In 1992, a small village owner became the richest man in the village by owning a car.

Chapter 296: Going to a vocational school to recruit people, I unexpectedly encounter a young man surnamed Liu.
"What we taught was still reading and writing, with A-Gui as the main teacher. But this simple approach made Er-Yan and the others feel that learning was easy. As a result, we had a few more children. When their parents found out, they were a little embarrassed and took out some things from their homes to thank our father for his efforts."

Han Jingfan lowered her head and bit off the black thread with her teeth: "Actually, we should also thank Principal Zhang for this. There are eight children in the room, and Principal Zhang made a guarantee to give them another chance to enter junior high school."

Nine-year compulsory education was implemented relatively late in Luhe Town. If Yu Dawei remembers correctly, it wasn't until his eldest son was in fourth or fifth grade that tuition fees were eliminated.

Compulsory education refers to three aspects. First, it is free; children do not need to pay tuition or miscellaneous fees from primary school to junior high school graduation.

On the one hand, it is about popularization, enabling all Chinese people to learn to read and write.

Another aspect is compulsory education. That is to say, from primary school to junior high school graduation, the state mandates that school-age children attend school, but this aspect is not fully developed.

Nowadays, many families struggle to even afford food and clothing, let alone send their children to school.

The compulsory education system truly matured around 2008, when China's economy took off, tuition and miscellaneous fees were no longer charged, and parents were more willing to send their children to school.

But whether in cities or rural areas, there are still many students who voluntarily drop out of school when they reach junior high.

Not to mention now, with students from various village primary schools taking entrance exams to the central school in Luhe Town, there's even talk of a junior high school entrance rate.

Hasan Elementary School consistently ranks at the bottom in college entrance examination pass rates. Out of sixty students in a class, fewer than thirty achieve the required score for admission.

This means that half of the children went home to farm right after finishing primary school.

When Yu Dawei heard the whole story behind the gift delivery, he wasn't surprised. After all, which family wouldn't want their child to take the exam again, go to junior high school, or go to a vocational school to learn a trade?

"How is A-Gui's learning ability? Is he stupid?" Yu Dawei finished packing his suitcase and took the sewn socks from Han Jingfan.

"Fortunately, this child is smarter than Er Yan. He can learn the initials and finals in no time, and he has a good memory. He memorized the multiplication table in three days without any hesitation." Han Jingfan turned around and unfolded the quilt next to her, preparing to make the bed. "However, he is always focused on fixing cars, as if he is afraid that you will stop him from fixing cars."

"That brat." Yu Dawei chuckled twice, then picked up his eldest son, who was crawling all over the bed, and said, "When we go to the backyard tomorrow, I'll give him a scolding to get him to settle down and study hard."

"Be careful driving tomorrow. It's getting warmer lately, and the snow on the roads will melt and make them muddy." Han Jingfan spread out the bedding, took the child, and put him on the kang (heated brick bed) to play by himself. "Don't worry if you can't find a driver. It's not worth it to find one who's a hassle."

Yu Dawei smiled and pulled Han Jingfan onto the kang (a heated brick bed), pinning her beneath him: "How come I never noticed before that you cared so much about my affairs? Did you realize that your husband has been having a hard time lately?"

"Hmm. You seem particularly tired this time you came back, and you also seem a little more preoccupied." Han Jingfan gently reached out and stroked her husband's cheek, as if he looked much more weathered than when they last met.

She felt a pang of sympathy.

Yu Dawei couldn't help but touch her lips with his own, then pull away: "Don't worry, there are just more people than before, so there are a few more things to worry about."

“Actually, Fanfan Repair Shop is missing a real manager.” Yu Dawei got up and started taking off his clothes to get into bed. “Old Ji is good at technical work, but when it comes to managing all the big and small tasks in the shop, he’s not good enough. He’s not meticulous enough and doesn’t have the right style.”

"Isn't it good that you're not pretentious?" Han Jingfan helped her husband take off his coat, folded it, and placed it at the foot of the floor.

“Being down-to-earth is good, but it’s also not good.” Yu Dawei glanced back at Han Jingfan, thought for a moment, and then said, “If you’re an approachable boss, your subordinates will feel very comfortable around you, but they won’t take what you say very seriously. But if you’re a little aloof sometimes, that is, a sense of distance, it will make your employees more trusting.”

Yu Dawei's mistake in his past life was that he was too aloof, which is why he and Lao Ji are at opposite ends of the spectrum. However, the current Yu Dawei is much more approachable when interacting with his subordinates.

"So you're planning to hire a manager?" Han Jingfan asked curiously.

Yu Dawei thought for a moment, then reached out and patted Fanfan's head: "We'll see. The night is too short, honey, go to sleep early!"

----

The next day, Yu Dawei first called Agui outside and gave him a scolding using both soft and hard tactics. His main purpose was to make him study hard and stop thinking about those other things all day.

