!" Wang Dewei was immersed in his imagination, "I'll start working on this tomorrow. I want the students to hang a banner on the street to call on everyone to donate and help those... out-of-school children. The banner should have a meaningful sentence written on it, just write... just write..."

  "You just write: Not one less." Luo Yi thought, anyway, he had already cheated, so he might as well do a personal favor and sell Yimou's idea along with it.

  "Right, not one less. Too precise. No, no, I'll have someone take care of it right away." Wang Dewei almost stood up, this bookworm was actually an impatient person.

  Luoyi was sweating profusely, I gave you a good idea and you left, my business hasn't been settled yet. After making a fuss for half a day, I invited you over and even treated you to these snacks, all just to give you ideas?

  "Wait a minute, Principal Wang, we haven't finished talking yet."

  Wang Dewei suddenly came to his senses: "Ashamed, ashamed, I was only thinking of my own affairs. Mr. Luo found me, there must be something even more important? Please instruct."

  Luo Yi said: "Actually, what Principal Wang just mentioned about helping school dropouts is the most important thing. My business, of course, is also very important. I invited Principal Wang out to ask him to help me contact government departments, I want to take over a mountainous area and implement my rural construction plan there."

  "Contract?"

  "Hmm, we all say this overseas. It's just asking the government to allocate a mountain area to me, and I'll be responsible for helping the farmers in that area get rich. I don't need the government to invest any money, and I can also help the government solve some problems, how about that?"

  "This is a good thing," said Wang Dewei. "How could such a thing not have anyone's support? Alright, I'll take you to talk to the county head right now, he'll definitely agree. Have you set your sights on any of the mountain plots?"

  "The northeastern part of the county, around Ma Ti Ling, covers an area of about 200 square kilometers. As far as I know, there is hardly any arable land in this area, and the mountain people make a living by cutting firewood and collecting medicinal herbs, leading extremely poor lives. My father had once received great kindness from the mountain people in the past, and he instructed me to go to that place first to help the people."

  "Ma Tieling?" Wang Dewei hesitated, "This area seems to be all ownerless desolate mountains, with no output in the mountains and the villagers are indeed very poor. If you can go help the villagers there, it would be a good deed. However, I heard that bandits often appear in that area, not long ago the national army just went to suppress them, saying they were all eliminated, but who knows what's really going on? I'm worried about Mr. Luo's safety."

  "It doesn't matter, I have my own way. I have a few bodyguards under me and some self-defense weapons. To be honest with Principal Wang, as a student, I also received several days of military training overseas, so I don't take a few bandits seriously."

  Wang Dewei stood up and said, "Mr. Luo is a man of both literary and military talents! We say it's settled then, I'll take you to see the county magistrate right away. Hehe, come to think of it, the county magistrate and I also have some connections - it was him who brought me back from Beiping to start school all those years ago. I should still be of some use, shouldn't I? Moreover, Mr. Luo has only given to Tongzhou without asking for anything in return, so the county magistrate will definitely welcome you with open arms!"

  Luo Yi also stood up and said: "Then I'll have to trouble Principal Wang."