122. Giving a man a fish is not as good as teaching him how to fish.

“What did uncle say?” Bai Jinyan asked.

Chen Ruowen shot him a glare.

Chen Liwan even asked where she had slept last night. She hesitated and gave a vague answer, but Chen Liwan was no fool—he definitely had it figured out.

When he hung up, Chen Liwan was furious, swearing that tonight he would deliver bedding and daily necessities immediately, making sure that bastard kid wouldn’t take advantage of his daughter anymore.

“What does it matter what he said?” Chen Ruowen replied irritably, rolling her eyes at Bai Jinyan. “No need to cook dinner tonight. My dad’s plane will arrive within an hour at the latest. He even arranged for an extra shipment of food supplies.”

Chen Ruowen curled her lips disdainfully.

“You’re all so reluctant to eat a single rabbit, like you’re being overly considerate. Tomorrow, I’ll have Village Chief Ge issue a notice—I’ll cover the entire village’s food supply for a year by myself!”

Chen Ruowen really couldn’t understand.

Although Zhongyu wasn’t as big as Twin Star, it was still one of the top companies in South City. The Bai family didn’t give Bai Jinyan unlimited financial freedom like Chen Liwan gave her, but he still had a few thousand yuan in pocket money every month.

She understood that Bai Jinyan wanted to experience life in Qian City. From his taste in movies to idolizing Jiang Yi, she grasped his hero complex.

But why did teaching in the countryside have to mean suffering alongside the villagers?

At the very least, bringing a proper bed and clean bedding from home shouldn’t be too much to ask, right? Knowing they’d be busy, bringing a cook and a housekeeper from home to prepare meals wasn’t unreasonable either, was it?

Buying some food and drink to improve his own diet—and in turn improve the whole village’s life—surely wasn’t difficult?

“Don’t do that,” Bai Jinyan frowned. “I know you’re not used to the local food, and I’m not asking you to get used to it. If we want to help the people here, we can donate books and teaching materials, but direct support involving daily life and money—it’s better not to.”

“Why?” Chen Ruowen asked curiously.

Bai Jinyan sighed softly.

“It’s hard to go from luxury to frugality, Ruowen. You might be able to supply Rainbow Village, or even all surrounding villages, with food for a whole year. But what happens after that year? When the villagers get used to big fish, fine rice, and flour from your donations, can they endure the previous hardships once your support stops?

“You might say that with Twin Star’s resources, supporting this village for ten or a hundred years wouldn’t be a problem. But what if Twin Star encounters an economic crisis and has to stop the funding?

“If food and clothing come without effort, will anyone in this village still want to work hard?

“Besides…”

Bai Jinyan’s expression grew complicated.

“I’ve told you this before, right? When Jiang Yi left Nanda University, he worked as a traveling doctor for a few years. During that time, he met a poor family. Jiang Yi had little income then, scraping money together from selling herbs and scavenging to support that family’s child through school, from elementary to university.

“After Jiang Yi passed away, his disciples found more than a dozen letters in the mailbox of his hometown, all from that family.

“But these letters weren’t thank-you notes—they were requests for money.

“Later, Wei Kun visited the family once to explain that Jiang Yi had died and had been trapped in the Black Country battlefront during his last months, so he couldn’t keep in touch.

“Do you know what the first thing that family said upon hearing this?”

Chen Ruowen shook her head.

“They asked, ‘Jiang Yi is dead? Then who will give us money now?’”

“Ungrateful wretches!” Chen Ruowen swore.

Someone who had helped them all along suddenly lost contact; wouldn’t a normal person first worry about their benefactor’s safety? Yet this family sent over a dozen letters demanding money, and when they learned of Jiang Yi’s death, they didn’t even offer condolences—they just wanted more money!

“Luckily Jiang Yi never saw those letters, or I don’t know how heartbroken he’d have been!”

“After they realized Wei Kun was Jiang Yi’s disciple, they turned their sights on him. Wei Kun had a bad impression of them after seeing those letters, and since the child Jiang Yi sponsored had already graduated and become self-sufficient, he refused.

“Do you know what happened next? That family turned hostile on the spot, insulting Jiang Yi and Wei Kun for being untrustworthy and immoral. They even caused a scene at the hospital where Wei Kun worked, which got him fired.”

“That’s utterly ungrateful!” Chen Ruowen was furious. “What happened after? Did Dr. Wei take revenge? Did he tell you this?”

Bai Jinyan shook his head. “I admired Master Jiang Yi, so after he passed, I visited his hometown and the family he helped. I wanted to help but unexpectedly ran into these troubles.”

“You met Wei Kun then too?”

Bai Jinyan nodded.

“So that small clinic Dr. Wei runs now…”

“It’s under my name.”

Chen Ruowen suddenly understood.

“So you’ve been hiding so many secrets behind my back…” she muttered softly, then frowned. “Then why are you still coming to Qian City to teach and do good deeds? I don’t even want to deal with these people!”

