Lin Zhixia's grades began to improve by leaps and bounds.
From the last place in the class, she improved all the way to the middle, and sometimes even got 90 points circled in red by the teacher. She began to get used to sitting in the front row of the class, taking neat notes, and her eyes were no longer erratic. Although she was still wearing the old uniform and the shoes on her feet were broken, her back was straight and her eyes were brighter.
All this was inseparable from the patient tutoring and companionship of Teacher Gu after class every day.
But not everyone liked this change.
A few classmates began to mutter behind her back: "She was so stupid before, how come she suddenly became smart? Did she copy the answers?"
Especially Chen Mengmeng - the star of the class, whose family runs a small business, dresses fashionably, speaks bluntly, and can't stand things like "the bottom turning over".
Once when sweeping the floor after class, Chen Mengmeng looked at Zhixia's torn shoes with a sneer and said, "You want to participate in a reading competition? Don't make people laugh, will your shoes fall off when you go on stage?"
The whole class laughed, and Zhixia's face suddenly turned red to her ears. She lowered her head and swept the floor silently without saying anything.
That winter was particularly cold, and the school held a "Winter Reading Competition" with all the teachers and students in the school. Teacher Gu encouraged her to participate and personally helped her choose a poem "Wildfires cannot burn it all, spring breeze blows it back to life", saying that it was very much like her spirit.
But Zhixia hesitated.
Not because of the reading, but because - she didn't have a pair of decent shoes. The front of the worn-out canvas shoes had a crack, and the patch she embroidered crookedly was set off. She didn't want to be a joke on the stage.
The day before the competition, she sat quietly in the last row of the classroom watching everyone rehearse, struggling in her heart whether she should give up.
After school that day, when she cleaned the classroom and was about to leave, she found a white shoe box in her drawer.
Inside was a pair of brand new black leather shoes.
Under the insole was a piece of note paper - the handwriting was round:
"Just return it to me after the competition, don't talk so much nonsense. - Chen Mengmeng"
She was stunned for a long time, not knowing whether to cry or laugh. It turned out that the girl who always said sarcastic things was also paying attention to her secretly.
On the morning of the competition, Teacher Gu helped her tie her hair and lent her her white scarf to cushion her neck. Zhixia put on the new shoes that fit her feet, and her heart felt like a light was on.
When she stood on the podium, her hands were shaking and her voice was a little trembling at first. But she recalled that Teacher Gu taught her the rhythm, intonation, and breathing of recitation over and over again, closed her eyes, and slowly spoke.
Her voice was immature at first, but it became more and more powerful as she spoke. When she read the last sentence "Spring breeze blows and life comes again", the whole lecture hall was silent for a second, and then thunderous applause broke out.
She stood on the stage, her cheeks burning and her eyes slightly wet. At that moment, she was affirmed and heard in front of everyone for the first time, and she also felt for the first time that maybe she could really walk out of this shabby alley and go further.
After the game, she wiped her shoes clean and carefully put them back in Chen Mengmeng's drawer. That day after school, when Chen Mengmeng passed by her, she hummed softly: "Remember not to step on the mud when wearing shoes."
Zhixia nodded, but her heart was like a bouquet of flowers.
---