Rebirth in the 50s: The Couple with the Hidden Space

"When you are poor, take care of yourself; when you are successful, help the world."

Zhou Jiao knows very well that she hasn’t the ability to help the world yet, and reality doesn’t allow her to take the wrong step. But this time, for these adorable children, she wants to contribute.

After handling some miscellaneous tasks, that night in the living room of the Zhang Family Courtyard in Zhang Family Village, the kang was covered with a pile of notes and cash in denominations of one, two, five, and ten.

"You’ve taken too many lives over the years, and my dad has, too... I don’t know if there’s karma in this world, but doing good deeds never goes wrong. What do you think?"

For his wife’s decision, Zhang Guoqing raised his hand in agreement. In one’s lifetime, doing more good and accumulating virtue may not guarantee rewards, but at least the heart remains peaceful.

"This is what I think, listen first, and help me refine it later."

Zhang Guoqing handed her a glass of water and said gently, "Alright. Take your time, go ahead and say it; whatever decision you make, I’m with you."

Upon hearing his words, Zhou Jiao beamed brightly, "We have over five thousand in cash here now, but making an anonymous donation—giving it out all at once—aside from arousing suspicion from those in the fishing village, it would more likely cause internal disputes."

Zhang Guoqing nodded. That’s certain!

"So I thought of Grandma Song. On the surface, besides the expenses, the salary from both you and my parents, after helping those relatives of the martyrs’ orphans monthly, can yield roughly a thousand throughout the year.

A couple of years ago, we donated the last half of the gold. The time should be counted from last year, and now it’s been more than a year and a half; we should give out two thousand and it shouldn’t draw too much attention. If I donate to Grandma Song’s foundation to help the fishing village kids, wouldn’t that be worry-free?"

Zhang Guoqing glanced at her, was silent for a moment, then shook his head.

His wife fell into the trap again; otherwise, she wouldn’t overlook human nature.

Sometimes, after you take a series of measures, you think you’re proletariat, but there are smart people around, and it might reveal that your family is not short of money, thereby appearing wealthy.

Moreover, some might suspect that the family has already accessed the Gu Family inheritance, so they are carefree and don’t have to save for Ping’an.

Another point, giving donations consecutively isn’t it like slapping the old masters in the face? Before, it was acceptable to think the gold belonged to Gu Ruyi, and we stayed noble. But to donate even the salary would be showing off!

Upon hearing Zhang Guoqing’s concerns, Zhou Jiao slapped her forehead—when emotional, she’d make foolish mistakes! It’s true; now it’s an honor to wear worn-out clothes, but never heard those donating all their assets as national heroes!

There’s the damned envy of the rich! Some people exist in every era. Maybe she’d make a fuss, and in the future, someone will press her to explain the source of the money!

Feeling heartache, Zhang Guoqing squeezed her hand and, frowning, rubbed her forehead disapprovingly. In such a short time, it’s reddened!

Zhou Jiao let out a heavy sigh! It’s hard. Wanting to do something, why is it so difficult!

"What do you think about this?"

Zhou Jiao immediately looked up at him.

With a smile, Zhang Guoqing stroked her head, "You were wrong from the start. Survival, filling the belly trumps everything else. Besides catching fish, those kids at the fishing village can peel shrimp for money. We provide tuition support, but for them, filling their stomachs comes first."

"What do you mean?"

Zhang Guoqing patted her, "Don’t rush. The Ministry of Education has regulations; children with a per capita income below 10 yuan monthly don’t have to pay tuition fees. So we anonymously send five hundred, specifying it’s for children’s tuition. Four hundred kids, at two and a half per person, nearly matches a thousand. This five hundred is the touchstone."

Zhou Jiao caught the meaning of his words. A touchstone? Take this approach, innocent kids might not have calculation, but adults might. If part of the tuition could be waived, this five hundred would support those children.

"The money can’t be sent immediately, and not from the Northeast or Beijing. I plan to let Uncle Huang Dong at Hai City help anonymously send it."

"Alright, let’s do it this way." Zhou Jiao couldn’t think of a better plan.

Seeing her sudden decline in mood, Zhang Guoqing knew those kids had hit her soft spot. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have lost her usual rationality in excitement. She also must have future concerns, wanting to do good and accumulate virtue for family blessings.

Wife, heartache, can only coax her a bit, not letting her fret over trifles that affect her health.

"Actually, you’ve always been doing good deeds. Not to mention the children in Beijing, but this time back, the welfare institute in the provincial city, the elderly home at the county, the village’s Fifth Master, these are all righteous acts."

While speaking, Zhang Guoqing observed her expression, continued, "We’ll go South later this year; conditions are less favorable compared to the North. We’ll do more good deeds there, okay?"

Upon hearing this, Zhou Jiao nodded, "Only this way!"

Zhang Guoqing nudged her, joked, "Or let’s toss some money into each courtyard in the village tonight? Once finished, it’ll alleviate our worries."

Amused by his tease, Zhou Jiao gave him an eye-roll and grinned.

"Hehe... Come to think of it, that’s quite interesting. Tomorrow they’ll surely go to the ancestral hall to pray to the ancestors, hoping for a repeat."

Quickly tidying up the money, Zhou Jiao said, "Ah, I’m so sleepy."

Zhang Guoqing saw she was diverting the topic. Seeing her relaxed expression, he silently rejoiced. Someday, he would cure his wife’s soft-heartedness towards children.

Before bed, Zhou Jiao suddenly said, "I forgot to reserve payment for Old Wu’s batch of mountain goods."

Holding the person in his arms, Zhang Guoqing said softly, "How much is that? Jiao Jiao, why don’t we purchase mountain goods from the village at higher prices than the acquisition station? Many families are eager to gather tuition for their kids."

Zhou Jiao displayed a smile. This was also a form of subsidy, and she had no objections.

Jokingly, she said, "That’s more meaningful than tossing money. But settle it with Mom first; if she finds out, she’d be furious."

Zhang Guoqing paused, then laughed boastfully, "I’ll handle it smoothly. I’ll say some friends from the provincial city asked for a favor, letting Grandpa Third manage it."

"Just keep it in mind. It’s fine doing what we can for the village, as long as it doesn’t upset Mom. If you truly want to help the village, there might be a feasible way. Grandpa Third might also consider it; have you noticed the ring of fruit tree saplings below the hillside?"

His eyes lit up, Zhang Guoqing asked softly, "Do you mean, a cannery beverage factory?"

"Exactly! The village reports to the township for setting up a simple production team cannery. Now, the situation begins to improve, and there are plenty of hawthorn and wild grapes on the mountain. After the farm work, one can produce hawthorn canned food, hawthorn preserved fruit, wild grape juice, which surely won’t lack a market. In addition to profits, we can exchange resources with other factories."

The more Zhang Guoqing thought about it, the more feasible it seemed. Previously limited by every grass and tree being public-owned, he hadn’t considered this. With the production team following a collective route, it wouldn’t be an issue.

"I’ll go talk to Grandpa Third."

Zhou Jiao saw him walk out eagerly, quickly reminding, "Don’t go in person."

"I’m aware of that. Besides, we’ll head back to Beijing in a couple of days, even thinking of personally handling things won’t be practical or appropriate. I’ll observe the old fox’s reaction."

Watching his departing figure, Zhou Jiao sighed quietly.

It’s really never easy to accomplish more. Hopefully, this plan works so that Zhang Family Village’s thousands of people can have better living conditions and no longer struggle to fill their stomachs, even with cornmeal.