Stringy Wind in the Ear - Chap 30
The Nancheng Champions League Club is more than 30 kilometers away from the school. There is a highway available, so it is not too far. The school arranged a school bus for the archery team to go back and forth on the same day.
The team leader set the departure time at six in the morning. Song Yang set the alarm for five-fifteen, but he woke up before the alarm rang. It was his first competition and he was very excited.
Everyone in the dormitory had left, and the bed and desk were empty. He no longer needed to tiptoe to wash himself, nor did he need to close the bathroom door and turn the water flow to the minimum.
He jumped out of bed, played a powerful rock song, and swayed his head while looking for clothes to put on. When it came to the chorus, he raised his arms high and swayed his hips to the rhythm.
But the moment the music stopped, he was surrounded by a strong feeling of loneliness.
The windows of their dormitory face the gymnasium and the playground. In the past, when looking out from this point, they could see a line of street lights, like a winding dragon, but today it was pitch black and nothing could be seen clearly.
School is out for the holidays.
It was this scene that suddenly made him feel very uncomfortable.
In the eyes of the archery team, he was a student of the School of Economics and Management, an outlier who didn’t fit in and might not necessarily pursue a career in sports in the future. But when he returned to the class, he became a member of the school team and had to give up his rest time to win honor for the school.
His future, like the sky outside, is shrouded in fog.
“call–”
He took a deep breath, and his bulging cheeks deflated, as if he wanted to spit out all the fear and unhappiness in his body.
After washing up, the alarm on his cell phone rang. He swiped his fingers and packed his luggage. Before leaving, he turned back and hung the camera around his neck.
The cold air in the early morning poured into his internal organs through his nasal cavity, stimulating him so much that he shivered. His skin tightened all over his body, and he became awake instantly.
The lights at the entrance of the training hall were on. Quite a few people had gathered there, squatting on the stone steps and eating breakfast in a very ungraceful manner. They were all wearing school team uniforms, bright red tops with black sweatpants, and with all kinds of suitcases by their legs. From a distance, they looked like a row of JD.com deliverymen.
Wu Jianian was the first to spot him. He exclaimed “Wow” from a distance and said with a smile, “Where did this little tour guide come from? He’s so professional.”
Li Xun was tearing a piece of overcooked pork ribs apart like playing tug-of-war. He turned around when he heard the sound and raised his eyebrows unconsciously.
Song Yang was wearing a new set of clothes today that no one had ever seen. The red and black cashmere sweater was a little loose, with a small piece of the stiff collar showing at the neckline. His trouser legs were slim, making his legs look long and straight. He wore a dark red baseball cap on his head, looking eye-catching and lively.
He stands out among this group of “couriers” who have no image at all, which can be said to be amazing.
Li Xun lost control of the strength of his hand and the pork chop fell into the soup. Fortunately, he reacted quickly and pushed the bowl away, so the team uniform that had just been washed yesterday was spared.
Although he was surprised, he didn’t forget the point. He wiped his mouth and said, “Where’s your team uniform? We have to wear uniforms for today’s game. Go back to the room and change them for me.”
Song Yang patted the backpack behind him proudly and said, “I have everything with me. I’ll just change into them when I get there.”
Li Xun raised his hand and pointed at the air, met the young man’s sincere and warm gaze, then retracted his index finger and swallowed back all the warning words.
“Hurry up and eat breakfast!”
“Yes, sir!” Song Yang squeezed next to him happily, “Wow, there are soup dumplings…”
Wu Jianian, who had just been sent back to the dormitory for not changing clothes, was chewing a piece of beef jerky angrily, using his eyes as a laser scanner to scan his coach back and forth, waiting for a reasonable explanation from the other party.
Unexpectedly, Coach Li was as thick-skinned as a city wall, and he actually smoothed over the matter as if nothing had happened.
“He has it with him. He will change it soon. If you want, you can bring it with you next time…”
All the team members, excluding Song Yang, miraculously stood in the same line at this moment. They raised their fingers and pointed at him from a distance, shaking like sieves, and silently criticized and protested against the blatant favoritism.
Song Yang looked at Li Xun blankly and asked in a low voice, “What are they doing?”
Before Wu Jianian could explain, Li Xun cleared his throat loudly and frowned, “It’s none of your business. Eat your food. You’re so lazy all day long. Who are you showing off your fancy clothes to? Are you going to the competition or the fashion show? When you get in the car, you must reflect deeply on why you are the last one to arrive in the team.”
However, the aroma of the dumplings made this unexpected criticism completely intimidating, and it seemed more like trying to coax the dumbfounded “deliverymen”.
Song Yang’s cheeks were puffed up like a hamster, and he made the sound with his mouth closed: “Hmmmmmm (Are you still jealous)?”
Everyone looked confused and waited for him to swallow the food, only Li Xun took out a bag of vinegar from the plastic bag beside his leg and threw it to him.
“Is this what you want?”
Song Yang smiled with his eyes curved and gave him a thumbs up.
