Chapter 58 Chapter 58...
On the day of the county commendation meeting, Secretary Geng of the commune made the decision to borrow a large truck directly from the county transportation company and took the Yangliu Brigade to the county to watch the glorious moment of the brigade receiving the commendation.
Yes, not only the two children and their instructor Shen Moer will receive provincial awards and commendations from the city and county, but the Yangliu Brigade as a group will also receive an outstanding commendation.
In fact, the county did not say that it held a commendation meeting just for this matter, but held a commendation meeting for other matters together, and the provincial painting competition award ceremony was just one of the items. Even so, it shows that the county attaches great importance to it.
The rural people didn't understand the ins and outs of this. After all, they had won provincial honors. The county even held a special meeting to commend them, and the commune even arranged a car to take them to see the commendation. This had never happened before.
Almost all students from the primary school of the brigade participated. The families of the award-winning contestants, such as Aunt Chen's family and Zhou Xiaoshuan's family, naturally participated. Even a large truck can only carry a limited number of people, so if others want to enter the city, they have to be selected from the brigade. Those who look good and have good work performance are the first choice.
Originally, the other branches of the old Shen family should have been the first choice because of Shen Moer's relationship, but the villagers also saw the relationship between the several families, so when the team was selecting people to move to the city, they didn't consider other people from the old Shen family at all. Only Shen Lingling was considered because she was a teacher in the team's primary school.
The commendation meeting was held in the auditorium of the Jiangbei County Workers' Club. There was no other way because there was no such large venue in the county party committee compound.
Jiangbei County has more mountains than plains, with about seven parts of mountains, one part of water, and two parts of farmland. Villages like Yangliu Brigade, which are close to the commune, have more land. There are many other villages where mountains make up the majority of the land.
So Jiangbei County is actually quite poor, and the Workers' Club is a landmark building in the county.
The large truck bumped along the way and delivered the people to the door of the Workers' Club.
The provincial roads these days are not flat, they are all yellow mud roads, often full of potholes. Only the area near the county town is paved with asphalt, which at least makes people feel a little more comfortable.
As soon as we arrived at the place, the children got out of the car quickly, while the older ones needed help to hold on, after all, this was a truck.
Fortunately, it was a truck with the tarpaulin at the back open. Although it was a little cold, no one got motion sickness. Otherwise, with so many people crowded together and someone getting motion sickness or vomiting, that would have been really troublesome.
Jiangbei County Workers' Club is a three-storey building with very typical features of architecture from the 1950s, with a towering sloping roof and solid brick walls. On the towering roof in front is a large red five-pointed star, with a row of red words "Jiangbei County Workers' Club" below it.
A large red banner with the words “Appreciation Conference for All Industries in the County” was hung at the entrance of the club.
“This is really impressive!”
Everyone sighed and were a little nervous, but soon they held their heads high again. They were outstanding members of the Yangliu Brigade, and they were here to receive the commendation!
Moreover, the county staff learned that they were from the Yangliu Brigade and politely guided them in and arranged their seats. Although the seats were a bit far back, there were so many of them, so it was good that they were not asked to stand.
The members happily led a group of naughty children to sit in their seats. They touched the stools and chairs curiously and looked around: "How can this house be built so big!"
Shen Shaoyuan also took a day off and came along.
In fact, there was a child in the commune primary school who also won the third prize. The school originally wanted to recruit a tutor for him, but Shen Shaoyuan turned it down.
He felt that he did not teach the two children anything. He just guided them while they worked. The two children were senior students. One of them had a grandmother who had worked in a ceramic factory and knew some basic painting skills. The other one had a few comic books hidden at home and tried to copy them by himself. They all had some basic skills, so he just gave them some pointers and put them on the right track.
Moreover, he was not the one who led them to the city and provincial competitions, so he could not really be considered a coach.
Shen Shaoyuan sat calmly with a group of children.
