I'm back in 1990

Chapter 252: The Major Events Have Been Decided

The idea is good, but where is this unit located? If they are nearby, it's fine, but if they are far away, it's all for nothing.

Also, are there any of Lao Yu's old comrades-in-arms still in this unit? If they can't make any connections, this whole thing is probably pointless.

As the saying goes, three cobblers are equal to one Zhuge Liang. After discussing it, the three decided that after surveying Huahe Village, they would call Lao Yu back at Crescent Moon Valley and ask him to inquire about the situation. Once they had some leads, they would proceed with the next step of their plan.

However, after Yu Wei and Ding Yi climbed two mountain ridges, their legs became as weak as noodles. Especially when they were going down the mountain, their legs were shaking uncontrollably. Huang Xiaochuan was worried that they would shake and fall to the bottom of the mountain.

Fortunately, the two men knew what was good for them and used their last bit of strength to climb onto the donkey cart.

Huang Xiaochuan found it amusing to look at the two of them. This mountain road was completely different from flat ground. He guessed that the two of them must have blisters on their feet, and by the afternoon at the earliest, they wouldn't be able to walk anymore.

Although the road was rugged and difficult to travel, there was still a road. At 11:30 a.m., a village built on the mountainside came into view.

The houses were hidden among the trees, but you could see smoke rising from the rooftops, indicating that everyone was busy preparing lunch.

Upon getting closer, Huang Xiaochuan realized that the village was quite large.

The houses were all quite dilapidated. Except for the roofs which were covered with blue tiles, the gable walls were made of stone. Come to think of it, the mountains are full of stones, but the tiles had to be bought from outside the mountains. Perhaps the biggest expense in building the houses was the tiles.

The once quiet village suddenly became noisy with the arrival of several donkey carts. It was unclear where all these people came from; most of them were idlers and children.

The children, in particular, curiously gathered around and stared blankly at Huang Xiaochuan and his companions. Huang Xiaochuan felt like a giant panda in a zoo, being watched by everyone.

At this moment, Li Laoyao shouted to someone, "Kangwa, hurry back and tell your father that a distinguished guest has arrived, so prepare some good food and wine."

Suddenly, a boy of about half a year old darted out from the crowd. In just a short while, he had already run dozens of meters. Huang Xiaochuan had to admire the impressive stamina of this mountain boy. Turning to look at Ding Yi and Yu Wei, the two of them started grimacing as soon as they got off the donkey cart. It seemed that the blisters on their feet had burst, and they were walking with a limp.

Li Laoyao explained to Huang Xiaochuan, "Kangwazi's father was a teacher at our village primary school, and his full name was Xia Zhili. His grandfather was also the only scholar in our area in the last hundred years."

Huang Xiaochuan thought the name was quite interesting, meaning "knowledgeable and courteous," and that only a learned scholar could come up with such a name.

Soon, Huang Xiaochuan and his companions met Xia Zhili, the only intellectual in the village. He was waiting for them outside the courtyard gate, with five men of different ages standing beside him. Huang Xiaochuan guessed that these might be the village chiefs of the other five villages.

The man had a lot of white hair and looked to be in his forties. He was wearing a faded blue Zhongshan suit, with two pens tucked into his breast pocket. He was wearing a pair of thick glasses with lenses that were almost as thick as the bottom of a wine bottle.

He was wearing gray trousers and faded white canvas shoes. Huang Xiaochuan noticed that most people here wore canvas shoes.

Looking through the gate, Huang Xiaochuan saw two tables set up in the courtyard, with several women busy serving dishes.

Upon seeing Huang Xiaochuan and his group, Xia Zhili immediately came forward to greet them and shake hands, and even introduced Huang Xiaochuan to the village chiefs of several villages.

After exchanging pleasantries, Xia Zhili invited the group to sit down.

After several rounds of drinks and five courses of food,

"Simple food, I don't know if it suits your taste."

Huang Xiaochuan is wrestling with a chicken leg. The chicken meat is firm and fragrant, definitely a mountain chicken, so delicious!

Upon hearing Xia Zhili's words, he exclaimed repeatedly, "Delicious, delicious!"

Ding Yi and Yu Wei were the same; they had been walking on the mountain road for most of the day and were starving. They didn't care about their sore feet and were busy stuffing food into their mouths.

After eating and drinking to their hearts' content, Huang Xiaochuan suggested that they go and visit the primary school.

Xia Zhili and Li Laoyao were naturally happy to oblige and personally accompanied Huang Xiaochuan and the others to the original primary school site.

Ding Yi and Yu Wei's blisters had burst, making it difficult for them to walk. Xia Zhili's wife and Li Laoyao's wife were helping them treat the large blisters, so they didn't go with them.

Xia Zhili also introduced the origin of the primary school to Huang Xiaochuan.

"This used to be my family's private school, which was run by my grandfather. After liberation, it was converted into a primary school, but it collapsed a few years ago due to years of disrepair. Now the primary school has been moved to the ancestral hall."

