Stringy Wind in the Ear - Chap 72
Song Yang didn’t go back to the dormitory that night, and they worked until very late. In the final analysis, the problem was still with Li Xun, who seemed to have taken medicine and was too energetic. Song Yang struggled for a long time but couldn’t get it done anyway, so Li Xun asked him to lie down.
They changed their position. Because there was no lubrication, they used some facial cream instead to apply on the skin. Song Yang was pressed down by him for more than half an hour, and the roots of his legs were rubbed red.
Scorpios have a very strong sexual desire. It is not enough for them to release it in bed, so they go to the bathroom to do it again. After indulging, Song Yang’s body was soft and he was too lazy to move, so Li Xun carried him back to the bed.
He rested his head on Li Xun’s arm and fell into a deep sleep in less than three minutes. When the alarm rang in the morning, he still maintained the same sleeping position, with one of his legs numb from being pressed by Li Xun’s thigh.
Before Li Xun opened his eyes, he kissed him first, with his lips pressed against his fluffy short hair, rubbing back and forth several times like he was rubbing an animal. His other hand reached for his phone and turned off the alarm.
Song Yang put his hand on his waist: “I’ll go back first.” After saying this, he smiled: “We are having an affair like this.”
Li Xun also laughed softly: “Then don’t go back.” He had just woken up, and his voice was still hoarse. He cleared his throat and continued: “Just wear my clothes. I have a spare toothbrush.”
Song Yang thought that the spare toothbrush he mentioned was a buy one get one free deal, or the same type that came in a box of two, so when he opened the cabinet door and saw the brand new toiletries set, he was stunned for two seconds.
The toothbrush is electric and the packaging is still unopened. The mouthwash, facial cleanser, body lotion, and a series of other things are all new. There is also a label at the bottom of the toiletries bag with a miniature sheep drawn on it. The drawing skills are good and it is very cute.
“What made you buy these?”
Li Xun leaned against the pool and watched him open the package with joy on his face, his mouth curled up slightly: “I wanted to buy a bottle of shampoo online that day, but when I thought you might come, I couldn’t help but buy a lot.”
Song Yang raised his eyes to look at the person in the mirror and squeezed the toothpaste happily.
Li Xun was still half naked, hugging him from behind and rubbing his collarbone with his chin: “Are you satisfied with my performance?”
Song Yang followed him and swayed gently: “Very satisfied.”
Li Xun slid one hand down to Song Yang’s underwear: “I mean last night.”
Song Yang’s skin tightened instantly, and he felt so hot that he was about to explode: “Are all of you Scorpios like this?”
Li Xun was confused: “What’s wrong?”
Song Yang opened and closed his mouth over and over again, and finally faced the mirror and mouthed, “Saucy.”
Li Xun smiled even more happily, kissed his ear and said, “Then are you willing to come and accompany me tonight?”
He rarely spoke in such a soft tone, which sounded like he was acting like a spoiled child. Song Yang was completely numb. He turned around and kissed his cheek. For the first time, he took the upper hand and said, “It depends on your performance.”
After washing up, Song Yang found some clothes that fit him in Li Xun’s closet and put them on. Without thinking, he opened the door and happened to run into Zhang Qiao coming out from next door.
Zhang Qiao is an athlete from a club in Shanghai. The reason why Song Yang can remember his name clearly is that Zhang Qiao is the oldest in the entire team. He is 35 years old this year. He started training in junior high school and has been in service for more than ten years, but has never won any significant awards.
During this period, he underwent several surgeries due to injuries. Song Yang admired his firm perseverance and had a good impression of him.
Zhang Qiao was a little fat, with a round face, and was wearing light sportswear. When he saw Song Yang, he was stunned: “Why did you come out from here?”
Song Yang was stunned and said guiltily: “I came here to borrow something…”
Zhang Qiao didn’t think too much about it, but just muttered before leaving: “Your clothes are similar to Li Xun’s.”
Just then Li Xun came out and said, “It’s mine.”
Song Yang’s eyes widened, and he said with his eyes: “You’re going to tell everyone about it now?”
Li Xun also used his eyes to comfort him: “He doesn’t understand.”
Zhang Qiao really didn’t understand all this, and he even teased Song Yang whether he had peed himself and that’s why he came to borrow his pants.
