Stringy Wind in the Ear - Chap 23
After the National Day holiday, it is time for the T University sports meet.
The sports meet lasts for three days. This year it happens to coincide with the school’s centenary celebration, so there are more competition events than in previous years, and archery was also added this year.
Whenever there was such an event, Li Xun was so busy that his eyes turned black. He planned the competition process with several teachers and studied the new competition system. Because of the problem of contestants competing concurrently, the time was changed again and again, and it was not easy to get it through.
Fortunately, all the preparations were not in vain. The weather was good and the temperature was very comfortable during the sports meeting.
Song Yang signed up for three events, 800 meters, swimming and archery, which will be held over three days.
He had originally planned to sign up for the triple jump on the first day, but when he heard that Li Xun was the referee for the track and field event, he changed the field event to the track and field event without hesitation and chose the long-distance running event, which still had some advantages. After all, he had been running with Li Xun for a year, so he shouldn’t lose too badly.
The opening ceremony was unprecedentedly grand, with the playground covered with bright red banners and several main roads decorated with lights and colors, creating an atmosphere of Chinese New Year.
Song Yang arrived at the track and field stadium early to stretch and warm up and breathe in the fresh air. Around seven o’clock, teams from various colleges began to appear on the playground.
There was a chill in the air and the stands were crowded with people.
The thick atmosphere makes people excited, and the emotions that cannot be expressed in daily life are ignited at the moment when the colorful smoke salute rises high into the sky.
Song Yang heard someone flirting in the front seat.
The boy held a bucket of popcorn and asked, “What reward will you give me if I win the championship?”
The girl smiled and said, “Then I’ll give you something sweet.”
The boy leaned close to her ear and asked in a low voice, “Is it a kiss?”
The girl’s face turned red with embarrassment, and she punched him continuously, which made the boy laugh even more happily.
Song Yang choked on a mouthful of dog food and rolled his eyes to the sky.
It made him want a reward too.
In the morning, the competitions were all about sprinting and jumping. This year, there was a special Easter egg event. The school invited a group of seniors who graduated from T University to come back for a separate exhibition match. These people are now active national team athletes, have appeared on TV, and are very popular.
Especially there were a few good-looking ones who had appeared on variety shows. When they arrived, people in the stands all flocked to them.
Song Yang borrowed a telescope and looked into the distance, locking onto a pitch-black figure.
The temperature was not high today, and most people in the school were wearing coats, but Li Xun was only wearing a black short-sleeved shirt and sweatpants, making him quite conspicuous among the audience.
Song Yang ran towards the track and field venue. The crowd was surging. He followed the taller back of the head and squeezed into the encirclement.
At this time, the preliminaries of the high jump group had ended. The staff held the microphone and said, “Now let our two seniors give you a beautiful performance, okay?”
Li Xun raised his arms high and clapped and cheered with the audience. The moment he lowered his arms, he hit something.
“Excuse me…” Li Xun smiled and said, “Why are you here too?”
Song Yang got out from under his arms: “I came over when I saw you. Aren’t you a track and field referee? Why are you here to watch the field events?”
Li Xun pursed his lips and motioned him to look at the starting point: “Do you recognize those two telephone poles over there?”
Song Yang followed his gaze and saw two senior brothers who were preparing to perform high jump for everyone. One was about the same height as Li Xun, and the other was about two meters tall. They both had short buzz cuts, and probably because they were wearing the same sportswear, they looked quite similar.
Song Yang didn’t often pay attention to track and field events, but he felt vaguely familiar with it, but couldn’t remember its name.
“Is the tall guy’s surname He?” he asked.
“Yes, He Qinian, the champion of this year’s league in Shanghai. The one next to him is his partner, Sheng Xinghe.”
“C——” Song Yang’s eyes widened, and he repeated in disbelief, “CP? You actually know CP? Is the CP you are referring to the same CP I know?”
Li Xun glanced at him with an expression that said, “Don’t underestimate me.” “It’s just a couple, I’m not so old that I don’t know anything.”
Song Yang opened his mouth halfway, extremely shocked.
The emotion of surprise opened a small crack, and surprise came out through this crack.
He put his arm around Li Xun’s shoulders and said, “You really opened my eyes, uncle.”
Li Xun raised his index finger and flicked it on the back of his hand: “You are disrespectful.”
After the exhibition match, it was almost time for lunch, and the crowd all rushed to the cafeteria. Some came to eat, and some simply wanted to ask for autographs from the seniors on the national team. After all, it was not easy to meet sports stars who had appeared on TV, and even if they didn’t know them, they wanted to join in the fun.
Li Xun put all the shot puts into the basket and moved to the equipment area. He found Song Yang still standing by and asked, “Why don’t you go over and ask for an autograph?”
Song Yang wanted to wait for him to go eat together, so he said while packing his things: “I’m not familiar with them.”
Li Xun recalled their first meeting at the Archery Hall and joked, “Didn’t you ask for an autograph even when you were not familiar with me?”
Song Yang said with a bashful look on his face: “They are different from you.”
Li Xun asked, “What’s the difference?”
What else could be different.
Song Yang had a lot of things to say, but he was rational and afraid. He mobilized all his strength and just said lightly, “You clearly know the answer, but you still ask.”
Li Xun racked his brains and found a seemingly reasonable explanation: “That’s right. After all, we have taken photos together. We are destined to be together.”
Song Yang sighed silently: “Yes.”
