Stringy Wind in the Ear - Chap 24
The contestants arrived one after another. After Li Xun explained the final key points, he sat on a chair and called the roll, putting a check mark behind the students who reported.
After a while, a boy came running over breathlessly and said, “Coach! Chen Xun’s shoes came undone, so he went back to the dormitory to change his shoes. He will be here later.”
Li Xun frowned: “How long do we have to wait?”
The boy scratched the back of his head and said embarrassedly: “He doesn’t live on campus. The dormitory is a bit far, probably about ten minutes away.”
There are other events after the 800 meters.
We can’t afford to waste time.
Song Yang reacted quickly and said, “I’m ready. I can run first, and then I can run the fourth group when he comes back.”
The boy seemed to have seen a savior and looked at Li Xun with some anticipation.
Li Xun nodded and made a simple record.
College students’ sports meets are not as strict as those in middle schools. There are no teachers watching the whole process, and the stands are usually sparsely populated. Everyone either cheers for their classmates on the spot or runs to where there are handsome men and beautiful women.
Circles of students gathered around, blocking out the sunlight above Li Xun’s head.
“Alright,” Li Xun put away the notebook and raised his voice, “Students whose names were called should go to the track and prepare according to the order of the draw. Students around the track should either go back to the stands to watch the race or stay away from the track to avoid being stepped on and injured.”
Everyone looked at each other, and although they did not return to the stands, they all consciously retreated to the lawn.
Song Yang stood on the track to stretch his muscles, turned to the side, and unconsciously looked at the students who were watching. In addition to his roommates, there were also many classmates gathered there, including their class monitor.
Their class monitor is called Zhou You, she is very pretty, the type of girl next door, good at grades and good at drawing, many people in the class like her. Song Yang estimated that most of the male classmates who were watching were here for her.
Zhou You stood in the front row, waving his arms and shouting, “Little Lamb! We are here to cheer you on!”
Then, the group of boys standing next to her repeated it in a strange accent.
The crowd burst into laughter, and students from other colleges asked each other which one was the little sheep.
Song Yang blushed when he heard this and quickly turned his head away pretending he didn’t see it.
Unexpectedly, Li Xun in the other direction also pointed at his shoes and said, “Little sheep, tie your shoelaces tighter.”
Song Yang’s ears felt hot: “Why are you yelling along?”
Li Xun: “Isn’t this cute?”
This title brought Song Yang a lot of attention.
Li Xun heard some girls behind him talking about how Song Yang had beautiful calf muscles and that he was the only one among the eight contestants with not much leg hair.
He couldn’t help but take a look.
It is indeed very light. If you only look at the skin, you would suspect it is a girl’s leg. It forms a very sharp contrast with the dark-skinned gym student in Erdao.
The eight runners took their positions in the starting position, and the noise around them dropped significantly by several tones.
“Bang——”
As the starting gun sounded, everyone rushed out at the fastest and most violent pace, and the roar of the audience immediately sounded from all directions.
The young man was full of vigor and shouted without restraint. Li Xun felt his eardrums hurt so much that he moved to the side and watched through the telescope.
After the 100-meter line was crossed, the runners all rushed to the inner lane. Many students stood up from the stands, and the girls with boyfriends simply jumped on their boyfriends’ backs. Li Xun’s palms were sweaty, and his neck was stretched like a giraffe.
It can be seen with the naked eye that the one rushing in the front is Zhang Ruifeng from lane two. As a sports student, he crosses his legs as fast as lightning. Song Yang’s explosive power is also not weak. He is running neck and neck with the players from lanes four and five, all vying for the second position. The speed of the three of them is very fast, and they have been maintaining the speed of sprinting.
After going straight, the few people behind were basically left behind.
The athlete circled the field, getting closer and closer to the starting point, and the spectators on both sides cheered again.
The competition was about speed on the field and momentum outside the field. Waves of sound waves blew away the birds in the trees.
After passing the second turn, Song Yang left the two classmates who were following him closely behind by a full two meters, and gradually approached Zhang Ruifeng in the second lane. However, the rapid loss of physical strength made it difficult for him to breathe, his limbs slid stiffly, and his mind went blank.
Zhang Ruifeng couldn’t slow down, nor could he speed up, and the two of them always maintained a distance of about one meter.
He stared at the back of Zhang Ruifeng’s head, as if he wanted to shoot two holes in it.
My throat is about to smoke.
There is one last bend left.
He knew he had to overtake at this point, otherwise he would have no chance to overtake once he reached the straight.
