Chapter 37: Su Can of Xiashi City

  Yu Qiushou had only heard a little about Zeng Quanming, and what he had heard was that the director of the planning bureau was very strict in his work style, but he had offended too many people. No matter how much wind passed through his ears, Yu Qiushou always heard negative news about Zeng Quanming. Since he could become mayor, he must have his own views on things. However, under the influence of others, Yu Qiushou was not without prejudice against Zeng Quanming. Now, he was just asking a symbolic question, and he didn't even know Su Can's name. Maybe after this banquet ended today, he would even forget what Su Can looked like.

  Xiao Fei's wife glanced at Su Can with a few more points of disdain in her eyes. They lived just opposite Su Can, and for a long time, she had heard Zeng Quanming's wife, Yin Shuying, mention this troublesome nephew Su Can many times. His grades were always poor, and he was often asked to meet with teachers. In the past, Su Can had a notorious reputation in this compound, and when his daughter Xiao Yunyun became too close to Su Can, she strongly opposed it due to her own biases. Although she no longer worried that Su Can would pose a threat to her daughter, her prejudice against him still lingered.

  Xiao Yun's slender fingers, like jade scallions, picked up a small piece of cake in front of her, took a light bite, and smiled brightly as she looked over.

  Su Can, Mayor Yu asked you, tell him yourself." Zeng Quanming said calmly.

  Xiao Fei hummed a tune in his heart, this was it, Zeng Quanming couldn't lose face like this.

  Before Su Can spoke, his aunt Yin Shuying excitedly said, "645 points, the middle school entrance examination score!"

  "Hey! Let's keep going...!" Xiao Fei was smiling and preparing to continue, but suddenly reacted, his eyes bulging out instantly. His expression changed in an instant, becoming somewhat mysterious, "What? What? How many points? How many points did Su Can get?"

  Xiao Yunyun had taken half a piece of cake into her mouth, but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't swallow it again. Her beautiful eyes stared at Su Can in shock and uncertainty, her mouth slightly open, with some mystery deep within her pearly whites and pink tongue.

  If Su Can himself said it, Xiao Fei's wife would have sneered at this achievement and even thought that Su Can was joking too much, exaggerating a bit too much. However, when these words came from Eldest Aunt-in-law Yin Shuying's mouth, it was different.

  Yoon Suk-young, facing Xiao Fei's wife, has always been straightforward and outspoken, also a big sister in their circle, her words carry weight, she would expose family scandals without hesitation, and wouldn't think of covering them up, so if Soo-chan wasn't okay, she didn't even need to intentionally cover it up, therefore almost everything that comes out of her mouth is the truth.

  "Ah," Yu Qiu was slightly surprised, and only then did he take a good look at Su Can in front of him. His eyes had a few more appraising glances, "Not bad grades, how come I've never heard that you have such an excellent nephew? This young man looks handsome, hmm, with a bit of spirit! ...Is he from No. 1 Middle School?"

  "Used to be in Municipal Third Middle School, but this time preparing to go to First Middle School, it's just that the procedures are a bit troublesome..." Eldest Uncle unexpectedly revealed a smug smile, Su Can was able to make Mayor Yu show such surprise, he knew how difficult it was for his own nephew to make people feel so astonished.

  "What's so difficult about it?"

  His volunteer reporting had a problem, originally didn't think he could get such high scores with some effort, so the original reporting was to the third middle school. As a result, when the scores came out, it was discovered that his score was enough to enter the first middle school. Here, I went to find the teaching department of the first middle school, but they said there was a problem and it wasn't easy to handle...

  Yu Qiu frowned, "Is there a teaching department that pushes excellent students out like this? It seems they're intentionally looking for trouble. 'Can't be done? Why can't it be done? Such an excellent student is being held back at San Zhong. If you want to go to Yi Zhong, then go to Yi Zhong, I'll tell Principal Ding Juntao that I said so!"

  This sign is big enough, and Vice Mayor Yu has personally ordered it to be taken down. Now the Education Department's Tian Feng will probably struggle to get back up again.

  Xiao Fei's face was gloomy, and he didn't know what else to think about.

  It was Xiao Yunyun who looked at Su Can's gaze that changed, and it actually reduced a few points of condescension. In her heart, she recalled the past days, and in her eyes, she had more than a few points of tenderness towards Su Can, as well as three points of returning admiration.

  ......

  That deep male voice sounded again at this moment, "Su Can, are you Su Can of Xia Hai City?"

  Everyone couldn't help but take a glance at the man who was speaking, and Xiao Fei's wife, who was still in shock, thought to herself: "This is still a reporter from Xinhua News Agency, how can he speak so illogically? Isn't this nonsense?" This guy wasn't even in Guwahati.

