Tang Ying quickly filled in her information and the location where the funeral would be held.
"May you enjoy the service!"
Su Chen gave Tang Ying a deep look and nodded.
Every time he finalized an order, the next time they met would be at that person's funeral.
His second deal was complete!
After leaving the hospital, he rode his motorcycle back to the shop.
The system's voice rang out:
Ding! Host has activated the first Special Funeral Service order! Service item: 199 yuan! Suona Funeral—Hundred Birds Paying Homage to the Phoenix! The Special Funeral Service destination is remote. Please arrange your journey in advance!
Su Chen began sorting through Tang Ying's information and discovered that the funeral location she had written down seemed to be in a remote town.
No wonder even the system had reminded him that the location was remote.
It really was quite a distance away.
The more a small village or town remained untouched by the bustle of the city, the deeper and purer its inheritance of traditional culture tended to be. Thinking back to the hospital, when Su Chen had mentioned Hundred Birds Paying Homage to the Phoenix, Tang Ying's eyes had seemed to light up. It had been a look of surprise and longing. It was rare; she clearly understood what a suona funeral and the performance of Hundred Birds Paying Homage to the Phoenix represented.
All customers who ordered funeral services did not have much time left.
As Su Chen organized the documents, he began preparing for the trip.
At the hospital, not long after Su Chen left.
A doctor in a white coat entered with a grave expression and asked Tang Ying:
"Your condition is far from optimistic. You could be in danger at any time. Are you sure you want to insist on being discharged?"
"Cough, cough. I know my own condition. There's no need to waste the country's medical resources on me."
Tang Ying coughed painfully twice, struggling to maintain a smile.
Her physical condition was deteriorating by the day. She knew very well that her body could not hold on much longer. Staying in the hospital would only waste resources.
Xiaonian stood beside her with wide, bewildered eyes. The moment she heard they were leaving the hospital, she blinked eagerly.
For a child, she could not understand what the two adults were discussing. She innocently believed that leaving the hospital meant the illness was about to be cured.
"This illness could have been treated long ago, but you kept..."
The doctor knew Tang Ying's condition fairly well. This was not something that had happened overnight. He had reminded her years ago to seek treatment properly, when there had still been a chance for improvement and recovery. Yet she had not listened at all. Whenever she was in pain, she took painkillers. Though she had stomach problems, she often ate irregularly.
For a patient so irresponsible toward her own body, he truly could not be bothered to say much more.
Especially now that the illness had reached this stage. The outcome nobody wanted to see had already arrived, and whether she stayed in the hospital or not no longer mattered much.
Soon, after completing the discharge procedures, Tang Ying left the hospital.
Bai Xiaonian skipped happily beside Tang Ying as they walked out of the hospital together.
Her bright, watery eyes were filled with curiosity as she looked at the city outside the hospital.
Having grown up in a remote village, she rarely had the chance to experience a city environment.
"The outside world is vast. Study hard, and make your way out of these mountains!"
Noticing Xiaonian's sparkling gaze, Tang Ying smiled kindly and patted her little head.
She had said those words to countless children.
The outside world was beautiful. Through education, she wanted every child in remote and impoverished areas to be able to walk out with confidence. The mountains and poverty could not be allowed to become barriers keeping children from pursuing the world they longed for.
After several hours of bumpy travel, the two finally returned to the mountain village school.
This area was extremely poor. There was only this one school for miles around, and it was the only school in all of Huayi Town.
Xiaonian went home.
Tang Ying dragged her exhausted body back to the principal's office, her face even paler than before.
Her coughing had also grown more severe.
Several photographs sat neatly on the desk before her, one black-and-white photo especially conspicuous.
It was a memorial portrait, a portrait of her late lover.
After her lover passed away, she had voluntarily come here. She had never expected that once she came, she would put down roots for a full eighteen years.
Feeling weak all over, she slumped into her chair and took out the painkillers she kept in the drawer.
She swallowed two pills.
Just then, the voices of two trainee teachers drifted in from the street outside the office.
The younger female teacher was Xiao Ai.
Holding a somewhat yellowed textbook, she walked down the corridor with her head lowered and said dejectedly:
"Sigh, the conditions here are far harsher than I imagined. I really don't know how the principal managed to endure for eighteen whole years!"
Behind her was another trainee teacher, the male teacher Xiao Lin.
