310: Chapter 310 Promoting Technology, Benefiting Neighbors

That night, many people in Lujia Village were already asleep.

But the lights in the ancestral hall remained on.

The ancestral hall was at the east end of the village.

With green bricks and grey tiles, its wooden doors were already quite old, and the two lanterns hanging at the entrance swayed gently in the wind.

This place was usually not very lively.

People only came here during the Tomb-Sweeping Festival, for ancestral worship, or when there was a major event in the village.

Lu Qinghe followed several elders to the entrance but did not go inside.

Standing below the steps with her arms crossed, she stared at the dim, warm light inside the ancestral hall.

For some reason, she suddenly felt a bit nervous.

The clan leader, Clan Leader Lu Huaiyuan, pushed open the wooden door himself.

Creak.

The sound was exceptionally clear in the quiet of the night.

There was nothing extravagant inside the ancestral hall.

It was just old.

Old wooden tables.

Old plaques.

Old genealogy books.

And the characters on the wall, darkened by years of smoke and time.

Clan Leader Lu Huaiyuan walked to the table and reached out to touch the thick genealogy book.

His movements were very slow.

As if he were touching a distant era.

After the elders sat down, none of them was in a hurry to speak.

Only after a long while did Clan Leader Lu Huaiyuan open the genealogy book.

The pages were yellowed.

The corners were already slightly curled.

He flipped all the way to the very first few pages, finally stopping at a certain name.

Beside that name, the date and imperial degrees were recorded in small characters.

It was clearly from the Ming Dynasty.

Village Chief Lu Changhe leaned over to take a look and whispered:

"Is this the Jinshi scholar our village had in the past?"

"Yes."

Clan Leader Lu Huaiyuan nodded.

"Back then, the entire village was poor."

"When we finally produced a scholar, the whole clan pooled their money together to send him to the capital for the imperial examinations."

"After he passed, a spot was reserved for him on the very first page of the genealogy book."

An elder beside him sighed.

"It wasn't easy back then."

"If any family's child could study, the whole family really had to tighten their belts."

Another elder added in a low voice:

"My father used to say that when a child from the village got into a school in the county, the entire village pooled together two bags of rice and a few yuan just to send him off."

"Later, that child didn't come back and started a family elsewhere."

"But the villagers still remembered his goodness."

The flame flickered gently.

In the ancestral hall, the elders chimed in one after another, recalling many old stories.

Whose family didn't have cotton-padded clothes in winter, leaving the children's hands covered in frostbite cracks.

Whose family's young man went south to find work and didn't come home for years, failing to see their elderly parents one last time before they passed away.

Whose child was clearly smart but had to drop out before finishing middle school to work because the family was poor.

Whose elderly family member fell ill, and by the time they dragged them to the county hospital, the doctor shook his head and said it was too late.

They didn't usually talk about those things.

Because talking about it didn't help.

Life was just endured and scraped by day by day.

But sitting in the ancestral hall now, looking at the names in the genealogy book, they suddenly realized that too little of the past had survived.

A name.

A line of small characters.

A bit of legend.

These were the only traces a person left behind in their lifetime.

Clan Leader Lu Huaiyuan stared at the Jinshi scholar's name, his finger lingering on it for a long time.

"In the past, we hoped for a Jinshi scholar because we hoped someone from the village could make it out."

The ancestral hall fell silent.

The elder's voice was very soft, yet it felt heavy with emotion.

"Now, not only has Lu Li made it out himself..."

"...but he also wants to pave a road back, right to our feet."

Village Chief Lu Changhe's eyes instantly turned red.

He lowered his head and rubbed the corners of his eyes with his sleeve.

The most stubborn elder beside him also fell silent.

Outside the ancestral hall, Lu Qinghe stood at the entrance, listening as the voices inside gradually quieted down.

She didn't go in.

She just stared at the half-open door.

Ever since she was a child, she had felt these elders were stubborn.

Everything was about ancestors.

