After Tan Chunying went downstairs, Tan Xiao turned around and saw Kong Xuan still lying stiffly in bed, "Phew, that was close."

Kong Xuan said sternly, "This won't do, you need to stay calm in emergencies."

Tan Xiao poked his body under the quilt, "You were also scared stiff like a block of wood. Get up and have breakfast!"

Kong Xuan: "..."

He felt a bit flustered being seen by Tan Xiao. He was just about to say Tan Xiao was being disrespectful to his senior, but luckily Tan Xiao had already inexplicably laughed, turned and gone down first.

Sigh, come to think of it, despite living in Tan Xiao's room for so long, this was the first time lying in bed. Hmm, the quality of this mortal bed...was actually not bad.

Kong Xuan lazed in bed a bit more before hurrying downstairs.

Tan Chunying had already brought out breakfast. She glanced at Kong Xuan, thinking Tan Xiao's classmate looked energetic and radiant first thing in the morning without even washing his face.

She suddenly patted Tan Xiao's shoulder, "You always say you can't tell what people look like, so how come as soon as you make a good friend, he looks like this...tsk tsk, as you youngsters say, you're humblebragging."

Tan Xiao: "..."

This was the most unjust accusation he'd ever received!

......

The weather was uncooperative, with lots of rain in the following days. Tan Xiao's mask took a long time to dry.

He heard that just because some teams wanted to custom make fiberglass boat hulls, the participating teams were all arguing, since fiberglass boats were lighter and faster, making it unfair.

Tan Chunying didn't care about all that. Anyway, regardless of the final outcome, she got paid. Working in the dreary rainy days, she managed to sun-dry the new boat hull.

"Finally done, just waiting for the right day to exorcise the new hull and dragon head." Tan Chunying patted the hull.

The exorcism Tan Chunying referred to was one of the sacrificial rituals that needed to be done before launching the dragon boat.

Because of the nature of dragon boat races in the past, accidents could happen. People believed the dragon boats and heads carried ominous energy, so they needed to be exorcised before launching, otherwise there was a risk of injury.

"So where's the dragon head? When are you going to pick it up?" Tan Xiao asked.

In Nanchu, different dragon heads were enshrined in different temples, representing each other. This was called the dragon giving life to the temple, and the temple giving life to the dragon. In the past, Nanchu had temples in every village, each with their own dragon boat team. Even if conditions didn't allow, several would join together to form one team.

Dragon boat races used to be much livelier in Nanchu, a major event. There was a folk saying, better to lose a plot of farmland than lose a year's boat race. But this time it was organized by county, and there weren't as many temples as before, prompting Tan Xiao's question.

"Their temple has long been gone, the dragon head is kept at the village committee office, a well-preserved phoenix head." Tan Chunying said, "Let's pick it up on exorcism day, then hold the launching ceremony."

......

"Xiao Xiao, for the Dragon Boat Festival race, is Auntie going to perform rituals?" Lin Yang turned slightly to ask, also trying to push the desk back a bit to get closer to Tan Xiao.

But Kong Xuan sat behind, not budging an inch.

Lin Yang glanced at Kong Xuan.

Kong Xuan said coldly, "Push any more and I'm telling the teacher."

Lin Yang: "...You're really something!"

"Haha." Tan Xiao laughed a couple times, "What, you want to go watch? I can get you a ticket."

On the day, there would be spectator boats on the river. As a family member, his household was given tickets, but he didn't plan to go. It would definitely be very crowded on-site. He wanted to stay home and do homework.

"No need," Lin Yang proudly puffed out his chest, "I'll just watch from the shore. Those tickets should of course be left for out-of-town visitors."

"Hmm, at least you're aware." Tan Xiao looked at the rain outside the window, "But I think, with this rain, it's not even certain if the event can be held as scheduled. Rain on the Dragon Boat Festival, ghosts thrive and people suffer disasters, hmm, not a good sign."

What ghosts thriving and people suffering disasters, when Lin Yang heard this, goosebumps rose again: "National Master, what do you mean, did you observe the celestial phenomena and see something ominous?"

Tan Xiao: "No, just that my phone pushed a level three emergency response for flood control."

Lin Yang: "..."

Lin Yang was stunned, "Can you not scare me? I thought there was really something inauspicious this Dragon Boat Festival."

"It's not that serious, doesn't it often rain during the Dragon Boat Festival, just afraid it will also rain on the day of the Dragon Boat Festival activities."

