Chapter 147: Mountainous Region (1)

  Chu Chen heard this and slapped his forehead, saying: "Hey, how come I didn't think of that? Alright, let's do it like this. When we get there, we'll gather personal data for each person. If we find something suitable, we can buy it directly over there. If not, we'll fax the information back and ask Li Ge and the others to help us purchase and send it over."

  "Hmm..."

  This time, Chuyan ordered a total of 5,000 books. As a result, due to the previous miscalculation, the truck found was too small. Fortunately, Chuyu Lan bought so many stationery and schoolbags and also called a truck. If not, going to find another car would have wasted a lot of time again.

  After all the books they had ordered were loaded onto the truck and the remaining payment was settled, Chu Chen and his group set off in their vehicle.

  From Beijing to Shunde, there is a highway that can be taken, and the speed is not slow. Everyone sets off at 7:00 in the morning, plus the time for lunch and rest at noon, by 1:00 pm, they have arrived in Shunde smoothly.

  However, from Shunde to Chuyan's alma mater, it took a full three hours. As their car began to enter the mountainous area, the road started to become narrower and bumpier, with some places even slowly turning into simple dirt roads.

  What's more, it hasn't rained in the mountainous area for a long time. Once the car started moving, it raised a trail of dust. The originally clean car became a muddy one in no time.

  Moreover, due to funding reasons, some sections of the road were just roughly paved with gravel. Fortunately, Chu Chen's Land Rover had strong off-road capabilities and could adjust to road conditions, otherwise, this trip would have been a disaster for Chu Yulan, who would have been shaken to pieces.

  Although so, Chu Yulan still looked a bit pale, and Chu Chen saw this and hastily said:

  "Yulan, or else I'll take you to the city tomorrow and you can take the train back then?"

  Chu Yulan shook her head, smiling and said: "It's okay, I'm just not used to this kind of road. Chu Ge, didn't you say that when we go back home, we can only walk back? At that time, you can see my performance."

  Chu Chen saw this and could only helplessly sigh, then focused on driving.

  Fortunately, the school was not too deep in the mountains, and after a hard journey, Chu Chen and his group finally arrived at the newly built school.

  The school was located on the flat semi-mountain waist, where the construction team had spent a lot of effort. When the car stopped, the principal, teachers and students who were already waiting on one side all surrounded it.

  Chu Chen had just gotten off the car when an elderly man with a head full of white hair stepped forward and grasped his hand tightly, saying:

  "Chanwa, I've really troubled you this time!"

  "What's the trouble with that? After all, I'm from here, as your student, it's only right to lend a helping hand."

  Looking at the familiar yet strange face of the old principal, Chu Chen couldn't help but feel a little heartache. The old principal graduated from normal school and chose to come here to support education. At that time, he had the opportunity to return to the city, but because of his reluctance to leave, he stayed. He has been doing this for more than 20 years, it can be said that he dedicated everything to this place.

  I was able to walk out of my closed heart, apart from my father's teachings, the old principal also gave me a lot of help. He would often come and tell me some stories with rich life philosophy, share his insights on life, and in order to prevent me from falling behind in my studies, he and my father together tutored me.

  It was precisely because of this that I was able to walk out of my initial state of mind, and after the new semester began, I quickly caught up with my classmates' learning progress.

  Before meeting Wu Shu, it can be said that Father and Old Principal were the people I respected most.

  This time, the old principal spared no effort in raising funds for the construction of the new school. The fact that the school was able to be built can be attributed to his long-term efforts running around the town, county and even the city.

  Two years ago, when Chuyan returned home, the old principal had some white hair, but not many. Unexpectedly, today he saw that he was already a full head of white hair, and his face was also covered with wrinkles. A person who had just turned fifty looked like a sixty or seventy-year-old man, which really pained Chuyan's heart.

  "Chu Wanzi, you have this heart, I'm very happy. On behalf of all the teachers and students in our school, I salute you!" As he finished speaking, the old principal bowed deeply to Chu Xun, and the teachers and students behind him also followed his lead and saluted Chu Xun.

  Chu Chen never thought that the old principal would be so serious, and he hastily helped the old principal up, saying: "Uncle Tian, you're really going to kill me, if my dad finds out, he'll come back from the dead to break my legs."

  The old principal waved his hand and smiled: "I'm not representing myself now, but the entire school of 405 teachers and students, so don't worry, your dad definitely won't come to beat you up. If he does, tell him to come find me, back then he even complained that I ate too much for one meal."

