Chapter 25: [25] Everyone wants to curry favor with your daughter now1
“Yes, your sister is going to college,” Sun Rongfang told her son.
“No, with her grades, whether she can get in, we might as well call and ask her class teacher again.” Xie Changrong, after all, had never believed his daughter could get into medical school, or rather, he was reluctant to believe it.
Suddenly, their next-door neighbor burst into their home and exclaimed, “Old Xie, your family is impressive, producing a talented girl, your Yingying ranked first.”
“First?” Xie Changrong asked.
“Science top scorer. Didn’t you know? Hasn’t your Yingying come home yet? All the teachers at their school are talking about how your Yingying got the top scorer in science.” The neighbor laughed out loud, clearly delighted, now he could boast to everyone that he lived next to the science top scorer.
Clatter, the phone receiver in Sun Rongfang’s hand fell to the ground.
Xie Changrong’s mouth was agape, wide enough to swallow a large duck egg.
“Dad, if sister ranked first, what do we do?” Xie Youtian tugged at his father’s clothes and asked.
“Wrong, wrong, wrong.” Xie Changrong, sweating, replied, “Yingying just got home, she didn’t say she got the science top scorer.”
“What score did she get?”
“Seven hundred and twenty-one.”
“That’s right.” The neighbor slapped his thigh, “their teacher said so, seven hundred and twenty-one is the top science score.”
“Could you have seen it wrong?” Xie Changrong turned to ask his wife.
Sun Rongfang picked up her daughter’s report card and carefully checked it again, showing it to both her husband and the neighbor.
With a glance, the neighbor confirmed, “It’s true, Old Xie, congratulations to you!”
Xie Changrong was completely dumbfounded. After all, his plan was not to have his daughter attend medical school, but rather to have her go to normal college or marry her off.
What’s the benefit of attending medical school? It seemed there was no benefit for him. Only his wife wanted their daughter to become a doctor. He only hoped his son would become a doctor. So, while his daughter becoming a doctor thrilled his wife, Xie Changrong himself was bewildered.
“Can Yingying’s grades get her into medical school? What about the top national medical class?” Xie Changrong grabbed the neighbor to clarify.
The neighbor thought he might be foolish, gave him a look, and said, “Old Xie, are you worried about this? Your mind must be muddled with joy for your daughter. The top science scorer, number one, which university wouldn’t want her? They’ll be fighting over her! Your Yingying can go study wherever she wants.”
His daughter could study anywhere, Xie Changrong turned to his wife and said, “Let Yingying go to normal college, he said, anywhere would want Yingying.”
Hearing him say this, the neighbor glanced at the couple, “You two should really think about which university you want Yingying to go to.”
All Sun Rongfang remembered was what Liu Hui had said, “Her class teacher said once she applied for medical school, it can’t be changed. No matter how she scores, it’s that school if she doesn’t get in.
Liu Hui was already regretting it bitterly!
Amidst the chattering outside, Xie Wanying realized the top science scorer was herself, not Zhao Wenzong. No wonder Liu Hui’s gaze seemed so off when she looked at her in the school office.
Outside, her parents continued to argue.
“We don’t have the money to send Yingying to medical school,” Xie Changrong told his wife. “I just asked next door, and he said medical school takes five years. Normal colleges offer three- and four-year programs. Wouldn’t it be better for Yingying to finish a three-year program and start working sooner?”
“Didn’t I tell you? It can’t be changed. Her class teacher said so,” Sun Rongfang said.
“It doesn’t matter. The top science scorer can go wherever she wants. The neighbor said so,” Xie Changrong stood confronting his wife.