◎Third update◎
"What are you looking at?" Liang Baozhen walked over and saw Xu Shengwei in front, peeking inside.
"Sister-in-law." Xu Shengya turned around first and complained to her sister-in-law, "My second brother is watching others play table tennis."
Liang Baozhen also looked over curiously, and inside was the table tennis training room. There were six table tennis tables in the training room of more than 30 square meters, and a slogan "Fight bravely and reach the top" was posted on the wall.
"Xiao Wei, why are you looking so absent-minded?"
Xu Shengwei came back to his senses after hearing Liang Baozhen's words. He had just seen two boys practicing in the table tennis training room. They were hitting the ball back and forth. It was amazing! He was dazzled by what he saw and didn't know why he was so absorbed in it that he didn't even hear anyone talking next to him.
"Sister-in-law, let's go." Xu Shengwei went out with his sister-in-law and sister, but after walking a few steps he looked back. He still didn't know who would win between the two.
Liang Baozhen found it even more funny to see him looking back every few steps, thinking that he wanted to play more, "Next time, you can play at school too."
"My racket is broken."
Xu Shengwei's table tennis racket is not a regular racket. It was made by him and his classmate from the High School Affiliated to the National Cotton Factory using a piece of wood. It has no glue or sponge, so naturally it has no elasticity. He is basically a lone player, so the ball doesn't bounce well when he hits it, and it all depends on brute force.
There was no other way. Ping-pong rackets were too expensive. Who would be willing to buy one? Even ping-pong balls were expensive. A group of six of them pooled their money and bought a white, unmarked ping-pong ball for eight cents. They often hit the ball with one stroke and it became round. They had to soak it in water to make it round again.
Later on, he stopped playing table tennis because, although it was fun, it was expensive and laborious.
They are nothing like the students in the table tennis class in the Children's Palace, they are so proud!
"Do you want a table tennis racket?" Liang Baozhen rarely saw Xu Shengwei looking a little disappointed when talking about playing table tennis. It seemed that this guy really loved it.
"No, it's too expensive."
"Buy it if you like it. Playing table tennis is a healthy sport. It's good to exercise more and keep fit." Liang Baozhen is now in charge of the family's finances. She thinks it's okay to buy a pair of rackets for her brother-in-law. However, in order to treat everyone equally, she also asked Xu Shengya to think about what she likes and buy them all at once.
Taking the two to the supply and marketing cooperative again, Xu Shengwei became noticeably active, staring at the red ping-pong rackets with shining eyes. A pair of rackets starts at RMB 5.5, and a single racket starts at RMB 3.00. It is not cheap, and the sponge elasticity needs to be maintained regularly. Ping-pong balls are consumables. Poor balls do not have enough elasticity and are difficult to hit, while expensive ones are too expensive.
"Comrade, we need one ball to play two ping-pong balls."
"Which brand do you want? Shield is $3.50, Rooster is $3, and Chain and Glory are $4 each." The salesperson took out four ping-pong rackets and placed them on the glass counter. Then he turned around and took out an iron plate with four kinds of ping-pong balls on it. "Which kind of ping-pong balls do you want? Rooster is $1, Shield is $9, and White Shell is $8."
Liang Baozhen had never played table tennis, so how could she understand these things? There were so many brands, but she remembered that there was a very famous brand later, "Is there no Double Happiness?"
The salesperson was a little disdainful, thinking that the man was talking nonsense, "Double Happiness is used by the national team for training. Do you want to buy it casually? It's good enough to have these."
"Sister-in-law, let's buy the cheapest one." Xu Shengwei didn't know the family's financial situation, but he just wanted to buy the cheapest one.
"No, if you like playing, just buy something better. It won't be much more expensive anyway." Liang Baozhen was a little disappointed that she couldn't buy the Double Happiness, "Then you need a linked racket and two rooster-shaped ping-pong balls."
The expensive one is definitely fine.
"Four dollars and two cents." The salesperson didn't expect that this person would pay so readily. He seemed to be a generous person.
After all, few families are willing to spend more than four yuan on a table tennis racket these days. Wouldn't it be better to use the money to buy meat or cloth to make clothes?
"Where's Xiaoya? What do you want?"
Xu Shengya shook her head. "I haven't made up my mind yet, sister-in-law. Can I buy it later when I think of it?"
"Okay, then tell me when you think it over."
The three of them were walking home, but Xu Shengweixin had already flown back with a new table tennis racket and a bouncy table tennis ball! He was so proud of himself that he wanted to show off to his friends right away!
Xu Shengjie had no objection to his daughter-in-law buying a table tennis racket for his brother, but Zhou Yun felt that his granddaughter-in-law was too fond of Xiao Wei. "This is too expensive. How can you spend so much money on just a racket and two balls?"
After all, pork costs only 90 cents per pound, and this racket can buy more than 4 pounds of pork. Zhou Yun is used to being frugal. "If Xiao Wei pesters you to buy things, you should not indulge him too much. Children should not be spoiled too much."
