Stringy Wind in the Ear - Chap 74
Song Yang was stunned for a few seconds before he understood the message.
He knew that Li Xun was wild and of high rank, but he didn’t expect it to be so high that he could fight back with just a few numbers and leave him speechless.
To be honest, there was a gap between Li Xun’s response and his psychological expectations, and it was a big gap.
He lit up the screen with a dying effort.
——Is it okay to change the taste occasionally?
–Can.
That’s about right.
Song Yang turned over excitedly and wanted to ask Zhou Junlin for advice again, but the screen lit up again.
——Unless you can beat me in the trials.
——Look down on me?
——Looking forward to your performance.
After a few bowls of mutton offal noodles, everyone gradually adapted to life on the plateau.
The short three-week training period passed quickly, and early spring showed signs of approaching.
In the early morning, the clear dew sparkled on the tips of the leaves, the damp mist was dispersed by the morning sun, and the sound of warm-up jogging footsteps echoed over the training ground of the base.
Wang Nanfeng led two teaching assistants to nail up the brand new target paper, then set up the telescope and opened the score record book.
Today is the last round of the knockout match from nine to three. After it is over, one substitute will be left to prepare for the next match, and the rest will have to go back to where they came from.
The last round does not require physical fitness assessment, and the rules have been slightly changed. The ranking is first determined by the total number of rings in the thirty-six arrows, and the bottom three are directly eliminated.
The remaining six will compete one-on-one, with the first matching the sixth, the second matching the fifth, and the third matching the fourth. The winners will advance, and finally a substitute player will be selected from the remaining three.
The match was scheduled for two o’clock in the afternoon, and there was a rare crowd of people gathered on the field.
Among them were several leaders who were present at the scene, as well as eliminated team members who had not left, and even the cleaning lady in charge of the sanitation of the base brought a chair to watch.
The sky is clear and there is an occasional breeze that does not affect the performance. This is the perfect weather for archery athletes.
The first group to play was Yu Shenwei’s group, and he faced Li Yang from the Fujian team.
The two players were equally strong and the points were tied after four games. However, in the fifth round of overtime, Li Yang performed mediocrely and hit the eighth ring with one arrow, giving Yu Shenwei a big advantage and making him the first player to get a spot in the World Championships.
The second game was between Li Xun and Wang Yao.
Song Yang chose a position where he could see all the movements and subtle changes in expressions of the two people.
Song Yang was a little nervous at first. His index fingers were twisted together unconsciously, and he didn’t even notice the pain in his knuckles. He shouted “Come on” at the top of his lungs along with the audience.
However, after Li Xun won four points with a score of 58 rings, his heart was basically at ease.
Winning points at the start had a very positive effect on the athletes’ mental state. Li Xun became more and more relaxed as the game went on, while Wang Yao tried desperately to save the situation, with his jaw tense and his fingers trembling slightly as he hooked the string.
Song Yang could especially understand Wang Yao’s mentality, which was exactly the same as his situation in the Macau Open. He was hesitant with every arrow and did not dare to let go easily.
As a result, every arrow he shot was not in good condition. When he shot an eight-ring shot, Wang Yao’s mentality completely collapsed. After shooting the last arrow, his shoulders sank, he sighed, and smiled bitterly at his teammates in the audience.
Five minutes later, it was Zhang Qiao and Song Yang’s turn.
Wang Nanfeng stood behind the telescope holding the scorebook and announced, “Song Yang will go first in the first round.”
As soon as he finished speaking, the timer on the opposite side lit up, and Song Yang raised his bow and drew his arrow.
Yu Shenwei, who had just got the quota, was relaxed. He sat on a stool with his legs crossed to inform his family.
Li Xun, who was sitting next to him, glanced at him, and Yu Shenwei received the signal and lowered his voice slightly.
In the first round, with three arrows each, Song Yang scored 29 rings and Zhang Qiao scored 28 rings, which were very ideal results.
Although Song Yang got two points, he felt complicated. Winning would be a surprise from heaven and a pride that he could brag about for the rest of his life, but winning also meant that he would put an end to Zhang Qiao’s 16-year sports career.
This was too cruel. He didn’t dare to look at Zhang Qiao’s expression.
During the brief break, Song Yang and Li Xun looked at each other, and he read trust and determination in those dark pupils.
He seemed to be able to hear Li Xun’s voice: Do your best and don’t think about anything else.
Song Yang nodded slightly in response.
Most of the time, they maintain such a tacit understanding, which may be related to the environment in which they spend every day together, or to what they have learned, thought, and are striving for. Even if they don’t express anything, they know what the other person is thinking and what they want to say.
Wang Nanfeng noted the score, raised his head and pushed up his sunglasses, saying, “Second round, Zhang Qiao goes first.”
