Chapter 98

After the 98th exam, Jiang Bai took the remaining review papers given to him by the teacher in Shanghai and asked him to go back and continue to practice questions to adapt to the test questions and exam rhythm in Shanghai.

Jiang Bai took the exam in Shanghai, and the exam results were included in the score file of Shanghai High School. Finally, he could come to Shanghai to take the college entrance examination.

But Jiang Bai was reluctant to come to Shanghai to study in high school, and he did have the language barrier problem. When he came back, he continued to practice questions. If he had questions, he would either ask his class teacher or call the teacher in Shanghai.

The entire senior year was almost spent in tense exams. After the exam, the first, second and third mock exams followed.

Jiang Bai is visibly getting busier and busier, but even so, he still comes to the store to sell clothes on his half-day off every Sunday. Even if he only has half a day, he has to do everything in the store well.

For him, he studies hard just to work in the store and make money.

There is a lot of rain in spring. As long as it rains, there will be no people on the street, and the store will have no business.

So every time it rains, Grandpa Jiang is worried, worried that the clothes in the store can't be sold, and what will happen if the eldest granddaughter and eldest grandson can't pay the monthly mortgage?

Wucheng on a rainy day is like being soaked in mist, like a dream, and the water level of the moat is getting higher day by day.

At first, Grandpa Jiang was only worried about the business in the store. Later, as the rain continued, he was worried that if it continued like this, there would be a flood this year.

They have floods every ten to fifteen years or so. Now there are river embankments and river embankments to block the way. In addition, in their area, even if not every household has a boat, most families have water chestnut basins and large wooden basins. People will not be in trouble, but the rice in the fields will be in trouble. Basically, a flood will destroy the whole year's harvest.

Calculating the time, they have indeed been stable for more than ten years.

The old man is afraid that the good days just now will be a little better, but a flood will come and everything will be gone.

He is worried all day long and hopes that the rain will stop soon.

On the eve of Qingming Festival, the rain finally stopped. Less than two days later, the old man couldn't sit still again.

"How can it not rain on Qingming Festival?" He watched the weather forecast after the "News Network" every night, and the more he watched, the more worried he became: "It rained every day before, why didn't it rain in the past two days? No, I have to go back!"

For ordinary people, they all hope that it won't rain on Qingming Festival, but for forest rangers like Grandpa Jiang, it doesn't matter which day of the year it doesn't rain, but it must rain on Qingming Festival. If it doesn't rain, it means there is a risk of wildfires.

Every Qingming Festival is the most nervous time for forest rangers patrolling the mountains.

People have legs and can run, but trees can't run. Once a forest fire breaks out, flowers, plants and trees can only be left to burn. The loss is immeasurable. That is the mountain he has guarded for most of his life. How can he really let it go?

This is the first year that Uncle Jiang has been a forest ranger. In the past, he patrolled the mountain for him, but he had never patrolled the mountain during the Qingming Festival.

It had been raining before, and Uncle Jiang was only worried about the water level of Shahe River in his hometown. Now that it has stopped raining, he is worried about the forest fire during the Qingming Festival.

Even though he is no longer a forest ranger, he still can't let go of the mountain he has guarded for most of his life. The day before Qingming Festival, he packed his clothes and went back to his hometown.

But Jiang Qing couldn't go back to his hometown on this day.

All schools in Wucheng only have half a day off on Qingming Festival. All schools have to take all students to the Martyrs' Cemetery to sweep the tombs in the morning on Qingming Festival. Only after sweeping the tombs in the Martyrs' Cemetery in the morning can the students and teachers go home in the afternoon to sweep the tombs of their ancestors.

Fortunately, it didn't rain that day. After recuperating for more than half a year, Grandpa Jiang was no longer the skinny and malnourished person he was last year. He had some flesh on his face and looked much better. Seeing Jiang Xi worried about him, he pretended to be impatient: "You don't need to accompany me! I don't know how many times I have walked this short distance. I can go back with my eyes closed. Why do I need you to accompany me? Just study hard in school!"

