The Adopted Cannon Fodder Made a Comeback

"We’ve met our Lord of Heaven, a Bodhisattva come to save us from our suffering! I’ll kowtow to you. I’ll even set up a memorial tablet in your honor." 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞

The old woman tossed her cane aside and knelt before Gu’er.

As she knelt, several other elderly people followed suit. If what Gu’er said was true, they would finally have someone to look after them and would no longer have to live in such hardship. How could they not be moved?

"Please don’t, Grandmother! Everyone, please get up. We don’t deserve this."

Gu’er rushed to help them up. She had never experienced anything like this before—elders of their age kneeling to her with such genuine sincerity. The sight deeply shook her.

"Everyone, get up. I can tell the young lady is speaking from the heart. Whether this comes to pass or not, we are grateful. Thank you, young lady. Thank you, Secretary Lin."

Grandpa Wang sighed. He had never imagined Gu’er would want to open a nursing home. If it really happened, lonely old folks like them would finally have a place to go.

"Easy for you to say. You want to open a nursing home to win favor for Lin Shan, but who’s to say whether you’re telling the truth or not?"

Seeing the emotional crowd, Director You felt a sense of powerlessness. It was as if these people were ready to deify Lin Shan and Gu’er. He had to knock them off their pedestal.

"I can guarantee it."

With that clear declaration, Lin Shan parted the crowd and walked in.

"Secretary Lin, you’re here."

"Secretary Lin is here."

Everyone called out to Lin Shan warmly.

A slight smile touched Gu’er’s lips as she watched Lin Shan approach. She was truly proud of how much people respected her father.

Lin Shan greeted Secretary Chen and the others with a calm, natural demeanor. He had already been told who Director Chen was and what he was here for, but he wasn’t worried. He had nothing to hide from an investigation.

"Secretary Lin, you say you can guarantee it, but how? Perhaps while you’re stationed here, your daughter will build a nursing home for the sake of your reputation. But what happens when you’re gone? Will the home simply be abandoned? This isn’t a matter that ends once the building is up. The long-term management is what’s most important. I’m sure I don’t need to explain that to you, Secretary Lin."

Director Chen looked at Lin Shan. It was the first time they had met, and his intuition told him that he liked this man.

"We’re not building this nursing home for the sake of reputation. We know there will be many challenges and difficulties in running it long-term. We’ve already considered all of that. If this were just for reputation, we wouldn’t need to do any of this at all. As long as my father doesn’t make any major mistakes, he can just serve out his two years peacefully and be transferred back to the city. Why would he put himself through the trouble of coming down to the villages every day, doing such difficult and thankless work? He just wants to do something tangible for the people. He doesn’t have the same sordid motives as some others. Since we’ve decided to open this nursing home, we will see it through to the end. It’s not a matter of ’I’ll do it while my dad is here, and I’ll abandon it when he’s not.’ You can’t play with people’s hearts, especially not the elderly. Everyone gets old someday. These elders have given their entire lives for their children and their families. If they don’t even have a safe place to live in their old age, how could that not be heartbreaking? If I opened a nursing home today just for my father’s reputation, only to abandon the elderly here and disregard their well-being later on, would I even be worthy of being called a human being? Right now, I don’t have the ability to open a huge number of nursing homes. I just want to do what little I can, where I can. I don’t know what tomorrow will bring, but I promise everyone here: as long as I’m alive, as long as I have food to eat, I will never abandon this nursing home."

Gu’er knew what Director Chen was implying, so she had stepped forward to speak in a clear, ringing voice.

Lin Shan watched her, his heart surging with emotion. He was so proud to have a daughter like her. ’I know Gu’er has earned a lot of money, but she worked hard for every penny. I never thought of taking it from her, nor did I ever think of using her to boost my political achievements. All I’ve ever wanted is for my daughter to live a good life. That’s enough for me.’

’Today, my daughter is standing here, proposing to open a nursing home. Whatever her reasons, I am just so, so happy that she’s doing this. My daughter is a grateful person. She’s a person of great principle and compassion.’

"Gu’er, on behalf of all the elders in these villages, Dad thanks you."

Lin Shan thanked Gu’er. In that moment, she wasn’t just his daughter; she was someone dedicating herself to the elders and the villages.

"Thank you, Gu’er! Thank you, Secretary Lin!"

It wasn’t just Lin Shan. Everyone, both inside and outside the courtyard, was thanking them. Not all of them were elderly, but everyone gets old eventually. Who knew what the future held? With a nursing home like this, they would have a safe place to go. It was a blessing for them all.

Gu’er looked at her father, at the emotional crowd, and at the countless faces filled with sincere gratitude. Her heart swelled with emotion. ’In this moment, this isn’t about fame or profit. This is real.’

The faces of Director Chen and his entourage darkened. Director You felt a little unsteady on his feet. Gu’er’s move had only enhanced Lin Shan’s reputation, making it impossible for him to attack him any further. The few people he’d found to slander Lin Shan were now completely useless.

"So, what about the third matter?"

Director Chen composed himself. Even if he couldn’t touch Lin Shan this time, it wasn’t a major loss for him personally. It simply meant he had failed to complete the task he’d been entrusted with by someone else.

"The third matter is that I want to see how many children there are in these villages. It’s said that children are the flowers of the motherland, the future of our country. We want to build a Hope Primary School here, free of charge, so that every child from every family can attend for free. They can come here to learn, whether they are boys or girls, as long as they want to. Of course, this is no small undertaking, and it’s not something that can be accomplished with empty words. Both the nursing home and the Hope Primary School are just ideas for now. We need to investigate the feasibility. If it’s possible, we will report it to the city and go through the proper procedures. Once we get the approvals, we will begin implementation."

Gu’er laid out her plan clearly. In truth, she had thought about starting a school before but hadn’t dared to consider it seriously. Now, under pressure, the idea resurfaced with newfound resolve. ’In the village where I used to live,’ she recalled, ’there was only one primary school for several villages. Some schools had two or three teachers, but some had only one. The conditions were incredibly harsh. Even so, many families couldn’t afford to send their children to school. Take the Zhou family, for example. Only Zhou Cai was able to attend for two years. For girls, it was completely out of the question.’

Education is the foundation, a plan for the future. Gu’er felt that if she could build a school and offer free education, the children would surely be willing to attend.

Of course, she knew that whether it was the nursing home or the Hope Primary School, building them was the easy part. The long-term operation would be very difficult and require a lot of funding. She hadn’t discussed this with Li Zhi and the others. Firstly, there was no time. Secondly, her initial plan was to fund it all herself. She happened to have made quite a bit of money recently, so it would definitely be enough. That was why she felt confident.

"Letting the kids study for free!"

"Yeah, boys and girls can both go. How much money would that take? I wanted to go to school back in the day, but my family had no money for it. If there had been a school like that back then, I could have gotten an education too."

"Yeah, yeah! Secretary Lin’s daughter is just incredible! This is huge! Having Secretary Lin assigned to our area is a blessing we must have earned over several lifetimes."

The people in the courtyard were buzzing with discussion, all feeling as if they were in a dream.

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Thank you to Dandan Ruliu, Jiaohua de Laoshu, and Meimei Xianghao for the monthly tickets, and thank you to everyone for your support.