Chapter 19: The Autumn Sports Meet and the Ice Breaking of Past Grudges
Recently, my parents at home are busy but warm. However, every day when I come to school it becomes a cold winter month. I can't ignore the automatic cold machine Xuan Yuan Rui classmate next to me. Since last Friday's unpleasantness, he has been resolutely not speaking to me, not giving me a smile, and sitting next to him is like a year in prison. I just hope that when the class is over, I can go find Xiao Xiao and the others to play together.
"Hey, Wang Xiaoxiao told me that Xuan Yuanrui is always smiling coldly at others, and everyone comments on how he's a sunny prince with good manners. He's still nice to me, I shouldn't be so petty. And besides, she said it was my fault last Friday, and I should apologize first. Fine, as a weak woman, I can yield and compromise, unlike Xuan Yuanrui who always insists on saving face. Besides, we're both in our twenties, why bother with such childishness? So I thought of an excuse and went back to my seat, smiling obsequiously: "Xuan Yuanrui, have you heard? The autumn sports meet is coming up soon, and we won't have to attend classes then. I heard your physical education skills are good, will you participate in any events to bring glory to our class?"
Xuanyuan turned his head, looked at me, didn't say a word, and stared again. I punched the soft cushion, no good, and continued to persuade him: "Xuanyuan, I heard from Brother Ding that you're pretty good at basketball and football, but our school doesn't have those programs for lower grades yet, we'll have them next year though. But you can join the school team! And last year nobody in our class participated in Go, I heard you know how to play, so you can participate this year..."
My mouth was dry and my tongue was parched, but he completely ignored me. It's a kind of gentle resistance, I suppose. With great difficulty, I finally got him to turn his head back around, as if he wanted to say something. But what he actually said was: "I'm done talking, if you don't have anything important to discuss, go find Wu Hanwen and your other good friends, stop chattering in my ear and disturbing me."
You're really treating me like this? I was even willing to give you a way out and restore our relationship. You're the kind of person who, when given a little bit of sunshine, becomes radiant; when given a smile, becomes overjoyed; when given some color, starts a dye workshop. If I take the initiative to talk to you again, my surname won't be Nan anymore. Hmph, just leave then.
After the third period language class, the head teacher asked everyone not to get up from their seats and announced something: "Classmates, the autumn sports meeting will be held next Wednesday and will last for three days, ending on Friday afternoon. Mu Luo'en, please come to my office right away to take a look at the registration instructions for the sports meeting projects. Welcome classmates to enthusiastically sign up at the sports committee to participate and bring glory to our class."
The class was in an uproar after the head teacher left, with everyone discussing what activities they could participate in. Some people were so excited that they jumped onto their chairs and shouted loudly, thinking about how great it would be to have a sports day next week followed by two days off. When Brother Shu returned from the office, a crowd gathered around his seat to see what events there were, seemingly eager to get started. Meanwhile, Xuan Yuan Rui remained calm and collected, as if nothing was going on, truly a cool guy.
It's not until next Tuesday, and the quota for each class must be reported by this afternoon. Xun Gege ran to my side with a smile that seemed to have a conspiracy, saying: "Sister, it's hard to be the sports delegate. This afternoon is about to report the quota, there are still two items that no one has signed up for, you haven't signed up for any of them, so just reluctantly participate in one."
I looked disbelieving, didn't everyone start signing up last week? How could there still be projects that haven't been signed up for? I flipped through the sign-up sheet and saw that Xuan Yuanrui had quietly signed up for several items, including Go. Coincidentally, Wu Hanwen also signed up for Go. The remaining two items were the 400-meter dash and shot put. Oh my god, only these two most unpopular projects are left! No wonder nobody signed up. I smiled awkwardly and said: "Hey, Sheng Gege, has everyone in the class signed up? Won't it just be me left?"
"Almost everyone has signed up, only a few girls haven't, and I've done their work too, they all have reasons. You can go ahead." "Xun brother, it's not like every project needs to have someone signed up for it. And you know my short legs, even running in gym class is like taking my life, the PE teacher is speechless about me. Giving me the 400-meter dash isn't blind, or else I'll go find Xiao Xiao and let her participate."
"Wang Xiaoxiao signed up for jump rope a long time ago, there's a schedule conflict, otherwise I wouldn't have looked for you, anyway the key is to participate, even if you just walk back, brother will still cheer for you."
Brother Xun, Brother Xun, you know my past, I was always failing the 800-meter run, every time it was near the end of the semester, I had to beg the PE teacher for a passing score of 60. This kind of standard is really embarrassing when going out. And that shot put, I didn't even qualify during the high school entrance exam. What can you expect? It's true that heaven-made mistakes can be tolerated, but self-made mistakes cannot be forgiven. If only I had known earlier, I would have signed up for a project early on, there's no regret medicine. "Brother Xun, you really deserve me coming to you about this matter. I need to make it up to you, otherwise, forget it."
"That's for sure, hehe, the fat water doesn't flow to others' fields, I'll treat you to a duck blood noodle soup." Brother, do you understand what "the fat water doesn't flow to others' fields" means? What is a sister for, is she for blocking knives? I gritted my teeth and said, "I'm signing up."
On Wednesday, the weather was crisp and refreshing, with clear skies as far as the eye could see. In the morning, it was the opening ceremony of the sports meeting, everyone wore neat and uniform school uniforms, except for the color flag team, flower team and national flag team, they wore their own designated clothes, looking very special, all seniors!
