What kind of experience is it when an elder brother, over 20 years old, visits and inspects the school where his younger siblings study, accompanied by relevant leaders and the principal?
This kind of showing-off isn't even common in web novels, is it?
Tan Jincheng, surrounded by the group in the middle, only found it a bit comical; a patron truly is different.
Especially after Tan Jincheng privately donated another 500,000 yuan to the middle school in the name of Tan Lihua, he really got that feeling of being a top donor.
This was also Tan Lihua's alma mater; he spent his junior high years here.
As his alma mater, they definitely had an impression of a student who passed the exam for a polytechnic school in the 1970s and 80s.
There were also some of Tan Lihua's former classmates in the old school.
In his previous life, he had heard his father and younger siblings mention that this middle school, currently located in the town center, was later relocated due to development, and the students were merged directly into another middle school.
They even lost the school's name.
They didn't even have any memories of their student days left, and their tone at the time was full of regret.
With the outflow of population, college students from the small town were unwilling to return, and those who earned money working in the city would take their children with them.
At the very least, they would consider buying a house in the county for their children to have a better study environment.
Various factors determined the fate of town-level middle schools.
The merging of villages and schools was also inevitable; whichever was stronger would merge into that school.
To preserve these memories, external support was needed.
It was unknown if this donation of nearly a million yuan would change the fate of this school.
"Mr. Tan, look, this is our teaching area. Currently, there are about fifty-some students in each class."
"Uh, Principal, just call me Xiao Tan. You were my dad's teacher; the title 'Mr. Tan' is a bit too much for me,"
Tan Jincheng said, scratching his head awkwardly.
Town-level middle schools had limited resources and generally average faculty.
Many older teachers who stayed there spent their entire lives there, so it was not surprising for them to have taught several generations of fathers and sons.
If Tan Jincheng had stayed in his hometown then, it was estimated that the person in front of him might have taught him as well.
Nominally today, Tan Jincheng was representing his father Tan Lihua in donating to his alma mater, and the principal had once taught Tan Lihua, so he was somewhat unaccustomed to the title "Mr. Tan."
When dealing with county leaders for business, it was appropriate for them to call him "Mr. Tan," but today was purely a private, personal visit.
The school area was small, and there wasn't much to see.
Tan Jincheng didn't know which class his younger siblings were in, so he didn't go to find them, only mentioning their names to the principal.
Tan Jincheng didn't know how the previously donated funds were allocated, but the mere 500,000 yuan specifically for this school caused a certain sensation among the teachers once it was announced.
This was simply the God of Wealth coming to their door!
It wasn't a prestigious school.
The earliest batch of students to go to college either became state-owned enterprise workers or held minor official positions; very few went into business.
As for business people, there were a few rich individuals who emerged from the town, but this was a cash donation of 500,000 yuan; they didn't have that kind of financial capability.
No one expected an alumnus to donate such a large sum.
So, after Tan Jincheng and his entourage left, the teachers who didn't have classes gathered around the principal and the school's academic director.
"Principal, which rich tycoon came to hand out money? Did he say how this 500,000 yuan will be used?"
"Yeah, will it be used to give us a raise?"
"I just saw that rich tycoon; he looked quite young. Could he be a student of ours? Who remembers having a student who looked like that in their class?"
The basic life of grassroots educators was relatively poor.
In those days, tutoring for money wasn't very popular, and even opening a private tutoring class wouldn't earn much.
Therefore, everyone was most concerned about how the school would use this money.
Teachers are human, after all, which is very reasonable.
The old principal was also very excited.
This was the largest donation in the middle school's history since its establishment.
Having been a teacher his entire life, he didn't expect such a good thing to happen in his old age.
If it had been a few years earlier, he might have even gotten a promotion, perhaps a position at the county education bureau before retiring? It wasn't impossible to imagine.
"Alright, alright, stop asking. None of them are your students, but his father was a student at our school, named Tan Lihua. Xiao Wu, you should remember him; he's from the village next to yours, and you two were classmates."
"Holy cow! It's Old Tan? Didn't he work at the petrochemical plant? Where did he get so much money?"
"Tan Lihua, I remember him too. He was quite handsome when he was young. Yeah, where did he get the money?"
"I know a little about this; his wife is from our village. It should be his son who donated it, right, Principal?"
The old principal nodded:
"That's right, it's his son, but he donated in Tan Lihua's name. Later, you'll make a banner and hang it for two days to give him some face. Besides this 500,000 yuan, he and his friends also donated 8 million yuan to the county, 40% of which will be allocated to our town-level middle schools. We'll get over 300,000 yuan from that. We're rich now."
"What's going on? Old Zhang, Old Tan's son is that rich? 500,000 is one thing, but 8 million?"
The middle-aged male teacher, addressed as Old Zhang, was obviously stunned by the figure of 8 million and was speechless for a moment.
