Chapter 507: Internal Speculation in the Neighborhood Office

Chapter 507: Office Gossip at the Street Committee

Su Ping was worried about his sister. Despite Su An's protests, he insisted on accompanying her to register, helped her locate her dorm room, and hauled her luggage upstairs before reluctantly leaving with Ren Shan and Zuo Zuying.

As he left, he shouted after her, "An An, if you miss me, write me a letter or send me a telegram. When I have time, I’ll come visit you. If anyone bullies you, don’t be afraid—tell your teacher...

When your break starts, let me know in advance. Wait at Jing Huan’s, and I’ll come pick you up."

Su An listened patiently to her brother’s fussing and reached out to hold Ren Shan’s hand.

Before Su An could speak, Ren Shan said, "Sister An An, don’t worry, okay? I’ll keep an eye on Su Ping."

As the car drove off, Su An turned and went back to her dorm to unpack.

She was on the second floor in a six-person room. There was no private bathroom—the communal bathroom and showers were at the end of the first-floor hallway.

Aside from Su An, another bed had luggage, but the person wasn’t there.

Su An glanced around. Since the beds weren’t labeled, she could choose freely. She picked the lower bunk by the window at the far end.

The room was a bit damp, but this spot got some breeze and a bit of sun. It was also out of the way, with half the bed blocked by the adjacent bunk, leaving only half exposed for sitting. Nobody would bother her there.

After choosing her spot, Su An grabbed a bucket of water, wiped down the bed board, spread out a mat, plopped down a pillow, and placed her belongings—just like that, the bed was hers.

Just as she finished, a girl walked in toting her bags.

She gave Su An a friendly smile. "Hello, I’m Zhou Yuanning, from S City in Z Province. Looks like we’re roommates."

Su An extended her hand in return. "Hello, I’m Su An, from A City in H Province."

Pointing to the luggage on the opposite lower bunk, she asked, "Is that yours?"

Zhou Yuanning nodded. "Yes, it’s mine. I just dropped off my things to see my brother and sister-in-law out and bought some supplies on the way back."

Su An looked at the bag in her hand. "Where did you buy them? I need to get some things too."

Zhou Yuanning pointed north. "If you go out to the main road and cut across the field, you’ll reach the cafeteria. There’s a general store next to it—that’s where I bought these."

Su An thanked her politely. "Got it, thanks! I’ll go take a look."

She went downstairs and wandered around the campus to familiarize herself.

The campus was buzzing—parents dropping off their children, students lugging heavy bags alone, having traveled from all over.

After a quick tour, Su An checked the time and headed to the cafeteria.

It was even livelier inside, with every window having a line.

The prices were quite cheap. Dishes like bean sprouts and sweet potato leaves cost just five cents per scoop, while the cheapest meat dishes started at fifteen cents (eggplant, green beans, or lettuce with shredded meat).

There were also small stir-fried dishes—scrambled eggs, shredded pork, pork liver, etc.—for thirty cents each. Large pots of soup were free.

A large baked flatbread cost sixteen cents, a crispy fried cake fourteen cents, and a bowl of noodles thirty cents.

The variety was impressive, with at least a dozen staple and stir-fried dishes available.

Su An did a quick calculation: a free bowl of soup, four taels of rice for eight cents, a small stir-fry for thirty cents, and a five-cent vegetable dish—a full meal with meat, vegetables, and soup, all for under fifty cents!

Without ordering stir-fried dishes, just getting one meat dish, one vegetable dish, and rice would cost only five cents plus eight cents plus fifteen cents—less than thirty cents—and you'd still get a bit of meat.

The food at this school is way cheaper than off-campus.

After having a meal based on the fifty-cent standard, Su An was quite satisfied with the cafeteria's offerings. The taste was decent, without the various modern artificial additives, but the cooks really knew their stuff.

After finishing her meal, Su An took the newly bought thermos, filled it up with hot water, and headed back to the dorm.

Upon returning, she found three more roommates showed up: Chen Hongyan from Guangdong, Zhang Chunling from Hunan, and Zou Yan from Fujian.

Now, five out of the six dormitory beds were occupied—Su An, Zhou Yuanning, Chen Hongyan, Zhang Chunling, and Zou Yan.

After introductions and greetings, the last roommate arrived.

A stocky, kinda short girl stood sweating at the door. "Is this Room 206? Hello, everyone! I'm Liu Jinmei from Guizhou, also assigned to this dorm. I look forward to getting along with you all."

Liu Jinmei's voice was loud, as if she was pushing herself to act confident. After setting down her burlap bag, she awkwardly stepped forward to shake hands.

Chen Hongyan hesitated for a moment when the hand was extended toward her, her eyes flashed with disdain, but she still reached out and gave a light shake.

"Uh, hey, hey."

The last remaining bed was by the door, conveniently close to the light switch and the entrance.

As Su An settled into her new dorm-class-cafeteria grind, Ren Shan's side was also moving right along.

The next day, Uncle Qian brought the contract, and under Zuo Zuying's guidance, Ren Shan and Su Ping went to the Yangyu Mountain Subdistrict Office. The staff there were initially wary when they saw a lawyer accompanying them.

But noticing that Su Ping was the one signing and making decisions—and that he seemed a little slow, a grown man deferring to his younger sister with a childish tone—the Yangyu Mountain officials side-eyed each other and started muttering.

"This kid... seems a little off, doesn't he?"

Another dismissed it. "Come on, they're helping us clear out that huge garbage dump—a huge pain—without asking for money. In fact, they're even paying us annually. Who in their right mind would do this?"

"Hey, rumor has it that some wealthy families, when their kids aren't all there, they’ll donate to charity or do good deeds to accumulate merit. Do you think this 'Ping'an Management Co., Ltd.' was set up specifically for that?"

"Damn, you might be onto something."

While Uncle Qian was explaining the contract, the Yangyu Mountain officials were already sold on the idea they were dealing with a charitable endeavor.

So when Uncle Qian pointed out that the contract covered an 800-meter stretch across three intersections, detailing the area and granting Ping'an Management Co., Ltd. twenty years of management rights—

—where the company would handle environmental cleanup, sanitation, road maintenance, construction, and usage, while also paying the subdistrict office an annual fee—they didn’t bat an eye.

They didn’t even balk at the crazy fines for backing out. Why say no to free money?

That’d be nuts, right?

In fact, they’d be thrilled if Ping'an Management Co., Ltd. ran the place forever.

Director Liang even figured these do-gooders must have set such terms because they were paranoid their karma hustle might get messed up halfway, affecting their accumulated merit.