The mailman lived in the town, and he knew quite a bit about the rumors surrounding this particular Mayoress.

Sun Dongqing wasn't the only person who came here to pick up a notice letter, every family that had a child who took the high school entry exam were here. The adults were more eager than the children about the arrival of the acceptance letters.

Ye Ying wore a floral skirt. After being away from the sun for the whole summer, her skin was much lighter compared to the past. She was also less boastful. Standing beside Sun Dongqing, she appeared to be quite docile.

They caused quite a scene last year on the first day of school, and everyone in the village knew about it. That was why during winter break, Ye Ying didn't return to the village, instead, she stayed in the town to work on her English.

Since then, a year had pa.s.sed and the villagers stopped talking about it. Adding onto the fact that Ye Ying was acting much more low-key now, the villagers had already started slowly forgetting about it.

Zhang Defu pulled out Ye Ying's acceptance letter and pa.s.sed it to her, "This, is your family's." Then he distributed the other four letters, "Here you go, here you go, these go to all four families, the others … disperse, disperse."

Eleven kids, six notices, those who didn't receive any were naturally the ones who did not manage to get into high school.

"Oh my goodness, Ying Ying, Provincial High's letter, it really is Provincial High's letter. See, I've said so, my Ying Ying can definitely enter Provincial High." As soon as Sun Dongqing realized which school the notice letter was from, the smile on her face wasn't just filled with pride, it also contained a hint of disdain towards the other families. Her eyes swept across the other villagers who didn't receive any notice letters, and she consoled with a fake laugh, "No worries, no worries, studying isn't the only path for your kids. There are many trades in life, each having their own achievements. If your kids aren't made to study, then they can learn how to earn money at an early age. That's also a good thing, you know."

That was easier said than done. If they had wanted their children to work at a young age, then they wouldn't have come here with hopes of receiving any notice letters.

However, n.o.body argued with her. There's no helping it because she was the Mayoress!

"Move along, move along, all of you are from the same village, can't you say less?" Zhang Defu glanced at the self-satisfied Sun Dongqing. He sighed numerous times to himself; Zifan's wife was starting to look down on others more and more now.

Sun Dongqing glanced at him dismissively and said coldly, "I was just saying the truth, talent is needed to study well. My Ying Ying is talented at studying, is she comparable with the others?" Then, she asked the other four families that received their notice letters, "Let's see, let's see, what school did you four get into?"

When Uncle Gen entered the room and happened to hear her words, he walked towards them with a grim and serious face, "Defu, give me little la.s.s Jian's notice letter."

As soon as the elder spoke, Sun Dongqing and her daughter immediately had their backs scared stiff.

Zhang Defu laughed in his mind, then spoke respectfully, "I was just about to send it to you personally, little la.s.s Jian isn't back yet?"

"They said they'll need a dozen more days before they'll be back." Uncle Gen received the notice letter. After glancing the school the notice was from, a smile appeared on his face.

After Ye Ying took a glimpse at it, she addressed out of courtesy, "Grandpa Gen."

"En, since you're accepted to Provincial High, then study better." He didn't say 'study well', instead, it was 'study better'. Just by replacing one word, one sentence simply meant to study well in school, the other was meant for her to study how to be a better person.

Uncle Gen only had qualms with the adults, but since she was just a kid, no matter how bad her character was, he wouldn't make a fuss out of it.

Ye Ying was smart enough to understand the meaning behind his words. She drooped her eyelids slightly to conceal the coldness in her pupils before speaking obediently, "Yes, Grandpa, you're right, since I was just accepted into a good school, I have to learn how to be better, if not, I can't get into university."

"My Ying Ying is a good and sensible child. I say, Uncle Gen, how are little la.s.s Jian's results? I always thought that since she received that whatever huge international award and took first place in a semester, she must be extremely smart. But after entering the third year of middle school, I hadn't seen her achieve any good results, you know."