Chapter Thirty-Three: Motivation

  To be honest, Sun Zhengping was initially very reluctant to attend the opening ceremony of a township central primary school sports meeting. After all, as the director of the municipal education bureau, such behavior was somewhat self-degrading.

  However, she was also very clear that Su Qi Elementary School was originally a very ordinary elementary school, but with Leng Bingxue studying there, it became extraordinary. As someone who had been loyal to Mayor Wang Peiyuan for a long time, she understood the position of Leng Bingxue in the mayor's mind better than others. Therefore, when Wang Peiyuan casually mentioned this matter, she had already made up her mind to attend the opening ceremony of the sports meeting with great fanfare.

  Things that seem simple in the officialdom are full of mysteries, and many things need to be understood. If you can't understand them, your leaders won't give you more time and opportunities to learn.

  For this very low-key opening ceremony of the sports meeting, Sun Zhengping even pushed away an important meeting, brought along the main leaders of the municipal bureau and several media outlets, and made a big show on the way, with as many as seven vehicles in the motorcade.

  However, the situation was still quite good, as Leng Yun personally attended and even came to the road to welcome her. Whether it was for Leng Bing Xue's sake or his own, he had given her enough face.

  Sun Zhengping was very aware that although they were both under the direct command of Mayor Wang Peiyuan, she was completely incomparable to Leng Yunying. With her own strength and Wang Peiyuan's support, Leng Yunying's future would absolutely be higher and farther than hers.

  Don't look at them now on an equal footing, but in this life, being able to enter the municipal standing committee is already very satisfying. However, Leng Yunyi is only in her 40s and has already taken control of a large power. If there are no accidents, in a few years, she will become vice mayor, vice secretary, or even enter the standing committee. If things go smoothly, it's not difficult to reach the hall level before retirement. Maybe soon, she'll be my superior. Being able to get along well with Leng Yunyi and Leng Binghan is also worth the trip for her.

  After the opening ceremony of the sports meeting, Sun Zhengping pulled Cold Ice and said a lot of words, the intimacy of which made all the teachers and officials present jealous. Later, Sun Zhengping, who was in a great mood, praised Xie Changqing again and immediately approved 50,000 yuan for Su Qi Primary School to repair the campus. Xie Changqing was so happy that he couldn't find his way north, feeling like his bones were all soft and he was about to float up into the air.

  The old saying goes: the county official is not as good as the current pipe, for a primary school principal in a town, the position of the municipal education bureau director is even far beyond that of a mayor or provincial governor. Because those officials are too big and out of reach for them, the fear in their hearts is not as good as an education bureau director who controls their life and death.

  In fact, even the director of the municipal education bureau is not someone that Xie Changqing can come into contact with. At most, he might be able to see him at a city-wide education system conference, but it's still just recognizing others, and others don't recognize him. There's no way there would be any opportunity for close contact?

  Xie Changqing had wanted to apply for 200,000 yuan in funding to repair the campus and purchase some equipment to improve the teaching environment for a long time. However, both the town and district governments were facing financial difficulties and couldn't spare any extra money. But now, with the help of Leng Bingxue's influence, Sun Zhengping not only publicly praised him but also directly allocated 500,000 yuan from the municipal bureau's special funds to the school, making Xie Changqing's finances much more relaxed.

  Actually, from top to bottom, everyone knows that except for extremely important special items, the approved funds can really be used for the application content, less than 50%, and the other half is unknown where it will be used. Anyway, as long as it's not directly put into one's own pocket, there's no problem.

  With such a good thing that brings both fame and fortune, how can Xie Changqing not be overjoyed? Even those officials who usually looked down on him and spoke to him in an official tone are now coming over to fawn all over him. The teachers at school look at him with eyes full of respect, which makes him feel a sense of pride and satisfaction.

  What a wonderful thing, it's really refreshing!

  After the opening ceremony, students began various competitions according to the pre-arranged schedule, while the school's main leaders entertained municipal, district and township leaders at the locally famous Guoji Restaurant.

  At first, I was worried that the municipal leaders would not give us any attention, after all, the conditions here are far from comparable to those in the county town. However, Sun Zhengping also gave face and did not decline.

