Stringy Wind in the Ear - Chap 47
Li Xun’s words gave Song Yang a lot of courage. He decided to go on, provided that his parents supported him, otherwise the pressure would come back again.
When it comes to convincing the parents, you must use your wits. Their family has always made decisions by raising hands and voting. If there is one person who can stand on his side, then everything will be easy.
It was late at night, and the light in Dad’s study was still on. Song Yang tied an apron and walked around the kitchen. He used his unfamiliar cooking skills to fry pancakes, make bacon, toast bread, and make rice porridge.
Song Jingshan heard a knock on the door.
“Enter.”
Song Yang held the midnight snack with a smile on his face: “Are you busy, Dad? I made some midnight snacks, do you want to eat together?”
Song Jingshan turned his head and looked at the sky outside the window.
Song Yang also followed him and looked outside: “What are you looking at?”
“Look where the moon is coming out tonight.”
Song Yang laughed out loud, turned around, picked up the rag on the table and started cleaning it.
Song Jingshan was frightened by his sudden understanding. His first reaction was, “Are you going to cause some big trouble in school again?”
Song Yang glanced at it and said while tidying up the bookshelf: “What do you mean again? When did I ever make a mistake?”
Song Jingshan adjusted the legs of his glasses and blew on the rice paste: “Tell me, what are you going to do next?”
Song Yang laughed, closed the door, sat on the sofa, and gave a long speech.
Song Jingshan’s glasses were covered with steam from the rice paste, so he took them off and wiped them. He usually teaches college students, so he is not as serious as a high school teacher and always speaks slowly.
“I have no problem with you liking archery, but your grades have plummeted since you entered college. Aren’t you worried at all?”
Song Yang said: “My mind was indeed distracted last semester, and I was always absent-minded in class, but I can guarantee that this semester’s exam will never happen again.”
It was the first time that Song Jingshan heard his son admit his mistake in such a sincere manner, and he was a little surprised.
“What about the future? There are more and more things to learn, and you are competing everywhere. How can you balance your studies? Don’t forget that you chose this school and this major in the first place. Now you have new goals and feel that studying is not as important as archery. Xiaoyang, you can’t take your future lightly.”
Song Yang frowned and said seriously, “I know. I should study hard now, ensure my attendance rate, get high GPA, and get as many certificates as possible. Then I can find a stable job, get married and have children, and educate my children the same way. Tell them that they should do the same as me.”
Song Jingshan nodded: “Yes, life is like this, isn’t it good? Aren’t you living a comfortable life?”
Song Yang spread his hands excitedly and helplessly: “But that is the life you yearn for, you think it is normal, once you step out of such a comfort zone, you will not be able to survive, but this is not the life I long for. I like archery very much, I have liked it since I was a child. When I hit the center of the circle, the full satisfaction can make my body secrete dopamine. I feel that the energy and time I spend on it are worth it.”
Song Jingshan paused.
Song Yang said, “From childhood to adulthood, I have always followed the schedule you and mom arranged for me, including what interest classes to sign up for and what training classes to attend. You all picked them. Even the pen copybooks I bought were the ones mom thought were suitable for me. I was afraid you would be unhappy, so I tried my best to do everything the best I could. But when I was learning these things, I was not happy. I felt like a plant, allowing you to trim it into the way you wanted, or in other words, the way that was recognized and liked by the public.”
The more Song Yang spoke, the redder his eyes became. Song Jingshan was somewhat moved. He had never heard his son say these things before. Every word was like a hammer hitting his chest, and the bread in his hand suddenly lost its taste.
He was silent for a while, then said, “There is one thing you have to understand. We enrolled you in this course not to restrict your freedom. On the contrary, we want you to be freer in the future. As you said, we can certainly ignore you and give you freedom, but if we really do nothing, I’m afraid one day you will turn around and question us, why don’t you give me what others have?”
Song Yang didn’t say anything.
Song Jingshan sighed and made a lighthearted joke: “It’s the first time for us to be parents, so we don’t have much experience.”
Song Yang curled the corners of his mouth slightly.
Song Jingshan continued, “We try our best to create conditions for you to learn something and suffer less in the future. But the times are different now. The best ones have become what we think is the best.”
Song Yang lowered his head and rubbed his sore nose.
He remembered hearing his father say when he was a child that in their time, the whole town was poor and studying was quite difficult. They had to walk dozens of kilometers every day. In winter, it was icy and snowy, and their toes were numb from the cold. The sweat from their bodies soaked their clothes, which made them even colder. All the students sat in a classroom of less than 20 square meters for class. It rained heavily outside and lightly inside. One of his father’s toes was frozen when he was a child, so a section of it was amputated.
