Chapter 40: Zhou Yimin’s Proposal

Hearing Zhou Yimin call out, “Come here,” everyone present could already guess what would happen next. Even the little kid understood and looked up at his mother.

“Go on! Uncle Sixteen is calling you,” the woman said gently.

Only then did the little one cautiously walk over to Zhou Yimin, eyes full of anticipation.

Zhou Yimin didn’t disappoint. He always had candy or treats in his pockets. Don’t ask why—just assume he had a golden finger.

He pulled out a handful of White Rabbit milk candies. “Take them with both hands, and share them with your older brothers and sisters.”

The little one was overjoyed and nodded eagerly like a chick pecking at rice.

“Yimin, these are White Rabbit milk candies! They’re expensive, and you’re giving too many!” Zhou Zhigao wasn’t someone who had never seen the world. As a teacher, he knew how rare White Rabbit candies were.

Even kids in the city found them hard to get.

The brigade leader had also seen them before. He wanted to ask for a couple for his own kids but felt too embarrassed to speak up.

Everyone sighed in their hearts—this was so like Yimin! He was always generous. No wonder the village kids adored him, calling him “Uncle Sixteen” and sometimes even “Grandpa Sixteen.”

“Hehe! Really? A friend gave them to me, I’m not too sure,” Zhou Yimin said with a laugh.

Everyone was speechless—no one believed that nonsense.

As someone who grew up in the capital, how could he not know how precious White Rabbit candies were?

The little one carefully held a big handful of the candies and went to share them with the older children, distributing them fairly—one for you, one for me.

The old village chief quickly changed the topic. “Zhigao, I heard someone came to propose marriage?”

Zhou Zhigao immediately looked a little awkward.

It was true. Their family was struggling, and if Xiaolan got married, it would not only mean one less mouth to feed but also bring in some bride price money to help out. A win-win situation.

But the suitor’s family was trying to take advantage of them, only willing to offer two yuan as a bride price.

Even someone as mild-tempered as Zhou Zhigao was displeased by that.

“It didn’t work out,” he said without explaining further.

The old village chief and the others didn’t press him. His expression already made it clear that the discussion hadn’t gone well.

“Mm! That’s fine too. Today, Yimin brought up something about the school. The brigade leader and I think it’s time for the village children to start attending school again.

“What do you think?”

What else could he think?

Of course, Zhou Zhigao was happy! Teaching was what he was good at. When it came to carrying water or farming, he really couldn’t compete with others and earned fewer work points.

“That’s great! I have no problem with it. I can start classes anytime,” Zhou Zhigao said excitedly.

The old village chief nodded slightly and then looked at Xiaolan. “If I remember correctly, Xiaolan had good grades in the past. When I visited your house earlier, I spoke with Yimin.

“Yimin suggested that Xiaolan could also teach at the school as a substitute teacher, and the village would give her work points.”

Upon hearing this, Zhou Zhigao’s whole family was thrilled.

This was an unexpected surprise!

Not only would Xiaolan be able to support herself, but she could also earn some work points for the family.

And Xiaolan herself was happy about it. Being a teacher, no matter how mentally exhausting, was still far better than doing hard labor.

With the same amount of work points, she would definitely prefer teaching.

Plus, it would delay her need to get married. To be honest, she felt uncertain about marriage. In this era, once a woman got married, she was stuck for life. If she married into a bad situation, there was no turning back.

“No problem! Thank you, Chief…” Zhou Zhigao expressed his gratitude to several people.

“No need to thank me. This was Yimin’s idea, and it’s for the good of the village children. Of course, we support it,” the old village chief said.

Zhou Zhigao thanked Zhou Yimin again and even pulled his daughter Xiaolan over to thank him as well.

Zhou Yimin shook his head slightly. “It’s our village that should be thanking you. No matter how poor we are, we can’t afford to neglect education. Learning to read and write is always a good thing.

“Zhigao, does the school still lack anything? I might be able to help.”

Knowing that Zhou Yimin was capable, Zhou Zhigao didn’t hold back. “If possible, we could use more chalk, pencils, and exercise books.

“You know, some families can’t afford even basic school supplies.”

“Got it, leave it to me. By the way, how many school-aged children do we have in the village? Let’s try to get them all to attend.”

Even the old village chief found this difficult.

Although tuition wasn’t expensive, some families were very poor and had too many kids. They simply couldn’t afford to send them all to school.

Besides, while children didn’t contribute much to labor, they could still help out at home.

Sending them to school meant not only spending money but also losing a little bit of labor.

Some families just weren’t willing.

“That might be tough,” the brigade leader said.

Actually, Zhou Yimin had already guessed the reason.

“Chief, what if we do this?”

Everyone turned their attention to Zhou Yimin.

“The main reason some families don’t want to send their kids to school is the cost. But what if the village covered it?”

This was an idea borrowed from later times—where the village would fund education, and families only needed to send their children.

For students with good grades, there could even be financial incentives.

After all, wasn’t this how universities operated now? Not only was tuition covered, but students even received subsidies.

The old village chief and the others were stunned.

The village would pay? For tuition? For meals? Or for everything?

Did their village even have the means to do that?

If Zhou Yimin hadn’t helped get them some sweet potatoes and potatoes, the village collective wouldn’t have been able to solve even the basic issue of food.

The brigade leader smiled bitterly. “Our village doesn’t have that kind of capability.”

It would be a huge burden.

“That’s why the village needs to find a way to generate extra income,” Zhou Yimin said.

In the end, it all came down to poverty.

Right now, individuals couldn’t easily start side businesses—one wrong move and they’d be accused of speculation and profiteering. But as a collective?

The rural economy was essentially a collective economy. There were certain things they could legally do.

Zhou Yimin could easily cover the school expenses himself.

But there was no need for that. In fact, it was best not to.

Involving the whole village was the right approach—it spread out the risk significantly.

“Generate income?”

“That won’t be easy. The village land is already allocated,” the brigade leader reminded him.

Even the crops they planted were strictly regulated. If they were told to plant wheat, they couldn’t plant rice instead.

“I’m not planning to touch the farmland.”

Messing with that would be asking for trouble.

“Then we don’t have any extra land for other income projects,” the brigade leader said, confused.

Surely they weren’t going to use their tiny vegetable gardens? Small-scale efforts wouldn’t make much of a difference.

The old village chief knew Zhou Yimin must have a plan, so he asked, “Yimin, what’s your idea? Let’s hear it.”