Chapter 350: The Commendation Ceremony
Chapter 350: The Commendation Ceremony
As Jiang Xia left, she wore the emerald bracelet on her wrist and had another jade bracelet worth over a thousand yuan in her bag.
Zhang Rong insisted on giving the thousand-yuan bracelet to Jiang Xia, thinking she could wear it daily.
In this region, women who could afford it liked to wear jade bracelets, believing they had the power to ward off evil and bring good fortune.
Jade could nurture people, and people could nurture jade. Zhang Rong felt Jiang Xia wouldn't wear the emerald bracelet often, and he was afraid she might accidentally break it.
What if one day this wasteful couple realized that the bracelet wasn't suitable for daily wear and decided to sell it?
So, he was determined to give the thousand-yuan bracelet to Jiang Xia.
The thousand-yuan bracelet was indeed very beautiful, and Jiang Xia liked it at first sight.
Nowadays, such a bracelet would cost tens of thousands, if not more.
Seeing Jiang Xia's appreciation, Zhou Chenglei bought it with money.
Zhang Rong refused to take the money, and Zhou Chenglei said, "I don't need others to buy jewelry for my wife."
Zhang Rong was so angry that he chased him away!
Jiang Xia secretly smiled, knowing that she didn't plan to wear the jade bracelet herself but intended to give it to Zhou Mu.
Perhaps it was because of her age; Jiang Xia wasn't very fond of wearing jade bracelets.
After leaving the department store, they headed straight for the city government building.
The open space in front of the government building was packed with people.
Zhou Chenglei parked his motorcycle next to the security room.
Since Jiang Xia had visited Jiang Father before, the security guard recognized her and greeted her warmly.
Zhou Chenglei decided to leave his motorcycle in front of the security room and asked the guard to keep an eye on his belongings.
Zhou Chenglei untied the plastic bag.
Jiang Xia smiled and took out two grapefruits and three bags of dried fish, offering them to the guard, "Uncle, thank you. Please try these."
The elderly guard politely declined, "No need, no need! Keep them for yourself. Don't be polite."
Jiang Xia laughed, "I have plenty more at home. These are all from our family. Please try them. They're not expensive, so don't refuse."
The old man said, "Oh, I couldn't possibly accept this."
"It's fine. Please try them."
Zhou Chenglei divided the fruit into bags and placed the dried fish in the plastic bag, tying it securely before saying to the old man, "Uncle, when you see my father-in-law, please give him this bag."
"Okay, aren't you taking it to the office?"
Jiang Xia smiled and said, "If I take it, won't my dad have to bring it back to the car after work? There's no need to carry it back and forth."
"That's true." It wasn't a gift; it was a daughter bringing her father some food, so it was only natural to be thoughtful.
"Let's go first." Jiang Xia smiled, waved goodbye, and headed towards the crowd.
In front of the city building, a banner was stretched across the square, with words like "Ten Thousand Yuan Households Commendation Ceremony" written on it.
Jiang Xia saw a man in a Zhongshan suit speaking on stage, while Zhou Father and two middle-aged men stood below, waiting to go up.
Zhou Father was at the end of the line, which probably meant he was among the top three in the city.
Zhou Father seemed a bit older than the other two, but he was also the tallest and most handsome-looking.
On the other side of the stage, some prizes were displayed, including three televisions and several bicycles, as Jiang Xia noticed.
On the table were also some red envelopes and bags of rice.
The host finished speaking quickly, and then Zhou Father and the other two went on stage.
Jiang Xia saw Zhou Father smiling and walking forward to shake hands and chat with the three men.
The two families probably never imagined they would meet and shake hands like this in their lifetime.
Then, someone brought a black-and-white television and presented it to Zhou Father, who, along with a staff member, accepted the television.
Zhou Father took the television, holding it with both hands and looking down at the crowd, his broad smile refusing to fade.
Another staff member brought over a television, and Jiang's father, along with the staff, handed it to the second-ranked millionaire household. Finally, it was the first-ranked household's turn.
After all three televisions were given out, Jiang's father stood next to the first-ranked winner, and a reporter and staff member took photos of them with a camera.
Jiang Xia also noticed Zhou Chensen taking photos of Zhou's father from below the stage with his camera, the flash going off repeatedly as he took several shots.
After the photos were taken, the three of them left the stage.
Then it was the turn of the remaining seven top ten winners to go on stage, and they were awarded bicycles.
Another leader went on stage to present the awards.
Jiang Xia tugged at Zhou Chenglei, "Let's go find Dad."
As Jiang Xia spoke, she headed towards Zhou's father.
With the crowd, Zhou Chenglei released her hand and instead put his arm around her shoulder to protect her.
When the two reached Zhou's father, everyone from the Zhou family was there, each with a smile on their face.
Tian Caixia touched the television, "This TV is so new!"
Li Xiuxian also looked at the television; she had seen this model before and wanted to buy it. It cost over four hundred yuan, and you needed coupons.
Several children eagerly asked, "Grandpa, is this our family's TV? Will we have a TV to watch from now on?"
"Grandpa, you're so amazing! Did you get first place? Is this the first-place reward?"
"Grandpa, Grandpa, I want to watch TV! Turn it on, and I'll watch!"
"Grandpa, can I have the big red flower on the TV?"
Zhou's father happily replied, "Yes, we'll have a TV to watch from now on! It's not the first-place reward, but the third-place reward. There's no electricity now, so we can't turn it on yet."
Zhou's mother smiled and reminded the children, "Don't touch the screen randomly. Look at your hands; they're all black. You've left handprints on the screen! It'll be hard to see clearly later."
Zhou's father said to his son, "Ah Xin, go and get the box, and I'll set up the TV. Be careful not to damage it!"
"Okay," Zhou Chengxin replied and went to get the box.
Zhou Chenglei and Jiang Xia conveniently brought over the box. There was no other way; the first and second-ranked winners had already gone to the prize area to pack their televisions.
Zhou's father went directly to the family with the TV, moving in a different direction from Zhou Chengxin.
Tian Caixia saw seven people go on stage, and a staff member pushed bicycles with big red flowers hanging on them to present to the winners.
Tian Caixia looked on enviously, "The top ten winners get bicycles. I wonder which rank gets the rice?"
She also wanted a bicycle! Her eldest son was in middle school and needed to ride a bike to school, and there was only one bike at home, which he used.
Li Xiuxian said, "The top twenty get rice."
Tian Caixia asked, "I wonder how much money is in those red envelopes? Which rank did Qiang Shu get?"
Li Xiuxian replied, "The top fifty get ten-yuan red envelopes, and the rest get five-yuan red envelopes. Qiang Shu ranked 123rd, almost at the very end. This time, there were 136 millionaire households participating in the commendation ceremony."
Tian Caixia asked, "How do you know all this so clearly?"
Li Xiuxian couldn't help but feel a sense of superiority, "It's written on the bulletin board; I saw it. Didn't you see it? The bulletin board is right behind you."
Tian Caixia was speechless.
Li Xiuxian pursed her lips, seeing that she had earned some money and was showing off in front of her! She didn't even recognize a few words and couldn't write her own name; what was there to show off about?
At this moment, Jiang Xia held up her camera and said to Zhou's father, "Mom and Dad, don't set up the TV yet. Let me take a photo of you holding the TV, and then let's take a family photo together."
Li Xiuxian heard the voice and shifted her gaze, seeing Jiang Xia holding the camera with an emerald green bracelet on her wrist.
Li Xiuxian: "..."
(End of Chapter)
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