Stringy Wind in the Ear - Chap 62
The next morning, Song Yang was awakened by the vibration of the bracelet on his wrist. He habitually touched the mobile phone beside the pillow and found that it had been turned off automatically.
He didn’t remember when he fell asleep last night. He just vaguely remembered that Li Xun said he was going to the bathroom. After that, he was too sleepy and didn’t wait for Li Xun to come back.
He recharged his phone and immediately opened WeChat, which showed a small red dot.
It was a message from Li Xun: Are you awake?
Song Yang laughed out loud.
As we all know, this kind of meaningless question can be translated as – I miss you.
Unexpectedly, Li Xun was even more anxious than him. He probably didn’t sleep well all night.
Before Song Yang could reply, there was a knock on the door.
“Who is it?” he asked as he walked.
Wu Jianian: “Me.”
Song Yang rubbed his dazed eyes and opened the door: “What’s wrong?”
“It’s nothing, just wake up.” Wu Jianian stood at the door without entering, muttering quietly, “Brother Xun called me early in the morning and said that your phone was out of battery and the alarm clock couldn’t go off, so he asked me to wake you up… It’s inexplicable, how did he know that your phone was out of battery?”
So that’s how it is.
Song Yang was surprised and felt guilty: “I don’t know, I guess, I guess he called me but couldn’t get through.”
Wu Jianian smiled and imitated him in a weird voice: “Gugugugugu, I guess it didn’t go through…” He leaned forward a little bit and narrowed his eyes: “There is definitely something wrong with you two.”
Song Yang actually hoped that something was really wrong, but unfortunately his relationship with Li Xun was more innocent than the vegetable and tofu soup in the cafeteria.
The training tasks at the base were much more arduous than at school. Except for lunch breaks and after ten o’clock in the evening, they had almost no time to connect to the same channel.
The Beijing team where Li Xun is located has only one day off a week, and the team has strict regulations that professional athletes are not allowed to go out without permission.
Thus, until Song Yang reported to school, the wish in the memo to travel with Li Xun was never fulfilled, not to mention the “next time for sure” he promised at the airport.
He couldn’t even touch the shadow of Li Xun at all.
Autumn is the peak season for provinces and cities to hold sports meets. Li Xun had just returned to the team and had to play in competitions to find his touch, and also had to earn points on the world rankings, just like a celebrity taking on commercial performances, traveling all over the world.
I was in Chengdu in early September, flew to Hong Kong in late September, and went to Berlin, Germany to participate in the world competition in October.
The frequency of their chats on WeChat became less and less, and sometimes they just said good night to each other and that was it.
However, as a colleague and as her future husband, Song Yang still understands and sympathizes with Li Xun.
He knew how busy the competition period was and how tiring the training was, so he seldom sent messages to disturb Li Xun, and he didn’t want Li Xun to be distracted by anything.
He also gradually changed his mindset about love. If he wanted a wife, he couldn’t just wait for someone to come down from a high place. He had to learn to swim against the current.
In mid-November, winter arrived everywhere, the temperature dropped sharply, and the wind was biting cold.
On weekends, students stay in their dormitories and don’t want to go out. Only the training hall is still noisy.
Everyone sat together to discuss the indoor archery open tournament to be held next week.
The team leader flipped open the file in his hand and said, “I checked these days. Last year, there were 17 countries participating in the indoor competition, with nearly 500 athletes participating. This year it is held in Macau, and the temperature is just right. I think there will be more athletes participating, not less…”
Although it is a world competition, there is still a certain gap between this world-class level and the World Championships, World Cup and Olympics. Most of them are newcomers with experience in national competitions who are trying out the waters to get a feel for it, and there are very few veterans participating.
Coach Liu said: “Last year, a dark horse was the Korean teenager An Zhiyu, who was 18 years old and defeated the IWS series champion Austin.”
Song Yang uttered a low “Wow”.
Austin is the American athlete who beat Li Xun on the World Cup circuit a few years ago.
If he remembered correctly, Austin must be around 26 or 27 years old this year, and he must have a lot of experience in competitions. He was actually beaten by someone who just came of age…
It is undeniable that South Korea still has absolute dominance in archery, just like our country in table tennis.
Song Yang vaguely remembered Li Xun saying in class that almost all Korean athletes started learning archery in elementary school. In this regard alone, our country’s athletes are already far behind.
Coach Liu said: “There was originally a Youth Olympic Games this year, but An Zhiyu was over the age limit and it was not his turn. I think he will come again.”
Song Yang pushed the pen cap open with his fingertips, then pushed it back in, his brows furrowed.
Wu Jianian came over and whispered, “This is your first time competing, so don’t put too much pressure on yourself. Just play as hard as you can. You’re not going for a ranking anyway.”
Song Yang: “If not for the ranking, what else do you want to fight for?”
Wu Jianian opened his mouth and met Song Yang’s sharp and high-spirited eyes. The word “experience” rolled around on the tip of his tongue and then fell back.
“Just don’t be too nervous.”
“Um.”
The Hong Kong and Macau Pass was processed a month ago, and the team set off on the third day after the meeting.
In this competition, only Yu Shenwei and Song Yang from T University participated, and they were registered under the name of Nancheng Provincial Team. Wu Jianian made a mistake in the selection and was a substitute player.
Due to funding constraints, the tour leader booked a special flight.
The original schedule was to take off at 3pm and arrive at Macau Airport at 6pm, but due to weather conditions, the flight was delayed. Everyone was restless in the waiting hall, fearing that they would miss tomorrow’s game.
