Stringy Wind in the Ear - Chap 53
Song Yang was confused by Li Xun’s sudden question.
Which one do you want?
The word “also” is full of spirituality, which means that Li Xun has already determined that the first prize is his, so he took the other prizes.
But in terms of strength, there is no way Li Xun could lose to him, so why should he give in?
Why do you suddenly care about his preferences?
It is hard not to let one imagine such an ambiguous question. In just a short moment, Song Yang’s mind was full of thoughts, as if his nerves were gently provoked by something.
The corner of his eye told him that everyone on and off the court was staring at them. Song Yang began to get nervous again, his breathing became blocked, and the tips of his ears became hot: “I, I don’t care…”
I regretted it as soon as I said it.
What bullshit is he talking about.
Li Xun nodded slightly and raised his eyebrows: “Then I’ll pick one at random.”
“Don’t…” In a hurry, Song Yang grabbed his wrist, not caring whether he got the wrong meaning or not, and frowned and used his fingers to push, “Don’t be so careless.”
The people at the scene couldn’t understand it, but Li Xun could understand his eyes.
Song Yang cared more about the little bit of glory left on him than he did.
In fact, blind shooting is also one of the training methods that Li Xun tried during his service. It can exercise the coordination of both arms and the sensitivity of the body. When people open their eyes, they can only see the target paper in the distance, and it is easy to ignore the changes brought about by breathing, heartbeat, angle, and other detailed parameters.
Many people don’t understand in the end that, in fact, the bullseye in the distance is not important. What is important is whether all the bones and muscles of the body are in place and whether the mind can calm down.
Li Xun was blindfolded, and the camera on the field moved closer, zooming in on his facial features and fingers. When the arrow was nocked on the stage, his jaw was tense and veins crisscrossed on the back of his hands.
“Whoosh” is the sound of the arrow tail flying out of the bowstring.
The arrow shaft swung like a snake, and the silver arrow pierced through the wind and waves, heading in one direction –
The audience’s eyes widened and they gasped.
Ten rings!
Before the applause died down, Li Xun nocked the second arrow and hit the same spot. Many audience members opened their mouths, some took photos, some took videos, and held their cell phones high.
It is human nature to expect magical things to happen, and everyone’s thoughts are always surprisingly unanimous at this moment.
What is tested at this time is not only the athlete’s skills, but also their mentality. No matter who it is, when there are excessive expectations, the pressure will increase exponentially.
Li Xun concentrated and inhaled, his chest rising and falling slightly. The sunlight made his forehead shine. The surroundings of the stadium then became quiet, and everyone’s eyes were focused in one direction.
Li Xun hooked the string with his two fingers, pulling it tighter and tighter, close to his chin. Under the camera, transparent beads of sweat flowed down his temples.
The red numbers on the countdown kept jumping.
Two seconds left.
The black carbon arrow streaked across like a meteor, and everyone’s heads turned from one side to the other.
The next second, the scene seemed to be ignited by fire, and it became completely agitated. Some people in the crowd shouted “Fuck” and “Awesome”, while others, like Song Yang, took photos of Li Xun in the face.
Li Xun took off his eye mask, squinted at the screen, and smiled faintly.
A hand handed him a tissue. He was still immersed in the noisy atmosphere and didn’t react for a moment. He asked, “Why are you giving me this?”
Song Yang pressed the tissue on his forehead, and Li Xun then raised his hand and touched, and felt Song Yang’s fingers.
The host announced the score of the game and praised him for his ability.
He smiled as he savored the touch of those fingers, narrow and slightly cool, but everyone just thought he was proud of his own achievements.
Several etiquette ladies came on stage presenting medals and gifts.
Song Yang received a retro Bluetooth speaker. He bowed and thanked him, then turned to look at Li Xun and the headphones in his hand. It was pure black and looked very textured. He couldn’t help but touch it and it was a little heavy.
Li Xun stared at his curled eyelashes without disguising, then leaned close to his ear and lowered his voice: “Do you want it?”
“Of course.” Song Yang nodded, “Can you lend it to me when we get back?”
“Is there any difference between mine and yours?”
Under the camera, they have upturned lips, light in their eyes, and each other.
