Chapter 25: Became a Young Pioneer

  My mom is busy with the women's clothing store business, and at night she sometimes has inspiration and stays up late to draw design sketches. Although there isn't an opportunity to turn them into actual products yet, opportunities are always reserved for those who are prepared. My dad is busy with the small restaurant, and recently that street has been lined with small restaurants, seemingly becoming a trend. With the food festival competition sign-ups coming soon, my dad hopes to make a name for himself through this competition and prepare for opening a big restaurant.

  And as for my brother and me, we were both busy with our own things. The popularity of the serialized work was getting higher and higher, even dominating a column, and there were publishers and newspapers contacting me, hoping I could publish it. As for "Girl's Diary", it was also being written enthusiastically, and had been recognized by elementary school language textbooks, officially starting serialization. Chairman Mao, no, wait, at that time the fourth set of RMB was still popular, considering that collecting old versions of RMB would sharply increase in value later on, I should start collecting them now. Ah, money kept pouring into my pocket, yesterday I even checked my bankbook, and this month's newspaper and language textbook royalties had both arrived, counting the digits, it was already a four-digit number, about to reach five digits, haha, I'm a hidden small rich lady among elementary school students.

  The June 1st Children's Day is coming, this year's Children's Day is very different from previous years, because on this Children's Day, we will become Young Pioneers. My classmates are all very excited and looking forward to it. Of course, I'm okay with it, I've been a member of the Youth League for many years, I've been a league member for eight years now, the Eight Years' War is almost over, isn't it? It's just like in my past life, I endured all that just to become a party member, it feels like my head is going to explode.

  This year's Children's Day, our third-grade students are a major focus, and teachers attach great importance to it. In the past two weeks, each class in the third grade has started preparing for the program carefully. We even have the opportunity to become one of the hosts, but the competition must be very fierce. Each class can recommend two boys and two girls to participate in the host pre-selection, welcoming self-recommendation and people with special talents to actively participate. This is what our head teacher said. As soon as this was announced, people who were usually lively and generous had ideas, but after learning that they would have to go through several rounds of selection by teachers, only one boy and one girl from the third grade would be hosts in the end, some people retreated quickly. In the end, our class selected Hou Jingya and Wu Hanwen, Lin Lili and Li Pengfei.

  Eh, I'm still quite self-aware, so I didn't sign up directly. This would require preparation and selection, which is a waste of time. With this time, I'd rather stockpile more drafts, which are tied to my salary. Hehe, another money-lover. Besides, I don't have Hou Jingya's beauty or Lin Lilili's determination, so let them pioneer for our class instead. However, Xuan Yuanrui surprisingly didn't participate either. I curiously asked: "Xuan Yuan, why didn't you sign up?"

  He replied expressionlessly, "Wasting time." How concise! It's rare that we have such common language and consistent ideas. After rounds of reading aloud, on-the-spot Q&A, and stage improvisation, Hou Jingya did not disappoint, representing our third grade and especially our class 2. I wonder how our monitor Wu Hanwen was eliminated in the last round, losing to Li Feng from Class 5, who is unknown to fame. What a pity! Otherwise, it would have been such a perfect match, just like the National Day speech last time.

  Of course, the class program is also being prepared in a hurry. Lin Lilili signed up for a solo dance, although everyone in the class urged me to sign up for Latin dance, but considering that Lin Lilili has already danced, I won't jump again, it's not obvious to provoke her and cause division, for the honor of the class, anyway, her momentum is not so arrogant now, let's spare someone when we should.

  But in the end, I still couldn't escape. Xuan Yuanrui insisted on signing me up to perform with him, and he smiled at me saying: "I'm going to play the violin, I need someone to accompany me on the piano, you're my deskmate and can play the piano, who else could it be?" Even my cousin and Wang XiaoXiao helped persuade me: "XiaoXiao, this performance is a matter of collective honor. You must participate, we all know you have the strongest sense of collective honor. We're all counting on you and Xuan Yuanrui. As class monitor, how can you not give face to the class?" They all brought up the issue of class honor to pressure me, in short, if I didn't participate, it would mean I had no sense of collective honor, no spirit of sacrifice for the collective. I couldn't withstand their intense persuasion, and in the end I agreed.

  It's been less than a week since the sixth, and I have to go to Xuan Yuanrui's house to practice piano every day after school. Who made my family not have a piano, only an electronic organ? When my manuscript fee is enough, I must buy a piano and die of Xuan Yuanrui. At first, when Xuan Yuanrui suggested going to his house to practice piano, I said: "Why go to your house? You bring your violin to my house, don't you understand what gentleman spirit is?"

  He said matter-of-factly: "My home has a piano, a violin and a music room. These are conducive to our practice, so why not go to my place?"

  "You're not playing the violin, why is there a piano at your home?"

  "I can play the violin, but I didn't say I couldn't play the piano."

  "Why are you still pulling me to perform together? You completely meet Mo Yiyuan's requirements, she plays the violin and wants to find a guy who can play the piano. You're really stealing the spotlight for no reason, causing her not to be able to perform."

  "I don't want to answer, so I won't. What's the big deal?" Forget it, looking at his gloomy face, I'd better not provoke him. Anyway, the program has already been reported, and even if we release a statement now, it's too late. I forced out a smile and said: "Nothing, hurry up and go home to rehearse. Finish early and get back home for dinner, or else it'll be dark."

  "It's okay, it's getting dark, you can have dinner at my place now, and I'll send you back home after dinner."

