Chapter 39: The Top Quality Principal

  Baozi and I are the same, from a young age we idolized Hei Miao Jing Zhang (I liked Yi Zhi Er more), Ke Xie Hao, Ao Te Man and Spiderman. If among the people she idolizes there is only one that can be seen and touched, it's this Principal Zhang.

  In other words, the only teacher who has taught Baozi without being remembered with hatred is Principal Zhang. He was an old-fashioned intellectual, rigorous in his studies and gentle in temperament. When he sent out a 100,000-word thesis, he thought of using a wrong punctuation mark, so he waited at the post office door at midnight, and when it opened, he begged to take it back, corrected it, and then sent it again.

  When eating, Principal Zhang saw me summon a group of people, and was very surprised. When he learned that the two girls slept together, he became more affectionate towards us. On the issue of addressing each other, Principal Zhang called us Xiao Qiang, Xiao Ying, Xiao Jing... When it came to Liu Bang, he was not pleased, and since he stopped being a "second fool", no one had called him that again.

  After a few cups of beer, Old Zhang became more and more enthusiastic, starting to discuss the past and present. This kind of old-fashioned literati, after getting drunk and excited, had a unique style of speaking. He talked about the various schools of thought, and even Qin Shi Huang could interject a few words. When talking about the struggle between Liu Bang and Xiang Yu, Liu Bang was far away from Xiang Yu. When mentioning Li Bai and Du Fu, Li Shishi joined in the discussion. Then they moved on to the Public Security faction and "Dream of the Red Chamber", but fell into an awkward silence. I saw that there was nothing more to say, so I casually invited him to be the honorary principal of Yucui Wenwu School. The old man, being drunk and happy to see his name being used, readily agreed.

  Old Zhang left with a conclusion: nowadays young people are ignorant and uneducated.

  I remember Old Zhang's words: wait until Ji Xiaolan and Cao Xueqin arrive, then I'll settle the score with you!

  The third day was a busy day, in the morning I had to meet with the village heads of various villages. 15 village heads including Lianyuan Village gathered together with me and Old Zhang, but the atmosphere wasn't very friendly. They all thought that someone suddenly wanting to give them 100,000 yuan must be hiding something bad. Nowadays farmers are not easy to deal with, they're all money-savvy people. Principal Zhang, as my honorary principal, helped say a few words, and I promised to add another 10,000 yuan for each village, only then did the 14 village heads disperse.

  The village head of Cun Village finally made a decision to lend me the land, and he said: "I don't want the extra 100,000 yuan you offered, I only have one request, the construction team for your school must use my nephew's."

  Then the village head took me to see the land, and the former Yucai Primary School was just a few bungalows in the vast wilderness of grass, looking like a Dragon Gate Inn from afar. The four sides had winding small paths that were trampled by children, and only the direction towards the county town could be driven through. The children who studied here were actually very happy, I haven't heard of any school in the world, including aristocratic schools, where students can catch wild rabbits on the playground during a 10-minute break.

  The village head also called his nephew, a small-headed, triangular-eyed, scabby-headed man who didn't look like a good person. He was smoking and glared at me with a very arrogant tone, asking: "What do you want to do?"

  I said: "I plan to push down those several bungalows..."

  "Nonsense, of course I'll promote it! Just tell me how much money you plan to spend!"

  "One million is enough, just build me two small buildings with two floors each, and set up a cafeteria. As long as it's enough for 350 people to eat, drink, and use the restroom."

  The old man sneered and said with a sly smile: "Don't plan to recruit students regularly? Want to make a quick buck and leave?"

  "I'm looking for quality over quantity, I'll stop recruiting once I have 350 people."

  "Hmph, and you still dare to tell me such nonsense. Alright, here's the deal: you give me 2 million, and I'll build a three-story teaching building for you. If you add another 200,000, I'll even throw in a wall around the playground."

  He said that and I remembered that the wall is very necessary, I said: "In total, 200 million for you, dormitory, canteen, teaching building and wall are all available, okay?"

  Laozi threw away his cigarette and turned around to leave, saying: "It's settled, it'll be like this."

