Chapter 173: 175: Won the Award

There stood Teacher Sun, grinning outside, but with tears whirling in her eyes.

“Dad, mom, I’m back…”

At this moment, she saw that Sun’s parents were just like her. Both of them had red rims around their eyes. Of course, they missed their daughter. Their son was married now, and they live far away. Only this girl was left at home — this was the point where they start feeling fed up seeing each other all their lives.

Only then did Teacher Sun realize what she had done wrong in the past.

The hearts of parents are always with their children, but where are the hearts of the children? They are on the rocks. They are so old, what else do they want, except their children to come back and keep them company?

Without a second word, Teacher Sun quit her dormitory at school, bought a bicycle, and went home every day to keep her parents company, otherwise, she might not be able to enjoy so many happy family times.

She used glue to seal the envelope, stuck a stamp on top of it, ran to the post office specially to send it, but the waiting time was quite long. So long, in fact, she had forgotten about it.

Until one day, she received a reply.

She weighed the letter in her hand. It’s quite heavy. The address written was also from Beijing. However, had she ever sent a letter there? And who sent it back to her?

Indeed, her name was written on the letter. She tore it open and a book fell out with a clatter.

She flipped the book over.

“Outstanding Essays of National Middle School Students.”

She turned to the first page, her eyes widened in surprise.

“My God!” With a gasp, she stood up and ran straight to the principal’s office.

Soon after, an announcement came through the loudspeaker calling all the teachers and staff for an emergency meeting. Even the teachers who were in the middle of classes left to attend.

After the meeting, Teacher Sun’s face was glowing, even her walk seemed to have picked up wind under her feet.

Tang Yuxin, come to the teacher’s office.

Teacher Sun found Tang Yuxin, who was doing homework in the classroom. She was smiling more amicably than usual, looking as kind as Santa Claus. Yet everyone knew that Teacher Sun had the most temperamental character in the school.

Tang Yuxin stood up, closed her homework book, and was about to leave when she heard whispers from the classroom.

“Always pretending. Look at her face, a sparrow is a sparrow, can never become a phoenix in this lifetime.”

“Isn’t that the truth?” Another girl chimed in, “Look at her, her face is black as coal, she doesn’t know anything. She can’t even compare one hair on your head. Why does the literature teacher like her so much?”

“That’s because she knows how to pretend. Look at her, always with a bitter face, just like a bitter gourd. Wasn’t she raised by farmers? Maybe they grew a field of bitter gourds, and that’s why she turned into a bitter gourd.”

“Hehe, look at what you’re saying, where can you find such a dark bitter gourd?”

The two kept mocking Tang Yuxin’s skin color. Tang Yuxin turned her head and glanced at the two girls — who else could it be but Wei Jiani and her toxic friends?

But some people are just lucky. Wei Jiani has parents making plans for her, maintaining a carefree life. Not only did she eventually get a big house, but also a man and a child.

As for her toxic friends, they were also living good lives.

Those who didn’t have good lives were the stupid Tang Yuxin from her past life who ruined her whole life and even that of her father.

Also, whether she is dark or not is none of their business.

Who knows, maybe next year she will become fair.

The smirk on her face made Wei Jiani and her toxic friends felt their faces burning. That’s why you should never speak ill of others behind their backs, because they might find out.

Tang Yuxin turned around and headed straight for the teacher’s office.

As soon as she arrived, she saw Teacher Sun smiling at her.

She had a good impression of Teacher Sun. Whether in this life or her past life, she was always a responsible teacher. Especially in her past life, there was a year when her aunt Sang Zhilan didn’t want her to go to school and made her drop out to go home because there was no one to look after Wei’s mother. It was Teacher Sun who repeatedly visited Wei’s home. Maybe Wei Tian was afraid of what others might say, scandalized that his own daughter was treated well while another person’s daughter was treated like a servant. He was a respected figure in the factory at that time, so he couldn’t afford to lose face. Yet, the foolish Tang Yuxin of her past life had never spoken up about her situation at Wei’s house, so Wei Tian, the hypocrite, mistreated another’s daughter while using the Tang family’s money.

Did they expect her to be as stupid as she was before in this life? Impossible.

“Yuxin, come, over here.”

Teacher Sun beckoned to Tang Yuxin, her face beaming with joy.

Being the well-behaved girl as she was, Tang Yuxin made her way over.

Um, smiling like this, she shouldn’t have done anything wrong, right?

“Yuxin, look,” Teacher Sun took out a book with a smug face and placed it in front of Tang Yuxin.

Tang Yuxin bowed her head and glanced at the book: Outstanding Essays of National Middle School Students.

“Teacher, is this book good?”

The first thing that crossed Tang Yuxin’s mind was whether the teacher wanted them to buy a book. After all, teachers in their school often assign supplementary reading materials, and the prices are quite affordable. Teachers at that time were quite conscientious and responsible.

Since their teacher, Ms. Sun, was about to appraise their performance, she was particularly attentive to their learning. Tang Yuxin was aware that essay writing was a weak point among her classmates. Their essays resembled a string of accounts and lacked depth. This was not surprising since they lacked life experience and exposure to a variety of literature. After all, they didn’t have the luxury of access to internet novels, movies, which later generations would have. Their writing only reflected their limited world.