Fu Mingze also came. He stood at the back and watched Chen Moer lead Maomao and Zhou Zhaodi to the front row and sit down. He then looked around the venue and saw a man wearing a hat and carrying a large bag in the corner of the back row, so he walked over.
When he went over to ask, he found out that the man was indeed the one arranged by the county to take the photo, just as he expected.
For such a large event, some visual materials would definitely be left behind, and perhaps the photos would be sent to the superior newspaper to see if they could be used for publicity.
In fact, Jiangbei County had newspapers in the 1950s. In the 1950s and 1960s, many small counties had newspapers, which were the county party committee's official newspapers. They served as a mouthpiece and a recorder of history. However, after the movement began a few years ago, these newspapers were all discontinued.
So for large-scale events like this, the people from the publicity department have to do it themselves, or the people in the office have to invite someone from outside to take the photos.
The comrade wearing a hat is the photographer invited by the county from a state-owned photo studio. There was no other way because the county was too poor and the Propaganda Department was not equipped with a camera.
This is convenient for Fu Mingze.
If it was someone from the county's propaganda department, it would actually be difficult to ask for help. But since he was a master from a state-owned photo studio, Fu Mingze discussed it with the other party and asked him to take a few more photos and pay the price according to the photo studio's price. The other party agreed readily.
Fu Mingze returned to his seat after talking to someone, and sat next to Shen Shaoyuan. By the way, he also talked to Shen Shaoyuan about taking pictures.
Shen Shaoyuan's eyes flashed. In fact, he was considered knowledgeable. After all, he was a prince, and a favored youngest son. He had seen countless rare treasures since he was a child, and he had seen countless celebrations and ceremonies. Occasions like today were all small scenes.
But after all, he is not a "native" of this world, and is far less familiar with the things in this world than other people. For example, he did not even think of taking photos on occasions like today.
Although they had taken several photos when his daughter got married, and the photos were developed and brought back two days ago, they were very nice and he had been holding them for a long time, but when faced with a situation like today, he still didn't think about taking photos.
The main reason is that I don’t have this habit, so I naturally can’t remember it.
Fu Mingze, on the other hand, had a quick mind. He thought of it immediately and found the person in no time.
Shen Shaoyuan was satisfied with his son-in-law's cleverness. Both he and his daughter were not dull people. When they were in Daliang, although he was just an idle prince without any real power, they still lived a prosperous life with their flexible brains.
Even though they had such a difficult start in this world, with no food at home and people almost starving to death, the father and daughter still lived a prosperous life.
It all depends on the brain.
Although his daughter cares most about appearance, Shen Shaoyuan himself actually cares more about brains.
It is really fatal if a person is too stupid, like Zhang Zhiqiang, who was so stupid that he was cheated by Shen Lingling.
Fu Mingze is good-looking and smart. Compared with Zhang Zhiqiang and others, he really stands out.
It's all about the other people.
Shen Shaoyuan reluctantly raised his son-in-law's score a little bit in his heart.
Aunt Chen was sitting nearby. When she heard the conversation between the father-in-law and son-in-law, she quickly said, "Xiao Fu, please ask the photographer to take two photos of my Maomao as well. We have no problem paying him according to the studio's price."
She was always enthusiastic and looked back at Zhou Xiaoshuan's family sitting in the back row. "Shouldn't you, Zhou Zhaodi, take a photo too? It's so rare. You can keep this photo and look at it for the rest of your life."
Yang Danniu pouted, "No need. Why would a little girl take photos? If it were me, boys should go up to receive the awards. What's the point of a girl going up on stage? My Jia Jiabao should go up to receive the awards, and my Jia Jiabao should be the one taking the photos."
Yang Danniu felt that the leaders in the county were really confused. For something like this where someone had to show up, a boy had to go up on stage. Although the Zhou family didn't have a boy, she brought her son with her former lover when she came in. A stepson is also a son, so there was nothing wrong with letting Jia Jiabao go on stage.
Yang Danniu didn't think there was anything wrong with what she said, but everyone around her looked at her in shock. How could this person say such outrageous words so confidently? !