Grandpa Jiang was really sweet and worried about his granddaughter. Alas, it was just right for him to go back and tell his old friends that his eldest granddaughter was really annoying. He wanted to take care of everything. She was worried about him every time he went home, and she had to take leave to accompany him.

He was in good health.

Grandpa Jiang said these words impatiently but with a smile on his face, he said: "Besides, why should you worry about this? I'm not going back alone. Won't I go to look for Guoan? Guoan doesn't come home on weekdays, so why won't he come home on Qingming Festival?" Guoan

is Grandpa Uncle Jiang's eldest son. Since there is a twelve-year age difference between Grandpa Uncle Jiang and Jiang, there is also a ten-year age difference between Jiang Guoan and his brother and Jiang's father and his brother. In addition, one lives in the third room and the other lives in a mixed-use room of the first and second rooms. Younger cousin Jiang Guoliang and Jiang Song play together and are closer. Older cousin Jiang Guoan has been studying outside since he was a child. After he got a job, he married the daughter of the principal of Wucheng Middle School. Now he has been transferred to Wucheng Middle School as a teacher.

Jiang Xi said, "My eldest uncle is a teacher, and he will go to the Martyrs' Cemetery to sweep the graves on Qingming Festival!"

When Grandpa Jiang heard this, he stopped talking, packed his clothes, and prepared to leave early tomorrow morning.

"You don't have to worry about me. Aren't you just afraid that I will patrol the mountain alone and no one will know if I fall on the mountain? Now your grandpa and grandma are both in the mountain, and I am not alone. What are you afraid of? You are really worrying about nothing." Grandpa Jiang said to her, "I can take a bus from here to Shuibu Town, and a boat from Shuibu Town will take me to my doorstep."

Grandpa Jiang's words about "to my doorstep" were not empty words, but the truth.

It rained for such a long time before Qingming Festival this year, and the water level of Shahe must have risen to my doorstep. There is no need to walk to the ferry for more than 40 minutes to get to the village as before. The boat can go directly to the village entrance.

The weather forecast said that it would be sunny and rainless on the Qingming Festival, so there was no need to worry about the slippery roads on rainy days.

Jiang Xi saw that he was in good condition, and there was more than just Grandpa Jiang on the mountain. Uncle Jiang and his wife were also on the mountain. They were both in their early fifties and in good health, so she didn't stop him.

In fact, she couldn't stop him.

Grandpa Jiang left early in the morning with the loudspeaker in the store. As he expected, the water level had indeed reached the doorstep of Linhe Brigade. Now there was a river embankment to block it. Once the river embankment was flooded, the countless farmlands blocked by the river embankment would be completely reduced to a vast ocean.

Because the river water level rose, the old men and children who were herding cattle could no longer take the cattle to the river bank to graze, so they took them to the mountains to graze.

As soon as Grandpa Jiang got home, Aunt Jiang, who was hanging clothes on the waterproof platform, found him and shouted in surprise: "Dad, why are you back at this time?"

Aunt Jiang's shout also attracted Grandma Jiang.

When she was young, Grandma Jiang was a tall and strong woman. She is still very healthy now. Her face is rosy and her eyes are bright. Her hair is cut to ear level and is tightly tied behind her ears with an iron hoop.

Grandma Jiang was also surprised and said, "Aren't you begging in Wucheng? Why are you back now? Can't beg for food?"

Grandma Jiang's words were not really a mockery of Grandpa Jiang. It was just a very common question. She really thought that Grandpa Jiang was begging for food in Wucheng.

When Grandma Jiang and Grandpa Jiang were young, their relationship was not very good. Grandpa Jiang lost his father when he was young, and his mother had just given birth and had bound feet, so she could not work. He was only twelve or thirteen years old, and he had to take care of his mother and raise his younger siblings. At a young age, he had to follow the adults in the village to climb the coal caves on the charcoal mountain. He used his tender shoulders to kneel in the coal caves and transport baskets of coal out to support his family.

