Stringy Wind in the Ear - Chap 41
Song Yang didn’t participate in the debate voluntarily. He didn’t have enough rest time and didn’t have much enthusiasm for debate.
On the one hand, he felt that the process of finding information was cumbersome and he was afraid of the trouble. On the other hand, he felt that the two sides of the debate standing on the stage and arguing was like a quarrel. He was a person who got nervous and blushed easily. Once he got on the stage and saw the crowd of people, his thinking would definitely short-circuit. But Zhou You asked him several times, and for the sake of those notes, he really couldn’t refuse, so he had to bite the bullet and go on.
The school will award extra scholarships to the champion team of the debate competition, so Zhou You attaches great importance to this event and often asks Song Yang to discuss issues with him.
After class one evening, they agreed to meet at a small pavilion outside the library, because at that time, there was no place to get in the library.
Just a few minutes after Song Yang sat down, a reminder popped up on his mobile phone app – one hour of physical training.
That was the schedule set by Li Xun. During this time period every night, the team members had to supervise each other’s training. He was not here tonight, and Fatty Sun didn’t know who to partner with.
Zhou You bumped his arm and said, “Why are you always distracted?”
Song Yang closed the remaining reminders in the app, put away his phone and said, “Sorry, please continue talking. I’m listening.”
Zhou You was attentive and asked with concern: “Do you have other things to do?”
Song Yang confessed: “Well, I usually train at the archery gym at this time. It’s become a habit. I always feel guilty when I don’t practice, but it doesn’t matter. The competition is more important.”
In the light of the street lamps, Zhou You scanned his chest and arms. The weather was gradually getting warmer, and he was only wearing a base shirt and a cashmere sweater. Through the thin fabric, he could feel the outline of his bulging muscles, which was different from the other boys in the class and was very attractive to girls.
“No wonder you seem to have become much stronger after this semester.”
Song Yang lowered his head and smiled.
Zhou You asked: “What are your plans for the future?”
“Hmm?” Song Yang looked up, a little puzzled. “What are your plans? Are you talking about after the debate?”
“No… After graduation, do you plan to continue your postgraduate studies or go out to find a job?”
Song Yang hesitated for a moment. He hadn’t thought about this question since the beginning of the semester. It was only when she mentioned it that he suddenly remembered that they would welcome new students at the end of this semester, and he was still unclear about his future plans.
Looking for a job?
Then archery can only be a little diversion in his spare time life.
He had no chance to train and no chance to participate in competitions, and he felt a little scared when he thought about it. It was this fear that made him suddenly realize how huge his ambitions were.
If he stops here, he will not be satisfied and will definitely regret it in the future.
“I want to continue practicing archery, like my master, and go out to compete.”
This answer was completely beyond Zhou You’s expectations, and he asked without hesitation: “Will there be a lot of prize money in the competition?”
“Yes, but not much. For some small competitions, you have to pay for them. But if it’s a big competition like the Asian Games, World Cup, World Championships, or Olympics, the prize money is considerable.” Song Yang’s eyes became lively when he talked about this. “But the more meaningful thing is to win awards for the country. If I can win a world-class gold medal, I will die without regrets even if I don’t get a penny.”
Zhou You only knew about sports events from Weibo hot searches. She had never watched a complete game and didn’t understand the differences between the four events he listed. In her worldview, the only sports event was the Olympics, which was roughly divided into running, swimming and various ball games. The Chinese team always lags behind the United States in the number of medals.
It was not until this moment that she even knew that archery could be included in the Olympics, which led her to ask a question that made insiders laugh and cry – how do you register for the Olympics?
However, Song Yang was willing to popularize everything about archery. He opened his notebook and patiently explained: “It’s just about playing in competitions. When you win the championship, people will naturally come to you. But it’s a gradual process. Generally, you go from the school team to the provincial team, and then from the provincial team to the national team. When you reach the national team, you are a first-line athlete and can participate in world-class competitions and compete with foreign athletes. The strength of the Korean team in archery is equivalent to that of the Chinese table tennis team, which has been monopolizing the championship for many years.”