Aunt Chen was speechless. She ignored Yang and asked Old Man Zhou directly, "Old Zhou, what do you say?"
She didn't even think of asking Zhou Xiaoshuan. Zhou Xiaoshuan, this coward, was completely controlled by Yang Danv. Everyone knew it.
It is said that Old Man Zhou is not in good health. He usually never goes to work and stays at home. But on a day like today, he can take a free ride to the city to see the world, and because their daughter Zhou Zhaodi won an award and he can show her face, Old Man Zhou went out, which is unusual for him.
Old Man Zhou glanced at Wu Jiabao who was sitting on Yang Da Nv's lap and said, "Dan Nv is right. This kind of thing should be done by a boy. If Jiabao goes on stage, we can take a photo, but Zhaodi can forget about it."
Zhou Xiaoshuan also said: "That's right, why would a girl take photos? It's a waste of money."
Aunt Chen: “…”
Others: “…”
No, Wu Jiabao's last name is Wu, not Zhou. Zhou Zhaodi's last name is Zhou. What on earth are these father and son thinking? !
I don’t understand. I really don’t understand at all.
There are people present who favor boys over girls. Even these people cannot understand the thoughts of Zhou's father and son. After all, if it were them, there would be no problem in not taking pictures of baby girls, but it is impossible for them to take pictures of the child in front of their wife!
Although these people do not value their daughters, they still think their daughters are more important than a burden.
It is said that Zhou's father and son treat Yang Da Nv's former son like a little ancestor, and it seems to be true.
Everyone couldn't help but look at Wu Jiabao. The child was only about five or six years old, but he was well-fed, chubby and fair. Even though there was enough space, he insisted on sitting on his mother's lap, eating candy and kicking his legs, enjoying himself very much.
Think about Zhou Xiaoshuan’s other two daughters, one is about the same age as Wu Jiabao, and the other is even younger. Both were given away to other families as child brides shortly after they were born. No one knows how they are doing now.
Of course, it is a new society now, and raising child brides is not allowed. But the Zhou family said at the time that there was no woman in the family and the child was too young to raise, so they gave the child to a relative for adoption.
As long as the person involved doesn't speak out about this kind of thing, outsiders really have no way of saying anything.
Even though everyone knew that the two families were not very wealthy, and that the boys in each family had some problems, either with their brains or with their hands and feet, and it would be difficult for them to find wives in the future, the purpose of taking the girls home to raise was really obvious.
So, the Zhou family’s actions are really incomprehensible.
They are unwilling to raise their own children, but instead treat other people's children as treasures.
It's just outrageous.
Aunt Chen turned her head decisively and didn't want to say anything more. This family was mentally ill, and she was afraid that she would be infected by them if she talked too much to them.
Aunt Chen felt a little regretful for asking this question, and said to Fu Mingze: "Forget about it if they don't want it. We want it."
Fu Mingze glanced at the Zhou family and whispered, "All of them. I've said it before."
Aunt Chen's eyes lit up and she smiled, "Okay, you're thoughtful. We'll give you the money later."
Fu Mingze didn't say anything at first, obviously he didn't intend to ask them for money. But the money for the photo was not small. Chen Moer brought her grandson to win the award, and Aunt Chen was already very grateful. She didn't have the nerve to ask them to pay for the photo.
Of course, the Zhou family would definitely not feel embarrassed. More likely, they might even say that it would be better to spend the money on taking a photo of Wu Jiabao than on Zhou Zhaodi. Aunt Chen felt that Yang Danniu and the Zhou father and son were entirely likely to say such things, so she simply kept silent.
After all, Fu Mingze was not doing this for the sake of the Zhou family's face, Aunt Chen thought to herself, and she would remind Zhou Zhaodi to remember this favor later.
People kept coming into the venue one after another, and the huge venue was almost full.
