Chapter 41
On a humid morning, everything began to wake up, and the sound of reading could be heard in the county primary school.
After the morning reading class, Teacher Tian, wearing a blue overalls and with her hair in a ponytail, walked into the classroom holding the textbooks and started the first class of the day.
"Students, please turn to page 56. Today we are going to study a text called 'The Magnificent Youth'."
Teacher Tian turned around and wrote the five words "Magnificent Youth" on the blackboard with chalk.
As soon as Teacher Tian finished speaking, a student asked from the podium, "Teacher, what is youth?"
Teacher Tian thought about this question seriously. "Youth is a beautiful and unforgettable time. We are full of passion at that stage. We work hard for our ideals day and night and never give up. Each of us will experience youth. It is the most precious time in our lives."
"Teacher, are we youth now?"
Teacher Tian shook his head and said with a smile, "Your youth has not yet begun. You are still in the 'teenage' stage."
"What about the teacher?"
Teacher Tian looked at the students below and smiled helplessly, "The teacher's youth is gone."
Jiang Jiang came out of school after finishing her duty. There were only a few students left at the school gate. Xie Jinyan had something to do today and couldn't go home directly with her. Jiang Jiang adjusted the strap of her schoolbag and looked up to see Sun Zhaodi.
She felt like she was waiting for him here. Jiang Jiang looked at her suspiciously. Just when he was thinking about whether to talk to her, he saw her walking towards him.
Before she could react, Sun Zhaodi stuffed a bottle of soda into her hand, said "sorry", and hurried away.
Sun Zhaodi's back disappeared around the corner. Jiang Jiang was holding the bottle of soda. She had just treated the incident as a thing of the past and usually treated her as a normal classmate at school. However, she did not expect that Sun Zhaodi would take the initiative to apologize to her.
Let’s get along like normal classmates from now on, Jiang Jiang sighed, unscrewed the cap of the soda bottle and took a sip.
"Ginger."
Jiang Jiang looked in the direction of the voice and saw Zhong Xing, Yu Hangyuan and the others, as well as a boy he didn't recognize. Zhong Xing was holding a net bag with a basketball in it. The three of them looked like they had just come from the court and were still sweating.
"Brother Zhong Xing, Brother Hang Yuan."
"This is Chen Shi. He was sent to work in a production team in another commune. He was selected in the recent recruitment and will set off soon. He is also our buddy. Shitou, this is Jiang Jiang I mentioned to you." Zhong Xing introduced the two of them to each other.
"Brother Chen Shi."
Chen Shi nodded, "Hello, Jiang Jiang."
"Is there anything else later? Let's go eat together?"
"Okay, but I have to go home and tell my mom first."
"I just passed by the county hospital and saw Aunt He on duty. I told her about it."
Zhong Xing's eyes fell on her schoolbag, "Let me carry your schoolbag for you."
"It's not heavy. There are only a few books in total."
"Oh well."
Jiang Jiang, Zhong Xing and others arrived at the state-owned canteen on the street.
It was not yet the peak meal time, and although there were some diners in the cafeteria, they were not many. A few young people asked Jiang Jiang to sit at her seat while they lined up to buy food. Soon, the table was filled with all kinds of food.
The state-owned canteen provided alcohol, but none of them liked it, so they didn't buy any and just ordered free tea.
"Time flies. It's been half a year since we last met." Chen Shi looked at them and suggested, "Let's do one together."
Everyone stood up, clinked their teacups together, and drank the tea in their cups in one gulp.
"I am reluctant to leave my hometown and go to a strange place thousands of miles away. I don't know when I will meet you all again."
"Don't say these words. We will meet again one day. I just want to say that no matter what position you are in, you must shine and contribute to the development of our country."
"That's right." They bumped their fists again to cheer each other up, "Let's all go all out in tomorrow's basketball game."
Jiang Jiang was eating and listening to them chatting. He could feel a mixture of happiness and sadness in their expressions.
The happiness was probably because Chen Shi was selected as a soldier, which was a better future compared to others. Zhong Xing and Yu Hangyuan were also happy for him.
The sadness is probably because Chen Shi is leaving.
After dinner, they separated at the door of the state-owned canteen, and Zhong Xing was responsible for sending Jiang Jiang back home.
The moon had risen slightly, Jiang Jiang's schoolbag was already in Zhong Xing's hands, cicadas could be heard chirping not far away, and the air seemed to carry the scent of dates.
The sole of Jiang Jiang's shoe was a little bit loose, so she looked down and tried to shift the center of her body to the other foot to reduce the wear and tear on that shoe.
Her movements were not obvious, but Zhong Xing still noticed it. He lowered his head and asked Jiang Jiang, "Does your foot hurt?"
Jiang Jiang shook his head, "No... the sole of my shoe is cracked, I'll just go back and glue it back together."
