Break out of the courtyard

After dinner at the Zhang family's house, Tang Xin and Chen Shuting invited Old Mrs. Zheng to the study upstairs, and asked Zhang Bei, who was about to go to the laboratory, to take Zhou Xirou there for a tour.

Zhang Bei originally wanted to say that Zhou Xirou didn't have access to the underground base, but then he remembered the visiting privileges his father had granted to the Xie sisters, so he wisely kept quiet.

“Dad, I think combining the gold-plated microcomputer with the chip-based brain-computer interface and then connecting it to a computer is like using a controlled nuclear fusion device to boil water—it’s a bit of a waste of resources,” Zhang Long suggested as he left with his father.

"Which is more advanced, a lighter or a match?" Zhang Heping's voice faded into the distance. "Some people use them for cooking, some use them for fireworks, some..."

As Grandma Zheng walked up the stairs, listening to the receding sounds, she smiled at Tang Xin, who was supporting her, and Chen Shuting, who was following behind, and said, "I heard that Xiaolong and Xiaohu are going to the Xie family to pay New Year's respects. When are you parents planning to meet them?"

Tang Xin smiled and said, "We'll have to wait until Xiaolong and the others go over and ask them to find out. It's hard to say right now."

Grandma Zheng walked towards the study with a smile, "If your family thinks there's nothing wrong with Xie Wan and Xie Ting, I'll go to their house to ask about this when I return to the capital after the New Year."

Tang Xin's smile faded, and she said seriously, "We're definitely fine. We've long considered Xiao Wan and Xiao Ting as our daughters-in-law. It's just that dragging this out for too long isn't good for the two girls' reputations!"

Chen Shuting chimed in, saying, "Mr. Zheng, we've already prepared the betrothal gifts. If you can help us make the marriage happen, that would be a win-win situation."

Neither of the two women mentioned the reason why the Xie family wanted to wait until Hong Kong returned to China to discuss the marriage. Since the Xie family sent two maids to convey that they wanted to see Zhang Long and Zhang Hu, it means that the marriage of these two young men can be brought forward.

So, we should just go along with what Grandma Zheng says; whether it will work out or not, we'll have to wait until after the New Year to find out.

Grandma Zheng patted Tang Xin's hand and smiled, "When I get back later, I'll discuss it with Su Mei, the matchmaker."

"Also, don't give too much in betrothal gifts! First, if you give too much, they won't be able to reciprocate; second, both girls' parents are employed, so you have to be careful about the impact."

"We'll do as you say!" Tang Xin replied with a smile. "When the time comes, you and Aunt Wang can decide on the betrothal gifts, and we'll give them accordingly. After the two girls marry into the family, we'll give them the extra betrothal gifts we prepared as a dowry. Anyway, it's all going to them."

After the three women entered the study, they didn't go to the desks on the left and right sides, but sat down directly at the long table in the middle and started talking about the construction of Hope Primary Schools in China last year.

After Mrs. Zheng finished her introduction, Tang Xin pointed to the computer screen that had just been turned on on the table and said, "Mr. Zheng, look at this satellite image!"

After receiving the Longevity 120 injection, Grandma Zheng's eyesight improved significantly.

Even so, she moved the stool closer and craned her neck to look at the dense annotations on the screen.

"Currently, the Hope Primary Schools being built are mostly located in densely populated mountain villages. Remote villages with only narrow paths, as well as hilltop villages and cliffside villages, are not covered," Tang Xin said, zooming in on the image with her mouse.
"For example, in this cliff village, judging from satellite images alone, there are 19 children working in the fields. Look here, here..."

As Tang Xin moved her mouse, the figures of children herding cattle, cutting grass on the mountain, pulling weeds, and stacking stones in the field appeared one by one.

“There aren’t many children in such a remote village, but there are many more remote villages along the northwest, west, and southwest line,” Tang Xin said solemnly. “My husband raised a few questions about this.”

"First, if Hope Primary Schools are built in these remote villages, are there any teachers willing to go and teach there?"

"Secondly, will those children return to the village after they leave? If they don't go back, where will the children go to the village school? What will become of the teachers who support education in the mountain village?"

Grandma Zheng pointed to a few places on the screen and asked Tang Xin to zoom in on the satellite image.

After a long silence, Mrs. Zheng finally said, "You should have heard about the Three Gorges Dam resettlement that is currently underway."

Tang Xin and Chen Shuting, who were sitting to the right of Grandma Zheng, both nodded, indicating that they had heard about the matter.

"We encountered many difficulties after this work was launched." Grandma Zheng stopped there.

"Mr. Zheng may have misunderstood. We are not trying to relocate people from those remote villages." Tang Xin said seriously, "It's like this, we recently had someone interview migrant workers from Guangdong Province and found that they did not bring their children with them when they went out to work."

"Most of them said they wanted to bring their children to the city to study so that their children could stay in the city to work and become city dwellers in the future. But many schools in the city do not recognize the household registration of migrant workers."