Later, when a disaster occurred, only Grandma Jiang and her younger brother were left in her family, so she was introduced to Grandpa Jiang by a matchmaker. However, Grandma Jiang's requirement for marriage was that she must bring her younger brother with her and raise him until he was eighteen years old.

Both of them had younger brothers and sisters to raise, but everyone has selfish desires.

Grandma Jiang naturally favored her younger brother. It can be said that in Grandma Jiang's heart, her eldest son was not as good as her younger brother who she raised.

In the previous life, before Grandma Jiang died, she kept holding on to her breath and couldn't close her eyes. Everyone thought she was waiting for Jiang's father. Who knew that when Jiang's father came back, Grandma Jiang was still panting and looking at the door with eager eyes. It was not until the younger brother she missed came that she finally closed her eyes and took her last breath.

Therefore, Grandma Jiang was not good to Uncle Jiang.

For this reason, the two quarreled a lot when they were young, until Uncle Jiang was separated and Uncle Jiang became a forest ranger on the mountain. He lived alone on the mountain. The two were considered separated and stopped quarreling.

Quarrels are very common in rural areas. Like everyone else in an ordinary family, they quarrel all their lives, but stop quarreling when they get old.

Seeing Grandpa Jiang coming back, Grandma Jiang asked.

Grandpa Jiang found the key on the gatehouse and opened the door. "It doesn't rain on Qingming Festival. I'm worried about Laicai being alone in the mountains, so I came back to check." Grandma

Jiang rolled her eyes at him, "You worrying old man! When you were young, you sided with your brother. Now he's fifty years old, and you're still worried! Don't you look at yourself? You've already stepped half a foot into the coffin. What's the point of thinking so much? You're already an old skeleton!"

Grandma Jiang has been muttering all her life, and Grandpa Jiang has long been like a breeze passing over the hills. She mutters hers, and he does his.

When she was young, she still cared. Since he was assigned to the youngest son's family, the two of them have been like two different families. She said, "What does this have to do with whether I am on his side or not? I am just worried about a forest fire."

"If you were not on his side, would you give him the job? Such a good job, you old man just said you don't want it." Grandma Jiang really thought the old man was being pretentious. With the character of her second daughter-in-law, you don't expect her to take care of you when you are old without a job? With a job, at least you have money in your hands, and you don't have to worry about the younger generation not being nice to him.

When the family was divided, not only did the second daughter-in-law not want her, she was also unwilling to live with the second daughter-in-law, and took the initiative to live with the eldest son's family.

She knew very well that she had offended the second daughter-in-law when she was young. She had always been on the side of the eldest daughter-in-law and raised three grandchildren for the eldest daughter-in-law. With the kindness of the eldest daughter-in-law,

she would have to take care of her when she got old. After she converted to Christianity, she became calmer and had her own sisters. She went to church every week to sing and learn to read. She lived a comfortable life. Then

she glanced at the old man. Alas, he had been working for others all his life and thinking about his children and grandchildren all his life. Who knew what would happen to him in the future?

It would be good if they had a conscience, but if they didn't...

Grandpa Jiang didn't stay at home for long and went up the mountain. He wanted to tell Uncle Jiang in advance which places in the mountain should be inspected tomorrow and which places are most likely to have wildfires. It would be best to take a shovel and shovel out an isolation zone in advance.

He looked at the sky again, fearing that there would be a mountain wind. If there was a mountain wind, the isolation zone would be useless, and a little spark could start a big fire.

At this time, the whole field was covered with rhododendrons, and there were patches of cymbidiums and roses on the roadside, as well as various yellow and white wild flowers. It was so beautiful.

Uncle Jiang thought that Grandpa Jiang came back to pay respect to his ancestors, and comforted him, saying, "Aren't you in Wucheng? Why did you come back from such a long distance? The travel expenses will cost a lot of money. I'll go to the grave, you don't have to come back!"

