Chapter 82 Training Camp
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The peach trees outside the window rustled in the evening breeze, and the bright moonlight shone through the window onto the eaves. After returning from her walk after dinner, She Ning sat down at her desk.
The soft, warm light from the incandescent bulbs shone on the newly made table, making the varnish on the surface gleam.
The solid wood table is sturdy and heavy, and it is paired with a chair made of the same material. The height of the two is just right, so you won't feel tired even if you sit for a long time. She Hongmei specially asked a carpenter in town to make this new table and chair.
The design of She Ning was inspired by foldable desks from later generations. When reading and writing, some panels are folded, and when practicing calligraphy or painting, they can be unfolded into a large desktop.
Above the desk is a standard bookshelf, and in the empty space between the desktop and the bookshelf, She Ningrang placed a wooden pegboard, which can be used to hang small items such as keys and chains.
This was the first time the carpenter had made a pegboard like this. It took a while to make, and they communicated several times during the process. However, the final product was very good, and both She Ning and the carpenter were very satisfied.
In addition to the desk, She Hongmei also asked a carpenter to make a bed. The blueprints were provided by She Ning. The three of them are now sharing a room. She Ning and She Ni have grown quite a bit recently, so it's a bit cramped to sleep on one bed.
She Ning provided a bunk bed design that is quite common in later generations. The steps leading to the second bunk were made into storage drawers, and the space under the bed was also utilized by making a three-drawer pull-out bed. It could be pulled out when sleeping and pushed under the bed when getting up.
It achieves the perfect solution, saving space with minimal storage and even providing an extra bed – a true blessing for small apartments.
Sensing the business opportunity in these desks and beds, the carpenter immediately decided to collaborate with them. She had a small furniture workshop in town, and with these designs, she believed her workshop would definitely grow bigger and bigger.
She could certainly make these furniture pieces herself and sell them, but she also understood that killing the goose that lays the golden eggs was not a good idea. These designs were not difficult to make, and anyone in the know could make them at a glance. What they lacked was innovation, and the She family could be a source of new ideas. Therefore, she had to sincerely tie herself and the She family to the same boat.
Unexpectedly, making furniture could bring such a windfall. She Ning tugged at She Hongmei's sleeve, and She Hongmei instantly understood what she meant. Then she sat down and discussed the contract with the carpenter.
In the end, She Ning and her team not only didn't have to pay for the furniture, but also received a substantial bonus.
She Hongmei ordered two sets of these desks, one large and one small, with identical styles, materials, and colors for the desks and chairs.
The set that She Ni has is basically a miniature version of the one that She Ning has, and it's currently placed right next to She Ning's desk.
At this moment, she was also reading a book. She was small, but she sat upright in the chair with a serious attitude.
She Ning carefully arranged the materials she had brought back from Director Xia, and then randomly picked one out to start working on the questions.
Today, in the academic affairs office, after Director Xia finished talking about the math Olympiad training camp, the system issued a blind box task. The task required She Ning to participate in the training camp and win first place. After successfully completing the task, the system would reward her with one chance to draw a blind box.
In fact, even without the system issuing tasks, She Ning would still participate in the training camp and do her best to strive for first place.
For her now, blind box rewards are just icing on the cake; if they're there, great, but if they aren't, she'll still try her best to get what she wants.
After finishing a set of test papers and tidying up her desk, She Ning spread out paper, ground ink, and began her daily calligraphy practice without fail.
In my previous life, I envied others who had beautiful handwriting, but for various reasons, I never started practicing calligraphy.
In this life, She Ning studied diligently and practiced calligraphy every day. Her characters changed from being round and weak to being angular and shapely with turns and twists.
She is currently practicing calligraphy by brush, copying Wang Xizhi's "Huang Ting Jing", and pen calligraphy, practicing Ouyang Xun's "Jiu Cheng Gong". She alternates between the two, and neither gets tired nor sleepy.
She Ning turned to the page of the *Huang Ting Jing* to be copied, fixed it in place, and then began to copy it.
Sitting upright at her desk, her back was straight, her eyes focused, and the pen moved across the paper with a calm and determined air.
Immersed in practicing calligraphy, She Ning felt the whole world quiet down, and all she could hear was the soft rustling sound of the pen tip rubbing against the paper.
