Chapter 618
The children were very excited about the fireworks. After setting off a box of fireworks, Xiaohu raised his hand to stop them and said he would save them for later play.
Afterwards, they returned to their second uncle's house, clutching melon seeds and sitting in front of the TV until the clock struck midnight, breaking the cold night. Only then did they reluctantly follow the adults home.
In the past, they would have fallen asleep after a whole day of fun, but this year the whole family stayed up together to celebrate the New Year.
On the first day of the Lunar New Year, due to the custom of not urging people to get up, everyone slept in.
After breakfast, most of the village people gathered at the threshing ground.
Sujia Village organizes some activities every Spring Festival. This year, the table tennis competition was the one that my fifth uncle came up with after racking his brains.
Originally, he wanted to call on the villagers to build a few ping-pong tables and then buy a few pairs of rackets with his own money.
When Second Uncle was talking to his father on the phone, Su Miao happened to hear it and said generously:
"The smooth development of our papaya orchard and factory is thanks to everyone's efforts. How about I personally pay for this competition in the name of the factory?"
Second uncle and fifth uncle told this story, and fifth uncle even called to thank her personally.
Su Miao invested in three mobile tables, as well as a lot of rackets and ping-pong balls.
When the table first arrived, everyone stood around looking at it for a long time, feeling extremely proud.
I’m so happy to have such a nice table in my village. It looks just like the one used in games on TV.
It can be placed in the courtyard of the village committee at ordinary times, so that everyone can have an extra place to play.
When organizing competitions, we can move to the threshing ground, which is very convenient.
You should know that even if other villages have ping-pong tables, they are made by themselves with wood or cement, and they are not genuine ones!
Su Miao felt that in previous years, prizes were given out, but this year, they would be more practical and directly give out what everyone needed most: money.
Uncle Wu said that the gesture from his village was just a gesture and there was no need to make a big deal out of it.
So, after some discussion, it was decided that the first place would get 10 yuan, the second place would get 8 yuan, the third place would get 6 yuan, and in addition, the fourth to tenth places would each receive a consolation prize of 2 yuan.
This is the first time that rewards are given to contestants other than the top three, so the villagers are very enthusiastic about participating.
In order to be fair, collective activities for the whole village are naturally open to men, women, young and old, so the number of participants increases.
The activity time will be extended, and the preliminaries will start after the Little New Year.
After rounds of preliminaries, only the top four teams on the first day of the new year were left to compete.
The two sets of semi-finals will be held simultaneously at 10:30 am. After the lunch break, the final will be held at 3 pm.
The weather is very good today. Although the sun is not very strong, it is warm without much wind. When Su Miao and his father arrived, the threshing ground was already crowded with people.
Brother Zhi has been full of fighting spirit all the way from the auditions to now, and Su Miao is also one of his cheerleaders today.
Mrs. Zhi had already brought her son here to reserve a seat, just to catch a glimpse of her husband at the front.
When Su Miao and his father went over, his second aunt patted the small stool beside her and said:
"Come on, come on, we've prepared seats for you. This is the place with the best view!"
Two ping-pong tables have been moved in and placed on both sides of the threshing ground.
Keep a decent distance between the two teams to avoid interference between the two teams.
The dark green table surface shone in the sun. The children ran around the table, reaching out to touch the smooth surface from time to time.
"Make way! Let the referee pass first!"
Uncle Wu was holding a tin trumpet, with half of a scoresheet sticking out of the pocket of his dark green Zhongshan suit.
The high stool he was holding in his other hand was brought from the village committee, and the words "Advanced Grassroots Organization" were written in red paint on the stool.
In fact, table tennis, as a small ball sport, was not very popular in the early days of the founding of the People's Republic of China.
In the 1950s, after the great man wrote the inscription "Develop sports and enhance people's physique" for the sports work of New China, various sports flourished.
Table tennis quickly established a foothold among the people due to its characteristics of not requiring harsh conditions for development, being easy to popularize, and being highly participatory.
Look at it now, isn’t it?
Regardless of gender, age, origin, indoors or outdoors, rich or poor, you can play on a high-end table, a cement table, or even a large wooden board.
Moreover, playing ball involves running, jumping, and waving, which can exercise the whole body without direct physical confrontation. It can strengthen the body, brain, and heart very well, and is very conducive to popularization.
Especially after the "Ping Pong Diplomacy" in the 1970s, this sport has taken on a political color.
During the 31st World Table Tennis Championships, table tennis players from China and M had an unexpected encounter. A player from M mistakenly got on our national team's car.
You have to know that at this time, both official and private exchanges between the two sides had been frozen for a long time.
A golfer from our country promoted this interaction with sincerity and high diplomatic awareness.
He not only invited the players from Country M to ride in the car together, but also gave them gifts.
After the game, the players from Country M thanked him and returned the gift. When interviewed, they also gave very positive comments about our players.
This "accident" also laid a good foundation for the subsequent formal "ice-breaking".
Su Miao touched his chin and thought that after Comrade Ma and Comrade Deng won the championship in this year's Asian Games, table tennis would usher in a new round of climax.
"Hey, hey! Everybody, be quiet!"
Uncle Wu shouted with a tin loudspeaker, standing on a high stool, and his voice echoed over the threshing ground.
"This morning we're having the semi-finals of the 1990 Sujia Village Table Tennis Tournament! Everyone, please make some room outside and don't sit so close together. It'll be too late for them to catch the ball.
Okay! The first match on this side is between Su Dezhi and Pan Jiaming, and the referee is Huang Hongming. The second match on that side is between Su Lihong and Huang Xiu'e, and the referee is Su Defei!
The remaining four are exactly two men and two women, and their opponents will be decided by drawing lots. So, the afternoon final will be a duel between men and women.
Su Miao saw that Brother Zhi was already exercising his wrists. He pulled up the cuffs of his long-sleeved sweatshirt, revealing his tanned forearms. Around his wrists was a blue woolen wrist guard newly knitted by Sister Zhi.
Pan Jiaming on the opposite side was breathing on his racket, imitating the national players on TV in wiping their rackets. He also jumped left and right to warm up his body, which made the kids watching giggle.
Zhi Ge and Pan Jiaming were warming up before the game, passing the ball back and forth.
Second aunt stuffed a roasted sweet potato into Su Miao's hand and added hot water to Third Aunt's teacup.
"Miao Miao, look at the pool table you bought, it's brighter than the one in the town's middle school!" The old woman squinted at the pool table, the sunlight filtering through her silver hair and casting tiny spots of light on the table.
Su Miao followed her gaze and saw that the dark green table surface looked like a solidified lake, with white ping-pong balls flying back and forth between the two banks, creating circles of invisible ripples.
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