  As Sun Zhengping was a lady, no wine was served at the banquet, but everyone's interest was high. After dinner, some simple entertainment was held until nearly four o'clock in the afternoon, when Sun Zhengping led the people below and took the car back to Changfu City.

  Throughout the process, Sun Zhengping showed great respect to Leng Yunyi and gave him a lot of face, which also made all the local cadres see Leng Yunyi's prestige. Even the head of the municipal bureau had to give him some face when they met, so what about others? Who else would dare to challenge his authority?

  The school had some problems with the arrangement of the competition events, probably because they didn't expect anyone to sign up for both the 400m and 1000m events at the same time, so they scheduled both events on the last day. As a result, there were no cold, icy events in the first two days, but as the class leader, he still led a large group of people running around, cheering and energizing others in his class.

  Anyway, he is now "wealthy and generous", taking out his own pocket money to buy a large number of things to treat his classmates. Students from other classes only have plain water to drink, but here, it's much richer, not only with salted sugar water, but also soda, fruit juice drinks, and all kinds of snacks, almost emptying the school's small grocery store, making the owner overjoyed, helping him move all the things to the second-grade class one classroom without hesitation.

  So many things immediately attracted the attention of all the classmates in the class, and they surrounded them one after another. After hearing Leng Bingxue's explanation, the whole class was suddenly plunged into excitement and carnival. Although these things were not very good in Leng Bingxue's eyes, the taste was not very good, and the packaging was ugly, but in the eyes of these students, they were the most luxurious delicacies.

  At that time, material life was not rich, and economic conditions were not good. Parents generally could not give children any pocket money, even if they did, it was very little. In general, except for eating at home, children rarely had the opportunity to eat some snacks. The children's mouths were all very hungry, in the spring and autumn seasons, they could go to the fields to catch wild vegetables, but in winter, there was nothing to eat, and they didn't have money to buy snacks. Every time, they could only watch others eat, while they themselves drooled on the side. They often followed behind children who had a bit of money, hoping to behave well and be rewarded with some food.

  Now suddenly so many delicious foods have been moved in, and these spoiled kids are not allowed to get excited to the point of dancing with joy, all cheering and applauding.

  No more nonsense, let's set the rules immediately: those who participate in the competition will be rewarded, and the rewards for the top three winners will be doubled. Those who do not participate in the competition but provide services and cheerleading work for the contestants will also be rewarded.

  With such motivation, the students of Class 1, Grade 2 were all like fierce wolves, with wolf-like ferocity shining in their eyes. There was no one who didn't participate in the competition, except for a few who stayed behind in the classroom to coordinate and dispatch, the rest all gathered around the competing students, cheering them on, serving tea and water, gathering information, and even helping with massages to relax muscles. When the competition began, they also shouted loudly alongside the competitors' names, constantly cheering them on, the whole scene was a magnificent sight, causing people from other classes to look over in admiration.

  And as for the contestants, it's even more so. Before the competition, they were well-prepared and well-fed, with many classmates running around to serve them. If they didn't get good results in the competition, how could they justify such VIP treatment? Therefore, once the competition started, everyone gave their all, like a tiger going downhill, bringing out 120% of their potential, and all performed above expectations, greatly exceeding the predicted scores before the competition.

  The students of Class 1, Grade 2 are united and striving to be the first, happily enjoying delicious food. The students from other classes can only watch with envy, regretting their bad luck for not being in Class 1, Grade 2. Some students from other classes who didn't get grapes say that grapes are sour, complaining: "What's so great about it? It's just your good luck. If Cold Ice was in our class, you would be the ones envying us."

  Some students who had a good relationship with Leng Bing Han, such as Zhang Xiaoguang and Li Hong, knew the situation and didn't care about it. They came over to grab some food, and Leng Bing Han didn't stop them. He just smiled and scolded them for being robbers, while helping them choose which ones were delicious. In fact, even if they hadn't come, Leng Bing Han would have sent the food to them anyway. When it came to friends, he was never stingy.

  It was Wen Xin and Chen Ting who, on the one hand, saw how much money Leng Bing Xue had spent and felt a little heartache for him, while also being very worried about where he got so much money from. They both couldn't help but express their concerns in front of him.

