Xiao Jiu's thoughts weren't entirely wrong. Compared to most people, the Su family's children were quite lucky.
However, when compared to their own little sister, their luck didn't seem as good.
Fortunately, the brothers had grown accustomed to their sister's good fortune.
As a family, there was no need to dwell on such matters.
Su Xiaotian's good luck meant she always found many good things. Especially in the past two years, they had eaten plenty of wild game from the mountains, and their living standards had improved significantly.
It wasn't uncommon to see the Su children had all grown taller and gained weight.
Two days later, the old Su family received good news, delivered by someone sent by Chen Zi'an.
The Su children who participated in the county's entrance exams had all achieved excellent results.
In the exam for advancing from the first year of high school to the second, Su Shouwen, Su Ciliang, and Su Sangong secured first, second, and third place respectively.
Even Su Xiaomei achieved a commendable fourth place, while Su Xiaocao, though slightly behind, secured seventh place overall.
Their performance was significantly better than many students who had been studying in the county town.
Especially the exam paper that was nearly perfect, which had stunned all the teachers at the County First High School at the time.
The teachers at the County First High School hadn't paid much attention when they heard that some students had signed up for the transfer exam.
They heard these children were from the countryside and hadn't attended school for several years, having been self-taught at home.
This made them believe that these children were merely seeking a high school diploma, perhaps for job opportunities.
However, after the results came out, they realized that self-study at home might not be inferior.
In fact, some teachers began to ponder a specific question: in these restless times, perhaps self-study at home was where the true seeds of dedicated learning lay.
The teachers at the County First High School also discovered that the other children were no less capable than their brothers.
Su Sijian and Su Wureng, who participated in the junior high to high school entrance exam, also undoubtedly secured first and second place, with their scores far ahead of others.
It was only Su Xiaogang, who took the same exam, whose results were less impressive.
Su Xiaogang was a child who disliked studying and always wanted to join the army.
However, he also got into the County First High School this time, albeit with a lower score.
Su Liuzhong and Su Qixiao, who took the exam for advancing from the first year of junior high to the second, also achieved first and second place, comparable to their elder brothers' results.
The remaining students were Su Xiaotian, Su Xiaoba, and Su Xiaojiu, who participated in the primary to junior high school competition.
Their results shocked the teachers into speechlessness.
The three of them tied for first place, achieving perfect scores in both Chinese and Mathematics.
This time, there weren't many transfer students, but their outstanding results stunned the grading teachers. Soon, they noticed that the names of these transfer students seemed very similar.
Moreover, they all came from the same place, so someone compiled this information.
Principal Gu Hongyun of the County First High School was completely flustered when he received this brilliant list.
He could hardly believe his eyes, deeply suspecting he might have misread.
Perhaps it was due to his eagerness to find capable students that he had misread.
Could such results truly emerge in such a period?
The teacher who delivered the report noticed Principal Gu blinking repeatedly and forcefully, looking very surprised.
Was there something on this report that was so striking?
Otherwise, what did Principal Gu mean?
"Principal Gu, what are you looking at?" he couldn't help but ask, full of curiosity.
"Teacher Li, is this report genuine? Did these children cheat?"
Principal Gu took a deep breath and, after confirming he hadn't misread, finally asked this question.
Teacher Li smiled, but after the smile, there was a hint of bitterness at the corners of his mouth.
If this were many years ago, such results wouldn't be anything special, but now, it was somewhat exaggerated.
In his opinion, the exam paper this time was quite easy.
Yet, even so, nearly thirty percent of the students who took the exam failed.
These children studied in school every day, but their results, compared to these outstanding students, were hard to look at.
"It's true, Principal!"
Principal Guo was so excited he could barely speak.
"Principal, I heard that the batch of children with the best results this time all came from the same brigade."
Principal Guo looked at the report, where a line of names was listed: Su Shouwen, Su Ciliang, Su Sangong, Su Sijian, Su Wureng, Su Liuzhong, Su Qixiao, Su Xiaomei, Su Xiaocao, Su Xiaotian.