"This used to be my family's private school, which was run by my grandfather. After liberation, it was converted into a primary school, but it collapsed a few years ago due to years of disrepair. Now the primary school has been moved to the ancestral hall."

As Huang Xiaochuan listened to Xia Zhili's introduction, he looked at the original school site, which was now mostly ruins. The site still looked alright, with a rice paddy in front of the gate. The rice had already started to head, and some of it was already bending over. The climate here was suitable for growing double-cropping rice, which was different from that in the Jiangnan region.

Building a school was a big deal for these villages, so the village chiefs came in person when they heard the news. After all, they were knowledgeable people and valued education more than the average mountain dweller.

Engineer Mei and Engineer Liu took out a measuring tape to measure the site, while Huang Xiaochuan asked Xia Zhili how many school-age children were in several villages.

"How many children in these villages meet the requirements for attending school?"

"Around one hundred and sixty."

"Are the boys and girls included?"

"Most of them are boys. Very few girls go to school. They all get married when they grow up. If they go to school, the family will lose a laborer, so the family feels it's not worth it."

Huang Xiaochuan knew this was the reality of rural areas, and for the time being, he didn't have much of a solution. He could only wait until the school was built and provide lunch every day to see if that would encourage families to send their daughters to school. Ultimately, it would depend on the village chief and Xia Zhili to do more work. Huang Xiaochuan could only help them with the money; the specific tasks would have to be done by them.

Huang Xiaochuan then asked Xia Zhili another question.

"Teacher Xia, what size do you think the school should be?"

Xia Zhili glanced at the village chiefs and Li Laoyao, then said, "At least eight rooms should be built!"

How much would it cost to build eight rooms?

Li Laoyao chimed in, "We've already calculated it in our villages; eight rooms would cost over 30,000 yuan."

Engineer Mei and Engineer Liu stopped what they were doing and were stunned. Building a row of eight classrooms with tiled roofs only cost a little over 30,000? It seems that the construction cost here is not high.

Huang Xiaochuan fell silent after hearing this. Several villages couldn't even scrape together 30,000 yuan; it was clear how difficult life was for the people in the mountains.

Then Huang Xiaochuan asked, "Village Chief Li, didn't you say that even donkey carts can't get through the other villages? How will the children go to school?"

Sun Wang from Queshan'ao Village replied, "Children in the mountains aren't so pampered. They walk to school on their own two feet. Generations of children have gone through this. They're used to walking the mountain paths."

"Could you take me to see your village?"

"Of course it's possible! But the road is difficult to walk on, you city kids won't be used to it."

At this moment, Li Laoyao shouted, "You stupid brat, you're really stupid! Carry it in with a sedan chair!"

Half an hour later, the group was ready to set off for Queshan'ao. Engineer Mei and Engineer Liu stayed behind to continue surveying the site, but Ding Yi and Yu Wei heard that there were sedan chairs available and wanted to go along. Fortunately, there were plenty of strong laborers and sedan chairs in the mountains.

Huang Xiaochuan's decision to go to Queshan'ao was not impulsive; he wanted to see what the mountain road the villagers had described was really like.

As a result, the trip to Queshan'ao showed him what a mountain road was like. If he had to walk it himself, he probably would have been too weak in the knees. Even sitting on the sedan chair, his legs were trembling, let alone walking.

The mountain road, which is three kilometers in a straight line, took more than an hour to travel, winding and turning.

That night, the group stayed in Queshan'ao and spent the night at the village committee. The village chief, Sun Wang, specially found a kind of grass, burned it, and then smoldered it out to drive away mosquitoes and gnats with the smoke.

After nightfall, Zhou Wei and Li Huan went to sleep first, while Mei Gong and Liu Gong stayed in Huahe Village and did not come to Queshan'ao.

Ding Yi and Yu Wei couldn't sleep. They had been away for several days, and the accommodations were getting worse and worse. At first, they could tolerate it, but now they were finding it hard to get used to. Not to mention the two of them, Huang Xiaochuan was in a similar situation.

There's no electricity here; kerosene lamps are used at night. Although the night sky is full of stars and shooting stars occasionally streak across the sky, the forest is pitch black and eerie from a distance. Various terrifying cries can be heard from the forest from time to time, and Huang Xiaochuan vaguely seems to hear the howl of wolves.

Ding Yi shrank back and said to Huang Xiaochuan, "Let's go back tomorrow!"

Yu Wei echoed, "Yeah! There's nothing we can do here, so we might as well go back and help them figure something out."

Huang Xiaochuan sighed: "Let's go back tomorrow! We've seen enough. When we get to Crescent Moon Valley, Yu Wei, go to the post office first and make a phone call back to ask about your dad's military situation."

"No problem." Yu Wei readily accepted the task.

Although he didn't feel comfortable in this place, he wanted to help the people here change things. Besides, it was his idea, so of course he wanted to do it well.

The next day, the group was carried back to Huahe Village by sedan chairs. After having a meal at the village chief's house, they, along with Mei and Liu, rode a donkey cart back to Crescent Moon Valley.

