I'm back in 1990

Chapter 250: You're here to build a school?

The next morning, Huang Xiaochuan and the others got up early. Yu Weiding followed Huang Xiaochuan and ran twenty laps around the elementary school playground, mainly because the playground was too small.

The air is so fresh! Looking around, the mountains are shrouded in a light mist, it's incredibly beautiful!

Chen Gui and his wife got up early and were busy making breakfast for Huang Xiaochuan and the others.

Huang Xiaochuan and the others greeted Chen Gui: "Good morning, Principal Chen!"

Good morning, Principal Chen!

"Principal Chen!"

Chen Gui warmly greeted them, "Breakfast is ready, come and eat!"

Breakfast was very ordinary: porridge with steamed glutinous rice cakes. The porridge was served with pickled vegetables, and the glutinous rice cakes were dipped in white sugar. It was incredibly delicious.

Huang Xiaochuan praised the food as he ate.

"Principal Chen, Auntie's cooking is amazing! This kimchi is absolutely delicious, and this glutinous rice cake is so chewy!"

"Eat as much as you like. We have plenty of these things here. My wife made them herself. Take a few jars with you when you go back. I can't bring you the glutinous rice cakes. They don't keep well. They'll grow mold before you even get to the bottom of the mountain."

Chen Gui was about to leave with a bamboo basket on his back when Huang Xiaochuan quickly called him back.

"Principal Chen, where are you going?"

"Let's go to the market and get some fresh vegetables. We'll cook something delicious for you guys to try at lunchtime."

Huang Xiaochuan's interest was piqued: "Is it a market day?"

"Yes, it is!"

"Can we come with you?"

"What's wrong with that? If you want to go, just go."

The market is located at the entrance of the township grain station. It is mainly because the terrain here is flat and it has the largest cement floor in the entire township, so local villagers like to trade goods here.

This was the first time Huang Xiaochuan, Ding Yi, and Yu Wei had ever been to a market in the southwestern mountainous region. Although Huang Xiaochuan had gone to markets with his grandmother when he was a child, the scene at a market in a small town in Jiangnan was completely different from what he had experienced here.

When we arrived at the market, there were quite a lot of people. Almost every local mountain villager was carrying a bamboo basket on their back, which could hold all sorts of things.

They filled bamboo baskets with vegetables, chickens, ducks, fish, and some even had piglets with their four paws tightly bound, squealing and squealing.

Some baskets were also used to carry small children. Babies under one year old were placed in the baskets, holding a steamed sweet potato in their hands and munching on it, their faces covered in sweet potato, and they would lick their lips from time to time.

As he walked and looked around, Huang Xiaochuan would occasionally stop to ask the mountain people setting up stalls about prices and to get a sense of the local cost of living.

You wouldn't believe how cheap it was until you asked!

A rooster weighing four or five pounds costs about three yuan, while a hen is more expensive, costing four yuan for a hen weighing three or four pounds. Huang Xiaochuan guessed that the reason hens are more expensive is because they lay eggs.

As for the pricing units for things like fern roots, vegetables, and sweet potatoes, they are all in cents, while the pricing unit for pork and fish is in mao (a unit of currency).

Of course, wild game was also included, but Huang Xiaochuan didn't like it. He just looked at it and didn't even ask the price.

Looking around the entire market, there was only one butcher. The butcher was a big, strong man with a headscarf, a style unique to people from the mountains, and a leather apron. He was carrying a knife and shouting energetically.

Huang Xiaochuan asked him, "How much is this meat?"

The burly butcher looked at Huang Xiaochuan and his group curiously: "Outsiders?"

"Yes, how much is this meat per pound?"

"Nine cents a pound. Look at all this top-quality pork belly. Look how fatty this meat is. It's perfect for making braised pork belly. It'll be so fragrant you won't be able to stop eating it." The butcher patted the greasy pork ribs with his hand.

"Anyone who's a bit thinner?"

"Let me tell you, lean meat doesn't taste good; fatty meat is much tastier."

Huang Xiaochuan examined the meat for a moment, then made a cut on it. "I want this piece."

With a deft slice, the butcher separated a large piece of meat. His greasy hands hung the meat on the scale hook, and he adjusted the weight, causing the scale beam to rise high.

"Thirteen catties and two ounces, totaling eleven yuan and eighty-eight cents."

Huang Xiaochuan took out his money to pay, and Zhou Wei stepped forward and took the meat in his hand.

