So close and so far (3)
Taking advantage of the time when the subway stopped at the platform, Xu Jiamei finally heard clearly that there was neither an engagement ring nor a gift money. After figuring it out, she couldn't stop laughing. The last series of "Hahahaha--" were abruptly cut off by the tunnel and became "Ha, ah, ha, ah".
Zhao Shihua was in a particularly good mood during rehearsal, occasionally tilting her head to glance at Zhuo Siqi. Although she hadn't participated in either of the first two practices, she memorized everything after reviewing it with everyone else. As expected, first place is first place, and she never falls behind in anything. Although Zhuo Siqi later pointed to the cardboard and explained, "Because Xu Jiamei made notes in the corner."
Because she was in a good mood, Zhao Shihua stayed on the playground that day and ran two extra laps. She usually ran four laps after school or rehearsal. Another person who signed up for the women's 1500-meter race was Zhu Miaoyan. When she heard she was doing it to lose weight, Zhao Shihua was delighted for a long time. Unfortunately, she seemed to have other events to prepare for, so they couldn't train together often.
Zhao Shihua put on her headphones, selected a rhythmic piece of music, pressed the timer on her phone, and began running. She had originally assumed that the 1,500-meter and 800-meter races were essentially the same, both being long-distance events. She had already been practicing for a year, back in her third year of junior high, so it shouldn't be a problem.
After the actual run, she discovered a stark difference between training for a race and regular exercise. If she didn't count the time, a leisurely 1,500-meter run would have been a relaxing workout. But once she started racing against the clock, the second half of the race felt like her legs were weighed down by lead, let alone a sprint.
Just as she was taking a rest along the edge of the playground after running, Shao Yifu caught up with her from behind: "Uncle Master - how is your training going?"
"It's okay, but I can't run anymore at the end." She pulled off her headphones and asked, "Do you want to practice running too?"
"Yes, I signed up for the longest 3,000-meter race!"
"You?!" Zhao Shihua could see Guan Yifu in elementary school, panting after running a few steps with his fat body, and she couldn't help but think he was overestimating himself. There was a joke in the past. During elementary school practice for the 800-meter race, the teacher recorded him as third. Everyone was amazed. Later, they found out that he hadn't even finished the first lap and was directly lapped. Seeing him sweating profusely, the teacher thought he had finished. She couldn't help but ask with concern, "Are you... okay?"
"No problem, why would it be a problem?" Shao Yifu seemed to feel that his authority as the sports committee member was being challenged. His tone rose like a kettle about to boil, but fortunately, it died down the next second. "By the way, why don't you run with me from now on? Maybe you can run faster."
Run away with you? What if I run away with you? But with Shao Yifu's level of Chinese, he probably couldn't hear the ambiguity in his words at all. Zhao Shihua muttered in his heart, but in his mind, he thought this was a good suggestion and nodded quickly, "Okay, when? Tomorrow?"
In order to talk face to face, Shao Yifu had been running backwards all the way, and now he suddenly raised his hand towards her. Zhao Shihua was a little confused and hesitantly stretched out his hand. There was only a "snap" sound, and Shao Yifu clapped his hands vigorously and said, "It's settled! Let's start from tomorrow!"
Zhao Shihua looked down at his palms that were burning from being slapped, and couldn't help but wonder if this guy had a broken palm, otherwise how could he hit someone so painfully; besides, when did he become so familiar with him?
However, Zhao Shihua hadn't anticipated the fact that by the time they gathered the next day, a full-fledged long-distance running team had formed. She'd assumed it was Shao Yifu, who'd just been running around the playground, offering everyone he met a vague invitation like "Run with me!" Only at lunch with Zhu Miaoyan did she realize she was worried her lack of training was holding her back. Having heard that several of her classmates had agreed to run, she'd simply called everyone else along.
But since he was already there, he decided to make the best of it. Shao Yifu immediately assumed the responsibility of the sports committee member. Since everyone was so busy, he asked everyone to complete the entire race, regardless of whether they had signed up for the 400m or 3,000m, and would make further arrangements based on their results.
During the jogging warm-up, Shao Yifu, the team leader, was in front of the team, reminding everyone, such as "The most important thing in long-distance running is to control your breathing," "The rhythm of breathing and footsteps should be coordinated," "There is no need to rush to the front at the beginning, but don't fall behind," "Remember to save your breath for the final sprint," etc.