Li Xun recalled the night of close contact: “To some extent, it is true…” Before he finished speaking, Song Yang punched him in the back with quite a bit of force. Li Xun took a breath, supported his waist, and turned back to say: “If you get hurt, you’ll suffer the consequences.”
Song Yang blushed and punched him again, but this time Li Xun stopped him and said ambiguously, “This is domestic violence.”
It snowed last night, and the base was covered with snow everywhere. Icicles on the eaves of the cafeteria were falling down one by one.
We went downstairs to gather, thinking we were going to have breakfast, but the coach announced that we were going to run ten kilometers around the playground.
Song Yang’s mentality was a little broken. He had not had time to replenish his energy from last night, and he had to run again.
Wang Nanfeng said: “Physical fitness is a must in the elimination rounds. The qualifying time for men’s five-kilometer race is 27 minutes, and the formal assessment will be held in two weeks.”
When he finished his speech, at least half of the people in the team sighed.
Song Yang’s endurance was average. He could maintain a steady running speed in the first half, but he felt numb in the last two kilometers. He took off his clothes and threw them on the grass, relying on a sense of immortality to keep running.
It took 62 minutes to run 10 kilometers.
With such results, if he were in the track and field team, he would be laughed to death, but in the archery team, it is considered upper-middle class, and the five-kilometer result is also acceptable.
Compared to other sports, archery does not require a high physique for athletes. All they need is enough strength to pull the bowstring, no matter how fat or thin they are. Therefore, there are situations where the heights and body shapes of the players are uneven.
The fattest boy in the team was 1.7 meters tall, and his weight was very close to his height. He shouted that he couldn’t go on and was going to die after running just two laps. The coach didn’t let him go and asked him to continue running. Who would have thought that he actually fainted due to hypoglycemia in the last kilometer.
The boy’s name was Meng Qi. Song Yang only knew his name. Before he had the chance to talk to him, he never saw him again. He heard that he had injured his arm and fractured his wrist bone when he fell, and he would have to wait at least a few more months before continuing training.
After that day, the total number of people in the group changed from 97 to 96.
The training at the base can only be described as boring. There is physical training in the morning, special training in the afternoon, strength training plus special training in the evening. The coach will also torture them with all kinds of new things.
On the first day, flash lights and high-decibel loudspeakers were used to interfere with their vision and hearing, but this was actually a simulation of the real situation on the field.
At the World Championships, there will be at least five to six thousand spectators gathering to watch. Camera flashes and audience cheers are unavoidable distractions, and they must adapt to them in advance.
On the third day, it rained at the base, and the coach asked them to play in the heavy rain, because on the field, the game would not be cancelled unless there were force majeure factors such as typhoons. In the 2008 Olympic final, Zhang Juanjuan defeated the Korean star in the rain and won an individual gold medal.
After fighting for two days without complaint, Song Yang caught a cold. At first, it was just a stuffy nose, but when he woke up the next day, his condition had worsened and he kept coughing. He was worried about infecting Li Xun and refused to sleep with him.
In the middle of the night, Li Xun fearlessly went downstairs and knocked on his door, but was driven back. He was left with only a cup of brewed instant powder and cough syrup, in exchange for a flying kiss.
In the second week, the sky in Beijing finally cleared up, the temperature rose from below zero to above zero, and Song Yang’s cold was basically cured.
They trained as usual and the coach did not interfere with them with the equipment.
Yu Shenwei played two rounds and sat on a small stool to drink water: “It’s suddenly so quiet, I’m a little uncomfortable with it.”
Li Xun didn’t respond, but slightly curled the corners of his lips. His wicked smile gave Song Yang a bad feeling.
A few minutes later, his premonition came true.
Suddenly, a scream was heard from the crowd. It came from the women’s team. There was a slight tremor in the scream, as if they were extremely frightened.
Then the girls screamed one after another at the top of their lungs. If you didn’t know what was going on, you would have thought they had entered a haunted house.
Song Yang stretched his neck to look over and saw that when the team members were aiming at the target seriously, the assistant coach put the live earthworms on their shoulders.
The earthworms, still carrying the fragrance of soil, crawled along the clothes towards the neck. The team members threw away their bows and arrows on the spot, jumped and screamed, and broke down in tears.