  "No wonder my dad came to me in a dream last night, asking me to invite you for a drink. I didn't know there was something going on! Uncle Tian, this time I brought back several bottles of good wine, tonight we must have a good drink!"

  "Go!"

  The old principal nodded with a smile and then asked: "By the way, who is this girl? She's really pretty."

  Chu Yulan was originally beautiful like a celestial being, and her temperament was also noble. When she just got off the car, the surrounding teachers and students couldn't help but feel inferior.

  "This is my friend, Chu Yulan, she also brought some stationery and a backpack this time." Chu Chen hastily introduced.

  "Hello, Uncle Tian!" Chu Yulan hastily greeted him.

  The old principal said with a smile: "Good good good! You are all good kids, Chunwa, you must hurry up!"

  "We didn't..."

  The old principal waved his hand and smiled: "I know, young people are like that, thin-skinned. I was the same when I was younger."

  At this point, Chu Chen could only apologize and glance at Chu Yulan, who smiled and shook her head to indicate that it was nothing. This matter is not good to talk about, the more you say, the darker it gets.

  Next, after the old principal helped introduce both parties to each other, Chu Chen looked up at the sky and said: "Uncle Tian, it's getting late, let's hurry up and unload the goods. If we're any later, the driver won't be able to head back."

  The old principal nodded and instructed the teachers and students to start unloading. When they saw that there were thousands of books, many stationery supplies, and school bags in the truck, all the teachers and students couldn't help but cheer loudly.

  "Xu Wawa, this is really too extravagant, I..." Seeing this situation, the old principal was so excited that he couldn't speak.

  "Uncle Tian, it's nothing. Look, I can even afford to buy a car, so this little bit of money doesn't matter to me. What makes me happiest is that my classmates can learn more knowledge. As for those stationery and schoolbags, Xiaolan bought them, and since all the classmates are here today, we'll distribute them later."

  "Thank you! Thank you! Thank you all..." The old principal's words of gratitude couldn't express the excitement in his heart at this moment.

  With the joint efforts of many teachers and students, soon all the things in the truck were unloaded, and Chu Chen also paid off the remaining payment to the two drivers. The two trucks then left in a cloud of dust.

  "Tian Shu, let's distribute the stationery and school bags first. Let's give them to those classmates who live far away from home, and also take note of each person's shoe size."

  The old principal nodded and listened until the end, then asked strangely: "Why still remember the size of shoes?"

  Chu Chen chuckled and said, "I want to give them two pairs of shoes. Look, many students' shoes in here are broken, some students simply go barefoot. It's okay now that it's summer, but in winter their feet will freeze. The only problem is that today is too late, we can't take the measurements for clothes, so I'll have to trouble them to come again tomorrow."

  After listening to Chu Chen's words, the old principal opened his mouth and said after a long time: "Chenwa, I know you are kind, but how much money does this cost?! Your money is also hard-earned by you, buying so many things for the school, we are already very grateful, you..."

  Upon hearing this, Chu Chen pulled the old principal to one side and said in a low voice: "Uncle Tian, this amount of money is really nothing. Look at my car, how much do you think it's worth?"

  Land Rover is rare to begin with, let alone here. The old principal looked at the car and shook his head, indicating that he didn't know what it was.

  "Tian Shu, I'm not showing off, this car alone is worth one million eight hundred thousand."

  "180 million?!"

  The old principal's mouth was agape, and he was so shocked by the price that he couldn't say a word.

  This is 18 million, and now this school, middle school and elementary school together, only spent 500,000, which was still obtained by him begging his grandfather and grandmother. And next to it, such an unassuming car, actually costs 18 million, really makes him speechless.

  "Uncle Tian, you know now that I'm not short of this amount of money, right?"

  The old principal sighed and said with a smile: "Chunwa, I didn't expect you to be so promising now. Old Liu can rest in peace underground."

  Chu Chen chuckled and said, "I'm just lucky. By the way, Uncle Tian, you won't begrudge me for making some money, will you? I'm just afraid that if I donate too much, others will be jealous."

  The old principal waved his hand and said, "Zhenwa, what kind of person do you think I am? You already have a good heart, if you ask for more, that's just being greedy. The money is yours after all, how you use it is none of anyone else's business. Besides, what you said is also true, better conditions don't necessarily mean it's a good thing, who knows, maybe the higher-ups will take notice!"

  In the end, the old principal couldn't help but let out a long sigh. This time, in order to build this school well, he had seen too much of the world's coldness and warmth. Sitting in his luxurious office, he was very warm when they met, but when it came to asking for money, he would push and pull, saying no in the end. After running around several times, others simply avoided him.