In the following days, Anning stayed at ho every day talking with Secretary An, and when she had ti, Secretary An would take Anning for a stroll down the street.
When Zhang Heping went to work, Anning would cook so als at ho.
Since Anning ca to the house, the atmosphere at the Zhang Family has changed.
Previously, it was just the old couple, and the house felt very quiet, not lively at all.
But after Anning arrived, the house beca much more lively.
Anning is thoughtful and skillful, and her arrival has truly brought significant changes to the house.
Firstly, there is now a sense of warmth in the Zhang Family house.
They planted water garlic indoors, and within a few days, garlic sprouts grew out. In a few more days, they should grow quite tall.
They placed a wooden box in the kitchen, planted chives inside, which now have small sprouts budding out.
Additionally, the Zhang Family has a yard. Anning laid plastic sheeting in a sunny corner of the yard, opened a plot of land, built a fra with bamboo, covered it with plastic sheeting, and planted many small vegetables inside.
She also sprouts beans, so the Zhang Family stopped eating potatoes and radishes these past days and started eating their own sprouted beans.
Not only has the house changed, but Zhang Heping and Secretary An also leave the house with smiles on their faces.
The leaders at the steel factory are mostly older; they all have children, and the youngest among them have teenagers, while the older ones have grandchildren.
When these leaders have free ti, they sit together and talk about their children at ho.
Previously, Zhang Heping couldn’t join in since he didn’t have any children.
But recently, Zhang Heping has been able to join the conversation.
He walks into the office holding a cup of wolfberry tea, sits down in front of a few leaders: "I say, we’re getting older; we need to pay attention to health. My daughter said wolfberries are good, and here, she specially prepared so for ."
The leaders are speechless.
Zhang Heping is still smiling: "Oh, you don’t know, my daughter is so clever, her hands are really skillful. She planted garlic sprouts, chives, and little greens at ho; in a few days, we won’t worry about vegetables. She can even sprout beans; it’s really nice to eat crisp beans in the cold winter. Just today, she said she’d make bean sprouts with cakes for ."
The leaders want to roll their eyes, thinking, "Oh, so only you have a daughter? I do too."
But, their daughters really can’t compare to Anning.
Zhang Heping takes a sip of water: "I have to go ho early today. My daughter asked to bring her so test papers; she’s been self-studying at ho these days and wants to try doing junior high papers to see how many points she can get. This kid is so diligent; it’s a bit of a hassle."
Those with disobedient kids who refuse to do howork feel this is a bit harsh.
It wasn’t just Zhang Heping boasting; Secretary An also boasted when she went out.
When she stepped out, she imdiately ran into soone she knew.
"Secretary An, not eating at the cafeteria today, huh?"
The acquaintances in this area all know Secretary An’s cooking isn’t great, and her family only consists of two people, so she seldom cooked, usually eating take-out from the factory cafeteria.
"Not going, the cafeteria food isn’t tasty. Today my daughter said she’d steam buns for , asked to pick up so at. Oh dear, I might never go to the cafeteria again; every day my daughter cooks for at ho, her cooking is really good, and the food is truly delicious."
Speaking of which, Secretary An lifts the corner of her jacket, showing it off: "See here, the other day I accidentally tore my clothes. I originally thought to patch it myself, but my daughter saw it and said a patch would look bad, then embroidered a flower with a needle and thread. Look, you can hardly tell it was torn, and it even makes the clothes look classier."
She couldn’t stop praising it, smiling as broadly as a flower, making others feel a tinge of envy.
In just a few days, Zhang Heping and Secretary An managed to turn many people at the factory into lemon essence.
Both of them were quite proud, thinking, "Serves you right for always flaunting your kids in front of us."
Previously, Zhang Heping liked to work overti at the factory, but recently, if he had no business after work, he’d no longer hang around chatting. Instead, he quickly tidied up his things and went ho. When others asked, he’d cheerfully say: "Well, there’s a kid at ho, gotta go back early; children need parental companionship, I can’t not be there for her."
His smugness made others grit their teeth in envy.
By the ti Anning went to the county’s No. 1 Middle School, the garlic sprouts at ho were edible, and the chives had grown a bit more.
Early that morning, Secretary An had already woken Anning up. After washing up, Anning packed her books and stationery into her backpack.
Secretary An brought over a new set of clothes for Anning to change into.
The new clothes were purchased just for Anning to wear on her first day of school.
Anning wore a knitted milky white sweater, with pants sewn by Secretary An, and Secretary An held an outdoor jacket that was red on one side and blue on the other.
At this ti, such clothes were all called outdoor jackets and were particularly hard to buy, also very expensive.
Seeing many children wearing it, Secretary An bought one for her own child too.
In addition to that, she bought a long scarf for Anning to wear.
After eating and sleeping well these days, coupled with her nightly practice, Anning had truly changed a lot.
Her skin appeared whiter and much finer, and her face looked more delicate.
Secretary An took a comb and braided Anning’s hair.
She styled Anning’s hair into two pigtails and tied a small cloth flower to make Anning look even more pretty and adorable.
Secretary An looked at Anning and smiled happily: "My daughter is truly beautiful."
Anning smiled, "Mom, you’re also good-looking."
Secretary An then took Anning out to eat breakfast; after eating, she rode a bicycle to take Anning to school.
The county’s No. 1 Middle School was not far from the steel factory; walking would only take about ten minutes, but Secretary An didn’t want Anning to get tired, so insisted on riding a bicycle to take her.
When they arrived at the county’s No. 1 Middle School entrance, they saw many students with backpacks gradually entering the campus.
Secretary An took Anning to the principal’s office.
The principal and Secretary An were acquaintances. Earlier when Secretary An ntioned her daughter attending the First Middle School, the principal didn’t oppose. However, when it ca to checking educational records, he found that Anning hadn’t even attended elentary school and was only seven years old, which made him almost flip out with Secretary An.
Eventually, Secretary An guaranteed many things to the principal, who then allowed Anning to participate in the entrance examination.
But when Anning was actually brought before him, he looked at the petite girl and then at Secretary An: "Old An, we’re old friends, you... I know you want the child to excel, but you can’t be too demanding."
Anning smiled at the principal: "Principal, don’t underestimate . Throughout history, there were many young talents like Gan Luo being a pri minister at twelve, Cao Chong asuring elephants at six. Why can’t I attend junior high at seven? Besides, this is just an entrance exam, I haven’t even taken it, and you say I won’t make it. Isn’t that bullying for being young?"
The principal could not help but laugh at her words.
"Alright, alright, we’ll let you take the exam, I don’t want people saying I bully children."
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