I am a Big Player
Chapter 265 - 263, Harry Potter (third update)_1

Chapter 265: 263, Harry Potter (third update)_1

You might understand that Ren He knows a popular actress like Xia Yuting; no matter how famous she is, even if catching a plane would have fans rushing to pick her up at the airport, after all, they’re all young people, so there’s no generation gap. But it’s a bit bewildering for Ren He to know Elder Zhou. In the minds of students in the Capital, Elder Zhou is a leader in the literary world, an exalted figure of the temple, so how could Ren He possibly know someone like this? And judging by the way Ren He talks to Elder Zhou, the two of them clearly know each other very well.

Ren He hopped off the pickup truck and laughed, "Elder, are you done being the editor in the big city and coming here to be a village official?"

The Elder Zhou in front of him was puffing on a half-smoked cigarette, draped in a dirty coat, with messy hair to boot— the very picture of a villager from the last century. Elder Zhou smiled happily, "You can tease me all you want, but as long as you can come, I’m satisfied. We’ve found a teacher for the support education program who can start in half a month. All you need to do is hold down the fort for this half a month. The previous teacher here ran away, they simply couldn’t bear it anymore. I don’t blame them, it really is too hard here, but the children have been out of school for more than three months now, and we can’t delay any longer."

Ren He walked with Elder Zhou outside, with Elder Zhou’s two assistants who didn’t look much better than him. However, everyone was genuinely pleased to see that help had arrived, like a battle unit entrenched in a tug-of-war over a position, and reinforcements finally came; it was a feeling indescribable.

The members of the Qinghe Club followed behind, surrounded by a swarm of smiling children, but there was one stark feature common to all these kids: their faces were dirty, and their clothes were tattered.

They couldn’t avoid being dirty. Drinking clean water here was a struggle, so how could they afford to bathe? Being able to wash once every six months was already quite good.

Elder Zhou led Ren He to the village’s original schoolhouse, and Ren He was speechless at the sight before him...

The irregular mud walls summed up to a single, lonely classroom standing there. Upon entering, one could only see a thick wooden beam crossing the room, and a crude blackboard, pocked and uneven.

The roof was made of tiles, but when everyone stepped inside and looked up, sunlight streamed in through the gaps, revealing numerous leaks throughout.

What’s the purpose of a house? To provide shelter from the wind and rain.

But what could this place shield? Nothing at all!

The children had to study in this classroom that couldn’t block wind, rain, or sun. Why bother studying? They were studying in the hope that one day they could have a solid roof over their heads that could give their own children the chance to study in a better environment.

Some people always say: why bother with prolonged education for rural kids when, in the end, they graduate to earn a monthly salary of just 2000, 3000, 4000 yuan? What’s the point?

Some experts say rural folks should get an education within their means.

When Ren He heard these experts’ opinions, he realized one thing—these people had no idea just how hard some places were. In such conditions, one must fight desperately to get out, because only by doing so can life get better.

You casually discourage them from getting an education? Fuck that, earning a salary of over 2000 yuan a month is better than living in a place like this. Education is their shortcut to changing their destiny! In such places, even a year of farming doesn’t bring in 2000 yuan, so how could they not want to change their fate, unless they simply don’t know how to study.

Ren He didn’t even know how he would be able to study in such a classroom.

This dilapidated classroom, just like China’s education system, is full of holes! Ren He suddenly understood why Elder Zhou broke down in tears after coming here; he felt like crying too, his heart aching for the children.

Members of the Qinghe Club were dumbfounded when they saw everything; in a big city like the Capital, reading about this in the newspaper, they couldn’t even begin to imagine how shocking this type of learning environment would be for the city’s children.

Liu Jiamin looked at the blackboard, where a few words were written: "Teacher, I’m sorry."

These were the words left by the last volunteer teacher, who couldn’t endure a salary of just 360 a month and had to leave before going insane. But everyone could understand the bitterness revealed by those few words on the blackboard. The promising university student who came to teach here had become a deserter after five years.

But Ren He didn’t look down on him at all because at least he had come, and that alone deserved respect.

Elder Zhou led everyone back, and Ren He suddenly asked, "How are the overseas sales of ’The Kite Runner’ doing?"

Elder Zhou’s face lit up with a smile as he said, "The sales of ’The Kite Runner’ have exploded now; it’s topped the bestseller lists in 21 countries. The funds for the Qinghe Fund are gradually increasing, allowing us to build quite a few more schools."

"Feel free to spend it," Ren He said seriously, "I’ll write some more things to add to the assets of Qinghe Fund. I believe they all have a strong ability to attract money. It’s better to use them for the Qinghe Fund than to spend them on yachts. You understand the state of society today, increasingly fast-paced, where people laugh at poverty but not at prostitution. Don’t assume everyone is as enlightened as you are. When we look for volunteer teachers, we can’t make them suffer. We must offer them the same treatment as local teachers in provincial capitals, plus an additional 1,500 yuan a month. A teacher who can teach with peace of mind is stronger than anything. Perhaps with this salary, he might consider putting down roots here. Do you remember what I once said? ’A strong youth makes a strong nation.’ Some things, once seen, can’t be left for others to do. We should do them ourselves."

Ren He lit a cigarette for Elder Zhou and also lit one for himself—he rarely smoked now, but he couldn’t help it at this moment. Elder Zhou laughed and said, "I really have to reevaluate you now. Do you remember how desperate you were for money when we first met?"

"Haha, people change," Ren He laughed and said, "If you tell a beggar: ’Donate some money for the children in the mountains.’ What do you think? He won’t pay attention to you because he doesn’t even have food to eat for himself."

That’s the principle; indeed, charity should be done according to one’s capacity. Of course, there are those with great character who, despite having very little in savings, dedicate their entire life savings to support students.

Ren He could only look up to such people but wouldn’t learn from them. What he could do was to provide Qinghe Fund with a stronger foundation of intellectual property rights, to make it everlasting and eventually become the most powerful entity in China’s charity sector.

That’s why Ren He told Elder Zhou that he would write more works to put into the assets of Qinghe Fund. Those would be the most brilliant stars of that bygone era, possessing the strongest ability to attract money.

After the completion of Dota, money was enough for Ren He; he had hesitated whether to keep those works for himself but now he was no longer unsure. Ren He decided to leave them for Qinghe. The monthly revenue from Dota was set to reach 150 million US Dollars, and there were so many other games that could be brought into this world. Wouldn’t he have enough to spend?

Ren He decided to leave "Harry Potter" to Qinghe Fund!

...

As usual, let’s have a bite to eat. Thank you, everyone, for sharing my values. It’s always better to express one’s ideas in the book, even if some might say it’s just personal opinion or call it boring.

President has said that web novel authors should also fulfill their social duties... If you are inspired, please don’t donate money; donate study materials, donate clothes, anything is better than donating money.