Chapter 117 117 She Was Too Complacent Before
Lu Jiaze was also a little surprised at his order. Drawing the first one was definitely more disadvantageous than advantageous. Fortunately, it was not entirely without advantages. His panic only lasted for a second, and he quickly adjusted himself. At this point, panicking would not solve the problem.
English teacher Tang Yan hadn't expected the top scorer to be from her school. She glanced at Lu Jiaze and said gently, "Lu Jiaze, just perform as you normally would. I'm sure you can handle it."
"Teacher Tang, I understand." Lu Jiaze seemed relatively calm.
Ji Mingyue stood not far from him. After Tang Yan left, she didn't approach him. She just whispered, "Lu Jiaze, come on! I believe you can do it."
"Thank you." Lu Jiaze didn't look at her, but just nodded politely. But for Ji Mingyue, this was also a progress. She curled the corners of her lips. Look, Lu Jiaze himself didn't realize that he was no longer rejecting her. Such progress made her happy and couldn't help feeling proud.
The preparation time after the draw was not too long, and soon it was time for Lu Jiaze to go on stage for his speech. Lu Jiaze had been in Jincheng before, and in preparation for the high school entrance examination, he had hired a tutor in the second half of his third year of junior high school, so his English had always been good. This time, his performance was also very good, but because he was the first to go on stage, his preparation was relatively not that sufficient, which was probably his only shortcoming.
Time passed by little by little, and the contestants on the stage kept changing. Soon it was Jiang Lili's turn. She had prepared quite well, so she quickly received applause after her speech. When she left the stage, she accidentally met Ji Mingyue's eyes, which were full of determination to win. Jiang Lili chuckled, but Ji Mingyue seemed not to notice it. She always had a sense of superiority when facing them. She seemed to have forgotten that her sense of superiority could not help her win, and she began to look forward to her speech.
Ji Mingyue and Jiang Lili were about ten seats apart. When she stood on the stage, she glanced at everyone below, and then slowly began her speech. Until the final pause, she waited for the judges' scores with a smile. When the average score came out, the smile on her face froze. Her average score was actually lower than Jiang Lili's, and even lower than Lu Jiaze's score. For a moment, Ji Mingyue could not accept this result.
English was her strong point, and she had made a lot of preparations in advance for this competition. She thought she could win, but she didn't expect to lose to the person she cared about the most. She bit her lip, feeling a little embarrassed.
The moment Jiang Lili's score came out, she knew Lu Jiaze's leading man halo hadn't worked. By the time Jiang Lili finished her assessment, the smile in her eyes had become even more pronounced. She currently had the highest score, so she might be the first place winner today. Thinking of this, she glanced over at Ji Mingyue. Seeing her pale face and lowered eyes, Jiang Lili sneered. With her mentality like that, why was she even participating in the competition? It was just a temporary setback, but she was overly concerned with gains and losses.
Just as Jiang Lili had guessed, none of the following contestants had a higher average score than hers. Naturally, she won first prize. Second prize went to Lu Jiaze, who extended his hand towards her. "Congratulations."
"Thank you, and congratulations to you too." Jiang Lili thought that her victory today was not only due to her strength, but also because of luck. If Lu Jiaze had drawn the lottery later, who knows who would have won first prize today? But after all, luck is also a form of strength. A thought suddenly popped up in her mind: Did she really crush the aura of the male and female protagonists?
"I can see that you are very satisfied with today's results." It was the first time that Lu Jiaze saw her so emotional.
"Yes, I am very satisfied." Jiang Lili thought. She was even more satisfied with her luck that crushed him and Ji Mingyue. Perhaps from this moment on, she would no longer feel anxious about the future because of her identity as a supporting actress. This incident made her realize that the halo of the male and female protagonists could no longer affect her.
This competition was held by the city. The top five automatically registered for the national English speaking competition. Ji Mingyue happened to be sixth, and such a ranking was hard for her to accept. She looked at Jiang Lili on the stage and felt for the first time that the smile on her face was so dazzling.
After the competition, Tang Yan was the happiest. They had swept the top two spots, a testament to her teaching. On the way back to the city, she smiled and said to them, "Prepare well for the National Speech Contest. If you can still win, you won't have to do any homework this semester."
"Then I'll have to try my best." Jiang Lili said to Tang Yan with a smile. If her guess was correct, Tang Yan was also Ji Mingyue's target. Sure enough, she soon noticed the burning gaze on her. She turned around and smiled at Ji Mingyue. It was great. Their halo was completely reduced by her efforts.
Except for Ji Mingyue, everyone else seemed very happy. After all, the two of them winning the award represented the honor of the school.
Jiang Lili was a bit surprised to win the first prize, but her family was delighted, especially Jiang Yulan. "I was always worried that things at the factory would affect your studies. Now I can rest assured."
