Chapter 6 Five favorite and most hated sports events

One year has passed since I came to Saga.During this period, because of my grandmother's suggestion, I devoted myself to practicing "no money" running, and the results were unexpectedly fruitful—I ran so fast that even I was surprised. The sports meeting is about to start, and I am very confident in running, so I hope my mother can come to my sports meeting anyway. "Mom, I run super fast, and I am always the first in practice, so you must come to the sports meeting!" I carefully wrote the letter in poor handwriting and sent it, but the answer was still "can't come".

Although I know that my mother has to work hard to send me living expenses, I still feel very disappointed.The sports meeting that made me happy from the bottom of my heart suddenly became boring, and I even thought to myself: "It would be great if it rained heavily." On the morning of the sports meeting, my grandmother's strange cry woke me up, and my sentimental emotions were swept away. "Live! Live!" Grandma's strange voice came from the yard. I didn't understand what was going on, but when I looked into the yard, my grandma seemed to be saying to the hen, "Lay eggs!"

At that time, my grandmother raised five chickens, but eggs were not necessarily laid every day, and we did not have a refrigerator, so the eggs laid that day had to be eaten on the same day. On normal days, the school would provide a nutritious lunch, but on the day of the sports meeting, I had to bring my own bento. My grandma probably thought that I should at least bring me a poached egg. Going a little further, many people said that nutritious lunch was unpalatable, but for me, it was the best big meal and the source of my nutritional supplements.I can drink five or six cups of skimmed milk that my classmates don’t like to drink; I would rather stuff the bread into my schoolbag and take home the olive-shaped bread that they don’t like to eat the textbooks.

The olive-shaped bread brought home was roasted over charcoal fire, and the whole room was filled with aroma. Grandma happily put the hot and fragrant bread into her mouth and said: "Same as the French." I said, "It would be nice to have milk margarine." She would reply: "I don't know that foreigner named Lin." Closer to home, back to the "Egg Operation" on the morning of the sports meeting. "Live! Live!" "Ke-ko, ke-ko." "What don't you want? Aren't you going to give birth?" "Ke-ko, ke-ko."

"You know there's going to be a sports meeting today, right? Give birth! Give birth soon!" "Ke-ko, ke-ko." "You stupid chicken, live fast!" I am very grateful to grandma for her kindness, but it would be too pitiful for a chicken to say such a thing. I watched grandma and the hen confront each other for a while, and gradually realized a wonderful thing.After grandma vigorously yelled "Birth! Birth!", there was a response of "Hi! Hi!". "Live! Live!" "Hi! Hi!" "Live! Live!" "Hi! Hi!" I listened carefully and the response came from next door.

It turned out that the aunt next door was named Mei Yoshida. In the end, my grandma's "coercion and lure" was unsuccessful, so I had to go out with a vegetarian bento with white rice, dried plums, and sliced ​​sweet ginger. The weather is annoyingly good, but I don't hate sports games anymore. It's really a pity that my mother can't come, but I still have to cheer up and work hard. "Swear! We swear to compete in the spirit of sport and with dignity." After the sixth grade student representatives took the oath, my first sports meeting in Saga began.I participated in the 50-meter race in the lower grades, which was the last event in the morning.

After rolling the big ball, gymnastics and other events one by one, it was finally my turn to run the 50-meter race, and I entered the arena with the brisk music.I was full of confidence, but I was only a little nervous at that time. "Get in place—ready—" "boom!" The starting gun sounded, and the first group of players rushed forward. "boom!" "boom!" "boom!" With the firing of the starting gun, the contestants rushed forward one by one.Among them, a child who had been leading the way fell down halfway and fell to the end. He couldn't help crying.I was a little startled.

Finally it was my turn. "Get in place—ready—" "boom!" I rushed forward. I strode forward with all my strength and ran on the sports field where I run alone every day. The sky was blue, and there were cheers of parents cheering for their children. I ran forward with forgetfulness, and when I came back to my senses, I had already crossed the finish line first. "Mom, I'm running first!" Although my mother did not come, she will be very happy if I write to her.At that time, I hope to maintain that feeling. Unfortunately, that refreshing mood did not last long.