The loudspeaker blared: "Next, striding confidently towards the rostrum are the students of a certain year and class. They are spirited and refreshing, just like the heroic soldiers of the volunteer army who marched triumphantly across the Duckweed River..."
The opening ceremony ended, and the various competitions began. The running competition was held on the first day, which left me speechless. In the morning, the short-distance running events were carried out in an intense and exciting manner, and when they came to an end, it seemed that my classmates were not satisfied yet.
Although it's already mid-September, the sun is still shining brightly in the afternoon, and it's still very hot. Classmates are standing on the side of the track, holding umbrellas and wearing sun hats, cheering loudly. As we watch, this is the men's 100-meter dash semifinals, and two classmates from our class have made it to the semifinals, one of whom is Xuan Yuanrui. When the starting gun goes off, ten boys rush out like the wind, with Xu Fei from Class One in first place, followed closely by Xuan Yuanrui. The girls from Class One cheer and shout "Add oil!", while our class's girls also join in, shouting loudly: "Xuan Yuanrui add oil! Li Fang add oil! Xuan Yuanrui add oil! Li Fang add oil!" Suddenly, Xuan Yuanrui overtakes Xu Fei, sprinting towards the finish line, crossing the red line. Our class's girls erupt into cheers, while a girl from Class One gets angry and says: "What's so great about that? There's still the finals! You're using too much strength now, you'll run out of energy later, just wait and see who wins!" We ignore her, knowing she's just jealous.
In half an hour, it's my 400-meter run, followed by the men's 100-meter final. As a member of the propaganda committee, I have to mobilize everyone to write more promotional articles and cheer for our school's athletes. When I went to collect the manuscripts, Lin Lilai was unexpectedly cooperative this time, knowing that her intention was not in the wine, but as long as she cooperated with my work, it didn't matter what else she did. Xiao walked over from the opposite side and said: "Here, this is what I wrote. Our class's promotional articles are not read much, you see, classes 3 and 4 have many more reads, I heard that many of them were written by their classmates who are good at writing essays. You're also very good at writing, but after running, you won't have the energy to write, hurry up and write one for Xuan Yuanrui! The men's 100-meter final is all about Xuan Yuanrui now. At this time, personal grudges should be put aside, and collective honor comes first!"
"I said, 'Alright, you're clearly saying I'm not good at running and have a small lung capacity. I don't agree, I don't agree.' After messing around with Xiaoxiao for a bit, I went to write the promotional script. A while later, the broadcast announced that the female 400-meter runners should get ready, so I hurriedly rushed over, not knowing who had secretly tripped me up, causing me to fall and scrape my knee a bit, but I didn't have time to investigate and just ran onto the field."
Everyone rushed out of the starting line very quickly, and at first I was still in the middle position. However, as I ran, my knees hurt more and more, and from the corner of my eye, I could see that the bloodstain had become a big patch of blood. One by one, people overtook me. The broadcast came on with the encouraging words written by Xiao Xiao: "Friendship first, competition second..." Indeed, it was true. I couldn't be a deserter; even if I walked, I had to walk back. Step by step, I moved towards the finish line. Xiao Xiao and the others seemed to notice that something was wrong with me and kept shouting "Add oil! Add oil!" I finally arrived, although I was the last one in the bottom position. As soon as they came over, I collapsed.
Xuanyuan saw me like this, and immediately picked me up and ran to the school infirmary. All the way, he kept saying: "Are you an idiot? You're bleeding and didn't come down, anyway, you won't be able to get a good grade, I really don't know what you're so stubborn about..." I smiled bitterly and said: "I know, but it's always better to have a beginning and an end. I don't feel anything, just that my knee is bleeding and painful, but the bone isn't hurt." It seemed like neither of us felt like we had been quarreling before.
Arriving at the infirmary, the school doctor grandpa examined me and said it was nothing serious. He disinfected my wound with alcohol, and I was in so much pain that tears welled up in my eyes. Xuan Yu hurriedly told him to be gentler, but the school doctor grandpa shook his head and said: "Young man, I'm already being very gentle, and this little girl hasn't even spoken up yet - what's your hurry? Being young is good, isn't it? Let the little girl rest for a bit."
Xuanyuan Ruo handed me his handkerchief to wipe away my tears, I didn't expect him to still carry a handkerchief, nowadays even girls don't bother carrying one, he's really considerate. Xuanyuan Ruo accompanied me and chatted casually, I said we've restored diplomatic relations and aren't in a cold war anymore, he smiled and nodded in agreement.
I vaguely heard the broadcast saying that the men's 100-meter athletes were waiting, but Xuan Yuan Ruo didn't leave. I asked: "Why aren't you leaving yet?" "I'm afraid you'll be bored if I leave, and you might secretly cry. Whether or not we get an award isn't important."
"I'm not bored, who would cry for no reason? If you don't go, I'll be in big trouble. Our whole class is counting on you to come back first. I've even written a draft of the report and had Xiaoxiao submit it already. How can you not go?"
"Alright alright alright, I'll go run and come back first, and also listen to your cheering speech."
Before long, Xuan Yuan Ruo ran over with a sweat-drenched face and told me that I didn't disappoint everyone's expectations. He and I happily laughed together, and all misunderstandings dissipated into thin air.