“I think this can be worked out! After all, our family doesn’t have Shenzhen household registration, but Xiao Nuo and Xiao Hao are still attending school here normally, aren’t they?”

“Mr. Zheng!” Chen Shuting replied, “This year, we will still donate to build a Hope Primary School.”

"However, we also want to donate and build nine-year compulsory education schools in some cities, which will include six years of primary school and three years of junior high school education, and will provide free accommodation. They will mainly enroll the children of migrant workers."

"In 10 or 20 years, when those remote Hope Primary Schools have no students, these nine-year compulsory education schools can still provide jobs for those volunteer teachers."

Grandma Zheng thought for a moment and asked, "Is this the meaning of peace? Or is it your idea?"

Tang Xin smiled and said, "This is our whole family's idea. We've discussed it many times during meals."

"We believe that most parents would rather suffer a little more and work harder themselves in order to give their children a better education and a better life."

"As the national economy develops better and better, rural residents will inevitably aspire to better cities. Education, medical care, work, elderly care, transportation and so on will all become the driving force for their voluntary migration."

"Therefore, as long as the economic environment continues to improve, the number of urban residents will increase, and rural students will gradually become urban students!"

After organizing her thoughts, Grandma Zheng asked, "You mean that while continuing to donate and build Hope Primary Schools, you also want to donate and build Peace Nine-Year Compulsory Education Schools in some big cities to enroll the children of migrant workers?"

“Yes!” Tang Xin said solemnly, “We had discussed before that if schools in the city were also willing to enroll the children of migrant workers, would we not need to donate to build the Heping Nine-Year Compulsory Education School?”

"But my husband raised a question: Will children from rural areas be ridiculed by city students for their food, clothing, and daily necessities?"

"Are most of those rural children who are ridiculed studying hard? Or are most of them giving up on themselves? Or are they just trying to keep up with the urban students?"

Grandma Zheng had indeed thought about it earlier. If city schools were allowed to accept the children of migrant workers, there would be no need to waste money building so-called nine-year compulsory education schools in big cities.

After a moment of silence in the study, Old Mrs. Zheng slowly nodded and said, "I'll sort out your ideas when I get back, and then I'll talk to people in the education system after I return to the capital after the New Year."

That evening, after returning to Director Wang Sumei's Villa No. 2, Mrs. Zheng held a video conference with people in the capital to discuss and study this year's Hope Primary School construction project, as well as the possibility of closing the Hope Primary School due to insufficient enrollment in the future.

Unfortunately, these people either say that due to household registration restrictions, there will never be a lack of students; or that allowing the children of migrant workers to study elsewhere will lead to a loss of students; or they only care about this year's Hope Primary School construction projects and have never thought about what will happen in 10 or 20 years.

For a moment, looking at the wrinkles on the foreheads and around the eyes of the attendees on the projection screen, Mrs. Zheng suddenly thought that in 10 or 20 years, they should all be retired!

It was in that instant that she realized she had asked the wrong person!
……

The total number of provincial capitals, municipalities, and county-level cities in China is barely close to 700. Even if the Peace Charitable Foundation donated 100 million US dollars in each city to build a nine-year compulsory education school, it would still only amount to less than 7 million yuan.

Even if teachers' salaries are included later, the annual increase in magnesium costs will only be a few hundred million dollars.

Compared to the reputation of the Peace Charity Foundation, the Peace Group, and Zhang Heping, this small investment is still worthwhile!
It is said that Zhang Heping was the first to propose building Hope Primary Schools!
If it weren't for Director Wang telling him to keep a low profile, Zhang Heping, the big spender, would have changed the names of all the schools he donated to to Peace Elementary School long ago!
As the Spring Festival approached, Grandma Zheng, along with her grandniece Zhou Xirou, personally went to the train station to interview migrant workers carrying large bags and small packages, preparing to return home, inquiring about their family situations and future plans.

After hearing about this from Zhang Bei, Zhang Heping arranged for two guards to accompany them, so that Old Lady Zheng and her companions wouldn't encounter anything unpleasant.

Seeing that employees of the Peace Group were gradually given leave, projects of the World Advanced Technology Research Institute were suspended and laboratories were closed, Zhang Long and Zhang Hu, the two rascals, finally flew to the capital with the Xie sisters, Xie Wan and Xie Ting, along with a team of bodyguards, after being urged by their parents. They packed cigarettes, alcohol and cosmetics that they had prepared in advance.

It is said that the Xie family lived very close to the Zhang family, in the Huanghuamen area south of Nanluoguxiang.

Their house faces Jingshan Park to the south and Beihai Park to the west. It's only two miles away from the Zhang family's house on the north bank of Houhai Lake, just a short walk away.

If Zhang Long and Zhang Hu's maternal grandfather hadn't returned the small courtyard near Di'anmen that had been assigned to him, the two families would have been closer.