She thought to herself, if the teacher wants us to buy it, then this book is indeed worth buying. Wei Jiani owned a copy in her past life and cherished it dearly. Whenever she asked to borrow it, Wei Jiani refused, worried that she would dirty the book due to her grimy hands. After all, the book was an expensive one.

This particular book was something she deeply desired in her past life. She planned to buy one for herself once she started working and received her first payroll. However, despite her attempts to locate this book in several large bookstores, she never found it.

This regret from her past life was brought up abruptly now only because this book had reappeared in front of her. It reminded her of how much she used to yearn for something during her younger days.

“Take a look inside.”

Ms. Sun, with a secret smile, urged her.

Tang Yuxin flipped open the book, and on the first page, she saw some award-winning compositions. One of them, a first-place essay written by a student from another province, was something she remembered. In her dreams, she had fantasized that essay to be hers and envisioned a glorious life accompanied by such an achievement.

A sudden thud echoed.

The book dropped onto the table from her hands, which she quickly picked up again.

“Teacher, is this…”

She rubbed her eyes in disbelief. Was she mistaken? Or was she still dreaming? The name of the composition’s gold medal awardee was strikingly similar to hers. No, it was identical.

“Hehe…” Ms. Sun chuckled, a proud glint in her eyes.

“Surprised, aren’t you? Honestly, I was shocked as well. But you can believe it. This composition is yours. You remember the essay you wrote, don’t you? I was so moved when I first read it. So, I took a chance and submitted it to a national competition in Beijing. Lo and behold, it won the gold prize. Tang Yuxin, this is a first in our school’s history. No, this is a first in the history of middle schools across our city.”

“A gold prize! We’ve made a name for our school! ”

As she spoke, Ms. Sun grew increasingly excited, a fire lighting up in her eyes. She jumped up suddenly, seemingly wanting to shout to the world that her years of teaching had not gone in vain and being a teacher finally paid off.

As for Tang Yuxin, she was still dumbfounded, unable to comprehend this shocking news.

Ms. Sun gave Tang Yuxin a light pat on the shoulder, “Prepare yourself. Your rewards will come in no time. In addition to the school rewards, there will also be city awards, provincial awards, and educational bureau awards.”

All these great things happening to her would definitely be publicized extensively by the school, and it would help her with her further studies. Having such an award would give a significant boost to her chances when applying for college.

Of course, Ms. Sun felt grateful she made the decision to send off Tang Yuxin’s essay with an attitude of giving it a shot. Otherwise, how could they bag such a prestigious award?

Winning such an honorable award for her school, the county, and the city, meant that she stood a good chance of being recognized as an excellent teacher this year.

Tang Yuxin returned back to her classroom with the book clutched in her hands. She decided to put it in her bag and get back to her homework as if nothing had happened. Her life experience from her past and current life had made her take fame and disgrace in her stride.

“Yuxin, what did the teacher want with you?”

Zhang Yindi came running over and leaned over Tang Yuxin’s desk. She was beginning to fill out her uniform quite nicely.

Tang Yuxin frowned slightly. Could it be that Zhang Yindi would continue to grow and become voluptuous?

Lowering her head, she glanced at her own body, still flat as a pancake. How come other girls were developing, but she herself was just as flat-chested, looking like a boy?

She sighed softly.

There was really nothing she could do. In her past life, she suffered from malnutrition, hence no growth. In this life, although she took great care of her health, there was no notable development. She had noticed that other girls were beginning to mature as sometimes, she could faintly smell the iron scent from them.

That was the smell of puberty and the burgeoning vitality and growth in their bodies.

However, these things seemed to have stopped in her own body.

“What are you thinking about?” Zhang Yindi pinched Tang Yuxin’s cheek. Tang Yuxin was stunned and stared at Zhang Yindi. Did they have such a close relationship in their previous life?

Apparently not. Especially after Zhang Yindi flew out of the village like a phoenix and Tang Yuxin never saw her again until they met in their later years. She had become a doctor, whereas Zhang Yindi had transformed into an official’s wife, a lady of prestige and wealth, having abandoned her sick husband.

That Gu Ning must have had something wrong with his eyes.

Tang Yuxin lowered her head, her pen scratching across the paper with such force, she tore a hole in it.

“Hey…” Zhang Yindi pulled Tang Yuxin’s hair, jolting her from her thoughts, “Yuxin, are you mute? I asked you what the teacher wanted with you!”

“Nothing much.” Tang Yuxin lifted her face, snapped her book shut and let her eyes rest on Zhang Yindi. There was a stark contrast. Zhang Yindi was like a large juicy baozi and she was just an inferior stuffed bun.

No, even less than that – she was still flat.

When she arrived home, she didn’t inform her family about her award-winning composition. Their reaction would come soon enough anyway. Their local middle school, although considered decent for the county, paled in comparison to the reputable schools in the city. Its infrastructure was passable and the teaching quality was only mediocre. Hence, winning such a prestigious award was an unprecedented joyous event in the school’s history.

If the school didn’t seize this golden opportunity for publicity, it would be a wasted chance to honor the first national gold award.

A few days later, as expected, the school held the biggest assembly since the start of the academic year.

The principal, a middle-aged man in his forties, had a protruding belly. Possibly due to his intelligence, he was almost bald. Unwilling to shave his head completely, he opted to let his hair grow on one side and use it to cover his bare scalp. Hence, his head resembled a skating rink surrounded by a wire fence.