At that time, many children had no chance to go to school and could only work in factories or in the fields. Now, decades later, those people are old and still can barely recognize a few words. They continue to do the same work, waiting for the day when they will be replaced.
“Dad, I know what you’re worried about.” Song Yang raised his eyes and said sincerely, “I won’t give up my studies because of archery, but please don’t force me to give up archery. I’ve thought about this very clearly. I may retire in a few years because I can’t get any good results, but if I give up like this today, I will definitely regret it in the future. In fact, when I saw those classmates in the school team who played better than me, I was already annoyed, why didn’t I try earlier… Fortunately, it’s not too late now.”
Song Jingshan rubbed his palms slowly, avoiding Song Yang’s gaze, as if he was weighing something.
Song Yang could tell from his expression that he was soft-hearted, so he said desperately, “Why don’t you give me three years. If I can’t even make it to the national team within this period, it means I’m not cut out for it. I’ll never mention it again and focus on my postgraduate studies. But if I really have a chance to join the national team, can you please support me?”
His son seldom spoke to him in such a tone. Song Jingshan had a frown on his face, and mud seemed to be rubbed out of his forehead.
“Why didn’t you tell your mother about this?”
“…” If you want to pinch someone, of course you have to pinch the weak ones.
Song Yang said against his will: “Aren’t you the head of the family? If you approve, how can mom disagree?”
The head of the family was confused by this rare flattery.
“But your grades can’t be too bad. At least make sure you don’t fail. If you have any questions about your homework, feel free to ask the teacher. If you really can’t help, you can ask me. I have many seniors here, and they are all very enthusiastic.”
Song Yang nodded on the surface, but he was still worried.
It’s not like he hasn’t thought about studying. Who doesn’t want to get high scores? But there are only 24 hours in a day. Excluding class time, he doesn’t have much time left for training. It’s impossible for him to find time.
After taking a shower and getting into bed, Song Yang saw a missed video message on WeChat, which was from Li Xun. He couldn’t wait to call back. After waiting for a while, the chandelier in Li Xun’s bedroom appeared on the screen. Judging by his feeling, Li Xun had already gone to bed.
Song Yang turned over and lay in the bed. The light from the screen made his eyes look bright.
“Where are you?”
A lazy man’s voice came from the other end: “Yes.”
Song Yang: “Where’s the face?”
The camera moved downwards, revealing a head and exposed shoulders. Song Yang’s pupils widened: “You sleep naked?”
Li Xun said “ah” very lightly, indicating that the answer was correct.
Song Yang had a picture in his mind and felt inexplicably embarrassed: “Then why didn’t I see you sleeping naked when we stayed in the hotel before?”
Li Xun symbolically pulled the quilt, but it soon slid down to his chest again, so he didn’t bother to cover it: “You seem to be looking forward to it? Then next time I stay in a hotel with you, I will sleep naked.”
“Great!” Song Yang laughed so hard that his face turned red and the bed was shaking.
Li Xun asked with concern: “Have you confessed to your family?”
“Yeah.” Song Yang’s eyes were still smiling, “My dad agreed to let me practice archery, and he also said he would help me deal with mom, just asking me not to fail the exam.”
When the conversation got to the point, Li Xun turned off the TV and raised his lips: “See, I told you that things must not be as bad as you think.”
Song Yang asked: “Have you ever failed a course before?”
Li Xun shook his head: “No, but because I had to go abroad for a competition, I missed the exam, so my graduation was delayed for a year.”
“Is that so…” Song Yang propped up his cheek, “I’m just a little worried. I don’t have much time for training, and I have to use it to review my lessons. I’m not Nezha.”
Li Xun said seriously: “You want to have both the fish and the bear’s paw. It’s not that you can’t have both, but it’s hard to have both. If you want both, then you don’t need to divide 100% of your energy into 50%, but 200% of your energy.”
A word can wake a dreamer up.
Song Yang slapped his forehead, wondering why he had never thought of this before. If he didn’t have enough private time, why not just move out of the dormitory!
Song Yang acted decisively and downloaded an APP to search for houses near the school.
He remembered that Zhou Junlin had said before that he wanted to find someone to share a rental with to make it easier to shoot vlogs, but the price was a bit expensive, so he had not decided yet.
The video was not disconnected, and Song Yang asked: “Master, what APP do you usually use to find a house? This APP is so expensive. Even if I split it with my roommate, it would still cost me half a month’s food ration.”
Li Xun couldn’t help but laugh: “The high rent has nothing to do with the APP. It’s the same no matter how many APPs you change.”
“Ah…” Song Yang’s eyes were filled with disappointment.
Li Xun was waiting for this moment, and casually mentioned: “Actually, the place where I live is quite empty, why don’t you move in and live with me? I won’t charge you rent, but you have to clean the place.”
