I was reborn without dreams

Chapter 150 A winter outfit, a principle

By December, the air conditioners at the three campuses of Xindongweigang Middle School started to turn on the heating. In fact, the teaching buildings were insulated and underfloor heating was installed, but it was generally not needed.

The biggest problem for the banks of the Yangtze River in winter is the excessive humidity. Humidity is the worst thing, so if you do a good job of dehumidifying, you won't get frostbite, and you won't feel like you're wrapped up like a dumpling while the cold air is still pricking your clothes like needles.

In addition, the Xindongwei Port Middle School was issued five or six different school uniforms, and Zhang Da'an specially trained a team of tailors. The five or six thousand students and lecturers were all "custom-made".

Regardless of your height, weight, or build, clothes are tailored to your body, making it quite difficult to look bad in them.

Because the school uniforms of Xindongwei Port Middle School are very stylish every season, students' parents also frequently order them from "Zhang An Education".

Previously, the Logistics Department only had a store on "Zhuangyuan Street" in the main campus. As the Mazhou campus got on track, the Logistics Department also opened a branch in the Mazhou campus, which can be regarded as the "tertiary industry entrepreneurship" of Xindongweigang Middle School.

Originally, having another campus in Jianggao would still have meant operating as a storefront. However, due to the antics of Uncle Zhang and Teacher Li at "Zhang An Hope Primary School," they had no choice but to separate the clothing design and processing functions of the logistics department of "Zhang An Education" and establish "Zhang An Apparel" as a separate business.

The reason for this is that when the school was initially planned, the cross-seasonal function of the uniforms for "Zhang'an Hope Primary School" was not given much consideration. Like the county primary schools in Fengyi County, the plan was to have two sets of uniforms for spring and autumn, as long as they were durable and easy to clean.

It's about adapting to local conditions.

Having suddenly "made a little fortune," Uncle Zhang was bound to have some ideas. He excitedly patted his chest and boasted to a group of elementary school students: "Kids, I, Old Zhang, have a good connection in the south. If you want a new set of clothes for the New Year, just call me 'Dad,' and I guarantee you'll have one!"

That's not the case with the two hundred or so children currently studying in these prefabricated houses. In the spring, the school building that has been vacant for half a year will be put into use, and then more than three hundred more children will come to register.

Five or six neighboring villages in the vicinity will also begin sending school-age children to "Zhang'an Hope Primary School" to receive compulsory education.

The key point is that Zhang Zhengdong was also decisive. He took out the sand quarry's accounts receivable at the end of this year and distributed them to local school-age children. Before deciding to do this, he ate dog meat from fourteen or fifteen brigades. There were objections, but in the end, the democratic vote was overwhelmingly in favor.

For others, this matter of how much money to spend would definitely be discussed at a village meeting. Zhang Zhengdong had actually met with four or five thousand households before.

At the same time, there is a first-come, first-served principle. Those who enroll now, and those who enroll next spring, will get the new clothes first; those who enroll next autumn, and those who enroll the year after, will get them later.

As for the price, you get what you pay for.

The clothes weren't cheap; one piece cost over three hundred yuan, which was the cost price. Even after rounding down, it was still three hundred yuan.

When the average monthly wage is only this much, spending such a large sum of money is bound to attract criticism, but this criticism is only in the county and city, not in the township or village.

Firstly, there was no noticeable difference in physical sensation. The money came from a special donation from the Fengyi County Building Materials Company, with the aim of purchasing winter clothes for the children.

Secondly, Zhang Zhengdong had previously stated that children who are seven or eight years old may not be able to wear their original clothes when they are ten or eleven years old. They can exchange their old clothes for new ones, so they should cherish these clothes and pay more money to repair any holes in them later.

Third, the migrant workers on the construction site were the first to see the design of the clothes, and none of them had any complaints.

Most importantly, it's not a padded jacket, it's a down jacket.

"Zhang An Apparel" only has design capabilities and small-scale processing capabilities, but no mass production capabilities. Therefore, "Zhang An Apparel" still places orders with first-tier factories that make down jackets in Shazhou and Shanghu.

The price of 300 yuan is indeed the cost price, because this is a proper down jacket, not a feather jacket. The amount of down filling is also randomly inspected by "Zhang An Garments" on the production line.

Although Zhang An Garments' order was small, less than 800 pieces, every company in Shanghu City and Shazhou City capable of making down jackets was vying for this seemingly ordinary order.

The reason is simple: everyone wants to secure large orders from "Zhang An Education" in the future. If a long-term cooperation agreement can be signed, a high-quality client like "Zhang An Education" would be more useful than six months of advertising.

This is why the manufacturers accept many unusual requests without any hesitation.

So when multiple places reported on the purchase of expensive school uniforms by "Hope Primary Schools", Chenzhuang Town was not a big deal. On the contrary, when "Zhang'an Hope Primary School" distributed winter clothes, the county magistrate brought a group of people and even came to take a group photo.

Some children couldn't wait until next spring to start school here and were clamoring to go to school here right away. The lively commotion made Uncle Zhang very proud.

"Xu Haoyu, time to get your new clothes!"

"To!"

"Put it on. See if it's warm enough."

"warm!"

"Stop it... You're so young and already trying to flatter people, what nonsense! You think you're warm as soon as you put this on? Are you an electric stove?!"

"Hahahahahaha..."