Grandpa Jiang looked at the familiar mountains and forests, and the small house that no longer belonged to him. Sitting in the small house, looking at the clean and tidy house when he lived alone in the past, it was completely different from the layout. Somehow, he felt empty in his heart. He paused for a long time before saying, "There will be many people going to the grave tomorrow and it won't rain these two days. I'm afraid they will burn the paper and leave before the fire is out, which will cause a forest fire."

He stood up and took a shovel and a bamboo rake. "I'll take you to see where we need to patrol more closely and dig out some grassless areas. When they burn paper, they can do it on the grassless areas. Otherwise, if a forest fire is caused, it will be too late to put it out."

This was taught to him by the previous old ranger.

Uncle Jiang did not dare to delay either, so he also took a shovel and went with Grandpa Jiang to the places most likely to cause forest fires and the places with the most graves. They first used a bamboo rake to rake away all the pine needles and fir leaves near the graves and piled them far away. Then they used the shovel to shovel the grass on the ground one shovel at a time until the wet soil was turned over, forming an isolation zone from the surrounding vacuum.

The two brothers spent the whole day outside digging such isolation zones, until Grandpa Jiang felt that there should be no hidden dangers. He said to Uncle Grandpa Jiang: "Tomorrow you patrol the mountain on this side, and I'll patrol the mountain on that side. Bring shovels and loudspeakers. If you meet people burning paper, be sure to remind them. Wait until the fire is out and cover the fire with mud before leaving. And speak fiercely!"

This was Grandpa Jiang's experience of patrolling the mountains over the years. No matter how gentle and silent you are at other times, it would be fine, but on Qingming Festival, you must speak fiercely to let those people know the seriousness of the matter.

Then he asked him, "Where is Wei Hong?"

"Wei Hong went to pick tea leaves."

The highest mountain here is a tea mountain. Because the tea mountain is contracted, a large number of tea pickers are needed every year. In the spring, the local women will go to the tea mountain to pick tea and earn some money for the family.

Before the Qingming Festival, the tea buds are small and tender, and the price is higher. Picking a pound of fresh tea can earn one yuan. After the Qingming Festival, due to abundant rain, the tea price rises quickly. The tea buds are as big as a small palm. They are picked quickly, and the price is only half of the tea before the Qingming Festival.

There is a lot of tea here, and almost every household has a few tea trees. In the past, Grandpa Jiang went to pick tea from his own trees every year, and sent it to his children after frying it. This year he was not on the mountain, and his family's tea was picked by Grandma Jiang and Aunt Jiang. If they were not picked, they would get old later.

Uncle Jiang went to get a jar of tea and handed it to Grandpa Jiang: "I know you like to drink tea, this is roasted for you by Wei Hong."

Aunt Jiang didn't know how to pick tea leaves or roast tea when she was young. She learned it here after she married Uncle Jiang. Now her skill in roasting tea is no worse than that of the locals.

Grandpa Jiang put the teapot on the table: "It's hard for you."

Uncle Jiang smiled and said: "Why? It's all right."

To Uncle Jiang, Grandpa Jiang is not only his elder brother, but also his father.

Since they moved to the mountains, no one has ever said to them that their eldest son is unfilial, never returns home during festivals, lives in his father-in-law's house all year round, and is no different from a married woman.

Especially during the Qingming Festival, the annual Qingming Festival and the New Year's Eve are the most difficult times for them, because on these two days, as long as they are not in a faraway city, they will rush back to worship their ancestors.

Everyone in the village knew that Jiang Guoan was in Wucheng, not far away, but he was unwilling to come back to worship his ancestors. No matter how they told the villagers that Jiang Guoan was a teacher and would take students to sweep the graves of the martyrs, the villagers still smiled and said, "We know that we need to sweep the graves of heroes, but we don't need to sweep the graves of martyrs on New Year's Eve, right? He didn't come back?"

Not to mention that his wife felt bad, even he felt like something was blocking his heart every time he heard this.

Now the two of them were quiet in the mountains, and no one talked to them. After the spring, his wife had been picking tea for others on the tea mountain, and she could earn ten yuan a day. She earned more than a hundred yuan just by picking tea leaves during the spring.

