Stringy Wind in the Ear - Chap 15
After Li Xun went to work, Song Yang rarely went to Teacher Sun’s house, but he maintained the habit of morning jogging very well. Every day when he got up, he would find Li Xun on QQ to check in and tell him that he was going to get up.
They each timed themselves to see who could finish five kilometers first.
After his monthly exam grades improved slightly, his mother kept her promise and returned the phone to him.
Song Yang downloaded an APP that can share sports maps in real time, and forced Li Xun to download it and add him as a friend. On this APP, they can see each other’s route map and the songs they are listening to. Song Yang saved them in his own music library.
These melodies were so closely connected with the quiet morning that when he heard the same melodies again later, the first thing he thought of was not the performer, but Li Xun’s face.
These melodies brightened up his boring senior year of high school.
New Year is here in the blink of an eye.
Throughout the year, these few days are the most lively, with every household and people from all over visiting each other. Song Yang’s family has many relatives, and dinner parties are scheduled from New Year’s Eve to the seventh day of the first lunar month. There are relatives visiting their home almost every day, while the opposite is true for Li Xun’s family.
Li Xun was born in a very remote town, so far away that Song Yang had never even heard of the city where the town was located. According to Li Xun’s description, the environment of this place is good, surrounded by mountains and rivers, but it is not very popular. The main economic income of the town comes from agriculture and animal husbandry.
To put it simply, it means selling vegetables and poultry, and every family has its own way of dealing with poverty.
After retiring from the army, Li Guotao used the money he had saved to open a noodle restaurant. Through an introduction, he met Jiang Yuan, who had returned from studying in another place.
At that time, Jiang Yuan was 24 years old, young and beautiful, and was a gymnast. She had to stay at home to recuperate after having surgery on her leg. Gymnastics is a sport that requires youth, and under the constant persuasion of her relatives and friends, she gave up her dream and returned to reality.
Although Jiang Yuan got married, her heart was not at peace. The conflicts between her and Li Guotao gradually emerged after marriage. Not long after giving birth to Li Xun, she returned to work in another place and met a foreign basketball coach. Since then, she broke free from the shackles of fate and flew away.
Li Xun was five years old that year and knew nothing. On the day his parents divorced, he and his sister accompanied their grandfather to the street corner to sell pork and pluck the hair from the pigskin.
Song Yang imagined the scene of Li Xun selling pigs and found it both scary and funny.
Li Guotao was stimulated by this incident and came to Nancheng with his two children to work hard. Seeing that Li Xun had some talent in archery, he spent money to train him. After Li Xun became financially independent, he opened a restaurant and planned to expand it. However, he lost half his life in a sudden accident and the more than 200,000 yuan invested in decoration was gone without even a trace.
“I haven’t been back to my hometown for many years.” Li Xun sat in the pavilion in the park, looking at the pier not far away. The light bulb seemed to be running out of power and flickered.
Song Yang listened to him quietly. The wind blew through the treetops, making a rustling sound.
It was particularly cold in the wetland park during this season. When Li Xun spoke, a layer of white steam came out of his mouth.
“Once grandpa and grandma left, there was no one standing at the door to greet them.”
Song Yang straightened his back, breaking the sad atmosphere: “Then you can come to our house for the New Year’s Eve dinner. I will put up banners and set off firecrackers to welcome you! My door is always open, and I will be waiting for you with open arms–”
He probably forgot the words at the end and sang “la la la” instead. Li Xun was amused by his off-tune singing: “Just shut up. If you don’t know, you might think someone is slaughtering pigs.”
“You’re not happy with my kindness to you,” Song Yang moved his butt over and shoved him hard, “You really are spoiled by my kindness.”
Li Xun was like a tumbler, forming a 45-degree angle with the pavilion bench, and using the strength of his waist and abdomen to sit up again: “I should be the one giving you this word, you dare to touch Master.”
Song Yang laughed happily.
The alarm clock in his pocket was ringing. Li Xun swiped it and turned it off: “I’m going to work now.”
Song Yang was surprised and asked, “We haven’t started school yet, what class do you work for?”
“There is an indoor competition in early March. It’s the first time that the school has signed up for the competition, so we take it very seriously. Several students have come back early to train, and the team leader has assigned me to keep an eye on them.” Li Xun stood up, patted his pants, and packed his things.
Song Yang asked tentatively: “Can I go with you? I haven’t visited T University yet.”
Visiting the school was not a problem. Li Xun asked, “Have you finished your winter vacation homework?”
Song Yang hesitated briefly and nodded. Li Xun saw through him and rejected him.
Song Yang frowned and begged in a long voice: “Master——”
The boy’s voice was soft, and he looked a little upset. Maybe he didn’t even realize that his tone sounded like he was acting coquettish.
Li Xun never fell for this, but in the end he was driven to despair by his pitiful little look.
Two hours later, they arrived at the South Campus of T University, which was the earliest established and most important campus, with many key colleges concentrated here.
The school gate is made of blue bricks and white pillars, and is majestic. The first thing you see when you enter the gate is a towering stone statue. The evergreen junipers are connected together and extend into the distance, dividing the main road into two.
The lanterns and banners tied to the trees before the New Year have not yet been taken down, the trees are bright red and full of the festive atmosphere.
Song Yang felt like he was in a zoo. He leaned against the car window and exclaimed, “This place is really huge.”
Li Xun pulled out a hand-drawn map from under the center console and handed it to him. “Do you want me to let you go and look around by yourself, or do you want me to come with you to the Sports Department?”