The second half was purely entertainment. The staff peeled off the curtain behind the target, revealing a panel more than two meters wide, covered with colorful balloons as big as fists.
Each player has 30 arrows in a round. Different points can be obtained by shooting balloons of different colors. Red is seven points, yellow is five points, blue is three points, and the others are zero points. Three points will be deducted for shooting white.
To increase the difficulty, the contestants are divided into groups of two, one is responsible for holding the bow and aiming, and the other is responsible for drawing the bow and releasing the arrow.
They were supposed to draw lots to form a team, but the number Li Xun touched was different from Song Yang’s. He didn’t want to be in a group with a stranger, and he didn’t want Song Yang to be in the same group with someone else. So he shamelessly exchanged a piece of paper with Wang Yu’er and teamed up with Song Yang.
Those who rank higher in the individual competition can play first. Li Xun and his group are in the first group.
Song Yang stood at the shooting line, turned around and asked, “Who will shoot between us?”
“…” Li Xun was silent for a moment, “Let me shoot, you watch.”
Song Yang squinted at him, with a hint of suspicion: “Can you shoot accurately?”
“What skills of mine don’t you know?”
“I’ve never seen you in this position.”
“Isn’t this what you saw?”
The female host standing by bit her lips hard, trying to maintain the last bit of dignity.
Before the countdown began, Song Yang and Li Xun worked out their posture and movements together. This was originally an action that was to be completed by one person, so when two people were together, they had to stay close together.
Song Yang was expectant and nervous at the same time, his breathing was blocked, and his voice was trembling: “Stand behind me, and then, then hook this with your hand.”
Li Xun came over as he wished, and placed his left hand on Song Yang’s shoulder in a very reserved manner, while his other hand hooked the string: “You raise the bow.”
The sound almost brushed against the earlobe, low, sexy, with a clear minty flavor. Song Yang raised the temperature of the venue by ten degrees by his own strength.
Li Xun put his lips on the roots of Song Yang’s hair and smelled the scent of his own shampoo, which was very light and intoxicating. He buried his nose deeper and asked in a low voice: “Is it done? If it’s done, I’ll let it go.”
Song Yang was about to cry, and responded weakly: “Not yet…”
Li Xun tilted his head to look at the sight. Wow, his arm was shaking like Parkinson’s disease and he couldn’t stop it at all. He grabbed Song Yang’s arm and asked, “Why are you shaking?”
“I don’t want to either…” He was so nervous that he almost broke the bow handle.
Time was running out, and Li Xun had no choice but to walk around behind him, hold him in his arms, and push the bow handle with his left hand: “Relax your hand, I’ll push, you aim.”
Song Yang said “Oh”, hooked his arm and pressed it down half a centimeter, then lifted it up a little: “Right at this position.”
Li Xun let go, and the sound of a balloon exploding was heard in the distance. It was a yellow one, and the audience applauded.
The game became more and more easy to play, and the more they tried, the more tacit understanding they gained. They shot and popped 17 balloons in total without being deducted any points, which was a good start.
Song Yang went to pick out gifts happily, and in the middle of the process he did not forget to complain: “Your belt buckle just hit me.”
Li Xun didn’t know what to say. The pants he wore today didn’t have a belt…
Chapter 54 “What are these…”
It was almost dinner time, the exhibition match was over, and the bow pieces needed to be disassembled. Li Xun went off to pack up his things, including Song Yang’s, and put them into a box. He sat on a small bench in the lounge, and suddenly a pair of legs appeared in front of him.
It was a familiar male athlete, and I asked him for his WeChat ID.
Li Xun frowned in confusion, feeling it was a bit weird.
The other person understood his look and explained with a smile, “I asked for it for my cousin. She just watched your performance from the audience and thought it was amazing, but she was too embarrassed to come over.”
Before Li Xun could speak, Wu Jianian came to his rescue: “I’m sorry, our coach has a partner and is about to get married. My sister-in-law will be jealous.”
“Oh, that’s how it is.”
The other party smiled awkwardly and left, leaving Li Xun confused. Originally, the matter would have passed, but he accidentally saw Song Yang standing at the door, and quickly raised his voice to defend himself: “What rumors are you making up! When did I say I was going to get married?”