Song Yang was also startled by a wriggling earthworm on the ground and jumped behind Li Xun.
Wang Nanfeng put his hands on his hips and said, “Is crying useful? Do you cry like this on the field?”
The girl refused to accept it and repeatedly wiped her neck with a wet tissue, looking disgusted: “There’s no way there can be earthworms! I hate these kinds of wriggling things the most in my life. They’re so disgusting! They’re really disgusting!”
“Disgusting? In the competition, you will face all kinds of unexpected situations, some of which are a hundred times more disgusting than this!” Wang Nanfeng pointed at the timer on the opposite side and roared, “20 seconds! Each of you only has 20 seconds on the field, and you actually threw away your bow and arrow? What kind of competition are you still competing in!”
Although Wang Nanfeng usually looks like a Maitreya Buddha, at the critical moment, he was rigid and serious. With just a few words, he suppressed everyone’s grievances. Everyone wiped the places where the earthworms had crawled and continued to practice archery.
Only the young girl couldn’t accept it. Her eyes were red from crying. When Wang Nanfeng asked her why she didn’t continue practicing, she burst into tears: “If you must torture me this way, I won’t practice anymore!”
Wang Nanfeng was not one to show weakness. He raised his hand and pointed in the direction of the gate, growling, “If you don’t want to practice, leave now!”
The girl had a hot temper. She pinched her last bit of pitiful dignity, picked up her bow and arrow and walked out.
Song Yang stretched out his hand to stop him, but failed to persuade him.
After that day, there was one less person in the group.
Their daily training starts at five in the morning and ends at nine in the evening. This nine o’clock will only be delayed, not advanced. Even in sub-zero temperatures, everyone often trains until their underwear is soaked.
At first, Song Yang was so frightened by the little snake that the coach threw into his neck that he jumped up and down on the spot, howling like a ghost, and had to scrub himself three times when he returned to the dormitory. But as time went by, he gradually got used to it and even had the courage to reach out and touch the little snake’s head.
They have one day off every week, during which they can go shopping near the base to buy some food and drinks and have a good sleep, but Song Yang knows that he is not as skilled as others, so he dares not slack off and secretly practices with Li Xun on weekends.
With love as nourishment, all suffering is insignificant.
Their muscles become tighter and firmer with day-to-day training, and their mentality becomes more and more stable, just like bamboo shoots breaking through the soil after rain, unstoppable.
Two weeks later, the first round of eliminations ended and the total number of people in the group dropped from 95 to 73.
Li Xun ranked second in total points, Song Yang ranked fourth, and Yu Shenwei ranked seventh, and they successfully advanced.
The points scoring rules are as follows.
Each person has twelve arrows in each round, which are released in five times, with three arrows released in each round. If three arrows can get 30 rings, 5 points will be added.
29 rings add 3 points.
28 rings add 2 points.
27 rings plus 1 point.
No points will be awarded for 26 rings.
1 point will be deducted for 25 rings.
Each person has a total of 36 arrows, and the final ranking is based on the number of points, and the last one is eliminated.
The total points fluctuate based on the performance of the team members each time, and will be cleared and started again at the next stop.
At the end of the Chengdu station, Li Xun jumped to the top of the list with an amazing score of 343 rings in 36 arrows, Yu Shenwei was ninth and Song Yang was tenth.
What is the concept of 343 rings?
Even within a shooting range of 70 meters, every arrow shot by Li Xun was either ten rings or nine rings, and more than half of them were ten rings, a result that would win him a medal in the Olympics.
This was the first time Song Yang had seen Li Xun achieve such an exaggerated result, and it was also Li Xun’s first time. However, this kind of thing that doesn’t happen often can only be attributed to luck and cannot be used as a reference to one’s true strength.
After the Hainan station ended, there were only 25 people left in the group. Excluding coaches, there were only 18 athletes left, 9 men and 9 women.
Song Yang, Li Xun, Yu Shenwei are all on the list, as is Zhang Qiao.
What puzzled Song Yang the most was that the famous athlete who had participated in the Olympics was eliminated in the third round of eliminations – and he was defeated by Shen Wei.
“This really shouldn’t happen.” On the way back to the dormitory, Song Yang and Li Xun discussed this matter. “He ranked first in points in the first race and ranked in the top three in the second race. Why did his performance drop so much in Hainan? I really thought he was going to destroy Yu Shenwei just now.”