"Are you relieved now?" Jiang Lili saw that her eyes were fixed on the certificate, and a smile appeared in her eyes.
"Don't worry. By the way, every production line has now officially started to use numbered cloth labels." Jiang Yulan almost forgot to tell her the news.
"Did it start today?" Jiang Lili said as she packed up her awards and certificates.
"We started using it two days ago." The new cloth labels were put into use only after all previous orders were completed and new orders began.
"It's good to start using it. No matter where something goes wrong, we can quickly trace it back to the source. That's great."
"Okay, you two mother and daughter should stop discussing factory matters at home. Yulan, you don't go to Jincheng often now, do you want to rent out the house?" Nowadays, more and more people are working outside their hometowns, and many people choose to rent a house when they move to the city.
"Yes, we can earn some income every month if we rent it out." Zhou Qingfen continued. Their house had been rented out a long time ago.
"Grandpa is right, we can rent out the house." Jiang Lili nodded in agreement.
"Do you really want to rent it out?" Jiang Yulan frowned. She felt that it would not be a good idea to rent the house she was going to live in to others because others would not take good care of it.
"It's good to rent it out. You bought the house before to make it convenient for you to go to Jincheng to connect with business. Now there is no need for it, so you can rent it out. If you find a more suitable one in the future, you can sell it." Jiang Lili already had the plan to buy a house in Beijing, and these words were just a reminder to them in advance.
Jiang Yulan thought about it and felt that what she said made sense. Instead of leaving it empty, it would be better to collect rent from it.
"Sell it? What? Are you planning to buy a house somewhere else?" Jiang Jianyi couldn't help but guess.
"No, I just said it casually. After all, we won't go to Jincheng to develop in the next five years. Didn't we buy the house there with an investment mentality? If the price is right, we can sell it at any time." Jiang Lili reminded them that their original purpose of buying the house was investment, and living in it was just a by-product.
"There's no rush. The housing prices in Jincheng have indeed increased, but that little increase is not enough to pay for the effort we put into buying a house. If the subsequent price is good, it won't matter if we sell it. The money is in our hands anyway, so we can continue to buy if we want." Zhou Qingfen was the one who had the most insightful view on the matter of buying a house.
"Aunt's analysis is very clear." Jiang Lili was a little surprised by her insight.
Zhou Qingfen smiled but said nothing. The family stopped talking about the house and decided to make a decision when the day really came.
*
Ji Mingyue's mentality collapsed quickly, but she recovered just as quickly. Although she lost the competition, she also used this opportunity to strengthen her relationship with Lu Jiaze, so her trip was not completely without gain.
As for Tang Yan's attitude, after she went to the office twice more, she successfully obtained a spot in the national speech contest. She urged the three of them to use their after-school time to practice more, and preferably go to parks with English corners on weekends to practice their conversations boldly. Ji Mingyue agreed to all of her requests, and then she conveyed Tang Yan's intentions to Lu Jiaze, concluding, "Teacher Tang said that Jiang Lili will be coming too, so please notify her."
Lu Jiaze couldn't help but frown upon hearing this, but in the end, he didn't say anything else. Ji Mingyue seemed oblivious to his frown and thanked him, "Thank you very much."
Lu Jiaze stared at her back as she left, not knowing what he was thinking. He quickly lowered his eyes to hide the emotions in his eyes.
Seeing the people at the school gate, Jiang Lili was a little surprised: "Are you waiting for me?"
"Let's go, we can talk while we walk." Lu Jiaze glanced at her while pushing his bicycle.
After walking a few steps, Lu Jiaze slowly started talking about going to the English corner on the weekend. Jiang Lili hesitated for a moment, then asked, "Which day are we going, Saturday or Sunday?"
"It's best to go both mornings." Lu Jiaze continued to convey Ji Mingyue's words.
"Okay, I got it." Jiang Lili knew that this national English speech contest was not only of concern to Tang Yan, but also to the schools of several other participating students. They had taken the top two spots last time, and they certainly didn't want such a situation to happen again. Tang Yan, on her part, certainly hoped that they could continue to maintain this result, and even took out double insurance to secure a spot for Ji Mingyue.
"Then let's meet at the park at 8:30 on Saturday." Seeing that she agreed, Lu Jiaze couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.
"Okay, you can ride away first. You don't have to accommodate me." Jiang Lili waved at him, indicating that he should ride back first.
Back at the factory, with Zhou Qian and her husband making an example of someone, counterfeit Tongqu toys on the market seemed to have disappeared overnight. The impact of this incident on the factory has gradually dissipated, and orders continue to grow steadily every day. Both Jiang Yulan and Cheng Yuntian are delighted. Cheng Yuntian even said, "At this rate, we will be able to completely pay off our bank loan by the end of the year."
