So close and so far (4)
So on the day of the school sports meet, Shao Yifu performed his duties as the head of the logistics department with particular dedication, as if to make up for all the regrets of not being able to participate.
Zhao Shihua's long-distance running event was held at four o'clock in the afternoon of the first day, so she basically sat in the audience seats in the morning to conserve her energy. She watched the long jump on the right side of the playground for a while, then watched the shot put on the left side of the playground for a while, and then cheered for the 100-meter runners on the track with her classmates.
But no matter which venue he was at, Zhao Shihua seemed to see Shao Yifu. That day, he was wearing a striking red T-shirt, and from a distance, he looked like a floating crimson cloud, as if he could blow his monkey hair like Sun Wukong, conjuring up multiple clones to cheer on the students at each venue. Zhao Shihua couldn't help but think that running around like this was no less strenuous than running several kilometers.
By the afternoon, Shao Yifu was still so energetic that one wondered if he'd stolen some canned spinach from Popeye's. Even when Zhao Shihua and Zhu Miaoyan were helping each other pin their second numbers on their backs in the contestant waiting area, Shao Yifu suddenly appeared out of nowhere, giving instructions like a coach. He had good intentions, but he didn't understand that it's more important to relax before a competition, rather than cramming at the last minute.
Zhu Miaoyan was already feeling a bit uneasy, and he annoyed her so much that she accidentally pricked her hand and blew on her finger in pain. Although Zhao Shihua had done nothing wrong, he somehow felt sorry. After all, it was his own pin that hurt someone else, so he quickly apologized and said, "Sorry, I'll do it myself."
She pulled the T-shirt over, but found it impossible to reach it, so she planned to go to the bathroom to take off her clothes and do it herself. When she was about to turn around, Shao Yifu was already standing behind her: "Let me help you."
Even though it was just a simple gesture of pinching a small corner of the dress and pinning the number, Zhao Shihua still felt a little too intimate, like the hero in an idol drama zipping up the back of the heroine's dress before the dance. But she couldn't run away, afraid of poking the other person if she moved, so she stayed rooted to the spot, as if she'd been pricked.
"What about the other one?"
Zhao Shihua unclenched his fist and handed the remaining pin behind him, only to find that his palms were full of sweat.
"Okay!" Shao Yifu patted her shoulder and said.
It only took a few seconds, but Zhao Shihua felt like she'd experienced several minutes in slow motion. She hopped away like a rabbit, quickly pushing him aside and saying, "Go check out the high jump over there! Maybe someone from our class has made the cut!"
"If you hadn't told me, I would have almost forgotten!" Shao Yifu turned and ran away as soon as he finished speaking. At the end, he didn't forget to turn back and remind him, "You two should warm up quickly. I'll come back later!"
"Zhao Shihua, what's wrong with you?" Zhu Miaoyan, who was standing next to her, seemed to have recovered from the pain. She twisted her wrist to stretch it and asked, "Are you angry? Why did you chase him away?"
"No, no, I'm just too nervous. What about you?"
"I'm lucky I was able to finish the race today." Zhu Miaoyan suddenly lowered her voice and mouthed, "I'm having my period today..."
"Ah? Then can you still run?" Zhao Shihua immediately understood the reason why Zhu Miaoyan was panicking just now.
"It's okay. You can't just say it's appendicitis like Shao Yifu did." Zhu Miaoyan said with a wry smile, "Anyway, I'll do my best. The rest is up to you!"
Zhao Shihua has always been a loyal person. As long as it doesn't involve murder or arson, she will do her best to fulfill her promises or requests, no matter how hard it may be. Her principles of conduct likely came not from moral education textbooks but from martial arts novels. "Hero Song" is practically the theme song of her life.
So, the moment the starting gun sounded, she suddenly forgot all the techniques and precautions for long-distance running, focusing solely on winning first place. Zhao Shihua maintained a top-three position in both the first and second laps. As for the girl in first place, the others behind her were completely outmatched: unlike the others, she wasn't wearing a casual short-sleeved school uniform, but a professional-looking tank top and shorts. Judging by her stance, she was clearly aiming to break the school meet record.
By the third lap, Zhao Shihua had fallen to fifth place. Passing her class's spectator area, she vaguely recognized her own name amidst the cheers. Squeezing a little strength through her teeth, she quickened her pace and caught up with the runner in front of her.
When there were more than 100 meters left in the last lap and they were about to enter the straight, Zhao Shihua felt that everyone was starting to sprint. She also wanted to run a little faster, but her legs felt like they were tied with iron blocks and she couldn't lift them. Her eardrums also hurt with every breathing, and she could almost only hear the sound of her own breathing like a bellows.
