Chapter 12 The sports meet...
The weather wasn't great during the two days of the sports meet. It always rained during the opening ceremony, following the tradition that the principal would give a speech. After the rain stopped, the sun came out, and it became hot and dry again.
As it turns out, the women's hurdles participants were indeed a bunch of unlucky ones. Fang Minzhou easily made it to the finals and even ranked fourth. In other words, if she had just run a little faster in the finals, she would have had a good chance of winning a medal.
However, there are still some formidable competitors. The first-place finisher in the preliminaries to Fang Minzhou's left seems to be a track and field athlete; his warm-up routine looks much more professional than the others.
The reality is that at No. 1 High School, no matter what the project is, getting first place is never easy.
After failing to rank in the top three of her class in several exams during her first year of high school, Fang Minzhou deeply understood the fierce competition at No. 1 High School. She felt very frustrated, but she could only adjust her mindset and lower her goal to the top five in her class.
She felt that as long as she could keep her grades stable within this range, it would at least mean that her overall foundation was fine. She could then fill in the gaps in her knowledge during the senior year review period and perhaps make a breakthrough.
In this competition, she doesn't aspire to the championship, but third place might not be too difficult.
With anticipation comes pressure, and standing at the starting line again, Fang Minzhou was a little more nervous than during the morning's preliminary round. She was still wearing her short-sleeved school uniform on top, but had changed into black athletic shorts on the bottom. The afternoon sun was even more glaring and intense than in the morning, and the wind was a bit chilly.
Unlike the 50-meter dash, hurdles can't be accelerated by people around you. Anyway, Fang Minzhou secretly reminded herself not to get distracted later, or she would definitely fall.
She saw Ouyang Qian and Yuan Yue waving at her from the side of the track, and she raised her hand in return.
As Ouyang Qian lowered her hand, she heard someone ask her, "Haven't started yet?"
"Soon," Ouyang Qian replied, glancing at Wang Kan, who seemed reluctant, standing next to Zheng Yanhang.
Wang Kan didn't know where to look, didn't want to look at Fang Minzhou, but didn't need to pay attention to anyone else either. He started fiddling with the camera in his hand.
"Hey, Wang Kan, could you take a picture for me later?" Ouyang Qian said.
“My skills aren’t that good yet,” he said.
Ouyang Qian thought about it and agreed. What if the photos turned out badly? "Never mind, then you shouldn't take them."
Wang Kan: "..."
As the race time drew near, Wang Kan saw the referee raise the starting pistol high, but he still followed the crowd's gaze to the starting line. Fang Minzhou, in the third lane closest to them, assumed his starting position.
It was pretty standard. He thought for a moment, raised his camera, and the gunshot rang out the instant he pressed the shutter.
Wang Kan touched her ears, which had been aggravated. Ouyang Qian was one thing, but why did Fang Minzhou's friend from Class 8 next door suddenly have such a loud voice?
In high school, physical education classes were separated by gender. In the past few weeks, Wang Kan had watched Fang Minzhou practice, but only from a distance, just seeing her figure. He didn't go to watch the preliminary round this morning, so this was the first time he had seen her hurdle.
With sharp eyes and agile movements, he seemed poised to pounce on him like a leopard. The wind brushed against his face, and Wang Kan's breath hitched slightly.
Wang Kan felt a sudden sense of relief, as if he had stepped into thin air in a dream.
Before he and the others ran over, Fang Minzhou stood up first and helped the girl next to her to her feet.
The girl fell quite hard and was helped to the side by other classmates. A few meters away, Wang Kan saw Fang Minzhou talking to the teacher for a few words. She took a deep breath and continued to clear the remaining hurdles.
Last place.
Amidst the encouraging applause, Fang Minzhou felt a pang of sadness, but she managed to force a smile.
The more you want something, the less likely you are to get it. There's nothing you can do about it now.
"Are you alright?" Ouyang Qian came over to help her up.
She shook her head. When she was about to fall, she consciously dissipated the force and rolled to the side. Although her knees and elbows were scraped and bleeding, it was alright.