Jiang Lili calculated the days and realized that paying off the loan by the end of the year would mean no dividends would be received this year. However, based on the current income trend, the dividends they would receive by the time they graduated from high school would be enough for her to develop her own indoor playground project. For a moment, Jiang Lili began to hope that time would pass faster.
As the weather changed, the days passed by little by little. In the blink of an eye, a month had passed. The National English Speech Contest had ended, and Jiang Lili had won first prize again. Compared with the previous city first prize, this national first prize was even more valuable. A slogan was hung at the school gate: "Warm congratulations to Jiang Lili, a student from Class 1, Grade 12, for winning the first prize in the National English Speech Contest."
The slogan congratulating Lu Jiaze for winning the second prize was placed side by side with that slogan. Not only at the school gate, but also on the playground, Ji Mingyue felt that everyone was discussing this matter as she walked on the campus. Her face turned frighteningly pale. She didn't understand why she was the only one who didn't win the prize when the three of them were in contact together. It was obvious that she was no worse than them.
"Mingyue, hurry up, we are going to be late." Wu Juyue turned around and urged.
Ji Mingyue stared at the strategy value above her head. It seemed that this value had been the same since she started participating in the English speech competition. Then it would drop, and then it would go back up when she lost the competition. This cycle continued. For a moment, Ji Mingyue seemed to have found the reason for her failure. It must be because Wu Juyue's strategy value dropped and caused her bad luck. Yes, this must be the case. That's why she lost to them.
Wu Juyue felt that Ji Mingyue's gaze gave her an inexplicable chill. She asked tentatively, "Mingyue, what are you thinking about?"
"Nothing, let's go." Ji Mingyue quickly withdrew her gaze. Why was she the only one having a hard time?
The next day, Wu Juyue's diary was found by a classmate. The diary contained mostly girlish thoughts. The diary was passed around in the class. Although no one said anything, the looks they gave Wu Juyue were enough to embarrass her. At first, Wu Juyue didn't understand what their looks meant, until a male classmate handed her the diary with a half-smile on his face: "Hey, Wu Juyue, your diary, keep it safe next time."
Wu Juyue clutched her diary tightly, her face turning pale. "Did you open it and read it?"
"Of course not, the diary is your privacy." Although he said so, his expression was different. At this time, Wu Juyue still had something to understand. Thinking of everyone's stares at her when she entered the classroom just now, those eyes were clearly mocking. For a moment, embarrassment rushed towards her like a flood. Wu Juyue lowered her eyes and left the classroom holding the diary.
"Wow, why did she run away? Are we going too far?"
"What's excessive? We didn't say anything."
"Okay, what's the point of you talking about this hypocritically now? The diary is someone else's privacy. Why do you open someone else's diary?" Ji Mingyue stood up and scolded them, then trotted out of the classroom.
The other people in the classroom suddenly became silent because of Ji Mingyue's words. Some agreed with Ji Mingyue, while others thought she was meddling. Soon, the originally quiet classroom became noisy again. Lu Jiaze held a pen and looked up in the direction where Ji Mingyue left.
Ji Mingyue found Wu Juyue crying in the bathroom and soothed her gently, "You're not wrong. It's them who are wrong for rummaging through other people's things. I know you don't want to face them right now. Can I ask the teacher for leave to take you home?"
The tears on Wu Juyue's face seemed to have fallen off the string. Ji Mingyue's words suddenly reminded her that if she didn't ask for leave, she would have to continue to face the ridicule of that group of people. So she nodded and whispered, "Thank you for your help, Mingyue."
When Ji Mingyue ran out of the classroom to find Wu Juyue, she had already alarmed the head teacher. After hearing her request for leave, the head teacher quickly approved it. On the way to send Wu Juyue home, Ji Mingyue saw the strategy value increasing above her head and nodded with satisfaction. It should have been like this a long time ago. She had been too careless before. It was a pity that she failed to figure out the key to her failure in the first competition, otherwise who knows who would have won the first prize in this competition.
Jiang Lili didn't realize that even now, Ji Mingyue still blamed her failure on others, forgetting that her excessive focus on gain and loss had actually affected her performance. In the subsequent midterm and final exams, Ji Mingyue still worked hard to prove herself, but Jiang Lili's name always topped the list, and she was still surpassed by her in English.
The first semester of her second year of high school passed like this. Jiang Lili was completely busy in January 1998. After finishing the final exams, she went to the factory to supervise the production of the second-generation dolls. Factory One had opened up the production rights of the second-generation dolls, and she needed to go there to monitor their pattern making and quality control.
Director Yang attaches great importance to the production of the second-generation dolls. His retirement is getting closer, and these achievements are enough for him to brag about after retirement.