The timer lit up, and Yu Shenwei just hung up the phone. He glanced at the score on the field and asked Li Xun: “Want to make a bet? Who do you want to win?”
Li Xun didn’t look at him: “Boring, not interested.”
“Boring.” Yu Shenwei failed to make a bet with him, and turned to look for other team members.
Li Xun could keep his eyes straight and focus on the game, but his ears couldn’t. When he heard Yu Shenwei bet on Zhang Qiao to win, his brows slightly furrowed and his eyes unconsciously turned over: “Why did you choose Zhang Qiao?”
Yu Shenwei: “He has been holding on for so many years, isn’t it just for this one match? He must have put in all his effort. Song Yang’s performance in the previous rounds was not as good as his.”
Li Xun made no comment and crossed his arms, but his inner thoughts were completely opposite to Yu Shenwei’s. Putting aside his private relationship with Song Yang, he still thought so.
Zhang Qiao and Song Yang were originally ranked close, and he could sense from their movements and expressions that Zhang Qiao was very nervous at the moment, at least more nervous than Song Yang, and his string-pulling movements were not as natural as usual.
In this game, he has no way out.
This kind of persistence in giving one’s all and risking everything on one throw may disturb the athletes’ minds if not handled properly.
At the end of the second round, Zhang Qiao scored 28 rings and Song Yang scored 28 rings, and both sides got one point.
Song Yang was in a leading position and looked quite relaxed. During the break, he could even chat with the assistant coach next to him.
On the contrary, the bow and arrow in Zhang Qiao’s hand carries the past and the future, carrying his dream, and is as heavy as a thousand pounds.
The afternoon sun was scorching, he lowered the brim of his hat, and his eyes were dim.
In these sixteen years, he thought he had suffered enough and endured enough pain. For the sake of that dream, he gritted his teeth and persevered until today. God should give him a decent ending.
But when he raised his left arm and pulled the bow, the yellow heart in his field of vision gradually expanded. His heart tightened and two words instantly popped up in his mind – it’s over.
He took a deep breath, focused his attention on the crosshairs, aimed at the target, and successfully released the arrow.
Wang Nanfeng moved his eyes away from behind the telescope and said, “Eight rings.”
The first arrow was not up to standard, and Zhang Qiao’s mental state fluctuated greatly. He failed to perform at his best in the last two arrows. The total score of the three arrows was 26, which gave Song Yang a chance to overtake.
As long as he wins these three arrows, Song Yang will get a spot in the World Championships.
The thick clouds slowly pushed the sun out, illuminating the vast sky and earth. The audience cheered. Li Xun’s eyes, hidden behind his sunglasses, fell on Song Yang, his brows furrowed the whole time.
Under normal circumstances, Song Yang’s score is always above 27 rings, but this may not be the case when he gets nervous.
The closer you are to success, the harder it is to walk.
The timer lit up, and Song Yang increased his breathing intensity and exhaled slowly.
The court gradually quieted down, and he could hear his heart pounding faster. Excitement, anxiety, and nervousness mixed together, but none of the emotions were as strong as the last time in Macau.
He is very young and does not have to worry about having no chances after leaving the court, nor is he afraid of anyone’s ridicule. Being able to play this round has already exceeded his initial expectations, and he can accept it calmly no matter what the outcome is.
He was mentally prepared. The moment he stood on the shooting line, he was completely focused. The only thing in his mind was what Li Xun taught in the first class – to shoot an arrow through the target from a hundred paces away depends not on the eyes but on the feeling. The athlete must reach the state of “no target in the eyes, but a target in the heart”.
He understood it all now.
He raised the bow handle and stared at the crosshairs. The target on the opposite side gradually became blurred. His movements were coordinated and smooth, and he hit a ten-ring with his first arrow.
Wang Nanfeng took the lead in applauding: “Good.”
Li Xun also shouted: “Relax, don’t worry, follow your own pace, it’s okay!”
On the court, every word of praise and every word of encouragement is a powerful stimulant injected into the athletes’ bodies.
Song Yang responded and calmly shot out the second arrow.
Because he knew the number of rings his opponent had won in advance, his psychological pressure was actually not as great as Zhang Qiao’s.
The second arrow was still a beautiful nine-ring shot, and it was very close to the ten-ring line. It can be seen that there was no problem with his competitive state today.
For the remaining third arrow, he only needed to hit eight rings to win.
The more critical the moment, the more nervous the audience became. They clenched their fists and dared not breathe, for fear of disturbing Song Yang’s performance. Yu Shenwei stared intently, hoping that Song Yang could perform well.
At this moment, Zhang Qiao, who was about to suffocate, shouted softly, “Song Yang…” The voice was trembling slightly, as if it was a message for help coming from deep within his skin.
