Chapter 43: Second Olympic
These days, the only way to send letters or items is through the post office. Due to inconvenient transportation, the speed is very slow, and the longer the distance, the slower the mailing. It can take two or three months to send from the northernmost to the southernmost part of Ye Country, and even nearly half a year if it is slow.
Fortunately, Wangjiagou is very close to Yanjing City, and Yanjing is the capital of Ye State. It only took more than ten days for Ye Yu and Han Jing's letters to be sent back home, which is considered fast.
Because the city is flatter than the mountain roads, letters will not be kept in the post office for too long. Every day there are special postmen. They wear blue uniforms, five-pointed star hats, carry five-pointed star cross-body bags, ride 28-bar bicycles, and deliver letters or items to every household.
"Ye Hongjun, Wang Laidi, Ye Hongjun and Wang Laidi of 33 Maoer Hutong, there's a letter for you."
If no one is at home, the postman will confirm the address and name, and then leave the letter with the old man or woman, who will then pass it on.
This does have the potential to cause discredit, but to become the leader of a hutong compound, one's basic character must have been tested and observed. If such behavior is discovered, it is considered a very serious problem of deception and will be severely punished, so the possibility of losing trust is not high.
Today is the weekend, so there is no need to trouble the uncle and aunt. Ye Baoguo and Ye Weiguo did not go to school.
When Ye Weiguo heard someone calling his parents' names, he ran out of the yard, shouting, "Here I am, here I am, I am Ye Hongjun and Wang Laidi's son."
Seeing that he was half his age, the postman didn't dare to give the letter directly to him. After all, it was possible to send wages or large sums of cash by mail in this era.
Only when Ye Baoguo came out and an old man and an old woman pointed out the matter in person did Ye Weiguo finally get a letter and half a fertilizer bag.
"The sender is Ye Yu. Is this letter sent back by my third sister?" Ye Weiguo asked in surprise.
When Ye Yu was at home, Ye Weiguo always argued with her, but after Ye Yu left, he was the one who cared about her the most and asked her eight hundred questions every day.
Even Ye Hongjun and Wang Lai Di were a little curious about how the relationship between the two siblings was so good. After Ye Xing and Ye Lan got married, they didn't see Ye Weiguo like this.
"Um."
Ye Baoguo responded.
"Your third sister is living well in the countryside. It hasn't been long since she sent home large and small packages. She's quite capable." The old man next to her couldn't stop praising her.
This year, batches of educated youth went to the countryside. I only heard about families raising children sending things to the countryside, or rural children sending telegrams or letters to their families to complain about wanting to return to the city. The Educated Youth Office received requests and complaints from these parents every day. Later, they had to ask people from the G Committee to go there before they could get some peace.
This is the first time I've sent something back. It's so rare.
Ye Baoguo is an introvert and not very talkative, so he didn't know what to say when he heard this.
Ye Weiguo didn't understand the ways of the world at all. He was just curious about what was in the fertilizer bag. He picked it up with both hands and weighed it. It was quite heavy.
"I'll take it back first." He ran in with the bag of fertilizer.
"Be careful, don't fall." Before Ye Baoguo could finish his words, Ye Weiguo had already disappeared. He smiled at the old man and the others and chased after them, "Wait a minute."
"Haha, Weiguo's feet are very powerful." The old man said happily again.
The aunt nodded and praised: "No wonder he's only this young, and the coaches from the Sports Bureau see him as a promising athlete and invite him to participate in some international competition to win glory for the country!"
Living in the same alley is like this. If something new happens in the morning, the whole machinery factory staff compound will know about it by the afternoon, and it may even spread to the factory.
The recent news in the Ye family is related to Ye Weiguo.
It’s a long story.
First of all, perhaps because the Ye family has good genes, Ye Yu himself has a high level of understanding of martial arts, and he gave Ye Weiguo some guidance on the correct and scientific training. The most important thing is that this little guy is not only talented, but also very self-disciplined in order to achieve his goals, and he exercises diligently without supervision.
Besides, this year the Winter Olympics are being held in Örnsköldsvik, Sweden, but no one from Ye Country is participating, or rather, they are not allowed to participate for the time being.
The Olympic Games, referred to as the "Olympic Games", is the world's largest sports event hosted by the International Olympic Committee, in which athletes represent their countries.
This is not just a sports event, but also a competition and display of national strength.
Yeguo has also had a very bumpy journey in participating in the Olympics. It had the opportunity to participate before the founding of the People's Republic of China and also participated once in the 1950s after the founding of the People's Republic of China, but is currently not qualified.
Don’t you want to?
Just no say.
There will be another Summer Olympics in 1968, but Yeguo is still in a difficult period. The possibility of being recognized by the Olympic Committee is still small, and the possibility of participating is still very low.
So far, the most famous international sports competition that Yeguo can participate in is only the Table Tennis World Championships.
Regardless of whether it can participate in the Olympics, the country has gradually begun to pay attention to the sports department. The sports department has also ordered the recruitment and training of athletes across the country, especially table tennis players, to strive to achieve good results in the World Championships.
The Sports Commission is in Yanjing City, and their first target is of course the local primary and secondary schools in the city. Ye Weiguo, who has strong physical fitness, caught the coach's attention.
