The town leaders received the notice and decided to hold an awards ceremony for Jiang Mianmian in the town, to present scholarships to her and the other two students who also scored first in the exams.
Upon hearing the news, both the town primary school and the commune primary school wanted to vie for the opportunity to host the awards ceremony.
Neither side would yield on this issue, and each sought to promote their own school, engaging in heated ’discussions’ about it.
The leaders of the Education Bureau naturally favored the town’s primary school, but Principal Fang had an ace up his sleeve, which was Jiang Mianmian.
Thinking of Jiang Mianmian, Principal Fang felt a surge of confidence, "Directors, look, we’ve been discussing this for such a long time without reaching a decision. I think we should be a bit more democratic and ask for Jiang Mianmian’s opinion, how about that?"
The leaders felt that this was a good solution upon hearing it.
After all, the awards ceremony was being held for Jiang Mianmian; she was the protagonist of the event.
"Alright, then let’s go and ask for Jiang Mianmian’s opinion."
Seeing their agreement, Principal Fang secretly gloated in his heart.
He understood Jiang Mianmian’s character quite well and was confident that the child would certainly choose the commune primary school.
When the group arrived, the Jiang family members were planting vegetables in the courtyard.
Su Wanyu was digging the soil, Jiang Changhai was drawing water from the well and Jiang Mianmian squatted next to her mother, helping to separate the seedlings one by one and place them in the pits her mother had dug.
The family of three worked together in a harmonious atmosphere.
Just then, a knock came from outside. Without waiting for someone to say anything, Jiang Mianmian ran over and opened the door.
"Principal, Teacher Liu, and the two uncles, hello." Jiang Mianmian didn’t recognize the town’s leaders, but felt it rude not to greet them, so she simply called them uncle.
"Ah, hello there, little friend, are you Jiang Mianmian?" one of the older leaders asked with a smile.
"Yes, I am Jiang Mianmian, please come in," she said, opening the gate wider to let them in.
Jiang Changhai and Su Wanyu, hearing their daughter’s words, had already put down their work and came over to welcome them.
"Ah, Principal, Teacher Liu, what brings you here?" Jiang Changhai greeted them.
"Ha-ha, Comrade Jiang Changhai, Comrade Su Wanyu, we have some good news to share with you. Let me introduce you first, these two are Director Wang and Director Chen from our town’s Education Bureau. We’ve come over to ask Jiang Mianmian for her opinion on something," Principal Fang introduced everyone.
"Leaders, welcome, please come inside and have a seat," Jiang Changhai said with surprise, wondering what matter would warrant the town’s leaders to personally come and seek his daughter’s opinion.
After they entered the house, Su Wanyu served them tea, placing it in front of them: "Principal, leaders, what brings you to see us?"
Unable to hide his smile, Principal Fang explained, "Comrade Jiang, Comrade Su, it’s : since Jiang Mianmian has achieved such excellent results in her promotion exam and her essay was published in the newspaper, the town’s leaders have decided to hold an awards ceremony for a few of the children. Both our commune primary school and the town primary school would like to host it, so we came to ask which location Jiang Mianmian would prefer?"
Jiang Changhai and Su Wanyu exchanged glances; they did not answer for Jiang Mianmian but allowed her to make her own choice.
"Daughter, it’s your own matter and you should make the decision yourself, mom and dad won’t decide for you."
Hearing this, the group couldn’t help but regard the couple’s approach to education with a newfound respect.