Chapter 189 The Eve of the Competition
The sky had just begun to turn pale, and the faint light of dawn had not yet completely dispelled the chill of the night, when the crisp sound of horse hooves rang out one after another on the winding village road.
The sound of horse hooves echoed on the empty village road, startling the birds sleeping on the branches, and they fluttered into the sky.
Yesterday, the villagers received a notice that the school was going to hold a debate competition. It was also possible that the county's dignitaries would come to watch. Everyone who came was there to watch the competition.
The villagers specifically warned everyone not to go and watch or be afraid.
In order to ensure that everything went smoothly, Gu Jiayue even asked the village chief to help find a few generous villagers who were familiar with the road conditions in the village to help lead the way, and paid them twenty cents a day.
Zhang Laihu is one of them.
He arrived at the village entrance before dawn, wearing a coarse linen shirt that had become slightly pale from washing, and his cloth shoes were a little worn, but he kept them clean and tidy.
Standing under the ancient locust tree at the entrance of the village, I stared at the winding road in the distance, and stood on tiptoe to look around from time to time.
When he saw someone driving a carriage slowly approaching, he immediately straightened his slightly bent body and a warm smile appeared on his face.
The carriage slowly stopped, and a round-faced little girl eagerly lifted the curtain.
Just as she was about to speak, she was suddenly pulled out of the carriage with force. The whole person disappeared from sight in an instant, leaving only the swaying curtains still telling of what had just happened.
The groom then spoke slowly, his voice calm and polite: "Excuse me, young man, is this Taohua Village?"
Zhang Laihu scratched his head and said with a simple smile, "Yes, this is Taohua Village. Big Brother, are you going to Qiushi Academy?"
"That's right," the groom replied.
Zhang Laihu quickly made way for the intersection, stretched out his thick finger, pointed in a direction, and explained in detail: "Brother, walk forward from here, and then you will see a signpost. Just follow the arrow on the sign and you won't go wrong."
"Okay, thank you very much, young man." The coachman gently shook the reins and rode away. The carriage slowly moved forward, raising a cloud of dust.
In the carriage, Song Yao pouted, her face full of grievance and confusion, "Mom, why are you pulling me?"
Wan glared at Song Yao with a stern look in her eyes and said, "You are a rich lady, how can you casually reveal your appearance to others?"
She gestured to Liu Ma beside her to hand her the veil.
Song Yao was indignant, but did not dare to resist.
She had to ask her mother for a long time before she agreed to bring her along. What if she didn't obey and her mother didn't let her get off the car to play with Sister Jiayue?
Thinking of this, Song Yao could only take the veil obediently and put it on her face reluctantly.
Seeing Song Yao put on the veil, Wan was satisfied and her expression eased a little.
Then, she sighed worriedly, her eyes filled with worry, and said, "I wonder if your brother is suffering here and if he's falling behind in his studies."
Covering her face with a veil, Song Yao bared her teeth unscrupulously. "Mother, it's not like you didn't receive the letter from my brother. Didn't he say that he eats well, lives well, and studies better here than at Wutong Academy?"
"You know your brother always reports good news but not bad news. What good food can you expect to find in this remote village? What good teacher can you expect to learn from? I don't know what your father is crazy about, actually agreeing to let your brother come here."
Mrs. Wan still had a sad look on her face and kept complaining.
After hearing this, Song Yao stopped talking.
She knew that her brother was her mother's lifeblood, and her mother always assumed the worst when it came to anything related to her brother.
"By the way, your brother wrote to say that there are several students from Kyoto here, and they all come from good families. You can take a good look and see if there are any you like."
Mrs. Wan suddenly changed the subject. Song Yao's pretty face instantly turned pink, and she shyly called out, "Mom!"
On the other side, in the dormitory of the college.
In order to prepare for today's competition, Yin Siqi went to Jinxiu Tower specially.
He found Hua Chao and Huo Qiu Shuang and said, "Ladies, I hope you can lend me a hand. I'm willing to order six sets of clothes in different colors."
The girls in Jinxiu Building have been learning dressmaking skills for some time and are worried about not having the opportunity to practice them.
The two looked at each other, discussed it briefly, and agreed readily.
The girls sat together, brainstorming and discussing styles and colors.
After some effort, they actually made six sets of clothes in different colors, novel styles and very beautiful appearance.
At this time, the twenty-nine people were divided into two large teams and six small teams.
Everyone was wearing the same uniform, and in an instant, everyone's mental outlook was refreshed.
They stand tall and straight, their eyes revealing confidence and determination, like warriors about to go to the battlefield.
“Brother Shen, are you nervous?” Su Yichen covered his heart with a hint of nervousness and uneasiness on his face, and even beads of sweat appeared on his forehead.
Chen Shuyan put down the draft in his hand and said calmly: "Not bad."
Su Yichen glanced at him and found that he looked normal and not nervous at all.
