Heart racing (Part 1)

  The mid-term exam has just ended, and the annual school sports meeting is just around the corner. Today's physical education class was a test of 1500 meters for boys and 800 meters for girls. The physical education class at Zhongzhou No. 7 Middle School arranges several units every semester, and after each unit is completed, there will be a test on this item. Of course, there are also five projects of physical education testing standards every year, as well as a few classes of free activity courses.

  Boys and girls usually have some separate classes, but on the day of the test, they were together. The first to be tested was the 800-meter run for girls. Jiang Zihan's eyes naturally followed Ni Xiang, who wore a short-sleeved and short-panted sports suit in light red color. As she ran, her ponytail bounced up and down behind her back, full of youthful vitality. Ni Xiang's physical education grades were considered good, although not the best. The 800-meter run was the most headache-inducing for girls, but she surprisingly came in third in class.

  Next is the boys' test. Some girls have already left in twos and threes, while a small number of them sit under the shade of trees to rest, chatting with each other. The track and field stadium at No. 7 Middle School is not very standard, as one lap around the track is less than 300 meters, so running 1500 meters requires more than five laps. After days of continuous long-distance running, short-distance running, swimming, practicing qigong and tuina, Jiang Zhihan's physical quality has improved dramatically, it's hard to say how much he has made progress.

  At the beginning of the test, he easily ran in front and after two laps, the team slowly pulled away. There were five people running in the first group, Jiang Zhihan was running in the first group with a steady breath, looking very relaxed. By the time they reached the third lap, there were only three people left in the first group: Jiang Zhihan, sports committee member Kuang Jun, and classmate Yu Chengzhi. Jiang Zhihan still adopted the follow-and-run approach. When there was only one lap left, Yu Chengzhi started to accelerate and sprint, Kuang Jun tried his best to keep up for a dozen meters but eventually fell behind. Jiang Zhihan followed closely behind him. Yu Chengzhi was very experienced, he adjusted his pace, trying to exhaust Jiang Zhihan. But Jiang Zhihan remained calm, following closely behind him. At this point, Jiang Zhihan felt that his breathing rhythm was well-adjusted, so he had a lot of confidence. When they reached the final turn, where the girls were sitting, some girls were already cheering for this sudden long-distance running competition. Before Yu Chengzhi could react, Jiang Zhihan suddenly accelerated at the turn, sprinting from the outer lane to the front, taking several steps to overtake Yu Chengzhi and establish a leading advantage. In the final 100-meter sprint, Yu Chengzhi tried one last time to overtake but ultimately had to accept defeat. Within a week, Jiang Zhihan not only became the class's academic model student but also made a big splash in physical education class.

  Jiang Zihan walked back from the finish line, and there were still some students who hadn't finished running on the track. Jiang Zihan was the first to leave, and from a distance, he saw Ni Xiang standing in the last row of all the girls, her two hands lightly clapping together in front of her chest. Jiang Zihan placed his right hand on his chest, slightly bowed, and made a gesture of gratitude. The distance was far, plus his movements were very small, so the other girls shouldn't have noticed, but he clearly saw Ni Xiang's face burst into a happy smile, her two eyes curved into a thin line.

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  Next Monday to Thursday is the four-day school sports meeting. All registrations must be completed by Saturday and submitted to the school's physical education department for filing. Today is the last day for submitting the list. Ni Xiang walked into the classroom, walked to her seat and sat down, frowning and pouting, humming twice in her nose. From a young age, Ni Xiang had been educated by her father to be well-behaved, knowing how to restrain herself, not letting her emotions show on her face. Gradually, she also got used to this kind of behavior. In the eyes of her classmates and teachers, they always saw a smiling Ni Xiang, a calm Ni Xiang, a polite Ni Xiang. Maybe it was because her etiquette and maturity exceeded her age, or maybe it was because her excellence made some people jealous, many times she was interpreted as a hypocritical Ni Xiang, a masked Ni Xiang, a cunning Ni Xiang. Ni Xiang did not deny that she was good at hiding some emotions, especially negative ones, but she insisted that this was the right choice. Smiling at people, is it also wrong?

  These two months, in a new environment, with a new deskmate, Ni Xiang also quietly underwent changes. She didn't even realize that she was increasingly fond of showing more genuine and unguarded emotions in front of Jiang Zhan. This boy sometimes seemed very mature, to the point of being slightly pretentious; sometimes he was very polite, smiling and listening attentively, offering soft encouragement; sometimes he was very proud, confident that he could handle everything, looking down on others' immaturity or ignorance; sometimes he would become very lively, telling all sorts of jokes and teasing her as well as himself. But in the end, Ni Xiang felt that she could trust him. Being able to trust someone means that you can freely show your joys and sorrows, successes and failures in front of them, and they will tell you "I understand", "I accept", "I'm willing to share your joys and sorrows".

