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Chapter Thirty-Four Hope Primary School
After hearing the Chairman's words, I felt a wave of dizziness wash over me, and I stumbled forward half a step. Was this what they called blissful dizziness? I habitually pulled out a pack of cigarettes, flicked it out, and scattered them among the people I saw, but few appreciated it. I first grabbed an elderly professor, excitedly saying, "You are…" Before he could finish, I grasped the hand of a middle-aged cadre: "Well…" Finally, with a trembling voice, I turned back to the Chairman and asked, "So, who should I talk to first?"
A young man in his early thirties stepped forward, smiled, and said, "Tell me first. I'm in charge of the overall planning for the expansion of your school, and colleagues from other departments will cooperate with us."
I grabbed his hand and shook it, saying, "You're young and promising! What's your name?"
The young man smiled and said, "My name is Li He, a junior staff member in the Ministry of Construction. You can just call me Xiao Li." The old professor next to him said to me, "This Xiao Li can be considered the youngest section chief in our country." Li He quickly replied modestly, "Not at all, not at all, that's just what my colleagues call me in jest."
Judging from Li He's appearance, he seems shrewd and capable, but I have no idea what kind of department head he is. I'm also quite unfamiliar with the Ministry of Construction. This department seems to be a very high-level institution, and in my mind, it's responsible for large-scale projects. I never imagined that expanding a school would cause such a national stir.
Li He pulled me to the table, unfolded a map with a whoosh, pointed to a piece drawn on it and said, "Your school is here, covering 2,300 acres..." I whispered, "It's not that big, is it? If you include the surrounding wilderness, it's more like the edge of the city and countryside."
Li He glanced at me and said, "They've all been expanded in."
I:"……"
Pointing to the map, Li He continued, "According to the plan, the first phase of the project, costing 150 million yuan, will be completed in three stages, including the expansion mentioned by Director Xiao. The remaining phases will consist of the main buildings, including teaching buildings, dormitories, and so on. The second phase of the project is tentatively set at 200 million yuan, mainly for greening the campus and adding hardware facilities..."
The more Li He talked, the more confused I became. It was hard to imagine that he would be discussing hundreds of millions of dollars with someone right after walking in without even having a sip of water. If the Chairman hadn't been there, I would have thought I'd wandered into a mental hospital. I patted Li He and asked, still dazed, "Did the country just take over Yucai like that?"
Li He said with a smile, "What takeover? It's sponsorship."
I cried out, "But why? As the saying goes, nothing happens without a reason... uh. There is no hatred without a cause, nor love without a cause."
Li He nodded: "The country is spending so much money, of course it wants results. There's an international open tournament in Singapore at the end of the year..."
I scratched my head and said, "It's another competition!"
Li He continued to talk about his plan, pointing to the map with his finger and saying, "According to our idea, the existing campus should be demolished and rebuilt. Otherwise, its style will be incompatible with the new campus—in our plan, there will be no buildings with less than 6 floors in the new campus."
I asked in surprise, "You've already been to our school?"
Li He said, "I went yesterday."
Yesterday—the finals hadn't even started yesterday, right? Did he know all along that the Red Sun would withdraw from the competition? Why was he so well-prepared? I looked at that map; it was almost like a military map, even marking every patch of grass on our school grounds clearly. A faint unease began to creep into my heart. I always feel this way when someone puts in a lot of effort for me—like when I was eight and my best friends spent two whole hours planning how to beat Erpang in third grade.
I suddenly tugged at Li He, who was talking very enthusiastically, and said in a voice that was neither too loud nor too soft, "Excuse me, if it's a sponsorship, do I have the right to refuse?"
The moment those words were uttered, everyone froze in shock. The two elderly engineers, holding measuring tapes, stood frozen in place; the old professor, who had been adjusting his glasses, now couldn't put his hand down; even the chairman turned around in astonishment.
Only Li He smiled and asked, "What do you mean?"
I stammered for a while before finally saying, "...because I haven't stated my conditions yet, and I don't know if the country can accept them?"
A middle-aged cadre with a large belly asked in surprise, "You still have conditions?"
Li He chuckled: "It's alright, tell me about it."
