Rebirth in 1986: Unforgettable Regrets
Chapter 209: Cried from Being Punished

Chapter 209: Chapter 209: Cried from Being Punished

"I’ll recite the first sentence," Wei Jiajie said cleverly, and immediately started with the first line, "The late Emperor started his work but passed away midway."

Zhang Qiang quickly followed, "Today, the realm is divided into three parts."

Tang Jun said slowly and calmly, "Yizhou is exhausted."

"This is indeed a crucial moment of danger and survival," Tang Yue responded casually, not minding that Wei Jiajie and Zhang Qiang had rushed to recite before her.

"Zhong Zhi..." Wei Jiajie paused, unsure, and said, "The... the... the knight, forgot what comes next?"

Wei Jiajie desperately tried to signal Wei Jiajia with his eyes.

Wei Jiajia cleared her throat, pretending not to see her brother’s gestures.

"I’ll do push-ups." Wei Jiajie placed his hands on the ground and quickly completed ten push-ups.

"The loyal knights forget their own safety in serving others," Wei Jiajia filled in the sentence that he had forgotten.

Wei Jiajie, annoyed, slapped his face, cursing himself for being so stupid.

"Because of the special relationship with the late Emperor," Zhang Qiang said excitedly, particularly thrilled when he saw Wei Jiajie doing push-ups, especially since he knew the following sentence.

But soon, Zhang Qiang realized he had celebrated too soon.

In the third round, Wei Jiajie got it right, while Zhang Qiang was unfortunately wrong.

...

As they progressed, both Wei Jiajie and Zhang Qiang made more and more mistakes.

For the first time, Wei Jiajie felt stupid and found the joy of occasionally getting it right was more thrilling than any game he had ever played.

Apart from a few occasional mistakes, Tang Jun was almost always correct.

As for Tang Yue, she was letter-perfect.

"It’s not fair," Wei Jiajie complained, lying on the ground after doing over a hundred push-ups, feeling intense soreness throughout his body, especially in his arms, which didn’t even feel like his own.

Zhang Qiang’s last few push-ups were merely for show, as he didn’t have the strength to do them anymore.

"That’s right, Tang Yue, Tang Jun, you two must have memorized it before," Zhang Qiang shouted unhappily.

"This is a text from ninth grade, but I’ve reviewed it a few times in advance, so I’m pretty close, but can’t recite the whole thing from memory," Tang Jun replied quietly, "Aren’t we supposed to review our lessons before entering ninth grade?"

Zhang Qiang and Wei Jiajie exchanged glances, then turned their gaze towards Tang Yue.

"’The Memorial to Emperor’ is so simple; not being able to memorize it in half an hour isn’t a big deal. How about another half an hour? Do you think you can get it all correct then?" Tang Yue countered with a question.

"We can."

Zhang Qiang and Wei Jiajie said in unison.

Tang Yue nodded, "Okay, then let’s do it again. This time, if you make a mistake, it’s still ten push-ups."

"Okay." Both Zhang Qiang and Wei Jiajie were determined in their minds that they wouldn’t make any more mistakes this time.

"I won’t participate this time; otherwise, it would be too unfair for you. Let Tang Jun play with you."

Tang Yue said with a smile, noticing the change in Zhang Qiang and Wei Jiajie’s expressions, she asked as if puzzled, "Why, can’t you do it with three people?"

"We can." Zhang Qiang and Wei Jiajie were certainly not willing to admit defeat.

So, Tang Jun was the first to speak.

Following him were Zhang Qiang and Wei Jiajie, taking turns, line by line. The first part went quite well; those push-ups they had done were not in vain.

But during the latter part, Zhang Qiang and Wei Jiajie seemed about ready to cry from doing push-ups.

They mistakenly thought that after making a mistake once, they definitely wouldn’t make one again. However, they were still too naive.

"Xiao Yue, this game you guys are playing is just... too crazy," Wei Jiajia said, looking at Wei Jiajie doing push-ups with a heartache but also feeling that this experience would definitely be unforgettable for him.

"That’s nothing," Tang Yue snorted. "The games Tingyu and I play are the true definition of crazy."

"How do you play those games?" Wei Jiajia asked excitedly, looking at Tang Yue.

Tang Yue cleared her throat and said, "Take a math game, for example. A set of problems is presented. Whoever solves them quickly with fewer steps... the loser,"

Tang Yue touched her nose and paused.

"What does the loser have to do?" Wei Jiajia asked.

"The loser has to sing a song," Tang Yue replied.

Before Wei Jiajia could express her confusion, Tang Yue continued, "The song must incorporate ten poems, and each poem must include a word from the theme."

"For example, if the word is ’moon’, you would have to sing a song that weaves in ten poems with the word ’moon’, while also following the tune of the song," Tang Yue explained.

Wei Jiajia: "..."

"Is that even possible?" Wei Jiajia thought it was too difficult. Not to mention following the tune of the song, even coming up with ten ’moon’-themed poems on the spot wasn’t easy, right?

"Yes," said Tang Yue, nodding and quietly recalling the songs she and Zhang Tingyu used to sing, which had a certain ancient charm to them.

Tingyu.

I wonder when she’ll return from Jing City.

Tang Yue’s mind drifted to the thought of the endorsement, and she began to consider what she needed to do over the next six months during the time they memorized.

When the time comes for her senior year, her schedule would certainly be tight; most of her time would have to be spent on studying. This time, she wanted to get into a good university and see her parents beam with pride.

"We’ll continue tomorrow," Wei Jiajie said the last sentence with a tone of defiance.

It had also aroused Zhang Qiang’s competitive spirit.

Tang Jun quietly shared with them little memory tricks, like understanding the meaning of the text first, which makes it easier to memorize afterwards.

As they talked, Wei Jiajie started to feel for the first time that classical Chinese wasn’t so hateful after all.

That night, the three of them, Tang Jun included, focused on classical Chinese, revisiting what they had learned in the first and second years of middle school. For Wei Jiajie and Zhang Qiang, it was the first time they felt interested in studying.

Tang Yue went into her room to knit a sweater, wanting to finish it quickly while the weather was still cold so that Mo Siyu could wear it.

If she waited until it got warmer, knitting the sweater and sending it over would be pointless, and it would just end up stuffed in the closet.

In the quiet room, under the soft lighting, Tang Yue sat against the bed, nestled on it, her slender fingers nimbly twisting. The dark blue yarn was knitted stitch by stitch, and starting at mid-waist, the gray yarn, skillfully woven, turned into rhombus-shaped patterns on the sweater, adding a bit of color to the otherwise plain garment.

In the neighboring two-story house, the three boys, including Tang Jun, shared a room. Zhang Qiang lay in his bed, not wanting to move at all, and he asked, "Tang Jun, how did you get so good with your moves?"

"How is he awesome?" Wei Jiajie, unaware of Tang Jun’s prowess or Zhang Qiang’s experiences, felt that these skills seemed straight out of a TV show.

"Wei Jiajie, neither of us could probably win against Tang Jun alone," Zhang Qiang said, unable to hide his annoyance. They were all the same age, so why was Tang Jun stronger than them?