  I always thought this thing wasn't reliable, so I shouted at his back: "Sign a contract or something?"

  Laozi waved his hand: "Stop messing around, I'll bring the troops over tomorrow." He suddenly stopped and turned back to say, "Ah, right! After your school is built, do you want a martial arts teacher? I have a few buddies who are quite skilled, but now they're just idle every day, fighting all the time." I said no, then he said: "Or become a teacher or a school guard, it's better than having your students jump over the wall to fight, or run to the education bureau to report you, which is unbearable. Let me have my buddies squat at the corner of the wall every day, whoever dares to run out will get their legs broken."

  I couldn't help but laugh and said: "Stop messing around, who knows who will end up breaking whose leg."

  After Lao Wu left, I asked Principal Zhang: "Excuse me, what are the procedures for opening a school?"

  Principal Zhang's body swayed, and he said in a trembling voice: "Don't tell me that your procedures haven't been completed yet."

  I scratched my head and said: "I didn't do it at all, so I asked you."

  Old Zhang finally sat on the ground, saying in despair: "What have I done? My later years are not secure, my later years are not secure!"

  I curiously asked: "How come you didn't go home last night?"

  The old man pointed at me, furious and shouting: "What do you want to do? Are you trying to harm me?" Then he pounded the ground with a sobbing voice, saying: "I must have lost my mind... why did I agree to be this honorary principal..."

  He didn't mention it and I had almost forgotten about this matter. It seems that people of the older generation still value integrity.

  I said emotionally: "Principal Zhang, I really didn't cheat you. My heart is to run a school and let those children who come from far away have a place to study. Let them see the spiritual face of our era. I have an idea that in the first year, we won't charge any tuition fees, and accommodation and food will be free. You can supervise me. If I want to make black-hearted money, heaven will strike me with five thunders."

  Everyone who heard what I said earlier knew it was nonsense, but the last sentence was too damaging. Principal Zhang sat on the ground and looked up at me in surprise, saying: "You really will do that?"

  I nodded vigorously.

  "Will your friend who paid agree with that?"

  I said solemnly: "I saved his life, this money is actually his gratitude, even if I threw it into the water, he wouldn't ask about it."

  Old Zhang suddenly stood up and said to me: "You'd better not cheat me, if what you said is true, this school can be set up first. I have a few students in the government department now, I'll make a call, and we can just ignore you for now. If there's no problem, I'll help you with the formalities. But if you dare to cheat me..." Old Zhang suddenly became stern, "I have a few useless students on the road who are also famous, I'd rather let Xiao Xiangmeng live a lonely life than ruin you!"

  I'm surprised, can't see it at all, actually a master of kicking with both feet! In the future, if I have a son, I'll also let him be a teacher...

  On the way back, I went to see my tent again. The shop owner was too happy, in order to wait for me or to prevent me, he opened a tent and lived at the door of the warehouse. Fortunately, there are tents all over the street now, and it's not eye-catching at all.

  In the afternoon, I received 1000 sets of "Jing Zhong Bao Guo" and asked the delivery person to stack them at the door. This street is all familiar faces, it's unlikely that someone will steal. When Baozi came back and saw it, she didn't care, thinking it was the goods of Xiao Wang next door. I support a family of 5 at home, rented hundreds of hectares of land outside to build buildings and schools, but Baozi is completely ignorant of all this. With her careless attitude and my ability to handle things, I think it's time for me to meet MM from the internet, but there's still some distance before we can have a one-night stand.

  The days in early July are not long, it's already dark just after 8 o'clock. I'm afraid Liu Lao Liu will bring people to me now. The residents on the whole street have just had dinner and are outside cooling off and avoiding the heat.

  I really hope our public security organs can spread the good news: swindler Liu Lao Liu has been caught. I also asked around with an ulterior motive, asking people on the street about Liu Baxian, and they all said different things, some saying he had fled to the south, others saying he was hiding in a villager's home near Dashuiquan, it's like he's right in front of you but then suddenly disappears, I think this old swindler is even harder to catch than Ma Jiaju even without using his magical powers.

