Chapter 67

Fall Asleep

For children, the best time was when the exam was over and the exam result was not yet published . During this time, the children neither had to study, nor had to face the cruel academic transcript . They could enjoy the fun of childhood crazily . Most children’s real childhood was these days of each semester .

The heavy snow let the children of Eight Corner Primary School enjoy a better time . However, after today, how many children could enjoy the winter holiday happily?

The hard rain boot crunched on the hard frozen snow and made crunching sound . I enjoyed this kind of sound of snow and ice very much . Huang Shulang caught up with me . Hot air came out of his mouth, just like a teapot with water boiling .

“Master, master, why don't you wait for me?” Huang Shulang said with the feeling of dissatisfaction .

“We agreed to arrive at our house at eight o’ clock in the morning, then come together to get the notice . Look, what time is it now?” I continued to quicken my steps without looking back .

“It is just nine o’ clock . ” Huang Shulang scratched his head in embarrassment .

“We have been waiting for you for one hour……” Ma Jindong chuckled .

“Huang Shulang, you are late every time . Teacher Ma said we need to arrive at eight o’ clock . ” Li Lijuan curled her lips .

“What Teacher Ma said is not imperial edict . Anyway, we just go there to get the notice today, we do not have class . ” Huang Shulang said disapprovingly .

“Huang Shulang, What Teacher Ma says is not imperial edict, you don't have to listen; what I say is not imperial edict either, likewise, you don’t have to listen . Do not follow me in the future . Then, you do not need me to tell you what to do . ” I was not happy with what Huang Shulang said .

“Master, I did not mean that . I mean there is nothing important for us to do in school today . We just go there to get the notice . It doesn’t matter, be it we arrive a little earlier or later . Anyway, I must listen to you . I overslept today . I will never do this again . ” Huang Shulang gave Ma Jindong and Li Lijuan an angry stare .

Although the four of us arrived at the school late, Ma Baoyi did not fly into a rage . Instead, he smiled at us .

“Huang Jingyang, did you do a lot of housework today before you come here?” Ma Baoyi asked me with concern .

The attitude of Ma Baoyi surprised me a lot . I nodded my head puzzlingly .

“Boys and girls, we are all from Eight Corner Village . We all know that Huang Jingyang has been helping his grandfather with housework since he was a child . He gets up in the morning and does housework every day before coming to school; and he has to finish a lot of housework after school in the afternoon . However, his grades are always at the top of the class . Besides being smart, that shall be the hard work he has put into . I hope you will take Huang Jingyang as our model for study . Take him as a model and follow him . The three students, Huang Shulang, Ma Jindong, and Li Lijuan do well in this . They always take Huang Jingyang as their target for study . On the aspect of study, they try their best to catch up with Huang Jingyang . Meanwhile, they always go to help Huang Jingyang with housework . Although it took us time to wait for them for a while, it’s well worth waiting for . ” Ma Baoyi said emotionally and many students were moved to tears .

Huang Shulang cried confusedly and blindly: “It is my first time to be praised by teacher . ”

Ma Jindong also wiped his tears continuously: “It’s so touching . I didn’t know that I worked so hard . ”

Li Lijuan was already misty-eyed . She twitched as she cried, with a great sense of rhythm .

I was moved and wanted to cry too, but I was confused: “It’s not right . I came so late today because of Huang Shulang . ”

The students in the class were all happy today . Because everyone’s notice looked very pleasant, which meant everyone could have a peaceful and happy winter holiday this year .

I won the first place again without any doubt . If it were any other kid, this certificate and notice would make parents jump for joy . How about me? I could bring joy to my grandfather . However, I still felt sorrowful in my heart . No one could replace the position of parents in the heart of everyone . However, my parents would not cheer for me anymore . Then, Teacher Lin appeared in my head immediately . I planned to post the notice to Teacher Lin after my grandfather read it .

The second place was Li Lijuan as expected . Although Huang Shulang studied hard and Ma Jindong also made great efforts, Li Lijuan still won by narrow advantage . In fact, Li Lijuan was only a little behind my grades .

Ma Jindong and Huang Shulang had same grades . One of them had 0 . 5 points more in Chinese, and the other had 0 . 5 points more in Math . The students in the class had also made great progress . Even the students who lagged behind the class were also beyond the passing score .

After Ma Baoyi finished speaking, he ran out hurriedly . Later, we knew that Ma Baoyi came to the principal’s office . Han Xiansheng decided to have a meeting .

It had been many years since Eight Corner Primary School held the meeting at the end of semester, but this year, Han Xiansheng was in such a good mood . If he did not have opportunity to give good expression of his mood at the meeting, he may not be able to enjoy good spring festival this year . The main reason why the meeting did not start was because, I, as the main character did not arrive at school on time . Principal Han knew my situation very well and he took a risky move in this semester: let me arrange martial arts class in the school . Now, it seemed that he made a brilliant move . Principal Han was very proud of his brilliant move . You could feel this when he stood on a ping pong table, and spoke “Hello, hello” with a red silk-covered microphone .

“Hello, hello, everyone, please be quiet . Let’s start the meeting now . ” Han Xiansheng was standing on the ping pong table . The cold north wind blew away a few locks of his long hairs which he used for hiding the blank area on his forehead, thus a bare area was revealed .

“Wow, how shining Principal Han’s head is . ” I didn’t know which naughty boy shouted with admiration .

Principal Han almost fell from the ping pong table directly . He rolled his eyes and ignored the statement of the child: “No talking and keep quiet .  A hundred leagues locked in ice, A thousand leagues of whirling snow…… In such beautiful scenery, Eight Corner Primary School is holding the award meeting for the second semester of 2000 . Now, everyone, please stand up . Play the national anthem . ”

Ma Baoyi rushed forward with a radio recorder and pressed the button . The majestic national anthem was played over two speakers on the recorder .

After the national anthem was over, Principal Han jumped on the ping pang table again and continued to speak loudly: “in the final examination of the second semester of 2000, the students of our school achieved unprecedented good results . Our average score has exceeded Changshan Town Center Primary School . We snatched the first place which has been taken by the Changshan Town Center Primary School for a long time to our hands . Among our students, the scores of many students rank the first place in the whole Changshan Town……”

Principal Han talked for half an hour on the ping pang table . He could have continued speaking for another one and half hour if he hadn't thought that he might become an ice statue of our school for future memory due to long time standing in the cold .

There were not only certificates this time . I also got cash and prize, quite abundant achievement .

But for me, it was a good result . I had decided to go to third grade in next semester, starting my life of grade jump from then on .

Huang Shulang and Ma Jindong had been hoping for a turnaround . Now, they had to face such result .

At night, I slept on my bed with empty mind and fell asleep and had a dream in a trance .

It seemed that I came back to the cave behind the waterfall again . It was so real . The clatter of water from the waterfall into the pool was so clear to my ears . A few drops of water splashed into the cave and landed on my face . I could keenly feel this kind of wetness .

I dived into the pool suddenly . However, my energy did not work this time, and I fell down straightly . When I was worried about falling into the water awkwardly like Huang Shulang, I was surprised to find that I was falling downward constantly . Unexpectedly, it seemed that I fell into a deep and bottomless cave . With the speed became faster, everything around changed from clear to vague, and then into dark .

A light came suddenly . I stopped and found that I arrived at a particularly strange place . Generally speaking, what you dream about at night reflected what you think about in day . However, where I was now was the place that I had never been before .