Chapter 23
winter solstice.
Friday.
Monthly exam.
finals.
"Attention all candidates, the English listening test is about to begin. Please check that your headphones/radio are working properly and that the volume is appropriate. If there are any problems, please raise your hand immediately."
The last exam of the afternoon, English, began. The sky was dark and low-hanging, and the classroom lights were on. The familiar announcer's voice entered her ears, and Jiang Jiawei was completely awakened from her afternoon nap, except that the hiccups that had started since she entered the classroom hadn't stopped.
"ah."
Mu Zhengxi opened his mouth, and the team doctor put a tongue depressor into it. "It's a bit swollen and inflamed."
Feeling nauseous as a conditioned reflex, Mu Zhengxi frowned and turned his head to the side. He was really unlucky; he even caught a cold during the finals.
"Besides your throat, is there anything else that's bothering you?"
"No, it's just that my throat is a little sore." Mu Zhengxi cleared his throat and said to the coach standing next to him, "It's okay, don't worry, you don't need to tell them."
The coach nodded, understanding his meaning, and patted his shoulder. "Eat your meal and get some rest later."
The match starts at 7:00 AM, and meals need to be eaten three to four hours before the match to allow the stomach enough time to digest, so lunch has been postponed until now.
The final match was moved to a formal gymnasium, and the school booked an entire floor of a nearby hotel for their football team.
But even though he said he was resting, Mu Zhengxi couldn't fall asleep when he was actually lying in bed. It felt like a hot hairdryer was being blown into his throat. He couldn't even keep up with the rate at which he drank water. His throat felt like it was about to burst. He got up and went to find the team doctor to get nebulizer treatment.
Not long after, a new person arrived in the room: Yan Yuheng.
"What's wrong with you?" The coach's voice trembled, as if he was afraid that if Yan Yuheng told him about his foot pain, he would faint on the spot.
Fortunately, Yan Yuheng shook his head and looked at Mu Zhengxi, "How are you?"
"fine."
The sound was like rolling sand and gravel, rough and hoarse.
Yan Yuheng sat down opposite Mu Zhengxi without saying anything more, and casually picked up a magazine from the table and flipped through it.
Mu Zhengxi raised his hand and glanced at the time on his watch.
I wonder how well Jiang Jiawei writes her English essays.
"Imagine you are Li Hua, the captain of the football team at XX Middle School. Please write an email in your name to Mr. Mike, the person in charge at XX Middle School, inviting him to play a friendly match at your school."
After silently reading the question, Jiang Jiawei looked up at the clock, propped her chin on her hand, and thought for a while on the manuscript paper.
Do you want to play football?
Around 4 PM, the team members got up one after another and gathered in the hotel conference room on the third floor to conduct the final pre-match tactical briefing.
Mu Zhengxi felt a little better after the nebulizer treatment. He didn't talk much during the meeting, so Yan Yuheng took over. The two of them usually cooperated perfectly on the field, like wearing the same pair of pants. They were so in sync that no one in the team suspected that he was feeling unwell.
Today, with the competition over, we can officially begin our Christmas holiday. Everyone is more energetic than usual, their surging hormones almost overwhelming the hotel. They noisily head downstairs to the bus to the stadium.
"Hey, hey, hey, don't run! What kind of behavior is that!"
The head of student affairs was scolding several boys who were running wildly down the corridor.
The big cleaning after the exams was so intense that the entire teaching building shook and trembled, but even the rainy day didn't dampen anyone's spirits.
Because the school sports meet is next week.
Originally, it was said that the school sports meet would not be held because of the postponement of the choir competition and the county sports meet this year. However, the principal later informed us that it would still be held as scheduled, but at a later time.
For students, being a late bloomer is not terrible; what is terrible is not taking action.
The torrential rain fell, pattering like oil being fried in a pan.
Despite holding an umbrella, Jiang Jiawei was soaked to the bone when she got home.
"Go change your clothes quickly, don't catch a cold." Jiang Weichao took the umbrella from her hand and opened it on the balcony.
The water droplets from her clothes made the entire floor wet, which was infuriating. But she couldn't care less and quickly went into the room and opened the wardrobe.
"Dad, where's my other school uniform?"
"Here."
Jiang Weichao took the school uniform jacket and pants down from the balcony, touched them, and found they were completely dry. "Are you going to school for evening self-study tonight?"