There was no mistake; these names clearly indicated children from the same family.
Moreover, it was highly likely that they were closely related by blood.
His voice, filled with excitement, grew rougher: "Teacher Li, do you know where these children are from?"
He wanted to know what kind of place could cultivate so many intelligent and studious children.
"It seems to be from the Hongxin Brigade of the Hongping Commune."
Teacher Li was also very surprised when he saw the report.
Much like Principal Guo now, he had first thought about what kind of Feng Shui had nurtured such a group of people.
So, he investigated, and he simply couldn't believe his eyes.
Hongxin Brigade?
Principal Guo did know this place. Its natural environment wasn't particularly good, and it wasn't close to the county town.
But in such a place, there were so many lovely children!
"Teacher Li, it's rare, truly rare!" Principal Gu murmured.
Tears flowed down his cheeks without his realizing it.
He had suffered a lot in the past few years, having been criticized by students several times, and it hadn't been easy to persevere.
But as the years passed, the situation showed no signs of improvement, and the students' learning atmosphere grew worse.
He had lost hope for the current batch of students.
He had even begun to consider retreating.
He didn't want to watch students being idle and only busy with struggles every day.
Unexpectedly, at this moment, such children suddenly appeared, suddenly giving him hope.
Yes, hope.
"I must go to Hongxin Brigade myself!" Principal Gu decided. "I will personally deliver the good news to these children!"
As soon as Principal Gu finished speaking, Teacher Li quickly stopped him: "Principal Gu, it's better not to go. The results are out, and they will likely leak soon. By then, there might be another storm of controversy!"
Hearing Teacher Li's words, Principal Gu instantly felt as if his strength had been drained. Yes, there was still a storm to face.
The students in the school who didn't want to study and only wanted to get revenge on their teachers were still there.
They had been busy with radicalism for several years and still hadn't realized what they had missed!
Principal Guo's lips moved, but in the end, he said nothing!
What was there to say?
What was there to talk about?
In the silence between the two, they heard loud commotion from outside the office.
Exchanging glances, they both knew that what they feared had arrived!
They wondered how they would disgrace their teachers this time!
************
Su Xiaotian and the others were unaware of what was happening at the school. They were busy going up the mountain, down to the river, and reading books.
In any case, the children were all busy.
Especially after receiving the news from Chen Zi'an that they could all attend the County First High School, they became even busier.
They couldn't always go to the mountains and rivers to find good things to bring home this year. They had to find more to bring home before school started.
Soon, the old Su family had stored a lot of dried goods, even dried meat.
In the blink of an eye, it was August.
The weather was still scorching hot, with very little rain throughout the summer.
The elders said that this year would be another severe drought, and the autumn harvest might not be good.
Su Xiaotian was very worried that a poor grain harvest would affect the brigade's chicken and pig farms, but there was nothing else she could do.
She even keenly felt that the atmosphere in the brigade was not quite right.
Recently, the brigade leader Su Changjiu had been attending meetings at the commune for several consecutive days, but no one knew what they were discussing.
One day, several strangers appeared at the entrance of Hongxin Brigade!
A middle-aged woman in her forties was accompanied by two young men and women.
The two young people were in their twenties, and their features suggested some similarity.
They also bore some resemblance to the middle-aged woman, appearing to be mother and children.
At that moment, Su Xiaotian and several others had just come down from the mountain.
The little children carried heavy baskets on their backs, with fine sweat on their foreheads, but their faces were filled with bright smiles.
Another day of harvest, how could they not be happy?
But their good mood came to an abrupt halt when they encountered these three strangers!
"Little girl, is this Hongxin Brigade?" the middle-aged woman asked, stopping Su Xiaotian.
Although her words were polite enough, her eyes betrayed obvious arrogance and disdain.
Clearly, she looked down on countryside children like Su Xiaotian.
Especially the two young people behind her, their attitudes were even more condescending, as if some high-ranking official had arrived.