He felt helpless, thinking that Chen Shuyan could not understand his panic at the moment, so he ignored him.
We really have nothing in common and it doesn't relieve my tension at all.
"Brother Zhang, are you nervous?" Su Yichen turned his gaze to Zhang Sheng again.
Zhang Sheng was so nervous that his lips were trembling slightly. He still held the manuscript tightly in his hand and recited it to himself.
Being interrupted by Su Yichen like this, he felt that he had forgotten what he had just memorized, and his mind went blank.
He glanced at Su Yichen with resentment, his eyes seemed to say: "You have hurt me terribly."
Then, he grabbed Fu Wenhan's sleeve like a helpless child and said in a tearful voice, "Brother Fu, can you please not let me make the first debate? I'm nervous."
Fu Wenhan looked at Zhang Sheng expressionlessly and said coldly, "Are you not nervous about having to do the second debate?"
"Nervous." Zhang Sheng answered almost in tears.
Only then did he realize that this had nothing to do with how many debates he had done, he was just plain nervous.
"Or I won't go on stage. Four people can do this anyway."
Zhang Sheng felt like his heart was beating so fast that it was about to jump out, and his body was shaking even when he spoke.
"The game is about to start and you can't go up? How is that possible? If you are nervous, go out for a walk, drink more water and take deep breaths." Fu Wenhan would not let Zhang Sheng escape at the critical moment.
After all, many people came today, and this competition is not only related to the reputation of Qiushi Academy, but also involves Wutong Academy and Huaqing Academy.
No matter what, they are just studying at Qiushi Academy on a temporary basis, and they will have to return to their own college when the time comes.
If they deserted the battlefield or performed poorly, then when outsiders mentioned what happened today, they would not mention Qiushi Academy, but would only talk about Fu Wenhan from Huaqing Academy.
So we can lose today’s game, but we can’t be bad!
After hearing what Fu Wenhan said, Zhang Sheng could only continue to recite with a sad face while holding the manuscript.
But as he was carrying it on his back, he suddenly felt that he needed to solve some physiological problems.
He looked around and found that everyone was busy. Some were adjusting their clothes in front of the mirror, while others were nervously reviewing their manuscripts. No one noticed him.
So he walked out quietly alone.
Not long after walking, I saw a group of people walking towards this direction.
He took a look and found that he didn't recognize her, so he gave up and turned to walk towards the toilet.
But after taking just two steps, he was stopped by a girl.
"Sir, please stay!" Song Yao's clear voice rang out in the air.
Zhang Sheng paused and saw a girl walking towards him quickly.
He saluted quickly, his posture very respectful, and said, "Miss, what's the matter?"
Song Yao was just a lively person, but she had also been well-educated since childhood. Seeing Zhang Sheng stop, she took Wan's arm and walked forward slowly with elegant steps. "My lord, how are you? May I know where Song Zhixu, the student from Song, is?"
Ask Song Zhixu?
Zhang Sheng remembered that Song Zhixu said yesterday that he had written a letter back home and his mother and sister might come.
Thinking this way, the two people in front of him are his family.
Zhang Sheng bowed and asked, "Young lady, is your wife Brother Song's family?"
Although I have some guesses, I still need to ask.
It would be embarrassing if you recognized the wrong person or gave the wrong directions.
Wan nodded, her tone a little reserved as she said, "That's right."
Song Zhixu wrote home saying that the students who were studying with him at the Qiushi Academy were all the best from Wutong Academy and Huaqing Academy, and they were all excellent in terms of family background and knowledge.
Wan secretly looked at the young man in front of her.
He had a delicate face and a simple look in his eyes, but the clothes he wore were made of ordinary materials and were simple in style. It seemed his family wasn't very well-off. Wan secretly sighed, feeling it was a pity.
"Brother Song is now in the dormitory preparing what he will say on stage. It's crowded and noisy here. If Madam doesn't mind, you can sit in the pavilion for a while. I'll go in and call Brother Song out." Zhang Sheng said respectfully.
"Okay, thank you very much, young master." Wan glanced at the girl standing obediently beside her, and agreed immediately.
Zhang Sheng led the two of them to the waterside pavilion.
The waterside pavilion is surrounded by flowers and plants. When the breeze blows, the flowers sway gently, emitting bursts of fragrance.
Zhang Sheng turned back to the dormitory and pulled Song Zhixu, who had just changed his clothes, over to him. "Brother Song, your mother and sister are here. They are waiting for you in the pavilion opposite the dormitory."
Song Zhixu was stunned at first, an expression of disbelief on his face, then ecstasy, his eyes sparkling with excitement, "Thank you, Brother Zhang."
He rushed to the waterside pavilion as fast as he could and heard his mother complaining about the school's environment. "Why is this place so shabby? It's nothing compared to our home."
Song Zhixu's originally passionate heart cooled down a bit. Well, mother is still mother.
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