Secretary Wang stepped forward, extended his hand, and shook Zhang Chunxue's hand tightly. "Comrade Zhang Chunxue! You've worked so hard! You've raised a good daughter for our country and our town!"
Village chief Zhong Fugui quickly added, "Secretary, you may not know this, but Xiaoxiao's father is Zhong Guosheng from our village! He sacrificed his life a few years ago to save a leader who was conducting an inspection in the mountains..."
Upon hearing this, Secretary Wang gripped Zhang Chunxue's hand even tighter, his expression deeply moved. "So you're a martyr's family member! That's incredible! Incredible!"
The surrounding villagers, including Liu Cui'e, Huang Xiaolan and Gao Xiuli, were all stunned.
First in the county? Top three in the city?
This... is this true?
They looked at Zhang Chunxue, whose hand was being held cordially by Secretary Wang, and thought about what they had just said, their faces burning.
"Where's Xiaoxiao? Call the child out quickly!" Secretary Wang urged.
"Hey! Hey!" Zhang Chunxue finally reacted and quickly turned around and shouted into the house: "Xiaoxiao! Xiaoxiao! Come out quickly!"
The door curtain was lifted and Zhong Xiaoxiao poked her head out from the room.
She looked at the crowd of people in the yard and the unfamiliar faces that looked like important figures, and was stunned at first.
What is... happening?
When her eyes fell on her class teacher, Mr. Sun, and she heard what the village head and the secretary had just said, she finally understood what was going on.
The little girl's face turned red in an instant. She lowered her head in embarrassment, and her fingers nervously twisted the corners of her clothes.
At this time, the town mayor Li Aimin also walked forward with a smile, his voice loud and friendly.
"Comrade Zhang Chunxue, classmate Xiaoxiao! This time, it's not just verbal praise! The town and county have prepared rewards for our outstanding students!"
As he spoke, he gave a wink to Deputy Mayor Ma behind him. Deputy Mayor Ma immediately stepped forward with a large, bulging net bag in his hand.
The net bag looks festive, and the things inside are even more substantial.
"Come here, Xiaoxiao, take it!" Deputy Mayor Ma smiled and handed the net bag to Xiaoxiao.
Zhong Xiaoxiao looked at Zhang Chunxue somewhat bewilderedly.
Zhang Chunxue nodded to her and motioned her to accept it. Zhong Xiaoxiao then stretched out her trembling hands and took the heavy net bag.
Through the mesh, you can clearly see a brand new white enamel pot with the word "Award" printed in red, as well as a snow-white towel and a soap box.
What made Zhong Xiaoxiao's eyes shine even more was that there was a brand new canvas schoolbag, several thick exercise books, a bundle of neatly sharpened pencils, and a Hero brand fountain pen with a metallic luster!
This...are these all for her?
Zhong Xiaoxiao's heart was pounding as if it was about to jump out of her throat.
Before she could recover from this huge surprise, Deputy Secretary Zhou stepped forward with a thick manila envelope in his hand.
"Xiaoxiao, here is a hundred yuan bonus given to you by the county!" Deputy Secretary Zhou solemnly handed the envelope to Xiaoxiao.
"One hundred dollars!"
"Oh my goodness! That's three or four months' wages for a regular worker in the city!"
The onlookers suddenly let out an uncontrollable cry of surprise, even more shocked than when they heard that he was ranked first in the county!
One hundred dollars!
These days, how many hundred yuan can a strong laborer save after working hard for a year?
This girl, just for taking a test, she got a hundred dollars?!
Deputy Secretary Zhou looked at Xiaoxiao and added, "Inside the envelope is a letter of recommendation, jointly issued by the town middle school and the county education bureau, recommending you to attend the best high school in the county!"
The crowd went completely wild!
"What? I can still go to high school in the county?"
"That's the county high school! I heard that anyone who graduated from there can become a cadre!"
"Wow! Is this girl from the Zhong family going to fly up to the tree and become a phoenix?"
"A hundred-dollar bonus! And a letter of recommendation from the county high school! This... this is truly incredible!"
Envy, jealousy, disbelief...all kinds of complex emotions intertwined on the villagers' faces.
Many people who had just been mocking Zhang Chunxue now felt their faces burning and wished they could find a hole in the ground to crawl into.
Liu Cui'e's triangular eyes were now wide open, staring at the net bag in Xiaoxiao's hand and the envelope containing a hundred yuan.
That look was full of naked, undisguised greed, as if he couldn't wait to pounce on her and snatch her away!
Her breathing became heavy and her chest heaved violently.
Zhang Chunxue's heart was churning when she saw the heavy reward in her daughter's hand.
I was excited because I was proud of my daughter.
I feel sad, but it’s because... this is so different from my previous life!
She clearly remembered that in her previous life, when Xiaoxiao graduated from junior high school, although her grades were good, it was definitely not such a big deal!
Not to mention the town leaders coming in person, even in the village there wasn't such a big commotion.
Could it be that...
Zhang Chunxue's eyes suddenly turned cold as he glanced at Liu Cui'e, Huang Xiaolan and Gao Xiuli, who all had grim expressions not far away.
In my previous life, I probably didn’t lack this recognition and reward, but... it was intercepted halfway by these evil-hearted people!
It is even possible that because he knew Xiaoxiao did well in the exam, he was more anxious to marry her off, fearing that things would get more complicated and that she would really have the chance to go to high school!
The more she thought about it, the colder Zhang Chunxue's heart grew. If... if she had known all this in her previous life, even for the sake of this "utilization value", would she not have given up on Xiaoxiao so easily, allowing them to push her into the Wang family's hell, and eventually be beaten to death by that damn bachelor?
Regret and anger intertwined, causing Zhang Chunxue's nails to dig deeply into his palms.
She took a deep breath, suppressed the turbulent waves in her heart, forced a smile on her face, and said to Secretary Wang and others, "Leaders, please... please come in and sit down! Although our house is simple, there is still water to drink."
Secretary Wang waved his hand, his smile still kind.
"No, no, Comrade Zhang Chunxue, we won't trouble you any more," he said, pointing in the direction of the village committee. "We'll just go over there and take a look at the situation."
As he spoke, Secretary Wang looked around at the villagers who had not yet completely dispersed in the yard and frowned slightly.
"By the way, when we came here just now, we saw so many people gathered in front of your house, making a lot of noise. What's going on?"
As soon as these words were spoken, the faces of Liu Cui'e, Huang Xiaolan, Gao Xiuli and others turned pale.
Many of the villagers who had just joined in the discussion lowered their heads guiltily and avoided eye contact.
Seeing this, Zhang Chunxue curled up the corners of his mouth coldly and sneered, "Ha! Secretary, mayor, and leaders, you've come just in time! Please judge! I want to send my daughter to school and continue to attend high school!"
She pointed at the pale-faced Liu Cui'e, Huang Xiaolan, and Gao Xiuli, "But, before I, her mother, could even say anything, her grandmother! Her aunt! Her third aunt! They're going to sell her off!"
(End of this chapter)
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