She Ni followed her older sister's example. Although her hand holding the pen was still a little immature, her eyes were focused and serious, and she wrote each stroke with care.
With the last stroke completed, She Ning gently put down her brush, rubbed her wrist, and then wrote another set of characters with a pen.
After finishing her calligraphy practice, She Ning stretched, feeling slightly tired, and turned to look at She Ni beside her.
The little one's eyelids were already drooping, and her little head was nodding off like a chicken pecking at rice, but she still forced herself to keep writing.
She patted her shoulder gently and said with a soft laugh, "Nini, it's time to go to sleep. We have to get up early tomorrow."
She Ni rubbed her eyes, reluctantly putting down her pen. She muttered softly, "Sister, isn't my handwriting much better today than yesterday?"
She gestured with her little hands, her eyes full of anticipation.
She Ning's gaze fell on her calligraphy practice book. Although the characters were still somewhat immature, they were sharp and distinct, and were about six or seven parts similar to the characters she had copied.
"You've made great progress! Keep it up, and you'll soon be able to write even more beautiful characters." She Ning never hesitated to praise, giving a thumbs up and nodding vigorously in admiration.
As soon as She Ning finished speaking, She Ni laughed happily, her eyes crinkling with joy. She raised her hand at She Ning and said, "I will continue to work hard, sister, let's cheer each other on!"
After She Ning gave her a high five last time, Xiao She Ni understood what it meant, and she would often high-five everyone to share her happiness.
"Let's work together." She Ning smiled and clapped her hand.
After escorting She Ni to her upper bunk, tucking her blanket in, and drawing the curtains, She Ning returned to her desk, her gaze falling on the documents on it.
August 12th, G Province.
As soon as the train arrived at the station and the carriage door opened, a wave of heat hit us, almost melting us.
Their station is not the final stop; people get on or transfer along the way. The train stops for a short time, and they are afraid of missing their train or getting off.
The rule of letting people get off first and then getting on is no longer valid. Even if the inspector blows his whistle loudly, it can't stop everyone from scrambling to get on or off the bus.
With her backpack slung across her chest, She Ning, holding Wang Weiwei in one hand and Lin Qian in the other, struggled to pull them off the train.
"This scene was terrifying, Aning. Luckily you were here, otherwise we really wouldn't have been able to get off the train." Looking at the still crowded train carriage door, Wang Weiwei patted her chest and said with lingering fear.
"It was truly terrifying." Lin Qian looked at the crowded station, her eyes still showing some lingering panic. It was her first time traveling far from home, and the first time she had encountered such a situation.
If She Ning hadn't held her tightly, she would have been pushed into a corner of the carriage.
She Ning attended university in G province in her previous life. Compared to the infamous Line 3 of Death in her later life, this scene was really nothing.
After all, on the Death Line 3, you can experience things like automatically boarding the train, having your belongings randomly pushed out, being unable to get off once you're standing, and being unable to get on once you're standing.
"Get ready, we're leaving the station." Seeing Wang Weiwei and Lin Qian with their hair and clothes all messed up from being jostled around, She Ning knew her own appearance wouldn't be much better.
She found a quiet spot in the station, tidied her clothes in front of the window mirror, untangled her messy braids, braided them again, put on her sun-protective jacket, and then led Wang Weiwei and the others out under an umbrella.
She Ning is the most experienced among the three of them, so even though she is the youngest, everyone agrees on why she should lead the team.
G province is a pioneering city of reform and opening up, with rapid development and a large floating population. After getting off the train, you can clearly see many people carrying snakeskin bags passing by. At the entrance of the train station, you can see vendors setting up stalls everywhere, as well as people holding signs to recruit workers, and people calling out for accommodation and transportation.
Compared to Kapok City, this place is significantly more prosperous. You can see cars on the street from time to time, and people are dressed in brighter and more fashionable colors.
Wang Weiwei also saw blonde, blue-eyed foreigners. Surprisingly, she could understand what they were saying despite her broken foreign language skills. She looked at She Ning with excitement and delight.
Thanks to Aning for her selfless teaching and practice, otherwise her English grades and speaking level would definitely only be able to reach those three sentences.
Hello, thank you, sorry
She Ning looked at Wang Weiwei, who was looking surprised, with amusement. Wang Weiwei's eyes were fixed on the direction of the foreign friend, and she looked like she wanted to go up and say a few words in English.