"...There is only one condition, that is, after the school is built, it must accept school-age children according to our standards, and those children who cannot afford to go to school."
Li He thought for a moment and concluded, "You mean you want to use the martial arts base that the country invested hundreds of millions of yuan to expand to turn into the largest Hope Primary School in the country?"
I looked at the roof for a while, nodded, and said, "More or less."
Everyone present laughed in surprise. Only the chairman understood my intention. He gave me a deep look and said in a barely noticeable tone, "In fact, it is indeed very necessary to cultivate martial arts talents from a young age."
I suddenly felt relieved because I knew they couldn't possibly agree to such an absurd request. This wasn't necessarily a bad outcome: we won the competition, we had an explanation to give to Lao Zhang, we didn't have to take any risks, the heroes could go wherever they wanted, and we also repaid Hong Ri a great favor.
Ultimately, it's because I'm scared. The other party is throwing around hundreds of millions, representing the nation. Being dragged into such a massive vortex, my only fate seems to be utter destruction. I'm just a little mouse, and now someone wants to transplant the gallbladder of a bear and the gall of a leopard into me. What did I do to deserve this?
Li He remained silent, tapping his pen incessantly on the table, before finally rolling up the map. I thought that was the end of it, but then he said, "We'll consider your request and give you an answer tomorrow." Li He walked to the window, stood beside the Chairman, and looked at the horses circling the parade ground, saying, "There aren't many people left who can ride horses into battle, are there?"...
Just as I was about to leave, the chairman stopped me, handed me a check for 300,000 yuan, and jokingly said, "This is your students' labor fee. The conference is coming to an end, and starting tomorrow, we won't need so many people to come."
I came out with the check. Lin Chong and his men had already finished their battle. The heroes were still full of energy, but the six horses were drenched in sweat and couldn't go on. The organizers announced over the loudspeaker that today's final match was canceled because a contestant from the Red Sun Martial Arts School had withdrawn due to serious injury. The people who had watched a spectacular performance didn't feel any regret and began to leave.
Just then, the props crew and director arrived. The director, being the director, certainly had more pockets than the "full pocket" (a nickname implying someone with many more connections). The "full pocket" found the "little full pocket" (another nickname) and yelled, "Did you decide to cancel all the stunt performers on your own?" The little full pocket looked fearful, glanced around and saw me. He pointed at me like a drowning man grasping at a straw and said, "He has a way!"
Big Mandou continued to scold Little Mandou: "Do you believe everything anyone says?" He glanced at me casually and suddenly said, "I know you, we've met at the company!"
He looked completely unfamiliar to me, so I couldn't help but ask, "Did you used to sell insurance too?"
Da Mandou said, "Your name is Qiangzi, right? Do you remember you came to our company? I'm from Jinting Film and Television."
I paused for a moment and then remembered: the last time I went to Jin Yi to bet on horse racing, I wore shorts, which left a deep impression on everyone in the company.
I slapped my forehead and said, "I remember now, your young master is Jin Shaoyan."
"...He's the boss now, and his father has retired."
I said, "Not bad, kid. You've become quite something after I hit you with a brick."
Da Mandou was so embarrassed he didn't know what to say. My feud with Jin Shaoyan wasn't so easily explained; he probably still hated me. I reassured Da Mandou, "Don't worry, I'll find someone to film your scene." Looking back, I saw 60 young soldiers in costumes and props, then each grabbed a crossbow and leaped onto a horse. Da Mandou was still uneasy and whispered, "Can they ride?"
I shouted to the soldiers, "Let's ride them around!"
The soldiers spurred their horses and galloped off around the stadium. Da Mandou rubbed his hands excitedly: "They're way better than the stuntmen we hired—hey, didn't you say you had an advisor too?"
I pushed Xiang Yu in front of him and said, "Ask him if you don't understand anything."
Da Mandou looked up at Xiang Yu, not seeing anything about him that suggested he was a learned man, but still said, "The documentary we're going to make is called 'The Rangers of the Qin Dynasty'..."
Xiang Yu glanced at the warriors dressed in theatrical costumes and casually pointed, saying, "Take off your stirrups and your leather armor."