Li Xun saw him rubbing his belly and said, “Are you hungry? Go and have dinner with your classmates. I have something else to do. Don’t wait for me.”
“I’ll wait…”
Li Xun emphasized his tone: “Be obedient and hurry up.”
“oh.”
The men’s 800-meter race was scheduled for the afternoon. As one of the referees, Li Xun moved a chair early and sat by the track to check the athletes’ information with several staff members.
When he saw a familiar name on the list, he raised his eyebrows in surprise.
The sun peeked out from layers of clouds and mist, and after a few seconds, the view in front of me suddenly became bright.
The weather, like his mood, suddenly improved.
Although he also has to teach physical education classes to students, there are different concepts of being familiar and being well acquainted. When he sees a familiar classmate, he would at most glance at him and at most say “cheer up” to him. Being well acquainted is different.
He looked through the roster carefully, concerned about who Song Yang’s opponents would be.
There are not many athletes in the 800-meter race, and they are divided into four groups. The list is arranged in alphabetical order. Song Yang is in the last group, and two of his competitors are from the Sports College.
Many students from the Sports Department are gifted students and their strength should not be underestimated. Various records in the school sports meet are basically created by sports students.
The other contestants were all students from art academies, humanities academies, and they sounded very polite. Although there was a possibility of a dark horse, as far as Li Xun’s experience was concerned, it was really… difficult to comment.
He speculated that Song Yang could probably get third place in the group.
“coach–”
Someone called from a distance. Li Xun closed the folder and looked up. It was Song Yang.
I don’t know when the little guy changed into a set of sportswear. His shorts were not even below his knees, and he was wearing a pair of spiked shoes for sprinting. He was running straight in one direction.
He was dressed in light colors from head to toe, and ran like a giant Samoyed that had just broken free from its reins.
At this time, a classmate was doing warm-up runs on the track, and the two almost collided. Li Xun shouted, “Watch the road!”
Song Yang came to Li Xun, and an invisible tail swayed behind him: “Did you not go to eat yet?”
“Well, I’m not very hungry yet. I’ll talk to you later.”
Song Yang produced a plastic bag from behind him as if offering a treasure: “You should eat on time. If you are hungry for too long, you will easily get a stomachache.”
Li Xun looked down and saw mixed noodles, sour plum juice, and a big box of plump white snow meringues.
“You’ve made progress,” he happily opened the box of mixed noodles, not showing any soft-hearted attitude, and whispered, “You already know how to bribe the referee.”
Song Yang felt that he had the potential to be a good family man. Every time he saw Li Xun stuffing food into his mouth with big mouthfuls, he felt light all over and his happiness level was maxed out.
Li Xun was halfway through his meal when he suddenly raised his head and said, “By the way, you all know the rules of the 800-meter race, right?”
“It’s just a competition to see who can run faster. What other rules are there?”
“Well,” Li Xun wiped his mouth and said, “If you are not running in the first lane, you have to grab the lane when turning. The staff has marked the 100-meter position. You can go and take a look later.”
Song Yang nodded: “I know this, I also ran when I was in high school.”
Li Xun took advantage of the fact that there were not many people on the scene, stood up and stretched his muscles, and secretly explained some basic tactics: “The first 100 meters are the most important part. You should sprint as hard as you can to make sure you get the front position, because accelerating in the later stage will only consume more energy. When rushing for the 100-meter lane, you must pay attention to safety and do not push. If you are drawn to the outer lane, do not suddenly cut into the inner lane, because there are people behind you and it is easy to be knocked down. You must be in a straight line and gradually approach the first lane.”
As he spoke, he gestured in the air with his right hand. Song Yang listened attentively and even slowed down his warm-up movements.
“Then it turns out that the inner players are more cost-effective.”
“Each has its own advantages and disadvantages.”
Many people intuitively think that the first lane is the most advantageous in middle and long distance running, but in fact, when the inner lane turns at 100 meters, it is easy to be surrounded by runners who try to cut in, making it difficult to sprint at full speed. From Li Xun’s personal experience, the middle lane has the highest safety factor, because it can take into account the runners on both sides, and the cadence of turning can be maintained at a normal speed.
However, he didn’t want to say too much, in case Song Yang drew the inner path and had a psychological suggestion that “this path of mine is not good”, which would easily create unnecessary tension.
So we started talking about cornering techniques.
“You have to be careful not to overtake someone on a curve, it’s very dangerous. Also, when you pass someone, you should use your shoulders and half of your body to hold the opponent. Usually the opponent will automatically slow down at this time.” Li Xun leaned sideways to Song Yang’s right arm to demonstrate the action, then turned his head and looked into his eyes and said, “Don’t be stupid and stick your whole back to him, it’s easy to be tripped by the opponent’s feet, then both of you will get hurt.”
“I’ve learned a lot.” Song Yang made an “OK” gesture.
The radio began to broadcast the men’s 800-meter race time, and the crowd of spectators gathered more and more, making a lot of noise.
Li Xun pulled Song Yang to a corner, covered half of his face with one hand, leaned close to his ear and said, “If you had taken the lead from the start…”
Halfway through his words, Song Yang touched his hot earlobe and grinned, “It’s so itchy! It’s numb!”
Li Xun stepped back a little, but unexpectedly Song Yang took the initiative to put his ear close to him.
He said speechlessly: “Didn’t you say it was itchy?”
Song Yang chuckled: “But I didn’t say I don’t like it, go on.”