Zhong Xing glanced at the uneven gravel road in front of him and suddenly squatted down, "I'll carry you back."
“No, no.”
"Come up." Zhong Xing said in a deep voice.
"Okay." Zhong Xing insisted and Jiang Jiang did not refuse anymore. She climbed up using both her hands and feet and put her arms around Zhong Xing's neck.
His back was broad and his gait was steady.
The young man's slender neck appeared white and transparent in the moonlight, with clear veins.
She suddenly remembered the night when an avalanche occurred in the village, and Zhong Xing had carried her through the darkness in the same way.
Jiang Jiang looked at the sweat on the young man's forehead, couldn't help but opened his mouth, and said in a very light voice, "Thank you, Brother Zhong Xing."
The next morning, Jiang Jiang went straight to the basketball court of the county high school. She wore a light summer outfit and tied her hair into a high ponytail. He Guijuan also used a thin ribbon to tie a bow at the base of her ponytail. The excess thin ribbon hung down, making her look lively and beautiful. There were many people joining in the fun, including men, women, young and old, as well as the cadres in charge of this game. She saw Zhong Xing next to the court through the crowd.
Before they went on the court, a group of teammates were discussing countermeasures.
"Brother Zhong Xing!" She made a trumpet shape with her hands and shouted at them, "Come on!"
Perhaps he heard her voice, Jiang Jiang saw Zhong Xing in the crowd smiling at her.
About two minutes later, Chen Shi came over and led Jiang Jiang to their resting area.
The whistle sounded for the game to start, and Jiang Jiang saw them take the court one by one. They were playing against a basketball team composed of young people from Chengguan Commune.
Zhong Xing was undoubtedly a dazzling presence on the court. With a nimble turn, he made a three-pointer, and the crowd burst into warm applause and cheers.
"Come on, Zhong Xing!! Come on, Zhong Xing!!!" Jiang Jiang yelled at the top of his lungs, his neck turning red.
The halftime whistle blew, and Zhong Xing brought Jiang Jiang a glass of water. He said with a smile, "Jiang Jiang, control your voice. Don't shout too hard."
"Drink some water to moisten your throat." Zhong Xing handed her the water.
Jiang Jiang listened to his words and took a sip of water. Sure enough, his throat felt much better.
“Sister Jiang Jiang, you are too biased. You only cheer for your brother Zhong Xing. You completely ignore the existence of brothers Hangyuan and Chen Shi.” Yu Hangyuan sat down next to her, breathing heavily with a mischievous look on his face.
"That's right. Although we are not as good as your brother Zhong Xing, we are not bad either. Didn't you see how well we cooperate with each other?"
Jiang Jiang's face turned red and she almost choked on the water.
Zhong Xing came to her rescue, "Stop teasing her, and discuss who will play next."
"OK."
The opposing commune made a major adjustment to its lineup during the half-time break. The newly replaced main players were obviously professionals, and their attack was obviously much more fierce than in the first game. The Luling Commune team gradually lost the upper hand.
Chengguan Commune kept scoring goals, and the teammates of Luling Commune became impetuous and were frequently exploited. In the first half, the score gap between Luling Commune and Chengguan Commune became smaller and smaller, and Chengguan Commune even scored more than Luling Commune.
Towards the end, the voices of the audience cheering for Luling Commune began to become lower.
The battle became tense.
The two teams were in a stalemate, and Chengguan Commune turned to defense. They would win as long as they maintained the current score.
Jiang Jiang held the cup and looked at the team members in the crowd, and became nervous.
Suddenly a perfect goal broke the stalemate.
Jiang Jiang looked in the direction of the goal.
The young man in the sunshine is agile and sweating profusely.
This goal instantly ignited the players' fighting spirit and gave them hope of winning. The originally listless audience also became emotional and screamed with joy.
The team members began to cooperate with Zhong Xing to launch a counterattack.
In the last three minutes, the score was tied.
The referee blew the whistle and the game was over.
The Luling Commune team won by 3 points.
The moment the referee announced that Luling Commune had won, a heavy rain suddenly began to fall. The crowd dispersed and ran to find shelter from the rain. Only the players remained on the court. Everyone hugged and cheered to celebrate this hard-earned victory.
Jiang Jiang stood there and watched the group of young people cheering and cheering.
My heart was pounding and my eyes were a little sore.
This is their passionate youth.
After the basketball game, Zhong Xing first sent Jiang Jiang home before returning to his own home to take a shower and change clothes. Today was originally the weekend, but Lin Youqing and He Guijuan were both on duty, so Jiang Jiang was the only one at home.
Jiang Jiang came out of the bathroom, her hair was freshly washed and not yet dry.
