Chapter 43 Awarding of Medals and Prizes

First place: Xue Jianwei, former laundry worker, now working at the ceramics workshop, and recently promoted to team leader.

Her article is a narrative, recounting how she was almost cannibalized by her tribe a year ago due to a drought. Her parents abandoned her, but a goddess sent food to save her. She deeply felt that her life was a gift from the goddess and resolved to follow her for the rest of her life.

She asked someone to change her name and signed up to work in the laundry, where she worked hard alongside a group of aunts, sisters, and cousins ​​to wash clothes and blankets for the soldiers.

In the first month of the lunar calendar, a new ceramics workshop was built in Anling County. She mustered up her courage and asked Xue Guizhi if she could give it a try, which Xue Guizhi encouraged her. She passed the interview and entered the ceramics workshop. She worked diligently and, when given the opportunity to learn, worked from dawn till dusk, sleeping only two hours a day.

Her efforts paid off; because she did a good job and studied well, she became the group leader.

Not long ago, he even started his own household.

Xue Jianwei wrote: "Why do we study? I study to improve my abilities so that I can become a useful person to the goddess in the future!"

"...I learned from the book to maintain a calm mindset no matter what difficulties I encounter, to prepare in advance for my work, and to make more beautiful porcelain. This enabled me to calmly solve problems when I encountered unexpected situations, which earned me the recognition of the workshop owner and my colleagues, and also strengthened my determination to read more books."

"...I only wish that all the poor people in the world could improve themselves through reading, break free from the double cage of body and mind, find suitable work, and live a better life with their own hands."

Second place: Chen Yu, a villager from Lizigou Village, Heba Township, Yunhe County.

He had received an education in his youth, but his family fell into poverty and suffered from drought and war, making survival a problem. However, thanks to the goddess, he was given the opportunity to study again.

In his book "Why We Read," he wrote: "Originally, I thought that reading was for becoming an official, or for serving as an advisor to high-ranking officials and nobles. But in the past year, Goddess has made me realize that reading can also help us cultivate good land."

"What kind of soil is suitable for growing cabbage, and what kind of soil is suitable for growing tomatoes? What kind of crops need more watering, and what kind of crops need more fertilizer? What kind of grains and vegetables are suitable for growing in each season of spring, summer, autumn and winter? This knowledge should not only be passed down by word of mouth among villagers, but can be written in books so that everyone can learn it."

"It doesn't mean that being a villager means you don't need to study. If you want to grow crops well and make money through farming, you should study more."

Fang Qin and Xiang Yuesheng stood in front of the bulletin board, reading the award-winning article selected by the goddess.

Fang Qin smiled and asked Xiang Yuesheng, "What do you think?"

Xiang Yuesheng glanced at him and said, "If you don't want to laugh, then don't."

Fang Qin immediately wiped the smile off his face, his expression turning blank. His eyes held a hint of envy, and he said softly, "I'm still a little sad that the goddess didn't choose me."

Xiang Yuesheng's face fell. "Who isn't?"

The two looked at each other's grumpy faces and couldn't help but laugh again.

Xiang Yuesheng glanced sourly at the articles on the bulletin board and said, "Judging solely by the writing, Zhu Youchuan's article is definitely the best; his literary talent is undeniably top-notch. But the Goddess chose Xue Jianwei as the champion because she considers more than just literary talent."

“Writing is not just about literary talent.” Fang Qin quickly read Xue Jianwei’s article again and sighed inwardly. He said in a deep voice, “Xue Jianwei moves people with emotion. Her article seems to be about herself, but in fact it is about the countless people who have been saved by the goddess in the past year. She extends her feelings to others from her own experience and sees the big picture from the small.”

Xiang Yuesheng: "..."

He gazed at the words that moved from despair to hope, from dire straits to rebirth, which truly reflected the lives of countless people in Yunhe.

Xue Jianwei wrote that individuals should improve themselves through reading, become better, and do their jobs well.

Chen Yu called on farmers to read more books so that they could improve their farming skills.

They also expressed their gratitude and support for the goddess in their articles.

Xiang Yuesheng nodded, "The same applies to the three articles that won the third prize."

Why do we read?

In order to better cultivate the land, to better fight battles, and to better build our Anling County.

In order to become someone useful to the goddess.

Because of his past empiricism, his writing was not as moving as the articles written by these award winners.

“We’ve decided to compile the top fifty articles into a book, print it, and distribute it to various states,” a male voice suddenly came from beside me.

Fang Qin and Xiang Yuesheng were startled. They looked in the direction of the voice and saw that the speaker was a teacher surnamed Zhang from Qinglan Academy, who was smiling at them.

Master Zhang blinked. “Our dean said that this is also a form of publicity. First, it lets the world know about the good deeds of our goddess, and second, it lets scholars know that our printing house can help them publish their masterpieces.”

Xiang Yuesheng never expected such a surprise. He asked, "Did you plan to do this from the very beginning?"

Master Zhang replied, "Yes, the essay contest is not just to see everyone's writing skills."

He continued, "Our dean said that before selling the books, we will sign contracts with you all and pay you a fee. Neither of you has any objections, right?"