Bai Jinyan smiled, stroking Chen Ruowen’s hair. “Why blame the whole county for the faults of a few? A lack of gratitude reflects a deficiency in basic education—that’s exactly why someone needs to come and fill the gap.”

Chen Ruowen nodded gloomily. “Alright, since you say so, I’ll forgive them. The big feast is for us alone, no sharing.”

“Mm. I’m still thinking about a way to truly help them. I’ll tell you once the plan is ready.”

Chen Ruowen nodded, then asked, “Is recruiting teachers online reliable? Why hasn’t anyone come yet after so long?”

Bai Jinyan looked a bit troubled. “Two people promised before but were delayed by other matters. My daily time for online recruitment is limited, so we haven’t found the right candidates yet.”

“I’ll help!” Chen Ruowen said excitedly. Seeing Bai Jinyan’s puzzled look, she picked up her phone. “Instead of strangers, let’s rely on people around us. Wait, I’ll find someone for you in ten minutes... no, five.”

Chen Ruowen uploaded a photo of Bai Jinyan teaching earlier that day and posted a status:

“Recruiting several teaching volunteers. Requirements: good academic record, skilled, hardworking, willing to dedicate themselves. Location: one of the poorest areas in Qian City. Extremely harsh conditions: wake at 4 a.m. to fetch water from the neighboring village, four hours of mountain hiking to school, lunch is wild vegetable porridge only, rooms infested with rats and cockroaches. If you can’t handle this, don’t apply.”

Bai Jinyan looked at her new post, puzzled.

“Our conditions are tough, yes, but waking at 4 a.m. to fetch water? That’s exaggerated. Four hours mountain hike? That’s for the students, not the teachers. Lunch isn’t just wild vegetable porridge—we cooked two dishes today. Rats and cockroaches exist, true, but I sprayed the room, so at worst there are a few fleas and bugs. Where did you get this from?”

“Did you write this about Rainbow Village?” Bai Jinyan questioned, doubting his own understanding.

“Oh, I purposely made it sound worse so people won’t apply for fun and waste my time.”

“...Very clever,” Bai Jinyan said, patting Chen Ruowen’s head.

Less than ten seconds after posting, Chen Ruowen’s phone rang. Chen Liwan called again, anxiously asking if her post was true. She explained it was just a clever filter for applicants, then Chen Liwan reluctantly hung up.

Only then did Chen Ruowen check the messages she had just received.

Despite describing Rainbow Village’s conditions as harsh, many still applied. Her close friends Geng Jiaojiao and Song Yunhui messaged her immediately, asking where she was so they could rush over.

Chen Ruowen thought about how spoiled those rich kids were and felt skeptical.

“Jiaojiao and the others don’t need to come, right?”

Bai Jinyan, scrolling through the latest messages on Chen Ruowen’s phone, was speechless. Those people might come to help or cause trouble, and they might end up needing care themselves.

Just as he said this, Chen Ruowen’s phone rang again. Bai Jinyan glanced down and frowned.

It was a private message from Gao Tang.

“Send your location. I’ll be there tomorrow.”

Seeing Chen Ruowen unaware, Bai Jinyan calmly deleted the message.

“Even such a grim description can’t stop their curiosity?” Chen Ruowen sighed.

She thought for a moment, then took back her phone and added a comment under the post:

“If your pocket money is more than Bai Jinyan’s, don’t apply. Even if you do, you won’t be accepted.”

Bai Jinyan was speechless.

Why make him the benchmark? His pocket money was among the lowest in the circle. It wasn’t a secret, but putting it out publicly as a standard looked strange, didn’t it?

Chen Ruowen stretched and tossed her phone to Bai Jinyan.

“You pick the people yourself. There’ll be a few reliable ones. I’m tired; I’m going to rest. Let me know when the plane arrives.”

She kicked her two aching legs, then glanced disdainfully at the only worn-out chair in the drafty room.

Seeing this, Bai Jinyan took off his shirt and laid it over the chair, keeping only a vest on. Chen Ruowen sat down contentedly, leaning against him like a pillow and closing her eyes.

Just as Bai Jinyan took the phone, he received another message from Gao Tang.

“I don’t have pocket money.”

“You know I earn my salary through hard work every month now.”

Then the screen flickered, showing a carefully chosen selfie from Gao Tang.

“I’m at least much better looking than that sly fox Bai Jinyan. When you’re unhappy, look at this handsome face to lift your mood.”

“I’m better looking and cook better. Once I come, Bai Jinyan can pack up and go home.”

So Gao Tang was talking behind his back like this all along?

Bai Jinyan pressed a key expressionlessly.

“Ruowen’s asleep. I am Bai Jinyan.”

After a few minutes of silence, a voice message came through. Bai Jinyan glanced at Chen Ruowen and used the voice-to-text function.

“Bai Jinyan!!! You beast!!!”

Even through the phone screen, Gao Tang’s furious roar was palpable.

Bai Jinyan raised an eyebrow, selected all Gao Tang’s messages, and deleted them.