"It's you. Remember to let your hair down before going to bed. Sleeping with your hair tied up will make your scalp too tight and block blood circulation." Ning Tang patted her little butt, "Good boy, tomorrow's talent? Let's perform."

Erniu pouted and said, "Okay."

Ning Tang took a piece of blue cloth and said, "Xin Lan, make me a blue bow tie."

"One? You have to make two." If you only give one to the eldest child and not to the third one, there will probably be trouble.

Ning Tang: "It's not for the two of them, it's for Da Hu. Da Wa said that during the performance, he and Da Hu will stand next to each other, one with a red bow tie and the other with a blue bow tie, so they can match each other."

Zeng Xinlan smiled and said, "Okay, I'll make one now."

In the evening, when Shen Lie came back, he saw the newly dressed young lady and two naughty boys wearing red bow ties. "Oh, it's time to upgrade your guns."

The eldest child's mouth twitched, "Dad, can you speak?"

Shen Lie: "No, come here and teach me."

The eldest child made a face at them, "Dad, I'm not a child anymore. It's not that easy for you to fool me." He patted the third child, "You're almost the best at fooling the third child."

Sanwa puffed up his cheeks and said, "Brother!"

On the morning of June 1st, the three little ones got up early.

Ning Tang was woken up by the three of them: "Why are you getting up so early? Doesn't the school anniversary party start at 7 o'clock in the evening? By the way, what time are you going to school?"

The eldest child said, "We are so excited that we can't sleep."

Erniu said, "Let's gather at school at 4pm."

"Four o'clock?" Shen Lie said, "Then let's have dinner earlier today, at half past three."

Ning Tang said, "Eat at 3:30. You'll be hungry by then. Erniu is lucky. She's the first one in her class to perform. She can still eat after the performance. Dawei and Sanwa are unlucky. One is in the middle of the show and the other is at the end. How long will they be hungry?"

The eldest child had a sad face, "Then I'll put some snacks in my pocket and eat them when I'm hungry."

"Eating snacks will only make you hungrier." Ning Tang said, "How about this, I'll make you some rice balls this afternoon. You can take them to school and eat them when you're hungry."

"What is a rice ball?" asked Sanwa.

"It's rice stuffed with braised pork, or dried beans, eggplant, and radish, and rolled into a ball. It's called a rice ball," Ning Tang explained to him.

However, once such rice balls are taken out, the aroma is so fragrant that it will tempt a group of children.

By that time, everyone will be staring at the eldest, second and third kids eating rice balls and drooling. How will they have time to perform?

Ning Tang simply said, "But today I plan to make another kind of rice balls for you, seaweed sesame rice balls."

Sprinkle the white rice with finely chopped seaweed flakes, then sprinkle with some roasted white sesame seeds, mix well, and the seaweed sesame rice balls will look inconspicuous, taste good, fill your stomach, and won’t get cold.

After a simple lunch at noon, the three little ones were not interested in the meal, but in the school anniversary party.

At three o'clock in the afternoon, Ningtang started making seaweed sesame rice balls.

Cook a pot of dry rice, and when it is almost cool, scoop a spoonful of rice into a bowl, sprinkle with chopped seaweed first, then sprinkle with white sesame seeds, stir evenly, and roll into a ball.

Ningtang makes each seaweed sesame rice ball into the size of a ping-pong ball.

If it's too big, I'm afraid I'll choke. If it's too small, I'm afraid I won't be full. This one is just the right size, I can eat one in one bite.

After it was done, Ning Tang asked the three little ones to taste one each, "Try and see if it tastes good."

Erniu took a bite. The crispy seaweed, the fragrant sesame, and the soft rice mixed together were especially delicious. She couldn't help but finish it in a few bites and reached out, "Mom, I want more."

The first and third children said the same thing, "It's delicious. I want another one."

Ning Tang gave each of the three of them one, "Just eat one more, I'll put it in an aluminum lunch box later, you can take it to school and eat it when you're hungry."

It was almost four o'clock, Ningtang quickly speeded up and stuffed the seaweed sesame rice balls into the aluminum lunch box. The aluminum lunch box had a large space and could hold about ten rice balls. If the three little ones couldn't finish them, they could share them with their friends.

