The Comeback of the Cannon-Fodder Supporting Actress

Chapter 930: Chapter 908: Top Student in the 1980s 36

The washing machine Anning made was quite a novelty, and Secretary An and Xiangling spent the whole day in the laundry room, busy washing clothes.

It took more than an hour to wash Zhang Heping’s clothes, and they came out clean and fresh-smelling. The clothes were dry and ready to wear straight away.

Secretary An folded the clothes neatly and began looking around for dirty clothes to throw into the washing machine.

Anning taught her and Xiangling how to use it. The washing machine was really easy to use, even simpler than those double-tub ones, and they learned it after just one lesson.

Then it was just wash after wash.

After washing dirty clothes, they washed sheets and duvet covers. Within a day, they washed everything in the house that could be washed.

Xiangling was especially happy: ”Mom, with this washing machine, we will save so much trouble. Just throw the clothes in and forget about it. We can wash clothes, sweep the floor, and cook all within an hour and get so much done.”

Isn’t that exactly the case?

Secretary An joyfully hugged Anning and kissed her several times, ”Oh my dear daughter, you really are a treasure.”

With the washing machine as a foundation, in her studies, Zhang Heping and Secretary An let Anning have her way even more.

Whatever she wanted to learn or whichever books she wanted to buy, Zhang Heping would find a way to get them for her. Later, they even signed her up for an art class and invited a well-known old painter from the county to teach Anning to paint.

Besides learning to paint, Anning often went out to help people repair electrical appliances.

She initially did minor repairs within the factory’s residential compound, fixing radios, televisions, washing machines, and such.

Later, someone spread the word about her reputation, and other factories began seeking her help, so Anning often went with Secretary An to other communities to repair things.

Of course, she didn’t do repairs for free, and she specialized in fixing appliances that the local repair services couldn’t fix.

If they didn’t find Anning, the appliance would be considered broken beyond repair, and appliances were expensive at this time. But if they found Anning, she could fix it for dozens or hundreds of yuan, which seemed economically wise. Consequently, many households sought Anning’s repair services.

By almost summertime, even the county government area’s residential buildings began seeking Anning for repairs.

When Xiao Yuan took the middle school entrance exam, Anning was capable enough to repair large machines at factories directly.

Anning didn’t take much time repairing things, spending an hour or so daily, and she couldn’t take on many jobs.

However, she earned quite a bit of money, and upon earning, she asked Secretary An to set up a savings account to deposit her earnings.

With the savings account established, she had Xiao Yuan handle it, depositing both her and Xiao Yuan’s earnings together.

Anning never calculated how much money she had, but left it to Xiao Yuan entirely.

As Xiao Yuan took the middle school entrance exam ahead of schedule, the Xiao family was quite tense these days.

Xiao Heizi and Sister Xu were tightly bound to their duties at the family’s factory, and before the exam, they specifically asked Xiangling to look after Xiao Yuan.

Just days before the exam, Xiao Heizi stayed at the factory while Sister Xu returned home to cook and take care of Xiao Yuan.

On the exam day, Sister Xu accompanied Xiao Yuan to the exam hall and stayed outside for the entire two-day exam period.

After the exams, Xiao Yuan was genuinely relaxed, but Xiao Heizi and Sister Xu remained tense.

They dared not ask Xiao Yuan about his performance, afraid of the possibility of poor results, leaving the couple silent.

After the exams, Xiao Yuan didn’t stay in the county.

He said he was going to the Provincial City but actually went to the Southern again.

This time, armed with a larger capital, he spent more time in the Southern, returning only the day before the exam results were released.

Coincidentally, just when Xiao Yuan returned from the South, the publisher that Xiao Yuan had submitted a long novel to contacted the Xiao family’s factory, saying Xiao Yuan’s book was going to be published and wanted to discuss the contract.

Thus, Xiao Yuan didn’t rest at home but went to the provincial city’s publisher with Xiao Heizi and Zhang Heping.