He also gets paid, unlike working on the charcoal mountain, where he works hard every day to earn money.

With income and a job, and without the gossip in the village, his wife looks much more cheerful and smiles more often.

The two brothers are not talkative. Uncle Jiang saw that it was almost dark, so he asked Uncle Jiang to wait for a while, "I'm going to the mountain to pick up Weihong, you wait a while, and have dinner here tonight."

Tea picking on the mountain cannot be too late, usually around 4 pm, you have to return in groups. If you are too late and alone, you may encounter wolves.

Uncle Jiang was worried about Aunt Jiang being alone on the mountain, so he went to the mountain to pick her up every afternoon.

When Uncle Jiang took Aunt Jiang back to the hut, the door of the hut was locked, and Uncle Jiang had already gone down the mountain.

Looking at this mountain road that he had walked countless times, Grandpa Jiang walked down the mountain step by step, as if he was stepping down his responsibilities and burdens for this mountain.

Grandpa Jiang returned to his hometown to patrol the mountains, and Jiang Xi and his friends were not idle at school. They attended classes during the day and made wreaths in the evening.

He Xiaofang and Xu Xiuli had not attended evening self-study with Jiang Xi for a long time. This evening, Jiang Xi finally did not have to go to the competition class. The two of them happily came over and made paper flowers together around Jiang Xi and Xu Xiuli's table.

The school bought paper, bamboo poles, and bamboo strips for making paper flowers. Every student in the school had to make a paper flower by hand. The head teacher and monitor took the lead in making the frame of the wreath, and then everyone went up and tied their own paper flowers to the wreath with thin wire.

The wreaths made by the students themselves were not as beautiful as those bought in the store, but Jiang Xi had made such paper flowers by hand every year since she entered junior high school.

The big paper flower in the middle was to be made by the student with the best grades in the class. Jiang Xi happened to be the student with the best grades in the class, so she made this paper flower.

Jiang Xi had not made paper flowers by hand for many years, and for a moment she had forgotten how to make paper flowers.

But He Xiaofang and Xu Xiuli, who were in high school at this age, were very familiar with it. Seeing Jiang Xiao holding those papers, thin wires and other tools, and not knowing how to tie the flowers, they thought she was clumsy and smiled and taught her: "Finally there is something you don't know how to do. Come, I'll teach you!"

The arrangement of the wreaths is designed by each class, or not. Everyone can tie it however they want. But the monitor of Class 3 still designed the wreaths. Standing on the podium, he said to everyone: "Our class's wreath is one circle of white and one circle of yellow. The largest white flower in the middle is tied by Jiang Xiao, and the eight outermost bamboo bones are decorated with eight water-red paper flowers."

He pointed at the wreath frame with a thin bamboo stick.

The wreath frame was built by several class cadres during lunch break and placed against the wall on the side of the podium.

So the classmates in the class were all busy making flowers, and after Jiang Xi's biggest paper flower was tied in the middle of the wreath, everyone also tied their own paper flowers, and then tied another one to hold in their hands tomorrow, to pay tribute to each martyr, and then wrote the elegiac couplets to be attached to the two ends of the wreath.

Everyone had already discovered that Jiang Xi had a good handwriting, so the class monitor spread out the white paper that had been cut in advance and let Jiang Xi write the elegiac couplets.

Seeing Jiang Xi politely decline, the monitor handed her a brush soaked in ink: "If my □□crawling handwriting is seen by other classes, our class will not be able to see anyone. I know you write well, come on!"

Xu Xiuli and the girls in the 610 dormitory also urged Jiang Xi, so Jiang Xi did not refuse. After a little thought, she wrote on two pieces of white paper: Star Fighting Cold Mang Martyrs' Tomb, Wind and Thunder Spirit Guarding Heroes' Monument.

Liu Ping suddenly started to make a noise, shouted loudly: "Good!" and applauded.

The classmates in the class also shouted: "Good handwriting!" and applauded.

