[This chapter is the long-awaited anti-theft chapter]

[Don't ask why long-awaited, because the author really ran out of suitable replacement chapters]

[Regular readers, as per the old rules, just refresh at 6 o'clock in the morning]

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[The author works painstakingly to write, surely you wouldn't mind watching some ads]

The collar of the gray-blue shirt has a hole, the repeatedly patched pants, the black thousand-layer cloth shoes with broken soles, the plastic cup filled with boiled water—this "simple" attire is the "Shoe School" Li Zhenhua's 68-year dedication to the students in the Yimeng Mountain Area. The villagers say: "He always has others in his heart, never himself."

In 1953, at only 17, Li Zhenhua resolutely said goodbye to his hometown Nanjing, walked out of Nanjing Normal School, and headed to Yiyuan, Shandong, determined to change the fate of children in mountainous areas with knowledge. Because of this "city person's" arrival, a rural school that had been on recess for half a year reopened.

Since he started working, Li Zhenhua has been donating 14% of his salary every month, and this has continued for 47 years.

Upon his retirement in 1997, he initially had over 30 part-time jobs but kept only 500 yuan from his pension for living expenses, donating almost all the rest. Up to last year, Li Zhenhua had donated a total of 1.36 million yuan, helping over 2,300 students.

In the Hanwang Middle School campus of Yiyuan County, there stands a statue made of Han jade, which the local people funded themselves to build in honor of Li Zhenhua. Over the 68 years, he has received 103 national-level awards, such as National Model Educator, 2015 China's Educator of the Year, 2015 China's Good Person, Excellent Communist Member of Shandong Province, and Model Private Teacher, and has been received by national leaders 8 times.

The publicity department of the Shandong Provincial Party Committee and the Shandong Education Department issued the "Notice on Announcing the 2021 Qilu Most Beautiful Teacher and Shandong Education Model Selection Results." Comrade Li Zhenhua (former principal of Chengguan Second Middle School in Yiyuan County) was awarded the "2021 Qilu Most Beautiful Teacher" special award.

Retired, choosing to "work"

Upon first meeting Li Zhenhua, it's hard to imagine he's already 85. Despite being deaf, having poor vision, and a hunched back, his gray hair and dark skin give him an energetic look. In retirement, he didn't stay at home to enjoy his twilight years; instead, he's busier than ever.

Still supporting impoverished students, when he retired, Li Zhenhua donated his only savings of 15,000 yuan along with the State Council's special allowance totaling 20,000 yuan to the schools he once served: Hanwang Primary School, Zhangjia Middle School, and Yiyuan County Experimental Middle School. After the donation, the local government established the "Zhenhua Scholarship and Poverty Relief Foundation," through which nearly ten thousand impoverished students have been supported.

Learning there were still poor students outside the foundation's range, Li Zhenhua decided to continue supporting them. A pension is limited, so to help more children in need, he chose to work externally. At Zibo Wanji Chaoyang School, where he served as a junior high school principal for eight years, he earned 500,000 yuan to support 23 students outside the foundation. "For five college students, he gave 5,000 yuan each year; for five high school and vocational school students, 3,000 yuan each year; for 13 junior high school students, 1,100 yuan each year."

When times were hardest, Li Zhenhua, along with Zhang Wenqiang, who he once sponsored and had now graduated from vocational school, collected garbage around the campus, selling it for a total of 16,000 yuan over eight years, all used to help impoverished students and elderly people living alone.

On receiving his first pension, Li Zhenhua tried keeping only 200 yuan, but realizing it was insufficient, he later kept a 500 yuan monthly living expense, donating all the rest. Over 68 years, he donated 1.36 million yuan, helping over 2,300 impoverished children achieve their educational dreams.

Retired Li Zhenhua (left) has traveled through more than 300 villages in Yiyuan County, Shandong Province, to identify impoverished students and left-behind children, providing economic and psychological support to them. (Photo provided by the interviewee)

Although Li Zhenhua enjoys the State Council's special allowance, his life is very frugal. Take meals for instance; he drinks noodle soup and eats radish strips in the morning and evening. For lunch he usually eats pumpkin, radish, and steamed bread. He's never smoked or drunk alcohol his entire life, and he doesn't even allow himself to drink tea, only carrying a plastic cup for boiled water.

Li Zhenhua's clothing couldn't be simpler: a suit that he can wear for six to seven years, often patched and repatched. His cloth shoes last two or three years before completely needing repair, at which point he goes to the street's shoe cobbler to get them retreaded to continue wearing. It's not that he couldn't afford high-end clothes or suits; he just devoted his money to poor children.

"Though life is modest, my heart is very rich, full of joy every day."

What makes Li Zhenhua most gratified is that students are gradually growing up, and they, in turn, are contributing back to society.

Li Zhenhua enjoys being with children the most. (Photo provided by the interviewee)

Among the 23 impoverished students Li Zhenhua supported, Ren Jilan was one of them. She had a cancer diagnosis and surprisingly was diagnosed as benign, living with her family in dire straits. In 2013, during her third year of high school, her cancer was at its most perilous stage, and the hospital issued a critical illness notice. She barely attended school that year, studying at home while being responsible for taking medicine, caring for living needs, and even farming chores, toiling tirelessly. Ren Jilan bravely persevered and scored 576 points, getting admitted to Qufu Normal University. But she faced financial difficulty covering tuition, leading her to despair of pursuing her academic dreams. At this time, the then-principal of Yiyuan County Experimental Middle School, Li Zhenhua, gave the tuition fee into the girl's hands with a warm hand. Over the following four years, he covered the tuition every summer.

From that moment, Ren Jilan resolutely determined to become someone like Grandpa Li. After graduation, Ren Jilan returned to her hometown Yiyuan and passed the teacher hiring exams to join Fuluping Primary School, where Li Zhenhua once worked. Following Grandpa Li's influence, from her first year as a teacher, she began squeezing money out of her salary to support two impoverished students, using her actions to fulfill her initial promise.

Li Zhenhua tutoring students in their studies. (Photo provided by the interviewee)

Going from the city to the Yiyuan Mountain support in 1953, the difference in living standards between Nanjing and Yiyuan was very apparent. During school, Li Zhenhua often heard teachers recount revolutionary stories about Yimeng Sister-in-law and Yimeng Six Sisters, stirring within him a determination to contribute to the people.