Shao Yifu's earnest recitation of the essentials for the race made Zhao Shihua feel like he was the only one who had never participated in a long-distance race. As a result, he was out of breath before a minute had passed, slowly falling behind the pack. Zhao Shihua couldn't help but worry about whether Shao Yifu would be able to finish the 3,000-meter race.
"Ready—go!" A boy from the same team gave the command.
Zhao Shihua and Zhu Miaoyan set off with two other boys. After one lap of 400 meters, a clear gap had already opened up. Is there really an innate difference in physical strength between men and women? Zhao Shihua clenched his fists and tried to take longer strides, hoping to catch up.
By the third lap, she had indeed caught up with a boy. Zhao Shihua wiped the sweat from her face with the back of her hand. A closer look revealed that it was Shao Yifu, who had started two laps earlier than her. He still had a few hundred meters to go, but he was like a robot about to fall apart, losing screws as he ran.
"Come on!" Zhao Shihua only had enough strength to squeeze out these two words.
"You too..." Shao Yifu said with his hands on his waist, breathlessly.
Zhao Shihua couldn't wait for the rest of his sentence and ran ahead alone. After all, this was a formal test run, and she wanted to see where her limits were.
Shao Yifu was right; running faster is possible if someone leads the way. Zhao Shihua crossed the finish line with his final stride and pressed the timer again, only to discover he'd beaten his previous best by half a minute.
——Great! Zhao Shihua only had the energy to cheer in his heart.
She looked back and found that Zhu Miaoyan still had half a lap to go, so she walked to the edge of the playground first. There were already several classmates sitting there who had just finished running. Shao Yifu was so tired that he collapsed on the ground, gasping for breath, his face as pale as a piece of paper.
"Hey, are you okay? It's better to get up and walk around, don't lie down." But he was not prepared for this common sense.
"He just walked away a while ago." Shao Yifu was almost dying, and Zhou Xin, who was always happy to answer quickly, answered for him.
After Zhu Miaoyan reached the finish line, Zhao Shihua waved to her and asked her to sit down and rest on the side.
"How was your running?" Shao Yifu seemed to have finally regained some strength.
"Not bad, I'm about thirty seconds faster than usual." Zhao Shihua found his cup from a pile of water cups and turned his head to see Shao Yifu sitting up. "How about you?"
"Me? I seem to be running even slower than before..."
"That's because you talked too much while running." Zhou Xin pointed out.
"Maybe, but I'm much faster than when I was in elementary school. You don't know, I was so fat when I was a kid, running 400 meters alone would tire me to death." Shao Yifu compared his previous figure with his hands, and people who didn't know him would think he was exaggerating.
Zhao Shihua nodded aside. She remembered that in physical education class, Guan Yifu was always the one at the bottom. She didn't expect that with the passage of time, he actually became the physical education committee member.
"Have you seen it?" Zhou Xin asked her.
Zhao Shihua was so frightened that he shook his head repeatedly. He choked on his water just as he took a sip. He coughed for a while before he stopped. His face flushed as he tried to defend himself, "No... I am..."
"Others nod to show that they are listening attentively. This is called politeness, understand?" Zhu Miaoyan patted Zhao Shihua on the back to help her calm down.
"Oh, I see!" Zhou Xin quickly gave in to the female allies. "Then how did you lose weight?"
"Later, my mother kept forcing me to climb mountains and run, and I gradually lost weight by the time I reached junior high school."
"You knew you needed to lose weight then?" Zhou Xin suddenly raised his index finger and teased, "Oh! Is it because of the girl you like?"
Shao Yifu rolled his eyes and pushed Zhou Xin, perhaps because he was too weak, but instead seemed to flirt shyly. The others then started talking about the interesting things about the physical education exam in the third year of junior high school.
After a moment, Zhu Miaoyan brought the topic back to Shao Yifu: "That's not right. Why do I remember you were already quite thin in the first grade of junior high school? You must have lost weight when you were abroad."
"How do you know? I don't remember anything." Shao Yifu frowned, as if he had doubts about his memory.
"Then you lost weight by starvation in Canada?" Zhou Xin said, "That's impossible. How could a developed capitalist country starve you?"