"No, grandma, I wanted to buy it for Xiaowei. It's rare for him to like something so much. You didn't see him staring at the door of the Children's Palace for table tennis training without blinking." Liang Baozhen looked at Xu Shengjie again, "I haven't decided on Xiaoya's yet. Anyway, we still owe her a gift."
"Okay." Xu Shengjie didn't take it to heart. His sister could just tell him what she wanted to buy.
Xu Shengjie has changed completely since he got this table tennis racket. It was the first time he used a proper racket and he felt like he was playing with great vigor and was simply a master!
His drives were smooth and his serves were seamless. He had no systematic training but just followed the most popular straight-grip style.
With the help of equipment, Xu Shengjie became addicted to it and was invincible in the National Cotton Middle School. Soon, the news that there was a table tennis master in the National Cotton Middle School spread throughout the school.
Then, Xu Shengwei’s teacher came to visit.
——
The first time Zhou Yun met his grandson's teacher at home, he politely made tea with him, but his face turned red after just a few words from the teacher.
Xu Shengwei actually started skipping classes! And he skipped classes frequently!
Teacher Fan graduated from the normal school this year. He was lucky enough to take the last college entrance examination. After graduation, he was assigned to teach at the National Cotton Middle School. He is a Chinese teacher and also serves as a class teacher.
"Grandma Zhou, Xu Shengwei was actually quite good when he was promoted to the first grade last year. Although his test scores were average, he was very smart and quick to react. When some classmates were making noise in class, he would help the teacher organize classroom discipline. He was also popular in the class, and they often exercised together as a group." Teacher Fan spoke softly and slowly, as if he was not visiting to complain at home, but more like having a heart-to-heart talk with Zhou Yun.
"It happened in the past month or so. He kept skipping classes. There was often no one sitting there. At first I thought he was just too playful. Some naughty boys in the class often behaved like this. We disciplined them, but Xu Shengwei was different. He skipped classes more and more. I asked him about it, but he said he would just keep skipping classes. It started not long after. I think I have to talk to your parents."
"Oh, Teacher Fan, this matter really troubles you!" Zhou Yun felt bitter. Her grandson was called by the teacher for skipping classes. It was so embarrassing. She respected scholars the most in her life, especially teachers who taught and educated people. Now she was embarrassed by what was said about her. She just wanted to grab Xu Shengwei and beat him up!
At this time, everyone in the family had gone out after dinner. Xu Shengjie and his wife went to Liu Nianhua's house to help. She wanted to redecorate the house, and large pieces of furniture would require more labor. Xu Shengya went to widow Chen's house to play with her two daughters. As for Xu Shengwei, no one knew where he had gone.
"Binzi." Zhou Yun searched at the door and found someone who knew the situation.
Fang Zhibin heard the neighbor's grandmother call out loudly, "Grandma Zhou, what's going on?"
"Have you seen Xiao Wei?"
"He went to play table tennis." Fang Zhibin knew this of course. Not only did he know this, he also felt very upset. Recently, Xu Shengwei stopped playing with the children in the courtyard. Whenever he had free time, he would go to play table tennis instead of playing iron rings or marbles. The other children in the courtyard did not have proper table tennis rackets at home, and Xu Shengwei thought their skills were not good enough, so he played with the second-year junior high school students.
"Where do you fight?"
"At school."
Zhou Yun snorted heavily, "Binzi, do Grandma Zhou a favor. Go to the National Cotton Mill Affiliated Middle School and bring Xiao Wei back. Tell her that Grandma wants to see him for something urgent."
"good."
At this time, Xu Shengwei was playing fiercely on the table tennis table of the National Cotton Mill Affiliated Middle School. He was playing with students one grade higher than him. They also had expensive table tennis rackets, and it was so fun to play against them!
Xu Shengwei was celebrating after scoring a beautiful drive when he suddenly saw Fang Zhibin coming over. He excitedly showed off to him, "Binzi! You came just in time to watch me play!"
"No, your grandma asked me to go back with you. She said there was something urgent."
Xu Shengwei looked confused. Why did his grandma come to him for something urgent at this time?
"Wait a minute, I still have the last three balls! I'm about to win!"
"Xu Shengwei, are you bragging? Who said you are going to win?" The opponent refused to admit defeat. The score was now 18 to 13, and Xu Shengwei was only three points away from victory.
As a result, the fight lasted for more than ten minutes. Perhaps because he was too anxious, or perhaps because he wanted to show off too much in front of Fang Zhibin, Xu Shengwei made several mistakes in succession. The score between the two went from 18 to 13 to 20 to 19.
In the end, Xu Shengwei scored a slam dunk and won the game with a score of 21 to 19!
Zhou Yun and Teacher Fan were waiting at home. They waited for nearly forty minutes. Zhou Yun became more and more embarrassed. He kept adding water to Teacher Fan's cup and putting peach cakes and egg cakes bought from home on the table. But Teacher Fan was polite and only drank water and refused to eat anything.
When Xu Shengwei and Fang Zhibin came back in a hurry, they saw Teacher Fan sitting in the room. Xu Shengwei was stunned. It was all over!
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