16: Chapter 16 Deep-rooted Problems in Impoverished Rural Areas

Li Dakang scanned through it quickly and nodded with satisfaction: "Let's proceed with this. We can discuss changes if they arise."

Closing the document, he asked suddenly: "How are we handling transportation?"

Zheng Shijun swallowed hard: "The township only has one old-fashioned jeep, and Secretary Sun usually uses it."

"There are also two motorcycles, and the rest are bicycles... The road conditions to a few villages are so poor that we can only get there by tractor."

Li Dakang waved his hand nonchalantly: "It's fine. We'll ride the motorcycles. If the motorcycles can't get in, we'll take a tractor."

He glanced at the wall clock: "Also, notify the villages and the cadres in charge of those villages the day before we visit."

"Very well, County Magistrate." Zheng Shijun let out a sigh of relief.

At dinner time, the Township Government cafeteria was desolate.

When Li Dakang walked in, he saw a dozen or so people sitting scattered around long tables, with not a single township leader among them.

The cadres eating saw him and looked surprised; some even rubbed their eyes.

You have to understand, those township leaders rarely showed their faces in the cafeteria even once a month.

Li Dakang walked to the serving window and understood instantly.

On the trays, the stir-fried cabbage was wilted, the stir-fried pork with peppers was almost entirely green peppers, and a few pathetic slices of fat were curled up in the corner of the plate.

The rice had an unhealthy yellow tinge and a faint, sour smell.

"Is this all there is?" Li Dakang frowned.

The auntie serving the food curled her lip: "County Magistrate, the township has no money. Even for this, we still owe money for the vegetables."

Hearing this, Li Dakang said nothing more. He scooped up a little bit of food and sat down in a corner.

He had only taken two bites when Zheng Shijun approached with his bowl, lowering his voice: "County Magistrate, the township's finances are tight, so the cafeteria food has always been like this."

"Most of the cadres are locals and go home to eat. Only those from out of town or whose homes are far away make do with the cafeteria..."

Li Dakang poked at the peppers in his bowl with his chopsticks: "What about the township leaders?"

Zheng Shijun looked left and right, his voice dropping even lower: "They are all eating special meals at the small restaurants in the township."

"Doesn't the township have no money?" Li Dakang narrowed his eyes.

"They use IOUs... I heard they owe tens of thousands."

He slammed his chopsticks onto the table with a "clack," causing the people nearby to look over.

Li Dakang took a deep breath: "First thing tomorrow morning, tell the Director of the Finance Office to come see me."

"Very well, County Magistrate." Zheng Shijun lowered his head to shovel in his rice, not daring to say another word.

In a ward at the Guantian Township Health Center, the setting sun dyed the white bedsheets orange-red.

Five middle-aged men stood around a hospital bed, their faces etched with deep worry.

"Teacher Wu, this is what we pooled together."

Teacher Gu shoved a crumpled envelope into Teacher Wu's hand: "Use this for now to handle the emergency."

Teacher Wu struggled to sit up. This community-funded teacher, who had taught for twenty years, looked ten years older than his actual age.

He pushed the envelope back: "Teacher Gu, you aren't well-off either..."

"Teacher Wu, don't be so polite. What matters more than saving a life!"

A nurse pushed the door open, her cold voice shattering the warmth: "Family of Bed 23, it's time to pay the fees—176 yuan and 40 cents."

She handed over the bill: "If you don't pay by tomorrow, we will stop the medication."

"Nurse, please, I beg you, please don't stop the medication. I will definitely pay it in full as soon as possible!" Teacher Wu's face was filled with anxiety.

"You better hurry then. The health center isn't run by my family, and I can't make the decisions." After saying this, the nurse turned and went to the next ward.

Teacher Gu slammed his fist against the wall: "We haven't been paid in half a year! What kind of situation is this!"

He turned to the others: "Contact all the community-funded teachers tonight. Tomorrow, we go to the township to demand an explanation!"

"Right! To the township!"

"If they don't pay us, we won't leave!"

The teachers were filled with righteous indignation.

Teacher Wu looked at his colleagues of many years, his eyes growing hot: "Everyone..."

"Teacher Wu, you stay here and take care of your wife."

Teacher Gu had already started walking toward the door.

"We will bring back the medical fees tomorrow!"

Teacher Wu watched the backs of the departing group, his face filled with helplessness and dejection.

This teacher, who had cultivated the three-foot lecture platform for over twenty years and had once been a beacon in the hearts of his students, now appeared so helpless.

On the hospital bed, Teacher Wu's wife was as pale as paper, as if all the blood had been drained from her body.

Her eyelids were tightly closed, and her long eyelashes cast faint shadows under the light, as if she were lost in a dream she didn't wish to wake from.

In the IV bottle by the bedside, the medicine dripped slowly, one drop after another, as if counting down the time of her life.

Teacher Wu sat on a wooden chair by the bedside; the chair creaked under the weight, as if it might fall apart at any moment.

He reached out a hand covered in traces of chalk dust and gently touched his wife's sunken cheek with his fingertips. The coldness was piercing, causing his heart to shudder violently.

Tears finally could not be held back and rolled from his bloodshot eyes, leaving a winding trail on his wife's face.

"It's all my fault..."

Teacher Wu's voice was hoarse and choked with sobs.

If the township hadn't failed to pay their salaries for over half a year, his wife wouldn't have risked going up the mountain to pick wild fruit.

Those sour hawthorn berries were meant to be carried to the county seat to trade for a little spare change to supplement their household expenses, but he hadn't expected that she would miss her step and tumble down a steep slope.

By the time the villagers found her, she was already lying unconscious in a gully, with the scattered bamboo basket and blood-stained wild fruit crushed beneath her.