Chapter Eighty-Eight: Building the House

In Guiyun Valley, a poor mountainous district.

Lin Wolf was driving with Lin Nan along a rutted country road.

When Lin Wolf had first learned at home of Lin Nan’s idea for the Million Club, the always-unflustered man had, for the first time, shown his surprise openly.

He had thought that after being reborn, nothing in this world would ever stir his heart very deeply again.

He had never imagined that, under his own unconventional style of education, Lin Nan in this life would come up with such an indescribable notion as the Million Club.

Set one million as the goal, make charity the purpose, and use challenges in different fields as the standard for advancement. What a magnificent club that would be.

Lin Wolf laughed inwardly. He felt immensely proud to have a son like Lin Nan.

Where could one even find a son with such an upright outlook on life?

After some discussion, Lin Wolf finally decided to use their monthly break to bring Lin Nan here and build a schoolhouse with the one million earned from basketball.

Unlike Xingyang Village, Guiyun Valley was full of impoverished households, and many children from those families could hardly afford an education.

So building a school would be the most beneficial thing they could do for them.

Of course, a school was not something that could be put up on a whim. There were government approvals to discuss, construction companies to find, teachers to arrange, equipment to purchase, and more. It was far from simple.

Still, Lin Wolf had already taken care of all of that, even wiring over the full one million.

Because of the Teacher's Say website, Lin Wolf now had a very close relationship with several government offices.

So when he asked the right people about building a school, the authorities immediately arranged everything for him.

Ordinarily, whatever Lin Wolf asked for now, the officials would do their utmost to make happen. Much less something as commendable as building a school.

By the time Lin Wolf drove to the site the authorities had designated for the school, a young civil servant was already waiting there.

"Hello, you must be Young Yang!" Lin Wolf said as he got out of the car. On the large empty lot before him stood a young man who looked just like the photograph, a briefcase in hand.

The young man called Young Yang immediately walked toward the car and asked politely, "You must be Mr. Lin?"

"Yes, I am," Lin Wolf replied at once.

At the confirmation, a smile spread across Young Yang’s face.

After passing the civil service exam a few years earlier, Young Yang had volunteered to return to the poorest part of his hometown and do the work he loved most.

Because he had grown up in an orphanage, he had never known who his parents were or where his relatives might be.

To him, the uncles, aunts, and old director at the orphanage were his only family, forever.

Fortunately, Young Yang had shown extraordinary talent in his studies from a young age.

The orphanage had supported him through school, and he had gone on to university successfully.

That was why, after graduating and becoming a civil servant, he chose to return home and give back to the place that had raised him.

What comforted him greatly was that there were many kind people in this world.

His current job, for instance, was to help people who wished to do charity work through the necessary procedures, making it easier and faster for them to do good.

So Young Yang cut straight to the point, smiling as he said, "Mr. Lin, welcome. Thank you very much for donating one million to Guiyun Valley.

There are more and more people like you who want to do charity now, and because of that, life here has become better and better.

To make things convenient for philanthropists like you, we have already prepared all the relevant documents in advance. You only need to sign them, and once we record everything, construction can begin immediately."

As he spoke, Young Yang took a stack of paper documents and a pen out of his briefcase.

Lin Wolf asked, "Does the donor need to sign? And can the quality of the schoolhouse be guaranteed?"

Young Yang immediately smiled and answered, "Of course the donor has to sign. When we do good deeds, we need to keep a record. First, it makes everything open and transparent; second, it makes our procedures much more convenient. Though we encourage selflessness, good deeds can still be credited, and most of the school buildings here are named after the donor.

As for quality, that is guaranteed beyond question. We will build a schoolhouse of the most suitable size according to the amount donated, and we will absolutely not create any safety hazards for the children. The entire construction process will be supervised by dedicated staff, and safety inspections will be carried out once it is completed.

You do not need to worry about any of that."

After speaking, Young Yang saw Lin Wolf nod, and he handed over the pen and the documents.

What he had not expected was for Lin Wolf to say with a smile, "The donor is not me. It is my son."

As the words fell, Young Yang saw Lin Nan step out from beside the car.

Then the expression on Young Yang’s face shifted from a smile to confusion, then to shock, and finally to utter disbelief.

"You are Lin Nan?" he asked, unable to believe it.

"Yes, Uncle Young Yang," Lin Nan said, the corners of his mouth lifting into a smile.

Young Yang froze in place, the right hand holding the pen suspended in the air, unable for a long while to recover his senses.

The one-million donation he had received today had actually come from Lin Nan.

Young Yang found it hard to digest this sudden information.

He knew who Lin Nan was, because not long ago he had sat with the children in front of an old, worn-out television and watched the final match between Qingshui No. 1 Middle School and Yangcheng High School.

