Meng Yan's Transformation

Zhan Mengyan ran to the door, and before she could say anything, An Pingping hugged her and burst into tears.

"Mengyan, my results in the high school entrance exam are not good enough to get into a regular high school. What should I do? Wuuu... Wuuu..." An Pingping said while crying.

Zhan Mengyan hugged An Pingping and patted her shoulder gently, saying in a gentle tone: "Pingping, don't be sad. Victory and defeat are common in the military. If we didn't do well in the exam this time, we can review and take the exam again next year. It's no big deal. Don't be sad..."

An Pingping said with tears on her face: "Mengyan, I feel sad, can you walk with me?"

"Pingping, I'll take you to a good place - you can catch fish and pick mulberries." Zhan Mengyan said, holding An Pingping's hand.

Zhan Mengyan pulled An Pingping and jogged all the way to the Changhonggou at the east end of the tree, where they saw a wild mulberry forest - the dense green leaves of the mulberry trees were like clouds, quiet and full of vitality. The leaves of the mulberry trees were green on the surface, with dense gray or gray-brown hairs underneath, like a green velvet carpet, shining with beautiful silver light under the sunlight. The mulberries on the tree were like purple gems hanging on the branches of the mulberry trees.

Zhan Mengyan and An Pingping were a little out of breath after running, so they didn't rush to pick mulberries to eat. Instead, they lay motionless on the grass under the mulberry tree with their heads down and closed their eyes. A gust of wind blew, and the mulberry tree made a rustling sound, as if a graceful and pleasant song was floating from a tall building in the distance. Clusters of wild flowers on the grass competed for splendor and fragrance, attracting many bees and butterflies, which flew around them. The water in the long flood ditch flowed, and frog sounds could be heard from time to time...

An Pingping opened her eyes and glanced at Zhan Mengyan. Seeing that she was still greedily breathing in the fresh air in the mulberry forest, she closed her eyes again and said, "Mengyan, if I review and repeat the third year of junior high school this year, can I be admitted to high school next year? Can I be admitted to the key high school in the county like you? Can we still study and play basketball together like before?"

"Pingping, failure is not scary. Failure is the mother of success. Repeating a grade is the way to rise. As long as you are determined and move forward courageously, your dream will come true." Zhan Mengyan said firmly. She opened her eyes, stood up, took a silkworm and a mulberry leaf from the mulberry tree and placed them in the palm of her hand. The silkworm flipped over and over on the mulberry leaf.

Zhan Mengyan touched An Pingping and said, "Pingping, look at this silkworm, with a milky white body, a black head, rice-sized eyes, a red nose, and a mung bean-sized mouth. I took it down from under the tree, but it was not scared by the change in environment, nor did it give up eating mulberry leaves with its serrated teeth. Instead, it chewed faster. Listen to how hard it eats - the sound of rustling. It wants to make itself stronger quickly, weave a cocoon quickly, and complete its glorious life. A little silkworm knows how to work so hard, let alone us, the most intelligent creatures on earth. Are we not as good as a little silkworm?"

An Pingping looked carefully at the silkworm in Zhan Mengyan's hand that was trying hard to eat mulberry leaves and said, "Yes, it is so focused. We disturbed it so much, but it was not afraid. It just focused on doing its own thing. Mengyan, I heard you don't feel sad. Instead of feeling sad, you should concentrate on preparing for retaking the grade and fight again next year!"

Zhan Mengyan put the silkworm back on the mulberry tree and said, "Now that our goal is clear, let's stop worrying about it and start picking mulberries."

The two picked and ate mulberries, their mouths purple, and laughed at each other's purple mouths. The laughter echoed in the mulberry tree. After eating enough mulberries, the two caught grasshoppers. Zhan Mengyan took off the hairpin from her head and used it as a fishhook. She stuck the grasshopper on the "fishhook", used mulberry branches as fishing rods, and bark as fishing line. Soon, they caught a big catfish from Changhonggou. The big catfish rolled on the grass, and the two struggled to catch it. The slippery big catfish made their hands sticky...

Zhan Mengyan caught two, three, or four big catfish and small white fish and threw them onto the grass. An Pingping was in charge of catching the fish on the grass and threading them onto the mulberry branches...

Zhan Mengyan and An Pingping were busy and happy. Their clothes were covered with mud and they smelled like fish. In the end, one of them carried a bunch of fish, talked and laughed all the way, and went home very satisfied...