2003: Starting with Foreign Trade

Chapter 240 Spending Money Like Crazy

What is it like for an older brother in his twenties to visit and inspect the school where his younger siblings study, accompanied by relevant leaders and the principal?
This kind of pretentious style is rarely seen even in online novels, right?

Surrounded by a group of people in the middle, Tan Jincheng felt a little ridiculous; the big spender was indeed different.

Especially after Tan Jincheng donated another 50 yuan to the middle school in the name of Tan Lihua, he really felt like a big brother who had donated the most money.

This is also Tan Lihua's alma mater. He spent his junior high school years here. As a student who was admitted to a vocational school in the 1970s and 1980s, his alma mater must have memories of him. There are still some of Tan Lihua's classmates in the old school.

In my past life, I heard my father and younger siblings mention that the middle school currently located in the town center was relocated due to development, and the students were transferred to another middle school. They didn't even keep the school's name.

It made them lose even their memories of their student days, and the tone at the time was full of regret.

With the outflow of population, college graduates who leave the small town are unwilling to return, and those who earn money working in the city will take their children away. At the very least, they will think about buying a house in the county to provide their children with a better learning environment.

Various factors determined the fate of town-level middle schools. The merging of villages and schools was inevitable. Whoever was more powerful would be merged into the school.

To preserve this memory, external support is needed. I wonder if this donation of nearly one million will change the fate of this school.

"Mr. Tan, look, this is our teaching area. Currently, there are about fifty students in each class."

"Um, Principal, please call me Xiao Tan. You are my father's teacher, so calling me President Tan is a bit too much for me," Tan Jincheng said, scratching his head somewhat embarrassedly.

Township-level middle schools have limited resources and generally weak teaching staff. Many of the older teachers who stay have spent their entire lives there, and it's not surprising that they've taught several generations of their families. If Tan Jincheng had stayed in his hometown, the person in front of him might have taught him too.

Today, nominally, Tan Jincheng is donating to his alma mater on behalf of his father, Tan Lihua, and the principal is someone who once taught Tan Lihua, so he is somewhat uncomfortable with the title of "President Tan".

When discussing business with county leaders, it's only natural for them to address me as "General Manager Tan." But today's visit is purely a personal one, stemming from personal feelings.

The school was small and there wasn't much to see. Tan Jincheng didn't know which class his younger siblings were in, so he didn't go looking for them. He just mentioned their names to the principal.

Tan Jincheng didn't know how the previously donated funds were distributed, but the 50 yuan donated to the school alone caused quite a stir among the teachers once it was announced.

This is practically like the God of Wealth coming to our door!
It wasn't a prestigious university. The earliest batch of students who got into university either became state-owned enterprise workers or minor officials; very few went into business.

There are a few wealthy businessmen in town, but this is a cash donation of 50 yuan; they don't have that kind of financial strength.

No one expected that an alumnus would donate such a large sum of money.

Therefore, after Tan Jincheng and his party left, the teachers who did not have classes gathered around the principal and the director of school affairs.

"Principal, which tycoon came to give out money? Did they say how the 50 yuan is going to be used?"

"Yeah, how about we get a raise?"

"That rich guy looked pretty young. Could he be one of our students? Does anyone remember having a student who looks like that in their class?"

The basic living standards of grassroots educators are relatively poor, and these days it's not popular to make money by tutoring. Even if they open a tutoring class outside, they can't make much money. Therefore, what everyone is most concerned about is how the school will use this money.

Teachers are human too, that's perfectly reasonable.

The old principal was also very excited. This was the largest donation in the history of the middle school since its establishment. He had been a teacher all his life and never expected to encounter such a good thing in his old age. If it had been a few years earlier, he might have been able to get a promotion and a position in the county education bureau to retire. It wasn't impossible.

"Alright, alright, stop asking. He's not one of your students, but his father is a student at our school. His name is Tan Lihua. You should remember him, Xiao Wu. He's from the village next to yours. You two were classmates."

"Holy crap! It's Old Tan? Doesn't he work at the petrochemical plant? Where did he get so much money?"

"Tan Lihua? I remember him too. He was quite handsome when he was young. Right, where did he get his money?"

"I do know a little about this. His wife is from our village, and it must have been his son who donated it. Am I right, Principal?"

The old principal nodded: "That's right, it's his son, but he donated it in the name of Tan Lihua. You can make a banner and hang it up for a couple of days to give him some face. In addition to this 50, he and his friends also donated 800 million to the county, 40% of which was allocated to us town-level middle schools. We got more than 30, and now we're rich."

"What's going on? Old Zhang, is Old Tan's son really that rich? 50 is one thing, but 800 million?"

The middle-aged male teacher, referred to as Lao Zhang, was clearly shocked by the figure of 800 million and didn't know what to say for a moment.