Yu Shenwei happened to hear this, and he said angrily, “You just beat me in Macau, who are you looking down on? Do you believe I can destroy you?”
The evening glow was a bit dazzling. Li Xun lowered the brim of his hat, ignored him, and turned to look at Song Yang: “Do you know why in our line of work, young people are always more popular than old people?”
Song Yang thought seriously and frowned unconsciously.
In fact, in his impression, archery is different from other sports. It does not rely entirely on physical strength and explosive power.
Older athletes are skilled, experienced, and calm, and these are the athletes that coaches like.
“Is it because their energy is scattered? Are older athletes under too much pressure in life?”
“Well, as you get older, there are too many things to consider. Even if you have the courage to go forward without hesitation, there are invisible hands behind you, pulling you back into the abyss.” Li Xun looked at Song Yang’s confused eyes and smiled lightly, “When you reach my age, you will understand.”
Song Yang put one arm into his coat, put his arm around his waist and said, “Then I will be the hand that pulls you up.”
Li Xun rubbed the back of his head: “You already are.”
The last stop is Qinghai.
The day of departure happened to be New Year’s Eve, so they first had to take the high-speed rail to Xining and then take a bus to Qinghai.
Since they couldn’t go home for the New Year, everyone was in a low spirits. They fell asleep as soon as they got in the car and ate as soon as they woke up – except for the couple in the corner who had just fallen in love.
“Stop moving, it’s really itchy!” Song Yang was twisted into a caterpillar by Li Xun’s tickling. Li Xun kept reaching his hand into his clothes and tickling him.
Song Yang slid down from the chair and escaped the danger. After finally taking a breath, he found the right opportunity and bit Li Xun’s shoulder to take revenge.
Then Li Xun grabbed his jaw and squeezed it hard, forcing him to let go.
The person sitting next to them was Zhang Qiao, who was eating spicy noodles while watching the show and expressing his opinion: “You can’t beat him, but you still have to make trouble with him. Aren’t you asking for it? Wouldn’t it be better to just watch some TV?”
Song Yang’s jaw was pinched, and his teeth couldn’t move. He said incoherently: “That’s right, isn’t it nice to watch some TV? Let me go.”
Li Xun kneaded it like dough, pinched it twice before letting it go, and mouthed, “I’ll deal with you tonight.”
The closer you get to Xining, the wider the view becomes. There are endless mountains, and the peaks look like surging waves. A half sun hangs on the western mountain, and the rosy glow dyes the floating clouds the color of fire.
They fell silent, amazed by the view outside the window.
Song Yang took out the camera from his bag to take pictures, and Li Xun quietly took out his cell phone and took pictures of him from behind.
The scenery outside the window is great and the exposure does not need to be adjusted. Li Xun posted the original photo on Weibo with the caption: He ignores me anymore.
Soon, fans recognized this profile and the number of comments increased rapidly.
——Ahhhhhh! It’s Xiao Yang!
——Brother! What’s wrong with your tone?
——Grandma! The blogger you follow has updated!
——Xun Ge: My little wife ignored me, I feel wronged.jpg
——Honeymoon trip?
——Don’t you think my tone of postings has become sweeter since I fell in love?
——nsdd!
Song Yang reposted and commented: Muah.
The comment section completely exploded.
Soon, the sky darkened, and only hazy outlines of the distant mountains and lakes remained, and the stars were looming.
Zhang Qiao fell asleep with his neck tilted back, and snoring sounds filled the train.
Song Yang leaned on Li Xun’s shoulder to rest. Under the blanket, warm fingertips silently passed through his fingers and clenched them.
Song Yang’s fingers were quite cold, so Li Xun lifted the hem of his sweater and hid his hands inside.
Occasionally, fireworks bloomed outside the window, lighting up the cold winter night, and the endless mountains and rivers appeared.
Song Yang really wanted to take out his camera to take pictures, but he held back.
He looked at the stars in the distance and asked, “Master, what is your New Year’s wish?”
Li Xun rubbed his fingertips on the dry back of his hand: “Experience all the difficulties you will encounter in this line of work.”
Song Yang was shocked: “Why!?”
Li Xun’s voice was gentle, but sounded very cautious: “When you are at a loss, I know what to do.”
