After admonishing his children, Chen Yang thought of his daughter's classmate, Huang Cui.
It was not easy for a child from the countryside to study in the city. It was heartbreaking that such a good child was mocked, and even bullied, by her classmates due to her family's financial situation.
Many students in Chen Mengyan's class could get into this school without much effort because they were from Shanghai. However, a country girl like Huang Cui must have worked extremely hard to get into Fudan Affiliated High School.
Even so, she was still mocked at school because of her family's conditions. This was a tragic situation.
It was not that they were not working hard, but their life circumstances were different. It would be truly regrettable if such a hardworking child became discouraged or even gave up her studies due to being mocked and bullied by her classmates.
Fortunately, Huang Cui had a sympathetic deskmate in her daughter. If no one had helped her, would she have stopped coming to school because of bullying and mockery?
This was not impossible. In fact, many people's middle school experiences were not very good, and there was often the shadow of school bullying.
That night, Chen Yang couldn't sleep, thinking more and more about the child. Seeing her husband tossing and turning, Shen Xue was a bit puzzled.
"What's wrong? Still thinking about the kids fighting?"
Shen Xue looked at Chen Yang. In her memory, it was rare for her husband to be so troubled that he couldn't sleep.
"No, I was thinking about our daughter's classmate, that girl who wears patched clothes and eats pickles with every meal."
Chen Yang sighed. Shen Xue paused, clearly not expecting her husband to lose sleep over this.
"That child is indeed pitiful. Otherwise, why don't we help her? See if her parents are willing to come work for us, arrange a job at the factory?"
Shen Xue did not mention giving money directly. Over the years, she had learned a principle: it is better to teach someone to fish than to give them a fish.
A favor given can turn into resentment later. Sometimes, unconditionally being good to others is not a good thing. If one day you are unable to help them, and they are accustomed to your generosity, they might even blame you.
"That's a good idea. I'll contact the school teachers. If her parents are willing and diligent, arranging jobs for a few workers at the factory shouldn't be a problem."
"I'm just thinking, even among the children around us, there are such cases. In rural areas, especially in more impoverished mountainous regions, there are many students who are even more disadvantaged than Huang Cui. How should their lives be managed?"
Chen Yang now understood Shen Pandi's choice to some extent. People are not cold-blooded animals. If you don't see it, it's one thing. But for someone with compassion, seeing these situations is heartbreaking.
"Who's to say? We came from the countryside ourselves, so how could we not know the hardships? We have the ability, and we do help children from less fortunate backgrounds, but the most important thing is for the country to be prosperous. When the country is strong and prosperous, everyone can live a good life."
Shen Xue looked at Chen Yang. If her family had been well-off back then, she wouldn't have only finished elementary school. Perhaps she could have gone to high school, or even university like her sister.
Chen Yang was truly surprised by his wife's words. Unknowingly, Shen Xue was now able to see through the superficial phenomena to the essence of matters.
"Wife, you're right. In the end, it's still about national prosperity so our people can live in peace and contentment."
"However, we are now at the forefront of enjoying the dividends of this era. With greater ability comes greater responsibility. We've earned so much money, we can't spend it all."
"I'm planning to start donating money to build ten schools every year, and to sponsor the studies of one hundred students from impoverished families each year. What do you think, wife?" Su Dan Fiction Network
Chen Yang looked at his wife. Over the years, their family's living conditions had continuously improved, their business had grown, and everything was developing in the best direction. Yet, he felt increasingly that life lacked significant joy.
Everything was too unchallenging, everything was within his plans.
But today, Chen Yang seemed to have rediscovered a bit of life's joy and the meaning of striving.
When money reaches a certain amount, it becomes more and more like a number. But when wealth is transformed into something one is interested in, Chen Yang rediscovered the motivation to earn money.
"Husband, I support you."
"If our help can change the destinies of more children, I think this money is well spent on doing good deeds."
"Our family's life now is many times better than before. We've endured days of eating coarse grains and sweet potato porridge, where eating it for one meal made us happy for half a day. What are we dissatisfied with now?"
"We're earning so much money now that we can't spend it all. It's better to use it to help those who need help. We can consider it as accumulating good deeds and blessings for our children."
Shen Xue did not object; instead, she was very supportive. Over the years, she knew how much money her husband had earned for their family, and he had even helped her father earn a lot of money.
She also clearly felt that Chen Yang was paying increasing attention to the safety of her and their two daughters, always accompanied by several bodyguards when they went out.
This money had come too quickly, making Shen Xue sometimes feel a little scared.
She had experienced that era. Sometimes, having too much money was not necessarily a good thing.
A person only eats three meals a day, and sleeps in one bed at night. They couldn't spend all that money anyway, so it was better to use it to help children who couldn't afford to study.
"Wife, I'm glad you agree. I'll start planning this matter tomorrow."
Chen Yang felt a surge of determination after receiving Shen Xue's reply.
He not only wanted to build schools but also to use money to establish a research department specifically for technological innovation. Chen Yang knew how the West had blocked China's technology in later generations.
Operating systems for computers and chips—even up to Chen Yang's rebirth, China was still being held back by these issues.
Chen Yang refused to believe that if he started working on it from the 1980s, he couldn't make something significant out of these things in a few decades.
Also, in a few years, the Soviet Union would disintegrate, and there would be a "big guy." At that time, the country spent a huge sum of money to purchase this "big guy."
Although Chen Yang's voice was insignificant, he thought of those comrades who donated tens or hundreds of yuan to buy an aircraft carrier for the country, and felt that he should contribute his part.
Zhenhua Electrical Appliances Factory was developing rapidly. While it had captured nearly half of the domestic home appliance market, the large factories Chen Yang had established in Guangdong province were tackling technical challenges.
The foreign trade company in Hong Kong was also fully engaged in opening up markets in Southeast Asia and Europe and America. Don't think that Chinese manufacturing has no chance against foreign companies with advanced technology. Chinese manufacturing initially entered the market not based on technical expertise or quality, but on being affordable.
Foreigners were rich, but if they could buy something for fifty dollars or even thirty dollars that originally cost a hundred dollars, even if the quality was slightly inferior, that price could compensate for some shortcomings, couldn't it?