Xiao Lin was also holding a yellowed textbook, though he seemed to be in better spirits. He comforted her:
"I heard that when Principal Tang first came here, there wasn't even a school. None of the children from the surrounding households had anywhere to study. She went from village to village, raising donations herself, and forcibly built this school from nothing. Our conditions are already far better than what the principal had back then!"
"I really don't want to stay here anymore! The environment is bad, the conditions are harsh, the facilities are lacking, and even the parents think they don't need us! Honestly, I think the principal is just moving herself. What chills me most is this: look at all those children who made it out. Has even one of them come back to help?"
Xiao Ai pursed her lips. She was beginning to regret her decision to come teach here.
The conditions were simply too harsh.
Xiao Lin had long grown accustomed to her complaints.
The conditions here were indeed extremely difficult. Many people were unwilling to come teach here, and if she truly wanted to leave, she should have left long ago.
Even knowing she had not meant it seriously, Xiao Lin could not help reminding her:
"You're just nitpicking. Letting the children leave these mountains and pursue their own dreams—that is our dream and our hope!"
At that moment,
A cough came from the principal's office.
Their expressions changed in shock. The principal was back?
They hurried into the principal's office and found Tang Ying sitting in her office chair, looking unwell.
"Principal Tang, why did you suddenly come back? I remember the doctor said you needed to rest properly for half a year. Did you ignore the doctor's advice again?"
Xiao Ai asked in a worried, reproachful tone.
As she spoke, she poured Tang Ying a cup of hot water from a thermos nearby and handed it over.
"Principal Tang, you really need to take care of yourself. Nothing is more important than your health!"
Xiao Lin also looked worried. He knew Principal Tang had always been in poor health.
She worked tirelessly every day and had it very hard.
As for the fact that she had terminal cancer, Tang Ying had not told anyone.
"I'm fine. I was in the hospital for half a month, and I kept worrying: how have the children been lately?"
Whenever Tang Ying mentioned the children, her gaze turned gentle.
Every day she spent in the hospital fighting the illness had felt like a year. She could never set her mind at ease, constantly thinking about how the children were doing.
As she spoke, she reached into the drawer for something.
"Don't worry. With Xiao Ai and me here, the children have all been doing well! Also, the funding issue for this new group of students taking the college entrance exams has been resolved!"
Xiao Lin said with a smile. He was generally steady and reliable in handling matters.
Xiao Ai beside him nodded happily as well.
Hearing that, Tang Ying's hand paused, but she still took out the stack of money she had prepared long ago from the drawer.
She hurriedly asked the two of them:
"When I called the day before yesterday, didn't you say you were still short of money? How was it resolved?"
Because the surrounding children all came from poor families and varied greatly in age.
This primary school had not only elementary school students, but also middle school and high school students.
The college entrance exams could not be arranged in the village or town. They had to go to the county seat to take them.
The children's registration fees, application fees, lodging, and travel expenses were all massive costs that were difficult to cover!
Recently, Tang Ying and the two teachers had been trying to find a way to raise the funds.
The money in the drawer had come from selling her late lover's belongings. She had intended to give it to the children.
Yet the two suddenly said the problem had been resolved?
Xiao Lin nodded and explained:
"Yes. Just yesterday, we suddenly received a donation of three million yuan from a county charity organization. It not only solved the funding problem, but also greatly eased the pressure on all the school's expenses!"
"Good! Good! That's good!"
Hearing his explanation, Tang Ying said "good" three times in a row.
For days, that expense had weighed on her chest like a massive stone, making it hard for her to breathe.
Now, the stone in her heart had finally fallen away!
As that thought settled, the breath she had been forcing herself to hold on to finally gave out as well.
She immediately forced herself to stand, her body trembling.
Unexpectedly,
The next moment, her vision went black, and she collapsed directly to the floor!
The two trainee teachers beside her immediately panicked!
"Principal!"
"Principal Tang, wake up!"
"Quick, get her to the hospital!"
An announcement: this book will be going on a trial recommendation tomorrow and starting its PK. This is a very important opportunity.
I hope everyone will vote and send gifts over the next two days.
Every book only gets one chance at a trial recommendation. If it fails to advance, that means it is finished.
There will never be another chance for exposure!
Brothers, let's work hard together!
We must give Su Chen our support!
Thanks again to all readers for your votes!
There will be another update today, probably tonight. Another day of asking for support and gifts!
Before you continue