  "Don't worry, I have money and there will be even more in the future, so don't worry." Leng Bing Han was very confident. Children's thoughts come and go quickly, since Leng Bing Han said it was fine, and he also left some better food for himself, they soon forgot about the matter.

  The effect of material incentives is significant, and it's not just that everyone values material things, but also that the cold and icy way of doing things brings the whole class together in a way that kids can easily accept. The transformation of Class 1, Grade 2 has left the entire school in awe, with every head teacher sighing and telling their students: "Look at Class 1, Grade 2, their team spirit is so strong, whether it's competitions or other things, they're always actively striving for success, with good news pouring in all the time. Why can't you learn from them?"

  Students nodded in agreement on the surface but grumbled in their hearts: "If you, teacher, can get so much money and material rewards, we would be more enthusiastic too."

  Li Zhi Xiong, as the cold and icy class teacher, was also taken by Xie Chang Qing to attend the noon banquet. When he heard that he was the class teacher of Cold Ice, Director Sun Zheng Ping even specially had a drink with him, making him dizzy with joy. The kind of joy that burst out from his heart made him speechless, and he didn't even know how to put his hands or walk. He just smiled foolishly all day long.

  No wonder, as a small teacher, where would he have the opportunity to dine with the director of the municipal education bureau and receive special respect? Just thinking about it makes one feel nostalgic, let alone that such an unimaginable thing has actually happened to him. Being able to make the director of the municipal education bureau remember him, even if only for this moment, is enough to satisfy him.

  In the afternoon, after seeing off the municipal leaders, Li Zhi Xiong accompanied Principal Xie Chang Qing back to school. He was overjoyed and still reeked of alcohol. But he couldn't care less about that now, his own joy, he eagerly wanted to share with the students, especially Leng Bing Han. Without Leng Bing Han, where would such a good thing happen to him?

  At this moment, he and Xie Changqing were on an equal footing, with a deep sense of gratitude filling his heart.

  At this moment, today's competition events have come to an end. As soon as he walked into the playground, many teachers came to report the good news that their class had achieved very good results today, with three first places, two second places and one third place in seven events, ranking first in the whole grade.

  There were still many teachers who envied him and asked about the feeling of having dinner with the municipal leaders. They congratulated him one after another, and in his modesty, they surprisingly asked: "Teacher Li, you are really generous, buying so many things to reward students, how much did your class collect? You must have spent a lot yourself! It seems that being received by the mayor of the municipality is indeed different."

  "What's there to buy? What thing?" Li Zhi Xiong was perplexed.

  Li Zhi Xiong was still puzzled after asking about the situation, he didn't let the class committee members go shopping, and he had been managing the class fees himself, where did they get the money to buy so many things?

  Rushed to class, because the second grade class one's competition project has already ended today, all students are in the classroom, and Leng Binghan is summarizing today's situation for everyone, what performed well, what needs improvement, what needs to be improved tomorrow, what competitions there will be, and what needs attention...

  Today, there was a project that didn't get any prize. After the competition, that student cried so much, feeling sorry for not being able to make his classmates' concern and help worthwhile, and not being able to bring honor to the class. It took Cold Ice and Snow half a day of consolation to calm him down. Actually, Cold Ice and Snow saw it very clearly - it wasn't that he performed badly, but the gap in strength was just too big. In this project, there were several students from other classes who did quite well.

  Overall, everyone was in high spirits today, enjoying the food and the competition. Last year's sports day, when we were still first-year students in Class 1, we only ranked third among the four classes in our grade. Today, we suddenly won so many events and are currently ranked first in our grade. Seeing the envy and jealousy in the eyes of other classes made us feel like we had just drunk a bowl of ice-cold sour plum soup on a sweltering summer day - it was incredibly refreshing. And as for the cold, hard cash that some people spent to buy so many things, we were grateful beyond measure.

  At this time, seeing Li Zhi Xiong come in, everyone was excited and talked about what happened today. After learning the whole situation, Li Zhi Xiong had mixed feelings. He was relieved that Leng Bing Han did a good job as class leader, even better than himself sometimes. However, he still worried about where Leng Bing Han got so much money from. Did Secretary Leng and others know? Buying so many things wasn't cheap, it was equivalent to his monthly salary. Even if Secretary Leng and others spoiled Leng Bing Han, they wouldn't give him that much money. What if the money was secretly taken out by Leng Bing Han, wouldn't that be a big trouble?

