Chapter Thirty-Three Planting Trees

  Tree Planting Day

  "What were you saying we should do this afternoon?" Li Jun asked on the commute bus to school.

  "At noon, let's eat something around there and then take the bus home. Anyway, our parents all know that we have an afternoon off, you guys won't want to go online again, right?" Xue Mei put down the English booklet she was looking at and said to Jun Li.

  Ouyang and Wang Lin couldn't help but think of going online last semester, Wang Lin said directly: "I and Ouyang will definitely go home after the activity is over." Ouyang nodded repeatedly beside him.

  Today, everyone was happy about not having to carry their schoolbags, and Ouyang was no exception. After arriving at the classroom, everyone was discussing the upcoming Tree Planting Day. In Ouyang's mind, it was just a matter of planting some tree saplings and then visiting various plants. A while later, Teacher Luan walked into the classroom, checked everyone's attire, and then had them prepare to assemble outside for roll call.

  "Are there any fun places in your district? Where have you guys been to play?" Xiangzhu asked Ouyang after Teacher Luan walked out of the classroom. Ouyang thought for a moment, then said: "We only went to the park once when we were in elementary school, otherwise? Either at home or at school."

  Xiao Zhu's face fell, "Sigh, I was saying we'd go to your place during the May Day holiday, but now that you mention it, I've lost all interest." Ouyang sneered, "Going so far? With whom? Have you two made up?" Xiao Zhu pushed Ouyang and said, "What are you talking about? Hurry up and go downstairs for roll call." Then she got up and walked towards the classroom door.

  "At dawn, we'll be in the same row." Xǔ Yuèjié said to Xiǎo Zhú after leaving her seat and walking over to ōuyáng's side. ōuyáng didn't pay much attention and just nodded slightly.

  "Let's go," said Xue Yuejie, pulling Ouyang's hand as they walked out.

  When they got outside, Ouyang saw the classmate from the first class holding their school flag. Because his own class was Class One, so it was only natural that their class held the school flag, but Ouyang still thought it wasn't quite right to let a shorter classmate hold the flag, although he himself wasn't very tall either. Ouyang was about to go and take over the flag, but Yuejie pulled him back.

  "That kind of thing, I'll take care of it." Zhou Feng walked past Ouyang's side and took over the flag, naturally falling to the back of the line.

  Ouyang took a look at the other classes, each class also had its own small flag. Ouyang saw Li Jun holding up the flag of Class 2 and waving it around wildly, and couldn't help but laugh.

  After all the classes were lined up, the school leaders went to the broadcasting room and started promoting this activity. It was only then that Ouyang knew why the school attached so much importance to this tree-planting activity.

  "Did you hear that? Maybe someone from the city TV station will come to interview us later?" Ouyang heard his classmates whispering beside him.

  "It's just a random interview, I shouldn't be so lucky, right?" said Wang Lin in front.

  After the speech, the big team started to move. Ouyang's class was at the forefront of the procession, walking in the front row. Today's weather is not bad, just a bit windy, but it's spring after all, and there's nothing that can be done about it. Ouyang remembered that last night's weather forecast said there would be scattered rain showers, but now it seems that the sun is still shining brightly.

  Ouyang looked at Xu Yuejie beside him and asked, "Nothing's wrong, is it? Did you catch a chill?"

  Xu Yu Jie glanced at Ouyang and smiled: "It's nothing, I just had a fever the other day, it hasn't fully recovered yet."

  Ouyang said: "Don't force yourself, if so, you should be resting at home today."

  Xu Yu Jie shook her head and looked at Ouyang with determination: "How can that be, this is your first time participating in a school collective activity, I must accompany you."

  Ouyang saw Xu Yu Jie's expression and sighed, saying: "Then you promise me, this afternoon go home and have a good rest."

  Xu Yu Jie nodded and said "en".

  The botanical garden in District C is about two or three stops away from Fongmao Middle School. Although it's not too far, it's still quite tiring for the kids who have just started junior high school. However, the group won't stop moving forward. At this time, Ouyang would notice that some classmates had brought their backpacks with them, and of course, they didn't contain textbooks or workbooks. Snacks, water, and other things would be taken out from their bags. For students like Ouyang and Wang Lin who wouldn't dare to disobey the teachers, it was unthinkable to bring a backpack. Each class had different requirements; at least in Ouyang's class, bringing food was not allowed. Ouyang thought it was troublesome, so he didn't even bring water. The girls were obviously well-prepared, each carrying either a backpack or a bag. Although Xu Yu Jie had brought water, she couldn't let Ouyang drink any because she had a cold.

  "Hey, here you go." The Wang Lin in front handed Ou Yang a bottle of Coke. Ou Yang asked who gave it to him because he knew that Wang Lin, like himself, had come to school with nothing. Wang Lin didn't say anything and just pointed forward. Ou Yang saw Mu Yu Huan, and the moment their eyes met, Mu Yu Huan turned his head back around.