Her classmates and Yuan Yue surrounded her, as if they wanted to lift her up by a finger each. She was touched, amused, and a little embarrassed, repeatedly saying that she was really fine.
She went up to the referee and registered her ranking. The referee told her her score with a regretful look and then told her to go to the school doctor to treat her wound.
"You, Liu Xiang, are still running even when you're injured," Ouyang Qian frowned.
Fang Min and Zhou Xiao said, "Learn from Liu Xiang."
Ouyang Qian was a little angry at Fang Minzhou's behavior. "Why are you pushing yourself so hard? What if it gets worse?"
"No, if I really can't, I won't run anymore," Fang Minzhou said. "But I'll run as long as I can, at least finish the race, otherwise all the practice will have been for nothing."
Ouyang Qian disagreed and let out a long sigh.
Yuan Yue brought over some water and took out some chocolate from her pocket. Fang Minzhou thanked her and took it. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Wang Kan and Zheng Yanhang not far away. She glanced over and saw that he seemed to be looking in her direction.
The thought that he had witnessed her entire fall and subsequent recovery made Fang Minzhou feel a little embarrassed, wondering how Wang Kan might be laughing at her behind her back.
She unscrewed the bottle cap and turned her face to the other side to drink the water.
"Fang Min and Zhou Niu are amazing!" Zheng Yanhang exclaimed in amazement.
Wang Kan looked away without replying. The announcement came on, and he handed the camera to Zheng Yanhang, saying, "I'm going to check in now."
"Okay, I'll call Wu Cheng over to find you later." Zheng Yanhang added after saying that, "Be careful, health comes first, competition second. The organization won't blame you if you don't win a medal."
Wang Kan waved his hand with his back to Zheng Yanhang: "You didn't even make it to the finals in the 400 meters and you still have the nerve to talk to me? Be careful in the relay tomorrow, don't let me down."
Zheng Yanhang shouted at Wang Kan, who was walking away, "What happened to me today was completely an accident!"
"Zheng Yanhang!"
"ah?"
He turned around, and Ouyang Qian waved to him, "Come over and help us take a picture."
Ouyang Qian first asked Zheng Yanhang to take a photo of Fang Minzhou alone, saying that the school should give Fang Minzhou a Best Spirit Award, and then asked him to take a group photo of them.
Fang Minzhou, Ouyang Qian, and Yuan Yue, paired up in twos, and then the three of them together.
Fang Minzhou had no idea when Ouyang Qian and Yuan Yue had met.
After the photos were taken, the camera was passed from hand to hand among the three women.
DSLR cameras are still rare among high school students like them. Zheng Yanhang told them to be careful while teaching them how to use it. "If you switch to automatic mode, just press here. If you think the exposure is too high, press here."
"Sure, Sports Committee Member Zheng," Ouyang Qian teased.
“Secretary Ouyang, please stop calling me that,” Zheng Yanhang complained. “I was just repeating what Wang Kan taught me. I don’t have a DSLR camera, how would I know how to do it?”
Fang Min was stunned. She had forgotten that the camera belonged to Wang Kan.
"Hey, by the way, where's Wang Kan?" Ouyang Qian asked.
"I'm off to the competition, the high jump," Zheng Yanhang said.
Fang Minzhou breathed a sigh of relief, feeling fortunate; otherwise, she didn't dare to imagine what would have happened if Wang Kan had taken the picture.
"Hey, this one's pretty good," Yuan Yue praised.
If you press the button again, you'll see another photo of her with her hands on the ground, ready to start running.
“Ah, I like this one,” Yuan Yue said.
The sunlight fell perfectly on Fang Minzhou, turning her features into a golden outline. The girl in the photo looked straight ahead, her expression serious and resolute, perfectly matching Yuan Yue's image of Fang Minzhou.
"Did you take this picture?" Ouyang Qian asked Zheng Yanhang.
"No, it was Wang Kan who took the picture, wasn't it?"
"I was wondering why it wasn't at the same level as before."
Zheng Yanhang: "..."