There is less than an arm’s length left.
“Song Yang! – Come on! -”
The cheers from both sides of the runway were in unison and reached the sky, making the atmosphere very lively. The students who were originally watching the triple jump could not help but look towards the runway out of curiosity.
Song Yang’s peripheral vision caught sight of several roommates who were so excited that they were waving their arms and legs. Their voices were already hoarse, but they still clenched their fists and shouted, “Surpass him, surpass him! Just a little bit more!”
Song Yang’s elbow touched Zhang Ruifeng’s skin, and the other party immediately sped up and suppressed him.
This taste is really terrible.
My heart kept dropping.
After passing the last bend, they almost walked shoulder to shoulder onto the last straight.
It was really hard to tell which one was better with the naked eye. Li Xun’s heart was pounding, and the audience in the nearby stands had already stood up in groups.
There are still the last fifty meters.
Song Yang sprinted with all his might. He heard the sound of himself taking deep breaths of oxygen, and saw a girl walking towards the finish line of lane two from the spectator’s room.
That was Zhang Ruifeng’s girlfriend. She was very tall. Under the gaze of countless classmates, she turned around and boldly opened her arms to her boyfriend.
The couple suddenly showed off their love, and the crowd cheered loudly. Zhang Ruifeng almost tried his best and surpassed Song Yang by half an arm’s length.
Just then, Song Yang discovered a person standing at the edge of a finish line.
The man rolled up the roster into a circle and used it as a bullhorn, waving at him.
Although I couldn’t hear what he was shouting, my body seemed to be suddenly injected with a stimulant and regained strength.
Under the scorching sun, his skin kept tightening and tightening, and his legs crossed faster and faster.
The end he wanted was right in front of him.
“Wow–”
The lagging little sheep accelerated his arm swing, lowered his head slightly, touched the line with his chest, and overtook Zhang Ruifeng by a palm’s distance!
The audience was stunned at first, and then burst into crisp and warm applause.
It was such a rare miracle that a non-professional student ran faster than the sports student. The scene was like a pot of boiling water, all boiling. Even Li Xun found it incredible.
His eyes followed the past.
I saw the little lamb lower its head and run for another ten meters or so, gradually slowing down its pace, and finally its legs went limp and it collapsed to the ground, its chest heaving violently.
Song Yang closed his eyes, heard the long-lasting calling, and smelled the smell of plastic burned by the scorching sun.
His throat was no longer dry, but painful. He swallowed hard and continued to gasp.
I don’t know how long it took, but I felt the sunlight was blocked by a shadow.
His first reaction was Li Xun. He opened his eyes immediately, only to find that it was his classmates and roommates.
Zhou You handed him a bottle of mineral water and said, “Thank you for your hard work.”
“Thank you…” Song Yang took the water and found that his voice was extremely hoarse. He cleared his throat and said, “How many seconds did I run just now?”
Jiang Luo was in high spirits: “Awesome! 1 minute 52.01 seconds, you are the first in the group. Didn’t you see that the gym student in Erdao was so confused that he was scolded by his coach when he went downstairs?”
Song Yang sat up and saw Zhang Ruifeng and his girlfriend not far away. Both of them looked at him with a bad face, as if he had not won first place in the group, but had just ordered the execution of all nine generations of their clan.
There were also malicious sarcasms coming out from the corners.
“Next time, remember to use your arms to block other people’s way when you are on a bend.”
Song Yang knew that the protagonist they were talking about was him.
The situation was a bit complicated. He wanted to overtake Zhang Ruifeng, but the opponent wouldn’t let him, so it looked like he was elbowing his opponent.
Zhou You patted his shoulder and said, “It’s okay. Don’t worry about them. In this business, the winner is the king. If you win, you win.”
“That’s right,” Yu Le said, “Let them get bored. Let’s go to the side and rest. Group 2 is about to start running.”
Song Yang sat by the track, wiped the sweat off his face with his hand, and took a few sips of water.
A man in a blue work suit came over and sat down next to him. He was stunned for a moment and moved to the side.
“Your name is Song Yang?” the man asked.
“right.”
“You ran pretty fast just now. Has anyone trained you before?”
Song Yang shook his head and looked at the middle-aged man. He looked to be around forty years old, with very dark skin but very prominent muscles. He also had a whistle hanging around his neck. He didn’t look like a counselor.
As expected, the other party introduced himself with a smile: “My name is Zhang Cheng, and I’m the coach of the track and field team.”
Song Yang nodded somewhat blankly: “Hello.”