There were baskets for sale at the market, so Huang Xiaochuan bought a few to make it easier to buy things. Each of them carried one on their backs, and at first glance, they looked just like the locals, except that they didn't wear headscarves.

Ding Yi and Yu Wei were both very adaptable. Ding Yi carried a chicken in his left hand and a duck in his right, while Yu Wei carried a bamboo basket of fruit on his back. This place was famous for its cherries and plums, and the prices were incredibly cheap. Cherries were 12 cents a pound, and plums were 9 cents a pound.

Seeing how cheap it was, Yu Wei bought a whole bunch of cherries. He wasn't tired at all, and he kept stuffing cherries into his mouth as he walked. He would also stuff a few into Ding Yi's mouth every now and then, without even washing them. The two of them were eating with great relish.

After a hearty lunch, Ding Yi and Yu Wei rubbed their stomachs and groaned. Huang Xiaochuan, along with two designers, surveyed the site at the school. Huang Xiaochuan planned to build the first primary school he donated here.

Huang Xiaochuan squatted on the playground with a tree branch in his hand, scratching at the ground as he explained his ideas to Engineer Mei and Engineer Liu from the design institute: "Engineer Mei, based on the population here, I think two two-story teaching buildings should be enough. However, we also need to take into account the teachers' dormitories and the canteen. The environment here is already harsh enough. We should at least make sure the teachers have a better place to live, and that the children can have a hot meal at school at noon."

Huang Xiaochuan squatted on the playground with a tree branch in his hand, scratching at the ground as he explained his ideas to Engineer Mei and Engineer Liu from the design institute: "Engineer Mei, based on the population here, I think two two-story teaching buildings should be enough. However, we also need to take into account the teachers' dormitories and the canteen. The environment here is already harsh enough. We should at least make sure the teachers have a better place to live, and that the children can have a hot meal at school at noon."

After personally visiting the market to check the local prices, Huang Xiaochuan estimated that even if each of the two hundred students received two ounces of meat, it wouldn't cost much. Including rice, vegetables, pots, pans, soy sauce, and seasonings, it wouldn't cost more than a hundred yuan a day.

After listening to Huang Xiaochuan's idea, Engineer Mei immediately started sketching on his sketchbook. He quickly drew a draft of the architectural design according to Huang Xiaochuan's idea, because Huang Xiaochuan's requirements were very simple: he didn't care how beautiful the appearance was, but only that it was simple to build and sturdy.

Since the aesthetics of the building's exterior are not a concern, it's simple for Engineer Mei. He can complete the rough sketch with just a few strokes.

Huang Xiaochuan looked at the sketch and asked Engineer Liu, who was in charge of structural design.

"Engineer Liu, based on the construction costs in Shanghai, how much would these buildings cost approximately?"

"If it's a brick-concrete structure, it won't cost much, around 200,000 yuan. If it's a concrete frame with shear walls, it will be about 100,000 yuan more expensive. The main cost is in the steel bars and concrete. However, a rammed earth structure should be enough for a little over 300,000 yuan. Considering the prices here, it should be lower than the construction cost in Shanghai."

Just then, a surprised voice rang out from behind the three: "You're going to help us build a school?"

The three people squatting on the ground turned around and saw Chen Gui staring intently at the sketch in Huang Xiaochuan's hand.

Now that he had seen it, Huang Xiaochuan decided not to hide it from Chen Gui.

Huang Xiaochuan stood up, walked up to Chen Gui, and handed him the sketch.

"There is such a plan, but Principal Chen, please don't announce it for now."

Huang Xiaochuan then briefly explained his plan and purpose to Chen Gui.

Chen Gui nodded repeatedly. "Yes! Huang Xiaochuan is right. Teachers' salaries are still in arrears, so the county and township governments can't get involved in building the school. Otherwise, the money will definitely be diverted to other places. There's no other way. The government has a lot of work to do and too many places where money is needed, such as paying the back wages, replacing official vehicles, and improving the working environment, right?"

Therefore, it is still necessary to come down with the auspices of the Central Committee of the Communist Youth League and the China Youth Development Foundation in order for this matter to be implemented smoothly. Otherwise, if the money is misappropriated, who knows when the school will be built.

Upon learning that Huang Xiaochuan and his group wanted to visit the villages below, Chen Gui patted his chest and said, "I'll contact someone right away and have them come pick you up tomorrow."

"Principal Chen, we must keep this a secret, or the school's plans will fall through, and don't blame me."

"I know what I'm doing, don't worry. I'll talk to them. If they don't keep their mouths shut, they can forget about fixing the school."