tearjerker director

Chapter 1626: Running in the Name of Love
Ali was still waiting for his sister Sarah to finish class at the alley as usual. When Sarah came over, the two of them exchanged shoes skillfully, and Ali put on his sneakers and ran to school.

Inside the school, the physical education teacher took the microphone and announced to the noisy students on the playground: "Attention, students, the province will hold a series of long-distance running events for all children." The playground gradually became quiet. Ali looked down at his broken sneakers, feeling conflicted.

Physical education teacher: "The first round will be for students in grades three and four. Those who are interested can sign up and participate in the pre-match selection. The results of the players will be recorded." The students cheered after hearing this.

On the other side, Ruoya, who had picked up Sarah's pen, took the ballpoint pen out of her schoolbag and pressed it back and forth curiously. She put her schoolbag aside, knelt on the carpet, wrote a few words on the notebook, and then held the pen and thought.

The next day, during the break, the children were doing various activities on the playground. Sarah was alone, leaning against a tree, watching her classmates play. Ruoya approached her quietly, took out a pen and held it in front of her: "Your pen, you dropped it yesterday."

Sarah looked at her in surprise, then looked down at the shoes on her feet, and then looked up to see Ruoya's sincere face. Sarah suddenly felt a liking for her and gave her a friendly smile. Ruoya also smiled shyly, then turned and ran away.

The camera switches to the street, where Ruoya's father is walking with a cane in hand and a basket around his neck, supported by an old man. The old man takes him to the door of a small shoe store and says to the owner, "Akadavu, look at what this gentleman needs."

Ruoya's father walked into the store: "Good morning."

Shopkeeper: “Good morning.”

Ruoya's father: "May God grant you peace."

Shopkeeper: "Thank you. How can I help you?"

Ruoya's father: "I want to buy a pair of girls' shoes. The price should be reasonable."

Shopkeeper: "What size does she wear?"

Ruoya’s father: “I don’t know, she is in the first grade.”

Shopkeeper: “First grade.”

He walked to the window. At this time, Ali's father happened to pass by here after shopping, and he stopped outside the window to look in.

The shopkeeper took two girls' shoes and placed them in front of Ruoya's father: "There are two styles. Which one do you want?"

Ruoya's father asked, "What color?"

Shopkeeper: "One pair is white with red flowers, and the other is purple with red and yellow florals."

Ruoya's father: "Red and yellow... Is it expensive?"

Shopkeeper: “The price is negotiable.”

Ali's father wandered around outside the store for a while and then walked away.

Ruoya's father: "Red and yellow, good, thank you."

In the alley, outside Ruoya's house, the voice of an old man who collects rags and exchanges them for goods came from far away: "Exchange for salt."

He walked to the door of Ruoya's house, and Ruoya's mother opened the door and came out: "Hello."

"Here you are." The old man took the bag of waste and the pair of old pink leather shoes with bows from her hand and asked, "What do you want to exchange?"

"Basket." Ruoya's mother picked out a small plastic basket.

The old man threw his shoes into the sack on the car.

Ruoya put her feet into her father's new leather shoes, a pair of purple leather shoes with red and yellow flower decorations. After putting them on, Ruoya wiped them lovingly with her hands, and then ran out of the yard.

This scene was something many people did not expect.

On the way to school, Ruoya saw Sarah walking in front of her from a distance. She ran a few steps to catch up with her: "Hello."

Sarah: “Hello.”

Ruoya: "Where do you live? That's where I live too." She couldn't contain her joy at wearing new shoes, and she walked with a bouncing gait.

Sarah also noticed her change at this time: "Your shoes are so beautiful, are they new?"

Ruoya: "My dad bought it for me."

Sarah: “Where’s the original pair?”

Ruoya: “My mother threw it away.”

Sarah stopped and stamped her feet anxiously: "Throw it away? Why?"

Ruoya said disapprovingly: "Those are too old."

Sarah looked down at her new shoes and continued walking forward without saying anything.

Ruoya followed her and said proudly: "If I get good grades, my dad will buy me a prize. This time he gave me a pair of shoes."

Such a result obviously made Sarah extremely sad. She had not spoken about the shoes because of Ruoya's family and her father being blind, but she did not expect the result to be like this.

This made Sarah very sad, and perhaps a little regretful.

Next, there are two shots, with thunder roaring in the sky and light rain falling on the ground. Ali runs towards school in the rain!

It was another thunderstorm, and Sarah ran back with all her might. Ali paced anxiously in the alley, and Sarah came over, and they quickly changed shoes, and Ali ran towards the school in the rain again!
The discarded sneakers that Ruoya thought were too old were what Ali and Sarah had always dreamed of.