Track and field is not a popular event in the school. There are not many people in the sprint group. Last semester, two young people were sent to the national team. Now the team is in a state of transition and urgently needs fresh blood.
Zhang Cheng chatted with him about track and field, showing an admiring look, and said with a smile: “I just observed the whole race. Your endurance is good, and your explosive power in the latter part is amazing. What needs improvement is the moment of starting and sprinting. If you can train and adjust well, I believe you will have a bigger breakthrough. I wonder if you have any interest in sprinting. You can come to our team to practice.”
Song Yang scratched his head.
Being praised is a happy thing, but to be honest, running is not the sport he is most interested in. He just curled his lips to express his thanks, without showing too much joy.
“Let’s add each other’s contact information. If you’re interested, you can come find me at the track and field gymnasium.”
Unable to refuse such a kind offer, Song Yang subconsciously touched his trouser pocket and pointed to the referee’s seat: “My phone is over there, I’ll go get it.”
Not long after, the results of the second and third groups came out.
Jiang Luo excitedly hooked his arm around Song Yang’s neck and said, “No one has surpassed you yet! The first place winner is 0.04 seconds behind you, it’s so thrilling.”
Song Yang added Zhang Cheng’s WeChat.
Jiang Luo lowered his head and gossiped: “Who is this person?”
“A coach from the track and field group asked me if I was interested in joining the school team.”
Jiang Luo’s eyes lit up: “Wow, that’s great! You should join us soon, and then you can represent our school in provincial competitions!”
An inexplicable sneer came from the side.
As soon as Jiang Luo saw that it was Zhang Ruifeng, he knew what was going on.
He deliberately raised his voice and continued, “The coach really has a keen eye for talent. Since he has taken the initiative to invite you to join, it means you must have extraordinary talent in this area! If you have good hardware conditions, you have already won half the battle.”
Li Xun knew who the protagonist was. He turned to Song Yang and asked, “Did Coach Zhang praise you?”
“Ah,” Song Yang scratched his head shyly, “He just said a few words and asked me if I wanted to join the track and field team. No…”
“That’s great,” Li Xun praised generously, “I also think that your Achilles tendon is long and thin, which is very suitable for sprinting. Especially the explosive power in the second half is amazing. Coach Zhang retired from the national team, so his vision is not wrong.”
The second half of Song Yang’s sentence, “But I don’t plan to join,” got stuck in his throat and he choked.
He looked at the man in front of him, feeling a little overwhelmed.
If you ask who in this world knows best what he likes and wants, it is Li Xun.
It was Li Xun who told him about the types of bows and arrows, taught him archery techniques, took him to the wetland park for training, and gave him precious gifts.
He also told Li Xun clearly that he wanted to join the school archery team.
He thought Li Xun was at least a little bit looking forward to his joining, but at this moment he could say such words so easily and happily.
It was as if their fate lines had never intersected, they just looked close.
Song Yang stood there in a daze for a long time.
The starting gun sounded and the fourth group started running. The cheers from all around were enthusiastic, but he felt like he was in another world. He couldn’t hear any sounds or feel the atmosphere. He just stared blankly in one direction.
Li Xun sat alone by the track, drank a sip of water, screwed the lid back on, and used his forearm to pad the roster to record their race results.
Song Yang strode over.
His tall stature instantly blocked out a large area of ​​sunlight, leaving a shadow on the paper.
Li Xun raised his head and asked what was wrong.
Song Yang took a deep breath, holding his breath, and squeezed out a question from between his teeth: “So you really want me to join the track and field team?”
His voice was not very loud, but there were many people gathered around the runway, so some curious spectators turned around and looked at them, as if they were looking at a young couple who were about to have a quarrel, with three parts of surprise and seven parts of curiosity in their eyes.
Li Xun could also sense a not-so-pleasant emotion from his expression and between the lines. He stood up and said earnestly, “I am just expressing my opinion as a person who has been through it. Whether it is my opinion or Coach Zhang’s opinion, they can only serve as a reference for you. In the end, it is your own choice whether to go or not.”
This is the truth, but Song Yang still felt uncomfortable after hearing it, and his brows were still furrowed.
“Then can’t you express something I want to hear? You know that my favorite thing is archery, and I want to join the archery team. When you say that, I feel…”
I feel like you just treat me as an ordinary student and don’t care about anything.
He met Li Xun’s gaze, but was unable to finish his words. His nose became more and more sore, and his voice became weaker and weaker.
“You don’t seem to be looking forward to my joining the archery team, nor do you like me as your apprentice.”