At this moment, Jiang Xi was led by Liu Ping, and had the illusion of returning to the system of the previous life, and couldn't help laughing.

After that, there was nothing to do. Those who wanted to stay in class for evening self-study could do so, and those who didn't want to go back to the dormitory could go back to the dormitory.

Some people chose to stay in class for evening self-study, some went back to the dormitory, and some boys went to the basketball court to play basketball.

Tong Jingang hadn't played basketball for a long time. Finally, one night he didn't have to go to evening self-study and Jiang Bai didn't have to go to the store to watch the store, so he dragged Jiang Bai to play basketball.

The lights on the basketball court were on, but they were very dim, but the boys still played very vigorously.

This was one of the few pleasures in their boring high school life.

Jiang Xi originally wanted to go back to the dormitory to sleep, but the monitor came to inform her that the head teacher asked him to inform her to prepare for the student representative speech tomorrow: "The head teacher asked you to quickly write the manuscript and just read it tomorrow."

Jiang Xi: ...

Why can't I escape such a speech even though I'm a student again?

In previous years, such speeches were all for key classes, and had nothing to do with their parallel classes, or even with the first year of high school. The second year students gave the speeches.

The third year students have to prepare for the college entrance examination and cannot be distracted, so the school representatives will be selected from the first and second year students, and usually the second year students are selected.

But this time, she was chosen as the representative of No. 1 Middle School, and she was personally designated by the principal and the directors.

Who made her surpass Wuzhong in the joint examination last year and win the first place in the county?

If not her, who else should he send?

Whenever he thought of the expressions on the faces of the people in Wuzhong after hearing Jiang Xi's name, Director Zhang wanted to laugh three times!

Generally speaking, the person who is chosen as the school representative to give a speech every year is assumed to be the top student in the second year of high school, so the teacher will also greet the top student in advance and ask him to prepare the manuscript and memorize it in advance.

Originally, Teacher Wang did not expect that the person chosen would be her, so he did not tell her in advance to prepare the manuscript. It was not until the director of the political and educational department came to inform him that he unexpectedly discovered that the students in their first year of high school were selected this year. He quickly asked the class monitor to inform Jiang Xi.

He was very confident in Jiang Xi. It should be easy to write a speech for the Martyrs' Cemetery.

On the other hand, Song Peifeng from Wuzhong also received the same task.

Song Peifeng did not attend junior high school in Wucheng, but like Jiang Bai, he followed his father to Wucheng Middle School in his third year of junior high school and took the high school entrance exam here, so this was the first time he had received the task of speaking at the Martyrs' Cemetery as a student representative.

Not only Wuzhong and No. 1 Middle School, but all schools in Wucheng, including elementary schools, will send a student representative to give a speech in front of the Martyrs' Hero Monument after the tomb-sweeping ceremony tomorrow. The theme of the speech is nothing more than the heroes' bloody battles and protection of their homeland, which led to our happy life today, and we must study hard and serve the motherland.

Jiang Xi had given so many speeches like this in his previous life that he didn't need a script. He could speak for hours without stopping. He quoted the speeches of all the great leaders word for word, and added real-life case analysis, and spoke in depth over and over again.

Because they had to hurry up, at 5:30 in the morning, when the sky was still just a faint blue, all the students had already gotten up. Everyone wore school uniforms and white sneakers, and everyone held a white paper flower made last night in their hands and went to the cafeteria to eat breakfast.

After breakfast, the monitors of each class, or the two strongest boys, held large wreaths and walked in front. The rest of the class members were divided into two groups, male and female, and lined up behind the two boys in front, holding brooms, bamboo baskets, etc., starting from the first grade, the first grade, the second grade, the third grade, and so on, all the way to the last grade, the 30th grade.

When their No. 1 Middle School opened the school gate and came out holding wreaths, it was also the time when Wu Middle School across the street came out holding wreaths.

As if they had rehearsed countless times, the students of the two schools each held wreaths and walked out under the guidance of their teachers. One school walked on the left side of the road, and the other school walked on the right side of the road.