As for Da Wa, Ning Tang packed another box for him, which was for Da Hu.

At exactly four o'clock, after sending off the three little ones with their backpacks filled with aluminum lunch boxes and military water bottles, Ning Tang and Shen Lie slowly began to cook, preparing to eat before going to school.

The two of them are different from the eldest, second and third children. The eldest and third children have to perform a show and have to rehearse in advance, so their parents just have to arrive on time.

After dinner, Ning Tang instructed Shen Lie, "Aren't there some pastries and snacks that Political Commissar Zhao gave us in the Wudou cabinet? Take them out. We can take them to the school anniversary party and eat them while watching."

Shen Lie said, "We need to fill two more bottles of water and get two more cushions."

There are three children in their family, and the performance happened to run through the entire school celebration party. The two of them would have to sit through the entire night, and their butts were sore just thinking about it.

When they arrived at school, the eldest, second and third kids went away separately.

Erniu wore the little red dress Ningtang made for her today. She had her hair tied up in a 'Wanjun hairstyle' with two shiny black braids tied with red ribbons. She looked like a little red butterfly, attracting everyone's attention wherever she flew.

Ye Fangfang touched Erniu's skirt enviously, "Erniu, you look so beautiful today."

Erniu smiled widely, "It looks good, doesn't it? My mom asked Aunt Xin Lan to make the dress for me, and my mom helped me to braid my hair."

Ye Fangfang touched Erniu's 'Wanjun hair' again, "Your hair is really beautiful, can you let your mother help me with a braid too?"

Erniu nodded without hesitation, "Of course, you are my best friend." Xiang Xiang added, "Next time you come to my house, I will ask my mother to help you tie it, and I can also lend you the red ribbon."

Ye Fangfang stretched out her little finger, "Then it's settled, hook."

"Hook." Erniu said.

Teacher An came over and first praised Erniu, saying that she looked particularly good today. Then he said, "Shen Ya, our class has one person on stage today. You will be the first to speak. Don't be afraid, the teacher is behind you."

Erniu shook her head, revealing two sweet dimples on her face, and said in a crisp voice, "Teacher, don't worry, I'm not afraid."

Teacher An was surprised. During the recent practice, Erniu's performance was indeed getting better and better, and she didn't seem nervous at all.

Erniu told Teacher An about the "radish and cabbage" method Ningtang taught her, "... Teacher An, when you are scared, just imagine the audience in the audience as radishes and cabbages, and then you won't be nervous at all."

Like now, she thinks Teacher An is just a potato.

Erniu shook her head and sighed like a little adult. Now she couldn't be nervous even if she wanted to.

Teacher An pondered what Erniu said, and her eyes lit up. "Your mother's method is good."

He waved to call the other students in the class and taught them the "Carrot and Greens" method again, "...if you get nervous on stage later, just treat the audience as carrots and greens."

Zhou Lingzhi scratched his head and asked Erniu, "Erniu, is this method effective?"

Erniu said, "Of course it works. I've tried it for a long time. Just keep repeating in your mind, 'They are just radishes and greens, radishes and greens.' Then you won't be afraid at all."

Zhou Lingzhi nodded and said through gritted teeth, "Okay, I'll give it a try."

He did as Erniu said and glanced at the audience. Some parents and leaders had arrived early, and now there were quite a few people sitting in the audience in twos and threes. He imagined all these people as radish vegetables. He closed his eyes and silently said to himself, radish vegetables, radish vegetables.

When he opened his eyes, there was no one in the audience, only carrots, tomatoes, potatoes, eggplants... Zhou Lingzhi jumped up on the spot, "It really works."

Erniu waved her hands, "It will only work for a while. If you're not paying attention, it won't work anymore. So you have to practice more. Anyway, just imagine that you're singing to a bunch of radishes and vegetables, and you won't be nervous."

With Zhou Lingzhi's successful case in the past, more and more people began to learn the "radish and greens" method.

A group of kids clenched their fists, stared at the audience and started to shout, "Carrots and greens, carrots and greens!"

Occasionally, a parent would pass by and hear their mumbling. He would almost sprain his ankle and shake his head. These kids were probably about to perform and were so nervous that they were going crazy.