Chen Moer, Maomao and Zhou Zhaodi sat in the second row in the front. Sitting with them were teacher He Mingda from Liuqiao Commune Primary School and the award-winning student Liu Yongjun from the Commune Primary School. On the other side were some people from enterprises and institutions who were being commended. These people were all older, and some even had gray hair.
Among the whole row of people, these five were the youngest, young men and elementary school students. They looked very out of place and very eye-catching.
Soon, the commendation ceremony officially began.
The meeting was arranged very tightly. Both the meeting host and the leader who gave the speech were very concise and clear in what they said and did. There was no dragging of words, and the whole process was connected very quickly.
“Please invite the second prize winners of the Provincial “Hold High the Great Banner and Forge Ahead with All Efforts” Painting Competition, Chen Yu, Zhou Zhaodi, and their instructor Shen Moer to the stage to receive the award. Please applaud and congratulate us!”
Amidst warm applause, Shen Moer calmly walked onto the stage, holding Maomao in one hand and Zhou Zhaodi in the other.
County magistrate Gu Yangbo was very young, about thirty years old, wearing a liberation suit and a pair of silver-rimmed glasses. He looked at them with a gentle smile and handed over the certificate and gift certificate: "Congratulations to the two children, and also to you, Teacher Shen!"
He stretched out his hand and shook hands with Shen Moer: “Thank you for your hard work.”
Then he shook hands with Maomao and Zhou Zhaodi.
Maomao and Zhou Zhaodi's faces flushed, but Shen Moer had already given them a heads-up beforehand and encouraged them before they went on stage, so they both calmed down and shouted in unison: "Thank you, Uncle County Magistrate!"
Gu Yangbo smiled and said, "Let's take a group photo."
Although the people who received the awards before them also took photos, when it was their turn, Maomao and Zhou Zhaodi were still very happy. They both subconsciously looked up at Chen Moer with excitement on their faces.
Chen Moer touched the two people's heads and motioned them to smile. Maomao and Zhou Zhaodi turned their heads to look at the photographer, revealing a slightly stiff but still quite cute smile.
The photographer was very fast and took several pictures in a row.
After taking the photos, Shen Moer led the two back to the stage.
Maomao and Zhou Zhaodi looked at the certificate with curiosity, and looked at the gift certificate with surprise, and simply couldn't let go of them.
Probably because they were afraid that the prizes would be hard to get, the awards ceremony at this conference was all about award certificates and gift certificates. The gift certificates had gift codes written on them, and it was noted that the prizes had to be collected from the conference working group. The conference working group was just outside the venue, with two tables set up with signs on them. Shen Moer had seen them when she came in just now.
In fact, usually prizes are given out directly, which looks better, but County Mayor Gu seems to be a pragmatic person and does not care about these empty things.
Not long after, Zhou Mancang also went on stage to receive the award on behalf of the Yangliu Brigade. His dark face turned red, and he was staggering when he went on stage. Maomao covered his mouth and laughed for a long time on the stage.
The commendation meeting ended successfully. Shen Moer brought her two children to receive the prizes. Because the prizes at the provincial, municipal and county levels were distributed together, there were quite a lot of things. The instructors and the award-winning students received the same prizes. Because Shen Moer brought two students, she also received double the prizes.
One set includes a blanket, a thermos, two pillowcases, a lunch box, and a bar of soap.
The other one was a blanket, a thermos, a flashlight, and a lunch box.
Including the prizes for the two children, that makes four prizes, a huge pile of stuff.
Shen Moer suddenly felt that the reason why County Magistrate Gu did not choose to give out the prizes on the spot might have something to do with the fact that the prizes were too scattered and a bit too many?
Having said that, the main focus of hair products these days is practicality. Look at these things, they are all useful at home.
Two blankets, which can be used immediately when the weather gets cold. Although there are already two thermos bottles at home, it is not too much, especially in winter, more hot water is added, which is convenient for eating and using. Flashlights and lunch boxes are also very useful, and soap is even more popular with Chen Moer.