Everything was about rules.

Everything was about the things left behind by the older generations.

But at this moment, she suddenly realized that it wasn't that they didn't understand.

They just needed someone to translate the new things into a language they could comprehend.

Neighborhood Center.

Distance education.

Smart healthcare.

Robot training.

These terms were too distant for them.

But if you told them that this was Lu Li paving a road back to the village...

...they would understand.

Inside the ancestral hall, Village Chief Lu Changhe's voice was hoarse.

"Then... are we still going to renovate the ancestral hall?"

Clan Leader Lu Huaiyuan remained silent for a long time.

He stared at the genealogy book and slowly closed it.

"We won't build a new one."

The elders all looked at him.

Clan Leader Lu Huaiyuan raised his head.

"The old ancestral hall should still be renovated as needed."

"We cannot forget our ancestors."

"But the Neighborhood Center Lu Li mentioned must be built."

"And it must be built well."

His hand pressed against the genealogy book, and his voice gradually stabilized.

"We can't let outsiders say that Lu Li has paved the road to the village entrance, yet we old fogies are still clinging to the old rules and won't let go."

Another elder whispered:

"Then what about the genealogy book?"

Clan Leader Lu Huaiyuan looked at the genealogy book.

After a long while, he said:

"We will still write in the genealogy book."

"But we won't write about living people entering the ancestral hall."

"We will simply write: 'Lu Li, a descendant of the Lu family, developed technology to benefit the neighbors and opened a path for future generations.'"

"This is much better than setting up an ancestral tablet for him."

None of the elders objected further.

They just sat there, their eyes slightly red.

That night, the lights in the ancestral hall remained on until dawn was about to break.

Lu Qinghe went back halfway to get some hot water for the elders.

When she returned, she heard muffled crying coming from inside the ancestral hall.

It wasn't loud wailing.

It was just that the elders, sitting at the old table, recalled the bitter days of the past and saw the new road ahead, suddenly unable to hold back their emotions.

At daybreak, the door of the ancestral hall finally opened.

Clan Leader Lu Huaiyuan, Village Chief Lu Changhe, and the other elders walked out.

Their eyes were all shockingly red.

Standing below the steps, Lu Qinghe was completely stunned.

She had never seen these elders like this.

Clan Leader Lu Huaiyuan glanced at her, his voice raspy.

"Give Wanqing a call back."

Lu Qinghe nodded instinctively.

"What should I say?"

Leaning on his cane, Clan Leader Lu Huaiyuan looked toward the horizon that was just beginning to brighten in the distance.

"We won't renovate the ancestral hall."

"For the Neighborhood Center, we'll do as Lu Li said."

"But the sentence at the entrance needs to be engraved a bit larger."

Lu Qinghe's heart stirred.

"Which sentence?"

Clan Leader Lu Huaiyuan said slowly:

"No matter how far technology goes, never forget the road you came from."

Lu Qinghe's nose suddenly felt a bit prickly.

Just as she was about to take out her phone, someone suddenly ran over from the village committee office.

"Village Chief!"

"A call from the town!"

"They said we shouldn't rush to finalize the plan!"

Village Chief Lu Changhe was taken aback.

"What happened now?"

The person panted, their eyes incredibly bright.

"The county just received news from the Beining City Municipal Party Committee."

"They said this might not just be a Neighborhood Center."

"The higher-ups want to turn our village into a Smart Village Demonstration Point!"

As soon as the news of the "Smart Village Demonstration Point" spread, Lujia Village became completely lively.

The previous controversy over whether to renovate the ancestral hall or build the Neighborhood Center seemed to vanish overnight.

Dawn had just broken, but the entrance of the village committee was already packed to the brim.

Young people were chasing after others to ask when the Robot maintenance training would begin.

Parents were wondering if their children could start using distance education early.

The elderly were more concerned about whether the smart healthcare check-up point could actually be built at the village entrance.

Occasionally, someone in the crowd would mutter in a low voice.

