719 Someone Who Likes to Laugh

The principal looked at Qiao Mei hesitantly and said, "Look… for you to join the fifth grade directly the moment you start school, it's actually against the rules. No matter how old a student is, everyone starts from the first grade. If you jump straight to the fifth grade, the school fees will be very expensive. You can pay a portion first. If you really don't have enough, I'll help you think of a way."

Most of the children in the village had never gone to school before. Their families saved up money before sending them to school, so all the students would start from the first grade.

Zhang Wei and Zhang Chao were special. They had gone to school in the city and had paid school fees there. They just needed to come here to attend the corresponding grades. Zhang Qin and Zhang Miao started from the first grade.

Therefore, if Qiao Mei wanted to go straight to the fifth grade, she would have to pay 15 dollars for her school fees and 5 dollars for her books. Ordinary families nowadays would find it difficult to fork out so much money at once. If they did that, what about their daily expenses?

However, if he did not collect the school fees, he would not be able to answer to the higher-ups. If the amount of money and the number of students could not tally, it was difficult for him too.

Without another word, Qiao Mei took out 20 dollars from her pocket and placed it on the table. "Principal, please see whether the amount is correct?"

"Yes! I'll go and find the textbooks for you now. However, the textbooks for all five years may be a little too heavy for you. Are you able to bring them back? Why don't you get the three children to bring them back for you," the principal said hesitantly.

"It's fine, it's fine! Principal, don't worry! I'm very strong!" Qiao Mei said as she pinched her biceps.

She thought that the principal was quite a nice person. Not only did he impart all his knowledge to the students, but he also helped them pay for their school fees at times. When she graduated in the future, she could use her status as an alumnus to donate money to the school for renovation, to change the tables and chairs for the children, and to buy more pens and books.

Previously, Qiao Mei had noticed that Zhang Qin continued using her workbook even after the pages were filled to the brim. She would use a piece of rubber at home to wipe away the pencil marks bit by bit. If she used a little more strength, she would cause the paper to tear.

However, Zhang Qin could not bear to use an eraser because she wanted to save money. If she used an eraser to rub off the handwriting in the entire notebook, she would need to buy a new eraser once it was used up. It would be like putting the cart before the horse.

Although rubber was not as easy to use as eraser, and the areas rubbed away remained black, it was good enough as long as it worked!

Even though Qiao Mei had bought 10 notebooks for each of the children, they still could not bear to use them. They always told her that there would be nothing left once they used the notebooks, so she just let them be.

In the past, when they were able to earn money themselves, they did not feel so inhibited when it came to spending money. Now that their family was in urgent need of money for Zhang Miao's illness, and after their money was snatched away by Zhang Qian, they felt that money was not easy to come so they were especially thrifty.

"Principal, I'm going home now. If there's any issue but it's inconvenient for me to come, you can just ask Zhang Wei and the others tell me. I have to go home and rest now," Qiao Mei said as she gently stroked her stomach.

The principal carried the books and only felt at ease after sending Qiao Mei to the horse carriage. He instructed Qiao Mei a few things about her studies before asking her to go back.

Along the way, Qiao Mei looked at the electric poles by the roadside and fell into deep thought. She had always thought that she would leave the village one day and bring her grandfather to the capital to settle down, so she did not install a phone. Now, more and more people were calling her on the phone, and Xia Zhe's frequency of letter replies had also slowed down a lot. He had been very busy during this period of time.

It would be much more convenient if she had a phone at home. The cost was not a problem at all. The problem was the cumbersome installation process. She had to find a tall and big circular column herself. Only Chen Hu would be able to do it.

"Uncle! Can you send me to the village office in our village! I have something to do there!" Qiao Mei shouted at the coachman.

"Alright! Sit tight. We'll be there soon!" the coachman replied loudly.

The coachman knew that the person sitting in the carriage was a pregnant woman, so he drove very slowly. He was afraid that the bumpy road would not be good for the baby. He had been a coachman all his life and his three children were born in this carriage. He knew very well what kind of speed was suitable for a pregnant woman.

Qiao Mei hummed a tune and chatted and laughed with the coachman along the way. Sometimes, she would even greet passers-by. Her bright smile was infectious and made many people very happy.

"Young lady! This is the first time I've seen someone who likes to laugh so much!" the coachman said.