At half past five, Da Wa was already feeling hungry. He took out an aluminum lunch box and a military water bottle from his bag and said, "Da Hu, this is for you."

"What is this?" Dahu took it and opened it. "Is it food?"

"Yes, my mom made seaweed sesame rice balls. You get one box and I get one box." The eldest child shook the military water bottle. "There are only three military water bottles in my family. One for me, one for the second girl, and one for the third child. There are not many for you, but you can drink with me."

Dahu picked up a seaweed sesame rice ball with chopsticks, his eyes lit up, "It's delicious!"

"Hey, it tastes good, doesn't it?" said the eldest child. "It's worth it that I carried it from home. It's really heavy."

The blue bow tie was a bit choking, making it inconvenient to eat. Dahu was relieved, "Luckily you brought food, I thought we would have to go up to the poetry recitation on an empty stomach."

The eldest child was amused: "Then you can no longer hear the sound of us reciting poems. You can only hear, coo~coo~coo."

"What's that sound of gu~gu~gu?" asked Dahu.

The eldest kid said, "Silly, that's the sound of our stomachs growling when we're hungry. I'll imitate it for you again, gurgle~gurgle~gurgle."

Da Hu was amused by him and laughed out loud, "No, no, it should be like this, you listen to me and look at the beauty of China, glu~, praise the strength of our motherland, glu~, let's recite it one sentence at a time."

"Hahahahaha." The two children burst into laughter.

While chatting and laughing, I finished two boxes of rice balls. I didn't dare drink too much water for fear of having to go to the toilet.

It was a little after six o'clock, the sun had set early, and the sky was already filled with orange-red sunset glow.

Shen Lie and Ning Tang slowly carried a small stool, a mat, cakes, snacks and drinks, and walked leisurely from their home to Hailang Island Primary School.

The school gate was surrounded by people, Ning Tang said, "There are quite a lot of people here, more than when we had open-air movies in the threshing ground before."

"It's a party, and everyone wants to come and watch the fun. I don't know if there will be enough seats." Shen Lie said.

As he spoke, he squeezed into the school.

"Xiao Ning, here!" Zeng Xinlan had sharp eyes and saw Ning Tang and Shen Lie at a glance.

Ning Tang and Shen Lie squeezed in front of her, and Zeng Xinlan moved two seats for them, "You sit here."

Shen Lie put down the stool and put the mat on it. "People? More than I thought."

Captain Qi said, "That's right. If the school hadn't designated an area for us parents, we wouldn't even have a place to sit." He pointed to the back and said, "Look, there are so many people standing in the back. You two are smart and brought stools. Otherwise, even if you got a seat in the front, you would have to squat or sit on the floor to watch."

Ning Tang grabbed a handful of dried mangoes and gave them to Zeng Xinlan. "Has Sister Luo come yet? And where are Su Fen and the others? Why aren't they here?"

Zeng Xinlan took the dried mango and took a bite. It tasted sour and sweet. "Sufen and Pantong are over there. I didn't see anyone else. Sister Luo should be here soon. I saved a seat for her."

Speak of the devil, here comes the devil. Luo's wife squeezes in with a small stool in her arms, "What's up? What's up? Am I late? Has the show started yet?"

Ning Tang moved a seat for her, "Sister-in-law, please sit closer." She glanced at her watch, "The show hasn't started yet. It's only 6:40. It won't start until 7 o'clock."

Mrs. Luo looked up and squinted her eyes, "Why can't I see Da Wa, Da Hu, Er Niu, and San Wa?"

Looking around, there were only kids there, and it was hard to tell which was which.

"Hey, I found it." After searching for a while, Mrs. Luo saw Erniu.

The reason was simple: Erniu was too conspicuous. Wearing a little red dress and a beautiful "Wanjun hairstyle", she stood there like a child star who had walked out of a movie poster.

The place where she stood was easy to find, just on the left side of the stage. Because their class was the first to go on stage, the teacher had already asked them to line up next to the stage.

Ning Tang waved at Erniu, "Erniu!"

Erniu heard a familiar voice and looked over. She saw Ning Tang and Shen Lie. She waved at them with a sweet smile on her face.

Ning Tang was happy and gave her a gesture of encouragement, clenching his right fist and pushing it down.