The kids burst into laughter. The little second-grader just chuckled and was about to wipe his nose when Zhang Zhengdong yelled again, "You won't listen?! Your clothes are soaked in your snot, and you want a new one when you're in fourth grade?! Where's your handkerchief?!"

"In my pocket."

"Why didn't you take it out of your pocket?!"

"Hey."

The little boy took a crumpled handkerchief out of his pocket and began wiping his nose.

"Get out of the way, get out of the way, get away from people when you wipe your nose. You need to be polite and hygienic, do you hear me?"

"heard it."

"Next, Shi Haoyu! How many Haoyus are there now? Do you even know how to name someone? Shi Haoyu! Look, you said you wanted a down jacket, isn't this a down jacket?" "Thank you, Dad Zhang!"

"Don't shout like that when there are many people around; you can only shout like that at home."

"Thank you, Director Zhang."

"You should still call him Dad."

"Thank you, Mr. Zhang!"

"Hahahahahaha..."

Because he shouted so loudly, Zhang Zhengdong was startled and raised his hand to give the kid a flick on the forehead. But the kid was quite clever and ran away with a bag of down jackets.

At this time, the outdoor area was full of parents, and the people maintaining order were local substitute teachers. After training, they were put back on the job, but not all of them were put into teaching positions. They had to be able to speak Mandarin. Those who only spoke the local dialect were teaching assistants, assistants, and some life teachers.

"Give me one too, give me one too. I've only ever had my picture taken at the police station, I've never had one taken at the school gate."

The men, hunched over with cigarettes dangling from their lips, stomped their feet and grinned as they waited to take three photos in front of the school sign.

One solo photo, one couple photo, and one family photo.

The "county magistrate," who originally just wanted to ride the wave of popularity, has finally given up. He stuffed his prepared speech into his briefcase and treated it as scrap paper.

While we share the joy with the people, we also have our worries after the New Year.

After the able-bodied men from the three villages near "Zhang An Hope Primary School" were able to go out to work, more able-bodied men from the brigade also wanted to learn a skill and then ask Director Zhang to introduce them to a construction site.

The biggest worries when working on a construction site aren't the hardship itself, but rather two things: whether or not you'll get paid, and how to find the next construction site after finishing this one.

As for food and lodging, those are not problems. When you're out making a living, having a place to stay is enough.

Zhang Zhengdong doesn't concern himself with this matter. He made it clear beforehand that after the first construction site is completed, everyone should rely on their own abilities.

After all, once you make money, everyone will have some thoughts. If you make a lot, it's fine, but if you make less, you'll have the thought, "If only I had known..."

In fact, some of the first batch of laborers have already suffered.

Three couples who worked on the "Zhang'an Hope Primary School" project site—the men as foreman and the women as laborers—found work in the city themselves in November.

They were able to do it and did make money, but one couple got beaten up, another couple still owed about 800 yuan, and the other couple each suffered minor injuries and had to bear it themselves.

If you want to come back to work here, that's absolutely out of the question. Zhang Zhengdong isn't setting rules; he's making it clear beforehand that there's no room for sentimentality.

However, since the children are boarding students, it doesn't affect their ability to collect winter down jackets.

These three sets of parents also hoped that their children could put in a good word for them, or that their former coworkers could help them out.

But in this matter, Uncle Zhang's logic didn't align with rules and regulations. He only knew that it was agreed beforehand that this was for his nephew's benefit, not for himself.

Can you really gain fame at the expense of your nephew's interests?
Of course not.

I, Zhang Zhengdong, am not cut out to be an official!
So even though these three families also had their "crying scenes," Uncle Zhang remained completely unmoved. While the villagers' hearts softened, he remained as hard as iron.

Now, those who already respected him, especially the members of the "anti-gambling team," were even more convinced.

Kind-hearted, that's fine, but soft-hearted... well, never mind.

Director Zhang is handsome, kind-hearted, and persistent. If you follow him, your brothers will never go hungry.

Even the "county magistrate" had to admit that if it were him, in such a situation, with so many eyes watching and so many children around, he would have to deal with them first and show his magnanimity and conscience.

Unfortunately, "Comrade Zhang Zhengdong" is meaningless.

So much so that when this little anecdote reached the ears of many knowledgeable old men, they all gave him a thumbs up, saying, "This cadre Zhang was born decades too late!"

If they had been born in their generation, leading their brothers to "start a business," they would have had a promising future long ago.

That's so inspiring!

However, it must be said that because Zhang Zhengdong is ruthless and only follows the rules, after the news spread, many Fengyi people who make a living in Pengcheng and Jicheng returned to their hometowns earlier this year.

Regardless of anything else, just look at Zhang Zhengdong as a person.

If he really is as handsome, kind-hearted, and principled as the rumors say, then needless to say, they would work for Zhang Zhengdong for a thousand or so yuan a month.

These people are not uncultured bumpkins. Some were assigned to vocational schools years ago, some took the college entrance examination, and some, like Zhang Zhengdong, were soldiers who returned to their hometowns and made a name for themselves.

Many of them are still in positions such as factory director, workshop director, engineer, and technician, but they used to think that there was no future in returning to their hometowns, and that it was better to have a comfortable life in the city.

To be honest, most people have a deep affection for their hometown. Seeing this unexpected hope, they greeted each other and visited "Zhang'an Hope Primary School" to walk around and experience firsthand whether there was any hope at all.

(End of this chapter)