Chapter 63 Speech

Everybody clapped their hands vigorously below. After everyone finished clapping, the captain came to the stage and praised Lin Laogen's family and also praised Xia Zhizhi a lot.

Then he looked at Xia Zhizhi, who was sitting in the audience like a quail, and thought that Xia Zhizhi was too shy, so he needed to train her and let her express herself. He said, "Let Xia Zhizhi come on stage and say a few words to everyone."

The guy from my hometown is backstabbing me.

I didn't say before that I would be allowed to go on stage to give a speech.

It's all thanks to Xia Zhizhi. If it was another girl, she would be in trouble.

But she just felt a little awkward, not timid. Besides, as long as she wasn't embarrassed, then it would be others who were embarrassed.

Since she is going to be on stage, she has to perform well and not let the captain down.

She raised her little face, just like the big rooster who had just defeated five little roosters and won the right to mate with the little hen, she walked to the podium in a proud and heroic manner, swung the microphone, and began her famous "Pig-catching" style speech (thank you, look back, and bless you).

"Well, comrades, fellow villagers, good evening. Thank you to our wise and intelligent captain for giving me this opportunity to speak on stage. I also thank the hardworking, brave, kind and simple comrades and villagers present for being willing to listen to my speech. Next, I will briefly say a few words about my thoughts."

After Xia Zhizhi finished speaking, she paused and looked at everyone, and everyone looked at her.

It was Han Youran who reacted and led the applause for her.

After everyone applauded for a while, she raised her hand and signaled everyone to be quiet.

"Looking back on the days when I went to the countryside, I felt sadness, pain, and tears. At the beginning (a thousand words of endless grievances)..."

This thing has been staying at the educated youth camp since it was sent to the countryside and has rarely gone out. No one knows where the sadness and tears came from, but everyone just listened quietly and no one jumped out to interrupt her.

Xia Zhizhi pretended to sob and wiped away her nonexistent tears, then continued, "But there is more joy and happiness."

"When I first went to the countryside, I encountered (2,000 words omitted)...difficulties. I couldn't hold on for a few times, but fortunately I had you..."

The captain looked at the person on the stage talking non-stop and felt a little sorry for the electricity bill. He waved his hand at her, signaling her to hurry up.

Xia Zhizhi had just gotten into the mood and was very excited, so she ignored him, pretended not to see him, and continued on her own.

"The captain gave me a lot of help (800 words)."

"The aunties and middle-aged women also took good care of me (listing 18 aunties and middle-aged women whose names I remember)"

"The elders and fellow villagers (15 uncles and aunts whom I have only met once) have also been supporting me!"

"There are also the lovely little comrades in the village (the ones whose names we can call out include Da Lai and Si Gan Ba)."

"And all the kind and brave educated youths in the educated youth centers (all educated youths are listed one by one), who have always encouraged me!"

"It is because of you that I can write such a good article, letting more people know how passionate, kind and hardworking the people of our Zhongxing Brigade are!"

"This is not just my honor, it belongs to all of us!"

Some people were more or less happy to hear that they were being praised. Seeing how Xia Zhizhi could talk non-stop for more than an hour without a script, they thought that she was worthy of being able to write articles for newspapers. Her mouth was like a blessed one, she was really eloquent and not at all vain.

Xia Zhizhi spoke passionately for nearly two hours, then she looked at the captain's cup on the table and swallowed.

It was a mistake. I didn’t bring a cup. My throat is a little dry.

Seeing the captain's face getting darker and darker, she thought kindly that the captain was old after all, so she should be more considerate to him. If he was really angry, another captain might not be as kind as her.

That’s all for today. Someday she’ll have the chance and bring a cup to soak some monk fruit and Sterculia lychnophora to enjoy it to her heart’s content.

She cleared her throat to sign off.

"Although everyone here comes from all over the world, our hearts are closely connected. We have no blood relationship, but we are closer than blood relatives. We are a family that loves each other!"

"In the days ahead, I hope that the comrades in our village will continue to love each other and work together. I wish our Zhongxing Brigade will get better and better and be rated as an advanced production brigade as soon as possible!"

Finally, she emphasized: "My heart will always stand with the people. Although I am not in good health, I am not vomiting blood every day. If you need me, please speak up. I will definitely do my best. Well, my speech is over. Thank you all!"

When she put down the microphone, there was a long sigh of relief from the audience.

Everyone here, young or old, is thinking the same thing.

It's finally over.

Everyone, educated or not, has experienced the fear of being controlled by just a few words from the principal.

Everyone looked at each other. They originally just wanted to breathe a sigh of relief, but they didn't expect that others would do the same as them and make such a big fuss. It was a bit awkward.

While others are giving passionate speeches on the stage, don’t you look a little unenthusiastic by doing this?

However, some people were smart and stretched out their paws to clap vigorously, clapping and cheering at the same time. Everyone followed suit and clapped, dispelling the awkward atmosphere.

Although there were no prizes and only verbal praise, the villagers were very happy.

If the villagers appear in the newspaper, it is equivalent to appearing in the newspaper yourself.

Originally, the team leader planned to discuss this year's advanced team selection with the villagers after Xia Zhizhi finished her speech.

But this thing had been going on for too long, and everyone's butts were numb from sitting there, and they were all sleepy, with people yawning from time to time. We had to stop here for today, and everyone dispersed and left.

Han Youran and Jiang Xiurong became bad. Seeing everyone looking so devastated and depressed, they felt secretly happy in their hearts.

Although they also listened for two hours, it was worth it for everyone to experience the power of this chatterbox.

There is no benefit in harming others, but I'm happy, hehehe.

After returning home, Lin Laogen and his family were a little anxious.

The old lady of the Lin family fished out the small handkerchief from the corner of the wall, and tremblingly took out nine yuan from it.

This is the wages Xia Zhizhi gave me when I built the kang last time.

Lin Laogen looked at the family and said, "Look, the newspapers all praised our family for being enthusiastic and helpful, so it would be a bit strange for us to keep the wages. I'm thinking of returning the few dollars tomorrow. What do you think?"

The second son's wife said, "You can return the wages. We are from the same village, so we will consider it as a favor. But what about the money for the adobe bricks?"

That was the one or two yuan they saved every day, which they saved for building a house when the children grew up.

Lin Laogen made the decision: "Then we'll take 4 yuan as labor fee."

After saying this, he hesitated again: "I have already received it. Will they accept it if I return it to them?"

I should have known better than to collect it...

But who knew this would happen?

Honest people are more likely to encounter this kind of problem.

Lin Laogen is a little bald.