  Yu Qiu Shou sniffed out a clue and looked at Zhang Chaoyang seriously, listening to the tone of this new Xinhua News Agency reporter who seemed to know Su Can.

  The atmosphere on the scene suddenly became quiet, and the heads of these cultural departments and supervisory agencies looked over.

  A reporter from Xinhua News Agency, the most authoritative news organization in Beijing, how would he know about Su Can, a small figure even unknown to locals in a small city?

  "Ah, I've finally found you! Didn't you write a report literature piece during the middle school exams? You're that little author of report literature!" Zhang Chaoyang's tone became excited, causing the people around him to become solemn. This was Summer Sea City, where he had never revealed his true emotions before, but today he couldn't help but show surprise because of a junior high student.

  Su Can let out a sigh, thinking that this was it, his own middle school graduation essay, centered around the 1998 flood disaster, written from the perspective of a tree, using a melancholic tone to describe the desolate situation, with the theme being the middle school graduation essay topic "Give Me One Day".

  His opening was, "I am a tree, human, stop the axe in your hand, give me one day, let me recall hundreds of years. Here, rooted for thousands of miles, birds singing and flowers fragrant, just like hundreds of years in paradise..."

  Then, from the perspective of a tree's report, he searched his mind for all the man-made destructions he knew about the Yangtze River Basin and summarized some potential hazards that might lead to disasters. Of course, he couldn't explicitly state that a flood was coming, but it was reasonable and well-founded, with emotions overflowing throughout the article.

  The whole room fell silent, as Zhang Chaoyang had already left his seat and walked to Su Can's side. This scene stunned everyone in place. The director of the Cultural Bureau had just tried his best to curry favor with Zhang Chaoyang, but he was politely declined. Now, however, he was so excited that he got up from his seat, causing the movements of people reaching out to pick food with their chopsticks to freeze in mid-air, illuminated by the sunlight shining into the room on this hot summer day, amidst fluttering white silk threads.

  Zhang Chaoyang burst out laughing, stretched out his hand and shook hands with Su Can. A 30-year-old middle-aged man, ignoring most of the leading figures in a prefecture-level city, instead gave special attention to a 16-year-old junior high school student. This scene was truly dazzling. "Your composition has been selected for priority publication in the 'New Edition of Excellent Junior High School Compositions' published by Haidian District Publishing House in Beijing, and it will be available nationwide soon!"

  What?! The whole scene shook, and on Mom's and Dad's faces were clearly written the shocking surprise of being suddenly hit with explosive news.

  Actually, the truly explosive news is far from over. In the first half of the year, experts at the Ministry of Water Resources believed that there would be no major floods in the Yangtze River basin within three years, and at the same time, the Yangtze River basin welcomed a bumper harvest year. The whole country was immersed in a joyful atmosphere, and the minority dissenting opinions of some experts from relevant national departments were drowned out. Who knew that when the continuous heavy rainfall came in June and July, a major flood really broke out, causing countless losses of property and life at one time? The national army was dispatched to the front line, and the military and civilians worked together to fight against floods and disasters.

  It turns out that some of the concerns expressed by opposition experts at the time were not entirely unfounded. In the subsequent flood disaster, flood control and rescue efforts became a major theme, but there were also cases of local officials shirking responsibility and numerous comments attributing the main cause of this flood to natural disasters.

  Su Can's article was selected as an excellent essay at the time, and a certain State Council leader inadvertently saw the first draft in his grandson's new book. He brought it up during a heated debate within the party, praising it highly: "This report from a middle school student is well-written, hitting the nail on the head, saying what countless newspapers and media outlets dare not say! The flood disaster should not be blamed solely on heaven; we must find the real cause in our human activities. How many officials prioritize political achievements over environmental protection? We have reclaimed so much land, built so many factories, buildings, and skyscrapers... when the waters rise, they will swallow us whole! If humans don't give water a way out, water won't give humans a way to live. This sets off an alarm for us and provides another important indicator for future development..."

  Although the principal just mentioned it casually, the listener was intentional. Xia Hai City Third Middle School Su Can, this name once became a profound impression left in the hearts of many people in this summer.

  Of course, including Zhang Chaoyang.

  This time, when he came down from the central government, he had another task in Xiahaishi, which was to interview this young author and bring back meaningful news. When he arrived at the provincial capital, it turned out that several leaders of the province were already aware of this matter, but they all kept it confidential and did not spread it out, waiting for the central reporter's next visit to observe.

  Zhang Chaoyang, who was just preparing to finish his work at hand and then do this thing, unexpectedly encountered Su Can, and suddenly got what he wanted without any effort.