68: Chapter 67: The Kind Father and the Filial Daughter 68: Chapter 67: The Kind Father and the Filial Daughter Principal Wu was overjoyed.
Ever since her husband had passed away, she had not felt such happiness.
Her illness had arisen because of the school, and now it had ended because of the school.
Had it not been for Lin Nianhe insisting that she rest, she would even want to go to the commune right now.
Lin Nianhe chatted with her for a while and only left after proposing a request to donate anonymously.
Walking out of Principal Wu’s house, Lin Nianhe felt the cloud that had been pressing on her heart for several days disperse.
She turned her head back and saw Principal Wu still standing at the doorway watching her.
Looking at her frail figure, Lin Nianhe suddenly thought of a line of poetry.
“And I wish I could build palaces to shelter all the poor in cold.”
She felt a warmth in her eyes.
Having experienced the apocalypse, she had beco thoroughly disillusioned with human nature.
She had seen girls who sold themselves for a packet of instant noodles, couples turning knives on each other, parents who would trade their children for food, children who cannibalized their parents…
She had once thought that humanity was beyond salvation.
Until she arrived here.
She t Wang Hong who tirelessly toiled for a girl’s sake, Principal Wu who devoted herself exhaustively to education, Li Dahe who gave up his hair for the economy of Birch Team…
And then there was the brilliant spark on the ox cart that day, which could start a prairie fire.
Perhaps,
In Wang Hong’s eyes, she was the benefactor who saved Wang Xixi;
In Principal Wu’s eyes, she was the good person supporting education;
In Li Dahe’s eyes, she…
was still a bit of a waste.
But in Lin Nianhe’s eyes, it was they who built a bridge with their own blood, step by step leading her out of the abyss.
They had ignited themselves to illuminate her path forward, helping her find the way ho.
She seed to hear the eager calls ahead—
“Co over quickly, or I’ll send you off to the Great Northern Wilderness.”
Lin Nianhe pondered a lot, and when she returned to her senses, she was already at the doorstep of the post office.
She hesitated for a mont, then stepped into the post office.
The post office had a telephone, but the call was very expensive.
Lin Nianhe dialed Comrade Old Lin’s office phone, clenching the handset tightly.
“Hello, good day.”
Mr.
Lin’s voice ca from the earpiece, sowhat stern.
Lin Nianhe opened her mouth and said, “Daddy, it’s .”
“Eh?
Eh!”
Comrade Old Lin’s sternness dissipated instantly, laughing heartily, “Hehe!
Why are you calling at this ti?
Missing Daddy?
Or feeling unwell?
Has soone bullied you?”
Mr.
Lin grew more anxious as he spoke, thinking increasingly negative thoughts.
Listening to his voice, Lin Nianhe felt her eyes grow warr.
She sniffed, looking downward, “Nothing, I just ca to town and was worried you might miss too much, so I called to have a chat with you.”
Comrade Old Lin detected the choke in Lin Nianhe’s voice, his own eyes becoming slightly moist, “Look at you, a grown girl, why are you crying?”
“I’m not crying.” Lin Nianhe wiped the tears from the corner of her eyes and hurriedly changed the subject, “Dad, I’m doing very well in Birch Team; Uncle Team Leader takes good care of , and the work isn’t tiring.
Oh, I’ve learned how to plant vegetables, they’ve already sprouted.”
Learned to plant vegetables—learned to spend money to get people to help with planting.
It’s okay to simplify it a bit, right?
“Wow, my girl is amazing!”
Mr.
Lin was proud yet heartbroken.
His girl had never done hard labor since she was young, and now…
“Daddy, the aunties in Birch Team like so much, Aunt Li even brought so tomatoes from her garden the other day, they were so tasty.”
Mr.
Lin nodded repeatedly, “Good, good, good…
make sure to give sothing back to people, and if you don’t have vegetables, go to the Cooperative Society and buy sothing, right, do you have enough money?
Should I ask your mom to send you so?”
Comrade Old Lin seed to have forgotten how much money his beloved daughter had taken with her when she left ho.
Or perhaps he rembered, but still worried that his child wouldn’t have enough to eat outside.
He had arranged everything that could be arranged, but still, he couldn’t rest easy.
“There’s no need, I have enough money.
I have a single room at the Educated Youth Corps where I can cook for myself.
I had the village carpenter, Second Uncle Li, make so furniture, and all in all, it only cost thirty yuan.”