Zhou You understood a little bit and smiled: “It sounds a lot like leveling up to fight monsters. Is it difficult to join the national team?”
“It’s difficult…” Song leaned against the wooden fence of the pavilion and sighed. “Of course it’s difficult. About 20 people are selected from all over the country to join the national archery team, and not everyone has the opportunity to participate in major competitions. Competitions are linked together. Only if you win the National Archery Championships can you participate in the World Championships. Only if you get good results in the World Championships can you have the opportunity to participate in the Olympic trials. This is like being recommended by a university. If you have good grades, the country will naturally send you out to compete. Another way to participate is to compare points. Competitions like the Asian Games and the World Cup all have points. The more points an athlete gets, the higher they will be in the world rankings, and finally a group of them will be selected to participate in the Olympic trials. This is just like ordinary college entrance examination candidates like us.”
The more he thought about it, the more he felt that it was not easy for Li Xun back then. He was able to stand out among millions of people and light up the achievements of the Asian Games.
This feeling of pride in love was directly reflected on his face, with the corners of his mouth slightly raised.
“Oh…” Zhou You nodded, “Then the latter seems to be easier. All we need to do is play more games.”
Song Yang smiled helplessly: “Of course it won’t be that simple. If you don’t get into the top three in the competition, your points will be deducted. The lower your ranking, the more points you will lose.”
He clearly remembered that the year before Li Xun retired, he lost his place in the World Championships because of his teammates’ poor performance, which led to a three-point deduction in the total points. This is why he felt that what Li Xun lacked was luck, not strength.
If there had been teammates who performed exceptionally well in that game, the situation wouldn’t be like it is now.
Unfortunately, there is no if.
The night wind was a little chilly. Zhou You rubbed his arms and sighed softly, “Sports competition sounds so cruel.”
“Of course.” Song Yang noticed the goose bumps on her arms and handed her the unused coat.
Zhou You put on his clothes, thanked him, and advised kindly: “I think it is more realistic for you to get a place in graduate school than to participate in the Olympics.”
Song Yang made a gesture of committing suicide by cutting open his abdomen: “You are so heartbreaking.”
Zhou You said, “I’m serious. Instead of wasting time on something so far away, you might as well focus on the task at hand. You don’t want to fail the exam and have to retake it, right?”
Although the words were not pleasant to hear, they were undeniable and were all true. Song Yang said “hmm” and put away the smile on his face: “I know, thank you for your concern.”
During the time Song Yang was preparing for the debate competition, he missed two major events in the team. One was about Shen Wei, whose outstanding performance in the friendly match was noticed by the coach of the provincial team, who asked him if he was willing to go to the provincial team base for training, which was equivalent to stepping into the provincial team and reserving a place in the provincial games.
Another thing is about Sun Pang, who decided to quit the school team.
Song Yang learned about these two things from Wu Jianian. The former made him feel jealous, and the latter made him feel uncomfortable.
“Why is Fat Brother so depressed?” Song Yang asked.
Wu Jianian shrugged: “My grades weren’t ideal, and my family wouldn’t let me practice anymore, saying I was preparing for the civil service exam.”
“……”incredible.
Before leaving, Sun Pang organized a dinner party at the JuZhu restaurant next to the school. He specifically chose Saturday and invited all the team members, but unfortunately, Song Yang had already accepted his roommate’s invitation before that – Saturday was Zhou Junlin’s birthday.
After weighing the pros and cons, Song Yang decided to spend Zhou Junlin’s birthday with him, because this matter made him very angry, and if he didn’t give him face, he would be angry for several days.
Fat Sun understood his difficulties, but later sent him the hotel room number and joked that if he had time, he could come over and have a drink with him.
