Rebirth in the 90s: Her Counterattack and Redemption

Chapter 1596 - 923:

"Alright, you go ahead, I need to discuss this matter with you..." Luo Ye relayed what he had just discussed with Li Xiaoyan.

Qu Yue nodded immediately, "No problem, we’ll definitely complete the task."

"How could we impose on you like this? Why don’t we let Xiao Ning stay here while the rest of us go back, and we’ll pick up Xiao Ning tomorrow morning..."

"Teacher Wang, let Manager Li accompany you all. Qu Yue and I will go next door for a while; we still have many friends over there." Luo Ye interrupted Wang Qiayu and pulled Qu Yue outside.

"Sister Xiaoning, this..."

Watching the two leave so abruptly, Wang Qiayu looked at Li Xiaoyan, bewildered, "We were delayed for two days, and it has nothing to do with you; how can we let you bear this responsibility? How can we let your company bear it? This is just too much..."

"Enough, you’re a grown man, why so naggy?" Li Xiaoyan interrupted him, looking at the three still busy picking up food, "Xiaoning, Yuanyuan, Li Hua, eat slowly, anyway, we plan to stay here tonight, no rush."

"Thank you, Sister Xiaoyan!"

"Thank you, Sister Xiaoyan, we’re really riding on Xiaoning’s coattails here!"

The two girls spoke with mouths full of food, thanking her quickly.

"Sigh!" Li Xiaoyan sighed, looking at Wang Qiayu, "How much money did you bring? How did they end up starving like this?"

"Don’t even mention it..." Bringing up the topic, Wang Qiayu also wore a bitter expression, "You know the situation at our school; the funding wasn’t much, to begin with.

But now we have a stingy financial director, and he calculated the expenses for coming to Sha City with an abacus for ages.

I said at the time it wasn’t enough, but he scolded me. As a result, during the competition, we could only stay in cheap inns and eat the cheapest noodles.

I... not to hide it from you, if I hadn’t brought the savings from my salary, we wouldn’t have lasted until now. You know, when the financial director calculates, it’s one thing, but when you get here, how can the actual expenses be the same as his calculations?

Take transportation, for example, we chose accommodations far from the competition venue to save on lodging costs, but ended up spending more on travel.

And food, eating noodles every day is unsustainable, so during the competition days, I bought them dumplings.

Of course, when the financial director calculated, he based it on the cost of dumplings, but he calculated using the costs from our town.

I told him before, expenses in big cities are different from small towns, but he insisted, saying he’s been to Sha City and his calculations reflect the actual local consumption level.

Sigh, I really don’t know where he ate in Sha City; based on his figures, it seems more like rural Sha City costs.

Even so, we’ve barely managed until now. To be honest, if funds don’t come through by tomorrow, we might end up on the streets."

Hearing this from Wang Qiayu, Li Xiaoyan heartily looked at her brother, then asked hesitantly, "Is this competition entirely self-funded?"

"No, but the money was allocated to each school."

Wang Qiayu’s reply was brief, but the implication was clear—the funds had been withheld.

Li Xiaoyan sighed, "I estimate, the funds that actually reached you were only about one-fifth of the total, right? But even if you report it, it won’t help.

Our school is a poor school, saving money is definitely used for school construction. Even if investigated, the school will just be praised for its frugality. Sigh, the school gets a good reputation, but the ones suffering are the students."

Recalling how she was often forced to bring food and fuel materials from home during her own school days for work-study programs, Li Xiaoyan couldn’t help but feel emotional.

"Yes, rural schools are like this, not prioritizing the students’ interests..." Wang Qiayu said without thinking, his gaze shifted awkwardly to the few who appeared engrossed in picking food but were actually listening intently, "Cover your ears."

The three instantly picked up their chopsticks to grab food...

"Pfft!"

An originally frustrated Li Xiaoyan burst into laughter, "I didn’t expect you to be quite amusing."

"Hehe..." Wang Qiayu awkwardly scratched his head, "Sigh, I can’t say these things to anyone else, not even my family.

Talking with you today is kind of like venting, plus these few, I haven’t just started teaching them yesterday.

And after spending so many days together, I trust they aren’t kids who would talk too much. Sigh, people can’t always be navigating through society armored, it would leave long-term scars." (To be continued.