After Zhang Long and Zhang Hu arrived near Di'anmen by car, Zhang Long received a video chat call from his mother, Tang Xin.

Tang Xin only ended the video chat after confirming that her two sons had moved into the courtyard house where the Xie family lived.

Just as Zhang Long hung up the phone, Xie Ting and Zhang Hu finished their private conversation.

Then, Zhang Hu whispered to the bodyguard captain who was following closely behind, "Captain Lü, why don't you go back to the car and wait for us? There are other people living in this courtyard. Xie Ting and the others are worried that you look too fierce and might scare the children inside."

Captain Lü, wearing a black down jacket, glanced around and replied softly, "Sixth Young Master, for safety's sake, I'll wait for you here. Xiao Yu, wait outside the courtyard. The rest of you, go back to the car and wait."

"After you go inside and confirm that it is safe, Xiao Yu and I will go back to the car."

Zhang Hu's smile faded, and he replied seriously, "Then I'll have to trouble Captain Lü!"

After making the arrangements here, Zhang Long and Zhang Hu followed the Xie sisters through the second gate and headed towards the backyard.

When the two young couples arrived at the west wing of the backyard, they knocked on the door a few times but no one answered, and then they realized that it was a weekday.

"It's Monday today, and Mom and Dad are still at work!" Xie Wan was nervous the whole way home with her boyfriend for the first time, and it wasn't until now that she realized it.

Upon hearing this, Zhang Long and Zhang Hu both breathed a sigh of relief, and their bodies relaxed considerably.

"How about we go to our house first and come over later?" Zhang Long suggested, as if going later would mean he wouldn't have to meet his future father-in-law.

Click!

Suddenly, the wooden door to the right wing room opened, and a woman in her thirties with slightly disheveled hair lifted the quilt curtain, peeked in, and asked uncertainly, "Who are you looking for?"

"Sister-in-law!" Xie Wan and Xie Ting, wrapped up like rice dumplings, exclaimed in surprise, and then crowded around her.

"Sister-in-law, aren't you at work today?"

"Sister-in-law, where are the keys? It's so cold outside!"

"Little Rongrong, did you miss your aunt?"

Seeing Xie Wan and Xie Ting leading their sister-in-law into the right-side side room, Zhang Long and Zhang Hu exchanged glances, both of them having the idea of ​​making a run for it.

Despite his thoughts, if they really ran away, his mother, Tang Xin, would probably charter a plane tonight to beat them up.

From childhood to adulthood, their father, Zhang Heping, who was the strongest in terms of physical strength, never beat them or their siblings. On the contrary, their frail mother beat them a few times.

Although they weren't often scolded by their mothers, it was one of the few spice things up in their childhood.

Just as the two rascals had their idea of ​​running away, the quilt curtain in the right side room was lifted again.

"You must be Zhang Long and Zhang Hu!" Sister-in-law Xie came out with the keys, opening the door to the side room as she spoke. "I'm Cheng Bei, Xiao Wan's sister-in-law. Which of you is the older brother?"

"Hello, Sister Bei!" Zhang Long and Zhang Hu didn't know that this Bei was not the same as Bi Bei, but just assumed that the pronunciation was the same.

"I'm the older brother, Sister Bei can just call me Xiao Long!" Zhang Long added.

"Sister Bei, it's me, Xiao Hu!" Zhang Hu said with a smile.

Since they weren't Xie Wan and Xie Ting's parents, and this sister-in-law was quite young, Zhang Long and Zhang Hu relaxed a lot.

As soon as the door opened, Xie Wan darted out and ran to grab their bags.

Xie Ting was a step too late; she came out with a little boy with rosy cheeks, wearing a red, yellow, and purple color-blocked down jacket.

"Little Rongrong, quickly call him uncle!" Xie Ting reminded her little nephew.

"Uncle, you look exactly alike, are you twins too?" Eight-year-old Xie Rong leaned closer, looking left and right curiously, as if trying to find differences between Zhang Long and Zhang Hu's faces.

"Uncle heard from your aunt that you got two perfect scores this time, so I brought you a gift!" Zhang Hu patted the little one's head, as if he were seeing his own little brother Zhang Hao.

"Come inside, it's cold outside!" said Cheng Bei, the eldest sister-in-law, as she quickly came over to help carry a black suitcase.

After carrying the two large suitcases into the house, Zhang Long immediately took out his phone and called the bodyguard captain who was waiting in the front yard, reminding him to wait in the car.

After Zhang Hu came in, he opened the three large suitcases they had brought and first took out the remote-controlled toy that he had given to the little guy Xie Rong.

Then he placed the cigarettes, alcohol, cosmetics, and other gifts he had given to Xie Wan, Xie Ting's parents, elder brother, and second elder brother on the table.

By the time Xie Jia, the future father-in-law, He Fang, the mother-in-law, and Xie Qiang, the brother-in-law, returned, it was already dark outside… (End of Chapter)