CHAPTER 75: CHAPTER 75: THE PROBLEM OF SCHOOLING IS SOLVED

Gao Yuan couldn’t stop nodding, "Indeed, surrounded by mountains and water, there’s only one entrance. Once the gate is closed, you can farm and raise chickens and ducks. Isn’t this life just too comfortable!"

The two women praised Nanyu endlessly.

It wasn’t until they walked up the steps and entered the yard to see Lin Yi and the others that they stopped.

Chen Wenjun stepped forward to introduce, "Ah Qin, Dad, this is Mr. Shen from the police station, and these two are his relatives."

Lin Yi looked puzzled.

Shen Yunfeng sat down on a bench in the yard and explained, "My little brother-in-law was severely injured in an attack. Fortunately, Chen Wenjun discovered it in time and saved his life. Today, I brought my mother-in-law and my wife to thank Chen Wenjun."

Lin Yi suddenly understood, "Oh, I see. Please sit down, I’ll get you some water. The house has just been fixed up, it’s a bit messy."

Talking about the house, Lin Yi looked proud, his intention to show off quite obvious.

Zhao Dongling immediately understood, "Building such a big two-story house isn’t easy, right?"

Lin Yi grinned widely, pretending to be humble, "It’s alright, started building it in spring and now it’s done. I think this house is quite nice, but my daughter insists on decorating it. She wants to paint the walls on the second floor first and lay bricks. I say they’re just fussing about."

Zhao Dongling looked around a few times, pondering, "It’s rare to have a two-story house. If you have the money, you can indeed decorate. Living in it feels comfortable. I say you’re lucky that both your daughter and son-in-law are so capable!"

Before they came over, they had thoroughly investigated Chen Wenjun’s background, knowing that he remarried while raising a disabled son, and that he and his wife work hard to earn money and build a house. They also knew what he needs right now.

Chen Wenjun and Lin Qin were slightly embarrassed by the praise.

Chen Wenjun changed the subject and asked about Gao Lei’s situation.

Zhao Dongling sighed, looking at Chen Wenjun with eyes full of gratitude, almost on the verge of tears, "Just received the news that day, I fainted at home and woke up in the hospital. Lei was still in surgery, not stabilizing until the next day."

The doctor said, fortunately, he was sent in a timely manner. If it had been one or two hours later, he would have suffered irreversible trauma. If delayed by four hours, he would have been gone."

Although I have two sons, this one’s my child of old age, my lifeblood! If something happened to him, I wouldn’t want to live anymore. You saved his life, and you saved mine!"

"No, no, no... It’s not that serious! Just something done on the spur of the moment, anyone else would have helped too." Chen Wenjun was so startled his legs were shaking a bit, feeling somewhat guilty.

Shen Yunfeng shook his head solemnly, "I’ve investigated. At that time, the villagers in Anshan Community saw that he wasn’t from their village and didn’t intend to help. It was you two who brought Lei to the road. Without you, I can’t imagine the consequences."

I heard you’re looking for a school for your two children?"

Chen Wenjun nodded, "That’s the plan. Both of my kids are school age this year. But we’re Dang people, schools don’t like accepting Dang children. My son was born with limb issues, which gives schools even more excuses not to let him attend."

"What’s the issue with the child?" Zhao Dongling inquired concernedly.

Lin Qin’s heart skipped a beat, quickly led Chen Ping’an out from the house, "Ping’an, walk a bit and make some gestures for Grandpa and Auntie."

Chen Ping’an was afraid of strangers, but under Lin Qin’s encouragement, he managed to do a few movements.

Lin Qin explained, "This child has unresponsive left hand and foot, walks with uneven footsteps. Fortunately, his right side is unaffected, reading and writing won’t be a problem, and his intelligence is normal, so there’s no issue with school attendance."

Zhao Dongling knew Lin Qin was the stepmother and was a bit surprised by the closeness of this mother and child, though she didn’t show it.

Beside them, Gao Yuan said seriously, "From what I see, the child only has minor limb problems that don’t affect schooling. The school can’t refuse admission based on this. Where are you zoned to attend school?"

"Anshan Society Primary School." Lin Qin said hurriedly.

Gao Yuan nodded, "I’ll speak to the principal at Anshan Society Primary School; you can take your children to enroll directly on September 1st."

Lin Qin was overjoyed, quickly bringing the two children over, "Quick, thank Auntie."

The two children hugged each other excitedly, gleefully shouting, "Thank you, Auntie."

Their joyful look made the adults happy too.

Lin Qin, wanting to thank them, insisted they stay at home for a meal.

Zhao Dongling flatly refused, even quoting Chairman Mao, about not taking a single needle or thread from the people.

Finally, the couple couldn’t persuade Zhao Dongling and could only watch them leave.

Chen Wenjun rowed them to shore and followed along.

After they left.

Lin Qin closed the door, ran inside excitedly, hugging the two children and jumping joyfully, "Great! You can finally go to school... Tomorrow I’ll take you to the city, Ping’an needs a haircut, plus I’ll buy you two backpacks, pencils, and notebooks..."

Lin Qin carefully counted, realizing there were quite a few things to buy. The money they had saved had to be used for the children’s stuff first, repaying the loan would have to wait a few days.

Lin Yi listened quietly, smiling as he said, "Just the right time, we can harvest the vegetables in the field, besides sending them to the construction site, we can sell a bit more, and after saving up, the money will come out."

Now he’s full of energy, eager to grab a hoe and open two more acres of land.

Lin Qin looked at Lin Yi’s vegetable plot, about two acres, not small, with assorted vegetables growing there, enough for their own consumption and for Huang Wenlong’s dishes, though clearly not enough to sell.

"Dad! Why don’t we open two more acres of paddy field and plant lotus roots?" Lin Qin looked at the large plot next to the rice fields, itching to take action.

Shanglin Village’s neighboring Xialin Village grows lotus roots, and every May during root digging, she’s envious.

Lotus roots are more expensive than ordinary vegetables, harvesting is good, and the lotus field can also raise loaches and eels, you can earn money however you handle it. However, this lotus root needs to be sown in the eleventh lunar month, so if we want to plant, we need to open up the fields now.

Lin Yi’s eyes lit up with interest, "That’s a nice idea, planting lotus root is more cost-effective than other vegetables. The important thing is you have enough land here, as many acres as you want to open. I think we might as well open seven or eight acres, deliver them to the port by cargo ship, guaranteed to make money."

Previously, he’d lived in Shanglin Village, knowing nothing about waterway transportation. After living here with Chen Wenjun for several months, he grasped the way Dang people make money.

To be honest, though Dang people face discrimination, their lives aren’t necessarily worse off than the farmers. At least they have more incoming paths, with strength, they’ll definitely not starve. Being diligent, they could even save money for marriage.