Yu Wei called Lao Yu, who expressed concern after learning that Yu Wei and Huang Xiaochuan had gone to Sichuan Province.

"Dad! We're here to conduct an on-site inspection for donating to build a Hope Primary School." Yu Wei wanted to show off in front of his father, so he portrayed himself as a noble and upright person.

Then Yu Wei told Lao Yu the whole story of the road construction plan, and told Lao Yu that it was his idea.

Upon hearing this, Old Yu felt an immediate sense of pride, as if his son were a thoroughbred. He thought, "My son-in-law is truly outstanding! I must invite my in-law, Old Huang, for a few drinks tonight."

Old Yu instructed Yu Wei, "I'll contact them for you right now. Wait for my call at the post office."

After hanging up the phone, Lao Yu started contacting his old comrades.

Forty minutes later, Lao Yu called back and asked Yu Wei to write down the phone number and the person's name on a piece of paper.

"When you see him, call him Uncle He. Although Little He used to be my squad leader, he's a detachment leader now. Don't be disrespectful to him, understand?"

"Dad, look at what you're saying. I'm not a child anymore, don't worry."

"Where's Xiao Chuan? Let him say a few words to me."

Yu Wei put down the microphone and called out to Huang Xiaochuan, who was chatting with Ding Yi, "My dad wants you to say a few words to him."

Upon hearing his father-in-law's call, Huang Xiaochuan quickly ran over and picked up the phone.

"Uncle Yu, it's me, Xiao Chuan."

"Xiao Chuan, you've done a good job this time. Your dad and I support you. But please be careful and come back as soon as you've finished."

"Uncle Yu, don't worry! We'll go to your old unit for a bit and then head back."

"That's good. Give us a call when you get back to Shanghai."

"Okay, I'll call you when I get to Shanghai."

After hanging up the phone, Huang Xiaochuan made another call, telling the off-road vehicle that brought them there to pick them up in the county town the next day.

That night, the group stayed at the village primary school as usual, and Huang Xiaochuan and the others chatted with Chen Gui all night long.

Huang Xiaochuan told Chen Gui to wait patiently for a while, and that things would soon be clear.

The next morning, two SUVs picked up the group and went directly to the WJ Traffic Police Corps XX Detachment's base.

Because they had been in contact by phone beforehand, Huang Xiaochuan and his group met with the team leader, He Jiaxing, without any problems.

Just as expected, after the group explained the situation and expressed their willingness to cover the construction costs, Captain He readily agreed.

However, regardless of the size of the road construction project, preliminary surveying, exploration, and design are essential and cannot be taken lightly, especially in mountainous areas.

Therefore, Detachment He will first arrange for a surveying team to go to Crescent Moon Gorge. After the construction plan is finalized, the plan and the total construction cost will be informed to Ding Yi and Huang Xiaochuan. However, Detachment He also promised to only charge a cost fee. They are the people's soldiers, and if they had extra funds, it would be right for them to build a road for free.

Huang Xiaochuan and his group understood He Zhidui's predicament. The funds allocated from above were all for national projects, and could not be diverted to the construction of rural roads. It was already very kind of them to agree to provide equipment and manpower to help with the construction.

Seeing that the matter was settled, a huge weight was lifted from their hearts. That evening, Captain He invited them to dinner, and they drank heartily, using teacups to drink. Unsurprisingly, Ding Yi was the first to pass out, followed by Huang Xiaochuan, and then Yu Wei.

Zhou Wei and Li Huan, both veterans of the military, fought to a draw with the Armed Police as representatives of the Marine Corps, earning a thumbs-up from Captain He in admiration.

The next day, Detachment Leader He personally arranged for a car to take Huang Xiaochuan and the others to Chengdu. Before they left, Detachment Leader He also instructed Yu Wei: "When you get back, please give a good message to Captain Yu and ask him to come and visit the old unit when he has time."

"Uncle He, don't worry, I will definitely pass on the message."

"Alright! Then I won't see you off. I'll have someone contact you as soon as the construction plan is ready."

"Okay! Goodbye, Uncle He!"

After returning to Chengdu, Huang Xiaochuan asked Zhou Wei to book plane tickets. However, he also needed to go to Shenzhen and Hong Kong because his betting agreement with Huang Boyi was about to expire. The two had signed an agreement that if Shenzhen Development Bank's stock price increased by more than 20 times, Huang Xiaochuan would receive half of Huang Boyi's initial investment returns.

Now that Shenzhen Development Bank's stock price has already exceeded twenty times, it's time to honor the agreement.

Therefore, Huang Xiaochuan arranged for Ding Yi, Yu Wei, and the engineers Mei and Liu from the design institute to return to Shanghai first, while he, Zhou Wei, and Li Huan took an afternoon flight to Shenzhen.

He had called Huang Boyi beforehand, and when Huang Boyi heard that Huang Xiaochuan was coming, he said he would personally go to Shenzhen Bao'an Airport to pick him up.