"Now is a happy lunch break, everyone can enjoy bento with mom and dad!" The voice of the Dean of Academic Affairs came from the loudspeaker, and the students scattered around the campus in twos and threes, eating bento with their family members who came to cheer. "You're doing well." "Are you hurt?" "I brought the sausage you like." Amidst the noise of praise, worry, and love all around me, I walked alone with the championship ribbon pinned to my chest.At this time, it was more sad than when no one cheered for me when I was running. "Tokunaga-kun, you run so fast! Let's have lunch together."

A neighbor aunt I knew invited me. "No, my mother is waiting for me over there." I told a lie that everyone knew, and ran into the classroom alone. Grandma didn't come to the sports meeting either. Not only the sports meeting, but she has never been to other teaching visit days. It seems that the matter of being described as "so old" on the day I transferred to another school has always been on her mind. She seems to think that I will feel ashamed if I come. I ran into the classroom and sat in my seat.There was a buzzing noise like the vibration of bee wings from the campus.With tears in my eyes, I was about to open the vegetarian lunch when the door of the classroom opened suddenly.

"Hey Tokunaga, you are here!" It's my head teacher. "Is there something wrong, teacher?" I quickly wiped my eyes. "Oh, shall we exchange bento?" "Ok?" "Teacher, for some reason, my stomach was hurting all the time. Your bento has prunes and sweet ginger, right?" "right." "Great, these are good for the stomach, I'll change them with you." "OK." I exchanged bentos with the teacher. "Thank you." The teacher took my bento and walked out of the classroom. "Tummy ache? That sucks!" While thinking this way, I opened the teacher's bento and cheered unconsciously: scrambled eggs, sausages, fried shrimp... The teacher's bento was stuffed with luxurious meals that I had never seen before. I ate with forgetfulness. There is such a delicious thing in the world!too delicious. Thanks to my teacher's stomachache, my shriveled heart was full again, and I was greatly alive in the relay race in the afternoon. Another year passed. In the third grade, I was still a hero in the sports meeting, but my mother still couldn't come because of her busy work. It's lunch break again.When I was about to eat lunch, the door of the classroom opened suddenly again, and the teacher walked in. "Hey, Tokunaga, are you eating here alone again this year?" "yes." "Teacher has a stomachache. Does your bento have prunes and sweet ginger? Shall we change the bento?" "OK." Of course I exchanged happily and enjoyed the teacher's luxurious bento again. Another year later, my fourth grade head teacher was a woman. I still shined in the sports meeting, but my mother still didn't come. Another lunch break. The classroom door opened. "Tokunaga-kun, you are here, the teacher has a stomachache, can I exchange lunch with you?" Why, even the new homeroom teacher has a stomachache? I'm seriously wondering, do the teachers at this school have a stomach ache during the annual sports day? I was a sports meet hero until I graduated from elementary school, but my mother never came.And every year, my homeroom teacher will have a stomachache when he arrives at the sports meeting. I understood the meaning of the teacher's stomach pain, and it was the first time I told my grandma about it in the sixth grade. "It's strange, they have stomach pains when they arrive at the sports meeting." "It's an excuse, the teacher did this on purpose." "Huh? But they said the stomach hurts..." "That's really considerate! If they said they brought you a bento, you and grandma would be embarrassed. So the teacher pretended to have a stomachache and wanted to change the bento with you." The schoolteachers knew my mother wouldn't be able to come to the sports day, so they came up with this strategy to get me to good food at least once a year. "True thoughtfulness goes unnoticed." This seems to be the life creed of my grandmother, and I have heard these words from my grandmother many times later. Until now, the bento story of the sports meeting is still one of the "true thoughtfulness" deeply imprinted in my heart.