Zhou Mancang also received a prize. He received a thermos and two flashlights, which was obviously taken into consideration of the collective needs of the brigade.
Although there were a lot of things, fortunately there were many of them, so Fu Mingze and Shen Shaoyuan helped to take some of them, and Shen Moer was immediately left with only a pillowcase and a bar of soap.
More people came to Aunt Chen's house, and they all took away things with a smile on their faces.
The situation was the same at the Zhou family. Yang Da Nv was carrying a thermos bottle despite her big belly. In fact, she wanted to take a blanket, but unfortunately, old man Zhou got there first.
In the countryside, no one buys blankets, which are expensive and hard to buy. Just this blanket is quite decent as a betrothal gift. Yang Danniu only regrets that her son Jiabao is still young, otherwise she could use this blanket as a betrothal gift to marry a wife.
In fact, Yang Danniu was secretly jealous of Shen Moli. She glanced at the things in Fu Mingze and Shen Shaoyuan's hands several times, and felt that the county leaders were confused. Not only did they let a girl go on stage, but they also let Shen Moli, who did not participate in the competition, go on stage and gave her a prize. Not only did they give her a prize, but they also gave her two prizes.
Isn't this just a waste of money?
All of a sudden, their family had two blankets, a thermos, a pillowcase, and a flashlight...but they didn't have a flashlight at home, which was really unfair.
Yang Da Nv was muttering to herself but didn't dare show it on her face.
As a group of people walked out, they happened to meet Secretary Geng Liming and others from Liuqiao Commune.
Geng Liming was in a very good mood: "A tiger father will have a dog daughter. Shaoyuan, you and your daughter are really capable!" Shen Shaoyuan was "helping" in various units of the commune all day long, so Geng Liming naturally knew him.
Shen Shaoyuan smiled and said, "My daughter is pretty good."
He is not modest at all, his daughter Moer is the best.
Geng Liming shook his head and laughed, but he didn't take it as an offense. He had met Shen Shaoyuan several times and understood his personality. He turned to Shen Moer and said with a smile: "Comrade Shen Shaoyuan is right. Comrade Xiao Shen is an excellent comrade. Comrade Xiao Shen, please come to the commune tomorrow."
After saying this, Geng Liming encouraged the primary school students a few more words and then left with a few people from the commune.
After the few people walked away, Aunt Chen let out a long breath and said, "Although this leader is smiling, I still feel a little nervous standing next to him."
Many people nearby felt the same way and nodded.
Aunt Chen curiously asked Zhou Mancang: "Why did the leader ask Moer to go to the commune?"
Shen Moer also looked at Zhou Mancang curiously. After all, she didn't know either.
She was suddenly asked to go to the commune without any warning and without saying anything. Shen Moer was really confused.
Zhou Mancang smiled and said, "Good news."
Perhaps because he was too happy today, he didn't hide anything like usual. He said directly: "It should be okay for us to whisper among ourselves. I heard that Secretary Geng asked County Magistrate Gu for an extra quota for regularization of private teachers, and they are going to make Moer a regular teacher!"
Aunt Chen: "Oh my, this is a good thing!"
"Mo'er is going to be a regular employee so soon?! Oh, this is amazing."
Everyone else was surprised, but they also felt that it was not surprising. She had won the second prize in the province with two of her students. With such good results, she deserved to be promoted to a full-time employee.
For example, Cheng Tao has been working diligently since the brigade primary school was established. At the end of last semester, the commune reported him and made him a regular employee.
In this light, it is not surprising that the commune reported Shen Moli for regular employment after she achieved good results.
But in this case, Shen Lingling would be the only one who had not been converted to a full-time student in the brigade primary school.
Someone quietly went to see Shen Lingling's face, and sure enough, her face was frighteningly gloomy.
I quickly turned my head away and pretended I didn't see it.
A group of people were walking forward while talking, but no one noticed that there was a woman with a sullen face standing beside the corridor, staring at Shen Moer's receding back, as if she wanted to stare a hole in her body.
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