Sitting in the spacious and bright director's office, Qiao Lu did not feel cramped and uneasy. In the past four years of college life, she has seen a lot of the world, so she sat on the sofa without humility or arrogance and sat opposite Director Song.

Director Song seemed to be sorting out the materials needed for the meeting, and casually put a notepad on the armrest, glancing at Qiao Lu from time to time. What student has never seen who has been doing student work all year round? It's just that this student's eyes are very stable and full of strength, which is unforgettable.

Director Song vaguely knew that Qiao Lu couldn't pay the deposit, thinking that she was here to cry poor. If her results are not so good, it would be fine, but she ranked first in the overall ranking. If she starts crying, how can you politely refuse her?

Qiao Lu was very calm, there was no uneasy and flattering smile on her face, and there was no trace of pleading for mercy, even if she was looked at by Director Song several times, she still sat peacefully and didn't say a word. It wasn't until Director Song said, "Tell me about your situation," that Qiao Lu slowly spoke.

"I'd like to tell you about my parents first, okay?"

After Director Song nodded, Qiao Lu continued: "My father used to be a soldier who fought in the Battle of Langshan and was a promising combat hero. But in the mid-80s, he put down his promising future, changed jobs and returned to his hometown, worked in a state-owned enterprise for more than ten years, and finally opened a small wonton restaurant on our street. My mother was born in the countryside, is the eldest of three children, I heard my grandmother say that when she was a child, she either went to work in the field, or around the stove, helping the family pull two younger siblings, in this environment, she was also admitted to a normal university in Jiangnan, after several setbacks, grew into the backbone of the second middle school in Hong Kong City, and became the director of teaching. ”

"Hearing this, do you think, how can you not even make up the $10,000 guarantee for studying abroad when you have a store at home and your mother has a stable job? Yes, in the eyes of many outsiders, we are indeed not a poor family. But during the period of making up the deposit, I realized how hard my parents worked to support the dignity of this family. ”

"At the end of the last century, my mother had a serious illness, when she was not yet forty years old, suddenly suffered a cerebral hemorrhage and fainted on the podium. When he was sent to the hospital, he did not breathe spontaneously for a while, and the doctor suggested giving up the rescue, but my father disagreed, took out all the family money, and asked the doctor to hold on to the end. Dad is the main person in charge of sewage treatment in the chemical plant, and on the night of Mom's hospitalization, Dad asked his co-workers to work the night shift for him. His co-workers made a mistake, and all the resin worth 200,000 yuan leaked. At that time, it was in a critical period of large-scale layoffs in state-owned enterprises, and my father's job was lost like that. ”

"My mom has been in the intensive care unit, my dad lost his job overnight, and there are three underage children at home, I don't know how they survived that time. I only remember that my father rode his big golden deer bicycle and shuttled through the alley every day, but after a few days, his hair was all gray. How much money did he borrow? He never told us. Dad only asked me for one thing, he said, Lulu, you should cook at home first during this time! Don't always go to the neighborhood to eat, we can still work, eat and drink like that, it's not decent. ”

Qiao Lu's eyes were slightly red, and Director Song kept putting his fingers on his lips, and his other hand was writing and drawing casually. He glanced up at the time, there were still ten minutes left. He sighed casually and said, "And then?"

"Then, my mother saved her life, but she stayed in the hospital for a month, and spent half a year in rehabilitation before there were no sequelae, and my father borrowed a lot of money to open a small restaurant, and it wasn't long before my brother got appendicitis again. It was 1998, and for half a year, my parents didn't have any income, and my family fell ill one after another, and I don't know how I survived. I remember that there was no money to pay for tuition, so the teachers of No. 2 Middle School helped me make it up, and I didn't have money to buy food, so I was given by my neighbors. The younger siblings didn't have a penny of pocket money, and the younger sister wanted to eat a dime popsicle, and that whole summer, she only made this one request. However, I searched every corner of the house and couldn't find a dime. I didn't cry from my mother's illness to my father's dismissal, but that summer afternoon, I sat on the floor and cried. ”

Director Zheng was also a little moved, but he was used to being a leader after all, and he controlled his expression well, and did not write his emotions on his face, but just made a gesture of continuation.

