Chapter 228

As expected by Shi Tingyu, the next day leaders from the provincial admissions office came over.

All grading teachers were summoned for a meeting.

Members of the art department looked at each other in confusion, unaware of what had happened; they still didn’t know the nature of the gifts incident.

Those who had accepted gifts felt uneasy inside.

Despite their age and experience, everyone knew that during normal leadership visits, no teacher would be left out. This time, however, the leadership visit was clearly selective.

When they initially received the gifts, they weren’t ignorant of the implications, yet they accepted them as if they didn’t know. Especially after seeing many other teachers also accepting items, they felt there would be no consequences.

After all, the law doesn’t hold everyone accountable, especially when it’s a leadership visit. They could easily claim ignorance later on, without any evidence against them.

However, faced with the stern words of the leaders above, their faces turned pale.

“Don’t think that the law won’t hold everyone accountable just because many did it. There’s no place for this kind of behavior under my watch!”

The director’s words spread fear among those present.

Some were relieved, having refrained from accepting gifts after sensing something amiss; others who had accepted gifts were filled with worry.

Even though they weren’t the masterminds, they had still received items.

The meeting lasted over an hour, leaving many with guilt-stricken faces.

In the end, the director of admissions stated, “I have a record of everyone who received gifts. Those comrades should pack their things and move to another barracks to make room for new grading teachers who will arrive tomorrow.”

“All papers graded yesterday will be re-evaluated.”

With that said, soldiers came forward to take note of the names of those who had accepted gifts and supervised them as they packed and moved to the new barracks.

New grading teachers would arrive the following day.

Other teachers started re-evaluating the papers graded the previous day.

No one objected this time; everyone worked diligently.

The next day, new grading teachers gradually joined in. This time, the admissions office had notified the camp not to allow anyone to visit under the guise of offering condolences or gifts, not even leaders with work permits.

It wasn’t until the end of December that all grading work finally concluded.

It was during this time that Shi Tingyu learned about the aftermath of the incident.

Indeed, the leader had initially harbored ulterior motives when applying for the gifts for the grading teachers.

However, the actual gifts approved from above were quite modest, just some ordinary souvenirs like notebooks, pens, and tea jars.

To supplement these, he had personally added more items from his own pocket for his children at home. Naturally, it wasn’t feasible to provide gifts to all the teachers.

Thus, many complications arose later on.

He had initially thought that with the “Golden Command Arrow” from above, the matter wouldn’t be exposed. Yet, he underestimated the resentment of the lesser individuals towards unequal treatment.

The leader who came to offer condolences was expelled from the party and faced legal sanctions.

As for the teachers who had made mistakes before, their gifts were confiscated. Those who had attempted to influence the leader’s child’s scores through an agreement were also legally penalized.

When Shi Tingyu returned home, aside from clothes, she also brought back two commemorative tea cups, a pen, and a black leather-bound notebook.

The tea cups were white porcelain, simple without extra patterns, just printed with “College Entrance Exam Grading, Su Province Admissions Office.”

These were the same commemorative tea cups she found online for the grading teachers.

After bringing the two tea cups home, Lu Weiguo cherished them for a long time.

After washing them clean, he placed the tea cups prominently on the square table in the living room.

Shi Tingyu adjusted their placement several times, unable to resist saying, “It’s just two tea cups, not such a big deal.”

Lu Weiguo gave her a look of someone who didn’t understand, “These aren’t just tea cups, they represent honor. Believe it or not, having these two in our home is more eye-catching than having a TV.”

Knowing that Shi Tingyu had returned from grading, some neighbors in the community who had a good relationship with the Lu family came to visit.

Initially thinking Lu Weiguo was exaggerating, Shi Tingyu was dumbfounded watching neighbors circling around the pair of tea cups.

If Lu Weiguo hadn’t been watching closely, guests might have even touched them.

This time, there were quite a few people from the residential community participating in the college entrance exam. Besides recent high school graduates, many married women also took part.

For instance, Liu Caixia, the wife of Li Dongsheng, the company commander of the 723rd Battalion’s Third Company, participated.

Similarly, Su Qiuyue, the wife of Lu Wenbin, the instructor of the Third Company, also took part.

People in the residential community all said the Feng Shui was good in the Third Company; this was why so many of them participated in the college entrance exam.

The two of them looked like they already had kids, but they were only around twenty-eight or twenty-nine years old.

Jiang Yun, the wife of Company Commander Qi from the Second Battalion, also took the exam.

Shi Tingyu still remembers her family’s dog, Saihu.

Some younger teachers at the organization’s elementary school also took the college entrance exam, including Jiang Yun, who had previously helped teach art classes.

What surprised Shi Tingyu even more was another person, the wife of the First Battalion Commander under Lu Weiguo’s regiment, Chi Shui.

Shi Tingyu had asked her to make clothes and diapers for her.

Unexpectedly, Chi Shui not only took the college entrance exam but also took the art exam.

Shi Tingyu sighed at this moment, realizing that you really can’t judge a book by its cover. When she asked Chi Shui to make clothes, she noticed her work was excellent, with some subtle changes incorporating her own clever ideas.

It now seemed that Chi Shui indeed had an art background.

That day, after everyone visited Shi Tingyu, who was a college entrance exam grader, they couldn’t hide their envy on the way back.

Shi Tingyu could finally relax a bit.

These days, she was busy grading papers and had little time to interact with her child, only briefly during feeding times.

Now that she was back, she found that Shen Shen didn’t cling to her as much.

Just like now, Lu Weiguo went to work in the camp, and Shen Shen started looking for him. Even Lijian couldn’t comfort him.

When he couldn’t find his dad, Shen Shen cried, his voice exceptionally loud.

In the evening, when Lu Weiguo returned, he washed his hands and immediately went to hold Shen Shen.

This time, the child truly saw his father, clinging tightly to him as if afraid he would disappear the next moment.

Lu Weiguo pampered him, and Shi Tingyu thought that if she weren’t there, her husband might have cried.

“Wife, did Shen Shen cry today?”

Shi Tingyu: “No way, was Shen Shen’s voice so loud it reached the camp?”

Lu Weiguo’s initial worry vanished with Shi Tingyu’s comment.

“No, I just had a bit of auditory hallucination during training, thinking Shen Shen might cry today.”

Shi Tingyu felt like she was a stepmother despite being his real mother.

“He did cry for a while, but he should be fine in a few days. You’ve been the one holding him these past two months, so he’s used to it.”

Hearing this, Lu Weiguo began to worry about his wife again.

“Shen Shen is so noisy. Can you handle it? Did you not get enough rest today?”

Lu Weiguo knew that once Shen Shen started crying, Lijian couldn’t soothe him.

“It’s still manageable.” It was indeed a bit noisy, but all children are like this, and she was gradually getting used to it.

She had indeed neglected the little guy a bit before.