Lin Qian looked up at the sky, not wanting to see her pathetic state at all.
"Wow, I really want to be like that girl." Wang Weiwei looked ahead with envy.
The girl accompanying the foreign friend spoke fluent foreign language, and they had no communication problems at all, chatting and laughing all the way.
"How hard do I have to work to reach that level?" she muttered to herself.
"Read more, listen more, practice more. There are no other shortcuts." Lin Qian looked away, pinched her still slightly chubby cheeks, and said.
Wang Weiwei covered her face and nodded, her gaze still following the direction of the departing foreign friend.
"Let's go, there won't be any more buses to school soon." After leaving them and heading to the bus stop on the side, She Ning carefully observed the information on the bus stop sign and noticed that the next bus was about to depart. She walked back to remind them.
The math Olympiad training camp lasted for a week. They didn't bring much luggage, just a backpack each. Following She Ning's example, they held their backpacks tightly to their chests as they squeezed onto the bus.
"Hello, are you junior sisters from Xiahe Middle School in Mumian City?" After getting off the bus, before they could even get a good look at their surroundings, She Ning and her group were stopped by someone.
When She Ning and the others turned around, they saw that the person who had called out to them was a tall girl with a high ponytail, wearing a light-colored sweatshirt, who looked a few years older than them.
Under the watchful eyes of She Ning and the others, the girl stepped forward with a smile in her eyes and introduced herself, "I am Wang Xinyi. Professor Li asked me to come and pick you up."
“Hello, Senior Sister Wang, I am…” She Ning was about to introduce herself when Wang Xinyi interrupted her. She winked at She Ning and said playfully, “Professor Li introduced you to me. Let me guess first. If I’m wrong, please correct me.”
Wang Weiwei loved this kind of activity the most. She was the first to agree and said to Wang Xinyi, "Senior Sister Wang, guess who I am?"
Wang Xinyi's gaze lingered on Wang Weiwei for a moment.
"Hmm..." she deliberately drew out her words, pretending to be thinking seriously, "You're Weiwei, right?"
"Oh right! Wow, you're amazing!" Wang Weiwei exclaimed.
"Haha, so-so. This one is Lin Qian, right?" Wang Xinyi pointed at Lin Qian, her eyes filled with confidence.
Lin Qian, who was standing to the side, was taken aback for a moment, then nodded. She was somewhat surprised by Wang Xinyi's keen insight.
Wang Xinyi looked at She Ning one last time, a mischievous glint in her eyes: "There's no doubt about it, you are She Ning."
She Ning smiled and nodded, "Senior sister is amazing!"
"Haha, it seems Professor Li's introduction was very detailed. However, your demeanor is also quite distinctive, making you easy to recognize." Having guessed all of them correctly, Wang Xinyi clapped her hands and smiled with satisfaction.
"Senior sister, you're amazing!" Wang Weiwei couldn't help but exclaim. "We thought we were going to have to introduce ourselves one by one."
Wang Xinyi waved her hand modestly and said, "Not at all, Professor Li spoke highly of you, saying you are all excellent students. I wouldn't dare to underestimate you."
Upon hearing this, She Ning and the others smiled sheepishly.
Professor Li, you flatter me. There are always people more capable than you, and they are unworthy of such high praise.
Looking at the sky, Wang Xinyi turned to them and said, "It's getting late, and you must be tired from your journey. I'll take you to the dormitory to rest."
After saying that, she turned around and led the way forward, with She Ning and the others following closely behind.
The dormitory was located on the west side of the school, with four people living in each room. When they arrived, the rooms were already occupied.
"Hi everyone." In the dormitory, a girl sitting at her desk reading a book heard the door open, looked up and greeted them in a soft voice.
Wearing silver glasses, the girl was fair-skinned and clean-cut, giving the first impression of a well-behaved and gentle girl.
After introducing themselves, She Ning and the others learned that Jing Xinxin was a local, a high school sophomore, and a student at the provincial No. 1 High School.
Fifteen students from their school came to the training camp this time. Because it wasn't far away, they arrived early in the morning.
"Xin Xin, let's go out to eat, do you want to come?" There was a knock on the slightly ajar door of the dormitory.
Jing Xinxin's classmate stood outside the door and asked.
"Do you want to come together?" Inside the dormitory, Jing Xinxin looked at She Ning and the others with bright eyes and invited them.
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