Yongjia Middle School had just dismissed classes, and Chen Xia and her colleagues were still in the office grading homework.
Vice Principal Liu knocked on the door and asked her to go to the Principal's office; Principal Luo wanted to have a chat with her.
"Alright, I'll go right now." Chen Xia was very happy. Could something good be happening?
Putting down her homework, she followed behind Vice Principal Liu, her steps light and graceful.
A moment later, she arrived at the Principal's office. Principal Luo, with a gentle smile, motioned for her to sit down.
"Teacher Chen, is Liu Fengqing, the odd-job worker at our school, related to you?"
"Yes, Principal, but we don't have much contact," Chen Xia didn't know why Principal Luo asked this. She really wanted to say she didn't know her, but seeing the expressions of Principal Luo and Vice Principal Liu, she felt they knew the inside story.
Liu Fengqing worked at the school, and she didn't even want to acknowledge her. She didn't want colleagues to know that her sister-in-law worked as an odd-job worker at the school; it was too embarrassing.
"Why no contact? You're her second sister-in-law, aren't you?" Principal Luo asked again. It seemed like their relationship wasn't very good.
They were blood relatives.
But on second thought, it seemed understandable.
"Uh, yes, but we really don't have much interaction. My sister-in-law has already resigned and left the school."
Principal Luo nodded: "Do you know this person, Fang Bai? He should be your nephew, right?"
"Yes, Principal, why are you asking about my nephew?"
"I heard that Fang Bai originally planned to repeat his studies at our school. Liu Fengqing even personally sought you out. Is there such a thing?"
Chen Xia pondered for a moment, unsure why the Principal kept asking about this, but she still said earnestly: "Uh, yes, there was such a thing. My nephew's grades weren't very good. Last year, he was several tens of points short of the university admission line, and I estimated he wouldn't get into university even if he repeated. After the college entrance exam, he went to work and broke his finger. He has a bit of a hooligan temper, and if he came in, he would only affect other students' studies and lower the school's university admission rate. I advocated for avoiding nepotism, so I suggested he repeat his studies at another school."
"Cough, you truly are a good teacher of ours!" Principal Luo was so angry he laughed, still talking about avoiding nepotism.
He really did a good job!
Hearing Chen Xia say that, and looking at her tone, it was clear she disliked the person. How was this avoiding nepotism? With such siblings, no wonder they didn't want to interact. When they became successful, they didn't even tell her!
Heh heh, Principal Luo felt that Chen Xia was truly pathetic.
How pathetic! Why push away a student who came knocking on the door? Otherwise, how could those 300,000 yuan have gone to Oubei No. 1 Middle School!
Perhaps they would become even more successful in the future and donate even more. Principal Luo suppressed his anger, took a sip of cold tea, truly afraid his high blood pressure would act up again.
"Thank you for the compliment, Principal Luo. I'm just doing my part." Chen Xia saw the Principal smile and also showed a complacent smile.
But she noticed that Vice Principal Liu, after hearing her words, frowned instead.
Did she make a mistake?
Vice Principal Liu knew the Principal was angry, and he really couldn't stand it anymore. He asked coldly: "Teacher Chen, aren't you paying attention to the recent news about the donation to Oubei No. 1 Middle School? Not to mention teachers, many students already know that a repeating student named Fang Bai donated 300,000 yuan to the school."
"Oh, you're talking about that. I heard about it the day before yesterday. That must just be a namesake. My sister-in-law's family is from the countryside, and their economic situation isn't very good." Chen Xia was convinced she hadn't made a mistake. How could it be her nephew?
Alas, how can he compare to them? One is heaven, the other is earth, my poor nephew.
"Ah, Teacher Chen, I think you should go back to your sister-in-law's house when you have time, or visit Xinghai Shopping Mall more often." Vice Principal Liu felt that Chen Xia was truly pathetic. "Don't you know that the owner of Xinghai Company is named Liu Fengqing, and her son is named Fang Bai, the repeating student?
It's really difficult to have the same name.
It seems I know your nephew better than you do."
Chen Xia's eyes suddenly bulged, and her smile instantly froze as she heard unbelievable information.
"How is that possible?"
She couldn't help but blurt out this sentence, then looked at the two school leaders, who, after hearing it, seemed to be smiling without smiling.
