55: Comprehensive subsidy plan is underway! Northwest urgent electricity, happy

Chapter 55: Full Subsidy Plan Underway! Urgent Telegram from Northwest, Good News!

Time flew by.

On Sunday, it was the Navy's Open Day.

In the San Francisco Bay Area, two warships were docked at a nearby port.

Crowds of people, like a dense mass of microorganisms, gathered around the two warships, preparing to board these behemoths one by one.

"There are so many people here." Lu Ze, wearing a hat identical to Lucy's, frowned as he looked at his surroundings.

Who the hell said that the Eagle Country doesn't promote patriotism? That's just nonsense.

Looking at the surging crowds, everyone held a Star-Spangled Banner, and some were even teaching them to recite the oath, 'I love the Eagle Country.' Whether they were eighty-year-old seniors or toddlers who had just learned to speak, they all followed this standard.

Perhaps only Lucy and Lu Ze were the unique outliers in this crowd.

"Lu Ze, this ice cream is delicious." Lucy held two ice creams and reluctantly handed him one.

"You eat it; I'll buy two more later." Lu Ze shook his head.

Sweet treats like ice cream were Lucy's favorite; he didn't feel much about them himself.

Following the crowd, he boarded the guided-missile destroyer named USS Milius, which was his main objective for this visit.

Overlooking this warship, which was over 150 meters long, a person in front of it was like an ant before an elephant; such a behemoth's awe-inspiring presence could not be described by mere data.

'Who would have thought that in just a few years, these Arleigh Burke-class destroyers would be directly phased out?'

Lu Ze couldn't help but find it a little amusing.

The burke-class destroyer, seemingly 'invincible' in 2009, quickly became an entire dimension behind after Da Xia developed the Type 055 Destroyer.

Even the Zumwalt-class destroyer, later developed by the Eagle Country, looked full of technology, but its actual combat power was still crushed by the Type 055.

In terms of destroyers alone, in just ten short years, Da Xia and the Eagle Country had achieved a complete reversal.

"Let's go, Lucy, let's go 'visit' too." Lu Ze said.

Since they were already here, they naturally had to thoroughly 'visit' the USS Milius to prepare for the next replication.

It was a pity that his replication count hadn't refreshed yet, so even if he touched it for a long time now, he wouldn't be able to replicate it or identify its achievement points.

"Wait, I haven't tried this snack before; it looks so delicious..." Lucy's feet stopped uncontrollably.

Unfortunately, this time, she was forcibly dragged onto the ship by Lu Ze.

He strongly suspected that Lucy wasn't here for a Navy Open Day, but rather a 'Eat All the Snacks on the Street Day'?

How could her mouth not have stopped moving for half an hour since they arrived?

Moreover, the snacks here were three times the price of other places, so why insist on buying them here?

On the other side.

Two days prior.

A joint announcement also attracted considerable attention.

It was titled: [Regarding the Establishment of the Northwest 'Enthusiastic Citizen and Caring Student Subsidy' and Other Related Matters.]

Although the title of the announcement might have been a bit short, its content spanned dozens of dense pages.

It meticulously detailed a series of student subsidy measures, such as a daily food subsidy of three yuan for every student from elementary to high school, with strict requirements for establishing student files, monthly on-time payments, ensuring food safety, and guaranteeing that three meals must be fully utilized.

Furthermore, even a one-yuan underpayment was absolutely not allowed according to the regulations in the announcement, prohibiting any malicious acts such as misappropriation, embezzlement, or misuse by lower levels, or improper food quality, with all violations subject to the highest, most severe, and swift penalties.

Additionally, another official document, issued earlier, also officially launched today.

At the same time.

Northwest, a remote mountainous area on the Loess Plateau.

This place, named Xiaoqu Village, did not have the picturesque scenery many imagined for mountainous regions, with lush green trees everywhere and small rivers winding around the village.

Instead, the eye was met with a bare expanse of yellow earth, with only a few green trees every few dozen meters, and occasionally some patches of green grassland dotting the mountains. It was hard to imagine why anyone would choose to settle here.

Xiaoqu Village only got full electricity in 2006, and even now in 2009, it still hadn't connected to a proper concrete road; a two-meter-wide dirt road was the only main thoroughfare for the entire village.

Even within Da Xia's poorest Northwest Province, its economic development level was among the worst counties, and Xiaoqu Village was one such ordinary impoverished village.

Suddenly, this usually quiet village welcomed an unusual day this weekend.

A construction team of over a hundred people, dragging equipment and various building materials, began work two kilometers outside Xiaoqu Village.

This location was at the center of several nearby villages; normally, the surrounding villages would gather here every now and then to sell various food, drinks, and daily necessities, as it was quite far from the town, and going to the morning market and returning would likely take until the next day.

So, this place also served as a 'mini' morning market.

The roar of machinery had long spread throughout the surrounding villages, thanks to the gossip of the village grandmas.

For the villages around Xiaoqu Village, such a large-scale project was a rare sight, happening perhaps once in a decade. As a result, hundreds of onlookers gathered at the construction site, making the workers feel like 'superstars' for a rare moment.

