Zhang Hongyan rubbed her ears in disbelief. Had her ears gone bad? Otherwise, how could she hear her daughter saying that the college entrance examination would be reinstated soon?
"Qingqing, are you telling the truth?" Zhang Hongyan asked excitedly, her face flushed, as she grabbed Xia Qingqing's hand.
If the college entrance examination could be reinstated, with Qingqing's academic record of always getting first place in every exam, getting into university would be a piece of cake.
Xia Qingqing nodded and looked at Zhang Hongyan with a serious expression, instructing, "It's true, but you absolutely cannot tell anyone about this, otherwise it will get me into big trouble, and I might even be arrested."
She didn't originally intend to reveal this, because a secret isn't a secret if too many people know it.
However, she had seen Zhang Hongyan's anxiety over the past two days, so she couldn't help but tell her about it first, so as to save her from wasting her time on that worker-peasant-soldier quota.
She knew that Zhang Hongyan would never harm her, and besides, Zhang Hongyan didn't know much about this kind of thing, so she would believe whatever she was told.
If it were Liang Shuang and Song Ze, they might start to doubt the source of her information.
Upon hearing how serious the matter was, Zhang Hongyan repeatedly assured her, "Of course not, Mom won't tell anyone, not even your dad."
Thinking about her daughter soon becoming a college student, Zhang Hongyan couldn't suppress the smile on her face.
Suddenly remembering something, he hesitated and looked at Xia Qingqing, asking, "Then our family won't participate in the election?"
Xia Qingqing pondered for a moment before saying, "I will definitely participate, but there's no need to give gifts to others. Just let things take their course."
It would be strange if she didn't participate. Everyone else is fighting tooth and nail for a spot, why doesn't she want it?
......
Inside the educated youth settlement.
Liu Xiaoying's face was so black it could drip ink. She glanced at Liang Shuang, who was still sitting on the bed quietly reading, and her anger could no longer be contained. She snatched the book from Liang Shuang's hands.
"Aren't you worried at all? Or are you already confident about getting this spot?"
Liang Shuang wasn't angry that her book was snatched away. She glanced at Liu Xiaoying and said calmly, "What's the rush? This spot has no chance of falling into the hands of us educated youth."
Upon hearing this, Liu Xiaoying's anger instantly subsided by half. Indeed, if the allocation of seats were truly determined by voting, it was impossible for them to receive them.
"Are you willing to accept this? With this spot, we can go back to the city and become college students," Liu Xiaoying said, her face filled with resentment, her small eyes fixed on Liang Shuang.
She couldn't understand why Liang Shuang was so calm. Did she not want to go back to the city at all?
Liang Shuang shrugged indifferently: "What can I do if I'm not willing? I'd rather use that time to learn more knowledge."
As she spoke, she reached out and snatched the book back from Liu Xiaoying's hand. Life in the countryside was incredibly boring; there was no entertainment except for working in the fields. In the past few days, she had actually found some enjoyment in reading.
Liu Xiaoying was rendered speechless by her reaction and lay down on the bed in a daze, feeling deflated.
She knew she couldn't change anything. She had neither a good family background nor good looks, so why should she compete with others?
At this moment, she couldn't help but think of Qin Jiajia. If she had half of Qin Jiajia's family background, or if her parents loved her as much as Qin Jiajia's parents, would she have never had to go to the countryside in the first place?
On election day, the brigade leader placed a small box at the entrance of the village, and each household sent a representative to vote.
On the surface, the voting process was indeed fair, just, and transparent, but behind the scenes, those who needed to pull strings had already done so.
After the vote, no one wanted to leave. Some wanted to stay and watch the excitement, while others wanted to keep an eye on things to prevent anyone from cheating.
After everyone had finished voting, the captain gestured for everyone to quiet down.
"Everyone, please be quiet for a moment, I have something to say."
"It was no easy feat for our brigade to secure this worker-peasant-soldier college student spot; it was all thanks to the hard work of all the team members."
"But there's only one spot available, and there are a dozen or twenty kids in our brigade who meet the criteria. It wouldn't be right to give the spot to anyone. For the sake of fairness..."
The brigade leader's long-winded speech made the impatient aunties and grandmas very irritable:
"Captain, can you announce the results quickly? I just want to know if my child has been selected."
"Yes, it's so frustrating! Tell us the result first."
"Yougen, hurry up and tell me who's going to college. Is it my eldest grandson?"
The brigade leader's speech was interrupted by the older women, and his expression turned somewhat unpleasant. However, two of the women speaking were of a higher generation than him, so he couldn't criticize them.
"Ahem... everyone, please be quiet for a moment. Since everyone is so eager to know the results, I'll just announce them directly."
Upon hearing this, the chattering aunties and grandmas instantly fell silent.
The captain took out a slip of paper with names written on it from the box, looked around, and said:
"To be fair, I'll just count the votes directly. Everyone listen carefully, so that you don't complain that our brigade leaders are unfair when the results come out."
"One vote from Ding Yi's family, one vote from Wang Yanfen's family, one vote from Zhang Yougen's family, one vote from Xia Heping's family... one vote from Ding Yi's family."
The final result came out quickly. Zhang Yougen's face darkened for a moment when he saw the result. His family had actually lost to Accountant Ding by one vote.
This was unexpected. He thought the matter was a sure thing, but no matter how unhappy he was, he couldn't show it in front of so many people.
Suppressing his displeasure, Zhang Yougen forced a smile and announced, "Let's congratulate Accountant Ding! This spot for worker-peasant-soldier college students has gone to his family."
Upon hearing this, everyone's expressions changed. Some were regretful, some were dissatisfied, some were unconvinced, and some genuinely congratulated Accountant Ding.
Accountant Ding accepted everyone's compliments, his old face beaming with joy. It was truly worth all the red envelopes he had given out.
He really went to great lengths to secure this worker-peasant-soldier college student spot.
Others might give a few eggs to each household, like Zhang Hongyan, but Accountant Ding didn't play any tricks; he gave out large red envelopes directly.
He is quite decisive in this regard; his early investments are all for the sake of later returns.
During dinner that evening, Accountant Ding did not announce at the table who the spot would be awarded to.
Looking at his children who were eagerly waiting for him to speak, he cleared his throat and said, "I'll discuss it with your mother tonight, and we'll tell you who got this spot tomorrow."
"Let me make this clear from the start: no matter who gets the spot, you must remember that we are always one family. If anyone becomes successful in the future, you must help your brothers and sisters out."
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