Hunting 81: Gathering Goods in the Mountains, I Spoil My Ex-Wife to the Extreme

Although one-third of the school buildings have been cleared, two-thirds of the collapsed school buildings remain unrecovered, leaving behind only ruins.

The roof beams collapsed under the weight of the snow, the horizontal beams were broken, and the red bricks and gray tiles were scattered all over the ground, broken into pieces, as well as the desks and chairs that could still be vaguely seen.

Two-thirds of the collapsed school building remains to be cleared, but thankfully, after a headcount, apart from a few students suffering minor abrasions and bruises, and Teacher Yuan having a cut on her forehead from a falling brick, there were no major casualties.

This also brought a huge sigh of relief to the villagers of Guapigou Village.

However, after a brief moment of relief, everyone looked at the village primary school building, which had almost completely collapsed, with a sense of bewilderment in their eyes.

"The village primary school has completely collapsed. How will the children go to school?"

"Sigh, why are we still talking about this now? We're just grateful that the children are alright."

"Thanks to Teacher Yuan for discovering the danger in time and getting all the children outside, otherwise..."

"We really have to thank Teacher Yuan. If it weren't for Teacher Yuan's timely discovery and decisive action, the consequences would have been unimaginable."

"Teacher Yuan is our child's savior!"

"By the way, has Teacher Yuan been taken to the commune clinic? How is she doing?"

"I heard from the people who came back that Ms. Yuan is doing okay. She just hit her head and got a cut that required several stitches. She also has several other injuries, but they are not serious."

"That's good, that's good."

"Let's go see what the village chief's arrangements are. We can't let the children's schooling be delayed."

"..."

A group of villagers were talking amongst themselves when someone soon found the village chief.

"Village chief, the village primary school building has collapsed. The children still need to go to school and learn cultural knowledge. Do you think we can find a temporary place for the children to study?"

"Yes, village chief, the children's studies cannot be delayed. In this cold weather, we must find a place for them to study."

"..."

Several villagers and the village chief said.

"The village's granary is almost empty now, but it can be cleaned up and used as a classroom for the children."

The village chief thought for a moment and then spoke.

The village's granary was newly built five years ago, using high-quality red bricks and a 37-brick wall, also known as a one-and-a-half-brick wall.

This type of wall is constructed by combining 24-section and 12-section brickwork, providing excellent thermal insulation and soundproofing.

The roof beams were made of the finest wood. To prevent fire and insects, each beam was coated with tung oil before being covered with tiles, making the entire granary very sturdy.

The granary was originally used to store the village's collective grain. After the autumn harvest was stored in the granary and the public grain was handed over, the remaining grain was distributed to each household according to their work points.

Currently, there isn't much grain left in the granary, but the space inside is large enough to easily accommodate the teachers and children at the village primary school. After a little cleaning and moving in the tables and chairs, teaching activities can begin soon.

With the village chief's approval, the villagers were all delighted.

Although the village primary school building collapsed under the weight of the snow, there are still places in the village where the children can go to school, so their education will not be interrupted.

As it was getting dark, Li Yunshan returned home.

"How's the village primary school? Has anyone been injured?"

Lin Xiulan served him a bowl of egg drop soup, asking him with concern.

"The school building almost completely collapsed. Fortunately, the teachers discovered it in time and drove the children out of the classrooms, otherwise there would have been heavy casualties."

Li Yunshan took a sip of egg drop soup to warm himself up before slowly speaking.

Actually, it's fortunate that the school buildings are now made of red bricks and tiles. The moment the building collapsed, the red bricks that formed the walls, the load-bearing beams, and the gray tiles on top all fell apart.

If it were a brick-concrete structure, and it collapsed like that, rescuing people buried in the rubble would be even more difficult.

The reason why many people couldn't be rescued during the earthquake in the Olympic year was that many of the buildings at that time were no longer brick and tile houses, but brick-concrete structures.

When the building collapsed, the concrete used to pour the floor was crushed, killing most of those who weren't crushed to death.

Another point is that Teacher Yuan was able to make a quick decision and organize the students to run out first.

Otherwise, there would inevitably be several households in the village hanging white silk ribbons in their homes.

"The village is preparing to clean up the grain warehouse and make it temporarily available for the school's teachers and students."

"Then the school buildings will need to be rebuilt ahead of schedule."

Originally, when Li Yunshan killed that bear last time, he donated four thousand yuan to the village to rebuild the school building. But unexpectedly, not long after, the village primary school building collapsed under the weight of the snow.

However, the village primary school has been around for quite some time; it used to be the home of a landlord in the village.

After liberation, the landlords' families either died or fled, and their houses were used by the village as the school building for the village primary school, where they are still in use today.