"Zhao Shihua! Come on!" A sudden shout came from the front left, startling Zhao Shihua out of the exhaustion that had numbed her five senses. A red shadow kept swaying before her eyes. Looking closely, she saw it was Shao Yifu standing two or three meters away, waving his arms exaggeratedly at her and shouting, "One hundred meters to go! Come on!"
She smiled weakly, trying to speed up by swinging her arms faster, and took a few steps forward. At the same time, the other person also took a few steps back, updating like a moving finish line indicator: "Almost there! Almost there! Only 80 meters left!"
"Students on the edge of the playground, please don't run with me. Thank you!" A sudden warning came from the loudspeaker. Shao Yifu froze on the spot, his raised arm slowly lowered awkwardly. Zhao Shihua vaguely realized that it sounded like Zhuo Siqi's voice, but she had never heard her speak with such passion: "Come on, runners! Only the last fifty meters!"
The first place has already sprinted, and the three words "fifty meters" - it turns out that Zhuo Siqi was saying it to himself.
The voices in the audience shouting her name became clearer and clearer. Each shout was like a pair of hands giving her a little push, and then converging together. Zhao Shihua's eyes suddenly turned red for some reason. She clenched her teeth and clenched her fists, using the last bit of her strength, more than one, two -
The moment Zhao Shihua crossed the finish line with a powerful stride, her knees suddenly gave way, and she nearly fell to her knees at the referee's feet. It dawned on her that those falls on TV at the finish line weren't just performances, but rather inertia. Fortunately, several classmates had been waiting at the finish line. Seeing this, they quickly ran over to support her and pulled her out of the sprint area. Greetings, congratulations, fans, and water were all around Zhao Shihua.
"Are you okay?" Shao Yifu, who was at the highest point of the human wall, asked loudly, but Zhao Shihua had no strength to reply.
"Let her breathe a little, don't crowd around her!" a physical education teacher reminded as he passed by, and the students around him dispersed a little.
After being dragged for about ten meters, Zhang He, who was holding Zhao Shihua on the left, suddenly screamed, "Oh no! Miaoyan fainted!" As soon as she finished speaking, she let go and ran over. Xu Jiamei said to someone, "You stay and accompany Shihua," and then led the other classmates over.
Before Zhao Shihua could react, she suddenly lost her fulcrum on both sides and almost fell down again. Fortunately, Shao Yifu was close by and grabbed her arm in time to avoid the danger of falling a second time. She turned her head and looked back, only to see a group of people rushing up. She couldn't see what was happening inside.
Before she could fully savor the glorious moment of returning home in glory, the surroundings suddenly became quiet, yet at the same time, the air suddenly became fresher. Only Shao Yifu remained, carefully supporting her elbow as if he were supporting an eighty-year-old grandmother. Zhao Shihua felt a little embarrassed. She thanked him, saying she had recovered, and stood a step away, watching what was happening with Zhu Miaoyan.
Half a minute later, Zhao Shihua remembered that she had forgotten to ask an important question: "What place did I finish in?" She fell down near the finish line. She remembered that several figures had passed her, and she didn't know what her final ranking would be.
"Second or third? Not bad, uncle-shi, you're quite impressive!" Shao Yifu gave her a thumbs-up like a close friend, but then changed the subject, "But I'm not too sure, because I was blocked by a few people."
Zhao Shihua was delighted when he heard the first half of the sentence, but his heart sank when he heard the second half. He remembered that Shao Yifu was nearsighted, so he guessed that the information was unreliable and he had to rely on himself to find out.
"Then I'll wait for Miaoyan to come over, and then we'll go and see the results together."
"Don't worry, you'll definitely come back with a medal! It's just the difference between a silver or bronze medal. I won't be wrong!"
"...Then who mistook 31 for 37 this morning?"
Zhao Shihua recalled the entrance ceremony in the morning. Their class finally got a neither-so-good nor-bad result, ranking 31st out of the total 60 classes in the school. However, Shao Yifu misjudged it at first, thinking it was 37th. Later, he was scolded by the head teacher, saying, "You are so careless that you can even misread a number." In fact, he probably just forgot to wear his glasses again.
As for the castle model he wore, it was indeed more realistic than the one in the newspaper. The only drawback was that it was painted a dusty gray. According to my research, most castles in Luxembourg are built of stone, so I chose a color closer to stone to stay true to reality. However, from the podium, Shaw Yi-fu looked like he was carrying a pile of gray bricks. It's unclear whether this brick giant was a plus or minus in the end.
