Chapter 564: Apologies
Chapter 564: Apologies
Wenwan took a tumble while rushing down the hill, even though it was on the sand, and she ended up a bit hurt, her chest aching. She wasn't sure if it was from the bicycle hitting her or from Jiang Xia's anger.
The trip to the city was out of the question now, with sand in her hair, so Wenwan had no choice but to go home.
Even at home, things were frustrating. After taking a shower, she was berated by Zhoubingqiang's wife with a series of sarcastic remarks during dinner.
Zhoubingqiang had seen them racing on their bicycles at the dock, nearly colliding with Jiang Xia and Zhao Chenglei. He advised, "If there are issues in your marriage, communicate properly. Don't resort to riding bicycles away from home and chasing each other on the road. What if something happens? It's not good to hurt others or yourself. You're not kids anymore; you're parents now. Think before you act! Don't be impulsive! Impulsiveness never leads to good things!"
He had spent his whole life competing with Zhou Yongfu, always trying to earn more money and be better than him, hoping to outshine him!
He wanted to be the wealthiest person in the village!
While he was competitive, he still knew right from wrong. Today, it was clear that his son and daughter-in-law were in the wrong!
Zhou Guohua interjected, "We weren't arguing. Wenwan got her admission notice and was in a hurry to go to the city to buy a train ticket. It was just an accident."
His son defended his wife, and Zhoubingqiang couldn't say much more, "Racing bicycles and nearly hitting someone is still wrong. Tomorrow, buy a few pounds of pork to apologize."
Wenwan said nothing, stood up, and declared, "I'm full. You can continue eating."
She then went straight upstairs.
Zhoubingqiang was speechless.
Zhou Guohua reluctantly agreed, "Alright."
He too felt they were in the wrong.
Zhoubingqiang's wife grumbled, "We didn't hit anyone, why buy pork? A simple apology would suffice!"
Jiang Xia has embarrassed our whole family, and now everyone in the village is criticizing us. Why should we give her pork?
Zhoubingqiang, who valued his reputation more than money, insisted, "If I say to buy it, we will buy it! An apology without sincerity, and I won't even dare to go out in public!"
Zhoubingqiang's wife pursed her lips and decided to buy a thin slice of pork and a basket of greens, placing the pork on top of the greens to make it look full.
Zhoubingqiang added, "Don't be so stingy. Ali said the production team is going to reform, and they might elect a new village head."
Zhoubingqiang's wife widened her eyes, "You mean Zhou Yongfu will be the village head?"
Zhoubingqiang was silent.
Why should Zhou Yongfu be the village head?
Can't I be the village head?
Zhou Guohua understood, "Dad, you want to be the village head?"
Zhoubingqiang didn't deny it, "It's not like I can just become the village head if I want to. The villagers have to elect me. With all the trouble you cause, I can't even hold my head up in the village! Who would vote for me?"
Zhoubingqiang's wife's eyes lit up as she instructed her son, "Tomorrow, go buy two pounds of pork to apologize to Zhao Chenglei's wife!"
Zhoubingqiang's wife then thought of something and added, "Forget it! I'll go myself!"
She wanted the whole village to know that they had bought pork to apologize, so no one would say anything bad about them!
She continued, "Since Wenwan got into university, why don't we throw a few tables of food and treat the whole village?"
Zhou Guohua had mentioned this to his mother before Wenwan received her admission notice, but she hadn't agreed. Treating the whole village would be a loss, so why bother?
But if Zhoubingqiang wanted to be the village head, they had to be generous and treat the villagers to win their favor!
If they treated the villagers a few more times, how could they not vote for her husband when the time came?
The next morning, Zhoubingqiang's wife went to the town market at six to buy two large pieces of pork.
Back in the village, she deliberately stopped at the dock, the small shop, and the big tree garden, and finally wandered through the vegetable fields, picking a basket of beans and cucumbers. Only when almost everyone in the village knew she had bought two large pieces of fatty pork to apologize to Jiang Xia did she return home.