It wasn't until someone next to him nudged him that he composed himself and said,
"Tan Lihua's wife, Zhang Suzhi, is from our village. They go back to our village every New Year to pay respects. Last year, his son drove a Passat back, and this year he changed to an Audi A6.
At that time, the village was already spreading rumors that his son made a lot of money. I heard a bit about it then, but I'm not sure how much exactly. I only know that he got one of his uncles to work at his company. Oh, right, his uncle's son in the village also took a leave of absence this year and will go study elsewhere in the future."
"Speaking of which, this kid, two years ago, in 2003, caused a bit of a stir. He suddenly disappeared for a few months. His maternal grandparents' family was frantic. Later, I heard that he dropped out of a good university to work on a cruise ship with his classmates. I even privately joked about it with my wife when I heard about it then..."
It wasn't strange.
Whether they knew the inside story or not, everyone felt it was a pity that Tan Jincheng and Zhang Xupeng missed out on college, especially Old Zhang, who was a teacher and deeply internalized the idea of studying hard.
"What do you mean? Secretly dropped out to work in 2003? Didn't even go to college? That's outrageous!"
"No, that's not it. He had just graduated from high school that year. Now he's probably around 22? He went missing for a few months back then. This incident caused a big stir not only in his hometown but also in his grandmother's village, which is our village. Both families were scared to death, thinking he had been abducted."
"That's right, I've heard about this too. Our two villages are next to each other. This kid even stole melons from our village fields when he was little. His family was looking for him everywhere in the fields and by the roadside back then,"
Xiao Wu, whom the old principal had mentioned earlier, replied.
The principal was hearing about this for the first time, but discussing the patron behind his back wasn't very good.
"Alright, alright, stop discussing. He's doing a good deed. Who hasn't made a few mistakes as a child? Besides, if it weren't for his father, how would he know any of us? Don't discuss these things anymore."
"Why did he come back to donate money for no reason? Was it his father's request?"
"No, I heard from people in the county that he came back to invest, and this was just a side thing. Oh, right, Xiao Wu, come to my office in a bit. I'll give you a few names. They are all Xiao Tan's younger siblings. You happen to have a connection, so take care of them privately then."
"No wonder, donating money probably also has the meaning of taking care of his younger siblings. Tsk tsk, it's good to be rich."
"So, did he say how the donated money will be spent? Are there any requirements? Will we get a raise?"
The principal glared at the questioning teacher:
"Money, money, money! Does that sound like a teacher?"
But then he smiled and said,
"Don't worry, Xiao Tan said that 200,000 out of the 500,000 will be used to give bonuses to all teachers in the school, and the rest will be used for school construction and improving the students' learning environment. As for how the money donated to the county will be distributed, we'll wait until the county's plan is finalized."
"Mr. Tan is so generous! Principal, what are you waiting for? You should have gone to the county with him just now. Why didn't you ask for more when you had such a good opportunity? Why should we share it equally with other schools?"
"Exactly, we have this connection, why should we share it equally? Ask for another 500,000! We could even build a set of dormitories."
"Yes, yes, yes, Principal, go quickly! It's still not too late. Should I take you on my motorcycle?"
The old principal didn't know whether to laugh or cry:
"You all, uphold the dignity of teachers, do you understand?!"
"It's not a conflict, teachers also need to eat. It's rare to meet such a rich tycoon. This time, he's doing it for his father and younger siblings. Do you think there'll be a next time?"
"Hahaha, Old Zhang, why don't you go visit his maternal grandfather's house after work? Persuade his maternal grandfather a bit, maybe he'll donate again."
"Give it a rest, do you think people are fools? Besides, if I were to persuade anyone, I'd persuade them to donate to our village's elementary school."
"You're turning your elbow outwards! Besides, why would an elementary school need donations? Junior high is where the foundation is built. If you don't get into high school, everything is over. A good learning environment is needed."
The principal saw that these people were chatting endlessly and couldn't stand it anymore:
"All of you, hurry back to your offices! Those without classes, won't you prepare your lessons? Do you have any semblance of teachers? Just a few hundred thousand and you're this unsettled?"
"Yes, yes, yes, we're going. Oh, right, Principal, do you want me to take you to the county? I ride my motorcycle very steadily."
Those who dared to joke around with the principal were mostly old colleagues who had worked at the school for many years, so they weren't afraid of the principal and dared to say anything and make any jokes.
The old principal said exasperatedly,
"Xiao Zhang and Xiao Wu stay. Everyone else, hurry back to your posts!"
The crowd then dispersed, but it was clear they were in good spirits.
Before dismissal, the news of a sudden 500,000 yuan donation to the school, with 200,000 yuan allocated for teacher bonuses, spread among the teachers of this small town-level middle school.
Everyone was overjoyed!
Currently, the total number of faculty and staff in the school is approximately 50.
Calculated as an average distribution, each person would receive roughly 4,000 yuan!
(End of chapter)