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“Uh...that’s it?” Saori frowned.
"That's right, your diet meal includes hand-shredded chicken breast and cold cucumber salad. By the way, the staple food is black rice specially prepared for you," Songgang Dong introduced with a smile.
Saori looked like she had no appetite, and then said weakly, "How about we not lose weight today?"
"Tomorrow and tomorrow, there are so many tomorrows. This is your dinner today, you have no choice." Song Gangdong glanced at her.
"Okay..." Saori accepted it helplessly.
After a while, Songgang was enjoying chewing the ribs and said to Sigong, "It tastes good today, right?"
Shigong also cooperated very well: "It's very delicious, fragrant and tasty, the meat is just the right amount of tender."
"That's because I pickled it using a special method. It's a pity that someone didn't have the pleasure to enjoy it," Songgang Dong joked.
Saori ate the bland shredded chicken and mixed cucumbers while looking at them and said angrily, "You two should stop going too far."
"It's really delicious. Oh, by the way, you are trying to lose weight now. It's really hard work." Song Gangdong pretended to be concerned.
Shinomiya saw that the teasing was almost over and said, "Okay, stop tempting Saori."
"Well, this is the last piece of pork chop in my hand." Song Gangdong waved the pork chop in his hand in front of her.
At this moment, Saori bit the pork ribs with lightning speed, and then forcibly pulled them out of Matsuoka's hand.
"You are a dog, you almost bit my hand," Song Gangdong said unhappily.
"Who told you to seduce me all the time?" Saori said vaguely while chewing meat.
Song Gangdong sneered: "How can you lose weight if you are so easily tempted? Your will is not firm at all."
"It's just a piece of pork chop, it's okay, I can do it," Saori said with mysterious confidence.
Shigong Gang said: "It's okay to just eat less. And Songgang, let's eat the same thing as Saori recently, otherwise she will feel sorry for us when she sees us eating."
"As expected, Mikoto-sister is the best to me, Matsuoka-san you are a bad guy." Saori made a face at him.
"Okay, then just eat healthier recently," Song Gangdong didn't care.
There is harmony in Songgang's family, but the world is not at peace. The housing prices continue to fall, and countless people go to the rooftops, and many more go into the business world.
The reason why the old streets are crowded is that most people are short of money so they don’t go to supermarkets with higher prices to buy food, and this kind of traditional street often has good quality and low prices.
However, with the further erosion of capital, the old street was gradually replaced by major department stores and supermarkets, and there were no more affordable goods and enthusiastic shops.
"Have you heard? Higashima from Class 1 transferred to another school. It seems his father went bankrupt and moved to the countryside."
"Not only Toshima, but also Mingli from Class 5 dropped out and went straight to work."
During the break, Song Gangdong listened to the discussion of his classmates in silence. It seemed that the economic crisis had already affected the school, and the students had clearly felt the cold wave.
"I wonder how many families will be broken," Shinomiya sighed sadly.
"Given the general environment, it's good enough to be able to stay out of it," responded Song Gangdong.
Sigong nodded. She felt that she was already quite lucky, so this made her even more grateful to the Songgang family.
Chapter 139 Midterm Examination
In the second half of 1991, the economic environment in Japan became increasingly worse due to the bursting of the bubble, and even schools that were relatively remote from society were greatly affected.
Many students and teachers had sad looks on their faces, probably because they were the poor people whose families were involved in this. However, nothing could stop the arrival of the midterm exams.
The midterm exam is very important in Haicheng High School because it is related to the recommendation qualification for future college admission, so the school is also very strict.
"Come on!" Saori cheered Songgang.
Then she went to her examination room. Yes, Haicheng High School was similar to China in terms of regular exams such as midterm and final exams, and the authorities would also send supervisors to monitor.
There will be five exams in the midterm: Chinese, Social Studies, Mathematics, Science, and English. At the end of the semester, in addition to these five subjects, there will be nine exams in music, art, health and physical education, and technology and home.
Although there are many exams, unlike in China, their passing scores are very low. Basically, as long as there is no problem with IQ, you can graduate from high school.
After this period of study and with his previous knowledge, Song Gangdong passed the test very easily because there was only one day so he had very little time to rest.
So all the students were exhausted at the end of the day, even Songgang felt that he had overworked his brain, but fortunately the exam was over.
"How was it?" Shinomiya asked on the way home.
"It's okay," Songgang Dong responded casually.
Saori was a little discouraged: "I don't feel good. I think I failed the test this time..."
Song Gangdong gloated and said, "It's your fault that you haven't been to school recently."
"I did it to qualify for the national tennis tournament, and I did it," she said proudly.
The two knew about this and celebrated for her, but Songgang Dong still poured cold water on her by saying, "You'd better not fall behind in your studies. It's good to have good grades in tennis, but they will be useless after graduation."
"Brother Songgang, it's so annoying that you say the same thing as my dad," Saori complained.
"That's because the road of tennis is indeed too narrow," Songgang Dong shook his head.
"I understand, but now I still have to focus on tennis," Saori said with a firm look.
Song Gangdong nodded: "Okay, I'm just giving you some advice. Anyway, you only have one more chance. With your foundation, it won't be a problem for you to catch up."
In fact, after Japan started to implement the so-called quality-oriented education, it harmed a lot of people. Although some of them did get recommendations from universities based on their skills, those who just ran away were miserable.
Because Japanese society places the most emphasis on academic qualifications, those who waste a lot of energy in clubs and still fail will either go to second- or third-rate universities or go directly to work after graduation. People like this will basically become the bottom of the society in the future.
Almost the same as in the United States, people who are successful in school clubs are often surpassed by those who study hard in society, and the gap will become larger and larger.
Therefore, Song Gangdong does not believe in quality-oriented education. In this world, only those who win can become the biggest beneficiaries.