Erniu also made the same gesture.

Ning Tang waved at her, signaling her to go on with her work.

Shen Lie squinted his eyes, "This light is too bright."

It was brighter than a searchlight. He was sitting right in front of the light, and it was so bright that he could hardly see Erniu clearly.

Mrs. Luo asked him to be patient, "It will be fine when the performance starts."

As soon as the words fell, the silvery-white light went out, and then it was replaced by a more comfortable light, which at least did not look so glaring.

The two hosts on stage began to speak, "Today is Children's Day, and it is also the 30th anniversary of our Hailang Island Primary School..."

Ning Tang took a look and was surprised. The hosts were actually teachers from the school, one of whom was Zhou Caiwei.

She was wearing a long blue dress and a beige headband. She held a manuscript in one hand and a microphone in the other, and her voice was rhythmic.

But there were too many people coming, and it was very noisy with everyone chatting among themselves.

The teachers and staff came over to maintain order. After a while, Ning Tang could finally hear the two hosts talking. "Next, please invite the students from Grade 5, Class 1, to sing a chorus of "The East is Red"!"

Mrs. Luo tightly grasped her hands on her knees and said, "Oh, Erniu is the first one in her class to perform on stage."

Ning Tang's heart was in suspense. No matter how casually she had spoken before, when it came to the performance, she began to worry about Erniu.

Shen Lie was drinking water at that time, and he forgot to swallow the water when he held it in his mouth.

The students from Class 51 walked onto the stage one after another and stood in four rows according to their height.

Erniu was the lead singer, standing alone in the front, and Teacher An was the conductor, facing everyone.

The performance began. Teacher An was more nervous than any other student in the class. His calves were shaking under his trousers.

The students in Class May 1 were not much better off. They were the first to go on stage. The dazzling lights shone on them, making the stage seem pitch black, like the huge mouth of a beast eating people, full of blackness.

Zhou Lingzhi stood in the first row, his voice trembling, "Shen, Shen Ya, I'm scared."

Erniu calmed her voice, "Don't be afraid, pass it on, let everyone encourage each other, don't forget our 'Carrot and Vegetable' method, singing to a group of carrots and vegetables, there is nothing to be afraid of."

Zhou Lingzhi saw that Erniu, a girl, was not afraid, and she was the lead singer, so he, a boy, should not be afraid. He clenched his fist and said, "I understand."

A group of children, facing the audience, moved their mouths slightly, and "cast a spell" and said, "Carrots and cabbage, carrots and cabbage!"

Most of the audience didn't notice that their mouths were moving. Occasionally, there were a few sharp-eyed people who noticed it and just thought they were reciting lyrics.

The lights gradually dimmed and then focused on all the students in Class 51.

Teacher An gave Erniu a wink, raised his hand and started directing.

Erniu took a deep breath and sang the first line, "The east is red, the sun is rising."

Her voice was exceptionally clear and loud, like a ray of sunshine shining out from the dark clouds. As soon as she opened her mouth, she shocked everyone in the audience.

Ning Tang pricked up his ears. There was an incessant noise just now, but now it was as if the mute button was pressed and there was no sound at all. When he looked again, all the audience members were silent and stared at the stage intently without blinking.

Ning Tang looked at the dazzling Erniu on the stage, and what came to her mind was nothing else but the plot of the comparison group novel she had read.

After so long, she almost forgot that she was actually living in a novel.

Ning Tang tried hard to recall the plot of the novel. She could not remember the plot clearly, but she still vaguely remembered the author's brief description of the three of them, Da Wa. She said this.

The older kid loves to fight and does all kinds of evil.

Erniu has accomplished nothing and is timid and cowardly.

Sanwa was timid and lived in misery.

In short, no one has a good ending.

Ning Tang narrowed his eyes, trying hard to see Erniu's figure clearly under the light.

Under the light, Erniu was so radiant, confident and generous, not like what the original author said, "accomplished nothing, timid and cowardly."

Ning Tang's heart skipped a beat. The plot of the original novel had been slowly changing since she arrived at Hailang Island.

One by one, thing by thing, everything that happened has become different.

It turns out that the plot can be changed gradually!

