Free Web NovelChapter 50: Chapter 49: The Scene of Acknowledging a Mother on a Large Scale
A commercial minibus for over a dozen passengers parked in front of the entrance gate of Zhengyang No. 13 Middle School.
Next to the minibus.
Zhao Yi, Lin Xiaoqing, Sun Liang, and others were lined up in a straight row, while teachers, including Wang Ping, Li Lisheng, and Teacher Sun, were standing on both sides with smiles.
Principal Wang Chengmin’s face was serious, with crisp and forceful words, "Being able to participate in the finals of the provincial competition is an honor for the entire No. 13 Middle School, and you are all representatives of No. 13 Middle School!"
"You must go with a strong will and a determined desire to win, performing your best in the finals. All teachers and students of No. 13 Middle School stand firmly behind you!"
"Maintaining a good appearance is also important. Let everyone see the spirit and character of our No.13 Middle School students under the attention of the whole province!"
"Indeed, No. 13 Middle School is not a provincial key school, nor a city key school, but let everyone see that our students are no worse than those in key schools, whether in the province or the city, we are...!"
Wang Chengmin spoke forcefully, and as he became more excited, he waved his arm passionately.
The teachers also clapped and cheered in response.
Lin Xiaoqing, Sun Liang, and the others, seemingly infected by the words, blushed with excitement, and their mouths revealed a hint of pride.
Zhao Yi just wanted to retort.
Looking at Wang Chengmin’s demeanor and listening to his words, Zhao Yi had the feeling that they were about to embark on a battlefield.
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How tragic!
Wang Chengmin finally finished his speech, and the students, accompanied by the teachers, finally got into the car.
This time, the team going to Jiangcheng City for the competition included not only team leader Wang Ping and six students, but also Head Teacher Sun, Li Lisheng, and a second-grade teacher named Pan Hua.
For one thing, Wang Ping is a female teacher and couldn’t fully take care of the six students on her own.
Secondly, No. 13 Middle School had more than a dozen "audience quota" spots for the finals, which were available for teachers and parents. However, the parents who wanted to attend had to make their own arrangements.
"My mom’s going," Lin Xiaoqing pouted unhappily on the way, "I didn’t want her to go, but she insisted, saying she needed to be there to support me."
With a tinge of jealousy, Sun Liang said, "I also told my dad, but he said Jiangzhou is too far away, and it is safer for me to go with the school. He just doesn’t want to spend the money."
Sun Liang has one advantage - he has never looked down on himself for having a poor economic background.
Don’t underestimate this point.
Many children from poor families tend to have a sense of inferiority when it comes to money and are reluctant to discuss related issues with their classmates. Sometimes, they even subconsciously act like "I have money" or "money doesn’t matter."
Continuing on from Sun Liang’s topic, Zhao Yi said, "My situation is the same."
"Didn’t you get one million yuan?" Sun Liang’s expression was quite exaggerated.
Others looked over.
Zhao Yi replied, "I told my parents about it too, but my dad said he has to work, and my mom said she just went to Jiangcheng City before National Day, and that there was nothing special about it. They are quite at ease with me going with the school instead."
He continued to complain, "I don’t think she really doesn’t want to come, but she’d rather take care of my dad at home."
Students bonding by complaining about their parents is a way to bring them closer.
Everyone then began to talk about their parents.
He Rong also mentioned his father, "All my dad knows is to let me study, but he didn’t even go to middle school when he was young."
Sun Jiali listened with a gloomy expression.
Others didn’t notice, but Zhao Yi did. He recalled the rumors at school and changed the subject during a lull in the conversation, "Let’s talk about the competition instead. Teacher Wang, could you go over the process again?"
Wang Ping, who was sitting in the back row, turned around and started talking about the finals.
The ’Youth Cup’ finals will consist of four types of questions: compulsory questions, subjective questions, buzz-in questions, and risk questions. The answering format is not a written test, but rather like a variety show, where students or teams take turns answering questions, and each question is timed.
Each team starts with 100 basic points, and in the end, rankings will be determined according to the scores.
"The winning team will receive an honorary certificate and a cash prize, and their school will also receive a small trophy."
"Last year, the first-place prize was 20,000 yuan."
"If you guys can come in first place, each of you will get over 3,000 yuan, and the school will definitely have prepared a bonus and prizes."
Wang Ping mentioned the prize money and then laughed, "Don’t put too much pressure on yourselves. We don’t need to aim for first place; third place will do. Principal Wang said that as long as you guys can get third place, each of you will be rewarded with 500 yuan."
"Really?" Sun Liang’s eyes gleamed with excitement.
Everyone else looked forward to it as well.
Though they didn’t dare to aim for first place, they felt that there was a good chance of grabbing third place if they tried hard.
...
At 8:00 a.m. the next day, everyone gathered after having breakfast at the hotel and headed to the venue of the finals: the gymnasium of the Provincial Department of Education.
The gymnasium was fully decorated, with tables and chairs set up on the central stage, cameras placed all around, and hundreds of seats for the audience on the periphery.
No. 13 Middle School was assigned to the "Number One" position right in the center of the contestants’ table.