The midterm exam results came out very quickly, and as expected, Songgang Dong became the most eye-catching one because he ranked second in the whole grade.
"I won this time." Shinomiya looked at the results on the bulletin board and smiled as a winner.
Songgang Dong congratulated: "It's really amazing."
Although Songgang Dong has been studying very hard recently, there is still some gap between him and the local top student Sigong. The difference is that he does not have a detailed understanding of some things in Japan, and he made a lot of mistakes in the social studies subject this time.
"Ah! I'm ranked 60th. If my dad knew, he would never forgive me." Saori grabbed her head and wanted to cry but had no tears.
This could be said to be her worst performance ever, but it was also normal. In the past, in Hokkaido, she could get high grades if she studied a little bit, but this was Tokyo, and it was a sea city, the most competitive place.
Or maybe it was already very good that she could get this result without much study. Unfortunately, this reason could not be explained to the Onishi couple.
The Onishi couple, one graduated from the University of Tokyo and the other from Japan Women's University, were quite concerned about her grades, so they would know her results sooner or later.
"Haha, just wish you good luck," Song Gangdong said gloatingly.
Saori looked at him with pitiful eyes: "Brother Songgang, you have to help me."
"How can I help?" Song Gangdong looked helpless.
"Then I'll tell my parents that I was sick and that's why I didn't perform well, and then you can be a witness," she suggested, suddenly perking up.
"Well... okay, but only for this time. You must do well in the next final exam," said Songgang Dong, unable to bear her pitiful look.
"That's great. The final competition has already been completed, so you have plenty of time to study. Don't worry," Saori promised.
"I hope so." Songgang Dong didn't doubt it too much, but the prerequisite was that she could study hard.
Although Ohnochi still felt a little uncomfortable with Matsuoka Dong, she was very happy to see his results. After all, the appearance of another top student in the class made her feel a sense of accomplishment.
So during class, Songgang was praised highly, which made other boys very envious and jealous. His academic performance suddenly improved and he had a beautiful childhood sweetheart. It was also said that he had some relationships with other girls and even Miss Shinomiya. He was simply the public enemy of all boys.
Song Gangdong certainly didn't care about these. He was already preparing to participate in the last game of the qualifiers. As long as he won, he would be able to advance to the national level.
However, the opponent is no pushover either. They are Hachioji High School, which has won the qualification for three consecutive years. Even with the killer weapon Matsuoka Dong, the outcome is not easy to predict. After all, everything is possible during the competition.
The day of the competition soon arrived. Songgang Dong and other team members gathered and took a bus to the Tokyo University Gymnasium. There were quite a few graduates from both schools who came to this final, and together with parents and others, the seats in the venue were almost fully occupied.
"There are so many people!" It was the first time that the Haicheng team members saw such a scene.
"Of course it's the final," others responded.
Haicheng High School had only made it to the top eight in the past, so this was their first time participating in a competition in such a place, which made them a little nervous.
"Everyone's expressions are too stiff. Relax. You can't be like this during the game later," captain Moriya Aota reminded.
"Captain, you're walking the wrong way," small forward Ze Yu Shang Tian said with a grin.
Bang, the small forward covered his head with his hands and wanted to cry, but thanks to him, the other players laughed and relaxed. As for Songgang Dong, he felt okay. After all, he had experienced similar scenes before. Although the venue and the number of people were different, it was enough.
Chapter 140: The Key to the Nation
A lot of people are entering the stadium outside. Of course, it's not just basketball. There are other sports going on inside the stadium.
At this time, a bus also drove into the parking lot, and then many sports reporters ran over there, and Song Gangdong and others' attention were also attracted.
"It's Hachioji. Damn it, why don't we have any reporters coming to interview us?" said Sawamura Naota jealously.
"He's the third place in the national competition, of course he'll get attention," power forward Ishida Sana responded enviously.
While they were talking, members of Hachioji's team got off the car. They were all like little giants, none of them shorter than 1.85 meters. Standing together they were very oppressive.
The most popular one among them is Shinji Ichijo, the ace of the Eight Princes. He is two meters tall, very burly, has a buzz cut, is very capable, and gives people a soldier-like feeling.
His playing style is indeed as capable and fast as a soldier, and he plays the small forward position with strong breakthrough and scoring abilities.
When Songgang Dong and the others looked over, he was also observing the Haicheng team, and then walked over directly, while Moriya Qingta on this side had a serious look on his face.
"Aota can finally fight with you," Shinji Ichijo said lightly.
Moriya Aota responded seriously: "Sorry to have kept you waiting for a long time, but fortunately I finally have the chance in my last year."
"Unfortunately, this is the last match between you and me. Victory will definitely belong to us, Hachioji," said Shinji Ichijo very confidently.
"Then let's wait and see. My teammates and I will do our best to defeat you," Moriya Aota responded without showing any weakness.
Then the two of them walked in opposite directions. Songgang Dong was very curious about the relationship between them, so he asked Zeyu Shangtian. This guy is now completely a fan of Songgang.
"I actually know this. It seems that the guy has been classmates with the captain since childhood, and they agreed to play basketball together. However, when they were in high school, the captain suddenly chose Haicheng, and he went to Hachioji. I don't know the specific reason," Ze Yu spread his hands in response.
Song Gangdong looked down on him: "You don't know much."
Ze Yu Shang Tian said helplessly: "I asked the captain many times the reason, but unfortunately he just refused to tell me."
"Well, it seems that this game is still a grudge match." Songgang Dong felt that it had a bit of a cartoon flavor.
While chatting, they went to the special lounge, and then everyone started to change into a new set. Coach Kazukami Ohno was also very excited at this time. After all, this was the first time he was so close to the national competition since he started coaching.