A foreign city, dear you

Ye Lian didn't know how many times she had revised the beginning of her article.

After all, I haven't touched a pen for a long time, so my writing style is clumsy and sluggish.

How long has it been since you wrote a serious article?

When she was a student, Ye Lian not only had good grades in English, but also in Chinese. It was these two subjects that supported her total score in the college entrance examination.

In elementary school, junior high school and high school, her compositions were often used by teachers as models in class.

By her senior year of high school, that should have been the peak of her writing career.

Because her major in college had nothing to do with writing, she gradually neglected writing.

How many years have passed since senior year of high school?

Ye Lian is suffering from laziness cancer and is too lazy to worry about it. Anyway, her writing cells are becoming more and more degenerate.

……

"Wow——" Ye Lian tore off another piece of paper and threw it into the trash can.

There are already several white paper balls in the trash can.

Looking at Ye Lian’s frowned brows, as if she didn’t know how to start writing correctly, if the wastebasket knew about this, it would probably be overwhelmed as well.

Ye Lian started again.

This time, Ye Lian decided that no matter how it started, she would continue writing.

You can't just spend the whole afternoon throwing paper balls, right?

Maybe it will become easier as you write?

When the mountain stream first flowed, didn't it also encounter many obstacles and flow very slowly and unsmoothly? Later, didn't it flow smoothly and gurglingly?

Ye Lian then rewrote the beginning, then a transitional paragraph, and then went back to her childhood...

The hardships of childhood are unforgettable, and the love and strength that my mother showed in the midst of such hardships are so tear-jerking.

As Ye Lian wrote, she felt as if she had returned to her childhood.

She experienced again the hunger, the cold, and the sorrow of those days;

She heard again the words her mother often said: Don't be afraid, I'm here, everything will be fine.

……

Ye Lian's writing became more and more fluent, and tears welled up in her eyes unconsciously.

When she was in her third year of high school, her mother sent her to school.

The mother had been malnourished for a long time and was thin. She carried two heavy bags of rice to the school to deliver the rice to Ye Lian.

The bus station in the county town was far away from the school. My mother had no money to call a taxi, so she had to carry the baby on her shoulders to go to school.

Along the way, my mother would take breaks from time to time.

Ye Lian felt sorry for her mother and wanted to help pick for a while.

Mother insisted not to let her go, saying, "Ye Lian, you study every day, haven't you carried a load for a long time? You definitely can't carry it, and this load is so heavy that your shoulders will be burning if you carry it."

The mother felt sorry for Ye Lian's shoulder pain, but she didn't think about her own shoulder. She would rather pant and feel pain herself than let her daughter suffer.

Ye Lian walked behind her mother, looking at her back as she bent down and tried to bear the pressure, her extremely difficult steps that were about to stagger at any time, and her clothes that were still soaked with sweat in the autumn wind; thinking about her mother's frugality, thinking about her mother's hard work day after day, thinking about her mother spending every penny in the family to pay for her tuition and food expenses... She could no longer control her tears...

……

Ye Lian cried while writing.

She thought from the past to the present, and how her mother was old and weak and could no longer carry the burden. Her emotions broke out and she couldn't help sobbing.

Ye Lian put down her pen.

I stopped writing not because I couldn't continue writing, but because I was too emotional.

After her emotions had calmed down, Ye Lian picked up the pen again and continued writing.

*

Ye Lian was busy with household chores as usual, but she was waiting for news in her heart.

Two days ago, she submitted the article she had written to the submission mailbox of the Xiangyang Town Women's Federation.

This time, she really wrote the article, and she was deeply moved.

During the writing process, she felt that her writing style from high school had returned.

After much deliberation, the title of the article was finally decided to be "Eternal Mother's Love".

She revised the article several times and then uploaded it to the submission email address.

Although she doesn't write articles entirely for the purpose of winning awards, she also hopes to win awards.

Rewards, no matter what form they take, produce a rush of dopamine.

That afternoon, Ye Lian was cleaning the house.

The phone rang, it was an unfamiliar number.

Ye Lian answered the call.

"Hello, is this Ms. Ye Lian?"

"Yes."

"I am from the Xiangyang Town Women's Federation. Congratulations on your entry "Eternal Mother's Love" winning the second prize. Please come to the Women's Federation office tomorrow afternoon to discuss the recitation of your article."

"Oh, okay, thank you."

After hanging up the phone, Ye Lian was naturally happy and proud.

What she wrote was recognized and liked.

Moreover, she also had the opportunity to read her own article on Mother's Day.

*

Ye Lian walked into the Xiangyang Town Women's Federation office.

There were already several people sitting inside, all winners of the essay competition.

A graceful older woman was instructing a young girl to revise and recite a piece of writing.

There was another staff member in the office.

Ye Lian explained the purpose of her visit.

"Please tell me your name and the name of your work," said the staff member.

"Ye Lian, the work is "Eternal Mother's Love"."

The woman who was instructing the little girl looked over and said, "Are you Ye Lian? Did you write "Eternal Mother's Love"?"

"Yes."

"Your article is so well written and touching. We all cried after reading it. I will be in charge of the recitation program for the Women's Federation's Mother's Day Gala. You can just call me Sister Qin from now on."

"Thank you, Sister Qin. Please give me more advice."

After a while, Sister Qin finished her guidance to the little girl.

Ye Lian took out her own manuscript and asked Sister Qin to give her some guidance on revisions.

Sister Qin waved her hands and said, "I can't change your article. Your article is so well written that I wonder why the judges didn't give it first prize."

Ye Lian didn't expect Sister Qin to give such high praise to her article, and she even said she was not worthy of it.

Sister Qin added, "The time limit for recitation is six minutes, so your article is probably too long. How can you shorten it?"

"Okay, I'll see how to simplify it."

Ye Lian sat down on a chair and read her article silently again.

Too long? Want to shorten it?

However, she was reluctant to delete or reduce any paragraph or sentence.

*

The Mother's Day Gala was held on the night before Mother's Day in the auditorium of the Xiangyang Town Cultural and Art Center.

There were many programs arranged for the evening party, and the recitation of award-winning works was one of them.

Ye Lian was a little nervous. She saw that the auditorium was full of people, most of whom were town leaders.

How long has it been since you spoke in front of a group?

It seems that I have never spoken on any important occasions since leaving school and leaving the podium, but tonight, I have to recite my own article on such a grand stage, in front of so many audiences?

Ye Lian had already recited the article silently several times and had also rehearsed it once on this stage in advance.

Ye Lian’s articles are not that long anymore.

In order to meet the time requirements for recitation, she finally deleted some paragraphs.

Although she had become very proficient in reciting silently, Ye Lian still felt uneasy. Before the party officially started, she was still memorizing her article in her mind, while also trying to figure out some techniques of recitation: tone, intonation, expression, etc.

The stage curtain slowly opened.

The male and female hosts came on stage and the party began.

Leaders Speak...

Dance, song, crosstalk...

Then we will start the beautiful article recitation program.