Qiao Lu continued: "Mom and Dad have been working very hard, but no matter how hard they try, life is still a mess. When I went to university, there were a lot of subsidies for poor students at the school, and I wanted to apply for them every time, but I controlled them all of them. I think that at least my family has recovered their health, my parents are paying off their debts little by little, and our family is getting better little by little, although this is very slow. If I apply for the poverty allowance, then I have to issue a certificate and seal it at the same level. One of the words my father used to say was 'decency,' but if I did that, it would definitely hurt his decency. So for four years, I worked as a tutor, got a scholarship, and never asked my family for a penny after stepping into the school. ”

The time was almost up, and Director Song's right hand was still writing and drawing, and he asked, "So, it is really difficult to guarantee a study abroad this time?"

Qiao Lu said truthfully: "To be honest, my parents have pooled some money. The day before yesterday, I followed my father and saw how he borrowed money, and I fell into a deep self-blame. He kept saying "decent", but when he borrowed money, his dignity was trampled to the brink. As the eldest daughter, I have not fulfilled my responsibilities to my family, and I feel guilty that studying abroad has added a lot of burden to them. ”

Time was pressing, and Qiao Lu's tone became urgent: "But engaging in chemical research has always been my dream. Since my junior year, I have followed my teachers and seniors to learn new catalytic methods in the nano field, and if we can study it, then we can make a huge breakthrough in energy conversion, which can not only improve energy efficiency, but also reduce carbon dioxide emissions and greatly purify the air! Professors often say that in the 21st century, chemistry still has enough room for development, and it is an important branch of the third scientific and technological revolution, and I am willing to do my best to devote myself to this field!

Perhaps hearing the call of her dreams, this indifferent girl suddenly became enthusiastic, her petite body contained huge energy, and her eyes shone brightly. "Ideals" are not shared by everyone, and this girl's ideals are so clear and firm, Director Song is obviously moved.

With two or three minutes left, Director Song got up to prepare for the meeting and said, "I understand your situation, but the rules are the rules, and I can't guarantee to what extent it can be resolved." ”

Qiao Lu was a little anxious, she stood up and said, "Director Song, you misunderstood, I don't want to reduce the security deposit!"

Director Song was stunned for a moment: "Then what are you talking about so much?"

"I don't want to break the rules!" Qiao Lu said solemnly: "I want to use my monthly living allowance to offset this part of the deposit! In other words, the first ten months of living allowance don't need to be sent to me, can it be used as a deposit?"

After Qiao Lu finished speaking, she restrained her excited tone and said in a low voice: "If I don't pay the deposit, there will be other classmates who won't pay it in the future." I don't want that, that... Not so good. ”

Director Song was dumbfounded, he had never heard such a request. In fact, he was moved by Qiao Lu just now, and he wanted to study it later at the meeting to see how he could help this student. But Qiao Lu made such a request, he was amazed by her sensibility, and he was even more pleased with her understanding of proportion.

Director Song asked, "Do you have time in the afternoon?"

"Yes, there's time!"

"Come back at five o'clock in the afternoon, I'll have to talk to a few project officers about that. ”

"Okay, I'm sorry for your trouble. Qiao Lu bowed respectfully and looked at Director Song's back.

Walking out of the office building, Qiao Lu only felt that her mouth was dry. She sat on the bench, recalled the conversation just now, couldn't help but clench her fists, and said to herself, "Qiao Lu, you did a good job!

No matter what the outcome was, she finally did her best to fight for herself, and although it was very painful to put aside her dignity and expose her scars to others, she finally understood the weight of life and tried to transfer it to herself.

At five o'clock in the afternoon, Qiao Lu appeared at the office of the Foundation Committee on time, and Mr. Ma did not reveal any information to her, and took her directly to the leader's office. Unlike the calm in the morning, Qiao Lu's body shook involuntarily as if waiting for the verdict to be announced.

Director Song's expression was solemn, and he hesitated for a while before he said, "Classmate Qiao Lu, after our investigation and research, you still have relatives overseas, will you stay abroad after you finish your studies?"

"No, even though my aunt is in Germany, we don't have much contact. Besides, my original intention of studying abroad was to serve the motherland, and the first idiom I learned was 'a promise of a thousand gold', please believe me. ”

Director Song still had a solemn expression, and walked to the window with his hands behind his back. The summer sun in Beijing is scorching, and even at dusk, the office draws a layer of curtains to prevent direct sunlight from entering.