Back home, she handed a piece of pork and a basket of green beans and cucumbers to Zhou Guohua. "You should go next door and apologize!"
Zhou Guohua was planning to accompany Wenwan to the city to buy a train ticket today, so he hadn’t gone out to sea.
He quickly took the items next door but didn’t call Wenwan to join him, knowing she would be too embarrassed to go.
Zhoubingqiang’s wife was hiding behind their courtyard gate, hoping Zhou Mu wouldn’t accept the gift.
The piece of pork had cost her 2.77 yuan, almost three yuan!
Zhou Guohua arrived at Jiang Xia’s house and handed the basket of meat and vegetables to Zhou Mu. "Auntie, this is for Lei’s wife and the little nephew to calm their nerves. We’re really sorry about yesterday; it was our fault."
Zhou Mu took the basket without hesitation and flipped through it. "I heard your mother say she bought two pieces of pork. Why is there only one?"
Zhou Guohua: "……"
Zhoubingqiang’s wife: "……"
Jiang Xia was sitting in the courtyard, holding a bowl of porridge and watching the children while she ate. Hearing this, she said, "Maybe it fell on the way? You should go back and look for it! Don’t let the dog take it!"
"……"
Zhou Guohua had no choice but to return home and bring the other piece of pork.
This piece was even bigger, costing Zhoubingqiang’s wife 5.50 yuan!
Sending nearly six pounds of pork, Zhoubingqiang’s wife felt her heart bleed!
She cursed Zhou Mu and Jiang Xia’s ancestors in her mind.
Jiang Xia looked at the marbled pork and was very satisfied.
Zhoubingqiang’s wife had been reluctant to buy the fattest cuts, but this suited Jiang Xia just fine. Jiang Xia preferred marbled pork.
"Mom, let’s braise the lean part and use the fatty part for zongzi, how about that?"
"Sure."
"Then I’ll soak the sticky rice and beans."
During the Dragon Boat Festival, they had picked many bamboo leaves, and Zhou Mu had dried and stored them. Now, they could boil them again and use them.
Jiang Xia loved the salty pork zongzi that Zhou Mu made. Besides pork, she would add clams, shrimp, chestnuts, and salted egg yolks.
The fatty pork in the zongzi melted in the mouth, making it incredibly delicious!
"Mom, this time, use bigger pieces of pork for the zongzi. It’s not like we’re paying for it anyway", Jiang Xia called out as she saw Wenwan and Zhou Guohua passing by.
Zhou Mu smiled and agreed, "Okay."
Wenwan gave Jiang Xia a cold look. She was going to check her scores now, and if she couldn’t, she would report it!
*
Wenwan arrived at the Ministry of Education and expressed her suspicion that her scores were incorrect, requesting to check them.
Of course, she was refused. "Each exam paper is graded by multiple teachers and then thoroughly checked by several examiners to ensure fairness and accuracy. There is no way any errors could have occurred."
Wenwan didn’t dare to cause a scene here, claiming that her scores had been tampered with. It would be pointless, and she wasn’t like Jiang Xia, who had a good father to back her up.
Protesting would be like a chicken trying to break a stone.
In this era, there were many cases of people impersonating others to attend university, something she had heard about in her previous life.
"Can I check the admissions office phone number for my university? I’ve just given birth and need to take leave from school."
"Which university? We might not have your school’s phone number."
"Q University."
……
Wenwan successfully obtained the phone number for Q University and called from a public phone, reporting the issue.
Wenwan didn’t know if this would work, but with no other options, it was the only thing she could think of.
After making the call, she happily bought a train ticket for the 25th and went home to wait for the call.
She silently prayed: "I hope what belongs to me returns to me. I hope that in a few days, when I arrive in the capital, I’ll be reporting to Q University."
However, that evening, she received a call. The person on the other end asked her two questions and then firmly told her that her scores had not been fraudulently altered.
They advised her to buy a magazine and read the perfect essays of the provincial top scorers in Chinese and English to understand why they deserved their titles. They also told her to reflect on her actions and not to make baseless reports!
(End of Chapter)
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