Perhaps like many of us, what we think is unimportant may be completely different in the eyes of others.

At school, in the classroom, Ali looked down from his seat by the window.

The physical education teacher was testing a row of students on the playground. When he blew the whistle, a student ran out and then ran back.

Ali looked down and was amused by the various running postures of the students.

Another set of scenes of Ali and Sarah changing shoes and going to school on a thunderstorm day.

The plot finally took a turn for the better.

The bell rang and the boys swarmed down the stairs, including Ali.

In the hall, the physical education teacher was posting notices on the wall, and the students gathered behind him and watched.

A student: "Teacher, my name is not on the list. Didn't I pass? I performed very well."

Another student chimed in: "I wasn't selected either."

The physical education teacher turned around and said, "What is there to protest? We can't all be selected. There are only five or six places for each school. Try harder next time." After saying that, he pushed the students aside and walked out, "Come on, let me pass."

The students discussed the notice.

A boy: "They are so nice. We can go to Lanza for two weeks. It's great."

Another boy: "Taiqi Sadar is also selected, you see."

Ali, who had been watching the excitement from the back, also squeezed to the front row to look. The notice read: First Prize: Two-week holiday camp and a set of sportswear; Second Prize: Two-week holiday camp and stationery; Third Prize: One-week holiday camp and a pair of sneakers.

"A pair of sneakers!" Ali muttered to himself.

Apparently this gave Ali an opportunity to make up for his mistake and win a pair of sneakers!

So he came outside the teacher's office.

Ali knocked on the door and came in, standing at the door with his hand raised: "Report!"

"Come in." The PE teacher stood in front of the table, writing something in his notebook. "What's going on?"

Ali walked up to him and said, "I want to run a race."

Physical Education Teacher: "Really? You're here really early." He closed the notebook and put it in the metal cabinet behind him. "What did you do so early? Did you oversleep?"

Ali: "I forgot, teacher."

The PE teacher took off the whistle and put it in the small cabinet: "Your chance is gone, don't forget it next time."

Ali: "Teacher, I want to participate in this competition."

Physical Education Teacher: “No.”

Ali begged quickly, "Please."

Physical education teacher: “No.” It was almost time to get off work, so he started packing up the teaching aids.

Ali pleaded, “I really want to participate in this competition.”

The PE teacher was unyielding: "This is not something you can decide. You missed the selection and the registration is closed."

Ali was a little anxious: "Please, can you let me participate?"

Because this is his only chance, and his family situation does not allow them to buy another pair of sneakers.

The physical education teacher put the football into the cabinet and waved his hands irritably: "Are you annoying? If I say no, it means no! Go away!" After that, he turned around and closed the cabinet door.

Suddenly, Ali's crying voice came from behind: "Please, teacher, I promise to win."

The teacher turned his head and saw tears in Ali's eyes, and he felt sympathy for him.

Ali paused and begged, "Please, teacher, please sign me up. I run very fast and I can definitely beat everyone. Please sign me up, okay?" As he spoke, tears could no longer be stopped from streaming down his face.

Finally, the teacher was moved by Ali. Ali ran very fast on the playground. After a few laps, the physical education teacher pressed the stopwatch with a look of joy on his face. He recorded Ali's results in a notebook.

Apparently Ali passed the selection, and he couldn't wait to go back and tell his sister the good news. He ran out of the school, jumped off the high threshold in front of his house, and rushed into the yard.

Ali ran to his sister, his joy evident in words: "Sarah, great news!"

Sarah was scrubbing the barrel at the faucet: "What?"

Ali sat by the pool, panting. "I was chosen to run the race."

Sarah sat down too. "What race?"

Ali: "Long-distance running. The third place winner gets a new pair of sneakers."

Sarah: “Why third?”

Ali: "There are other prizes for first and second place." He paused and laughed from the bottom of his heart, "If I come in third, I'll give you the sneakers."

Sarah: “But those are boys’ shoes.”

Ali: "I can just exchange them for women's shoes."

Sarah was still a little worried: "What if you don't get third place?"

Ali: "Don't worry, I'm sure." Sarah was also infected by her brother's excitement and smiled happily.

As long as he could get third place, in the naive mind of Ali, he might not have even thought about how difficult it would be.

He doesn't want to be second or first, he only wants to be third, just because the prize for third place is sneakers!

The competition day finally arrived, and the boys from various schools participating in the long-distance running competition were doing warm-up exercises in the open space.

A blue-green van drove in, and the principal and physical education teacher of Ali's school came out from the cab.

