However, it seemed that some of those around him were students who went to Zhou Xiang's house for tutoring. Ji Bin, with his poor grades, was able to enter the finals. This made him more confident that Zhou Xiang would become Professor Chu's disciple. His father's vision was good after all!

The day of the finals passed quickly. Only 15 people were left from the three grades of No. 1 Middle School. Zhou Xiang's small group, Ping Zhengping and Dai Dong from Class 1 were all in the top 10, and Liu Zhongfan missed the provincial competition.

Dai Dong breathed a sigh of relief. He finally passed the test on the tenth place line. It was worth it that he had spent the whole night reading textbooks in bed with a flashlight.

After reading the rankings and waiting for everyone to discuss for a while, Ran Qiming continued: "The city competition is divided by grade, and the provincial competition is combined together, because the national competition is called the junior high school knowledge competition, which is not divided by grade.

Therefore, first-year junior high students entering the provincial competition should work hard. If you lack confidence and decide to withdraw from the competition, you must inform the school in advance and not back out at the last minute."

Zhou Hua and Zuo Heng looked normal, but another student in the first grade did not look well.

In the evening, Zhou wanted to pack his things in advance. The city and provincial competitions were just qualifiers for the national competition, and there would be no award ceremony, so he had to go back to school after breakfast tomorrow.

Xiao Chunmei was packing her things, but suddenly put them down and sat down on the bed. "Zhou Xiang, do you think Zhou Hua, Zuo Heng, and I can make it to the national competition? After watching this competition, I've lost all my confidence."

Zhou Xiang didn't even raise his head. "What are you thinking about? Don't I have you here? If you can't make it in, just ask for leave and follow me! Your ultimate goal isn't to win a prize."

Xiao Chunmei was only happy for a moment when she heard this, but then she became worried. "What about Zhou Hua and Zuo Heng?"

This time, Zhou Xiang put down what he was holding and sat next to her. "You actually want to ask about my third brother, right?"

Xiao Chunmei's pretty face turned slightly red, "I..."

Zhou wanted to interrupt her, "Don't explain. Explanation is covering up, and covering up is telling stories. I'm telling you, it was because you wanted to see the blind lady that my third brother decided to participate in the competition. Understand?"

Zhou Xiang dropped the bomb, knocking Xiao Chunmei unconscious, and then continued to pack up his things.

Xiao Chunmei felt her heart skip a beat, and there was only one sentence in her ears: It's because of you, it's because of you, it's because of you.

Zhou Hua works so hard just because she is going to participate in the competition and you want to accompany her?

Thinking of this, her heart started beating wildly. She stroked her chest. It turned out that Zhou Hua had done so much for her, not only taking care of her on a daily basis, but also this kind of silent dedication.

Maybe Zhou Xiang was right. Love does not have to be passionate. Ordinary people just need a simple happiness, just like now, she feels a little sweetness and happiness.

Zhou Xiang squinted his eyes and saw Xiao Baitu sitting there with a silly smile on his face. He quickly lowered his head to hide his smile. Third sister-in-law, you're not running away.

As soon as I returned to Huai County, I started studying intensively again and didn't even have time to go back to Lianxu Town.

"Dad, when you go back on Sunday, please see if the cotton fluffer has delivered 4 kilograms of quilts and mattress pads to our house. I've already made an appointment with him. The weather is getting warmer, and the quilts are too thick for winter."

"Is it okay if I don't help with the cooking?"

"If you can, take your brother back."

"good!"

Among all the students, Zhou Hua had the hardest time studying. Zhou wanted him to focus on mathematics, but he didn't have enough time for Chinese because he needed reading comprehension and memorization.

Zhou Hua agreed. Majoring in mathematics also requires a lot of effort. Xiao Chunmei felt sorry for him when she saw him memorizing a large number of formulas and doing a large number of questions every time.

Every time she looked at Zhou Hua, he looked back at her with his warm eyes, making her heart beat like a deer and lower her head in panic.

Zhou Hua smiled gently. His sister had already told him, so he was not in a hurry to confess his feelings because they were still young.

This time, it was Zhou's mother who came back. Zhou Xiang was very surprised, "Mom, why are you here?"

"I'll cook for you. Your dad said you guys are studying really hard for the national competition. I'm worried about him because he doesn't know how to make soup."

"That's fine! Make us some nourishing soup and put a piece or two of dried fruit in it."

"good!"

"By the way, is the thin quilt ready?"

"It's done. I sent it over a long time ago. I also sewed it with bean curd cloth. Don't worry! Don't worry about the housework."

The large group of people still came on Sundays, and Xiao Chunmei's small meal was still prepared every noon. Zhou wanted to give both of them well water and dried fruits.

Although Zhou Hua had a hard time, he would smile happily every time he received the soup that Xiao Chunmei personally served him.

On the morning of May 19, Zhou Xiang and his team set out on their provincial competition trip again.

Ever since her little daughter left, Zhou's mother has been restless. Only 80 people were selected from the three counties and one city, and only 22 students from the three middle schools in Huai County participated in the competition. Her little daughter's team wanted to enter the national competition, and she felt it was very difficult.

In order to participate in the competition, her youngest son is only in the first grade of junior high school, and he has to study with the second and third graders. She feels distressed when she sees this every day.

I didn't feel like going back to the market town, so I waited at home with my eldest son every day.

At noon on the 23rd, Zhou's mother cooked a lot of food. She was waiting, thinking that her little girl should come back, perhaps bringing the children with her.

There was a noisy sound coming from far away. Mother Zhou put down the work in her hands, opened the gate, and saw her little girl holding a snakeskin bag in both hands, followed by several children who were taking tutoring classes.

"Mom, we're back."

Mother Zhou smiled brightly, "Are you all back? Come in quickly, we'll have dinner soon."

Zhou Niao came out of the main room and took the bag from his sister. "Sister, brother, you are finally back?"

"Brother? Today is Monday, why didn't you go to Teacher Mao's house?" Zhou Xiang felt strange.

"I was worried about my mother being alone at home, so I didn't go there for the past few days."

"What's wrong, Mom?" Zhou Xiang looked at his mother worriedly.

Mother Zhou shook her head. "I'm fine. I'm just worried about your competition. Your eldest brother is worried about you being so careless."

Zhou Xiang pulled his mother's arm and walked into the house. "You're too nervous. I never saw you this nervous during the competitions in elementary school before."

"How can it be the same? You are now under the pressure of a group of people!"

Zhou Xiang pushed his mother to sit on the stool, "Same, you think too much."

When Zhou's mother heard this, she smiled and said, "So, you all made it to the national competition?"

"I'm going to cook. Let my third brother and the others tell you." Zhou wanted to take off his mother's apron and tie it on himself.

Xiao Chunmei followed her and said, "I'll go help."

Zhang Ning and Li Li also wanted to help, but Zhou Xiang waved his hand and said, "We don't need too many people. My mom must have done it almost done."

Zhang Ning and Li Li had no choice but to go back to the main room, where Ji Bin had already started his speech. Zhang Ning and Li Li shook their heads helplessly and sat down as far away from Ji Bin as possible.

Ji Bin told the story of the three-day competition like a storyteller, and in the end he had one central idea: except for Xue Zhendong and Wang Shaoming, everyone entered the national competition.

Mother Zhou looked at Xue Zhendong and Wang Shaoming distressedly and said, "Don't be discouraged, come back next year."