Transmigration: Flirted with My Childhood Sweetheart-Chapter 57 - 56 The Whole World is Against Her

57: Chapter 56 The Whole World is Against Her

57 -56 The Whole World is Against Her

You have your trick; I have my ladder across the bridge.

A mere hiccup, it shall absolutely not hinder my steps to earn a bit of little money!

Lin Nianhe turned and entered an unvisited small alley, taking out an empty basket from her space storage and filled it with roughly twenty pounds of apples, gauging by her capability.

Less is better than not being able to carry at all, I suppose.

The most important thing when traversing streets and alleys isn’t how much stock you’ve got, but being able to still walk while carrying it.

The black cloth for covering the basket had been prepared in advance, and with everything well arranged, Lin Nianhe stepped out and walked on.

She was only here to scout today, hence didn’t bother with much disguise.

The absence of surveillance she had complained about a thousand times before had now become her umbrella of protection.

As long as she wasn’t caught red-handed with the stolen goods, there was no need for fear.

In any case, even if they were to turn her den upside down, at most they’d find she’d been spending money like water lately, and the unfortunate revelation of Comrade Old Lin giving her pocket money would come to light…

Lin Nianhe licked her lips, thinking of sending a telegram to Comrade Old Lin later to report her safety.

It wasn’t that she didn’t want to write a letter back, it’s just her handwriting differed greatly from that of the original owner; her writing was sharp and aggressive, while the former’s was a delicate and elegant small script, which she still needed to practice.

While lost in her thoughts, Lin Nianhe entered the gates of the Textile Factory Family Courtyard.

As soon as she entered the courtyard, she froze on the spot.

Seeing the person before her, only one thought filled her mind—

The whole world was against her.

How many people in the town?

Tens of thousands?

Hundreds of thousands?

What were the chances of running into someone you know?

One in tens of thousands?

One in hundreds of thousands?

Lin Nianhe didn’t know the exact numbers; she only knew that she might as well have not bothered carrying those twenty pounds of apples.

Principal Wu looked at Lin Nianhe, and after a moment of surprise, smiled: “Lin Nianhe?

What are you doing here?”

Lin Nianhe: “Just passing by.”

Principal Wu, carrying vegetables, walked cheerfully to her side and asked, “Are you feeling better?

How has your health been recently?”

She looked at Lin Nianhe as if she was looking at her student, at her own child.

In reality, Principal Wu had no children.

Her husband had been a teacher and during the disastrous years distributed his own food ration to fainting students, yet he didn’t survive that autumn.

They had no children, but they had many.

Principal Wu held Lin Nianhe’s hand, her mouth curving lightly, her eyes full of concern.

“I’m fine, how have you been recently?” Lin Nianhe said while taking the vegetables from Principal Wu’s hand, “Where is your home?

Let me walk you back.”

“I’m the same as always,” Principal Wu said, not very particular about her own health, “I was just discharged from the hospital two days ago.

My older sister is worried about me, insisting I stay with her for a while.

But really, there’s no need for her to take care of me.

It’s just my old problem acting up again due to the recent chill.”

Principal Wu didn’t turn down Lin Nianhe’s kind offer and they talked as they walked into a small courtyard.

The courtyard was tidy and warm.

Lin Nianhe set down the vegetables and prepared to take her leave: “Well, you should rest well, I’ll be going now.”

“What’s the hurry?

Have some water.” Principal Wu said, as she pulled Lin Nianhe into the main room.

Lin Nianhe, seeing her still pale, didn’t dare to sit and wait for water, but quickly took the thermos from her and poured two bowls of water.

Principal Wu sat down, and her pale face didn’t prevent her from being in a good mood: “Yesterday I took a trip to the commune and proposed to the leaders the idea of fundraising to build a primary school in the Ten Miles Team.

Compared to high school education, primary education is actually more essential.

If they don’t attend primary school, everything else is just empty talk in the future.”

Lin Nianhe advised, “You also need to take care of your health and not work too hard.”

“I’m not tired.” Principal Wu drank a sip of water and her eyes sparkled with hope, “I’m thinking of setting up a primary school in the Ten Miles Team so that the children won’t have to walk over ten miles of mountain roads to school anymore.

The time they save could be spent learning a few more characters, which would be beneficial.”

Lin Nianhe nodded slightly: “That’s true, and if the primary school dismisses earlier, the children can also help out with family chores, reducing the burden a bit.”

Half-grown children in the village are all used as labor; even little kids can earn three or four points a day by collecting pig fodder.

Thinking about this, Lin Nianhe suddenly felt sorrowful.

Uncle Team Leader has valid reasons to disdain her; half is due to her insistence on portraying herself as useless, and the other half…

purely deserved by her own doing.

Principal Wu seemed to have already envisioned primary schools being built in every team, her gaze exceptionally bright, as if even her cough had lightened considerably.

She talked about the school planning, the rearrangement of school hours to fit in with the children’s labor, and various methods to persuade each family to send their children to school.

As Lin Nianhe listened to her talk, she thought of something Aunt Li had said to her before.

‘A couple of years ago, the commune did mention building more primary schools, but nothing came of it…

We can barely afford meals, where would the money come from to build so many schools?’

Lin Nianhe felt that Principal Wu’s aspirations were unlikely to be realized.

Principal Wu is an academic deeply dedicated to education; her eyes see only children and education.

As such, she often overlooks some objective issues.

For instance, her ideas all have a premise – money.

Even the Ten Miles Team, one of the top three wealthiest teams in the commune, doesn’t have spare cash to build schools, let alone other impoverished villages.

Building schools is not a one-time expense; teachers’ salaries, classroom maintenance…

these are long-term costs that cannot be avoided and are absolute necessities.

If the Ten Miles Team has any extra money, the first choice would be to raise more piglets, which next year could be exchanged for more meat and food coupons to supplement their livelihoods, making life better for the villagers.

Yet what Principal Wu thinks is to endure poverty and raise more outstanding youth to build up the country and the hometown.

Actually, neither of them is wrong; they just look at the issue from different perspectives and standpoints.

Lin Nianhe waited until Principal Wu finished speaking, then casually asked, “Did the leaders of the commune agree?”

“Ah, he went to a meeting in the county, I left a letter for him,” Principal Wu replied nonchalantly, “We’ll hear back once he returns in a few days.”

Seeing her filled with hope, Lin Nianhe really feared that knowing the truth would hit her hard and she wouldn’t be able to stand it.

After hesitating for a while, she still said, “If every team were to build a primary school, it might be difficult to achieve in the short term, after all, we have to fill our stomachs first.”

“I know, we will take it step by step,” Principal Wu replied.

Lin Nianhe felt that her advice had not truly been taken to heart by Principal Wu.

She didn’t say much more, just kept her company and said things she liked to hear before taking her leave.

When she left the Textile Factory Family Courtyard, it was already half-past eleven.

Lin Nianhe knew she had no chance to survey the market today, so she retreated to her secluded alley to put away her carrying basket and headed towards the State-Owned Restaurant.

She had just waited at the entrance of the State-Owned Restaurant for five minutes when she saw Su Yuncheng and Wang Shumei coming together.

Lin Nianhe: “…?”

How did these two end up together?