CHAPTER 452: CHAPTER 450: GOOD NEWS

Upon hearing this news, the villagers immediately became excited, stretching their necks, waiting for the village chief to continue.

"The person who is donating to our village to build a school is a military family member, I believe many people know her, she is the comrade who often brings a bunch of twins to the west end of our village." The village chief said.

Someone immediately asked: "Village chief, is that true? She is so kind to want to build a school for us? Will she ask us for money?"

The village chief responded, "No, not a single cent. Not only is she paying to build the school, but she has also set aside the costs for hiring teachers, a total of two hundred thousand."

Upon hearing this, those who went to the military compound understood; so this is what Wan Chu’er meant by donating two hundred thousand.

Although the money wasn’t put directly into their own hands, building a school was still pretty good; at the very least, their children wouldn’t have to travel so far and could help out at home when they have time.

Zhang Gouzi also realized and immediately stood up discontentedly, shouting, "That’s my money, no building a school!"

"What your money, Zhang Gouzi, what kind of pipe dream are you having!" Villagers who did not follow jeered.

But soon, those who knew the full story started arguing, some cursing Zhang Gouzi and his wife for being shameless scammers, others settling scores with Zhang Gouzi, counting the times Zhang Gouzi had bullied everyone, how his son had bullied other kids.

After the commotion, everyone came to understand the situation.

Everyone was to benefit from the communal benefit, naturally they all chose to share the benefit evenly.

"Quiet, quiet!" The village chief calmed everyone down with his loud voice, and then with a stern face said to Zhang Gouzi and his wife:

"This incident, if we pursue it, is actually your son who was in the wrong. Mr. Wan didn’t injure your son at all. If you dare bring this up again, affecting the construction of our village school, don’t blame everyone for turning against you."

"I have a record of the thefts you committed in the village. If you want to spend a few days in jail, just go and trouble Mr. Wan."

"This matter is a big deal for our Huangjia Gully and for every one of us, hence everyone in the village should get involved, keep an eye on Zhang Gouzi."

The village chief, who already had a lot of authority in the village, took this matter very seriously and warned repeatedly, which made everyone take it seriously. They glared at Zhang Family and Zhang Xiaoqiang, ready to start a fight at any disagreement.

Not daring to say anything more in the face of everyone’s momentum, Zhang Gouzi and his wife, who usually bullied the weak, could only grudgingly quiet down.

"Alright, there is another matter, the construction of the school is a big deal for our village, everyone related or who knows someone, go inquire about the costs of materials and craftsmen, try to build the sturdiest school at the lowest price, the money saved can be used to get more desks for our kids." Village Chief Huang is a practical man.

After saying these things, he dismissed the meeting, planning to rush to the town first today, to communicate with the town chief and lobby, hoping to bring the town chief to the county education bureau tomorrow to push this matter, get the paperwork done sooner, and start the construction earlier.

While packing things up at home, Village Chief Huang said to his wife, "Little Lizzi has injured his arm, he’s getting treated in the military, he probably won’t come back tonight, go and bring back that girl from his family, take care of her for the night."

...

So, when Jiang Kechu and his party arrived at the barren courtyard of Xiao Huaili’s house, they heard no noise at all.

"Erya—Brother is back—Erya—where are you?" Xiao Huaili became increasingly frantic as he searched every corner of the house for his sister, who was nowhere to be found.

His eyes were reddening with distress, "Erya—where are you?"

Wan Chu’er, who was watching, felt uneasy. She caught hold of Xiao Huaili, who was still searching for his sister and asked, "Your family must have other relatives in this village, right? Is it possible that your sister went to a relative’s house?"

Xiao Huaili cried out, "My second uncle doesn’t like my sister, and she wouldn’t go to his house either."

Just then, a voice came from over the neighboring wall, "Little Lizzi, Erya has gone to the village chief’s house."

Wan Chu’er looked up and saw an old lady in her fifties or sixties peeking over the wall, curiously observing them.

"Thank you, Granny Gao." Little Lizzi thanked her and then ran outside.

Jiang Kechu said, "Let’s go and take a look." He also wished to meet the village chief of this village.

After arriving at the village chief’s house, they found Xiao Huaili’s sister Erya, but the village chief was nowhere to be seen. They heard that the village chief had already gone to the township overnight, and Jiang Kechu raised an eyebrow, noting the urgency of the situation.

Village Chief Huang’s wife, upon learning that Wan Chu’er was the one who planned to build a school for their village, became extremely enthusiastic.

"Please come in and sit down, my girl, you’re such a good person. You’ll surely be blessed. These must be your two children, they look so adorable. I’ve heard those boys say before that these two children are very generous..."

Village Chief Huang’s wife clearly was a kindhearted rural granny, and Wan Chu’er had always been soft-hearted towards sincere people like her. She handed over the food to Xiao Huaili, letting him and his sister eat while she and Jiang Kechu had a chat in the courtyard.

Hunter and Chuanqi, curious about Xiao Huaili’s sister, followed Xiao Huaili inside to see Erya.

Wan Chu’er expressed her previous suspicions, "Do the Xiao siblings normally go unlooked after?"

Village Chief Huang’s wife sighed and glanced at the doorway of the house before speaking in a hushed tone:

"After Old Man Xiao passed away, the village committee sent the two Xiao children to live with their second uncle. They thought since they were relatives, at least the children could be fed properly, but that household was far from caring. Taking advantage of sending Little Lizzi to herd sheep, they sent Erya away to someone.

That caused quite an uproar. After Little Lizzi managed to bring Erya back, he didn’t go to anyone’s house anymore. They returned to their own dilapidated home to fend for themselves.

Sometimes, when the neighbors in the village felt pity for the two siblings, they would give them something to eat. In any case, they were living from hand to mouth."

So that was the situation. It seemed that after experiencing his sister being given away, Xiao Huaili had developed distrust towards others.

After a while, Xiao Huaili and his sister finished eating and came out to greet people and thank Wan Chu’er.

This Erya was also a fragile little girl, said to be five years old but probably weighed about the same as Chuanqi. She was dressed somewhat sloppily.

Wan Chu’er didn’t mind and took her hand, asking gently, "Are you called Erya? I heard from your brother that you were sick. Where do you feel unwell?"