"There might be many things you don't know. I suggest you visit Xinghai Shopping Mall when you have time and try to get your nephew to take the college entrance exam at our school. I called Oubei No. 1 Middle School and inquired about the news. Fang Bai indeed had three fingers broken, and he scored 602 in the first mock exam. Besides those few key high schools in the city, our school doesn't have many students who score over 600 points, less than two handfuls combined!" Principal Luo sighed, then waved his hand, "Nothing else. Go back to your work."
Principal Luo thought about it carefully and could also understand Chen Xia's unawareness. If he hadn't called the principal of Oubei No. 1 Middle School, he wouldn't have known Fang Bai's family's specific situation.
Yongjia Middle School was in the north of the county town, and it took an hour to cycle to Oubei Wharf, so she probably hadn't even been to Xinghai Shopping Mall.
In reality, most citizens knew about Xinghai Company, after all, the lottery event had become known throughout the city.
However, besides the County Leader and relevant department personnel, and the teachers and students of Oubei No. 1 Middle School, and those whom students and their families had told, not many people knew about Fang Shi and Fang Bai, unless they intentionally asked employees of Xinghai Shopping Mall or informed people.
The family hadn't appeared in newspapers or on television. Even if they had, how many families had televisions, and how many regularly bought newspapers to read?
So, even if they knew the owner of Xinghai Company was named Fang Shi, they probably wouldn't recognize him if they met him.
This was not an era of rapid information transfer where you could just search on your phone.
"This…"
Listening to the Principal's words, Chen Xia was so shocked she stood there like a half-dead piece of wood.
She and her husband, Fang Lei, hadn't been back to the village for a long time, and they hadn't returned for the New Year either. Her mother-in-law had brought them some New Year's goods.
Xinghai Shopping Mall, a 300,000 yuan donation, 602 points!
These three pieces of information were too much of a blow to her. After a moment of stunned, seeing the Principal wave at her, she walked out of the Principal's office like a wooden puppet.
After Chen Xia left, Vice Principal Liu shook his head and sighed to the Principal.
"Principal, it seems these two families don't have a very good relationship. It's unlikely that Fang Bai will come to our school."
"Alas, you guessed right. It's probably not good at all. She doesn't even know the situation of her own sister-in-law's family.
This Chen Xia sometimes has water in her brain. She doesn't want the wealth that came to her door and even helped us push away an excellent student.
I told her to try, but I didn't have much hope. What if it works?" Principal Luo sighed again. He disliked women like Chen Xia; they couldn't do good deeds but caused a lot of trouble.
But from a teacher's perspective, she was decent at teaching, just a bit temperamental.
"I have to say, they got rich really fast, even their own relatives don't know."
"I estimate Chen Xia hasn't been back to the village in a long time. Doesn't she visit relatives during New Year and holidays? This sibling relationship has become too strained."
"Such things are not uncommon. Close neighbors are better than blood brothers."
"Alas, that's true."
...
After Chen Xia left the Principal's office, the school leaders' words struck her like a bolt from the blue.
Impossible, absolutely impossible!
Without seeing it with her own eyes, she didn't believe it at all.
Back in her office, she had no mind to grade homework. She grabbed her keys and left.
She didn't even know how she got home. Sitting there, her mind was so agitated that she simply left the house and cycled back to the village to see.
Actually, she wanted to go to Oubei Wharf more, but it was too far from the school. It would take at least half an hour to cycle there, and it would be late by the time she returned.
Ten minutes later, she arrived back in the village and saw that all three doors of her sister-in-law's house were closed. She knocked, but no one answered.
She went to her mother-in-law's house and saw the two elderly people sitting in front of the door, chattering.
"Oh, the eldest daughter-in-law has time to come back." Her mother-in-law had a fawning smile, thinking she had come back to visit them. It seemed school matters weren't too busy anymore.
"Uh, I came back to take a look." Chen Xia was always indifferent to the elderly. She then asked, "Where is my sister-in-law's family? Are they all not home?"
"I don't know. They probably went out to work. They occasionally come back, but I don't know where they're working. They probably didn't make much money and are too ashamed to come back." Her mother-in-law said with a look of disdain, then turned to her eldest daughter-in-law with a smiling face, "I'll pick some vegetables for you to take back to school later."