Li Yunshan studied there when he was a child.

According to the village elders, the house is at least 80 or 90 years old.

"It's too cold now, the cement mortar will freeze into ice blocks, so now is not the time to build houses. We should wait until spring, when the weather is warmer, before the village can rebuild the village primary school building. However, it will be a long time before spring, and the ice and snow will thaw, so some preliminary preparations can be done."

"However, I am neither a village official nor the principal or teacher of the village primary school, so I have no say in these matters."

Li Yunshan spoke while eating.

That bear was causing havoc in the village, and the fact that he stood up and killed it was a great act of kindness to the community.

Logically speaking, no matter what he did with the bear, even if he kept all the money from selling it for himself and didn't give out a single penny, no one would dare to say anything to him.

But he still took out four thousand yuan and donated it to the village primary school. He also gave compensation to the two families who were harmed by the bear. Who else could do that?

Lin Xiulan understood that this was not Li Yunshan's business, so she didn't say anything more.

After dinner, Li Yunshan played with Dou Dou for a while, then let her go to bed on the kang (a heated brick bed).

Not long after, DouDou fell asleep.

After Lin Xiulan finished clearing away the dishes and locked the door to the main room, she came in.

At this moment, Li Yunshan took out a stack of RMB ten thousand yuan from his pocket, which he had been holding warm, and handed it to Lin Xiulan: "Xiulan, here is 10,000 yuan. It's what I earned from killing a bear and catching a bear cub when I went to Hongxing Forest Farm. Keep it safe for now, and I'll take it to the county town to deposit it in the bank in a couple of days."

When Lin Xiulan saw Li Yunshan take out so much money from his pocket, she was instantly stunned.

But what Li Yunshan said shocked her even more.

What?

In the Hongxing Forest Farm, Li Yunshan killed another bear and captured a bear cub alive.

Is this how you earned 10,000 yuan?

Lin Xiulan's face was still full of disbelief.

That's ten thousand yuan! She'd never seen such a large sum of money in her entire life.

Looking at the thick stack of large denomination bills that Li Yunshan handed over, her breathing became heavy and rapid.

"I can't take this money; I'm afraid I won't be able to manage it properly."

After a brief moment of surprise, Lin Xiulan quickly waved her hand.

"Take it, I trust you can manage this money well. Besides, I'll only let you manage it for a couple of days. I'll deposit the money in the bank when I go to the county town."

Li Yunshan's tone left no room for argument as he forcefully shoved a thick stack of ten-yuan notes into Lin Xiulan's hands.

Looking at the money in her hand, Lin Xiulan still felt like she was dreaming.

Li Yunshan's tough stance also made her feel trusted.

"Okay, I'll keep the money safe for now. In a couple of days, when you go to the county town, you must deposit this money in the bank."

Lin Xiulan took a deep breath and agreed.

But she couldn't help but remind Li Yunshan to deposit the money in the bank when he went to the county town in a couple of days.

After all, carrying so much cash on your person, or keeping it at home, is not as safe and secure as depositing it in a bank.

Moreover, you can earn interest by depositing money in a bank.

Soon, Lin Xiulan took the money and hid it.

Meanwhile, Li Yunshan had spent half a day helping to clear the ruins at the village primary school, and he was overcome with drowsiness, his eyelids drooping.

He quickly lay down on the kang (a heated brick bed), covered himself with the blanket, and soon fell asleep.

……

The next day, after sunrise, the area around the collapsed village primary school became lively.

In the freezing cold, during the off-season for farming, the able-bodied men in the village have nothing to do.

When the village officials turned on the village's loudspeaker, many people rushed to the village primary school to help.

Everyone grabbed shovels and spades, working enthusiastically on the ruins of the village primary school. The clanging and clattering of tools, along with the lively chatter, filled the air.

"Hey, do you still want these red bricks? I think they're quite nice."

"Chop off the mortar layer used for bricklaying; it should still be usable. Keep the intact pieces for now, to use for building the wall around the new school later. We'll haul the broken pieces away with a wheelbarrow and throw them away later."

"What about these beams and crossbeams? There aren't many good ones left."

"The beams and crossbeams have all been gathered up and stacked here. When the school is rebuilt next spring, they can be used to make tea for the workers."

"Oh, what a pity, this elementary school has collapsed like this."

"Fortunately, no major losses were caused, and we have to thank Teacher Yuan for that."

"Out with the old, in with the new. Li Yunshan donated money, so the villagers can donate as much as they can, and we can build a new primary school."

"By next spring, the village committee will have to make sure our village's school building is sturdy, don't you all agree?"

"Of course, we must hire experienced craftsmen to ensure the new school is well-built."

Everyone chattered away, their noisy voices echoing across the ruins of the village primary school.