Yu Shenwei complained: “Why don’t you book a room for one more day?”
What else could it be?
Because I’m poor.
The racing committee only reimburses the food and lodging expenses during the competition, and the excess is borne by the participants themselves. For so many people, staying one more night in Macau is enough to buy a few better sets of equipment.
At seven o’clock in the evening, the take-off information of the flight finally sounded over the radio. Everyone finally stopped complaining and boarded the plane one by one.
However, it was only after getting on the plane that Song Yang realized what it meant to be on pins and needles.
The cabin of the special flight was small, the seats were close together, and the backrests could not be adjusted. Song Yang had long legs, and his knees were directly against the backrest of the front seat.
The most terrifying thing is that the seat angle is almost ninety degrees. Short people can lie on the small table and take a nap, but with his body shape, if he wants to sleep, he can only sit there like a mummy. His muscles cannot relax at all. It is even more tiring than taking the high-speed rail.
On the way, the plane encountered strong air currents. Such a huge aircraft seemed insignificant in the dark sky and earth. The two wings shook like the flapping wings of a butterfly. Song Yang was dizzy and a sour feeling in his stomach surged up again and again. Every second was torture.
Before long, he heard the sounds of vomiting and a child crying from behind him. He held on to the back of the chair and gritted his teeth to hold it in. But when the plane turned and tilted, he finally couldn’t hold it in anymore and tore open the garbage bag and vomited violently.
The coach sitting in the back heard the noise, stretched his neck to squeeze between the seats and asked, “Are you okay? Do you need some paper?”
Song Yang responded, but just as he reached out to take it, another wave of sour water surged up, and this time, he vomited out even the half-digested dinner.
The passenger sitting next to him helped get a tissue.
He raised his head miserably, his face was pale and his arms were shaking.
When he heard the warning tone on the radio to prepare for landing, he felt relieved to have survived the disaster.
It was already past ten o’clock in the evening when we got off the plane, and we chartered a car to go to the B&B.
The winter in Macau is as warm as the spring in the south city, and the night sky is dotted with a few stars.
Song Yang lay listlessly on the half-open car window to enjoy the fresh air. The discomfort in his stomach had subsided, but he was exhausted from vomiting on the plane and he couldn’t recover for a while.
He casually took a street scene photo and sent it to the person who pinned it on WeChat, pouring out all his frustrations that he had nowhere to vent to along the way.
[Song Yang: I almost vomited up the leftover rice.]
【Li Xun: Touch the fur.】
[Song Yang: The plane was shaking so badly at that time, I thought I was going to die here.]
【Li Xun: The harm will last for thousands of years.】
[Song Yang: If I really die, will you feel bad? ]
[Li Xun: What do you think? If you have a fever, I will feel uncomfortable too.]
Song Yang smiled foolishly.
[Song Yang: How do you feel? Will you cry?]
He had never seen Li Xun cry for any reason, and it was hard for him to imagine.
After a while, the phone vibrated.
【Li Xun: It’s like losing a family member.】
Song Yang’s nose twitched.
The interior of the car was pitch black, with only the light from the screen illuminating his bright pupils.
[Song Yang: What are you doing now? ]
【Li Xun: I just took a shower and am ready to go to bed. 】
[Song Yang: Okay, then you should go to bed early. Hug.gif]
【Li Xun: Hug.gif】
It was late at night when the car arrived at the B&B. Everyone was starving, so they put down their luggage and went out to find food.
The place they booked was a bit remote. After walking half a kilometer, they were still surrounded by rows of residential buildings. There was only a very small convenience store with lights on. Business in this place was probably not very good. Some corners of the shelves had accumulated a thin layer of dust, and the store was not well stocked.
Song Yang picked out some fresh yogurt, juice and instant noodles, then turned around and found Wu Jianian still playing with his phone.
“Why aren’t you picking? Are you still chatting with your girlfriend?” he asked.
Before he could see clearly who he was chatting with, Wu Jianian had already locked the screen.
Song Yang uttered a low “hmm”.
The prices in Macau are a bit high for students, so we just bought some fast food to fill our stomachs and went back.
Song Yang and Wu Jianian lived in the same room. There was a one-meter-wide aisle between the two narrow beds, which was exactly the same as at home.
He couldn’t help missing Li Xun again. He missed the time of jogging with Li Xun in the morning; he missed the midnight snacks that Li Xun cooked for him; he missed the pleasant smell of Li Xun.
He counted the days and found that he and Li Xun had not seen each other for 115 days.
If they continue like this, they will be the next Cowherd and Weaver Girl.
He sighed, opened a can of instant noodles, and took a shower while the water was boiling.
When he came out of the bathroom, he found that the Wu family member was gone.
He thought Wu Jianian went to another room to use the toilet, so he didn’t think too much about it and sat on the edge of the bed waiting for the instant noodles to boil.
About half a minute later, someone knocked on the door, slowly but forcefully.
“Coming…” He slowly moved towards the door in his slippers. The moment the door opened, his pupils dilated.
A familiar body scent hit him in the face, and he threw himself into her arms in ecstasy, so surprised that he even cried a little: “Why are you here? You didn’t even tell me you were here.”
Li Xun had already made plans when he heard Song Yang was coming here a week ago. He booked a flight on the same day as Song Yang and the others, and arrived exhausted, with his shirt wrinkled and his hair a little messy.
He gently kissed Song Yang’s frizzy hair and said with a smile, “I want to give you a surprise.”