The Tongqu players in Yuncheng can also produce second-generation dolls. With it to compete with the first factory, the orders did not all flow into the first factory. Now everyone is looking forward to completing the orders quickly and going home to celebrate the New Year early.
The orders from Beijing were more than Cheng Yuntian had expected. Although the factory had a holiday for the New Year, the workers from Yuncheng had no plans to come back for the New Year. After all, tickets for the Spring Festival travel rush were more expensive than usual, so they planned to go home during the off-peak period. Because of this, everyone decided to start working overtime after the second day of the New Year, including Zhao Dong.
Cheng Yuntian's voice on the phone was somewhat amusing and awkward: "They have already mentioned working overtime, so how can I come back with the nerves? So I plan to wait until after normal work to return to Yuncheng."
"Thank you for your hard work." Jiang Lili couldn't find the right words to express herself.
"The second-generation dolls are more popular than I expected, and orders from Beijing have been increasing."
"In Yuncheng, probably because there is a factory, the order volume is okay. Maybe the previous cross-dressing dolls have made everyone aesthetically fatigued." Jiang Lili speculated on the reason for the surge in orders for the second-generation dolls.
"Apart from this, I think this style is more popular with everyone." Cheng Yuntian analyzed the reasons with her.
"Maybe, maybe we can make the same plush toys later." Jiang Lili reminded.
"It seems that we have the same idea. I think we can put the new model thing you mentioned before on hold. Except for the second-generation dolls, other orders are still growing. We made the right decision on advertising." Cheng Yuntian had long wanted to praise himself and Jiang Lili.
"Okay, then take your time." Jiang Lili thought. She hadn't started writing yet, but there was no need to tell her this news.
"I'll be able to pay off the bank loan when I return to Yuncheng." Cheng Yuntian's voice was filled with joy. Although everyone had tacitly agreed not to mention this matter, who wouldn't like the feeling of being debt-free?
"I look forward to your return." Jiang Lili was also looking forward to that day.
This New Year's Eve, the Jiang family was filled with joy, everyone's face was filled with happy smiles, during the New Year's Eve dinner, everyone raised their glasses and toasted to the new year, wishing their lives to be more prosperous and everyone to be better and better.
Jiang Yulan took a sip of the rice wine in her cup and said, "Nowadays, life is really becoming more and more hopeful. We, mother and daughter, can have what we have today. Thank you for your support behind the scenes."
"We are a family, so let's not talk behind each other's backs. Let's work together." Jiang Biguo said in one breath.
While no one was paying attention, Jiang Qitong also gulped down the drink in her cup, and at the end she said, "Deep feelings, drink it all in one gulp."
The others were amused by her. Zhou Qingfen tapped her forehead and said with a smile, "I think you just want to take this opportunity to drink more."
"No way." Jiang Qitong denied it, but she honestly filled her drink with her hands. It was New Year's Day, so Zhou Qingfen made an exception and let her drink a little more.
Besides the New Year's Eve dinner, the most exciting thing about New Year's Eve is the lucky money. This year's lucky money is quite large. Jiang Lili received 600 yuan. She held the red envelope in her hand and suddenly remembered last year's New Year's Eve. Soon, Jiang Yulan's hand fell on her shoulder: "What are you thinking about?"
"I'm wondering if Sister Cheng will give me New Year's money when she comes back?" Jiang Lili teased.
"Should there be one? You reminded me that I should prepare one for Xiao Cheng as well." Jiang Yulan said and began to think about how much should be put in it?
Jiang Lili didn't interrupt her. She was simply thinking, with the Gaokao still a year and a half away, whether Jiang Yulan would stay in Yuncheng or go to Jingshi. It seemed like they hadn't yet formally discussed this question. A year and a half might seem like a long time, but if Jiang Yulan decided to go to Jingshi, she'd need to find a successor beforehand. Jiang Lili decided to take the time to have a proper conversation with Jiang Yulan. She actually preferred that Jiang Yulan stay in Yuncheng; she didn't want her to sacrifice her familiar social circle to accompany her to Jingshi, a place she didn't know well. But again, the choice was Jiang Yulan's, and she supported her no matter what she decided.
Before she and Jiang Yulan could discuss this issue, they first waited for the Lu family's New Year's greetings. This time, the entire Lu family came out to pay their respects. Seeing Lu Hongzhe, Jiang Lili smiled and stretched out her hand to him: "Brother Hongzhe, long time no see, Happy New Year!"
"Didn't you say before that you would come to Beijing during the winter vacation? Jiang Liangbo has been talking about you all the time." After greeting the elders, Lu Hongzhe talked to Jiang Lili about their studio with a familiar look on his face.
A dim light flashed in Lu Jiaze's eyes as he stood behind them. They looked familiar?
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