Chapter 175: Chapter 177: Hitting a Tree with Face

The principal began with an animated and excited speech, rambling on and on, until he was shaking with adrenaline. He was so moved that he had himself on the brink of tears.

“Today, I have good news to share with you. One of our students has won the gold medal in the National Middle School Composition Contest. This is the first national award our school has received since its establishment. It carries significant importance to our school, the city’s leaders, the provincial leaders, and the Ministry of Education. It is indeed the biggest accomplishment in our school this year.

“Thus, the school has decided to grant this student a scholarship of 500 yuan. The City Education Bureau and the Provincial Education Bureau have also contributed 1500 yuan, all of which will go towards the prize money.”

“Everyone, let’s give a round of applause.”

With that, the principal began clapping, while the wire mesh on his head tousled about, threatening to fall off. The rest of the teachers, not daring to show disrespect to the principal, clapped vigorously as well.

The students below wore an expression of bafflement, possibly not having fully grased the situation. Once the news sank in, it was as if their world had been rocked.

National gold prize, two thousand yuan in scholarship, currently, the monthly salary of an ordinary worker was only two or three hundred yuan, this was almost equivalent to a year’s salary for a family. Of course, most importantly, this was a national gold prize. A highly recognized award. It was a big deal to receive an award in a school’s composition competition, let alone a nationally renowned one.

This news came very suddenly, without any whispers or rumors. How did someone win an award so unexpectedly?

“Yuxin, who do you think it could be?”

Zhang Yindi looked around, speculating. In our class, the only person who excelled in writing was the study committee member.

Tang Yuxin extended her finger and pointed at her own nose.

“It’s me.”

She stated it with seriousness in her eyes and her tone of voice.

“Heh…” someone burst into laughter from nowhere.

“Jiani, look at her, she really knows how to flatter herself. Dreaming in broad daylight, she’s probably delusional from wanting to win too much. I would believe it if you said you won, but her, with that bitter melon face? If she actually won, I’ll hit my face against a tree.”

Wei Jiani covered her mouth and let out a delicate laugh, “Alright, Huahua, she’s simply voicing her dreams. Are we not allowed to dream now if we can’t accomplish much?”

“Humph!” Wei Jiani’s classmate snorted and smirked.

“Rural bumpkin, truly disgusting.”

Zhang Yindi shrank back, glancing here and there, but never standing up and saying a word for Tang Yuxin. That’s why Tang Yuxin always knew that some people were not to be befriended deeply, like Zhang Yindi at present.

A woman who can desert her husband, abandon a man who truly loves her, how much of a friend can she be?

Tang Yuxin casually lifted the corner of her lips in indifference. Whether it was true or not, they would know soon enough. Why waste time arguing at a time like this? Arguing with some people was a waste of time, when time itself would provide ample proof. Sorry about the threat to the tree, but she had never seen anyone actually hit their face to a tree. Plus, don’t take this kind of people too seriously, their words were like farts. Speaking of betraying oneself, some people had simply done it one too many times, taking them seriously would be foolish.

Meanwhile, the principal was still tousling his sparse hair in the wind and sorting it out quite stylishly. He is oblivious, however, of all the teachers trying hard to contain their laughter.

A gust of wind blew through, and he stylishly ran his hands through his hair again, seemingly quite satisfied with his hairstyle.

He looked down at his students. Indeed, it was a good year for him. As the principal, he had finally accomplished something notable. It seemed that the education bureau might even increase their funding this year. Perhaps they could even build the planned science lab.

“Let’s welcome Tang Yuxin from Class 1, Year 5 to come up and receive her award. Everyone, give her a round of applause.”

After the principal finished saying that, he started clapping, followed shortly by thunderous applause from the students.

Tang Yuxin walked up. Turning back, she saw Wei Jiani’s face, which looked as if she had swallowed a fly, and Zhang Yindi’s look of shock, as well as traces of envy and jealousy.

Sometimes, Tang Yuxin wondered if the reason Zhang Yindi was so friendly to her was because she, Tang, was dark-skinned and unattractive. Because of Tang’s appearance, did it make Zhang look white and beautiful by comparison?

She stared out across the school auditorium, then took step-by-step towards the stage. She was just a petty nobody. Apart from being known for her good academic performance, the biggest, most common judgement of her was of being an ordinary person. She had no fame, nor was she talented. She only usually appeared in choral singing.

Her name was never on the class blackboard, she was never selected for any dance performances in class, and she never played in the interschool chess tournament. She existed like air, but now, this air-like person, this unremarkable individual, was standing on the school’s main stage, alone.

The national prize she held was an acknowledgment by the whole country. This was a prize that has turned her ordinary into extraordinary with a golden glaze.

At that moment, the morning sun from the east cast gentle light onto her. For an instant, it seemed as if the young girl on the stage had grown up. She smiled. Her dark skin looked much lighter, revealing her bright eyes and white teeth.

In the next moment, she seemed to return to being just an ordinary junior high school girl.

Tang Yuxin took the thick envelope from the principal’s hand. It was her prize money, quite a thick bundle, which would be a fortune in the eyes of ordinary students like them.