It wasn't until someone nudged him that he regained his composure and said, "Tan Lihua's wife, Zhang Suzhi, is from our village. They come home to pay New Year's visits every year. Last year, his son drove back in a Passat, and this year he bought an Audi A6. Back then, the village was buzzing with rumors that his son was making a lot of money. I overheard a bit of it, but I don't know exactly how much he made. I only know that he got one of his uncles a job at his company. Oh, right, his uncle's son also dropped out of school this year and will be studying elsewhere in the future."

"Speaking of which, this kid made a fool of himself a couple of years ago, around 03. He suddenly disappeared for a few months, and his maternal grandparents were frantic with worry. Later, we heard that he had given up a good university education to work on a cruise ship with his classmates. I even joked about it with my wife in private when I heard that..."

This is not surprising. Whether you know the inside story or not, you will feel sorry for Tan Jincheng and Zhang Xupeng for missing out on going to university. What's more, Lao Zhang is a teacher, and the idea of ​​studying hard is deeply ingrained in his mind.

"What do you mean? You secretly dropped out of school in 03 to work? You didn't even finish university? That's outrageous!"

"No, that's not it. He had just graduated from high school that year, so he would be about 22 years old now. He had been missing for several months. This incident caused quite a stir not only in his hometown but also in his maternal grandmother's village, which is our village. Both families were terrified, thinking he had been abducted."

“That’s right, I’ve heard about it too. Our two villages are next to each other. This young man once stole melons from our village’s fields when he was a child. His family searched for him everywhere in the fields.” Xiao Wu, who had been mentioned by the old principal earlier, replied.

The principal had never heard of this before, but it wasn't appropriate to discuss the sponsor's affairs behind his back.

"Alright, stop gossiping. He was just doing a good deed. Everyone makes a few mistakes when they're young. If it weren't for his dad, he wouldn't know any of us. Let's not talk about this anymore."

"Why would he come back to donate money for no reason? Was it at his father's request?"

"No, that's not it. I heard from people in the county that they came back to invest, and it was just a side project. Oh, by the way, Xiao Wu, come to my office in a bit. I'll give you a few names; they're all Xiao Tan's younger siblings. You two happen to be related, so you can take care of them privately later."

"No wonder. Donating money must also be a way of taking care of younger siblings. Tsk tsk, it's good to be rich."

"Did they say how the donated money will be spent? Are there any requirements? Will we get a raise?"

The principal glared at the teacher who had asked the question: "Money, money, money! What kind of teacher are you!"

However, he immediately added with a smile, "Don't worry, Xiao Tan said that 50 of the 20 will be used to give bonuses to all the teachers in the school, and the rest will be used for school construction and to improve the students' learning environment. As for how the donation from the county will be distributed, we'll talk about that after the county's plan is finalized."

"Mr. Tan is so generous! Principal, what are you waiting for? You should have come to the county with us earlier! Why not take more of such a good opportunity? Why should we share it with other schools!"

“Yeah, we have that relationship, why should we split it equally? Let’s ask for another 50! We could build a dormitory together.”

"Yes, yes, Principal, hurry up, there's still time. Or should I take you there on my motorcycle?"

The old principal was both amused and exasperated: "You lot, as teachers, don't you even understand what it means to be a role model?!"

"There's no conflict. Teachers need to eat too. It's rare to run into such a tycoon. He's only doing this because of his father and younger brother. Do you expect it to happen again?"

"Haha, Lao Zhang, why don't you go visit his grandfather after get off work? Try to persuade him, and maybe you can get him to donate again."

"Forget it, do you think they're stupid? Besides, if I were to drag someone, I'd drag them to the elementary school in our village."

"You're siding with outsiders. Besides, what's the point of donating to elementary school? Middle school is where you build your foundation. If you don't get into high school, everything is over. You need good learning conditions."

Seeing that these people were chatting endlessly, the principal couldn't stand it anymore: "Get back to your offices right now! Can't those of you who don't have classes do some lesson preparation? Don't you have any semblance of being teachers? You're so easily agitated over a few hundred thousand?"

"Yes, yes, I'll be going now. By the way, does the principal want me to take you to the county? I'm a very steady motorcyclist."

Those who dare to come to the principal and make a scene are mostly long-time colleagues who have worked at the school for many years. Therefore, they are not afraid of the principal and dare to say anything and make any jokes.

The old principal said impatiently, "Xiao Zhang and Xiao Wu, stay here. Everyone else, get back to your posts!"

The crowd dispersed, but it was clear they were in good spirits.

Before leaving get off work, news spread among the teachers of this small town-level middle school that a donation of 50 yuan had suddenly appeared at the school, with 20 yuan of it going to be used as bonuses for the teachers.

Everyone was overjoyed!

Currently, the total number of faculty and staff in the school is about 50. If calculated on an average basis, each person would receive about 4000 yuan!

Some readers have commented that these chapters are a bit padded, which is true. However, these chapters serve as a major transition, laying the groundwork for future developments. I apologize to all my subscribers!

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(End of this chapter)