"It's still good. They brought back a lot of New Year's goods before the New Year," her father-in-law said cheerfully, "It seems they've made a name for themselves. I heard people say the younger son came back on a motorcycle."
Her mother-in-law twisted her mouth and retorted: "What kind of name? If they were doing well, why wouldn't they renovate their house? I really don't know if they've paid off their debts. Don't let us pay them back; I don't have any money.
Anyway, I didn't see the younger son riding a motorcycle. It was probably borrowed."
"No need, I'm leaving." Hearing this, Chen Xia realized the two elderly people were also unaware.
On the way back to school, her mind was not present. On a downhill section in the village, she and her bike plunged into a ditch by the roadside. She didn't even have time to brake.
"Bah, you son of a bitch! You son of a bitch!"
Chen Xia's face was twisted and ferocious. She gritted her teeth and cursed, feeling some anger and hatred towards her sister-in-law. If it weren't for her, why would she have gone back to her hometown, and why would she have plunged into the ditch?
It took her a while to drag the bike to the roadside. She checked herself and found no major injuries, and her face wasn't scratched. Only the back of her hand was scratched a few times by grass, which made her unbearable.
Fortunately, she was wearing winter clothes, but her clothes were all dirty, and the bike was covered in a lot of dust and grass.
Back at school, some colleagues couldn't help but laugh when they saw her like this. Some even asked her if she had gone fishing for shrimp in the river.
Chen Xia was embarrassed. When she got home, the more she thought about it, the more wronged she felt. She sat on the sofa and couldn't help but cry, occasionally blurting out a curse, "You son of a bitch."
Her husband, Fang Lei, came home from work and saw his wife leaning motionless on the sofa. He asked her if she had cooked dinner.
"You dead man, didn't you see I'm having bad luck!" Chen Xia was angry. How could she be in the mood to cook?
Fang Lei was bewildered and had to ask what was going on.
"It's all your brother and sister-in-law's fault! They've made me so miserable!" Chen Xia said with a cold face.
A few minutes later, Fang Lei listened to his wife vent all her anger and was dumbfounded: "How is that possible!? Are you kidding me?"
Chen Xia twisted her mouth and scoffed: "Heh heh, I also think it's impossible. What damn ability do your brother and sister-in-law have? One is an odd-job worker, the other a farmer. How could they possibly do business and even open a big shopping mall? What a joke!"
Of course, she knew about the lottery event and Xinghai Plaza, but she had never been there. How would she know the owner's name? Besides, her home was not close to Oubei Wharf. Why would she go so far for no reason?
"Exactly, your words are harsh, but they are true. They even asked us to borrow money before the New Year." Fang Lei knew his wife looked down on his brother and sister-in-law, but now that his wife was angry, what she said was also true. The two families didn't get along, so of course, he sided with his wife.
"If they had money, their house would have been rebuilt long ago. How could they let the villagers look down on them?"
Hearing her husband's comfort, Chen Xia felt much better and less disappointed than before, then went to cook.
But when she slept that night, she had a nightmare: she dreamed that her sister-in-law's family was driving a luxury car and owned a super large shopping mall.
When she woke up, Chen Xia recalled the school leaders' words. She was 70% disbelieving and 30% suspicious.
She planned to ask a colleague to cover two classes for her tomorrow morning and go to Xinghai Shopping Mall to take a look.
Information transmission takes time. The lottery event was on the Lantern Festival, and only a few days have passed since that point in the story.
Moreover, this was an era of information isolation and inconvenient transportation. It could only rely on you-me-him, not you-internet-all. Yongjia County was not close to Xinghai Shopping Mall. Look at the map; the text also explains it.
Not to mention that era, even in the same neighborhood, let's say your next-door neighbor, you might not necessarily know their name or what business they do.
Without specific promotion and with intentional concealment from the outside world, knowing about the lottery event and knowing the owner of Xinghai Company are two different things and should not be confused.
I am not specifically explaining this plot, but rather determining the plot based on the development of the relationship between the two parties. The plot hole for this story has been filled. There are no more saintly figures or relatives causing trouble at the shopping mall. There are two more chapters, the college entrance exam ends, and the main storyline begins.