NOVPUBA new school term and a new year, Xu Qingfan and Xia Xiaoxiao, with their new school bags, waited at the entrance of the courtyard for the school bus to arrive.
"Time to buy a new uniform, your pants can hardly cover your ankles anymore!" Xu Qingfan pointed at Xia Xiaoxiao’s pant cuffs and said.
Xia Xiaoxiao looked down and said, "You’ll go shopping with me after school!"
"We’ll talk about it after school, the bus is here, let’s get on!"
The two of them sat in their usual seats at the back by the window, and before long, Xiao Ruawen and Wu Lingyu also got on the bus.
"Happy new term!" Xu Qingfan stretched out his hand for a high five with the two.
"Happy new term to everyone!" Xiao Ruawen reached out and confidently slapped his palm.
Seeing this, Wu Lingyu also extended her hand and gently touched Xu Qingfan’s palm, "Happy."
The warm sunlight streamed through the windows, as the four kids sat in a row sharing their breakfast.
"Holy shit~ Brother Fan, look, it’s you, it’s you!" As the school bus was about to enter the gates of Experimental Primary School, Xiao Ruawen suddenly pointed at the school gate and shouted.
Following her pointing finger, they saw a huge banner over ten meters long above the gate of the Experimental Primary School. It had red background and yellow characters that read: "Warmly celebrate our student Xu Qingfan for winning the first prize in the national ’Hope Cup’ Mathematical Olympiad competition."
"Brother Fan, you’re so awesome!" Xiao Ruawen exclaimed, giving a thumbs up.
Even though they didn’t win any awards, Xia Xiaoxiao and Wu Lingyu were genuinely happy for Xu Qingfan and congratulated him, "Congratulations!"
"You surely have them, too, maybe they just didn’t post about the second prizes." Seeing the envious look in their eyes, Xu Qingfan comforted them.
"Yeah!"
...
Monday, under the flag-raising platform.
"Now let’s invite the winner of the national first prize of the Hope Cup, student Xu Qingfan from the second grade, class sixteen, to speak!" The principal stepped aside with a smile, not forgetting to lower the microphone for Xu Qingfan before walking away.
"Hello everyone, I am Xu Qingfan. I believe many students are already familiar with me, considering I read a review here last year." Xu Qingfan’s self-deprecating remark elicited a wave of laughter from the teachers and students below.
When the laughter had somewhat subsided, he continued: "I’ve lived and studied at Experimental Primary School for over two years, getting to know many new classmates and friends. In my view, this is an inclusive and loving school, with kind, friendly students.
During these two years, I lost my school card three times, but each time it was returned to my class by a kind classmate within a day, without a single penny missing. I’m deeply impressed by my classmates’ noble character and also aspire to be such a person!
When we first started first grade, many students left their tables messy in the cafeteria, but it didn’t take long before they were influenced by their peers. The tables in the cafeteria always stayed neat and clean, even without the aunties’ cleaning. This is the power of leading by example.
I’m very fortunate to have the opportunity to stand here today and say so much to everybody. Good or bad academic performance doesn’t define a person’s character. I hope that every student at Experimental Primary School becomes a kind, loving, optimistic, and cheerful person, respecting and cherishing each classmate in daily life and loudly rejecting any acts of school bullying.
Does that sound good to everyone!"
"Good!" The thousands of teachers and students below shouted in unison, their voices echoing across the square.
At that moment, Xu Qingfan felt as if he had become light.
"Brother Qing Fan, you were so cool just now!" Back in the classroom, Lin Wanning hugged Xu Qingfan’s arm and said.
"When am I not cool, right, Yiyi?" Xu Qingfan reached out and flicked the little girl’s forehead.
"Hehe~"
"Brother, cool!"
Xia Xiaoxiao, sulking with her hand propping her chin, watched the interaction between the three in front.
In this mathematical competition, she and Wu Lingyu both received a national second prize, but Xia Xiaoxiao’s score was higher, just two points shy of the first prize, hence her frustration.
[Next time, I will definitely score the same as Xu Qingfan!] Xia Xiaoxiao swore to herself.
Obtaining a national first prize in a primary school math competition was so prestigious that it was almost equivalent to the school producing a Qingbei Seed in high school.
These past few days, Xu Qingfan had been busy with interviews at Li City TV Station and photo sessions with the leaders of the Education Bureau. While he was up to his ears in commitments, the rewards did add up.
Experimental Primary School and the Education Bureau each awarded him a scholarship of ten thousand yuan, and countless tutoring organizations wanted to sign him as their spokesperson, but Xu Qingfan had refused them all.
Although not many people watched Licheng TV Station, those close to Xu Qingfan felt honored when they found out he was on television.
The happiest of all were his maternal grandparents. The whole village had seen their grandson being interviewed on TV, washing away the shame that had weighed on them for decades.
So what if he can read books? My grandson can, too!
Even though education seemed pointless to him in this lifetime, if it meant his grandparents could walk tall in Chuxi Village, Xu Qingfan was glad that he had participated in the Olympiad competition.
The bell for class rang, and the Chinese teacher stepped onto the podium. "Class, open your Chinese textbooks to page five. Today we’re going to learn two ancient poems. ’Grass,’ get ready to read!"
"Grass by Bai Juyi, Endless grasses on the plain, flourishing one year to the next. The wild fire burns them not away, As spring breeze brings them back to life!" The classroom filled with sporadic reading voices.
Xu Qingfan turned to the next page, where an illustration showed two children with braided pigtails chasing butterflies in the vegetable garden, "Children rush to chase the yellow butterflies, That vanish into the fields of blooming rape, where they can’t be found." He recited in his mind.
For a moment, Xu Qingfan felt a sense of trance, suddenly recalling an ordinary afternoon from many years ago...
