He finished writing.
Zhang Ye handed the script to her, “Look for words you don’t know. I’ll tell you how to read them. As to where to pause, I’ll recite it to you once.”
Cao Mengmeng nodded seriously, “Alright!”
Five minutes later.
Zhang Ye returned to the auditorium and sat at his seat.
Cao Mengmeng did not return and directly went backstage to wait for her turn. At this moment, the little girl’s face was full of joy and excitement. She did not know how good the poem was, as she could not appraise it with her literary and artistic standard as a junior high school student. However, Cao Mengmeng was filled with confidence. Why? There was no why, just because it was a poem written by her bro! It was created today on the spot! As for how awesome Zhang Ye’s poems were, Cao Mengmeng already knew from the internet. There were countless people who followed his tailwinds and there were even thousands of worshippers. She knew that even the worst modern poem her cousin wrote would receive 40,000-50,000 hits. Zhang Ye’s worst work was already much better than the best works of typical poets or literary scholars!
Could this poem be bad?
Of course not!
Cao Mengmeng bounced around humming a melody. She was ready backstage. She did not know the meaning of the poem, but all she needed to do was read it ad verbatim!
……
Inside the auditorium.
In the audience seats.
Zhang Ye returned and did not cause a commotion.
Only Teacher Leng looked over, “Where’s Mengmeng?”
“She’s backstage.” Zhang Ye said.
The newspaper editor said at a loss, “Is she preparing to recite ‘Flying bird and fish’? Hur Hur, that little girl sure is stubborn. Not bad.”
Zhang Ye gave a vague smile, “I don’t know either.”
Teacher Leng smacked her lips, “That Mengmeng sure is… She never listens.”
Onstage, the ongoing poetry program had also ended. The performances were clustered together.
The female host came on stage again as she smiled, “Next up, a poetry reciter. The performer is Cao Mengmeng. Everyone, please welcome her.”
There was sparse applause and not very warm. There was no other way since with seven or eight poetry recital lined back to back, and with popular and classic poems that everyone had heard countless numbers of times, no matter how good the poem was, it was quite sickening. Hence, the enthusiasm from the teachers, parents, and students present were beginning to fade. Upon hearing the next program was a poetry recital, everyone was not that interested. Many people were even yawning.
“Another poem?”
“So boring.”
“This program’s arrangement is problematic.”
Many people began to whisper.
Only Teacher Leng and her class raised their spirits as they were concerned about the recital.
“Ah, Mengmeng is up!”
“She really went up?”
“Why didn’t she cancel her section?”
“Mengmeng sure is too much. She is too stubborn.”
“Are we listening to ‘Flying bird and fish’ again? Give me a break!”
Mengmeng’s classmates were all at a loss about whether to laugh or cry. They were worried for Mengmeng.
However, Lili was grinning as she said, “When everyone listens to it, let’s see whether Mengmeng’s or my recital of ‘Flying bird and fish’ is better.” With her reading first, she had all the advantage. Even if Mengmeng recited it very well, it was impossible for her to compete with her. She might even be criticized. After all, she had followed in Lili’s wake, so Lili was wishing Cao Mengmeng would make a fool of herself on stage. She finally had a chance to see Cao Mengmeng shame herself!
The female host retreated.
Cao Mengmeng appeared from the side of the stage. With small steps, she walked up to the podium. As the previous person who did the poetry recital was a taller boy in high school, the microphone was adjusted a bit high. Cao Mengmeng had to struggle with her toes tipped to reach the microphone. She then adjusted it down.
“Aiyah!” With her feet stumbling, she nearly fell.