Lin Nianhe took the opportunity to bring up the main point: “Dad, I’ve recently t Principal Wu from the high school in town.
She wants to build a primary school in the Team, but there’s no money…
I want to donate so, do you think that’s okay?”
Mr.
Lin was taken aback, his first reaction being: “Hehe, haven’t you been tricked by a swindler?”
Lin Nianhe’s lips trembled slightly.
This reaction was very reasonable, very real.
All she could say was: “Brother Yuncheng has t her too.”
“Oh, if that’s the case, then I’m relieved!”
Lin Nianhe: “…”
If she wasn’t feeling wrong, did Comrade Old Lin an that only she could be tricked by a swindler?
Surely he wasn’t saying she was foolish, right?
Phone calls were expensive, Lin Nianhe didn’t dwell on it and simply said: “Then I’ll donate it.”
“Yes, yes.” Comrade Old Lin beca much more serious, “Education is very important.
To be able to do sothing within our power is a good thing.”
Comrade Old Lin didn’t say too many pompous words, but after affirming Lin Nianhe’s idea, he said: “I’ll have your mother send you so more money, you shouldn’t neglect yourself because of helping others.”
“Dad, really, there’s no need,” Lin Nianhe replied in a tender, soft voice, “before I left, my brother also gave four hundred yuan.”
Comrade Old Lin: “…”
So now, he’s the poorest in the family, is that it?
Lin Nianhe, listening to the silence on the other end of the phone, covered her mouth and snickered.
She cleared her throat and quickly added: “Actually, I’m not just being blindly kind-hearted, Dad, you don’t know, our Team doesn’t have a school, and the kids have to walk seven or eight miles to Birch Team to go to school…
Recently, a child accidentally fell into the river on the way, nearly losing their life.”
On hearing Lin Nianhe’s words, Comrade Old Lin no longer pondered over the family status issues.
He had been to the countryside before and knew how difficult the mountain roads were.
The thought of little children the size of Beanny walking such a long way every day…
He couldn’t help but picture Lin Nianhe as a child in their place, his heart aching instantly and his eyes welling up with warmth.
“That’s great, my girl, well done!”
“Go ahead and do it.
If you’re short of money, tell Dad.”
Thousands of words ultimately condensed into these two sentences.
After hanging up the phone, Comrade Old Lin was reflective for a while, then quickly picked up his big tea mug and went next door to find Mr.
Su.
“Hey, Old Su, guess who just called ?”
Mr.
Su didn’t even bother giving him a glance: “The whole building could hear you yelling ‘Hehe’, I’m not deaf.”
“Hey, look at you, what a way to talk, is Yuncheng too busy to pay attention to you again?
I’m telling you, daughters are closer to the heart.
Just look, my girl even ran to town to call …”
“Ah, my daughter is so filial!”
Mr.
Lin sat on the chair, legs crossed and foot shaking.
Mr.
Su gave him a glare but didn’t want to respond.
Mr.
Lin was there to show off and didn’t care whether he got a response or not.
“Hey, you know Hehe is such a clever child, she’s only been down to the country for a few days and the vegetables she planted have already sprouted!
I always thought she wasn’t one for farm work, but look, unexpectedly, it turns out she’s truly my daughter, everything she does is successful!”
“This girl is beloved wherever she goes, the Aunties in the Corps often bring her vegetables to eat, just afraid she’ll go hungry…
Hey, Old Su, do you think I should prepare so things to send over to them?
We can’t just enjoy others’ generosity without giving back!”
“My daughter is so conscientious, she saw that the children in the Team had to walk seven or eight miles of mountain road to go to school, so she wants to donate a school for the Team!”
Mr.
Lin raised his chin, glancing at Mr.
Su with a clear ssage in his eyes—
I’ve finished talking, it’s your turn to praise my daughter!
Mr.
Su didn’t want to respond, only wanting to call his own ungrateful son to ask where he had run off to, not even calling once in a month to check on his old father.
His hand touched the phone, but like getting an electric shock, he withdrew it.
No way, he couldn’t make this call in front of Old Lin, otherwise Old Lin would just grab the phone and continue to brag about his daughter.
Mr.
Su watched the self-congratulating Mr.
Lin, when a sudden insight ca to him—
“Yes, Hehe is such a good child, you must keep an eye on her, or else so brat might whisk her away, and then you’ll have reason to cry!”
Comrade Old Lin’s smile froze at the corners of his mouth, suddenly finding the tea in his mug less fragrant.
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