"Yes, there's a school sports meet next week. Our homeroom teacher said we'll be going over the test papers tonight, and everyone has to go."
"Dinner is ready. Eat first if you get hungry. I'm going to pick up your brother."
"good."
Jiang Jiawei walked into the bathroom.
After removing their soaked warm-up clothes and changing into dry competition gear, they conducted final checks, preparations, and pre-competition pep talks.
After 6 p.m., spectators, school leaders, city leaders and others began to enter the stadium one after another. Before the game officially started, the competition was about the momentum of the cheering.
With ten years of dance experience, Mu Yashan was rightfully chosen as the cheerleading captain. After two months of intensive training, from costumes to movements to music, judging from the audience's reaction, while it can't be said to be overwhelming, it was at least a step ahead of the Ninth Experimental Middle School.
The rain has lessened.
A damp fog enveloped the city, and rainwater streamed down the glass windows.
The scent of incense can bring peace and tranquility.
The girl devoutly clasped her hands together in front of her nose, closed her eyes, and silently began to recite.
The Holy Grail fell to the ground.
Hanyang Nanga International School was given the right to choose sides first. The commentator said on the stage that the captain chose to attack the left goal in the first half, which is also the gathering place of their team's fans.
With a math teacher serving as the homeroom teacher, every self-study period will be very fulfilling.
The test paper we're going to go over today is the mock test we did last weekend.
Fang Caijuan: "I've looked at the first five multiple-choice questions, and they're not too difficult. If any students don't understand, they can ask each other. I'll just briefly explain the coordinates in the third question."
"Both sides were quite evenly matched in midfield at the start of the game, trying to control the tempo of the match."
Jiang Jiawei did fairly well on the multiple-choice section of the test, except for the second-to-last question, which she got wrong. She was also a little distracted while listening to the audio.
The rain stopped, and the wind slipped in through the cracked window, like the cold air emanating from an ice cube.
The weather forecast says it will be sunny in Hanyang today.
Jiang Jiawei closed the window, sniffed her fingers that had touched the latch, and smelled a metallic rust.
The pen refill is empty, replace it.
"Look at this opportunity, oh dear, missed! What a pity! But you can also see that the Southern California International School's offensive from the start was very fierce, the whole team's running speed and spacing were very tight."
"The cosine of the angle between skew lines A'E and B'F is..." Fang Caijuan turned around, wiped the blackboard, and began to draw on the board. Halfway through, she turned back, and several boys in the back row froze. The classroom was muted. Jiang Jiawei, who was passing notes to Chen Jingyu, met the teacher's gaze.
"Listen carefully, I think half of the students who got this question right were guessing."
"Assuming the edge length of the cube is 2..."
Sigh...
fortunately.
"This free kick is in a great position. Let's see if Mu Zhengxi, the captain of Southern California International School, number 9, can seize this opportunity and break the current deadlock on the field."
"Run-up, shot, oh!!! Beautiful!!! Goal!!!"
"get out of class will end only after this problem is explained."
Fang Caijuan looked up through her glasses and glanced at the class that had started to stir as soon as the bell rang.
"The first half has entered stoppage time, with one minute added. The current score is 1-0, with Southern California International School temporarily leading Ninth Experimental School."
"get out of class dismissed."
"Alright, the referee has blown the whistle to end the first half."
Chen Jingyu stretched and sighed, then turned around and slumped onto Jiang Jiawei's desk, "Ah, I'm going to die..."
"I'm the one who's right! You just had to pass that note."
Jiang Jiawei raised her hand and punched her, then picked up the kettle, took a sip of water to calm herself down, her heart rate still hadn't come down.
Halftime break.
On the way back to the locker room, the coach walked beside Mu Zhengxi. More concerned about Mu Zhengxi's health than about the brilliant goal, he asked, "Are you alright?"
Mu Zhengxi nodded as he drank his water. His whole body was burning hot, possibly due to the strenuous exercise, but more likely due to a fever. However, he was in high spirits, his adrenaline was surging, and he didn't feel any discomfort anywhere.
The second period of evening self-study had only just begun, and many people were already daydreaming about outer space.
"Cheer up! It's only this late and they've already put glue on your eyes one by one? Do you want me to go down and pry them open for you?"
The podium was slapped hard several times.
"The referee has indicated that Zhang Yanbo, number 6 from Southern California International School, has received a yellow card for his defensive play."