"Tell the boys to get ready, it's almost too late!" the principal shouted as he ran towards the venue.

"Hurry up and get off the bus. Hurry up, hurry up!" The physical education teacher urged the six students standing in the back of the car, and handed them their competition uniforms: "Take off your clothes. Hurry up."

This was probably the first time Ali had participated in such a competition. As soon as he got off the car, he looked at the crowd in the open space blankly. Many of the contestants were accompanied by their parents, and from their clothes and appearance, it could be seen that most of them came from well-off families. Some mothers were helping their children with warm-up exercises, some were taking pictures of their children, and some were helping their children tie their belts.
The physical education teacher came over and patted Ali on the shoulder, handed him his sportswear, and urged, "Hurry up."

Parents were still busy taking care of their children, with one father even squatting on the ground tying his son's shoelaces.

Ali changed into his sportswear and bent over to tighten his shoelaces.

The race was about to begin. The contestants gathered at the starting point, about 1,800 of them.

The referee held a loudspeaker and shouted in front: "Attention, students, the race is 4 kilometers long and the finish line is on the other side of the lake. Do not push other runners. Winning or losing is not important. What is important is the sportsmanship. I wish you all the best. Take your positions, one, two, three." He fired the signal gun and the runners rushed out in a swarm.

They ran along the winding mountain road and gradually the distance between them widened.

The lake is sparkling and green, and children are running along the shore.

Ali's mind kept replaying the scene of Sarah running out of breath on the street. At this time, several contestants ran past him. Ali gritted his teeth and persisted, and the conversation with his sister rang in his ears.

Ali: “Why are you late?”

Sarah: "No way. I ran back."

Ali: "Give me the shoes, I'm going to be late."

Sarah: "My sneakers are so dirty and embarrassing. I don't want to wear them. I will never wear these shoes again! It's all your fault. You lost my shoes. You have to find them back, or I'll tell Dad!"

Ali: "If I come in third, I'll give you the shoes."

Ali: "Don't worry, I'm sure."

As he thought this, he involuntarily quickened his pace, overtaking one competitor after another and taking the lead.

Sarah's voice sounded again: "What if you don't get third place?"

Ali looked back and slowed down his pace to let the two runners behind him pass him and run behind them. A boy behind him tried to pass him, but Ali was fighting with him and refused to let him pass. The boy pulled Ali in frustration and he fell to the ground with a "thump". Ali didn't care about the pain and immediately got up without hesitation and rushed forward with all his strength!

At this moment, perhaps the only things he was thinking about were his sneakers and the third place.

That was what he promised his sister, he had to do it!

It was the final sprint. There were still 70 meters to the finish line! 50 meters! 30 meters! The spectators waiting here were excited. Cheers and whistles were intertwined.

The physical education teacher and principal of Ali School were also running beside him, cheering him on.

The speeds of the several runners were almost the same. In the end, Ali, with his strong energy, was the first to cross the finish line.

He collapsed to the ground all of a sudden, and several people behind him also fell to the ground one after another.

The principal, who was usually serious, ran up to hug Ali, kissed his forehead, and said incoherently: "Hurray, Ali, you are great!"

But Ali asked immediately: "Am I the third one?"

The principal looked confused: "What do you mean third place? You ran first. Victory, you are the champion!" As he said that, he helped the physical education teacher put Ali on his shoulders.

The audience applauded and cheered, and several cameras were simultaneously pointed at Ali.

Ali gasped for breath and looked down condescendingly.

Some parents took off their children's shoes and rubbed their feet, while others gave their children flowers. The boy who tripped Ali sat on the ground in frustration, burying his head between his legs. His mother comforted him, "You will definitely win next time."

Ali turned his eyes to the temporary podium and immediately saw the pair of sneakers that were the prize.

"Champion, Ali!" The referee called his name, and the physical education teacher quickly put him down. Ali walked forward, stared at the pair of sneakers for a few seconds, and lowered his head sadly.

I got first place, but I don’t have any sneakers!
How can Ali be happy?

The chairman of the conference put the medal on his chest. Just as he took the trophy from the referee and was about to present it to Ali, the principal took it away first.

"Who else wants to take a photo?" asked the photographer.

The PE teacher took the trophy and stood next to Ali. Afterwards, the principal came over and took another photo.

Photographer: "Please make way so I can take a solo photo of him." Everyone made way, leaving Ali alone, still with his head down.

Photographer: "Look up, champion, look up." Ali slowly raised his head, and the sad tears could no longer be held back and slid down the corners of his eyes.

He tried his best and got first place, but he only wanted third place!

(End of this chapter)