"Maybe it's true. I seem to remember a period of time when I had diarrhea every day and even stayed in the hospital for a while. It scared my mom... Then I changed schools, and somehow I got better."
"So it's so magical? So running has nothing to do with your weight loss."
"Yes, you're right!" Shao Yifu gave Zhou Xin and Zhu Miaoyan a thumbs-up seriously, as if thanking them for solving the mystery of his life. "I remember now, my mother asked me to run to exercise and improve my physical fitness."
Zhou Xin pinched Shao Yifu's arm again: "Tsk tsk tsk, the problem is that you have skinny arms and legs, how fat could you have been before?"
"I don't remember, maybe around 100 pounds?"
"No way?! I only weigh less than 100 pounds now." Zhu Miaoyan looked incredulous.
"Why else? Why do you think I was called 'Little Fatty' when I was little? I remember a joke. Because my name was 'One Man Blocks the Pass, Ten Thousand Men Can't Open It,' they said it was because I was too fat that I could block so many people."
"Oh, so you are also a door god!" Zhou Xin concluded.
The students around her burst into laughter, unaware that one of the culprits, Zhao Shihua, was right there. She chuckled twice, lowered her head, and screwed the lid of her water cup firmly shut to hide her embarrassment.
It turns out that Shao Yifu remembered it.
Despite his constant laughter, Zhao Shihua even wondered if he had selective amnesia. He actually remembered everything. Yet, even though he still remembered, he spoke of it as if nothing had happened, jokingly. It was like seeing through glass: clear as day, yet unable to sense the cold outside.
Zhao Shihua stared at Shao Yifu in a daze as the dusk fell, watching the setting sun slowly frame him with a golden edge. The hair, eyebrows, and eyelashes on his forehead became distinct one by one, swaying vividly with his words and laughter.
The sun's shadow gradually moved westward, and the orange-yellow light extended little by little to the tips of her shoes, and gradually climbed up her calves to her hands clasped on her knees, as if a person reached out and invited her, who was sitting alone in the corner, to get up and join the dance.
Seeing him so radiant and cheerful, her guilt eased a little, yet her envy intensified. Zhao Shihua wanted to be like him, to cast off the shadows of the past and talk about it with a frank smile. She, too, wanted to free herself from the burdens of her heart, take a deep breath, and then run with ease.
Afterwards, they organized several more long-distance running training sessions, and everyone's performance improved significantly. Their spirit of unity and inspiration were almost comparable to a movie celebrating sports or friendship. However, just before the race, like in a movie, a dramatic reversal took place, and a huge bucket of cold water was poured on the head of the central figure, Shao Yifu, leaving not even a glimmer of hope for a resurgence.
Two days before the school sports meet, all students who signed up for the long-distance running event were required to go to the school clinic for a physical examination. In fact, it was nothing more than a simple check of cardiopulmonary function to ensure the safety of the competition.
After Zhao Shihua and Zhu Miaoyan finished their checkups, it was still early, so they went for a few laps of the playground. During their final lap, she caught a glimpse of Shao Yifu, staring blankly at the playground from the other side of the fence, one of his backpack straps slipping off his shoulder. Meanwhile, Li Xiuping, head bowed, rubbed the surface of his left shoe against the gravel on the ground—the scene was like two middle-aged men who had both been unlucky in love and lost money at the casino.
The two of them walked up to greet each other, but Shao Yifu didn't react until they were three or five meters away. He raised his hand and waved it weakly.
"What's wrong with you? Did something happen?" Zhu Miaoyan asked with concern.
From that long, agonizing sigh, Zhao Shihua knew it wasn't going to be good. Was there a problem with the entrance ceremony? Was the sports meet canceled? Or was his confession rejected? Or was it a team losing? In any case, it couldn't possibly be related to the afternoon English test.
"The nightmare he had last night came true." Seeing that Shao Yifu was reluctant to speak, Li Xuping stopped what he was doing and told him the answer that was so heavy that it bent his shoulders.
Zhao Shihua was baffled. What was going on? Perhaps Li Xuping's thinking was too jumpy. Every time he spoke, he would jump straight to the end, omitting the beginning, transitions, and climax. He had to be repeatedly reminded by someone, "And then?" to emphasize the order of events before he could properly start from the beginning.