Su Xiaotian looked at her. Although she really didn't want to engage, she finally replied patiently: "Yes!"
After saying this, Su Xiaotian turned to go home.
She was busy and didn't have time to deal with these self-important people.
She had found many good things today, and there were still three wild rabbits, four wild pheasants, and one wild goat on the mountain. She would have her great-uncle prepare them later and secretly bring them home.
Seeing Su Xiaotian and the others turning to leave, the middle-aged woman's face fell.
"You are too impolite. We are talking to you, what is your attitude?" the young woman immediately reprimanded Su Xiaotian.
"After all, you're a country bumpkin!" the young man also adopted a condescending posture to comment.
"What's wrong with being a country bumpkin?" Su Xiaotian immediately turned back and stared at the young man, snorting, "If you're not from the countryside, are you superior? I don't think so!"
For some reason, Su Xiaotian had a very bad impression of the three of them.
"What kind of attitude is that?" the young man clearly didn't expect this little girl to retort directly.
"What attitude? The great leader said, guests are welcomed with fine wine, and wolves are met with shotguns. Before asking me about my attitude, first determine what you are!" Su Xiaotian's attitude was indifferent and very firm in her retort.
"I'm not something, you are something!" The man was clearly provoked by Su Xiaotian and spoke without restraint.
When he said this, Su Xiaotian's followers Su Xiaoqi, Xiao Ba, and Xiao Jiu all burst into laughter. Even the older ones couldn't help but smile.
Su Xiaotian, however, maintained a stern face and said, "I see, you are not something!"
After speaking, she turned to her brothers and said, "Let's go. There's no need to waste time arguing with someone who isn't something!"
"How dare you curse people? You look like a gentle and soft little girl, how can you be so impolite? And you're with a group of boys, aren't you afraid of ruining your reputation!"
The young woman's words were unpleasant from the start, her contemptuous attitude as if Su Xiaotian had done something scandalous.
Su Xiaotian, who had intended to leave, didn't expect such an oblivious person. She immediately turned back and looked coldly at the young woman.
The teenagers behind her also looked at the woman with unrestrained words unpleasantly.
They looked well-dressed, but why were their words so disheartening?
The young woman was frightened by the wolf-like gazes of the children and couldn't help but take a step back, but she still maintained an attitude of not losing face and said forcefully, "Why are you looking at me? Did I say something wrong?"
"Auntie, you are certainly wrong. We are all children, and those dirty things you mentioned won't happen to us!" Su Xiaotian's words were not polite at all, and calling the young woman auntie directly was quite sharp.
The young woman, who was only in her twenties, instantly turned dark when called auntie. Her eyes glared fiercely at Su Xiaotian, as if she wanted to devour her alive.
"Besides, we are siblings. What's wrong with playing together? There's a saying, those who have filth in their minds see filth in everything!"
"You country girl, how dare you speak to me like this? Do you know who I am?"
"I don't know who you are, I just want to know if you are human!"
After speaking, Su Xiaotian no longer paid attention to these people and turned to leave, not even giving them an extra glance.
The three left behind were furious, especially the young woman, whose eyes glared fiercely at the backs of Su Xiaotian and the others as they left!
After returning home, Su Da was not there, but fortunately, Su Er had time.
Hearing that the children had found more good things on the mountain, and with Su Shouwen and Su Ciliang still guarding them on the mountain, he immediately set off to go up the mountain.
Su Xiaotian and the others voluntarily placed the mushrooms, wood ears, and other wild vegetables they had carried down in their backyard to dry.
At this time, there were many edible things on the mountain, and they managed to get a lot every year. If they couldn't eat them all in a short time, they would spoil.
So, they would select the good ones and dry them every day after harvesting.
This way, they wouldn't have to worry about lacking vegetables in winter.
Before the siblings finished their work, Chi Yiyuan suddenly ran over to find them.
Chi Yiyuan had excellent physical fitness, but today he ran so breathlessly that he couldn't even speak a coherent sentence when he saw Su Xiaotian.