It was still very early, and there were not many cars on the road. Only the students walked quietly on the road.

Gradually, the long line of students became longer and longer. Looking ahead, you could not see the end. They were all students going to sweep the graves.

From the high schools in the front, to the junior high schools in the middle, and then to the elementary schools in the back.

Every time Jiang Xi saw such a scene, he felt an indescribable emotion in his heart and his nose was sour.

The Martyrs' Cemetery is not close to Wucheng. It is about twenty miles away, and all students have to walk there on foot.

It would be good if it didn't rain during the Qingming Festival this year. On rainy days, all teachers and students have to wear raincoats and rain boots, and hold umbrellas for wreaths, which is particularly unpredictable. It

was sunny two days ago, but on the day of Qingming Festival, the sky was gloomy. It didn't rain, and the sun didn't come out.

The head teachers of each class followed the students, and many teachers followed on bicycles.

Teacher Wang arranged everything, and the students followed the group forward. He took the time to come to Jiang Xi and asked Jiang Xi: "Have you prepared the script I asked you to prepare yesterday? Give me your name, and I will report it. When the host calls your name, you just need to go up and read it."

Jiang Xi winked at Teacher Wang.

Teacher Wang didn’t know how to understand what she meant, and almost jumped up in anxiety: “You are not prepared, are you? Didn’t I ask Shen Xirong to tell you that you will be the representative of the senior students of our No. 1 Middle School to give a speech today? Didn’t Shen Xirong tell you?” Jiang

Xi hurriedly said: “Yes, yes, yes.”

Teacher Wang glared at her: “Why don’t you tell me your name? What are you doing?”

Jiang Xi: …

Teacher Wang: …

The two of them stared at each other.

Teacher Wang’s voice suddenly rose: “Jiang Xi, you are not prepared, are you?”

“I am prepared, I am prepared!”

“Then where is your manuscript? Let me see it!”

“I forgot to bring it.”

Jiang Xi didn’t have a manuscript, and Teacher Wang was so angry that he wanted to hit her!

How could this girl be so unreliable? She was not prepared for such an important speech in front of so many people! If this is embarrassing, it will not be embarrassing in the class, but embarrassing in front of all the schools and students in Wucheng High School. How can they hold their heads up in front of Wuzhong?

Seeing that Teacher Wang was really anxious, Jiang Xi pointed to her head and said, "Teacher Wang, I have memorized it all, and I have it all in my mind!"

Teacher Wang breathed a sigh of relief, glared at her and said, "You'd better memorize it! Tell me the name of the question!" In the end, most people still trust Jiang Xi, and think that she would not joke about the school's honor and make trouble in front of so many schools and classmates. She said, "You don't have a manuscript, recite it a few more times on the way, don't go up and forget the words, otherwise you will be embarrassed outside the school!" No.

1 Middle School must become everyone's fun.

Jiang Xi randomly said a name, and Teacher Wang got the title of her speech and said to her, "You are really brave, you actually relied on your own memory and didn't even bring a manuscript."

In all these years, he has never seen a speech after sweeping the graves on Qingming Festival, speaking without a script.

Such a speech by a school representative is not important, but it is not important. It is not important, but it is a speech in front of all the teachers and students in the county, representing the reputation of their No. 1 Middle School.

Arriving at the Martyrs' Cemetery, we first went in in an orderly manner to wipe the tombstones, clean the fallen leaves and dust in the cemetery, and after all this was done, we lined up again. Everyone placed the white paper flowers in their hands in front of each tombstone, and placed their handmade wreaths on the largest Martyrs' Heroes Monument in front. The wreaths surrounded the three or four-meter-high Heroes Monument, one circle after another.

After sweeping the tombs, the students of each class, led by their class teachers, lined up in front of the Heroes Monument.

Many people nearby came to the Martyrs' Cemetery to pay homage after sweeping their own tombs. After the worship, they did not leave, but surrounded all the students, watching these students line up, solemnly looking at the Martyrs' Heroes Monument, bowing three times to the martyrs, and then the principal came out to speak, talking about the revolutionary deeds of the martyrs.

