roccoschili Chapter 69 Open and aboveboard bribery
Chapter 69 Open and aboveboard bribery
The next day, after finishing making elm seed dumplings, the old house boiled about 20 eggs.
After cooking, I wrapped it in cotton cloth, intending to give it to Da Niu to take to the academy to eat.
Since we're new students and don't know each other well, we'll prepare extra food so Da Niu can share it with his classmates at the academy and help them bond.
However, the family in the old house still had some worries, fearing that a rural student would be bullied if he went to such an "elite" academy.
Lin Yong and Jiang Shi still felt uneasy, so before dawn they went to the village chief to discuss countermeasures.
Therefore, the road where Gao Mengli and Lin Xi opened their shop was exceptionally lively today.
Because behind their oxcart were two more oxcarts packed full of people!
That oxcart was borrowed from the neighboring village at the last minute...
Gao Mengli and Lin Xi were speechless at the sight of this scene. They should have told Da Niu not to say anything...
Those who knew were escorting a top student to school; those who didn't might have thought these carloads of people were heading off to fight...
Zhang Dongcai and Lin Meng, who had come to the city gate that morning to deliver oilcloth tents, tables, and small stools, were so shocked when they saw this large group of people that their jaws nearly dropped.
Standing on tiptoe, they saw Jiang Shi and Lin Yong in the old house on the oxcart, and they quickly ran over.
Lin Meng held Jiang Shi's hand, her face full of curiosity, "Mother, Father, what brings you here?"
Jiang patted Lin Meng's hand, but her eyes were fixed on Da Niu, her face full of worry: "We're worried about Da Niu going to Beicheng Academy today."
Upon hearing this, Lin Meng and Zhang Dongcai's eyes widened in shock. "Da Niu is going to study at Beicheng Academy? This is fantastic news! We'll go with him!"
The two hurriedly squeezed onto the oxcart, their faces beaming with excitement.
Gao Mengli and Lin Xi exchanged a glance. Oh dear, there were two more people.
The two placed their stall materials at the city gate and just then saw Fatty coming to work. Gao Mengli waved to Fatty, "Fatty, we're going to the academy. You watch the stall for a bit, we'll be right back."
The chubby girl responded and trotted over, "Alright, you guys go ahead without worry, I'll take care of things here!"
The chubby girl squatted intently beside the stall, looking at the materials on the ground, swallowing hard every time.
After explaining everything, Gao Mengli and Lin Xi boarded an oxcart and led a group of people heading north of the city.
Beicheng Academy also had many "commuter" students, so the academy gate was filled with horse-drawn carriages and countless oxcarts, all of which were city residents and suburbs sending their children to school.
The sudden arrival of three oxcarts full of people startled the gatekeeper of Beicheng Academy, who quickly took two steps back and ran into the academy to find the dean.
Because I always felt that the visitors were up to no good, like they were trying to cause trouble!
With great difficulty, Lin Xi and the others waited for the carriages in front to come out before they could finally drive the oxcart inside. At this moment, the dean arrived in a hurry with two tutors and was also astonished to see the scene at the gate.
The dean frowned slightly, his expression stern: "Who are you? Why are you gathered here?"
At this moment, Gao Mengli and Lin Xi struggled to push Da Niu out of the crowd, allowing him to squeeze his way to Yu Mengmeng's side. "Teacher, it's me!"
When Yu Mengmeng saw Da Niu, her expression softened slightly. "So it's Da Niu. These... these are your family members?"
This is even more extravagant than what a wealthy family would do...
Da Niu nodded vigorously. "Teacher, they are all my family and fellow villagers. They were worried about me, so they all came to send me to school."
Seeing this, Lin Yong quickly stepped forward: "Dean, we are just farmers and don't know much. It's our whole family's pride that Da Niu can study at the academy. But we were really worried about him, so we all came along. We apologize for disturbing you, Dean."
Yu Mengmeng waved his hand. After hearing this explanation, the anxiety that had been building up since the gatekeeper told him that someone was going to cause trouble finally subsided.
Looking at the large group of "parents," Yu Mengmeng understood. "Oh, I see. You don't need to worry about Da Niu at the academy. Go back now!"
At this moment, village chief Zhao Hua quickly squeezed forward and cupped his hands in greeting to Mengmeng, saying, "Director, we'd appreciate it if you would take good care of our Da Niu. We're just farmers, we don't have anything fancy, but we have plenty of things from the fields, so we brought some. We hope you won't find them too much!"
After finishing his speech, village chief Zhao Hua waved to the villagers.
The crowd that had been crowding in front of Yu Mengmeng suddenly rushed back onto the oxcart, quickly unloading the cabbages, white radishes, eggs, and the four chickens and more than 50 eggs they had caught from the old house.
All kinds of home-cooked vegetables and wild greens are available!
"Dean, please take care of our top student."
"Dean, please try some of the things at home and take good care of our Da Niu."
"Dean, these are all grown and raised by us, they're very fresh, you must accept them."
The crowd chattered around Yu Mengmeng, their eyes full of earnestness.
Yu Mengmeng looked at the things handed to him by the villagers and was both amused and exasperated. He quickly waved his hand and said, "Fellow villagers, I appreciate your kindness, but the academy has a rule that we cannot accept gifts. Please take these things back with you."
But no one listened. They quickly dumped all the cabbages, radishes, and wild vegetables they were carrying into Yu Mengmeng's arms. The egg basket was hung directly on his arm, and the two teachers behind him were covered in vegetables.
Even the gatekeeper wasn't spared; he hung four chickens on his arm.
After delivering the goods, everyone rushed back to the oxcart. Before Yu Mengmeng could even react, the group drove off.
She had absolutely no intention of listening to his polite but somewhat pedantic refusal.
The main point is that you say what you want, and we give what we want.
All that remained on the scene were Da Niu's happy, blinking, watery eyes, Yu Mengmeng's bewildered gaze, and Fu Zi's undisguised stunned expression.
He had witnessed firsthand the blatant and open display of generosity in this gift-giving today.
This cow is truly outrageously happy!
"Let's go!"
Yu Mengmeng glanced at Da Niu, shook her head helplessly, and led Da Niu into the academy.
Meanwhile, when the group returned to the city gate, they found Gao Mengli and Lin Xi's stalls deserted, which was hard to believe.
They remembered that when they went into town, their goods were just piled up to one side. How come when they came back, the stalls were all set up and the fire was burning brightly?!
The crowd looked at each other, their faces full of surprise.
When the diners saw Gao Mengli and Lin Xi finally return, they quickly surrounded them, exclaiming, "Boss, you're finally back! Hurry up, we were just waiting for you two!"
This scene was exactly the same as when they surrounded the dean of Beicheng Academy. For the first time, everyone directly experienced the booming business of Lin Xi's family.
Seeing that everyone had gathered around, Gao Mengli and Lin Xi didn't waste any words and quickly got out of the car to start preparing at the stall.
Seeing this commotion, Jiang quickly got off the oxcart that had brought them back to the village. Without the ox, the two of them would probably have a lot of work to do.
She looked at Lin Yong and said, "Old man, you go back with the village chief and the others first. I'll go help the eldest son with some work. Without Da Niu, those two might not be able to keep up."
Lin Yong looked at the dense crowd in front of the stall and nodded, "Okay, go ahead, don't worry about home."