  When I arrived at Xuan Yuan's house, I realized how small my own home was. His house is huge, a three-story villa built on the side of a mountain, with an overall antique style. After entering the gate, there is a small path paved with cobblestones, with swings and potted plants on both sides, which are very pleasant to look at. At the end of the path, turning right through a arched door, we entered the courtyard of the first floor of the villa. I was staring blankly, and it wasn't until Xuan Yuan called out several times that I came back to my senses and continued walking forward. Slowly, we walked to the music room on the second floor, and along the way, Xuan Yuan smiled and said: "Nan Nan, do you like my home? You can come and play often in the future, we have a long time ahead of us, you don't need to stare blankly."

  Who's with you, I'm not looking at your house like the villa I saw on TV in my last life, I just took a few more glances. Sister taking a few more glances is your good fortune, sister doesn't care about that, sister's future home will be ten times better than this one. This is my ideal home - elegant and simple, plain yet exquisite, leisurely and unpretentious. Work hard, don't get blown away by the wind... Yuan Xuan and I coincidentally chose "Accompanying You", perhaps more people know its other name "The Sky City", a song that listens to the soul in a noisy world, it has beautiful melodies that can bring tears and moving rhythms that touch the heartstrings.

  Children's Day is coming soon, and I woke up early to see the sunny weather, which made me feel very happy. When I arrived at school, my class teacher came to find me after a while and said: "Nan Xixi, I heard that Hou Jingya was proofreading with you. Are you familiar with the process? Can you remember most of the drafts?"

  "What? I'm the one who wrote this draft with YaYa, most of it is what I remembered. Teacher, what's wrong?"

  "That's good, Hou Jingya's mom called to say that Hou Jingya suddenly had a high fever last night, so she can't come today. This is a crucial moment to drop the chain. Our class must have someone to take over. I heard from classmates that you're capable, so I came to find you. Hurry up and get dressed, there's not much time left."

  It's really like driving ducks onto a shelf, I think it's impossible to refuse, the teacher is in a hurry and can't wait. Anyway, we're all confused. My senior sister and I said loudly: "Dear teachers." Li Feng and another senior brother responded: "Dear fellow students." We all said together: "Hello everyone." My senior sister said: "Send away the fragrance of May and welcome the time of June." The senior brother said: "Our hearts are like a joyful ocean, stirring up a wave of joy." I continued to say: "June is the cradle of childhood, the dreamland of childhood." Li Feng responded: "June has the fertile soil of childhood, the sunshine of childhood." We smiled and spoke clearly and loudly, welcoming one beautiful program after another.

  When it was almost time for Xuan Yuan's and my program, I rushed to the waiting room. There, I saw Xuan Yuan wearing a white suit, tie, and holding a violin, standing in the light, giving off an "ethereal beauty, unmatched in this world" kind of feeling. Xuan Yuan smiled and said: "Nan Nan, hurry up, after two more programs it's our turn to go on stage. Here, I picked out these clothes for you."

  "Huh? I was just about to put on the white dress. You've also prepared clothes for me, they're so pretty, thank you."

  "You go change first, or we'll be late. As for thanking me, let's talk about that later."

  After we went on stage, the applause from the audience was as expected. I also saw Xiaoxiao and Gange brother and my cousin over there clapping their hands with particular effort, and I really wondered if their hands were red from clapping. First, I introduced the prelude, followed by Xuanxuan's violin sound coming from the side, slowly entering, and my piano sound became more intense under his lead, as if it had a heart-shaking feeling, like a phoenix rising from the ashes, making people's eyes moist without realizing it. My fingers also became more agile, and the notes seemed to jump over my hands harmoniously. When the song ended, our classmates applauded enthusiastically. In my peripheral vision, I saw that he, like me, had tears in his eyes. Whether or not we moved our classmates, to express the meaning of this song, we first had to move ourselves, and on this point, we succeeded.

  After all the programs ended, it was the entry ceremony of our third-grade classmates. Because I took a elective course on Young Pioneers in college, I also understood the entry ceremony of Young Pioneers. However, when I truly experienced it now, I found that although our entry ceremony is not as grand as later ones, everyone is very serious and solemn, which is a very meaningful thing. The most impressive moment throughout the ceremony was when senior students put red scarves on us. All classmates felt very proud, boys looked handsome, girls looked beautiful, and even enjoyed the admiring glances of first- and second-grade students.

  On the way home at noon, our faces were red and beaming with smiles. Xiao Xiao laughed and said to me: "Xiao Xiao, today was so much fun! You didn't look nervous at all when you were hosting, I was a bit worried about you, but I also had confidence in you. And when you and Xuan Yuan Rui performed together, it was amazing! Just like a prince and princess. Who would have thought that you two, who are always bickering, would be so harmonious at that moment? Xuan Yuan Rui is indeed the school's heartthrob. You're not bad either, maybe from now on you'll become one of our grade's four beauties!"

  "Who cares about that, anyway today was very happy, unfortunately Yaya couldn't come because she's sick, but I asked the teacher and the teacher said Yaya had a relapse of an old illness, it won't be anything serious. Xuan Yu's performance today was indeed different from usual, like Keats said when I am burning in fierce fire, please put on the phoenix wings for me, so that my heart can fly freely. He was like a phoenix reborn from the ashes, with an arrogant attitude, bursting out the most dazzling light."

  "You're at it again with those famous quotes, say something I can understand." "Obeying Miss Wang's orders, let's go see YaYa this afternoon..."