"Big brother, what are you doing here?" An observing grandma asked, finally unable to suppress her curiosity.

"It looks like they're building a house?" An experienced old farmer, smoking his pipe, said. He had worked on construction sites years ago and understood these things.

"A hundred-person construction team, such a large site... How could it be building a house? This must be building a factory."

Before the person next to her could finish speaking, a grandma was immediately shocked: "Oh my goodness, someone wants to build a factory here?"

Who the hell would be so foolish as to build a factory in this desolate place?

However, once she said that, the surrounding crowd became even more curious. If there could be a factory here, many local people wouldn't need to travel hundreds or even thousands of kilometers to work elsewhere; they would have jobs right at their doorstep.

Before they could finish their guesses, a middle-aged man who looked like a supervisor, wearing a hard hat, walked over: "Folks, please don't watch anymore; the construction site is very dangerous with flying sand and stones. Please go home quickly."

"And this isn't for building a factory; it's for building an elementary school."

Building a school? Isn't that even more foolish?

"If there's an elementary school here, my child won't have to go to the township for school." A grandma's eyes lit up with surprise.

"Yes, it's about time a primary school was built here. Which nearby village doesn't have a population of over a thousand?"

"Every day I see my child walk for over two hours, waking up before dawn and not getting home until after dark. My heart aches..."

"I do have a motorcycle, but the road is difficult to navigate, and during strong winds and rain, I almost fell into the gully."

The onlookers unanimously applauded the decision.

Previously, because there were no schools near Xiaoqu Village, hundreds of school-aged children from several villages within a radius of several kilometers could only go to the township to study, staying there for a week before returning home, or they had to wake up at four in the morning every day and rush to school.

Just then.

Suddenly, a villager from Xiaoqu Village rushed over: "What are you guys still doing here? Hurry back to the village!"

"What's wrong? What happened in the village?" These men, with faces covered in loess, were dragged back to the village, looking utterly bewildered.

They saw that by the big tree at the village entrance.

The entire village was gathered around several young people wearing plaid shirts and glasses.

'Is this... someone causing trouble in the village?' Before this doubt could fully form.

"Alright, everyone in our village who meets the criteria is here." The village chief smiled and gestured to a staff member in a shirt.

"Very well, please listen carefully to what I'm about to say." This young man, in his early twenties, was not intimidated. He cleared his throat: "If any of your children are enrolled in elementary, middle, or high school within Northwest Province, you can come to me to fill out information and create a file."

"After the file is created and confirmed, we will issue a card to..."

"Leader, what's the use of this card after creating a file? Is it just to collect our children's information?" A grandma next to him interjected, voicing her confusion.

"What's it to you? Gou Dan, control your wife. Someone is talking, why is she interrupting? Is her tongue that long?" The village chief immediately glared, unable to wait even a few minutes? How would outsiders view their Xiaoqu Village?

At once, those who had been planning to eagerly ask questions swallowed their words.

Although the village chief was already sixty or seventy, he would genuinely hit you on the head a few times.

"I know you all have questions, so I'll explain it to you now."

The young staff member smiled: "As long as the archiving is confirmed and a subsidy card is issued, each student will receive a three-yuan daily food subsidy."

"However, this money will be deducted and spent by each school as a unit, and the card's purpose is to deduct money with each purchase. It cannot be withdrawn, cannot be used for other purposes, and cannot be accumulated for use next month. It can only be used to check if there are any abnormal issues with the deductions."

You can never underestimate how clever ordinary people are in this regard. Without this regulation, if they were allowed to claim the three-yuan daily food subsidy freely, many people would likely just take the money and not use it to subsidize their children's food.

This would go against the original intention of the 'Enthusiastic Citizen and Caring Student Subsidy'.

"Then my child, who is in elementary school, should also count, right?" A farmer who had just returned from the fields brightened up.

"That naturally counts."

"Then my child in high school can also get this three-yuan daily food subsidy?"

The staff member nodded: "As long as they are in elementary, middle, or high school, after their file is created, they will receive a three-yuan daily subsidy."

"What about kindergarten?"

Before this person could finish speaking, the village chief started scolding: "Get lost! Didn't you hear them say it's for students in these three stages? Why don't you ask for a subsidy for your newborn child too?"

"Now, anyone with a child who meets the criteria, come to me to get a form and fill in your identity information. It's best to bring the birth certificate as well." The staff member held a pile of forms and distributed them one by one.

The villagers' enthusiasm was incredibly strong.

You know, a daily food subsidy of three yuan adds up to nearly a hundred yuan a month.

In an era where the average monthly salary was just over a thousand yuan, many farmers in Northwest Province earned only a few thousand yuan a year from farming.

With this money, even if it only ensured their children ate well and were full, it was enough for them.

And Xiaoqu Village was just a microcosm.

At this moment.

The 'Enthusiastic Citizen and Caring Student Subsidy' plan for the entire Northwest Province, along with the construction of those one thousand schools, was causing a huge stir throughout Da Xia.

Urgent telegrams came from all over the province, and the family letters written on them were all good news.

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