Originally, Chen Xihua had been ranking around tenth in the exams for several reasons.
First, she wouldn't aim for first or second place because she'd already studied those subjects, and that would be unfair to her classmates. Also, some high-achieving students, especially those from disadvantaged backgrounds, would be very concerned about the rewards for being in the top three in the final exams—a few dollars, with the first-place winner receiving even more.
Some girls study even harder, afraid of falling behind and being expelled from school by their families, and always want to stay among the top students in their class.
In more difficult families, the boys study while the girls help with household chores.
Secondly, the teachers at the school are very responsible. If a student is among the top students and establishes a reputation as a high achiever, the teachers will pay close attention and keep a close eye on them. At the slightest sign of trouble, the teacher might call them in for a talk—not to blame the student for failing the exam, but out of concern that the student might be facing some difficulties.
As a final consideration, Chen Xihua thought that ranking around tenth was based on something she had heard: scholars had studied a group of students, and those who ranked around tenth had the most potential and explosive growth. So, when it came time for the college entrance exam, Chen Xihua thought that if she did slightly better, it wouldn't be too surprising.
She had also thought about simply not answering questions during regular exams, being at the bottom of the class, and then making a dramatic comeback in the college entrance exam—that would be really exciting. But then, it wouldn't be a case of a dark horse emerging from the college entrance exam; would there be something fishy going on?
It seems that no matter what, she's going to be in the spotlight. Whether she does well or poorly on the exam. Being the younger sister of a female academic genius, she still has this kind of trouble. Oh well, Chen Xihua will stick to her plan.
As the two sisters were about to reach the entrance of the canteen, they encountered Ning Wenfeng, who was walking towards the school gate and was not staying at the dormitory.
A boy of seventeen or eighteen, 1.78 meters tall, wearing glasses, gentle and refined, with delicate features for a boy, but not effeminate, very clean-cut, a quintessential scholar.
He walked straight up to the two of them and greeted them gently, "Chen Xiuhua, is this your sister?"
Chen Xiuhua stiffened slightly, a little shyly: "Yes, Ning, this is my younger sister, Chen Xihua."
"Junior Xihua, you don't need to pay attention to what the other students are saying. Your grades are already very good." Ning Wenfeng nodded slightly and smiled, offering friendly comfort to Chen Xihua.
"...Uh, okay, thank you." Chen Xihua was still a little confused and almost didn't react.
Ning Wenfeng was genuinely afraid of making himself feel bad, but it also seemed like he was deliberately trying to talk to his fourth sister. Chen Xihua thought of a possibility, and her eyes suddenly lit up. Something was going on.
"Fourth Sister, are you close to Ning?" After Ning Wenfeng left, Chen Xihua still asked, not wanting it to be another case where she was the only one unaware and the whole school knew.
Chen Xiuhua paused for a moment, "We're all classmates, and he's asked me math questions a few times."
Meanwhile, Gao Yang and his sister, who were on their way home from school, were also discussing their grades.
"Brother, look, I'm still number one, and Chen Xihua is number nine. Of the sisters, only Chen Xiuhua is really good." Gao Junyue happily showed her report card to Gao Yang.
“Yes, my sister is great, even better than her brother,” Gao Yang replied with a smile.
...
The first semester at the end of the year is coming to an end soon.
In the days leading up to the exam, all the students at Jiangshi Middle School were in a state of intense review, and the exam itself felt like a war without gunfire. This wasn't an exaggeration on Chen Xihua's part; it was the reality.
On January 5, 1998, the day before Laba Festival, the school started its winter vacation, and the three Chen sisters returned home from Jiang City.
Although Chen Meihua is a senior in high school, her school did not require her to attend extra classes, nor did she attend classes in advance during the summer vacation.
As soon as she got home, Chen Baohua, who had been on vacation for two or three days, started chattering non-stop.
Seeing that Chen Lao Er and his wife had already returned to their room, Chen Xiao Liu mysteriously pulled Chen Xi Hua aside and whispered something. "Fifth Sister, Grandma has been coming to our house frequently lately, crying and cursing, complaining that my eldest cousin's wife is a bad woman."
"Hmm, what's going on?" Chen Xihua noticed that Chen Xiaoliu was still seriously thinking about how to start the conversation, and seemed a little hesitant to speak. So she became very interested and asked him anxiously.
“Last month, my eldest cousin’s wife gave birth to a niece, so Grandma stopped living with Penghua and came back to the family compound. My aunt also has to work and doesn’t have time to take care of my eldest cousin’s wife, so her mother went to take care of her. Then my eldest cousin’s wife gave all five thousand yuan from home to her family…” Chen Baohua told the whole story in one breath, which took about four or five minutes, and his throat was still a little sore from talking.
After hearing this, Chen Xihua understood what was going on; it was related to her plan.
As expected, Fangcao Workshop also launched the same new clothes as Fanghua in November. These two sets of clothes have two special design patterns, which Chen Xihua added to them with some elements that were popular in the 21st century of her previous life, but which did not yet exist in this era.
After Fangcao Clothing had been on the market for about a month, Factory Manager Zhang began the follow-up actions.
First, they sued Fangcao, which caused quite a stir in Gaoyang County at the time.
Fangcao was ordered to pay 120,000 yuan in compensation, which was exactly what the workshop earned in a month; then came the rectification, and it was no longer allowed to copy Fanghua's clothing copyright.
The day after the trial, Fanghua opened a store opposite Mingliang Department Store in Gaoyang County. On the opening day, the store was extremely popular.
The matter should have ended there, but Huang Tianming of the Huang family, just as Chen Xihua had predicted, became extremely angry and furious, unable to bear the family's clothing business plummeting.
He then contacted Liang Jiale and his gang of thugs and arranged a major act of sabotage. Since the Fanghua Garment Factory was too large and had too many people, they didn't choose to act at the factory itself, but instead targeted the Fanghua stores.
At 2 a.m. on the fifth day after Fanghua Store opened, Huang Tianming, Liang Jiale, and two other thugs, a total of four people, began their operation, while Liang Jiaojiao acted as a lookout at the intersection.
They took a bottle of diesel fuel to the Fanghua store, poured it directly on the door, threw a match at it, and the store immediately caught fire.
Because Li Shisheng had made ample preparations in advance, the fire was quickly extinguished, and all five people were caught red-handed.
Huang Tianming and several other arsonists endangered public safety by setting fires. Although no serious consequences or loss of life occurred, they were still sentenced to prison terms ranging from one to three years.
The ringleader, Huang Tianming, was sentenced to three years, Liang Jiale to two years, the other two to one year, and Liang Jiaojiao to fifteen days of detention.
The officer who responded to the call that night was Zhang He from the Beiqu Police Station in the county. He and Director Zhang were junior high school classmates. They had joined the army together, but were discharged at different times.
After Huang Tianming was arrested, the Huang family thought that by paying compensation and then bribing officials, they could get him released. So the Huang family went around raising money, and Li Xiaoling, after hearing her mother's tearful complaints, secretly gave all the wages she and Chen Penghua had saved for more than a year to her mother to take back to her maternal grandmother's house.
Not long after, Chen Lao Er went to Chen Da Bo's house again to collect the debt, because it was almost two years later and there was still 7,000 yuan left to pay.
Uncle Chen wanted his eldest son to contribute one or two thousand yuan, since the house was for him to live in.
Although Chen Penghua was reluctant, he still went home and checked his bankbook.
Who knew that he had no money left, so he gritted his teeth and interrogated his wife, Li Xiaoling, until the truth came out.
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