Before raising the bow, Song Yang tilted his head and was stunned. He had never seen Zhang Qiao like that.
His broad shoulders slumped, his back was slightly arched, his dark pupils flickered with a faint light, and it was unknown how long he hadn’t slept well. His eyes were covered with red bloodshot, making him look helpless and humble.
Although he only called his name and didn’t say another word, Song Yang knew everything in his heart.
Zhang Qiao was begging him.
Please let him hold back a little, so they can still play an overtime game.
Want one more chance?
Song Yang felt a little hesitant.
“Sixteen seconds left.” The voice came from Li Xun, deep and firm.
Although they were far apart, Song Yang could tell them apart instantly.
The countdown reminder usually appears within ten seconds, so the spectators in the stadium were all surprised. They cast their eyes briefly to Li Xun and then back to Song Yang.
What they didn’t know was that Li Xun’s few short words successfully awakened Song Yang.
Kindness and compassion cannot be used in competitive sports.
Winning is winning, losing is losing.
Foreign opponents would never show mercy to Zhang Qiao just because he persisted for sixteen years. Instead, they would kill him with one arrow more fiercely.
For the first time, he felt ashamed of his own compassion.
When Zhang Qiao saw Song Yang’s posture of nodding the arrow and drawing the bow, he knew the result. His gaze moved to the target in the distance, but his mind was blank. He felt as if the sky was falling and the earth was collapsing, as if he was about to be swallowed by a huge inner demon.
Song Yang’s next move was decisive and ruthless.
He stared at the crosshairs, and as the signal sounded, the arrow flew through the air and hit the yellow zone in one go.
Zhang Qiao’s trembling heart stopped beating.
Wang Nanfeng’s shout of “Ten Rings” caused the audience to burst into endless applause.
Li Xun couldn’t suppress the smile on his face. He stood up and walked forward, ignoring everyone’s gaze. He hugged him ecstatically and rubbed him hard several times: “Great! You are really great!”
If I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes, I would never have believed that this rookie boy could win this honor.
For four whole months, they traveled through four cities, spanned an entire cold winter, and experienced both physical and psychological torture, and finally got a chance.
Song Yang’s nose felt sore, and his chest felt hot from the sun. He hugged him tightly, burying half of his face in his shoulder: “The disciple follows the master.”
Li Xun held Song Yang’s cheeks with both hands, with a faint smile in his eyes. They looked at each other, intimacy with a little restraint. No one spoke, but their emotions had already been conveyed to each other’s hearts.
Then, Song Yang’s gaze fell on Zhang Qiao, and the joy that had just risen to his brows was inevitably diluted a little, but Zhang Qiao smiled at him.
It’s like a person who steps into a swamp, and after the struggle, there is a disheartened calm.
Zhang Qiao opened his arms, Song Yang went up to hug him, and heard a choked voice: “Don’t be sad, it’s better to be defeated by you than by my opponent.”
This sentence comforted Song Yang very much. He gently stroked Zhang Qiao’s shoulder blade, and his first reaction was that it felt fleshy, which was very different from when he touched Li Xun.
Song Yang thought for a moment and said, “If you want, you can leave the bowstring and I will take it with me.”
Zhang Qiao replied with tears in his eyes: “Okay.”
The sun was shining brightly, the breeze was blowing gently, and his smile seemed no different from that of the young twenty-year-old boy in front of him.
By the time the women’s trials were over, the sun was almost setting.
A leader in the team suggested having a dinner in the evening as a farewell party for everyone.
“I’ll pay, you choose the location!”
Most of the team members were very young athletes. They quickly recovered from the defeat and started chattering about what to eat for dinner.
There are quite a few highly-rated buffet restaurants online, but they are too far from the base and it takes two hours to go there and back, which is not necessary.
In line with the principle of saving money for the leader, Wang Nanfeng suggested: “Why don’t we just have a barbecue to save us from running around? It’s too troublesome.”
Everyone looked at each other and had no objection.
The base has a cafeteria, and we have provided self-service barbecue for the team members before. All the utensils are ready. All you have to do is light the charcoal fire and cut the ingredients and skewer them.
Everyone found work to do, and within an hour, the ingredients and barbecue utensils were almost ready, and the teaching assistant who had gone to town to buy drinks and alcohol also came back.
At night, the wind blows on the mountain, and the layers of clouds are blown away, revealing the dazzling starlight, which contrasts with the colorfully lit base. From a distance, it looks like a ground full of broken diamonds, messy but not chaotic, and magnificent.
This could be said to be the most relaxing moment for everyone in the past six months. Regardless of gender or status, everyone sat around the barbecue grill, eating and drinking without any image, and quickly snatched away the freshly grilled food.
