"Next, please welcome the leaders from the Chaocheng City Education Bureau to present medals and prizes to the top five contestants of this competition!"
In the first row below the stage, a leader with a rather amiable appearance slowly walked up, followed by five etiquette ladies who lined up in order of their names.
As Shen Qingqing watched the leaders present medals and prizes, she also noticed several other staff members, dressed in inconspicuously, carrying envelopes and heading towards their respective schools.
Shen Qingqing understood that the bonus was not a reward that was made public.
Just like the prizes for the preliminary rounds were collected directly by the teachers during the meeting, the prize money for the city-level competition was also given directly to the teachers, who then handed it over to the students after returning to the school.
The most important result for this match is already out.
When Shen Qingqing received the medal and thermos from the leader, she felt the leader's appreciative and encouraging gaze.
Afterwards, the second-grade Chinese teacher took Shen Qingqing back to the hotel first. Principal Mo still needed to have a meeting with the other four primary school principals who had also entered the provincial competition to discuss which school would lead the team to the provincial capital to participate in the provincial competition.
Since the provincial competition would take up the class time before the winter break, Shen Qingqing was informed by her second-grade Chinese teacher after returning to the hotel that they had just made a decision in a meeting—after returning to school, Shen Qingqing would take the first-grade final exam in advance, and in order to avoid missing any questions, the teachers would prepare a separate exam for her.
Shen Qingqing nodded to indicate that she understood.
When Principal Mo returned from the meeting, it was still early, not even five o'clock. The two adults and the child discussed it and decided to go straight back to the school.
On the way, Principal Mo told Shen Qingqing that the teachers leading the Chaocheng representatives to the provincial capital for the competition would be teachers from Yanqi Elementary School.
Because many students from Yanqi Primary School have participated in the provincial competition, and the teachers at Yanqi Primary School also have considerable experience in leading teams.
Shen Qingqing obediently nodded to indicate that she understood.
The preliminary round of the provincial competition is scheduled for January 13th, which means they will take the train to the provincial capital on January 12th, participate in the competition on the 13th, and return on the 14th.
The semi-finals are next weekend, January 20th. I will take the train there the day before, and return on the 21st after the competition.
The finals will be a week later than the semi-finals, on February 3rd, and the schedule will be the same as before.
The summary meeting will be held next weekend, and all schools that participated in the provincial competition will be invited to attend.
Shen Qingqing fell silent. A provincial competition spanned a month and continued until the end of the year.
Principal Mo glanced at Shen Qingqing in the rearview mirror: "Yanqi Elementary School has past provincial competition exam papers. We'll go to Yanqi Elementary School to get them when we go back, and you can take them home and work through them to familiarize yourself with the provincial competition's question format as soon as possible."
Shen Qingqing nodded. People who are carsick dare not speak, for fear that some indescribable things might come out if they opened their mouths.
Principal Mo was probably aware of Shen Qingqing's motion sickness, so he didn't ask her to speak. After she finished saying what she needed to say, he let her lie down in the back seat to rest.
She slept right up to the school gate. Principal Mo stopped the car and had the second-grade Chinese teacher wake her up.
When Shen Qingqing jumped out of the car, she felt a jolt of stomach acid in her stomach, which startled her so much that she quickly covered her mouth.
Her second-grade Chinese teacher, who had witnessed her vomiting last time, also anxiously supported her, asking, "Do you feel like throwing up?"
Shen Qingqing swallowed hard, took deep breaths to exchange the air from the car in her lungs, and after a while, she answered in a hoarse voice, "It's okay, I'm fine."
The second-grade Chinese teacher, however, dared not be careless. She squatted down in front of her and said, "Come on, let me carry you inside. Sit in the classroom for a while. School is over now, so there shouldn't be anyone in the school."
However, Shen Qingqing was afraid that the pressure on her stomach would make her more likely to vomit, so she held onto her teacher's shoulder and refused.
After resting in the classroom for a while, Principal Mo found a bag, put the medals and trophies in it, and then placed the envelope containing the prize money at the bottom before handing it to Shen Qingqing.
Around 6 o'clock, Shen Qingqing finally rode her bicycle home.
Shen Rongzhou happened to take two early buses today and got back early, so he was already at home cooking.
Hearing the noise at the door, I came out of the kitchen and saw Shen Qingqing come in looking somewhat dejected. She then took off her shoes and squatted down on the ground.
"Dabao, what's wrong? Are you feeling unwell?" Shen Rongzhou quickly put down the shovel and came out.
"My stomach feels uncomfortable..." Shen Qingqing felt like she had a burp but couldn't get it out, and it was making her feel uncomfortable in her stomach.
Shen Rongzhou walked over to her, squatted down, and gently stroked her back.
Shen Yangyang ran out of the room and saw Shen Qingqing looking upset. She ran to the coffee table, poured a cup of hot tea, and brought it over: "Sister, have some water!"
Shen Qingqing needed something flavorful to suppress the inexplicable sourness in her mouth, so even though it was tea that she didn't usually drink, she took it and drank it all in one gulp.
Then Shen Rongzhou picked her up and placed her on the sofa so she could lie down and rest.
When Li Xunli returned, she had finally recovered, but she quietly avoided eating meat when she sat down at the table.
After finishing her meal and drinking some refreshing white radish soup, Shen Qingqing finally felt alive again.
After Shen Rongzhou finished washing the dishes and came out, Shen Qingqing proudly took out the medals, trophies and prize money from the bag one by one.
"Look! This is my medal from this competition! First place in the citywide competition!" Shen Qingqing separated the ribbon of the medal, hung it around her neck, and proudly showed it to Shen Rongzhou, Li Xunli, and Shen Yangyang.
Shen Yangyang cheered enthusiastically, exclaiming "Wow!" and clapping loudly, "Sister is so amazing!"
"Bring it over so we can see! Quickly, quickly!" Li Xunli also smiled excitedly and waved quickly to Shen Qingqing.
Shen Qingqing took the medal off her neck and handed it to Li Xunli.
The couple looked at their daughter's medal over and over again, even more excited than if they had won an award themselves.
"This is a thermos as a reward! Isn't Mom always at the porcelain kiln? They don't have a water purifier there, so you can fill an extra thermos with hot water at home!" Shen Qingqing took out the thermos and handed it to Li Xunli.
Li Xunli took it, opened the cardboard box, and happily looked at it from left to right: "Look, this is a gift from your eldest daughter!"
Shen Rongzhou smiled, but his gaze toward Shen Qingqing held a hint of resentment.
Shen Qingqing immediately took out the last envelope from the bag and added, "This is a prize of 150 yuan! I can buy one for my dad to fill with water while he's driving!"
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