Chapter 40
Time flies, and summer is here in the blink of an eye.
This is a relatively satisfying season. Looking at the ripe beans in the river, the attractive purple eggplants, the green and crisp cucumbers...all kinds of fruits and vegetables have appeared in the market. Summer is also the season when people are least likely to go hungry. There are also a lot of crops in the fields that have grown taller and are growing well. It makes people happy no matter how they look at them.
People in the city have already changed into cool short-sleeved shirts, and old men and women pushing popsicle carts on the streets can be seen more frequently. After spending a few months with his classmates, Jiang Jiang has become completely familiar with everyone.
On June 1st, the school will hold a poetry reading competition. Each class needs to send two students to represent the class in the competition. Regional leaders will also come to watch the competition.
Teacher Tian solicited students' opinions at the podium.
Li Yanhong has the highest reputation in the class. When it comes to representing the class to participate in the competition, he is undoubtedly the most popular one and was quickly confirmed as the first candidate to participate in the reading competition.
"What about another student? Who is more suitable?"
"Why not let Lin Jiangjiang go!" a classmate suggested.
Soon another classmate agreed, "Yes, Lin Jiangjiang is suitable."
Teacher Tian's gentle gaze fell on Jiang Jiang, "Jiang Jiang, what do you think?"
In fact, according to Teacher Tian’s idea, she also felt that Jiang Jiang was suitable. After all, it was a reading competition, which required a certain level of literacy. Moreover, the little girl had a nice voice and a good image.
Jiang Jiang's name was suddenly called. She looked at everyone in surprise, "Me?"
Teacher Tian smiled and said, "Yes, Jiang Jiang, can you?"
Jiang Jiang hesitated for a moment, and then saw the monitor Li Yanhong nodding at her. She thought for a moment and nodded seriously, "Teacher, I can try, and I hope I won't disappoint everyone's expectations."
The class representatives who would be participating in the reading competition were decided in this way. As soon as this was announced, the bell for the end of get out of class rang and a few naughty boys immediately became restless.
Teacher Tian asked everyone to be quiet. "Okay, then Li Yanhong and Lin Jiangjiang will represent our Grade 1 (1) class in the reading competition on June 1. You two should stay after school so that we can discuss the content of the reading."
After school, Teacher Tian discussed with the two of them and finally decided to include "Young China" as an item in this reading competition.
After returning home, Jiang Jiang told He Guijuan about the reading competition. He Guijuan was so happy that she couldn't help but hug her and kiss her again. Lin Youqing was also very happy, thinking that this was a rare opportunity and was proud of his daughter.
However, it was still very difficult for Jiang Jiang to go on stage and conduct a complete poetry recitation competition. Before this, she had never been exposed to poetry recitation. She could only learn from Teacher Tian and practice continuously after returning home. Moreover, Jiang Jiang has a quiet and introverted personality. Going on stage to recite requires facing leaders and classmates as the audience, which is undoubtedly a huge challenge for Jiang Jiang.
However, Li Yanhong would also encourage her when practicing with her, which gave her a lot of confidence.
The day before the competition, Teacher Tian discussed with the two of them that they should not practice today and let them go back early to rest.
"Okay." Jiang Jiang agreed.
"Teacher, we will go back first. Goodbye, teacher."
"goodbye."
As they walked out of the classroom, Li Yanhong said to her, "You have done very well. Don't be nervous tomorrow. Just perform normally."
It was the last day. Jiang Jiang nodded with relief, "Well, you should go back and have a good rest too."
The official competition was on the second day. They changed into competition clothes, a set of Republic of China student uniforms. Jiang Jiang's hair was tied into two simple pigtails. They were drawn to be the third to go on stage, and the show was announced by the host, who was a senior student.
"The next performance is 'Young China' by Li Yanhong and Lin Jiangjiang from Grade 1 (1) class."
There were a lot of people in the audience, and Jiang Jiang was a little nervous at first, but as the rhythm of the reading deepened, she completely got into the state.
She said in a voice full of emotion: "If the youth are wise, the country will be wise; if the youth are rich, the country will be rich; if the youth are strong, the country will be strong; if the youth are independent, the country will be independent; if the youth are free, the country will be free; if the youth are progressive, the country will be progressive; if the youth are better than Europe, the country will be better than Europe; if the youth are more powerful than the earth, the country will be more powerful than the earth. The red sun is rising, and its path is bright..."
When they finished their recitation, there was thunderous applause from the audience.
Teacher Tian in the crowd also smiled and nodded at them. These two children were even better than she had imagined.
After the competition, the next step was the award ceremony. Jiang Jiang and his classmates won the second prize. They were the only winners in the lower grade class. In addition to the certificate awarded to the class, the school also rewarded each of them with a large pencil case and a set of "Selected Works of Mao Zedong".
This brought their reading competition experience to a complete end.
After school, Jiang Jiang saw someone pushing a foam box selling popsicles, so she took out some money and bought one for herself.
"Little girl, this is for you." The old lady opened the foam box containing the popsicles, lifted up a quilt for insulation, took out a popsicle from it and handed it to her.
"Thank you, grandma." Jiang Jiang took the popsicle from the old lady and peeled off the translucent wrapping paper on the outside of the cream popsicle. A light mist slowly rose from the popsicle and a creamy aroma drifted into her nostrils.
Jiang Jiang took a bite of the cream popsicle. It was sweet, with a rich cream flavor and a smooth texture. The hot weather was making people irritable, and eating an icy popsicle made them feel so comfortable.
Cream popsicles cost five cents each. In addition to cream popsicles, there is also a fruit-flavored popsicle that costs thirty cents each. However, it does not have the milky flavor and the taste is not as smooth as the cream popsicles, but it is also very popular.
Jiang Jiang was walking home while eating a popsicle. Xie Jinyan had something to do today and couldn't go home with her. The afternoon sun lengthened the shadows and the sunlight was a little dazzling. She had just finished eating the popsicle and threw the stick into the trash can when she heard someone calling her.
"Ginger."
Jiang Jiang shielded her eyes with her hands before she could see the person standing under the tree. A look of surprise appeared on her face, "Brother Zhong Xing!"
The young man under the tree was wearing a simple and clean shirt, he had black hair, a handsome face, clear eyes, and a faint smile on his eyebrows.
"Run slower." Zhong Xing supported her with a smile.
"Brother Zhong Xing, why are you back?"
Zhong Xing rubbed her head. "A commune youth basketball league will be held in the county high school in a few days. Hangyuan and I will represent Luling Commune in the competition. If you are free, you can come and have a look."
"Basketball game? Okay, I'll definitely go then." Jiang Jiang agreed without thinking.
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