Stringy Wind in the Ear - Chap 69
This strangely long stare caught the attention of several people in the team.
Wu Jianian also looked at the woman opposite him and asked, “Who is this person?”
“I don’t know him.” Li Xun no longer looked at the other person, turned around silently, put his right palm on Song Yang’s lower back and said, “Let’s go.”
Just before they were about to get into the car, the woman behind them suddenly shouted, “Li Xun!”
Her voice was shaking so much that one could tell she was a little excited. Besides that, Song Yang could actually hear a bit of fear in it.
Li Xun quickened his pace, and the sound of high heels came from behind him.
“Wait a minute!” Jiang Yuan grabbed Li Xun’s wrist, “I have a lot to tell you.”
Song Yang read some disgust from Li Xun’s indifferent expression, and had a prediction about the identity of this woman. He narrowed his eyes, and the more he looked at her, the more familiar she looked. In a flash of inspiration, he remembered that he had seen the wedding photo of this woman and Li Guotao when he was flipping through the photo album at Li Xun’s house.
There is a small mole on the tip of her nose, so there must be something wrong with it.
In the courtyard, An Zhiyu shouted something to Jiang Yuan, but Jiang Yuan seemed not to hear it. She held Li Xun’s wrist tightly and repeated in a pleading tone, “Wait for me here, ok?”
Li Xun didn’t refuse in the end. He pushed Song Yang into the car and said, “You go to the competition first.”
Song Yang leaned against the window and asked, “Are you still coming over?”
Li Xun said, “Let’s see later.”
The car started, and Wu Jianian and Song Yang were still leaning on the car window looking back, their bodies twisted into a 180-degree twist.
“What’s going on…” Wu Jianian usually watched a lot of melodramatic TV series. He connected the scenes just now, put his finger on his lips, and gasped, “Could it be that An Zhiyu is the coach’s illegitimate son?”
Song Yangju rolled his eyes speechlessly: “Who ate your brain?”
Wu Jianian suddenly remembered that Song Yang and Li Xun had that relationship, and quickly apologized: “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have joked around.”
Song Yang frowned: “Why are you saying sorry to me?”
Wu Jianian couldn’t help gossiping: “Then do you know what the relationship between the coach and that woman is?”
Song Yang suddenly thought of something. Li Xun had told him before that his mother remarried an American, but how did she know An Zhiyu? She remarried twice?
He couldn’t figure it out, and he estimated that Li Xun was also confused at this time.
Song Yang’s intuition was still very accurate. Li Xun had indeed not contacted Jiang Yuan in these years. The first question he asked Jiang Yuan was: “Is this your son?”
Jiang Yuan didn’t answer, but asked him to sit aside for a while and talk after he finished dealing with the matter.
Li Xun sat in the corner, just watching her quietly, communicating with An Zhiyu and the middle-aged man in fluent Korean. During the conversation, he hit An Zhiyu a few times as if to vent his anger. An Zhiyu did not dare to fight back, pointing to the place on his waist where Yu Shenwei hit him and said, “It’s injured.”
Jiang Yuan lifted up his shirt and took a look, then said distressedly, “Hurry up and ask the doctor to apply some medicine on you.”
The middle-aged man paid the more than 10,000 yuan in compensation for An Zhiyu, and Jiang Yuan pressed An Zhiyu’s head to apologize to the person in charge of the homestay, just like a parent who was called to the office to clean up the mess made by his child when he was a child.
Li Xun is not a three-year-old child. Seeing this, the answer is already very clear and ironic.
Before he met this family of three, he could still comfort himself that she must have had her own difficulties in escaping so hastily back then, and he could just regard it as a woman’s last resistance to fate. It didn’t matter without a mother, as he had already gotten through the days.
But now he couldn’t be so tolerant.
He didn’t understand why Jiang Yuan could give all this love selflessly to An Zhiyu, but was always stingy in giving it to him and his sister.
Is it because An Zhiyu is better than him? Or is his birth just an accident that made Jiang Yuan feel at a loss?
He felt unfair and even angry about this.
After dealing with An Zhiyu’s affairs, it was already ten o’clock in the morning. Jiang Yuan booked a table at a dessert shop and asked Li Xun if he would like to talk to her alone. Li Xun did not refuse.