Qiao Lu was desperate for a while, thinking to herself, the system really refused to disobey. Her heart was sour, but there was a smile on her face: "I probably know the result, I'm really sorry for causing you trouble..."

"Go ahead!"

Qiao Lu raised her head in shock, the eviction order was so blunt?

"Qiao Lu, let's go to Stanford!"

Director Song lifted the curtains, and the brilliant sunlight suddenly sprinkled the entire windowsill.

"Huh...?"

Qiao Lu couldn't believe this reversal, Director Song bathed in the sunshine, and said with a smile: "Go to Stanford, and after completing your studies, come back to serve the motherland." ”

"Well, then my margin..."

"It's not omitted. Director Song said: "Because, I gave you a guarantee in my name, and I wrote a guarantee letter for you." ”

I should say thank you, I should say thank you countless times, but Qiao Lu was like a fool, she couldn't say a word, only two lines of tears flowed down her face.

She didn't see that there was a piece of paper on Director Song's desk, and it turned out that during the morning conversation, Director Song recorded everything she said and listed several items, such as "Mother is seriously ill, father is laid off, younger siblings are young, and the family is in debt" and so on. He asked his subordinates to do an investigation, and at the end of that page, four large characters were written in different handwriting: "Everything is true."

At the end of work, Qiao Lu walked in the bustling crowd, she walked fast, and her steps had never been so light. She suddenly started running, screaming loudly as she ran. She ignored the sideways glances of passers-by and just wanted to tell the world about this joy.

She didn't care about anything, except for the promise she had just made, "I swear, I won't let you down"!

Little Easter Eggs***

Li Lanlan soon learned the news that Qiao Lu was going to study abroad, and she couldn't help but think that Qiao's family was going to worship her God of Wealth again!

This morning, she carefully painted her makeup in front of the dressing table, which was very professional, with a circle of small white light bulbs around the mirror, and a storage box full of top brands such as LAMER, SKII, and Chanel.

After she finished drawing, she took out a bulging red envelope from the drawer, called the nanny, and instructed: "Sister-in-law Gu, there are 20,000 yuan here, if my eldest sister comes later, I will give her this money." ”

Sister-in-law Gu agreed and put the money away. Li Lanlan had a smile on the corners of her eyes and eyebrows, she looked at herself in the mirror, and said with a smile: "Every time I go around in circles to borrow money, don't you have to come to me in the end? I'm really the Li family's ATM!"

Sister-in-law Gu pursed her lips and smiled, and then went to clean the room.

Li Lanlan came back in the evening and asked proudly, "My eldest sister took the money?"

Gu's sister-in-law said, "Teacher Li didn't come over today. ”

Li Lanlan's plump apple muscles twitched obviously, and then said with a smile: "It's okay, his family has the best face, wait a little longer, anyway, they will definitely come to me in the end." Also, if you haven't seen the coldness of the world, how can you appreciate the warmth of family affection?"

Sister-in-law Gu held back a laugh again, went into the kitchen, and was busy with dinner.

After two or three days like this, Li Lanlan became uneasy: "Could it be that they have found a new backer and abandoned me? No, things gather like people in groups, they are poor like that, they will only find poor friends." Could it be that you went to borrow it from Yi Zhi? No, Yi Zhi won't report it to me. Could it be Chen Yun's house upstairs, or Principal Xu's house?"

She thought all the way out of the elevator and bumped into Gu's sister-in-law who went downstairs to deliver the garbage. Sister-in-law Gu hurriedly apologized, and Li Lanlan frowned and waved her hand, indicating that she didn't care.

"By the way, madam, Mr. Li is here today. ”

Li Lanlan finally breathed a sigh of relief: "Thank God, she finally took the money. ”

"Teacher Li didn't take the money, she sent an invitation, and I put it on the dinner table. Sister-in-law Gu said truthfully: "She said that Qiao Lu's going abroad has been decided, please invite everyone to dinner on the 15th, please you and your husband must go." ”

Li Lanlan was stunned, and when she returned home, she covered her head with her hands and wailed: "Have they really found a new sponsor? I have been abandoned? Oh my God! Do you really not take my Li family's God of Wealth in your eyes?"