The rain had stopped long ago, and a rainbow appeared in the distant sky. The flowers in the yard had just been washed, and many had fallen to the ground. Jiang Jiang swept them with a broom, fed the old hen some coarse corn, and moved a stool into the yard to read a book.
There was a knock on the door. Jiang Jiang opened the door and saw that the person coming was Zhong Xing.
He also looked like he had just taken a shower. He was wearing a white short-sleeved shirt and his hair was casually disheveled.
"Brother Zhong Xing? Why are you here?" Jiang Jiang was a little confused, but still opened the door, "Come in."
Zhong Xing glanced at her house, which was empty. "Jiang Jiang, is it convenient for you to go out for a walk?"
"good."
Jiang Jiang closed the door, took the key and went out with Zhong Xing.
The two of them had no purpose, they just walked around the street. There was a fresh smell of earth after the rain in the air, and the cobblestone road was washed smooth by the rain.
A package was suddenly stuffed into Jiang Jiang's hand, and she looked up at Zhong Xing with some surprise.
"I didn't know what gift to give you on your birthday before. It just so happened that your shoes were coming apart, so I bought you a pair of shoes to see if you like them." Zhong Xing rubbed her hair.
Jiang Jiang opened the bag, revealing a pair of small red leather shoes with double collars. They were dark red in color, the uppers felt very smooth, and the workmanship was very delicate. The buckles were made of aluminum. The shoes were very beautiful, just like the exquisite dancing shoes of the princess in fairy tales. Jiang Jiang fell in love with them from the bottom of her heart at first sight.
Moreover, the feel is completely different from cloth shoes. Just by holding it in your hand, you can guess that this pair of shoes must be both light and breathable to wear.
Jiang Jiang opened his mouth in surprise, "This..."
"Brother Zhong Xing, this is too expensive." Jiang Jiang's face wrinkled into a bitter gourd shape.
After thinking about it with his fingers, Jiang Jiang also knew that this pair of shoes was very expensive.
"I asked an acquaintance to buy it for me. It's not very expensive," Zhong Xing consoled him. In fact, his two months' food expenses in high school could not cover the price of this pair of shoes.
He found a clean slate for her to sit on and said, "Put it on and try to see if it fits."
Jiang Jiang held the shoes but was unwilling to try them on. Zhong Xing didn't know whether to laugh or cry, so he took the shoes and squatted down to help her put them on.
Jiang Jiang tried to take two steps. The shoes were surprisingly soft and not painful at all. They were light and felt like she was walking on flat ground. Moreover, the shoes made her feet look even more slender.
"Do you like it?"
It's impossible to say that I don't like it. Jiang Jiang looked at the shoes and couldn't help but nodded, "I like it."
"As long as you like it."
Jiang Jiang took off his shoes and gently blew away the dust on the bottom of his shoes with his mouth.
"Why don't you just wear it?"
Jiang Jiang held the shoes for a long time before she shook her head and said, "I can't bear to part with them."
Zhong Xing followed her.
"Jiang Jiang, actually I asked you out because I have something else to tell you."
"What's up?"
Zhong Xing looked at the leaves above his head and sighed, "I am leaving Qingjian County. My father used his connections to find me a job in the province. I came to see you this time to say goodbye to you."
The news came so suddenly that Jiang Jiang was stunned for a long time before he digested it.
After Zhong Xing said this, he didn't speak again. Jiang Jiang didn't speak either. The two of them walked in silence for a while.
"Brother, the cuffs of your clothes are untied. Let me help you sew them."
Zhong Xing took a look at the cuffs and found that they were indeed untied. He asked Jiang Jiang to stand on the stone block next to him, and he bent down to let her sew the cuffs.
Jiang Jiang has been learning tailoring for some time. Since then, she has carried needle and thread with her. There are many mosquitoes in summer, so He Guijuan made mosquito repellent sachets for her. Jiang Jiang put the needle and thread in the sachets.
"It's done." Jiang Jiang bit off the excess thread with her mouth and looked at him again.
She now understood how the bell had woken them up on mealtime.
Jiang Jiang knew that Zhong Xing would not stay in Qingjian County forever. She was really happy for Zhong Xing, but she also really couldn't bear to leave him.
No one would carry her back home through the thorns of darkness.
"Brother Zhong Xing, after you leave Qingjian County, you must remember to write to me."
"Once I'm settled there, I'll write to you and tell you the address. You can write to me if you have any questions."
Jiang Jiang tried his best to show a positive attitude, "Brother Zhong Xing, when you are out there, you must take good care of yourself. Don't just focus on shining and giving off heat. Your health is the capital of the revolution..."
She pulled the corners of her mouth, her eyes a little sore, "Don't forget me."
Zhong Xing reached out and hugged her, his voice choking, "Jiang Jiang, I will never forget you. You will always be my sister."
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