Although the Dragon Boat Festival also has the custom of warding off evil, the proverb Tan Xiao mentioned meant that in the past, heavy rains during the Dragon Boat Festival affected the rush harvesting of crops, and people got sick more often. Now there is no such worry, just that it may affect the competition.

"What you said makes sense... we still need good weather, let's see if the water can recede by then." Lin Yang sighed, it's difficult to travel, but it's also good to have some fun locally, the Dragon Boat Festival is only half a day off in total.

The night rain continued, lasting until the end of evening self-study.

Students leaving the school all rolled up their pant legs to avoid getting them wet.

Zhu Dayong, a physical education teacher at Nanchu No. 1 Middle School, also rolled up his pant legs, holding an umbrella to take the bus. He lived next to Wansui Bridge, by the Nanxi River, which could be considered a "river view house".

If the rain could stop, this section will also be the competition segment for this year's Nanchu Dragon Boat Race, and by then Zhu Dayong will be able to watch the race from home.

Zhu Dayong really hoped the race could be held successfully. His old house was also by the water. Since childhood, he had watched the dragon boat races held between villages back then. His mother would hold him on the shore and excitedly cheer for the team she supported.

Later, when he grew up, he even participated in a dragon boat team once, but never a second time. The event was later called off. But for Zhu Dayong, this was a joyous festival in his memory no less than the Lunar New Year, unlike later when eating some rice dumplings was considered celebrating the festival.

The rain had stopped by now. Zhu Dayong walked back from the bus stop by the light of his phone. There were few people on the road, only dim street lamps.

"Heave-ho - row -"

The distant chanting made Zhu Dayong raise his head and look around. This section of the river is wide, and even with street lamps, one can't see far. But he could vaguely see a boat rowing across the center of the river.

Zhu Dayong stopped in surprise, looking around a few times, still unable to see clearly. "No way, could there be a dragon boat team practicing at this hour?"

The rain has not been as heavy in the past few days, but after all, it just stopped raining. Zhu Dayong remembered that this year's revival of the dragon boat race emphasized safety. No entering the water outside designated areas, no entering the water without a life jacket if you can't swim, and so on.

But there used to be night crossing competitions too. Zhu Dayong really wasn't sure if there were any regulations on time periods this time.

Moreover, this scene had already stirred up Zhu Dayong's memories. Usually, a month before the dragon boat race, the dragon boat teams would enter the water and start practicing. Back then, they even divided into practice boats and race boats. For Zhu Dayong as a child, dragon boat practice was like a great performance.

But actually, the year Zhu Dayong himself went to compete, everyone was not as dedicated to practice as in his memory, let alone singing dragon boat songs like this boat...

That should be a dragon boat song, right?

Zhu Dayong couldn't help walking towards the riverbank. This way, he could hear more clearly. The sound carried far over the river at night, not very melodious but very powerful and orderly.

"Dragon boat drums sound off the Dragon Boat Festival, row and flash by -"

No mistake. Zhu Dayong listened with a smile on his face, recalling his childhood days.

There were not only rowers on the dragon boat. There is the helmsman, also called the steersman, who steers and is equivalent to the commander-in-chief; there are gong and drum players, who use drum sounds to transmit messages... Even among the rowers, there are subdivided responsibilities.

The rowers sit in pairs in each row, called a "dang". There are usually five "dang": from the first head "dang", second "dang" to the last tail "dang". In addition to rowing, the rowers in each "dang" have other tasks, such as removing accumulated water, protecting the dragon's head, and so on.

Zhu Dayong was one of the rowers back then.

Hearing this, he couldn't help taking out his phone to film the barely visible river. He wanted to post a WeChat Moments: [On the way home, I seemed to encounter a dragon boat team practicing. This dragon boat song is full of childhood memories, my lost youth!]

Posted.

There was a quick reply.

[Teacher Zhu, can't see clearly.]

Zhu Dayong replied: [Indeed, it's not very clear haha, I only saw a shadow, but there was singing.]

The other person replied in confusion: [No way, it wasn't recorded?]

"Huh?" Zhu Dayong clicked open his own video and watched it again, only to find that for some reason, the sound really wasn't recorded.

Should he record it again?

At this time, the dragon boat song on the river started again, but this time, the lyrics were a bit different from Zhu Dayong's memory.

"Old green dragon, little qilin, carrying the golden phoenix downstream."

"A full cabin is not anxious, rising water is not flustered."

"Iron helmsman, good drummer, still missing a tail rower..."