Just as Zhao Shihua was suggesting that Shao Yifu wear swimming goggles, as he had in the previous political science class, Zhu Miaoyan, supported by Zhang He and Xu Jiamei, slowly approached. Her face was pale, sweat dripping from her forehead. She said she wanted a sports drink. Zhao Shihua immediately offered to buy it for her, but Zhang He rushed over, saying she would go, so Zhao Shihua and Zhu Miaoyan could both rest for a while.
"No need, let's go together..." Zhu Miaoyan breathed weakly, "I also need to walk for a while to catch my breath..."
The three girls turned and headed towards the canteen. Xu Jiamei led the other students to support the next round of competition, while Shao Yifu was assigned to check the results. Just as the three of them were about to turn off the playground, they heard Shao Yifu's voice suddenly call out Zhao Shihua's name from behind. She turned around and saw Shao Yifu stopped in the distance, cupping his hands into a trumpet shape and shouting, "Zhao Shihua! Kakakaka..." Perhaps he was too anxious and choked.
"What's wrong?" Zhao Shihua shouted back.
Shao Yifu cleared his throat and answered loudly: "You ran away, ka ka ka..." But this time he seemed to cough even more violently, and he bent down directly, supporting his hands on his thighs. Just as she was hesitating whether to go over, Shao Yifu raised his hand and made a scissors hand gesture.
"What do you mean?" Zhang He muttered, "Is he taking a selfie?"
"Second place!" Zhao Shihua was the first to react. "He's referring to me, second place, right? I'll go ask. Wait a moment, I'll be right back!"
Zhao Shihua said as she ran over, her post-race fatigue vanishing. When she reached Shao Yifu, he was still coughing, his face flushed red. Zhao Shihua was worried he might spit out blood, so she patted his back. "Are you okay?"
Shao Yifu couldn't speak and just nodded.
"Do you have a cold?" She felt a noticeable chill when she went out in the morning.
"No, I...kakaka!" Shao Yifu could only wave his hands.
"Forget it, you'd better not say anything. By the way, you mean I came in second, right?" Seeing Shao Yifu nodded again, Zhao Shihua got excited and hit him a little too hard accidentally, causing Shao Yifu to cough violently several times. "Oh, sorry, sorry! I'll go buy you a bottle of water. You take a rest first." He made it seem as if the person who had just finished running 1,500 meters was Shao Yifu.
Zhao Shihua ran back to meet Zhu Miaoyan, who seemed a little impatient, perhaps because she had kept them waiting too long. Zhao Shihua excitedly shared the good news of second place, but realized she had forgotten to ask Zhu Miaoyan's results. Embarrassed for a moment, she made the excuse that Shao Yifu was coughing so hard he couldn't even speak a complete sentence and would ask him later.
When she thought about being on the podium later, Zhao Shihua couldn't help but feel a little proud. She suddenly felt like she was back to the proud look in elementary school. Even her speech speed increased. If she was handed a pair of clappers at this time, she would definitely be able to speak the running language.
"Shihua, you're amazing! You're a full half lap faster than me. Everyone's chasing you and cheering for you," Zhu Miaoyan stared at the sports drinks on the shelf. There were only two or three options, but for some reason she hadn't decided yet. "You'll bring extra points to the class, unlike me..."
"It's remarkable that you managed to finish the race," Zhao Shihua consoled her, but his upbeat tone couldn't hide his cockiness. "I just barely made it!"
"But the first place is even more impressive. I see she seems to be running faster and faster, even dozens of meters faster than you?"
"And that person has curly hair, like a foreigner." Zhang He came over and then went around to the snack shelf on the other side.
"I really hadn't noticed if you hadn't told me." Zhao Shihua hesitated for a moment, opened the refrigerator door and took out a bottle of orange soda, then took a bottle of room temperature green tea from the shelf next to it.
"You're going to drink so much?"
"I bought this for Shao Yifu. He just had a cough, and I was wondering if some tea would help." Zhao Shihua was also considering whether to buy another bottle for Zhuo Siqi. After a day of reading radio scripts, he probably needed some tea to soothe his throat. As she was standing on tiptoe to reach for the top layer of jasmine tea, she suddenly heard Zhu Miaoyan lean over and whisper something to her.
"Hmm? What did you say?"
Zhu Miaoyan shook her head, opened the hot drink cabinet nearby, and pulled out a bottle of Vitasoy. She followed Zhao Shihua to the cashier, and in a casual tone, as if asking if she wanted to have dinner together, she smiled as if she had just thought of something funny, and with her dimples on her face, she asked, "Hey, do you like him?"
"Ah? Who?" Suddenly, a huge drum sounded in my heart, and someone was beating it hard.
"That's Shao Yifu."
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