An hour later, the school bus arrived at the club’s archery range and waited for the club’s staff to pick it up.
Song Yang leaned on the window and observed the teams that were gathering. Their uniforms were printed with the school emblem and name, and more than half of them were from professional sports schools.
He had heard from Li Xun before that professional athletes from sports schools have a unique temperament that can be identified at a glance. At that time, he couldn’t imagine what kind of temperament it was, but today he finally saw it.
Probably due to long-term exposure to the sun outdoors, most of these athletes have dark skin, well-proportioned and strong physiques, and are in a relaxed and natural state. They actively begin to warm up as soon as they get off the car, with a look of arrogance as if they are confident of winning. Another point is that, as Li Xun said, those archery athletes selected from professional sports schools all have square faces with very flat cheeks.
If Li Xun had not told him about the selection criteria at the beginning, he would definitely not have noticed this detail, but once he knew it, he really couldn’t help but care about it.
Song Yang rubbed his cheeks in front of the glass and sighed.
Why did I inherit my mother’s small face gene?
“What are you thinking about, kid?” Li Xun patted his arm, “Get off the bus and gather.”
Song Yang came to his senses and quickly followed with the box in his hand.
Next to them was a freight van, which usually seats eight people. But when the door was opened, more than ten people came out, all of them grown men.
Sun Jianian, who was standing next to him, also saw this scene and exclaimed in shock: “Fuck, this must be the Indian team! How did they get in?”
Song Yang chuckled with joy, and his originally nervous mood was relieved a little.
Everything here was too new to him. When the staff was checking information with the tour leader, his eyes were wandering everywhere.
I saw the five-star red flag flying above the stadium, and noticed a small arrow on a sign pointing to the provincial team training base.
He poked Li Xun in surprise and pointed to a training hall in the distance: “Is that where you used to train?”
“Yes,” Li Xun curled his lips, “How did you know?”
Song Yang poked his chest and said, “In that photo we took when we were kids, there’s the Nancheng Provincial Team logo on this part of your clothes.”
“You looked very carefully.”
“That’s it.” Song Yang raised the camera around his neck and took several photos of the buildings in the distance. While Li Xun was not paying attention, he pointed the camera at his profile.
The scorching sun just emerged from the horizon, like a huge fireball, and the surrounding clouds were dyed a light orange-red. The person in the center of the camera was tilting his neck back to drink water.
He has a high nose bridge and long, thick eyelashes. Just as Song Yang was about to press the shutter, a head suddenly popped into the picture.
Wu Jianian chuckled at him and said, “Give me one, too.”
“Hey, wait a minute…” Song Yang tried to push him away, but it was too late. Li Xun had already screwed the lid on and left with the team.
He missed the most beautiful scenery.
Song Yang was so angry that his cheeks puffed up. Wu Jianian took the camera from him and said, “What do you want to take pictures of? I can help you take them.”
Song Yang slapped him on the face, pushed him hard to the side, quickened his pace to squeeze next to Li Xun, and walked side by side with him.
The competition lasted for four days, with two and a half days for individual competition and one and a half days for team competition. There were many participants, so the schedule was very tight, starting at nine in the morning and lasting until nine in the evening.
Along the way, Song Yang also saw many athletes carrying large and small bags of luggage, probably they were going to check into the hotel.
“Master, do we have to stay outside for the provincial team’s game?”
“It depends. If the stadium is very far away, we can stay in a hotel.” Li Xun patted his shoulder, “But don’t worry, as long as conditions permit, the school will try its best to arrange a school bus to go back and forth on the same day.”
“I think it’s nice to live outside once in a while…” Song Yang fiddled with the camera and glanced at him, “It would be even better if I could share a room with you.”
“Why?”
“…” Song Yang lowered his head and kicked a small stone away, “No reason.”
Li Xun didn’t think too much about it and asked with concern: “How are you feeling right now? Are you nervous?”
“It’s OK, a little bit.”
“Just play normally, the main thing is to accumulate competition experience.”
Song Yang looked at him expectantly: “Then…if I win a prize in the individual competition, will you give me any reward?”
“What reward do you want?”
Song Yang had thought about this question before he came, and said decisively: “Come to my house for dinner during the Chinese New Year.”
The corners of Li Xun’s mouth curled up: “Isn’t this a reward for me?”
Song Yang said: “It makes me happy that you can come to my house for dinner.”
Li Xun’s heart felt warm.
This invitation was so special that he probably would never forget it.
The indoor venue was brightly lit, and the air conditioner was whirring hot air. They were surrounded by warmth. Li Xun met the young man’s sincere eyes and felt his blood flow faster.
“How is it? Is it okay?” Song Yang asked.
“Okay,” Li Xun nodded, “I can also cook you one of my best dishes.”
“Really?” Song Yang’s eyes lit up. “What can you cook? Meat or vegetarian? But I love whatever you cook.”
Li Xun rubbed the back of his head vigorously: “Win the game first, then we can talk about it!”