"I can't participate in the competition." As soon as Shao Yifu finished speaking, his head drooped, demonstrating on the spot what it meant to be "dejected."
"Ah? Are you injured anywhere?" Zhao Shihua looked him up and down and didn't find any bandages or anything like that on his body.
"...No," Shao Yifu said after a long pause, "I just dreamt last night that aliens came to Earth. I don't mean that this dream came true. Then, in order to protect the Earth and maintain interstellar peace, the United Nations decided not to go to war and selected a few people to be sacrificed, including me."
"What does this have to do with your running?" Zhu Miaoyan was also confused.
Although it was arranged in chronological order, there was no apparent logic. Li Xuping nodded repeatedly, their relationship like that of Boya and Ziqi, able to decipher each other's language. However, on the other side of the fence, Zhao Shihua and Zhu Miaoyan seemed to be listening to aliens speak, completely bewildered.
"They chose me because in my dream, I had a giant pearl hidden inside me, and the aliens were about to cut open my stomach to get it. They scared me awake!" Shao Yifu suddenly raised his hands to imitate the motion of surgery, his eyebrows raised in anger. "But just now during the physical exam, the school doctor said that because I had just had appendectomy and had diarrhea today, they wouldn't let me go!"
Unexpectedly, the school doctor, who usually only prescribes Vitamin C Yinqiao tablets or Huoxiang Zhengqi pills for any ailment, was being extremely cautious at this moment. Zhao Shihua heard Zhu Miaoyan snort beside him, probably stifling a laugh. Perhaps she felt it was unkind to laugh at someone suffering from diarrhea, so she quickly put on a sympathetic look and asked, "When did you have the surgery?" She then reflected on the fact that he hadn't asked for leave in the past two months.
"That happened five hundred years ago!"
If it had happened five hundred years ago, he would have truly become a clam spirit hiding a giant pearl. Shao Yifu himself realized he was exaggerating, so he added, "It happened during the summer vacation of my second year of junior high school."
After suffering from gastrointestinal problems in elementary school and appendicitis in junior high, Zhao Shihua finally understood how Shao Yifu had achieved his dramatic weight loss transformation. The image of Guan Yifu's chubby face resurfaced before her eyes, along with his breathless exhaustion from training a few days prior. She couldn't help but wonder if her childhood obesity had left any lasting effects.
"I remember now. No wonder you reported a few days late for school in the third year of junior high school." Zhu Miaoyan said worriedly, "I think you should not run away." Zhao Shihua also nodded.
"How can that be? I'm the physical education committee member, I can't be a deserter. Besides, wouldn't all the training for more than half a month be in vain? If it really doesn't work, I'll see if I can ask my mother to give me a certificate. She used to be a doctor anyway." He still seemed very unwilling.
"The thing is, this isn't your fault... but even though it does seem like it's your fault," Zhu Miaoyan thought for a moment, "I mean, this isn't something you can decide subjectively."
"Yeah, just cheer us on." Zhao Shihua also joined in. "Cheering everyone up at the finish line is also very important."
"Yes, we just need a sports committee member to coordinate the overall situation!" Zhu Miaoyan consoled again.
"Isn't this Nana's job?" Shao Yifu expressed his doubt.
"No, you're just responsible for bringing water, wiping sweat, and presenting flowers, etc." Then it was Li Xuping's turn to counsel. "Anyway, tactically speaking, you're not particularly good at long-distance running. It's better to save your energy, right?"
Zhao Shihua and Zhu Miaoyan had finally managed to coax Shao Yifu into a more open-minded state with their words, but Li Xuping insisted on retaliating with another blow, and the three of them glared at him at the same time.
"Hello!!!"
"What about the 100-meter relay race?" Zhao Shihua seemed to have the impression that there was such a thing.
Seeing the expression on Shao Yifu's face drop from heaven to earth in an instant, Zhao Shihua knew that he was bringing up something irrelevant.
"You won't even let me run a hundred meters?" How weak is this? Zhao Shihua took a closer look and found that Shao Yifu's face was particularly sallow today. Then he glanced at Li Xuping and found that it was because the sun was about to set.
"It's not that I wasn't allowed to run, it's that I didn't run fast enough, so I was brushed off..." Shao Yifu rubbed the tip of his nose, "Don't laugh!"
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