When Lin Nan landed from the air and injured his ankle, he and the children had all shed tears of sorrow.

And when Lin Nan miraculously appeared on the court again, they had all jumped up and cheered before the television.

In the end, Qingshui No. 1 Middle School won the championship with a last-second shot, and they cried again, this time with excitement.

Basketball was also part of life in Guiyun Valley. Because the facilities were so poor and there was so little entertainment, every school had made a point of building a basketball court.

A sport that required only a basketball and a pump naturally became an indispensable daily pastime for the children.

As for Lin Nan, he was the idol of all the children in the entire Guiyun Valley region.

And he was Young Yang’s idol as well.

Never in his wildest dreams had Young Yang imagined that Lin Nan would actually come here with a million to build a school.

Then Young Yang suddenly remembered seeing online some time ago that Lin Nan had signed an endorsement deal with Nike for one million, and that rumors had also spread that Lin Nan did not plan to pursue a professional basketball career.

At the time, all of Lin Nan’s fans had found that impossible to accept, and could not understand why he would stop playing.

Young Yang had even wondered whether Lin Nan had been dazzled by the million. Of course, he had quickly and firmly dismissed that idea.

Now he could not help feeling ashamed for ever having thought such a thing.

Because Lin Nan had taken the million he had only just earned and come to build a school with it.

Young Yang’s eyes slowly grew moist. Still somewhat puzzled, he asked, "Lin Nan, why are you not continuing to play basketball?"

He felt that basketball and charity were not in conflict at all, and with Lin Nan’s skill, his future would only grow brighter.

Most importantly, in Young Yang’s heart, Lin Nan was the spiritual idol of the children here.

Just as Pelé’s influence on the children of Brazil’s slums had been of great significance.

It was a kind of spiritual support, far more precious than material comfort.

Lin Nan looked at Young Yang’s bewildered face and seemed to want to speak, but for a long time said nothing.

In the end, it was Lin Wolf who explained the great idea of the Million Club to Young Yang.

The moment he heard it, Young Yang was stunned, and the way he looked at Lin Nan again was as though he were looking at a saint.

He could not understand the logic behind his actions, only that this person was truly extraordinary.

After all, Lin Nan was only fifteen, a first-year high school student. How could he have come up with such an unimaginable, almost unnameable idea?

Seeing Young Yang speechless with shock, Lin Wolf understood him perfectly.

Even he, reborn as he was, had been startled, let alone anyone else.

After a long while, Young Yang finally and solemnly handed the pen to Lin Nan.

Lin Nan signed his name on each of the documents.

Young Yang then asked with great respect, "Would you like to take a group photo with the children?"

Lin Wolf asked in return, "The school has not even been built yet, and there are already children here?"

Hearing that, Young Yang instantly reverted from fan to civil servant and replied with a half-smile, "What we lack here is not children who want to study. What we lack is a place where they can study."

Lin Wolf and Lin Nan immediately understood and fell silent.

After a moment, Lin Wolf said, "Let’s leave it. No photo. You know Lin Nan counts as something of a public figure now.

A photo would certainly make the children very happy, but his Million Club plan has only taken the first step.

To others, that plan may seem hard to realize. But I believe in him. The second step will not come quickly, but it will come. When he returns then, we can make it public."

Young Yang nodded. He understood perfectly what Lin Wolf meant.

If Lin Nan were to announce the Million Club plan right away, it would look to the world like nothing more than a bid for attention.

But if, within one or two years, or perhaps a few years, he again reached the level of basketball or a million in some other field, then the club would truly be born, and it would become something everyone sought to emulate.

Countless talented people would then set foot on the road of challenging themselves and doing charity, striving to join this era-defining club.

By then, it would become the greatest charitable club in the world.

Because Lin Wolf had just made it very clear to him that each member of the club would have to personally put the one million they earned, or more, into tangible charitable work for it to count. The process would be strictly reviewed, just like Lin Nan building a school now.

One could donate a million quite easily, but where that million actually ended up might be known to no one.

That was also the part of the Million Club Young Yang admired most.

In the end, after all the documents had been signed, Young Yang watched respectfully as the father and son, whom he held in such high esteem, drove away.

As for the new school’s name, after the three of them discussed it, they decided it would be Lin Nan Hope Primary School.

For now, they would let that small deception stand.

And when the Lin father and son were driving back, pleased with how things had gone, they saw another schoolhouse under construction at a vacant lot by the roadside.

It seemed what Young Yang had said was true: there really were quite a few people doing charity.

Lin Nan stared at the schoolhouse under construction for quite a while.

From afar, he seemed to see a tall, handsome man standing nearby, though beneath the fierce sunlight his face appeared to have been darkened by the sun.