Chapter 74 - All The Pens Were Broken
From ten yuan to three yuan, although Ding Jiayi still felt the pinch, there was a seven yuan savings. Ding Jiayi secretly breathed a sigh of relief and went to prepare the meal.
Looking at Ding Jiayi, Qiao Nan tugged the corners of her mouth with sarcasm.
If she had taken the 10 yuan earlier, probably the good news of Qiao Zijin’s participation in the essay writing competition could not save her mother’s loss of appetite.
The thought that spending some money on herself would make her mother lose her appetite and suffer insomnia, she had nothing to say.
In the blink of an eye, two weeks had passed.
On the early morning of Saturday, Zhao Yu was prepared to go to school to wait for the teacher, when the school’s rented car came, she picked a seat and sat.
“Hey, why are there only four of us today, didn’t our school select five students?” Everyone was quite early, before long, Zhao Yu saw the three students who attended training with her.
“Not sure.” The other classmate was also puzzled.
“Zhao Yu, you’re from Class One?” The classmate seated behind Zhao Yu had a sneer on her face. “Do you really not know or are you pretending not to know?”
“What do you mean by this?” She did not provoke her?
“Qiao Nan’s essay is so good, she scored nearly full marks in the two exams. Who do you think this fifth person will be? Qiao Nan’s participation was already decided by the school long ago. As Qiao Nan’s case was an exception, some people are not happy, but regardless, whoever that has seen Qiao Nan’s essay would be convinced of her ability.”
She was more sensitive than Zhao Yu. Clearly there had been five but only four came for the training. She had already asked the teacher about it.
In the end, that was what the teacher told her. She was not convinced and happy initially. But after the Chinese Teacher showed her Qiao Nan’s essay, she had nothing to say.
Although she accepted this, she did not feel too good either.
When she heard Zhao Yu saying this now, the classmate was even more unhappy.
“What, Qiao Nan’s participation had long been decided by the school?” Zhao Yu gave a stare. No wonder Qiao Nan was really one out of the five. “Then why didn’t she join the training?”
“Teacher Lee.” At this time, Qiao Nan’s voice could be heard from outside the car. “I hope I’m not late?”
“No, the timing is just right, hurry and get on the bus.” Teacher Lee smilingly let Qiao Nan board the bus. “Do you have motion sickness, if you do, it’s best to take the seat in front.”
These were students who would be competing, they had to be in their best form.
“Teacher Lee, I do not have motion sickness, I can sit anywhere.”
After boarding the car, Qiao Nan sat down once she saw an empty seat. It did not matter where the seat was.
When Zhao Yu saw Qiao Nan passing by in front of her, her face was white. What about the slapping of own face, lies and bragging? Why did Qiao Nan really come, it’s so unfair!
The four of them were selected from the school, and went through half a month of training. On what grounds was Qiao Nan qualified to compete when she did not even attend anything, was that fair to other students?
She had these thoughts in her mind. But before the teacher, Zhao Yu ultimately did not dare to raise her doubts, she could only endure this and sit quietly in her seat.
When it it was about one and a half hours into the journey, Qiao Nan already finished her nap.
Amongst the five students in the car, only Qiao Nan had the mood to sleep. The rest of the four were either constantly revising their essays that had been marked and commented on by the teachers, or reading essay writing books.
During the period of training, the teacher gave them many model essay questions to work on. First, it’s a practice. Second, they were in luck if they guessed the question.
The four students held the hope that the teacher had guessed correctly, and were doing their utmost to memorize their own essays.
However, when they turned and saw Qiao Nan sleeping soundly, with her head wobbling from side to side, they gritted their teeth. This Qiao Nan was really too much!
“All of you should relax too, don’t be too nervous.” When the teachers saw the situation, they all laughed. Qiao Nan was clearly a young lady but was so relaxed, she could still sleep so soundly at this time.
But those who sat on a moving car before knew that it was boring to be in the car. It was not conducive to read something and sleeping was the best way to pass time.
“Okay.”
“Okay, Teacher Lee,” The four students replied weakly. Who could relax at such a time? If they could attain a good score for this essay writing competition, they would be given merit points for the middle school examinations.”
“Qiao Nan, wake up. We have arrived.”
Upon reaching the location of the competition, it was Teacher Lee who woke Qiao Nan up.
“We have arrived?” Qiao Nan rubbed her eyes. She had put on a little weight recently. She looked so pretty, her tiny face was as rosy as an apple.
“Yes, we are here.” Teacher Lee’s eyes were gentle, as if she were looking at her own child. “Drink some water and sober up, don’t be sleepy and muddle-headed during the competition.”
“Okay, I will wash my face when I go to the restroom later.” Qiao Nan nodded her head and left the car, but she left behind her school bag.
After Qiao Nan finished washing up, the teacher was already leading the students to the exam hall.
“Teacher Lee, I need to go back to the car, I left my school bag there and the pens are inside the bag.” Qiao Nan told Teacher Lee and hurriedly took her school bag from the car.
Zhao Yu, who was standing behind Teacher Lee, saw this and she smiled slyly.
“Fine, quickly enter the exam hall.” The teachers swiftly settled the students in their respective seats. When the competition starts, the bell rang and all the competing students began to lower their heads and review the question.
When she saw the question, Qiao Nan had a little surprise. She had previously written an essay that was appropriate for the subject. This time, she could slack a little.
She had only written that essay once, and it still needed a little touch up. This was her second time writing it, with some touching up, there should not be any major issue.
After thinking through, Qiao Nan took out her pen and prepared to write. She finished her first word but she could only see the strokes of her writing, without any ink.
Qiao Nan blinked her eyes. This was a new pen, how could it be?
Qiao Nan, who refused to believe in fate, tried to rub the tip of the pen with paper, just in case the tip was covered with wax. But after a long time, she still could not write a single word.
Qiao Nan shook the pen vigorously but to no avail.
Qiao Nan quickly took another pen. She brought a total of three pens, but strangely, all three pens that used to be easy to write with could not produce a single word now!
Zhao Yu, who was seated behind Qiao Nan, was secretly watching Qiao Nan. When she saw Qiao Nan spent a long time messing with the pen and did not manage to write anything, her smile broadened.
This time, she wanted to see how Qiao Nan could compete with her!