  As he continued walking towards the botanical garden, Ouyang would occasionally turn his head back to take a look. Although he had imagined the large number of people, it still startled him at first glance. The streets on both sides were filled with students from Fengmao Middle School wearing their school uniforms, and the scene was quite grand. Some classmates secretly took out their phones to take photos. Many years later, Ouyang would still regret not secretly taking out his phone to take a couple of photos at that time.

  Teacher Wan would occasionally stop to count the number of students in the class, checking if anyone was missing. However, since everyone was walking together, it was almost impossible for someone to get lost without being noticed. Along the way, Ouyang chatted with Xu Yu Jie and gained a deeper understanding of District C. Apparently, District C used to be similar to District D, lacking any interesting features. But in recent years, the rise of the botanical garden and the construction of commercial buildings around the soon-to-be-occupied Happy Community had signified an improvement in District C's status. According to Xu Yu Jie, the most prosperous area in District C would likely be around the Happy Community in the future. Upon hearing this, Ouyang suddenly felt grateful for owning a house within the Happy Community.

  "Alright, everyone stand up straight. Now let's count the number of people one last time before we go in." The school leader gathered all eight classes together and began to take roll call. From time to time, passersby would walk by Ou Yang's side, what kind of feelings would they have when they saw Ou Yang and his fellow students? Ou Yang couldn't help but think about this question.

  After counting the number of people, they still started visiting the botanical garden in groups. The school arranged a staff member similar to a tour guide for each class. Judging from appearance, Ouyang thought he was only about 10 years older than himself, but his understanding of various plants and detailed introductions made Ouyang deeply admire him.

  At the beginning, everyone was very enthusiastic, but after visiting for a while, they also felt bored. Listening to the introduction made them feel sick of it. At this time, the school leaders organized the students to plant trees, and Ou Yang immediately became enthusiastic again, but the students in Class 1 were detained by Teacher Luan.

  Xiao Yuchen seemed to feel somewhat dissatisfied with this move, standing in the team without raising his hand, and loudly shouting forward: "Why didn't our class go to plant trees?"

  Ouyang looked at Wan teacher standing in the front row, the teacher was not angry, smiled at the classmates and said: "You are very lucky, a while ago the city TV station came to interview our class, pay attention to what you say later. Today's noon city news should be broadcast. You can study by yourself what questions need to be asked."

  The students below were surprised at first, then excited, and later should be said to be carnival. The classmates laughed for a few minutes, and Mr. Ruan continued to tell the students about the details of the recording just now. Ouyang roughly listened to it, and it was probably taking their class alone to a rare plant species to listen to the introduction and ask some questions. When they heard that they were going on TV, Ouyang and Wang Lin were very happy, but Xu Yuejie and others seemed very ordinary.

  "We often have this kind of activity in elementary school, nothing to be surprised about." This was said by class monitor Li Fang. Ouyang seemed to hear some disdain from the tone, but Xu Xue Mei calmly added a sentence.

  "We're not like you city folks who think everyone needs to know when we fart."

  "What did you say?" Li Fang looked very angry and was about to speak when she was stopped by Xiao Yangchen and Xu Yuejie.

  "Let's just say a few less words, don't let those tree-planting classes laugh at us." Xiao Yuchen walked out of the line and said: "Since that's the case, the three students who will ask questions later, Wang Lin, Ouyang Chenxi, Xu Xuemei, just you three ask questions, also let you guys have some fun." The classmates in the class all agreed.

  After about half an hour, the interview ended. Ouyang only remembered that he asked a particularly silly question, which was what kind of plant growth cycle was like. The others were too nervous to remember.

  The morning passed quickly, and it was still a matter of checking the number of people, then walking a long way back to school. Wang Lin had asked the teacher if they could take the bus directly from the station, but was criticized by the teacher. In Zhou Feng's words, you can't let all the students of Feng Mao see them off at the bus and then go back to school.

  Arrived at school, after taking attendance, it was dismissed. Ouyang simply reminded Xu Yuejie a few words to take care of her body, and then took the commuter bus home with Wang Lin and Xu Xuemei. On the bus, Ouyang called his mother's phone. His mother, Feng Hongyan, couldn't believe that her child could appear on TV either. After hanging up the phone, she opened the computer in her unit and searched for the city TV station's live broadcast.

  At the same time, in front of Fengmao Middle School gate

  "How's it going today?" Xiao Yang Chen lightly bumped Xu Yu Jie and asked with a mischievous grin.

  Xu Yu Jie looked a bit embarrassed and said, "It's fine, but I pulled his hand." After saying this, Xu Yu Jie glanced at Mu Yu Hang beside her. Mu Yu Hang seemed to not care about the matter and said, "Let's go, today is on me."

  Three people walked out of the residential area together.

  "You also used to, take the initiative to hold my hand, didn't you, Ouyang Chenxi..."