After saying goodbye to his parents, he drove Xiaofang to Qingxian County.

Sui City has one district, six counties, and two more that will become county-level cities in the near future.

Qingxian County is not large; you can drive around it in half an hour. Nowadays, there are buildings in the county town, but they are very few. From a distance, you can only see a few buildings.

Some are hospitals, some are shopping malls, but they are only two or three stories high.

The tallest buildings are residential buildings, in two or three rows, about six stories high.

Qingxian County has two high schools, one vocational high school, and one technical secondary school. Among the high schools, Qingxian No. 1 High School and Qingxian No. 6 High School are roughly equal, though No. 6 High School might be slightly better.

However, that's the present. In the future, No. 6 Middle School will gradually decline, and even the students it admits will be those that No. 1 Middle School doesn't want.

The two schools are not far apart; one is on the south side of the county center, and the other is on the west side.

Yu Fang was supposed to report to school on March 1st, but due to some uncertain "cause of illness"—in any case, Uncle Si shook his head when he "diagnosed" Xiao Fang—this cunning girl dragged her to the 3rd, which is today.

Last night, he was talking to his wife about Xiao Fang. Later, he found out that the girl was probably interested in teaching A Gui and the others and didn't consider that she was just a high school student who was not yet an adult.

However, the opportunity to be her second sister's teacher must have been an extremely happy thing for Xiaofang.

Unfortunately, the old man, after enduring it again and again, finally couldn't hold back and lashed out at Xiaofang yesterday. As a result, the little sister finally dared not skip school.

"Brother, just drop me off at the intersection ahead, I'll walk the rest of the way myself." Xiaofang sat in the passenger seat of the car, glancing at the students passing by who were looking in their direction, her tone tinged with helplessness.

Last time, her older brother drove to the county on business and brought some good food to visit her. As a result, many classmates saw it and were very envious. However, some classmates were extremely jealous and made all sorts of sarcastic remarks about her.

They said his older brother's car was the cheapest, and it might even be rented; otherwise, why would the family live in the countryside instead of the county town?

Xiaofang was too lazy to waste time talking to them; she'd rather lie on her bed in the dorm and take a nap.

"What are you thinking! There's still luggage in the back seat. It's inconvenient for you to carry it yourself. I'll just drive to your dorm and help you put it up." Yu Dawei was driving with his eyes on the road ahead, completely unaware of his younger sister's expression.

"Never mind, why don't you park at the main entrance? My luggage isn't heavy, I can manage on my own," Xiaofang said, showing off her fair arm.

"Roll down your sleeves, aren't you cold?" Yu Dawei turned around and noticed that his younger sister was acting strangely. She probably thought of something, so he pointed to the curb outside the school wall in the distance and said, "I'll park there for you. You can walk the rest of the way yourself."

"Mhm! Brother Xie."

"No need. Study hard at school and get into a good university. That's more important than anything else. If you can get into Harbin Institute of Technology or something," Yu Dawei parked the car on the curb, turned to look at his younger sister, and said jokingly, "I'll buy you whatever you want to eat in the future."

"Really?! But what is Harbin Institute of Technology?" Xiaofang had only been in high school for half a year and clearly hadn't heard of any of the famous universities in China.

Yu Dawei got out of the car, opened the door, and while helping the young woman with her luggage, explained, "Harbin Institute of Technology is..."

He paused abruptly as he finished speaking, his gaze fixed on the boy walking towards him from the west.

The boy was short, with a dark complexion. He carried a dark blue bag on his right arm and a green crossbody bag slung over his left shoulder.

The boy seemed preoccupied, his head down and brows furrowed, his eyes fixed on the ground as he walked forward. It was unclear what he was thinking about, but he tightened his grip on the package in his right hand.

"Tell me, why did you stop?" Xiao Fang got out of the car and, following her brother's gaze, saw a familiar young man.

She didn't pay attention to the boy's current state, and instead greeted him warmly: "Liu Shun! Did you just start school too?"

The boy's thoughts were interrupted, and he subconsciously looked up, then saw the familiar girl. He forced a smile and said, "Yes."

The boy seemed to be a man of few words, and he became even more reserved when he saw a tall and imposing man standing next to the girl and a nice red car next to them.

It turns out that what was being said in the class was true; Yu Fang has a very rich older brother.

Nowadays in Qingxian County, very few people can afford to drive a car. They are either from wealthy families who have made a fortune in business, or relatives of someone, or at the very least, they have some influence and connections in the county town.

The boy subconsciously licked his chapped lips, but his heart felt even more bitter and parched than his lips.

People are truly worlds apart. Some people have no worries about food and clothing, while others have to sell their family's old ox to pay for the new semester's tuition.

The boy didn't notice that while he was greeting Yu Fang, the tall, imposing man next to him was staring at him with extreme astonishment in his eyes.

What a coincidence! What a coincidence!

(End of this chapter)