Wu Jianian covered his mouth and said, “Oh, you can’t make it public, right? I’ll keep it a secret for you…” Then he started gossiping like an old lady from the neighborhood committee, “But getting engaged is a good thing. Why are you hiding it? Your wife’s identity is quite sensitive?”
Li Xun felt that someone between him and Wu Jianian must have lost his mind, and it wasn’t him.
“Who told you that I have a boyfriend?”
Wu Jianian poked towards the door.
Song Yang took a deep breath and almost popped out his double chin. He never expected that his lie would be exposed so quickly. He ran away as if he had seen a ghost, cursing Wu Jianian as a loudspeaker in the vegetable market in his heart.
Seeing this, Li Xun shouted, “Who told you that?”
Song Yang didn’t respond, but the footsteps were getting farther and farther away.
With his wife falling from the sky, Li Xun had no time to pack his things. All the arrows in his hand fell into the box. He ran after Song Yang and shouted at his back, “Why are you running?”
The more he shouted, the more guilty Song Yang felt. He walked through the long corridor and went into the toilet. He really didn’t know how to explain this to Li Xun.
The door creaked and was pushed open.
Song Yang took a deep breath and pressed himself against the door panel, not knowing that when he started running just now, his alopecia wereata was blown up and stood higher than the door panel, so Li Xun saw it as soon as he came in.
The footsteps were getting closer and closer. Song Yang closed his eyes and heard the desperate heartbeat.
The door in front of them was opened, and the two of them stared at each other.
“You really followed me!”
Li Xun stood inside, holding the door with one hand, blocking the way: “Why did you tell people that I have a partner?”
“Do we have to stand here and talk?”
“Didn’t you run in here by yourself?”
Song Yang bent down and tried to get out from under Li Xun’s arm, but was grabbed by the neck.
“Explain it to me.” Li Xun held his belly with one hand and strangled his neck with the other, tying him up in his arms like a hairy crab. “Did you believe in some rumors or did you make them up yourself?”
Maybe it was because he had been running all the way here, Song Yang could feel Li Xun’s skin was very hot even through his clothes, and his temperature rose as well.
“I’m not spreading rumors, I just said it casually.”
Li Xun tilted his head slightly to look at him: “What did you say?”
Song Yang twisted his waist and struggled, but failed to break free. He explained in a weak and feeble voice and apologized again and again, not daring to turn his face away the whole time.
Li Xun lowered his eyes and stared at his lips opening and closing and his neat front teeth, trying hard to suppress his smile: “You are so mean? How dare you cut off my peach blossom?”
The tone didn’t sound angry, but rather a bit frivolous. Song Yang’s Adam’s apple rolled. The bathroom was empty and no one came in. Li Xun’s breathing made his mouth dry.
He had never been held and talked like this before. His limbs were stiff and his mind was blank.
“Why do you say that?” Li Xun rested his chin on Song Yang’s shoulder and asked him again.
Song Yang had a flash of thought in his mind, and he stiffened his neck confidently: “Didn’t you also cut off my romantic opportunities before?”
Everything was fine before, but the last sentence made Li Xun figure out something else: “Are you just trying to get revenge on me?”
“Ah.” Song Yang nodded and said, “Anyway, you don’t like people who are much younger than you, right?”
Li Xun frowned: “When did I say I don’t like those who are too small?”
Song Yang felt uncomfortable when he thought of this, and muttered softly: “The day when Sun Pang invited us to dinner, you said you couldn’t accept a big age gap.”
Li Xun choked. He vaguely remembered saying this, but he had the impression that Song Yang was not there.
“What else did I say?”
“do not have much left.”
Just at this moment, there were voices approaching in the corridor, and the two separated and walked out as if nothing had happened, standing one meter apart.
But after walking a few steps, Li Xun suddenly turned around and said, “But people’s tastes change.”
After leaving the club, their lives returned to normal.
Song Yang was busy studying and training, while Li Xun was busy attending meetings, classes, and discussing matters related to the summer college sports meet with his superiors.
This time the athletes will be competing in Shenzhen, which is a long journey. The organizing committee will only reimburse a fixed amount of competition fees, not food and accommodation. A team includes athletes, substitutes, team leaders, coaches, and medical staff. It costs a lot of money to send so many people. After calculating the account balance, the school team is back to being stretched to the limit again.
