"Yes, this essay is just so powerful; it was written as if she had seen everything with her own eyes, as if she had personally experienced it all."
After Jiang Mianmian finished reading the essay, the commune secretary walked up to her, looking at the people below clapping vigorously, "Alright, everyone quiet down. The three students’ essays were all exceptional. In the upgrade exam, all three achieved full marks, and to encourage them, the town mayor has approved a reward of fifty yuan each."
The villagers standing below gasped in astonishment upon hearing about the fifty yuan reward.
"My goodness, the town is really generous, to reward so much money! Fifty yuan is more than what an average family earns in a year."
"Yes, our whole family works hard in the fields all year round, and after expenses for food and clothing, we can’t save even this much money."
"Now I truly understand the benefits of education; education can indeed lead to wealth."
Seeing that the voices from below were getting too loud, the commune secretary raised his hand to calm them, "Comrades, quiet down a bit."
Once everyone had quieted down, the commune secretary continued, "In addition to the town’s reward, the town primary school will also reward the two top students twenty yuan each, and our commune primary school will reward Jiang Mianmian twenty yuan. Of course, our commune will also give Jiang Mianmian an additional ten yuan. Please, mayor, the principal of the town primary school, and Principal Fang come up to present the scholarships to the three students."
After the commune secretary finished, intense applause once again erupted from below.
Jiang Mianmian hadn’t expected to receive so much prize money this time. Including the four yuan fee sent by the newspaper, she suddenly had eighty-four yuan.
This was indeed no small sum.
The mayor first gave each of the three students fifty yuan, all in crisp new ten-yuan notes.
"You young students are the future of our country. Although you have done very well this time, you must guard against arrogance and rashness and continue to work hard to achieve even better results in the future, understood?"
The three children nodded vigorously, "Yes, Mayor, we will study hard."
The principals of the two schools also handed out the prize money. Normally, the maximum scholarship from the commune primary school was ten yuan, due to insufficient school funds.
But Principal Fang felt that Jiang Mianmian had achieved such great results, their school’s scholarship, even if not more than the town’s, should at least match it.
So he dug into his own pocket and added ten yuan, making up the twenty yuan scholarship.
"Jiang Mianmian, you must continue to work hard once you’re in junior high, keep up this momentum, and your future will surely be boundless," Principal Fang patted Jiang Mianmian’s shoulder and said with high hopes.
"Yes, Principal, I will continue to work hard," Jiang Mianmian said firmly.
She was determined to become a top student and make early breakthroughs in her research.
After the principal had finished distributing the scholarships, the commune also gave Jiang Mianmian ten yuan.
The people below, looking at the stacks of crisp new ten-yuan notes in the children’s hands, felt envious, even the city folks, let alone the villagers.
Earning seventy to eighty yuan just from one exam, and with two exams each year, these kids could support a family just by taking exams.
Quite a few people became excited at the thought, planning to send their children to the commune primary school when the next semester started.
They were convinced that if the commune primary school could produce one prodigy, it could certainly produce