Maybe in the future, the second girl won't be a failure, the first kid won't fight and become a hooligan, and the third kid won't live in misery.

Ning Tang's heart was pounding, the "thumping" sound of his heart almost drowning out the singing on the stage.

"What are you thinking about?" Shen Lie swallowed the water, choked, coughed a few times, and seeing Ning Tang's empty eyes, he asked her.

Ning Tang came back to her senses, and her cold hands and feet gradually warmed up.

Perhaps, to the people in her original world, everything that is happening now is a novel.

But to the people in the world she lives in now, the world she came from was also a "novel".

Who can tell the truth from the false?

Cherish the people around you.

Ning Tang curled her lips and gently hooked Shen Lie's palm with her fingertips. "It's okay. I was distracted. Continue listening to Erniu singing."

"Yeah." Shen Lie responded, "Listen, it seems like it's about to reach its climax."

After Erniu finished singing, the students in Class 51 immediately continued with the next sentence.

She, the lead singer, is like a general, and the students in Class 51 are like soldiers, following the 'general' and fighting wherever she points.

The singing was loud and pleasant, echoing slowly in the open space.

Zeng Xinlan clapped the beat, and even Mrs. Luo couldn't help but sing along.

When the song is finished, the lingering sound lingers in the air.

In the audience, there was an uproar.

"Just now? I didn't hear clearly, which class's program is this?"

"It's from Grade 5, Class 1. The little girl leading the singing is so good. Who is she?"

"She's good-looking and well-dressed. That red dress is so pretty."

"Yes, the red skirt just matched the song 'The East is Red' that his class sang."

"Look at the way her hair is tied up. It's so beautiful. I'm going to tie my daughter's hair up tomorrow."

All the teachers and students of Class May 1 finished singing, left the stage, and walked through the audience seats.

Erniu is like Xiao Ming? A star. Everyone wants to praise her and talk to her.

Wu Yingdi walked at the end of the team. She looked at Erniu, who was the center of attention, pursed her lips and lowered her head.

A little girl standing next to her couldn't bear to see Erniu being so prominent, and pouted, "Is Shen Ya really showing off so much? If it weren't for the fact that she is the lead singer and she is dressed beautifully, not so many people would care about her." She nudged Wu Yingdi with her elbow, "Yingdi, you almost became the lead singer of our class. It would be great if you were the lead singer. She would definitely not be the only one showing off."

A light flashed in Wu Yingdi's eyes. Yes, Teacher An said that she sang as well as Erniu. But the light in her eyes was extinguished instantly. It was a pity that she could not be the lead singer, and she did not have such a beautiful red dress to wear as Erniu.

Wu Yingdi walked over to Wang Dilai and called out softly, "Mom."

Wang Dilai was still gritting her teeth secretly, because Erniu had taken too much limelight, wasn't that a slap in her face?

When she heard Wu Yingdi calling her, she angrily said, "Why are you calling me? Why can't you pay more attention and sing better? Otherwise, you will be the one being praised."

Wu Yingdi refuted Wang Dilai's words for the first time, "I'm not the lead singer. No matter how well I sing, no one will praise me." She pursed her lips and said, "Besides, I could have been the lead singer. Who told you to ask me to go home to buy food, cook and do housework? Besides, you were reluctant to make such an expensive skirt for me to wear. She got the limelight because she wore a beautiful skirt."

When Wang Di heard this, she poked Wu Yingdi's head with her index finger, making her shorter and shorter. "You are so good! You have learned to talk back. This is really outrageous. Do you think your father is the head of the group? How can we afford it? Such an expensive skirt, even if you sell it, you and Pan Di and Zhao Di can't afford it."

Wu Yingdi endured the pain, her heart feeling numb.

She knew that her family was rich enough to afford such a skirt, but her mother just didn't want to buy it for her.

Erniu skipped to Ning Tang and Shen Lie and said in a crisp voice, "Dad, Mom!" She smiled and said, "How was my singing?"

Ning Tang helped her push back her sweaty hair and praised her generously, "You sang very well."

Shen Lie raised his thumb, "You're the best singer."

Erniu shook her head, "Not necessarily the best. There are many classes that haven't performed on stage yet."

She really wanted to win the prize.