The school attaches great importance to competitions and honors, and it would be best if students could get a place in everything. But when it comes to money, they all look bitter.
Li Xun said, “Then I’ll apply first. The school can always give me a thousand bucks. At worst, I can pay for the food. I’ll apply again after I win the competition.”
The team leader poured some water into the tea-stained ceramic cup on the table: “I have already applied for it. The higher-ups mean that we can have the competition first, but the money will not be allocated until the second half of the year.”
Li Xun was stunned: “Why?”
“Of course it depends on the results. If we can’t produce decent results, our funding will only get smaller and smaller.”
Li Xun took a deep breath. The school is equivalent to a small society. The Finance Department has a quota for annual funding. The Sports Department has so many school teams, including basketball, track and field, swimming, and table tennis. If any team has good results, the higher-ups will naturally pay more attention to it and allocate funds faster.
Archery is not the most important event, let alone in school or even in the national team, because it never produces good results.
People always like to follow the light. The less hope there is, the fewer people will devote themselves to the project, and the fewer people will be able to persevere, eventually forming a vicious cycle.
Li Xun clearly remembered that his partner for many years retired before the age of 25. That was the golden age for archery.
In the past, he was helpless and could only watch his teammates leave one after another, but in school, at least he could do something.
“I will pay for the shortfall this time. If you can produce the results, report it to me. If not, forget it.”
His promise made the team leader feel guilty: “Actually, you don’t have to pay for it. The team still has funds. It will be enough to take two fewer people.”
How could Li Xun not know about this choice?
But such a choice means round after round of eliminations. Not to mention the exhausting training, the mental torture is enough to bear.
He recalled how Song Yang had held his wrist and begged him to give him another chance after the provincial games elimination match, and said, “It’s settled.”
At this time, it was 9:15, and it had been more than ten hours since the competition program was broadcast.
Song Yang was in English class when a female classmate bumped his arm and pushed her phone in front of him. He looked confused and asked in a low voice, “What’s wrong?”
The other person was laughing so hard, signaling him with his eyes to watch the video, and considerately took out headphones from his pocket and plugged them in.
Song Yang thought it was some stupid video, so he took the phone and glanced at the professor on the stage spitting all over the place. He lowered his head and clicked on the video that had been widely forwarded. When the voice came out, his eyes widened.
Confirm the number of reposts and likes again.
31,000 reposts, 92,000 likes, 29,000 comments. He couldn’t sit still anymore. He blushed and got into his arms: “What are these…”
The story all started with a few trending searches bought by Liao Tingyuan’s team. The purpose of Liao Tingyuan’s team was simple, which was to attract attention and promote the upcoming competitive idol drama.
His fans also worked hard to boost the popularity of the show, and many passers-by went to watch the game last week. However, audience appeal is really a metaphysics. The team tried their best, but instead attracted people’s attention to the cold-faced champion who didn’t say a few words on the show and the little apprentice who talked a lot of nonsense.
The most popular clip was the one released by Wang Yuer. It was a video of more than half a minute, with just one sentence – #高能量的青春2#. This part was actually cut out in post-production, which is such a pity.
The video shows Song Yang answering the host’s questions while looking back at Li Xun, with sweet background music.
“From the time I started learning to today, every move I made was taught by my master…”
He answered whatever the host asked obediently and also talked about the scene when he first saw Li Xun as a child. His voice was very soft and a little cautious, with admiration and gratitude in his eyes.
Everything about archery is inseparable from the three words “my master”. His smile is clean and pure, as simple as a little animal.
After hearing what he said, Li Xun’s mouth corners became more and more twitchy, and finally he raised his chin and raised his eyebrows in response.
It was this moment that was pulled out by the blogger for a close-up and slowed down.
Netizens were all amazed by the last little interaction, and the number of likes and comments soared at an incredible speed.
Not long after, this short video was forwarded by a million-dollar influencer with a comment – this is an interesting couple, is there anyone who wants to write an article about it?
The comment section of Yuan Bo completely exploded.
——I’m crazy about the master-disciple plot!
——What kind of drama is this?
