The school-wide sports meet at Qianpu Middle School lasted two days and finally concluded on Friday afternoon.
Thanks to the excellent guidance of their Class Teacher, Class 1 of the second year of high school secured the top position in their grade for sports meet points.
It was only through the class's first-place finish in the team competition that the Class Teacher had the opportunity to go up to the awards podium and receive a trophy.
This sports meet was, in a way, a triple win.
The Class Teacher got his trophy, which he placed in the most prominent spot in his office.
Whenever he chatted with anyone, he would inexplicably mention, "How did you know that our class won first place in the team competition at this year's sports meet?"
He would shake his head and continue, "I thought these kids only knew how to bury their noses in books. Who could have imagined they'd be no slouches when it came to playing sports? I didn't expect them to win any awards initially. I just hoped we wouldn't come in last place. After all, you know, our kids have good grades, so normally, you'd expect them to be a bit lacking in athletic talent."
Many teachers in the school had heard this spiel from him, and they maintained polite smiles out of respect for their colleague.
The homeroom teacher of Class 2 next door nearly lost his composure when he heard this, thinking, "Isn't he just saying that our class's kids are bookworms who only know how to study?"
Class 2 was the advanced class, with students who had excellent grades, which is why they ended up in last place at this sports meet.
The Class 2 teacher really wanted to argue with his colleague, but he realized it was just a couple of sentences, and if he got upset over such a small matter, it might affect his image in front of the leadership. In the end, he swallowed his pride and said nothing.
After returning to his class, he urged his students to work harder and harder, placing even higher expectations on the top students in the class.
He wanted them to complete more practice papers to bring the top spot in the grade back to their advanced class.
For a long time, according to the traditional class placement system, the top thirty students in the grade would be assigned to the advanced class. Although in future exams, students from regular classes might catch up, and some students from the advanced class might lose steam, at least the top twenty students in the grade would still be from the advanced class.
Unlike now, where the top student in the grade wasn't in the advanced class, and even among the top ten, four weren't from their class.
For the Class 2 teacher, this gap was a bit too large.
The students who were expected to perform well opened their eyes wide, feeling as if they had been given a budget of a few hundred dollars and asked to invite a national billionaire to the company to impart wealth-building wisdom. They wondered if this was reasonable.
There was a gap of nearly thirty points between them and Shi Li. How easily could those thirty points be closed?
The relationships between Class 1 and Class 2 students were actually quite good in private. During the summer vacation, when the top students from Class 1 came back to school for classes, only Class 1 and Class 2 were on the entire floor.
Although the advanced literature class was also there for classes, they were on the upper floor.
In the end, it was the students from Class 1 and Class 2 who played together.
Even though Class 2 had more people during the summer vacation and could have been self-sufficient, they couldn't resist going to ask Shi Li whenever they encountered problems.
There was also the bond of adopting cats together, so the relationship between the two classes was much better than the Class 2 teacher imagined.
The Class 2 teacher was somewhat immature and thought his students would resent the neighboring Class 1 in private.
In reality, not only was there no resentment, but the students from both classes got along very well.
The two classes even had a private group chat, so when the Class 2 teacher had just finished giving instructions to his students, the students from the other class also learned about it.
Shi Li also found out that several students from the neighboring class were eyeing her first-place position, which instantly made her feel overwhelmed.
However, all of this stemmed from the Class Teacher's love of showing off.
This sports meet had earned the Class Teacher a trophy.
Some students in the class made up for their owed points and even had a surplus by placing in events at the sports meet.
After the sports meet ended, seeing that the Class Teacher was in a good mood, other students took advantage and insisted he treat the whole class to a meal.
The Class Teacher's monthly salary was not small, and besides his salary, he also had performance bonuses. This meal was no big deal for him, but when it came time to pay, he still put on an act of looking pained, as if his heart and liver were being carved out.
This expression of his thoroughly amused the whole class.
After this meal, the National Day mini-vacation followed.
Although they didn't need to attend classes during these two days of the sports meet, they had been running around outside the whole time. Returning home and checking the step count pushed by their apps showed over 20,000 steps.
After getting home, all they wanted was to rest well for two days.
However, on the first day of the holiday, Shi Li's plan to sleep in failed.
Early in the morning, Huang Jie stood by the bedside and asked her, "The eldest son of the Ji family is getting married today. Are you going?"
She had originally planned to ask her daughter about this last night, but because Shi Li had a class gathering and came home very late, Huang Jie had already forgotten by then.
It wasn't until this morning at breakfast that Shi's father mentioned that their daughter had been studying very hard lately, so maybe they shouldn't take her along today and let her rest well at home instead.
Huang Jie, feeling that her daughter had become much more cheerful recently, although uncertain whether she would want to move or be willing to make the extra trip, decided to ask if she wanted to go.
Shi Li rubbed her eyes drowsily, looking completely confused, and asked Huang Jie, "Mom, what did you just say?"
Her daughter's appearance was exactly like the youngest cat in the family when it woke up, melting Huang Jie's heart. She softened her voice and said, "Dad and Mom are going to attend a wedding in a while. It's the eldest son of the Ji family. If you're too tired from the past few days, you don't have to go. You can stay home and rest."
Huang Jie had already found an excuse for her daughter, but Shi Li sat up straight and said, "Mom, I want to go."
Huang Jie was puzzled by her daughter's sudden reaction, "Alright, then take your time getting ready. There's no rush. Your dad and I will wait for you downstairs."
Shi Li jumped out of bed and pushed Huang Jie out of the room. Without dawdling, she began to change clothes efficiently.
Although she was very tired and sleepy, and could have performed a "deeply in love for a hundred years" scene with her bed, she absolutely needed to attend this wedding today.
When Shi Li arrived at the hotel where the wedding was being held with her parents, it was still quite early.
The parents of the Ji family, with red flowers pinned to their chests, were standing at the hotel entrance to greet guests. To avoid disturbances, the entire hotel had been booked by the Ji family.
Ji Feiyu, the youngest daughter of the Ji family, was standing properly behind her parents. When she saw Shi Li, also following behind her parents, Ji Feiyu suddenly had an uneasy thought: Would there be any unexpected incidents at her brother's wedding?