Fang Qin's lips twitched upon hearing this.

Just then, the three of them heard the voices of a group of children nearby.

"Wow, class monitor, you actually beat tens of thousands of adults and won third prize!"

"Squad leader, you're amazing!"

"Yes, yes, look, neither of the two strategists from the military camp made the list!"

"The class monitor is amazing!"

Surrounded by his classmates, the boy tried to suppress the smile on his face and said modestly, "I was just lucky. This competition was about writing. If it were a math competition, Ji Yuanheng would have won instead of me."

Xiang Yuesheng glanced at the list of award winners and asked Master Zhang, "Is this a student from your academy?"

Master Zhang nodded, his tone full of pride, "He is one of the most outstanding children among the first batch of students at our Qinglan Academy."

Fang Qin looked at the children and thought to himself, "This is the future of Anling County."

After these people grow old, their children will carry on their unfinished work.

After the list of winners was announced, some people were looking forward to the goddess presenting the prizes.

Although I can't win it myself, four of the six winners are from Anling County, so everyone can see what the artifact looks like.

He Qinglan did not disappoint them, and soon handed the gold, silver, and bronze medals, along with their respective prizes, to the winners.

Zhou Ci from the Publicity Department was immediately surrounded by people from the Ministry of Finance.

The group surrounded him like bandits, pleading with him to sell them the calculator.

Zhou Ci tucked the calculator into his pocket and firmly refused, "No!"

No matter what kind of nice things the people from the Ministry of Finance said or what good things they promised, he refused.

Please, this is a divine artifact bestowed by a goddess, and he intends to pass it down as a family heirloom!

Gu Lanying arrived with the rest of the propaganda department and drove the people from the Ministry of Finance out.

Gu Lanying stood at the entrance of the propaganda department and sneered, "If you harass Zhou Ci again, I will take people to your Ministry of Finance to talk to Yun Youning about Zhou Ci's compensation for mental distress." She had heard the term "compensation for mental distress" from Zhu Youchuan.

Everyone: "..." They immediately scattered in a swarm.

Zhou Ci grabbed Gu Lanying's sleeve, deeply moved, "Sister Gu, thanks to you, otherwise I wouldn't know what to do."

Gu Lanying slowly turned her head, her voice rising at the end: "You don't know what to do?"

As someone from our publicity department, you actually say you don't know what to do when faced with such a small problem?

Zhou Ci suddenly had a bad feeling, "Uh..."

Qinglan Academy.

Liang Xingqi was surrounded by layers of classmates, all eager to see what kind of magical calculator it was.

Liang Xingqi raised his arms and shouted, "Quiet!"

The students actually quieted down, their eyes fixed intently on Liang Xingqi.

Liang Xingqi immediately ran to the front of the classroom, held up the calculator, and demonstrated it to everyone.

He stamped them one by one.

The electronic female voice announced the numbers:

"19 plus 34 equals 53".

"9876 plus 4567 equals 14443".

"4561 minus 1234 equals 3327".

...

As the electronic voice announced the equations and answers, the students looked at Ji Yuanheng, the best math student in their class, in astonishment.

The girl, who looked intelligent, looked up at the abacus, nodded affirmatively to everyone, and said, "The answer is correct."

They became even more excited, "You can calculate four-digit numbers, can you calculate five-digit numbers?"

Ji Yuanheng also asked, "Can multiplication and division be calculated?"

Liang Xingqi said, "I'll give it a try."

Ji Yuanheng quickly recited the numbers, "Try multiplying 111 by 222, and dividing 4321 by 1234?"

Upon hearing this, Liang Xingqi looked at her, and after their eyes met, Ji Yuanheng nodded affirmatively.

Liang Xingqi: Okay.

The calculator quickly gave the answer:

"24642".

“3.501620745…”

Ji Yuanheng gaped in astonishment: My God! It really can be calculated!

The students were stunned at first, then cheers nearly lifted the entire classroom off its feet.

Ceramics workshop.

Xue Jianwei and her colleagues stared at the green bicycle with surprise.

They walked around the bicycle.

It has two large black wheels.

It doesn't need horses or oxen to pull the cart.

but……

"Can you just ride it and go?"

"Should...should I?"

“The goddess said that there is no need to use livestock; people can just ride on them and move forward.”

"But the goddess also said that many people learn to ride a bicycle by falling. She encouraged us to be patient and not be afraid of falling."

"Are you afraid of falling, Jianwei?"

Bathed in the worried, curious, and expectant gazes of her colleagues, Xue Jianwei gritted her teeth and said, "I'll give it a try!"

"ah?"

"You...you be careful."

Xue Jianwei helped herself onto the bicycle and said, "It's okay, this bike is only this high, even if I fall, it won't hurt much."

She straddled the bicycle with her legs apart.

Hold the handles with both hands.

Step on the pedal.

Xue Jianwei lost his balance and fell to the ground along with the car.

Xue Jianwei: "..."

It hurts!

-----------------------

Author's note: I was afraid of falling when I was little, so I never learned to ride a bicycle _(:з」∠)_