Song Yang was the one responsible for brushing oil on the food, turning it over and sprinkling cumin on it. After working hard for half a day, he only got to eat half a string of mushrooms.
The smoke was choking him, and he complained in a dusty voice: “At least leave me a skewer of meat! I haven’t had anything to eat yet!”
He was the youngest in the team, and everyone liked to tease him. When they saw that he was really frowning and unhappy, two senior sisters stood up and said, “You go eat over there, we’ll take care of these.”
Song Yang didn’t have time to fan himself, and was choked by the thick smoke. He coughed and said, “Let me do it. You guys eat first, and just leave one for me later.”
As soon as he finished speaking, a skewer of tender mutton was handed to him. The fingers holding the bamboo skewer had distinct joints and the nails were trimmed round, with a healthy pink color under the light. The only flaw was that there were quite a few barbs on the edges of the nails.
He knew who it was without looking up. He opened his mouth and took a small piece. He was amazed by the deliciousness and raised his eyebrows.
“Is it delicious?” Li Xun asked.
“tasty.”
The mutton was just delivered this morning. It is fresh, tender, fatty but not greasy. Because it has been soaked in rice vinegar in advance, there is no smell of mutton.
Song Yang swallowed it in just a few mouthfuls, opened his little mouth, and indicated that he wanted more. His hands were still brushing oil on the enoki mushrooms, and he didn’t even raise his eyes.
Li Xun found an angle where it would be difficult to stab him, and passed it over diagonally.
Song Yang’s way of eating barbecue is different from others. He never eats from the root to the end. Each time he just holds a piece in his mouth and tears it a few times with his front teeth. This way of eating results in the corners of his mouth being stained with cumin.
Li Xun seemed to have seen something interesting. He stared at his lips and couldn’t take his eyes off them. He smiled indulgently, took out a tissue to wipe off the crumbs at the corners of his mouth, then pressed it against the corners of his own mouth to wipe off the chili oil left from eating tiger-skin peppers.
There was something unusually intimate about his overly skilled technique and his focused gaze.
Under the dim light, everyone’s eyes were fixed on them at the same time, their expressions were varied, and the air froze for a moment.
Wang Nanfeng was sitting opposite Song Yang. He had been staring at him since Li Xun fed him the first piece of mutton. The more he watched, the deeper his frown deepened.
He really wanted to remind that although the rules only state that male and female athletes should keep a proper distance from each other, the rules were made decades ago and are outdated. Now gay men should also keep a distance from each other! What is the difference between you and a couple in love! ?
He pursed his thick lips, wanting to say something for a while, but finally chose to bite off a piece of beef and toasted the leader while pretending to be deaf and dumb.
The palms and backs of his hands are all made of flesh, and he couldn’t bear to cut off any part of them.
After a few bottles of highland barley wine were drunk, the cafeteria became even more lively. The boys who couldn’t drink much started to act crazy, singing, dancing and toasting everywhere.
Song Yang couldn’t refuse, so he drank a lot of it. He was so hot that he took off his coat and sweater, revealing his slender neck.
His earlobes were bright red, and even his collarbone was an intoxicating shade of red. He held a few strings of black tiger-skin peppers in his hands, roasting them over and over again.
Wang Yuer saw this and walked over to get him out of the way: “Are you drunk? Go to the door and get some fresh air.”
Song Yang shook his head: “No, I’m sober.”
Wang Yuer: “Your face looks like a monkey’s butt!”
Song Yang burped and said, “My face gets red easily when I drink alcohol, even if I drink half a bottle of beer, but I’m not actually drunk.”
His speech was clear enough. Wang Yuer pointed at the object in his hand uncertainly: “What is that in your hand?”
Song Yang chuckled: “Mutton skewers! Do you want more?”
“…” Wang Yuer shouted at the top of her voice, “Someone come here, another one fell down here!”
In order to prove that he was not drunk, Song Yang threw away the tiger pepper, put his hands on his hips, and stood up shakily.
Perhaps he had been sitting for too long and stood up too quickly; as soon as he got up he felt dizzy and the whole world was spinning.
His body swayed and he took two steps back uncontrollably, but was tripped by the small stool under his feet. He instinctively reached out and tried to grab the pillar in front of him, but it turned out to be a mirage that appeared after being drunk. He grabbed it but it was useless, and just when he was about to fall, he was grabbed by someone.
There was a powerful force behind him that lifted him back to his original position.
He recovered and heard a familiar, deep voice beside his ear: “Are you sleepy?”
The author has something to say:
Today I went to my friend’s flower shop to help wrap flowers, and then she treated me to a meal, so I came back a little late. I have to help out tomorrow and the day after tomorrow, because she doesn’t have enough staff on Christmas Eve. If I come home late, I won’t post, but if I come home early, I will post. I’d like to say sorry to everyone first. Sorry!