Before leaving, the middle-aged man and Jiang Yuan kissed each other on the cheek, while An Zhiyu looked at Li Xun with a meaningful look, and finally curled the corners of his lips provocatively.
This behavior is childish and funny.
Li Xun couldn’t describe what that feeling was. He knew that he shouldn’t and didn’t need to bother with an insignificant person, but he still couldn’t avoid the psychological discomfort.
The dessert shop was not far from the B&B, so Jiang Yuan and Li Xun walked there. When they arrived at the shop, Jiang Yuan looked through the menu and suddenly realized that she knew nothing about her son’s preferences. She asked him awkwardly what he wanted to eat.
Li Xun ordered a portion of the signature mango sago and almond tea. When Jiang Yuan ordered, he pointed at several snacks and asked him if he wanted to eat them. Li Xun kept shaking his head and said, “I’m not hungry. Just tell me what you want to say. I’m on a flight back at 1pm.”
“Ah.” Jiang Yuan immediately closed the menu and called the waiter.
Her flustered movements and attentive behavior reminded Li Xun of someone – Chu Zhi’s biological father, Zhang Han.
They both expressed guilt, but they had another home in a faraway place, and before they met, they might not even have thought that they had a child.
To some extent, Jiang Yuan was not even as good as Zhang Han, so no matter her expression or actions, how nervous she was, or how gently she spoke, Li Xun never felt anything.
Compared to Jiang Yuan, he would rather have a stranger sitting opposite him, at least he would feel more comfortable eating there.
“Is your dad okay?” Jiang Yuan asked.
Li Xun asked expressionlessly: “What’s the point of asking these questions now?”
Jiang Yuan’s voice became smaller and smaller: “I’m sorry.”
Li Xun said unceremoniously: “Such an apology is meaningless. Besides, I don’t see that you feel any guilt towards me, my sister, or this family. If we hadn’t met today, this apology wouldn’t exist.”
His words made Jiang Yuan silent for a long time, and suddenly tears began to fall.
Li Xun couldn’t bear to see people crying, so he breathed a sigh of relief and pushed the tissue box on the table over: “Forget it, go ahead and talk, I’m listening.”
Jiang Yuan wiped her eyes and talked about the reason for her divorce from Li Guotao. What surprised Li Xun was that Jiang Yuan said she had sent them many letters and called them, but there was no response. Later, Li Guotao changed his address and they could no longer be contacted.
“After that, I met you once at the Asian Games, but you were competing at that time. I was worried that it would affect your condition, so I didn’t contact you privately.” At this point, Jiang Yuan lowered his head, “I didn’t have the courage to look for you again.”
Li Xun said: “My dad told me at the time that you went to the United States and were with the coach of the American team.”
“Well, my husband…” Jiang Yuan realized something and quickly changed the subject, “An Zhiyu’s father was the assistant coach of the South Korean team before. He had some experience, and was later hired by the American team as an assistant coach. He stayed there for six years. When your brother grew up, we returned to Korea.”
The address “brother” and the word “return” made Li Xun feel uncomfortable and he finally couldn’t sit still anymore.
“Please don’t call him my younger brother all the time. I don’t really know him well—oh, to be more precise, I don’t know him at all. The reason I came here is to listen to you tell me why you chose to give birth to me and then abandoned me so irresponsibly.”
His voice was a little higher, and other customers in the store looked over here curiously.
Jiang Yuan’s answer was still the same few words, “I’m sorry.” This time she said it many times in a row. Her tears smudged her makeup and she looked full of guilt. But in Li Xun’s opinion, such an apology was empty. It could neither make up for the past nor change the future. It was just her way of alleviating a little bit of guilt.
Li Xun accidentally saw that the screen of her mobile phone showed a picture of An Zhiyu, and he said indifferently: “Your new son is amazing.”
Jiang Yuan heard a hint of sarcasm, but still said: “He is just like you. He also likes archery and has been practicing since he was a child.”
This was the first time that Li Xun didn’t respond when he heard the word “archery”. He said “Oh” and stood up and said, “Sorry, I have to catch a plane. I’m leaving first.”
“Can you give me your contact information?”
Li Xun did not look back, just as resolute as she had been back then.
Jiang Yuan opened her mouth, but the words to keep him were stuck in her throat, but no sound came out. She lowered her head and found that the things on the table were not moved at all, and there was a sense of someone trying to distance himself from her.