"With such a good thing, won't it just be taken over by well-connected people again?"

As soon as those words were spoken, someone nearby glared over.

"This is funded by Lu Li. Who would dare to reach their hands out blindly?"

That person fell silent instantly.

Lu Qinghe stood in front of the crowd, her voice almost hoarse from shouting.

"Everyone, don't worry!"

"The allocation of slots, equipment usage, and training schedules will all be publicly announced later!"

"The village will definitely follow the rules and will never let anyone take unfair advantage!"

But in her heart, she knew exactly why everyone was so excited.

Because everyone saw hope.

If the Neighborhood Center were truly built, Guanghui Technology's education, healthcare, training, and smart equipment resources would no longer just be things on the television news.

It would truly arrive in Lujia Village.

Right at everyone's doorstep.

And into the daily lives of every child, every elder, and every young person.

At ten in the morning.

The leaders from the town and county arrived almost at the same time.

When several cars parked at the entrance of the village committee, another wave of commotion swept through the village.

The way these leaders looked at Lujia Village was completely different from before.

In the past, Lujia Village was just an ordinary village.

Somewhat old.

Somewhat remote.

And somewhat unremarkable.

But now it was different.

Once the Guanghui Foundation's public welfare system, telemedicine, smart education, and Robot training resources were truly connected here, Lujia Village would no longer be just a village.

It would become the first super model of high technology penetrating county-level areas.

In front of everyone, the county leader directly set the tone.

"Old Village Chief, this matter cannot be handled as an ordinary public welfare project."

"If we do it, we must make it a model that truly stays, is useful, and shows visible results."

"We absolutely cannot let it be a passing fad."

"And even less can it be turned into some vanity project built on personal connections."

Leaning on his cane, Clan Leader Lu Huaiyuan's eyes turned slightly red again upon hearing this.

He had sat in the ancestral hall all night.

Only at this moment did he truly feel that the road seemed to be paving its way back.

Not a cement road.

Nor an asphalt road.

But a road that would once again deliver the village's children, elders, and young people to the forefront of the era.

Standing behind the crowd, Lu Qinghe quietly let out a sigh of relief.

With this tone set by the county, the thing she feared most would finally not happen.

A good thing would not turn sour.

And the things Lu Li sent back would not be ruined by anyone.

...

The bustle of the Spring Festival quickly passed.

Lujia Village's Neighborhood Center project was officially handed over to the Guanghui Foundation and the local government for coordination and advancement.

Lu Li did not interfere much further.

He only set a few rules.

Financial transparency.

Transparency of slots.

Transparency of equipment usage.

Transparency of training resources.

No one was allowed to seek personal gain in the name of the Lu family.

As for how specifically to build it, operate it, and cooperate with the local government, he left it all to the professional team to handle.

Because after the Spring Festival, Guanghui Headquarters had already resumed high-speed operations.

The popularity of the star wing m1 had not fully died down yet.

Applications from overseas markets were still flooding in.

The Robot business, Virtual Helmet ecosystem, Qingzhou Chip, and Mirage Air Imaging were also all progressing simultaneously.

The entire Guanghui Group was like a massive machine that had just completed an upgrade.

Every gear was turning at an astonishing speed.

And Lu Li's gaze had already landed on the next direction.

Mingzhu City.

Guanghui Headquarters, President's Office.

Just as Su Qingxue pushed open the door, she saw Chen Shuyu standing in the office.

To be precise, she was standing guard next to a silver-white equipment case.

The equipment case was not large.

Metal casing.

Rounded corners.

The surface bore Guanghui Technology's signature cold white industrial design.

Right in the center of the case, a line of simple black text was printed.

[xingyan s1 Engineering Test Machine]

Chen Shuyu's eyes shone brightly, and she could barely contain her excitement.

"Qingxue."

The moment she spoke, her voice carried an unconcealable anticipation.

"The R&D department just sent it over."

"They said—"

"—this machine can be tested today."