As soon as Xiao Wu heard this, he understood imdiately and happily ran off to buy firecrackers.
From the nearby stands and adjacent stands, as long as they were from Changqing Academy’s family, they all sent people to buy firecrackers.
In no ti, Xiao Wu ca back holding several strings of firecrackers, excitedly saying to Wang Yongzhu, "The firecracker seller said, because our Changqing Academy won the championship, if we buy three strings of firecrackers, they’ll give us an extra one, as a congratulation to Changqing Academy!"
Wang Yongzhu smiled and had Old Lady Li’s husband and Xiao Wu find two Zhugan, hung the firecrackers on each side, and then lit them. It was quite a lively scene with the crackling sounds.
The sound of firecrackers attracted the children who loved excitent the most. They all covered their ears, watching until the fireworks finished, and the bolder ones bent over, looking for any unlit firecrackers.
Gradually, the firecrackers bought by nearby families were also hung and lit.
The successive sound of firecrackers resounded along the riverside.
On the central stand, officials from Jing County showed relieved smiles.
Governor Chen also stood up, clapping his hands lightly: "Changqing Academy truly lives up to its century-old reputation, well done!"
Zhu Haoran also followed up with a few words of congratulations.
With the two important figures from the Capital City leading, the other officials gathered around Lu Jimin, showering him with endless praise.
Those with less resolve might have beco dizzy from the attention, forgetting who they were.
Yet Lu Jimin remained the sa, although a faint hint of joy could still be seen in his eyes.
On the river, following closely behind Changqing Academy was not Baiyun Academy, but another academy.
It was unclear what happened to Baiyun Academy’s Dragon Boat; halfway through, almost half of the students stopped rowing, naturally slowing down, seemingly having so dispute.
This gave the trailing Dragon Boat an opportunity to overtake them.
By the ti Baiyun Academy realized and put more effort, it was already too late; they finished third, half a boat’s length behind.
At this mont, the students of Changqing Academy almost all lay sprawled on their spots, with their hands trembling, unable to lift them.
Especially the child saved by Song Chongjin, wrapped like a dumpling in the wet red silk cloth, motionlessly at Song Chongjin’s feet, perhaps too frightened to speak.
It was Song Chongjin who was the first to recover; after all, he was in better physical condition, but this race had nearly exhausted him.
With effort, he managed to lift the child, untied the silk cloth, and handed him to the surrounding guard boat: "Take him to the shore, find out whose child it is, and have their parents collect him!"
He then bent down to reprimand the child: "Don’t climb so high so recklessly in the future, do you hear?"
Song Chongjin’s face was already dark; reprimanding made his aura and expression even more intimidating, sothing no ordinary adult could withstand, let alone a child.
Almost scared to wet his pants, the child nodded like a pecking chick, not daring to utter a word.
After settling the child, Baiyun Academy and the other academy’s Dragon Boats arrived. The second-place academy was Dongshan Academy, which generally ranked lower in Jing County; in previous years, reaching third or fourth place was impressive.
No one knew how they did it this year, muddling their way to second place. Upon reaching the finish line, even the Dongshan Academy mbers couldn’t believe it.
They looked at each other, feeling as if they were in a dream.
However, Baiyun Academy’s mbers arrived with long faces, especially a few angrily pointing at the robust n: "You boasted so much back then, how did you put it? You said first place was as good as in hand, now look?"
"You were so confident back then, saying it was rely a scholar’s competition, and that you could win even at half strength. What now? You didn’t even secure second place!"
...
The robust n’s faces turned ashen, not knowing whether they were angry or ashad.
One of them couldn’t hold back: "You still have the face to bla us brothers? If you could answer the questions a bit faster, we wouldn’t have lagged so far behind! You lack the skills of Changqing Academy, unable to match them, and now you want to shove the bla on us brothers? Stop dreaming in broad daylight! Bah!"
"Exactly! We brothers rowed desperately, could have caught up, and you guys just kept whining, blaming this or scolding that, so even stopped rowing. Even gods couldn’t win with you draggers!"
"I’ve endured you long enough! Looking for an explanation from us? Explain yourself!"
...
When those robust n got angry, they spoke unrestrainedly, a few words choking the Baiyun Academy’s students, making so stand up to argue.
On a Dragon Boat, maintaining balance is crucial, and any movent has to be cautious, or you might capsize.
Earlier, Song Chongjin and the drumr swapping positions was already risky, only his agility prevented an accident.
Now, anger got the better of these students, they forgot all about this.
Suddenly standing up, the balance of the Dragon Boat was imdiately disrupted, starting to sway.
The robust n exchanged glances, subtly exerting force with their feet, making the boat sway even more.
A few students splashed into the river like dumplings.
The other students on the Dragon Boat scread in shock and panic; so called for help, while the more sensible ones took paddles to rescue people, but instead fell into the water themselves.
There was crying, shouting, and a whole lot of chaos.
Fortunately, there were patrolling boats near the finish line, manned by skilled swimrs, who rowed over and gradually retrieved people.
Despite the commotion, those robust n watched coldly from the sidelines, not one of them going to save anyone.
The leader, the drumr, glanced at Changqing Academy and gave them a thumbs up!
Especially when he saw Song Chongjin looking over, nodded: "Brother, you are a man!"
Song Chongjin nodded as well.
The man laughed, patted his chest: "My na is Zhang Hu, brother, great skills!"
Song Chongjin pointed at himself: "Song Chongjin."
"Brother Song! Let’s grab a drink soti!" Zhang Hu invited warmly.
Song Chongjin nodded, agreeing.
Zhang Hu was tactful; since Song Chongjin agreed, he didn’t linger, waved his hand, and a small boat ca from the riverbank. The burly n leaped onto it and rowed away quietly along the riverbank while no one noticed.
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