Her tired face was reflected on the smooth glass, and she seemed to see two words printed on her face: You deserve it.
Because of this sudden reunion, Li Xun was unable to say goodbye to her young boyfriend properly. Fortunately, Song Yang didn’t mind it and was only concerned about his mood.
Li Xun said on the phone: “To be honest, I don’t have any feelings for her. I’m just a little annoyed with that An Zhiyu. He deserves a beating.”
This was the first time Song Yang heard Li Xun vent his inner displeasure. After realizing that his status was different, he immediately said, “I’m annoyed with him too! Next time we meet on the field, I will definitely beat him up for you!”
Then I heard Li Xun laughing softly on the other end of the phone, and his mood seemed to change from gloomy to bright.
Song Yang added: “Be careful on your way back, and remember to call me when you get home.”
Li Xun imitated his tone: “Ah.”
At around 1:00 p.m., Li Xun and Li Chuzhi departed from Macau and Beijing airports respectively, and landed in Nancheng at about the same time.
Li Xun took her from Zhang Han.
Song Jingshan and Li Huiying had been waiting at the airport for a long time. When Li Chuzhi saw them, he ran over like a corgi whose collar had just been taken off: “I missed you so much!——”
“Ouch!” Li Huiying picked her up and kissed her again and again. “It’s only been half a year, how come you’ve grown so much? Godmother can’t even hold you anymore.”
Seeing that Li Xun was only wearing a thin windbreaker, Song Jingshan couldn’t help but complain: “Why are you wearing so little in the middle of winter?”
Li Xun explained: “It’s over ten degrees in Macau. I have a coat in my suitcase and I’ll wear it soon.”
Song Jingshan said, “Don’t wait for a while, put it on now. You young people should be elegant. Did you bring your long johns? It’s getting colder here again these past two days.”
“No…” Li Xun scratched his head, “I rarely wear long johns.”
Song Jingshan was surprised and said, “How can you not wear long johns in the middle of winter? Be careful of getting arthritis when you get old. When we get back, I’ll go to Xiaoyang’s room and see if there’s a new set for you.”
Li Huiying said, “Yes, yes, of course. I remember buying him several sets of underwear during the Double Eleven discount last year. Xiaoxun, you should take two sets back to alternate with each other. The outdoors in Beijing must be colder than here. How could he not wear long johns?”
So, they made the decision for Li Xun without any hesitation, but it also brought a little warmth to this cold winter night.
Li Guotao prepared dinner at home. Knowing that Chuzhi and the others were coming back, he worked for more than two hours and prepared a whole table of hot pot ingredients.
As soon as you enter the door, the whole house is filled with the aroma of dipping sauce.
The hotpot was for two of them, not because some people had different tastes, but because the family specially cooked a pot of soup base for Li Xun, and all the food that athletes were not allowed to touch was avoided and cooked on the other side.
Song Jingshan patted Li Xun on the shoulder and laughed loudly: “You have now been listed as one of the key protected persons in our family. Work hard and win glory for the country.”
Li Xun was touched by the words “our family”, as if someone had sprinkled a spoonful of sugar in many flavors on his chest.
Before Li Huiying sat down, she found a tablet and a stand, placed it on the table, and then made a video call to Song Yang.
Song Yang must have just returned to the B&B not long ago. He hasn’t even changed his clothes yet and is lying on the bed resting.
He looked at Li Xun and smiled shyly at first. Then he saw the table full of dishes and growled, “What’s going on? Are you planning to show me your food?”
Song Jingshan asked with a smile: “Have you had dinner?”
“I had cart noodles and egg waffles.” Song Yang licked his lips. “These bullfrog legs look so tender. Please save some for me. I’ll be back in two days.”
Li Huiying ate a slice of tripe: “I’ll buy more when you come back. Eat fresh ones.”
After talking about food, they talked about today’s competition. Although Li Huiying had never agreed to Song Yang joining the provincial team at first, when they really went out to compete and helped the Chinese team win a place, she laughed more happily than anyone else and didn’t even bother to eat.
“Is this true? You even won a silver medal! That’s amazing.”
Song Yang: “The silver medal is not enough. My goal is to win the gold medal from the Korean team. Besides, this is just a small competition, it doesn’t count.”
