Chapter 629 - 625: Homemade Desks and Chairs
"Don’t you worry about the desks and chairs. I’ll figure something out."
"Here’s the plan: We’ll replace the few tables with broken legs first, and then take care of the rest gradually."
The principal had already made up his mind. The children’s education was important, and so were their learning tools. Since the higher-ups weren’t willing to approve the request, he would just have to pay for it out of his own pocket.
With his forty-yuan monthly salary, he could replace one batch of desks each month. By the end of the year, all the students would have new ones.
Leng Yuan immediately guessed his intention.
"Principal, are you planning to pay out of your own pocket again?"
Leng Yuan had been at the school for several years now. Any school purchases required funding approval from the higher-ups.
At first, Leng Yuan hadn’t thought much of it. He later learned that the people in charge didn’t value education at all. The prevailing attitude was that studying was useless, since you’d just end up back in the fields anyway. As a result, the school’s funding requests were always the last to be processed.
But some things were necessities and simply couldn’t wait, so the principal would pay for them himself.
This time, when the principal said they would do it "gradually," he likely meant he would be paying for it himself again.
The principal hadn’t expected to be found out by Leng Yuan so quickly. He looked at him, exasperated. "You rascal, have you never heard of letting some things go unsaid? I don’t need the money for myself. But these children... how are they supposed to study properly without decent desks and chairs? On this matter, you’ll listen to me."
Leng Yuan disagreed. "Principal, you can’t keep paying for everything yourself."
It was one thing to do it for a short while, but if this went on, what about the principal’s own livelihood?
The principal’s wife was already very unhappy about him paying for things out of his own pocket.
The principal’s actions were certainly noble, and no one could criticize him for it. But he wasn’t wealthy himself; his family depended on his salary to live. When he paid for school expenses, it meant his own family had to tighten their belts.
How could they go on like that in the long run?
"Principal, the desks and chairs aren’t actually that difficult. I know how to make them. As for the wood, we can buy some logs from the production brigade, get some varnish, and build them ourselves."
The principal’s eyes lit up. "Well, I’ll be. You have a skill like that?"
He had no idea Leng Yuan knew carpentry. If that was the case, things would be much simpler.
"Alright then. I’ll figure out how to get the wood and varnish, and you’ll be in charge of the desks and chairs."
Leng Yuan didn’t argue with the principal over this.
In truth, everything on the mountain belonged to everyone now; if you needed wood, you just went up the mountain and cut down a tree.
These days, many people built their own furniture using wood they cut from the mountain themselves.
It was the same for building houses—you’d go up the mountain and cut the timber yourself.
However, the school was an official entity, not a private individual. The mountains were sectioned off, so the wood for the school had to have a proper source. They had to buy it from the production brigade rather than just cutting it down themselves.
After all, making a whole batch of desks and chairs required a considerable amount of wood.
During the lunch break, after eating, Leng Yuan and a few other male teachers replaced the school’s missing window panes.
By afternoon, the principal returned with good news.
Not many people were buying wood at the moment, and he had also reached out to an old friend of his, so the matter was settled quickly.
Someone would even help cut the logs and deliver them.
It wasn’t until after school that Gu Jiaojiao found out Leng Yuan was going to make desks and chairs for the school.
"Teacher Gu, the desks and chairs for the school should be approved by the higher-ups, and then someone just goes and buys them. Why should Mr. Leng go to all this trouble? You should really have a talk with him!"
It was a thankless job, a complete waste of effort. As soon as Hu Xiuqiao heard about it, she went to find Gu Jiaojiao, hoping she could talk Leng Yuan out of it.
The school had over four hundred students in total. With two students sharing one desk, that meant they needed over two hundred desks and more than four hundred chairs. This was no small project.