——It’s not a drama, it’s just a very obscure competitive variety show, but I watched it and it’s quite interesting. This episode is about archery athletes. The one sitting is a retired athlete from the national team, leading the team at school. The younger brother holding the microphone is only a freshman. The two are now on the same school team, and they are a master and apprentice relationship. They participated in the exhibition match together. The blindfolded archery scene was really cool! It was like cheating, I even suspected that it was edited in the later stage.
——The blogger was also there at the time and said it was not edited but a real shot. National-level athletes are really amazing. They have strong muscle memory! After watching this segment, I realized that the blindfolded archery in movies and TV dramas is not made up.
——Sisters, go and watch! This couple’s interaction is so good! Li Xun has no expression when talking to anyone, and he is very calm after winning the championship, but as long as his younger brother opens his mouth, his mouth corners are almost grinning to the back of his ears!
——Hahahahahahahahahaha, I finished watching it too! The way they met was also very romantic!
——You can submit a successful star-chasing bot.
——The last eyebrow raise really piqued my interest! I rushed!
This was the first time that Song Yang saw himself on someone else’s Weibo. He truly experienced the feeling of social death, feeling ashamed and embarrassed. He only realized today that the way he usually looked at Li Xun was so perverted.
His fingertips were shaking as he read the comments, especially when netizens used their imagination to describe their relationship, he felt an unprecedented and particularly complicated emotion.
On the one hand, she was secretly delighted to be listed as the official partner, but on the other hand, she was worried that these contents would cause discomfort to Li Xun.
After finally waiting for the get out of class to end, he downloaded an app and searched for the variety show. The show was really obscure, with each episode lasting only as long as an episode of a TV series.
Before the commercial was over, Zhou Junlin rushed over, patted him on the shoulder, and roared, “Check Weibo! You’re famous!”
Song Yang’s eyelids twitched violently again.
The video is still the same video, but the number of comments and reposts has doubled, and the person who posted the most comments has changed.
——The domineering archer and his sweet and lovely wife, shooting as much as they can during the day and at night. [shy]
Song Yang: “……………………”
The likes and replies are spectacular.
——Qiuqiu sister, please publish a book as soon as possible! I will buy it!
——Can you be more specific about the evening? [shy]
——Me, friend, ICU, understand?
——I can do this physique!
——The visual sense has emerged!
——And the skin color is different! Athletes are really good! I’m already addicted.
Wang Xun’er’s private messages were bombarded by netizens, and she posted a Weibo: Sorry everyone, this video was just shot accidentally. It was the first time I met them, so I really don’t have any contact information. But Li does have a Weibo account, Li Xun Archer, but he doesn’t seem to use it often. I don’t know about his younger brother’s account yet.
Song Yang was thankful that it took less than three seconds to scroll to the bottom and see the next hot message – I know my brother, @Don’t look at me, I’m just a sheep.
The person who left the message is Zhou Junlin.
Song Yang’s scalp tingled as he recalled the dark history he had posted on Weibo. Not long ago, he complained that the beef in the cafeteria was overcooked and it felt like tug-of-war when chewing it; the old professor of the Ideological and Political Theory class had loose teeth and sitting in the front row felt like sitting under a fountain.
I don’t know if the school leaders will find out…
With mixed feelings, he used his mobile phone to log into Weibo, which he hadn’t used for a long time. It was all red, and the number of comments and likes doubled every time he refreshed the page.
However, the more the number increased, the more embarrassed he felt, and his toes were about to dig through the floor.
He clicked on the comments and found that netizens even mentioned his first Weibo post five years ago.
That day happened to be the first day the dog was brought home. The little golden retriever was more than two months old and had just been weaned for a few days, so it was very soft. He held the dog in his arms and kissed it, while his mother was recording a video nearby. After he kissed the dog, he suddenly felt his clothes were hot and a little wet, and then he realized that the dog had peed all over him.
So I posted a Weibo – I see you are quite good at peeing, so just call it “pee” from now on.
The comments were full of “Hahahaha” and “Here to do some archaeology”.
Netizens watched his daily life and left updates one after another. His unknown past was liked and commented on, with resonance, laughter and emotion.
He was scrolling down while laughing, and suddenly a message popped up on WeChat.
Li Xun sent a screenshot and asked in a joking tone: “They said you were my little wife, when are you going to change your words?”
