788 Visiting the Child
“I didn’t expect the parents to act so quickly…” Qiao Mei looked at the joint petition in shock. Other than her family and Qiao Zhuang’s family, everyone else had signed it.
When Qiao Mei was looking for Zhang Qin, the matter had been made known very widely. The entire village was mobilized and even the people in the neighboring villages knew the whole story.
Most of the students were from that village where the school was located and there were not many children from the neighboring villages. The people in that village were initially not agreeable to let children from other villages study in their village. Given that human traffickers were so rampant, what if someone disguised themselves as parents and entered the village to kidnap the children?
They did not expect that the real problem would be a child. An underage child actually dared to kill someone!
They would never allow such a child to be classmates with their own children. The principal also agreed with these parents and he invited many eyewitnesses to issue a statement together with him. This was also because he was worried that Qiao Mei would take the school to task for the issue.
All the people in the nearby villages knew how capable Qiao Mei was. Previously, she was famous because she was Qiao Qiang’s granddaughter. Now, she was famous because she was virtuous and capable and she had received a betrothal gift of 2,000 dollars. She even received the ‘three turns and one sound’. It was the type of betrothal gifts that had not been seen in their remote villages for more than 10 years.
Under Qiao Mei’s leadership, there were also obvious changes in Foshan Village. Everyone had seen these changes. If only they could manage to curry favor with Qiao Mei and get a share of the pie, they would not have to worry about their livelihoods for the rest of their lives.
Therefore, whenever they heard that it concerned Qiao Mei’s family, everyone took the initiative to help out.
“Our school won’t accept any of that family’s children as a student here. You can all study at our school in peace,” the principal said.
Qiao Mei put down the joint petition and thought for a moment before saying, “I thank everyone for their kindness. Thanks to you too, principal, and it also benefits everyone. I’ve already made plans to bring my younger siblings to the capital, so we might not go to school here in the future.”
“It’s fine as long as the children are well. I’m just here to visit Zhang Qin. Is it convenient for me to see her?” the principal asked.
“Of course it is. Come with me.” Qiao Mei brought the principal to Li Gui’s house.
At this moment, Zhang Miao was reading and Zhang Qin was keeping her company. Zhang Qin was the one who came back to teach Zhang Miao so that she could catch up on her homework, so Zhang Qin could be considered the young teacher in this family.
Li Gui was cooking in the kitchen. She did not know the principal as Qiao Mei was the one who took care of all the school matters.
“Mom, this is the school principal and also the children’s teacher. He’s here to visit Zhang Qin,” Qiao Mei introduced.
Li Gui quickly wiped her hands with her apron and stretched out her hand to the principal. “Hello! I’m Zhang Qin’s mother! Come in, come in!”
The principal shook Li Gui’s hand politely. Qiao Mei was a little surprised. Even when she saw He Guang, she did not shake his hand so politely. She did not know where Li Gui learned it from.
Zhang Qin smiled happily when she saw the principal and said warmly, “Hello, Teacher!”
Zhang Miao also followed suit.
“Hello, Zhang Qin. Hello, Zhang Miao. I’m here to visit you. I don’t know what you like to eat, so I bought two cans of yellow peaches. I hope you don’t mind,” the principal said.
“Principal, what are you talking about? This canned food is not easily available. This is too expensive!” Li Gui said.
“I’m just here to take a look at Zhang Qin’s condition and see if Zhang Miao is better. I’m relieved to see the two children so energetic,” the principal said in relief.
After a short chat and giving the girls some pointers on homework that they did not understand, the principal left. Qiao Mei also took this opportunity to tell Li Gui about her plan.
After all, the matter of going to the capital was not entirely up to her. It also depended on what Li Gui and the children wanted. If the children did not want to go, she could not force them.
“Mom, I’m going to the capital in two days,” Qiao Mei said.
Zhang Qin and Zhang Miao stared intently at Qiao Mei. The last time Qiao Mei left, they were bullied and almost starved to death. They heard from Zhang Wei that this time round, Qiao Mei would not come back after she left.
