Chapter 176: Chapter 178: Her Scholarship

She turned around and looked at the sea of heads below. Suddenly, she felt as if she were surrounded by stars. She laughed to herself, thinking, why should a student overthink everything?

She had lived longer than others, and looking back on her previous life, where she had been so pitiful, still made her heart ache.

She bowed to the audience below, then walked off the stage.

At that moment, she could feel the gaze of thousands of students pinned on her, not exactly like daggers in her back, but it was uncomfortable. She wished she could retreat to the solitude of the classroom.

“Yuxin, you’re really amazing.”

Zhang Yindi grabbed Tang Yuxin’s arm, acting as if they were close friends, “I knew it was yours! You see, right? But how did you participate in the competition? Why didn’t you tell me?”

Zhang Yindi pouted, seeming adorably naive, but Tang Yuxin could feel her almost digging her fingers into her arm.

Everyone knows how to be a prophet after the event.

Throughout both of her lives, Zhang Yindi was indeed a peculiar person.

She removed Zhang Yindi’s hand, keeping a definite distance from her.

As for how she participated in the competition, she would have to ask the teacher.

“Yuxin, tell me, how did you participate in the competition?” Zhang Yindi was relentless, attempting to grab her again, but Tang Yuxin evaded her hand. She touched her own arm and smiled, despite her eyes showing otherwise.

“You can ask the teacher about that.”

Zhang Yindi’s hand hung awkwardly in the air, her face reddening with embarrassment.

Tang Yuxin cast another glance at Huahua.

Why wasn’t she running head-first into a tree? She promised vehemently that if Tang Yuxin won first place, she would bash her face against a tree. Why wasn’t she going for it?

Huahua scoffed and turned over, ignoring people. She’d broken her word, but no matter. Some people aren’t meant to be taken seriously, nor are some things.

If you take them too seriously, you’ve lost.

As for what others thought, Tang Yuxin didn’t care. She asked for leave from the teacher, preparing to take this enormous sum of money and go home. Rs. 2000; no one else could possibly carry that much cash around. Especially now, that amount of money was a huge sum.

Naturally, the teacher understood Tang Yuxin’s thoughts and granted her leave.

Tang Yuxin picked up her school bag, which now contained the Rs. 2000. Instead of going home with the money, she walked for half an hour to the city department store.

She saw two men’s watches, each costing Rs. 600. That alone wiped out Rs. 1200, but she wasn’t heartbroken over spending it. The quality of the watches was superb, lasting ten-plus years. They had a clock at home but no watches. Tang Zhinian and Tang Zhijun often didn’t know when to come home for dinner, either early or late. With the watches, they would get a sense of time and wouldn’t eat at irregular times anymore.

She then spent another Rs. 600 on a gold jewelry set for Zhang Xiangcao. Gold at that time was quite cheap, and she was able to assemble a set with a necklace, ring, and earrings for her, despite only being a few grams. She used the remaining Rs. 100 to buy new clothes, shoes, and stationery for Sisi. However, she didn’t buy anything for herself.

By the time she got home, she found that both Zhang Xiangcao and Sisi were already there.

Both seemed anxious, pacing back and forth, as if they couldn’t sit still.

Upon seeing Tang Yuxin, Zhang Xiangcao let out a sigh of relief.

“You child, why are you so late in getting back?”

She looked at Tang Yuxin up and down, then relaxed when she saw nothing was amiss. They were worried because of the rumors about Tang Yuxin winning a grand prize, bagging Rs. 2000 cash reward. They all rushed home, but she wasn’t there, which added to their worries. They weren’t worried about Tang Yuxin spending the money; rather, they were concerned about her safety since she was carrying such a large sum.

“Auntie, where are dad and uncle?” Tang Yuxin looked around the house but didn’t see Tang Zhinian or Tang Zhijun. They hadn’t returned yet? The farm was busy at this time and they hadn’t returned home.

“They went looking for you,” Zhang Xiangcao opened the door and looked out, “They should be back soon. Yuxin, are you hungry?” Zhang Xiangcao asked her, seemingly having forgotten about the Rs. 2000 issue. After all, how Tang Yuxin spent her money was her business.

She still had tens of thousands of rupees from Tang Zhijun’s earnings after buying a house.

“A little,” Tang Yuxin touched her stomach. She was so excited about shopping she even forgot to eat. Her determination to shop amazed even her.

She walked from school to the city, then all the way home, using only her own legs for almost three hours but she didn’t feel tired or footsore. However, as soon as she got home, she felt hungry.

Zhang Xiangcao immediately brought out some hot food from the kitchen. It was a bowl of noodles, still steaming hot and covered with some chili oil, looking very appetizing.

She quickly sat down, picked up the chopsticks and started eating the noodles.

Just as she finished the noodles and the soup in the bowl, she heard a chaotic sound of footsteps outside.

This familiar sound could only belong to the Tang brothers.

“Is Yuxin back?” Tang Zhinian’s voice arrived ahead of him.

“She’s back and having dinner,” Zhang Xiangcao went outside, then gesturing inside the house, “She is famished, let her finish eating first.”