This position was the most eye-catching.
When everyone was seated, the prepared photographers took the opportunity to come on stage and take photos.
Group shots.
Individual shots.
At this time, the difference became obvious, as the most photographers gathered around Zhao Yi.
Lin Xiaoqing came in second.
The reason why there were fewer photographers around Sun Jiali was solely because she was a substitute member and couldn’t sit in the first row of the contestants’ seats. Instead, she had to sit with team leader Wang Ping in the second row of the substitute seats.
The others had it pretty rough.
A reporter casually took two shots of Sun Liang before heading towards Lin Xiaoqing, and the rest of the group received similar treatment.
Full of bitterness and complaints, Sun Li said, "If I had known, I would have brought my mom’s makeup to make myself look prettier..."
He Ronghua glanced at Sun Li, pursing her lips involuntarily.
Sun Liang spoke up for her, voicing his thoughts, "Even if you brought everything, you would still be this short. You might as well just add a shoe pad."
Sun Li gritted her teeth in anger.
Zhengyang No.13 Middle School’s team received a lot of attention.
The other four arriving teams frequently looked towards them, firstly because they topped the preliminary round with full marks, and secondly because they had the ’computer genius’ Zhao Yi.
After they scrutinized Zhao Yi and saw nothing special, their attention immediately shifted to Lin Xiaoqing and Sun Jiali.
With Lin Xiaoqing and Sun Jiali leading the way, Zhengyang No.13 Middle School’s good looks could be described as explosive.
In comparison, the teams from other schools looked quite pitiful, all akin to ’crooked melons and split dates.’
At the same time.
They were also the least favored team.
The ’Youth Cup’ knowledge competition finals were a team event, so most people viewed Zhengyang No.13 Middle School as just an ordinary high school, with the only standout being Zhao Yi.
The others could be ignored.
Jiangzhou Experimental Middle School and Zhengyang No.1 High School were both provincial key schools. Their recruited students included many specialists, and their representatives in the knowledge competition may not have the best academic performance but had rich extracurricular knowledge.
Yongyang Middle School was a private high school, not necessarily better, but it had the right to recruit students autonomously, so the quality of its students was guaranteed.
Most private primary and secondary schools focused on cultivating students in a comprehensive manner and held many more extracurricular activities than public schools.
Therefore, their students usually had more well-rounded abilities and stood a better chance in extracurricular knowledge competitions.
Zhengyang No.13 Middle School didn’t stand a chance.
An ordinary high school?
What could they achieve?
Even with the supposed ’computer genius’ Zhao Yi, the overall abilities of the entire team were still far from catching up with the other schools.
...
As the finals approached, the audience began to enter the venue gradually.
Many participating students turned around, spotting their teachers and parents among the audience, who called out to their children.
The scene became somewhat chaotic.
When the audience entry was almost over, Lin Xiaoqing saw Zhao Hongjuan.
Zhao Hongjuan waved to the contestants, and like the other parents, she called out her child’s name, "Xiaoqing! Mom is here!"
"Mom!"
Lin Xiaoqing turned her head, feeling a little uneasy as she yelled. She couldn’t help but feel like she was disturbing the order of the venue.
At this moment, Zhao Yi also looked towards Zhao Hongjuan, shouting with all his might, "Mom—??"
Lin Xiaoqing was stunned, her face immediately turning beet red. She yanked Zhao Yi’s arm, furious and nearly whining, "What are you randomly shouting for! That’s my mom!"
"Am I not shouting for my mom?"
"That’s my mom!"
Lin Xiaoqing gritted her teeth, enunciating each word.
"So my mom is your mom, too? We...uh...even though you’re not bad-looking, your personality is too violent, and I haven’t mentally prepared myself yet..."
Far away.
Zhao Hongjuan was about to sit down when she suddenly froze, looking lost and confused as she gazed at Lin Xiaoqing.
What’s going on?
Why would a male student call her ’mom’?
Things were moving too fast!
A camera nearby also quickly aimed at Zhao Hongjuan, wanting to show the viewers at home the greatness of the mother who had raised two contestants.
Sun Liang, who was right next to Zhao Yi, looked shocked and yelled, "You’re shouting ’mom’ way too early, man!"
Everyone immediately turned to look at Lin Xiaoqing and Zhao Yi.
Coming to his senses, Zhao Yi pointed to the audience and said sullenly, "You guys misunderstood, my mom is here too, just behind."
Following Zhao Yi’s hand, they all saw Liu Jing and Zhao Zhenxi sitting behind Zhao Hongjuan.
Oh, so that’s the case!
Lin Xiaoqing heaved a sigh of relief, reacting suddenly and angrily, "You should’ve explained it sooner!"
Zhao Yi shrugged innocently, "I did say I was calling for my mom. I even thought you wanted to recognize her as your mom earlier..."
"What nonsense are you talking about!"
Angry and flustered, Lin Xiaoqing clenched her fists before sharply asking, "What did you call me earlier? Violent personality?"
"No, no."
Zhao Yi hurriedly waved his hand, saying, "I meant that you...you...have a very sweet voice. Yeah, that’s it."
"Hmph!"
"..."