  Thinking of this, he felt a bit heavy in his heart, and the joyous mood he had just experienced due to Sun Zhengping's toast was also dampened. He forced a smile and praised everyone for a few words before hastily calling Leng Binghan aside to have a good talk with him.

  Before he could think of what to say, Leng Bing Xue seemed to have already guessed his concerns and smiled slightly, saying: "Teacher Li, you're wondering where I got the money to buy all these things, right?"

  "This... " was suddenly exposed by the student, Li Zhi Xiong felt a bit embarrassed, touched his head and smiled awkwardly: "Xiao Han, teacher knows you're a good student, but is worried..."

  "Hehe, thank you for your concern, teacher." Li Zhi Xiong's eyes flickered slightly as he looked at Leng Bing Han, and his smile was reined in. His expression turned slightly solemn as he said, "Don't worry, teacher, I won't squander the family's money. This money is all earned by me, and I know how to spend it meaningfully."

  He didn't say how he earned the money, it was won at the casino and also his own earnings. Li Zhi Xiong had heard before that Leng Bing Han started earning a salary in kindergarten, so he thought Leng Bing Han was talking about the money he earned back then. Although he couldn't understand why Secretary Leng and others trusted him to manage and use such a large amount of money, he thought this must be someone else's unconventional education method. He immediately put down the big stone in his heart and his face relaxed.

  "The public expenses of the class should be paid from the class fees collected from everyone. Your money is your own hard-earned money, and if it's all spent on the class, how can that be okay?" Li Zhi Xiong was still a bit worried that if Leng Shuji and others found out about Leng Bing Han's spending, they would take their anger out on him after all. This wasn't a small amount of money.

  "Don't worry, Teacher Li. How I spend my money is none of my family's business, as long as it's used for the right purposes." Leng Bing said with a cold smile: "I think this amount of money can bring our class together, strengthen our cohesion and sense of collective honor, which makes it worthwhile. Look at the atmosphere in our class now, isn't it completely different? This is my personal action, even if I weren't the class monitor, I would still do this as long as I have the ability."

  When Leng Bing said this, Li Zhi Xiong was somewhat moved and said: "Since that's the case, I'll represent the whole class in thanking you."

  Li smiled faintly and said, "No need to be so polite, Teacher Li. We're all doing this for the class. There's still a competition tomorrow, why don't you go tell everyone something?"

  "It's enough." Li Zhi Xiong shook his head and said, "You've all done very well already. Let everyone go back and rest early, tomorrow we'll strive for even better results."

  To prevent the remaining food and drinks from being taken away by others or encountered by mice, after school was dismissed, Li Zhi-xiong and Leng Bing-han stayed behind with a few male classmates to help move all the things to Li Zhi-xiong's dormitory first. Wen Xin also voluntarily stayed behind to help carry things, actually wanting to wait for Leng Bing-han to go home together. Chen Ting originally wanted to stay too, but the car sent by the troops had to leave at a fixed point and couldn't wait especially for her, so she could only leave reluctantly first.

  After moving things, Leng Binghan gave each of several classmates a bag of small biscuits, including Wenshen. Then everyone left happily.

  On the way home, he was savoring the small biscuits in the bag and said: "Xiao Han Ge, these things are really delicious!"

  "Do you like eating it? I'll buy more for you to eat next time, but don't overeat these things, kids should eat more rice, vegetables and meat to supplement nutrition."

  "Hmm, Xiao Han Ge, you really know a lot." Wen Xin tilted her head, her eyes filled with admiration as she looked at Leng Bing Han, "How did you know all this?"

  "Just read more books, listen and observe." Leng Bing Xue said with a cold tone but with a hint of affection, as he took out his handkerchief to wipe away the cookie crumbs from Wen Si's mouth. This little girl, although older than him in this life, seemed like a younger sister to him, and he hoped to take care of her, protect her, and let her grow up happily and healthily.

  She felt the cold ice's concern for herself, and her warm heart was filled with joy. She quietly looked at the cold ice in front of her, her eyes full of unusual radiance, truly hoping that this walk home from school would never end.