Right after signing the contract, his middle school exam results were announced.

This time, Xiao Yuan surprisingly achieved perfect scores in all subjects, with no deductions even in his essay, making him undeniably the top performer in the entire city.

Subsequently, the county’s No. 1 Middle School tried to retain Xiao Yuan for further studies. Several city middle schools sought to recruit him, and even the Provincial First Middle School showed interest.

Without hesitation, Xiao Yuan chose Provincial First Middle School.

He was mainly considering its distance from home, allowing him fewer restrictions while studying there.

Before heading to the Provincial City for school, Xiao Yuan’s novel was published.

At this time, martial arts novels were hugely popular, and Xiao Yuan’s work featured elements of fantasy, being someone who had experienced the martial arts world himself, making his writing appear exceptionally authentic. His writing style was excellent and expansive, allowing readers to easily immerse in and empathize with the story.

After its release, the book sold remarkably well, prompting the publisher to repeatedly reprint it.

Xiao Yuan received a significant amount of royalties.

He took these royalties to tell Xiao Heizi he wanted to buy an apartment near Provincial First Middle School, where he could live on his own.

Since Xiao Yuan earned this money himself, Xiao Heizi had no objections and agreed to the purchase.

When Xiao Heizi accompanied Xiao Yuan to enroll at Provincial First Middle School, they took a stroll and found a place to buy the apartment.

Then they handled all the enrollment-related matters.

Xiao Heizi lingered in the Provincial City for over ten days before returning.

It was now the peak of summer, during which cakes were hard to sell, and due to the heat, they couldn’t be preserved. So Xiao Heizi cleaned up several factory buildings and installed equipment to make ice pops and ice cream, which indeed brought considerable earnings over the summer.

By September, Anning moved on to eighth grade.

At this point, she had almost finished reading all the high school textbooks. During classes, she seldom followed the teacher’s instructions and generally read books by herself, including science magazines and university textbooks brought over from the Capital.

The teachers at First Middle School were aware of Anning’s situation and didn’t interfere with her as long as she didn’t disturb others.

At this moment, He Erniu sent another letter to Anning.

The letter shared details about her recent life, mentioning she had completed middle school courses and the family she worked for helped her enroll in high school, focusing solely on exams rather than classes.

She described the family’s kindness and encouragement to study hard and aim for university education.

After reading the letter, Anning felt deeply moved.

She thought He Erniu was genuinely ambitious with good intentions, embracing life with great enthusiasm.

Anning felt a strong desire to support such a person.

She replied to He Erniu’s letter, accompanied by Xiangling, to remit some money, informing her that she earned enough and advised He Erniu to save for university fees while using the money for books and supplies. Additionally, Anning shared her plans to aim for a Capital university, hoping that if He Erniu could achieve the same, they could be together.

Anning wrote extensively in her letter about her life.

By late October, He Erniu received Anning’s letter.

Receiving the letter brought her great joy.

The family she worked for included Professor Ren, who saw He Erniu returning excitedly with a letter and chuckled, ”Your sister replied to you.”

He Erniu replied with a smile, ”Yes, she knows I want to go to university and feels very happy. She also plans to take the Capital universities’ exams; by then, our sisterhood might allow frequent visits or interactions. She also advised me to save money for university and not send her any money as she’s well-off financially.”

Professor Ren listened and genuinely felt both He Erniu and her sister were exemplary children but lamented that they didn’t have supportive parents.

If someone like He Erniu had a better family life, the child would likely already be in high school preparing for university instead of being delayed.

”Then save more money,”

Professor Ren cheerfully advised He Erniu, ”Study diligently. If you can attend Jing University, that would be splendid. One can proceed to master’s and doctorate studies after university.”

He Erniu remained intent on attending university without thoughts on pursuing further, but being with Professor Ren broadened her horizons, realizing he meant well, nodding with a smile, ”I’ll follow your advice, continue with studies, maybe even join you in doctorate studies.”