"In the second half, Ninth Middle School basically pushed forward with all its players, launching a fierce and aggressive attack, which put considerable pressure on the defense of Southern California International School."
Now comes the main event: problem-solving.
"There's not much to say about the area of this triangle. We've covered many similar problems in recent practice sessions. If any students still have questions, feel free to ask me after class."
"Time is tight and the task is heavy, so let's focus on this proof problem first."
Jiang Jiawei looked at her answer to this question. She had spent too much time on the previous fill-in-the-blank questions and didn't have enough time, so she only wrote half of it.
["A cross from the wing, the ball reaches the far post, and the Southern California defense makes a mistake!!!! Shot! Goal!!!!!!!!! In the 65th minute of the match, Lu Hangwei, player number 4 from the Ninth Experimental Middle School, scored a beautiful volley, making the score 1-1, and the two sides are back to square one!!!"]
The excited cheers from the class next door, who didn't know what their homeroom teacher had said to them, pierced through the walls, stirring up the minds of those who had been struggling in the dead sea of mathematics for two periods, making them restless.
Fang Caijuan pushed up her glasses, deftly deflecting the question, "The monthly exam results are out, but I want you all to have a happy school sports meet, you know what I mean?"
The person next to him muttered, "Isn't saying that the same thing as saying it..."
Jiang Jiawei silently agreed, thinking, "What's the difference between this and playing cards openly?"
"With nearly twenty minutes left in the game, the pace of the match is still very fast, and both sides are launching intense attacks, but they also seem to be in trouble. The two sides are mainly locked in a stalemate in midfield."
"The ball was passed to Xu Zizhao, number 10, on the right wing. He single-handedly tore through the opponent's midfield defense, shaking off two defenders. He was incredibly fast! At the edge of the penalty area!! He unleashed a long-range shot!! Ah, it went high, what a pity!!!"
Footsteps and the sound of tables and chairs being moved came from next door.
"Don't get impatient. We won't leave until this problem is finished. Let's see if you want to stall for time or listen attentively until the end."
"Beautiful! A clean and decisive steal! Yan Yuheng, number 7, the guard for Southern California International School, didn't give the opponent any chance to turn around."
"Look at this opportunity! A cross from the wing into the penalty area! A header in the middle! Goal!!! Mu Zhengxi, captain of Southern California International School, number nine striker Mu Zhengxi, has once again shouldered this heavy responsibility! A brace!! The score is rewritten, Southern California International School leads 2-1 again!!"
Along with the ringing of the school bell came bustling footsteps.
Although the students in Class 22 of Senior High School sat upright like elementary school students, their eyes clearly showed that their souls had already wandered off.
Jiang Jiawei looked up at the clock on the wall; it was past nine o'clock.
Mu Zhengxi said that a football match is divided into two halves, each half lasting forty-five minutes, with a fifteen-minute break in between.
[“There are three minutes of stoppage time. The students from No. 9 Experimental Middle School are still passing the ball around in the attacking third, still looking for opportunities. They haven't given up. Can they create a miracle?”]
The teaching building quieted down, and the noisy chatter faded away. Fang Caijuan then put down the chalk, clapped her hands slowly, and folded the test paper in her hand, placing it on the podium.
"Let me go over a few more things to note about the school sports meet."
So be it!
The souls have all returned to their rightful places.
[“The game has entered its final seconds! This might be the last attack, a direct shot!!! But the goalkeeper makes the save!!”]
"Okay, get out of class dismissed."
["The referee's whistle blows, the match is over! Southern California International School, thanks to a brace from their captain, number nine player Mu Zhengxi, wins the match 2-1! They successfully defend their title! They also win the final championship with a six-game unbeaten record!!!"]
"Be careful on your way home, don't wander off, get home right away, especially you guys, Zhang Chao, did you hear me? It might rain again."
"Yes, sir!!!!!"
"Okay, teacher."
Goodbye, teacher.
Goodbye, teacher.
"Jiang Jiawei, why are you running so fast?"
"I'm going home."
"Your house is right across the street, why are you in such a hurry?"
As he lay on the grass, Mu Zhengxi was certain that he had a fever; his breath felt like it was on fire.
Yan Yuheng came over and helped him up.
"It's so hot!"
"Don't shout."
"You're not, you're not!"
"Shhh."
Before the awards ceremony even started, Mu Zhengxi changed his clothes and was immediately taken to the hospital to be judged by the doctors.
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