Even though they have told it many times, every year, such a story can still be told a hundred times, a thousand times, and it is not too much.

Their heroic deeds should not be forgotten, they must be passed down from generation to generation, forever.

Jiang Qi went to Linhe Primary School, which was far away, so she had never been to sweep the graves. But after entering junior high school, she came every year. In

Shuibu Town Middle School, where they study, not every student can come to the Martyrs Cemetery to sweep the graves, because it is far away. Except for the key class students, only a few students are selected from each ordinary class. Jiang Qi is one of the few selected from the ordinary class.

They hear about the deeds of the heroes and martyrs every year and are familiar with them, but they still have to pass them down from generation to generation. After

Principal Wu Zhong finished speaking, it was the turn of the Wu Zhong student representative to speak. Surprisingly, Wu Zhong also selected the freshman as the representative this year.

Jiang Qi also knew this person - Song Peifeng.

At this time, Song Peifeng was still very young, but his face was already quite calm. He walked to the high platform in front of the Hero Monument, facing all the teachers and students in the county, and spoke. He took the microphone and spoke without any fear without a script.

Principal Sun and Director Zhang were sore.

It was really that Song Peifeng's demeanor, bearing, and appearance were all too good. Standing on the stage, he was like the breeze, the bright moon, and the lush forests and bamboos. Although he was wearing the same school uniform, he looked like someone from two different worlds from the ordinary small town students.

This made many school representatives who had not yet gone on stage to speak, holding their speeches in their hands, their hearts suddenly beat like drums.

Teacher Wang also became nervous. Thinking that Jiang Xi also did not bring a manuscript, he was so anxious that he hurried to Jiang Xi and whispered to her, "Are you sure you have memorized everything?"

With the Wuzhong student representative standing in front of him, and No. 1 Middle School taking over from Song Peifeng, he was afraid that Jiang Xi would perform too poorly and be compared to Song Peifeng from Wuzhong. That would be a huge embarrassment.

The teachers from Wuzhong looked at the gentlemanly Song Peifeng on the stage and felt satisfied that they did not choose a high school sophomore this year, but chose Song Peifeng instead. They looked at No. 1 Middle School with pride.

What's the use of winning the joint examination once? That Jiang Gui, fortunately, only scored one point higher than Song Peifeng from their school. Look how proud they are. This year, when they went to the township schools to promote their enrollment, they simply used Wuzhong as a stepping stone. They posted the top ten rankings of the last joint examination in the most prominent position on the front page of the enrollment brochure. The school was marked after each name, so that people could see at a glance that the word "Yizhong" was behind the first place that was above Wuzhong. Among the top ten, six were Yizhong and four were Wuzhong. They were clearly marked. Wang Suoping,

the director of the Academic Affairs Office of Wuzhong, finally breathed a sigh of relief. Didn't they step on our Wuzhong to promote their enrollment? Now in front of all the teachers and students of the high schools, junior high schools, and elementary schools in the county, let's see how you, Yizhong, can compare.

Principal Sun and Director Zhang looked very unhappy. They had known for a long time that Song Peifeng from Wuzhong was very outstanding. They had spent a lot of money on scholarships to attract him to their No. 1 Middle School. Who would have thought that he was the son of the head of their county? Scholarships were attractive to students from poor families, but they were not attractive to students from such families. In the end, he still entered Wuzhong.

Director Wang of Wuzhong couldn't help but smile with satisfaction when he saw their faces. He drank a sip of Sterculia lychnophora and continued to look at the elegant young man on the high martyrs' monument.

Soon, the student representative of Wuzhong finished his speech and applause was thunderous.

The host took the microphone and continued, "Next, please invite the student representative of No. 1 Middle School, Jiang Xi, to give us her speech "This prosperous era will be as you wish!"

Everyone looked sideways at the figure who was walking step by step towards the high platform of the hero monument.