  Dinner is when we gather together, these days Baozi has been very happy, except that she can't be romantic with me. She loves the excitement and is like a dung beetle entering the Australian grasslands, seeing dung balls everywhere, carefree and without worries. She jokes with Xiang Yu and Liu Bang: "Now we're also suffering from disaster, has the water receded in Hubei? Let's go to your place to take refuge together."

  Baozi, this is a woman who has been worried that the world would not be chaotic since the moment she was born. Tang Seng went through 81 difficulties with Sun Wukong's help, but Tang Seng himself didn't suffer much. But Baozi, on the other hand, not only doesn't help me, but also keeps giving me trouble. However, if I think about it from a different perspective, she is Tang Seng and I am Sun Wukong, then there's no grammatical error. As the saying goes, behind every successful man, there is a woman who can bring disaster.

  Her words struck a chord in Xiang Yu's heart, and the giant over two meters tall put down his chopsticks and left the dinner table with a hint of resentment. It's time to buy him a van, not only can he have something to do, but I also need to use it.

  The waiting that followed was long, and although I had Liu Laosix come over a bit later to bring people, given his usual way of handling things, it's very possible that in the next second he'd be shouting for me downstairs, with 300 bloody Song Dynasty soldiers following close behind. To be honest, even if he came alone, I wouldn't be able to mix around afterwards - Liu Laosix's wanted poster appears punctually every day on our city's TV station before "Dae Jang Geum" starts, and people who don't know any better think it's the cover of a simplified version of "Dae Jang Geum". Liu Laosix's rapid rise to fame is mainly because of this place - from its founding until now, it's been peaceful, with no connection to those oil guys or anything else, so this earthquake can be considered a relatively serious event in history. If we don't do something to shift the attention of the common people, I'm afraid they'll be worried sick. And putting out a wanted poster for Liu Laosix is also a way to dispel rumors - Liu Laosix is now like a landmine covered in shit, and even if it doesn't kill you, it'll still splatter you with crap.

  After the sky completely darkened, the old men and women all went home to sleep after swatting mosquitoes. We always stay up late every day. Qin Shi Huang is using the TV to play "Top Mushroom". He vowed that he must pass level 8-1 of Dragon Palace today. Jing Ke hasn't liked listening to the radio these past two days, because it's all about earthquake reports and repetitive knowledge on how to avoid earthquakes.

  I played mahjong with Liu Bang and two other girls. Liu Bang had a lot of old ladies' grocery money in his pocket, and suggested playing with real stakes. After a while, when he had won enough, he started to give Baozi points, but Li Shishi protested, so we decided to play against each other, with Liu Bang and Baozi on one team. This time, the kid was at a disadvantage, and overall, both sides had their wins and losses. As I looked at the clock on the wall getting later and later, my heart gradually calmed down. After Qin Shi Huang opened up the pass, Li Shishi left the mahjong table to go to sleep first.

  The three of us continued to play cards, and after a few rounds, Baozi threw down his cards and stormed off. I was delighted and praised Liu Bang - Baozi didn't even win one round and he's already going to sleep so early! What I'm most afraid of is when Liu Laoliu calls me while Baozi is around, without asking what I'm doing, just looking downstairs at the crowd of people, Baozi will collapse. Since last year, Baozi has not supported me in group fights anymore.

  Everyone had fallen asleep, and it was already past 2 o'clock in the middle of the night. Now I started to worry that Liu Lao Liu wasn't coming. I took a drag on my cigarette, and since I was really sleepy, I dozed off with my head on the table. In my dream, I still heard Liu Lao Liu's sneaky voice calling me, then I felt something wet on my thigh. When I woke up and looked, it was just my snot dripping down onto my leg. Just as I was about to go wash my face, I seemed to really hear a faint, intermittent voice calling me. I leaned against the window and took a look - Liu Lao Liu was observing his surroundings with a sly expression, muffling his voice as he called out to me. Behind him and on either side of him stood 300 soldiers from the Song Dynasty, lined up in neat rows!