Song Yang is a person with poor sense of direction, so he chose the latter.
The car quickly passed through patches of green shade and came to a square building. In front of the door was a row of dilapidated bicycles parked in a haphazard manner, apparently abandoned by their owners.
Through the floor-to-ceiling windows, you can see a huge swimming pool inside. The water is very calm and clear, like an embedded mirror.
Li Xun swiped his card to enter the room and introduced it to him: “This is the training hall for the school swimming team.”
It was winter, and Song Yang shivered when he saw the water and quickly moved it away.
The Archery Hall is on the third floor. The decoration style is relatively simple, and it is divided into several areas with wooden curtains.
What is surprising is that there is a 50-meter archery range here, which is a rare range indoors. You should know that the longest archery range at Li Xun’s previous workplace was only 30 meters.
There were several bows of different colors hanging on the archery rack in the corner, but no one was there. Li Xun frowned and cursed in a low voice: “I knew these little beasts were unconscious.”
Song Yang saw him sending messages in the mobile phone group. His tone was unfriendly, and coupled with his eyebrows that played a very important role, he looked like a debt collector.
Within three minutes, a series of footsteps of varying heaviness were heard in the corridor, and Song Yang knew that the little beasts Li Xun had mentioned were coming.
According to the sign-in card, there are more than ten members in the archery team, but there are only five of them at the moment, and the others should not have returned yet.
These people were of different heights, weights and shapes. Two of them wore glasses. Their looks were not easy to remember, and they had no advantage at all standing next to a man who was nearly ten years older than them.
After a series of “coach” calls, someone noticed Song Yang sitting on a small stool.
“Who is this? Is he new here?” Wu Jianian asked.
Li Xun pointed at the bow handle, signaling them to hurry up and train, and said casually: “I am just a kid at home, and I came all the way here to admire your heroic posture. Practice well and don’t embarrass me.”
“You don’t look young anymore,” Wu Jianian asked as he put on the protective gear, “How old are you?”
Song Yang said honestly: “Eighteen.”
Wu Jianian: “She’s so young, she must still be in high school.”
Song Yang nodded.
There were few new faces in the team. Wu Jianian lowered his head with interest and said, “Then you have to call me brother.”
Song Yang called out in a low voice, and Wu Jianian patted him on the shoulder: “Good boy.”
Li Xun said “tsk”, with a straight face, and raised his voice: “You keep talking endlessly, don’t you? If you want to practice, go back as soon as possible, and don’t hang around me anymore.”
Wu Jianian curled his lips and devoted himself to training. Although others would glance at Song Yang when they took things, no one spoke to him.
Strictly speaking, this was Song Yang’s first time watching Li Xun lead a team in training, and it was different from the small fights in the wetland park. Li Xun’s teaching style was serious and rigorous, he didn’t talk much, but he was ruthless, and he didn’t use any dirty words when scolding people, but he could poke people deep in their bones.
Fatty Sun’s arrow hit the eight rings, and Li Xun’s cold snort froze the atmosphere in the whole place. Even Song Yang, who had nothing to do with it, didn’t dare to make a sound.
It can be seen that everyone is afraid of him, but at the same time respects him very much. When Li Xun’s cup is empty, Wu Jianian will take the initiative to get him some water. The fat Sun Pang also speaks softly in front of Li Xun.
At lunch time, Li Xun helped Song Yang order takeout.
On the other side of the Jianguan is a huge artificial lake, with willows drooping on the shore and green plants everywhere. The morning frost has melted and the ground is a little moist.
Song Yang sat on a stone bench on the shore, basking in the sun like the grass.
Li Xun sat across from him with a big horse and a golden sword, and handed him a bottle of hot drink: “Do you regret following me? Aren’t you a little bored?”
“No, I just think this place is beautiful.”
Li Xun followed his gaze and saw a field of camellia flowers in full bloom on the opposite bank.
There are many kinds of trees in the school, and there is no shortage of beautiful scenery all year round, but Li Xun usually doesn’t pay much attention to it.
“Then work harder to get in, so you can enjoy it every day.”
Song Yang lowered his head in disinterest and picked at a piece of chicken steak.
Before this, his parents had already made some plans for his future, with the goal of attending a famous medical university in the province. Having a stable and respectable job in the future was the best choice that the family unanimously approved.
The only thing I need to overcome is the fear of needles, but my dad said that with more practice, it will be fine.
For the past ten years, his life had been routine, and secretly practicing archery with Li Xun was the most rebellious thing he had ever done.
He didn’t dare to think about changing the direction of his life.
Li Xun didn’t know his life plan at this time. He just felt that the child lacked a little confidence and motivation, so he pointed to the hand-drawn map on the table and vividly described those fascinating corners of the campus.
Song Yang put down his chopsticks and listened quietly.
In fact, even if Li Xun said nothing, he would like this place, just like he loved archery from the bottom of his heart, loved watching the competition, loved the breeze in the wetland park, loved those melodious tunes, and loved the sour and sweet plum juice.
“How is it?” Li Xun withdrew his gaze from the distant library and looked at him and asked, “Are you a little moved?”
In the sunlight, Li Xun’s pupils became lighter, filled with an extremely rare enthusiasm, and Song Yang found himself in his pupils.
Li Xun did not look away. Song Yang’s pores seemed to open up instantly. He lowered his head within two seconds and said to the chicken steak, “Yes.”
Song Yang once believed that major life events must be carefully considered, and all possible future situations must be laid out like playing cards, weighing the pros and cons. But today he realized that a person’s decision may also be based on a look from the person opposite him.