  Jiang Zihan raised an eyebrow and asked, "Who gave the class monitor a hard time?"

  Ni Xiang said: "Yu Chengzhi said that he sprained his foot, and will not participate in the 1500m and 5000m events. He also won't participate in the 4x400m relay."

  "What's the point of asking others to be lightly injured and not cross the line?"

  Ni Xiang said: "He wasn't hurt at all!"

  Jiang Zhan said: "Are you sure?"

  Ní Péng said: "Of course."

  Jiang Zhan knew that Ni Xiang was not a person who made unreasonable demands, and always had reliable channels of information, so he said: "If he doesn't participate, then he just won't participate, will the earth stop spinning without him?"

  Ni Ping angrily said: "He was still in the dormitory at noon, saying that 1500 yuan is a slim hope for an award, so he didn't go to suffer. Just now I saw him lying in front of me, and he was speaking with confidence, which made me furious."

  Jiang Zhan said, "Although I agree with your famous saying, there are always things that need to be done in class. But some things, you try your best and can't do it, then you should hand it over to Teacher Zhang. He has his own perspective and methods."

  Ní Péng said anxiously: "This time, the men's 3000 meters was changed to 5000 meters. This 5000 meters is really a bit too long, and no one wants to participate. Now, in our class, except for you, no one has signed up, and there are still two vacancies left. Teacher Zhang said that among all individual events, the 5000 meters is the only event that counts as double points, which is very important for the total score of the class. Moreover, it's likely that whoever completes the competition will be able to get a top six ranking, so we must fill up the three vacancies."

  Jiang Zhan said: "To be honest, isn't this the responsibility of the sports committee? You, as class monitor, are overstepping your bounds."

  Ní Péng said: "How could that be? Kuàng Jun comes to me every day to complain, saying he's gone through all the dormitories in the boys' dormitory (Class 3 has both boarding and non-boarding students) twice, but no one listens to him."

  Jiang Zhan said, "This is actually simple. You let Kuang Jun go and give the list to Teacher Zhang. He will see that two people are missing and will definitely ask Kuang Jun who in his class is the best at long-distance running and most likely to win a prize. Kuang Jun will certainly rule himself out first, he has a good reason too, he has already participated in three individual events and has a better grasp of other events. In this way, when he gives out names, Teacher Zhang will naturally go and talk to those people. The effect of Teacher Zhang going to talk to them and you guys going to talk to them is definitely different."

  Ní Péng said: "I always feel that this is not good. Participating in the sports meeting should be voluntary. Moreover, 5000 meters is so tiring, forcing others to participate is not very good."

  Jiang Zhan said: "If Teacher Zhang wants to make up a trio, it's just a chaotic order, and chaotic orders don't have to be followed."

  Ni Pei protested: "Teacher Zhang is also for the honor of our class, there's nothing wrong with that."

  "So, you want to persuade someone to participate voluntarily without forcing them, while also considering class honor."

  Ni Ni nodded and said yes.

  "What a pity! Although the charm of the class leader is great, it still can't compare to the hardship of 5000 meters in the hearts of the boys."

  Ni Tangbai looked at him with a glance, and Jiang Zihan continued: "Except for me."

  Ni Tang turned her head away, no longer paying attention to him. Jiang Zhi Han clearly saw that her ear roots were slightly abnormally red, and he couldn't help but feel delighted at having successfully teased the class monitor again.

  Ni Xiang's heart was sweet. Two days ago, when he asked Jiang Zhihan to sign up for the 4X400, 1500, and 5000 meter events, he was a bit embarrassed. Because these three items are considered the most difficult, and the competition is continuous. But Jiang Zhihan's performance in the 1500 meter test made him the most hopeful person to win an award in the long-distance running event of Class 3. As a result, Jiang Zhihan just looked at him and said two words: "Okay." Ni Xiang couldn't help but say: "It might be more tiring." Jiang Zhihan told her lightly: "It's okay, I have to run every morning anyway." These two days, Ni Xiang went around looking for people to participate in the 5000 meter event, but was rejected everywhere. She thought back and realized that Jiang Zhihan had never been someone who valued class honor, he called himself an anarchist which was quite fitting. So why did he agree to participate in the three most exhausting events without hesitation? Ni Xiang's heart felt a little proud, thinking it might be because of her.