Li Huiying: “Aren’t there hundreds of people participating? You’re not young anymore. Are you going to participate in the Olympics?”
Song Yang said: “That is my ultimate goal.”
It was at this moment that Li Xun suddenly realized that Song Yang had grown a lot in this year. He was always too shy to talk about such goals before, but several competitions broadened his horizons and confidence, and he was no longer afraid to declare his dreams to others.
Song Jingshan said: “Then you have to hone your skills for a few more years. I think those who make it to the Olympics are veterans in their thirties, with a more mature mentality and rich experience.”
“That’s not necessarily true,” Li Xun said. “In 2016, a young player from the Shandong team, Wang Dapeng, went to the Rio Olympics. He was only 20 years old that year and had not been a member of the provincial team for long. The training conditions for young people nowadays are much better than ours, and they are improving fast, like riding a rocket.”
Song Jingshan nodded and smiled: “The reason why we can make rapid progress is actually because of the experience passed down from generation to generation after generation after they have experienced setbacks and failures, and then constantly summed up, innovated, and made breakthroughs. Experience is the most valuable thing. If there is no one leading the way, they will have to slowly explore the technical movements for many years.”
Under the watchful eyes of the crowd, Song Yang gave a wink: “Thank you for leading the way.”
Li Xun was completely immersed in her boyfriend’s beauty and couldn’t help herself. She chewed a piece of ginger as if it were bamboo shoots without realizing it. It was so spicy that her face turned hideous and the whole family burst into laughter.
At night, Li Xun was arranged to stay in Song Yang’s bedroom. This place was no longer unfamiliar to him. He turned on the air conditioner in a familiar way, took a shower, blew his hair, threw the dirty clothes into the laundry basket, and finally got into bed.
There is a cartoon doll on the bedside. It is the New Year’s gift that Li Chuzhi gave to Song Yang, Duffy Bear, Stella Lou’s good friend.
After washing, it smelled very similar to Song Yang’s bed, with a little bit of floral scent from fabric softener.
He hugged the bear as if it were his little boyfriend, but he always felt like something was missing and couldn’t sleep, so he sent a message to Song Yang, asking him if he was asleep.
Song Yang didn’t reply, so he sent another video call. No one answered for a long time. Just when he was wondering if Song Yang had fallen asleep, the video call was suddenly disconnected.
Song Yang sent a voice message: “I’m taking a shower. I’ll talk to you later.”
There was a sound of splashing water from the other end. Li Xun imagined some scenes in his mind, licked his lips, and shamelessly sent a message: “I don’t believe it unless you video chat with me now.”
So the video popped up again, and this time it worked.
Since Li Xun had stayed in Macau for two nights, he was familiar with the bathroom environment. From the position of the camera, he could tell that Song Yang had placed his phone on the storage rack where the shower gel was placed in the shower room.
Song Yang had a head full of foam, and his cheeks and body skin were red from the heat.
Due to the angle, only the upper half could be seen, but it was enough to make Li Xun’s blood boil.
“You can see clearly now, I’m dead.” Song Yang said.
“No.” Li Xun pressed on, “Aren’t you bored taking a bath alone? I’ll talk to you.”
Song Yang glanced at him: “If you want to take advantage of me, just say so.”
Li Xun changed his lying position, propped his phone on the bedside, and said with a sly smile: “If I tell you directly, I’m afraid you can’t bear it.”
“I can’t bear anything.”
“Then move the camera downwards so I can see if it’s big.”
Song Yang’s eyes widened, and he was forced to swear: “Fuck!”
Li Xun cursed first: “Rogue~”
Song Yang found that the curse words he was about to say were blocked back, and his face turned red, and he felt embarrassed but also wanted to laugh.
Just these one sentence raised the temperature of the entire bathroom room by at least ten degrees. He felt a little short of oxygen, so he pushed open the glass door to get some fresh air and happened to hear a knock on the door outside.
The sound had been there just now, but without the obstruction of the glass door, it could be heard more clearly.
The leader called out from outside: “Are you asleep?”
Song Yang hurriedly turned off the shower and put on a piece of clothing: “Not yet? What’s wrong?”
“I have a happy event that I need to discuss with you in person. Is it convenient for you now?”
