Transmigration: Flirted with My Childhood Sweetheart
Chapter 363 - 362: The Contradiction Between Education and Making Money

Chapter 363: Chapter 362: The Contradiction Between Education and Making Money

"Don’t get emotional," Principal Wu said to Wang Dong, "It’s normal to have problems, we just need to analyze and solve them. You can’t blame the students—weren’t you the same when you were a student?"

Silence fell again.

You never know your parents’ dedication until you have children of your own, nor the difficulties your teachers faced until you become a teacher yourself.

Seeing that no one was speaking, Principal Wu asked, "Nianhe, what do you think?"

"Huh?"

Lin Nianhe felt somewhat helpless.

What could she think? She also had no experience with this kind of situation!

The education she received involved having teachers at school, tutors at home after school, and even more intense study sessions during holidays. Supplementary classes never seemed to stop.

Even if she wanted to forget, her teachers wouldn’t allow it!

But now?

Parents still need to attend literacy classes, wanting to help their children with homework... They lack both the ability and the time.

Seeing that Lin Nianhe remained silent, Principal Wu tapped his fingers on the desk and said, "There are less than two months until the winter break. What if this situation happens again? Our students aren’t like city kids; it’s not easy for each of them to attend school. We can’t let them spend money and end up learning nothing."

Lin Nianhe thought for a long time before tentatively suggesting, "How about we gather the students together during the holidays to do their homework and study? The Team headquarters might be available, right?"

"That’s feasible for us here, with you all to watch over them, but what about the children from Nine-miles Team?" Principal Wu said, "Without a teacher to supervise, won’t they just end up causing trouble if they’re thrown together?"

Lin Nianhe tentatively asked, "Uncle He?"

As soon as she spoke, she herself felt it was unreliable.

Uncle He, the Team leader, couldn’t possibly have the time to watch the students do their homework every day, and he probably couldn’t provide effective tutoring either.

Principal Wu shook his head, and after a long thought with no results, he could only say, "We need to think it over some more."

With some time before the winter break, they should be able to come up with an effective solution.

In fact, the vast majority of schools nowadays don’t care about how students spend their holidays or even their grades. After all, there is no pressure of further education or possibility of university entrance exams.

Lack of pressure and competition naturally leads to complacency.

Lin Nianhe calculated that the largest group of students at their village school would be taking the college entrance exams in 1980.

University students of that time were truly the privileged, able to change the fortunes of their entire family.

But these were precisely the things she couldn’t say; she couldn’t even offer them motivation.

Lin Nianhe looked at the empty playground, her brows tightly furrowed.

The principal was right, they indeed needed to think it over...

"Hm? Why is there nobody here today? Where have all the students gone?"

Lin Nianhe glanced at the time. There were still fifteen minutes until class. She opened the window, leaned out and called to the neighboring classroom, "Sister Xue, where did all the students go?"

But the response came from Wang Shumei, poking her head out from the fourth-grade classroom: "They’ve all gone to the grain drying yard to learn how to make matchboxes."

Lin Nianhe pointed to the next room, "They’ve gone too?"

"Mhm."

Lin Nianhe: "..."

Indeed, immediate cash seems more appealing than a distant future.

It is ironic that the stumbling block in the path of education turns out to be making money.

Oh no, to be precise, the stumbling block on the path of education should be the lack of money.

Lin Nianhe wiped her face and let out a long sigh: "This is tough!"

After a moment of silence, she stood up and walked briskly towards the grain drying yard.

She had a vague sense of foreboding.

...

Today, the Ten Miles Team was exceptionally lively, not only because the village school was starting its new term, but also because the raw materials for matchbox making had been delivered. The storeroom, which had been emptied not long ago, was now filled with boxes of materials. The villagers gathered in the grain drying yard to learn how to make matchboxes with Yuan Hua and then proceeded to Liu Neng’s to register for materials.

The villagers were in high spirits, carrying large and small packages and chatting on their way home.

They said the work was really easy, that anyone with hands could do it; they said they could earn a bit more before the New Year’s Eve and have a good year; they said that someone with seven children would certainly earn the most...

As they encountered Lin Nianhe on the road, they didn’t forget to smile and thank her.

Lin Nianhe’s smile seemed forced, and she quickened her pace towards the grain drying yard.

Next to the grain drying yard, Su Yuncheng and Feng Wei were present. With the two of them standing there, even though they didn’t do anything, no one made trouble.

Su Yuncheng looked at Lin Nianhe with some puzzlement: "Why are you here? Aren’t you taking a break at noon?"

"I’m not in the mood," replied Lin Nianhe curtly, without stopping, and headed towards where Yuan Hua was.

There were many children around Yuan Hua, looking much more serious than they did in class.

Lin Nianhe’s expression darkened slightly, and she walked over with furrowed brows: "Class is about to start, what are you all doing here?"

Her voice was somewhat cold and not very loud, yet it immediately made the students stop their movements.

Lin Nianhe had hardly ever lost her temper at school, and for this reason, when she suddenly showed her stern face, the students instantly didn’t dare to make a peep.

Lin Nianhe knocked on the table: "Remember this, no matter which class you’re from, if anyone dares to bring anything related to matches to school, I will make them copy all the textbooks from first to fifth grade from start to end."

Her voice was cold and unquestionable, not only making the students quiet down but also silencing the parents queued up for materials.

Lin Nianhe didn’t pay attention to the ones behind her, and turned to the students: "Now, put down what’s in your hands and go back to class."

The students obediently placed the pieces of cardboard back on the table and ran quickly back to the school.

Lin Nianhe didn’t follow them back but turned to look at the villagers waiting in line.

She frowned slightly, silent for a moment, feeling that it wasn’t her place to say this, then turned and entered the Ten Miles Team’s office.

Next to her, Feng Wei said to Su Yuncheng: "Brother Cheng, Sister Lin is quite scary when she’s angry."

Su Yuncheng thought to himself, what’s so scary about that? No blood has been shed yet.

Feng Wei tentatively asked another question: "Brother Cheng, has Sister Lin ever lost her temper with you?"

Su Yuncheng glanced at him and replied evenly: "I’ve never provoked her."

Feng Wei: "...?"

Never provoked. Not the same as never getting angry.

He suddenly felt that at this moment, Brother Cheng was really chicken-hearted.

Lin Nianhe went into the Ten Miles Team’s office, just in time to see Li Dahe and He Aimin happily smoking, with the commune leader—also known as Wong Xiaokou—sitting beside them.

Wong Xiaokou’s real name was Wong Xiao, and even though he was five years younger than Li Dahe, his hair had turned white early.

Seeing her with a tense face, Wong Xiao immediately asked: "Sister Lin, what’s wrong? Is there something lacking in my work? Or is there an issue with our process?"

Li Dahe: "..."

He Aimin: "..."

Although they had seen how shamelessly Wong Xiaokou brown-nosed Lin Nianhe before, every time they saw it, they couldn’t help but want to ask him if he’d left his face at home.

Lin Nianhe still kept her face tensed, and asked earnestly and straightforwardly: "Leader, what should we do if making matches leads to an increased rate of students dropping out?"