On Saturday night, Li Xun led a large group of people to the Juju Hotel. This place can be regarded as one of the top three restaurants in the university town. The decoration is Chinese retro style, and the waiters are all wearing bright red embroidered cheongsams, which set off their graceful figures. They all wear delicate light makeup.
A few young men in the team who had never seen the world kept staring at their curves. Yu Shenwei turned around and whispered to Wu Jianian, “Fuck, this woman has big breasts.”
“Be more polite.”
Li Xun raised his foot and kicked him on the buttocks. Yu Shenwei stumbled and knelt on the stairs. He stood up awkwardly, patted his trouser legs, and changed his words: “That woman’s thing is so big.”
Li Xun: “………………”
The dishes were all ordered in advance, and when everyone arrived, the waiter brought the food up.
Li Xun saw several dishes that Song Yang particularly liked on the table, so he took photos and sent them to the children.
Li Xun: [Are you really not coming? Xiaopang specially ordered your favorite food. ]
Song Yang also sent a picture of himself eating, with a glazed fruit cake in the center of the photo.
Song Yang: [I’m eating too, please say hello to Fatty for me.]
Li Xun smiled faintly and put away his phone.
Tomorrow is a day off, so everyone will eat and drink to their heart’s content. There are several northerners at the table who can drink a lot. Fatty Sun ordered three bottles of red wine, but they were still not enough, so he asked the waiter for another bottle.
Li Xun drank two glasses of wine, and Sun Pang immediately refilled his glass: “Coach, thank you for taking care of me during this period. I toast you and wish you a smooth career and a happy life in the future.”
“Same to you,” Li Xun clinked glasses with him, “I wish you success in passing the civil service exam.”
Fat Sun opened his mouth and wanted to say something, but didn’t. He just tilted his neck back and drank the red wine in the glass in one breath.
Li Xun noticed his red eyes, raised his hand to pinch his shoulder, and whispered: “It’s okay, come back anytime you want to practice archery in the future.”
Fat Sun nodded and filled his own cup again.
Li Xun sighed silently. Sports competition is different from many other fields. It depends on too many factors, such as health, ability, luck and even family. These factors will affect the mentality of athletes. It is not possible to change everything with just one word “diligent”.
This is how he watched his teammates leave one by one.
This is cruel and realistic. After all, life is the same, with separations everywhere.
After three rounds of drinks, everyone was drunk and most of the food on the table was gone.
“Oh, by the way, there’s one more thing.” Fatty Sun took out his phone from his pocket, clicked into the photo album, flipped through it, and showed it to Li Xun, “This is my junior schoolmate, what do you think?”
Li Xun often saw her at the stadium, and his first reaction was: “Is she planning to join the school team? Has she practiced before? She looks too thin.”
Fatty Sun almost vomited blood: “What a strange train of thought you have, I was asking you what she looks like?”
Li Xun commented matter-of-factly: “Not bad, looks very gentle, should be quite gentle, what, your girlfriend?”
“…”
Fatty Sun was speechless. Wu Jianian beside him was so happy that his eyes almost disappeared: “See? I told you that good-looking people are not normal. This is the fatal reason why he doesn’t have a girlfriend.”
Everyone at the table started laughing. Li Xun frowned and thought for a long time, but still couldn’t figure out the reason. Until Sun Pang sent him a business card on WeChat and said, “She always comes to watch our training. Actually, she doesn’t come to watch the training, but she has some feelings for you. If you think she’s okay, add her and chat.”
Li Xun didn’t even open WeChat: “Let’s not do that.”
Fatty Sun asked in confusion: “Why? Didn’t you just say she’s pretty good?”
Li Xun took a sip of red wine and said bluntly, “She looks good, but the problem is that she is too young. She must be one generation younger than me, right? She is still small, and if we take them out, they look like father and daughter. It feels like incest. I don’t like it.”
If he had known at that time that a kid who was one generation younger than him was standing outside the door of the box, he would rather bite off his tongue than find such a lame excuse to refuse.