Of course, he's not the only one.
Moreover, they cannot join the team for training immediately. They still need to undergo multiple assessments before the final list can be decided.
But in the machinery factory’s staff quarters, Ye Weiguo had already joined.
What a promising future!
I heard that students who can enter the Sports Bureau for training can get a salary, which is almost the same as technical workers. I also heard that not only are food and accommodation provided, but they also receive training suits, shoes, rackets, etc. every month, and they may even win glory for the country in the future.
Lately, every household in the alley has been urging their sons and daughters to exercise morning and evening like Ye Weiguo—just running? They don't believe their children can't do it.
This is really a great thing.
Ye Baoguo was also envious. He was there when Ye Yu was teaching Ye Weiguo, and now he also got up to train with Ye Weiguo. To be honest, his physical strength has indeed improved, but whether he is running or stretching and frog jumps, he lacks a certain momentum.
Ye Weiguo couldn't see the envy of others. He was small but had a big heart. He was struggling with whether it was better to join the army or participate in competitions to win glory for the country.
Ye Hongjun and Wang Lai Di were afraid that he would miss this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, so they just coaxed him by saying that he could also serve as a soldier after joining the sports team. Sports students have a greater chance of being selected when they sign up for the army, and this is to win glory for the country. If he can get first place, it will definitely enhance the prestige of our country!
Ye Weiguo had not been actually selected yet, but he was already fantasizing about winning the first place and bringing honor to the country.
Agree to sign up for the exam.
When Ye Hongjun and Wang Laidie returned home, the first thing they asked was whether Ye Weiguo had been lazy and whether Ye Zhongguo had made any progress.
"Of course I won't be lazy!" Ye Weiguo answered loudly, "I'm much better than my brother."
He stabbed his brother again.
Depressed Ye Zhongguo: "..." He said sullenly, "Third sister sent something back."
"Sanya?"
Wang Lai Di was both surprised and delighted. She and Ye Hongjun read Ye Yu's letter over and over again. The content was really very simple. It started with a greeting, saying how everything was, what was being sent, and asking her to remember to bring some for Ye Xing but not for her two children, and then the signature.
The word count is around 100.
"It's not an express newspaper. She can get extra money for writing a few more words, right? She must be so lazy!" Wang Lai Di was both relieved and worried that Ye Yu could send them so many things even though she was in the countryside. She was relieved that she was doing well as she said, but she was worried about where all these good things came from. "That girl won't go down the mountain, will she?"
Ye Hongjun:
"Don't worry, Sanya knows her limits."
"What a bullshit! That girl has never known what propriety is since she was little. When she was little, she punched Big Niu's nose and made it bleed. Old lady Niu has been looking at me with squinting eyes all these years. She was about to become sensible enough in high school, but after she couldn't go to school, her temper changed again. She became an even bigger foodie than before. Didn't you see the way she looked at the braised pork? She was like a wolf cub." Wang Lai Di brought up the past.
The more I turned, the more worried I became: "'There are bamboo forests on the west mountain, mushrooms on the east mountain, and wild boars on the south mountain.' This is the saying in our Wangjiagou. There are wild boars in the south mountain, and not just wild boars, but also wolves, tigers, bears, and blind men. Could this guy have run off to the deep mountains and forests? No, I have to send the letter back to her tomorrow, and also send it to her grandmother to ask..."
Ye Hongjun couldn't help but worry. He had never seen Ye Yu staring at the braised pork with greed, but the three girls looked at all food with different eyes, and they might be fearless.
"Wild boar? Tiger! Wolf? Blind bear?" Ye Weiguo always listened to one thing and said, "Mom, I want to go to the countryside to catch wild boars, kill tigers, and chop up blind bears!"
At this time, Wang Lai Di, whose attention was attracted by Ye Yu's family letter, also smelled the smell of meat in Ye Weiguo and others' mouths. Meat was really too scarce in this era, and no matter how much she brushed her teeth and rinsed her mouth, it could not be completely covered up.
"Okay, you two are still stealing meat!"
After a while, the heart-wrenching cries of the brothers Ye Baoguo and Ye Weiguo were heard from the courtyard.
The neighbors, who had been smelling the aroma of meat for quite some time, could no longer resist and smiled with satisfaction.
Tsk tsk tsk, the Ye family hasn't beaten their children in how many years. Ye Baoguo is a teenager and almost married, but he plays around with children. So what if Ye Weiguo is good at sports? He is disobedient and will become a reckless man in the future.
Ye Yu had indeed chosen a good place to go to the countryside. Remember it was Wang Lai Di's parents' home? There are so many good things in the countryside. This daughter was not raised in vain. She knows how to think about her parents' home. But whoever marries a woman like this will probably be unlucky for her in-laws.
"Mom, I want to eat meat too."
"What are you eating?! You're not as good as them. You can't even run so badly!"
There is a well-known Chinese idiom: "Beat the children on a rainy day - you are idle anyway."
No, it's not raining, it's snowing. The first snow of the year in Beijing came silently. The snow got heavier and heavier, from light snowflakes to heavy snow. In less than an hour, the sky and the earth were covered in silver.
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