Chapter 91

If possible, please put the book on the shelf. It will be convenient for you and supportive of me. Thank you very much!

In the following days, visitors came one after another. Uncle Three and Aunt Three came once, and Uncle Aunt and Lin Rui also came once. After they arrived, they always had to check and remind him of things. There was nothing to be done; who could blame him for being young!

Fortunately, they didn’t come empty-handed. In appreciation of the things they brought, Feng Yiping always behaved very obediently, pretending to take their advice to heart.

It was Saturday again, and it happened to be Feng Yiping’s turn to be on duty. Being on duty wasn’t much of a big deal. After all the classmates left the classroom, he was responsible for closing the windows and locking the door, then handing the key to the homeroom teacher.

This week, it was the first time for the second-year students to have two weeks of classes before taking a break. Everyone was eager to go home. In just a few minutes, the classroom was empty, leaving only him, Xiao Zhijie, and Wang Changning, and one more girl, Zhang Qiuling.

They were discussing enthusiastically because the next day, Feng Yiping and his classmates were going to the county to participate in an essay competition. In previous years, the school would only select third-year students for such competitions. However, because Feng Yiping had a bit of a reputation, the school broadened its criteria and also selected first-year and second-year students.

The first-year student was a girl, and the second-year students were him and Zhang Qiuling—there was no way around it; having a father who was the vice-principal meant more opportunities. As for who the third-year students were, he didn’t know.

This competition was organized by the city, and each county had only one examination site, which was, of course, in the county. Although the exam was scheduled for the afternoon, it would take at least three hours to travel from the school to the town and then to the county, even under the best conditions. It was unclear whether they would go to the county today or tomorrow.

In the office, the principal put down the phone and said to the head of the teaching department with a look of annoyance, "Old Zhu from the town said they couldn’t rent a car and plan to leave this afternoon."

The head of the teaching department was also taken aback. "Didn’t we agree that they would find a car and we would all leave together tomorrow morning?"

"Who knows? I think we shouldn’t rely on them for anything in the future. Go call Teacher Liu, who is in charge of the team. We’ll also leave this afternoon. It’s just a bit more expensive!"

Before lunch, the head of the Chinese teaching group, Teacher Liu from Class 3-1, came to inform everyone to gather at the principal’s office after lunch and leave for the county in the afternoon.

When they gathered in the afternoon, three boys and one girl from the third year joined, making a total of seven students participating in the competition.

Before they left, the principal encouraged them with a gentle smile, and the head of the teaching department, while seeing them off at the school gate, sternly emphasized that they must listen to the teacher in charge, behave well, and not disgrace Liangjiahe Middle School in front of other schools.

They took a special vehicle to the town, a single-row small truck from a neighboring village, with a green tarpaulin covering the cargo area. Of course, Teacher Liu sat in the front passenger seat, and the students had to huddle in the cargo area.

Although they were going to a competition, it was probably the first time for most of them to travel far for a competition, so everyone was very excited and chatted and laughed all the way.

However, sitting in this three-sided sealed cargo area on a hot day was not comfortable. There were no seats, just a wooden board, and the car jolted continuously on the road, so everyone had to hold onto the steel bars supporting the tarpaulin.

This wasn’t a big deal; it was good to have a ride. However, not many of them had traveled far or had much experience riding in a car. Soon, several people felt unwell.

The most pitiful was the quiet first-year girl. She held onto the steel bar with one hand and covered her mouth with the other. Before they even reached Meijia Bay, she hurriedly moved to the back, stuck her head out of the car, and let the wind blow on her.

Soon, Zhang Qiuling also moved to the other side, mimicking her and sticking her head out to catch the wind.

When they arrived at the town bus station, Teacher Liu went to the office to get two cups of hot water for the two girls who looked pale from vomiting. When he counted the number of people who needed motion sickness medicine, only Feng Yiping didn’t need any.

Feng Yiping still bought two pounds of oranges, which indeed came in handy on the car. However, out of the seven students, four still vomited profusely. By the time they reached the destination, the driver held onto Teacher Liu and wouldn’t let him leave, insisting that he pay for the car wash.

Zhang Qiuling was better off. Thanks to Xiao Zhijie, Feng Yiping and she sat in the same row, and he took good care of her, only dry heaving a few times.

When they left the school, everyone was full of energy, looking like a formidable team. But by the time they reached the destination, they were already a ragtag group, and Teacher Liu was a bit scared. It was fortunate that the principal and the town middle school had a disagreement, and they came today. If they had left the next morning, it would have been a disaster; it would have been good if three out of seven could even participate.

He hurriedly took everyone to a hotel opposite the education bureau, booked three rooms, and let everyone rest well, planning to familiarize themselves with the environment the next morning.

As for the three girls, the boys immediately started exploring the room as soon as they entered, studying the air conditioner, the color TV, and the flush toilet. None of them went to sleep.

Feng Yiping was quite pitiful. All the rooms were double standard rooms. Teacher Liu’s room had him and another student, but this room had three people, so he, being a lower-grade student, had to sleep on the floor.

Fortunately, there was air conditioning. By lowering the temperature and laying the blanket on the floor as a bed, it wasn’t hot and was quite comfortable.

He didn’t care about the two students who were like Liu Laolao entering the Grand View Garden and slept on the floor.

In the evening, to help the students who were feeling unwell recover quickly and to ensure they could participate in the competition with full enthusiasm the next day, Teacher Liu took everyone to a restaurant near the hotel for dinner.

However, he underestimated the students’ appetites. Used to eating pickles and home-cooked dishes, it was rare for them to eat out. The dishes cooked by the restaurant’s professional stoves were, of course, delicious.

When big eaters met good food, it was like a match made in heaven. Four dishes and a soup? That was too little! The restaurant didn’t serve all the dishes at once but brought them one by one. Each dish was devoured as soon as it was served. By the time the four dishes and a soup were finished, they hadn’t even finished a bowl of rice.

Teacher Liu had no choice but to go to the kitchen to order more dishes. In the end, they served a total of nine dishes. This was still the result of everyone restraining themselves a bit because of his expression.

By the end of the meal, Teacher Liu didn’t even have the desire to speak.

When they left the restaurant, the students were all rosy-faced and energetic, while Teacher Liu looked a bit bitter. Fortunately, there was the vice-principal’s daughter in the group; otherwise, he would have been worried about the reimbursement.

Teacher Liu still took everyone for a walk around the People’s Square. When they returned to the hotel, he gathered everyone for a last-minute review, but including Feng Yiping, no one could focus.

On the morning of the competition, everyone slept in, but they actually woke up at six. However, no one wanted to get out of bed and just lay there watching TV.

At 9 o'clock, the classmate who shared a room with Teacher Liu came to knock on the door, calling everyone to get ready for breakfast and then to familiarize themselves with the environment at the Experimental Middle School.

For these big eaters, the bowl of wontons for breakfast was just a token effort.

When they finally arrived at the competition venue, the Experimental Middle School, it was already past ten. There were many people coming and going at the entrance, probably with the same thoughts as them.