"Just kidding." Ouyang Qian comforted Zheng Yanhang perfunctorily, then said to Fang Minzhou, "Before your competition, I asked Wang Kan to take a picture for you, and he said his skills weren't good enough."
Fang Minzhou, who hadn't said a word, just smiled.
Even though the match had just ended and the wound, coated with iodine, was still throbbing, the person in the photo was so unfamiliar that she almost didn't recognize her, even though it was indeed her.
Zheng Yanhang asked them if they wanted to go watch Wang Kan's match.
“Okay.” Ouyang Qian handed the camera back to Zheng Yanhang.
Yuan Yue couldn't go; after all, she was from Class 8 and needed to go cheer on her classmates. Fang Minzhou also shook her head, "I won't go."
Zheng Yanhang put the camera around his neck and said, "You and Wang Kan really are deskmates. I asked him to come watch your game, but he absolutely refused. I had to drag him over."
He looked up and saw Fang Minzhou staring at him.
Zheng Yanhang grinned ingratiatingly, thinking he was familiar with his classmates after so long, but he accidentally said something inappropriate, "...But you're injured, you really should rest, so...we'll be going now?"
Fang Minzhou thought to herself, "Can she really stop him?"
"Are you sure you can manage on your own?" Ouyang Qian asked.
"Okay, you guys go ahead."
Fang Minzhou slowly walked back to the class camp in the center of the playground. Lin Sinian had just returned from the competition. He had won second place in the long jump and already knew about her injury. After showing concern, he said, "The school should give you a moral honor award."
Fang Minzhou said that he and Ouyang Qian said the exact same thing.
"Really?" Lin Sinian laughed as well. "But you're really impressive. I'm quite impressed."
If any other boy had said this, Fang Minzhou would have thought he was joking, because the tone would have been teasing and exaggerated, and even if it was true, it wouldn't have been taken seriously. But Lin Sinian never spoke like that.
After junior high school, being a class officer is no longer a coveted position. If you're not careful, you can easily become a spy or lackey of the teacher in the eyes of your classmates. The position of class monitor is especially challenging, as it is often filled with enemies on all sides. The pressure of high school studies makes it even more thankless. However, Lin Sinian was conscientious in fulfilling his duties as class monitor.
He is usually slow and methodical, and turns a blind eye to some classmates' rule-breaking behavior. He gets along well with everyone and has some prestige among the boys. Most of the girls also admire him.
During this sports meet, their class had a good business. When the student in charge of selling the goods panicked and found that the stock was not enough, he learned that Lin Sinian had already contacted the boss to deliver the goods in advance, and that he spent the rest of his time helping out at the stall except for the competition.
He didn't seem to have any ambitions, just a strong sense of responsibility, Fang Minzhou thought so, and the other classmates naturally felt the same way. Later, when Fang Minzhou heard that Lin Sinian's father seemed to have a fairly high position in the municipal government, she couldn't help but think that it was no wonder.
Besides grades and appearance, a person's family background and their parents' occupations, once known, also become labels. Whether someone is rich or poor is the most direct indicator; everything else is vague, like the rewards one might receive in slogans about leaping over the dragon gate or surpassing thousands of others with a single point.
"Actually, I feel quite ashamed," Fang Minzhou said.
"Why?" Lin Sinian asked.
Fang Minzhou said in a lighthearted tone, "I tripped and fell in front of so many people."
Lin Ssu-nien did not directly refute, "If you saw someone fall and then keep running, would you think he was shameful?"
“…No.” Fang Minzhou paused, then smiled and said, “Class monitor, you have a very optimistic outlook, and you even have some philosophical thoughts.”
Lin Sinian smiled slightly, maintaining his gentle and polite demeanor.
Fang Minzhou was helping to watch the stall, but her classmates all treated her like an injured person who couldn't move, so she was almost never asked to do any work. Bored, Fang Minzhou looked around and saw Lin Sinian rummaging through things. She asked him, "Class monitor, what are you looking for?"
Lin Ssu-nien said it was a stack of contact list manuscripts he had collected at noon, but he had forgotten about it in his busy schedule and apparently left it in the classroom.
"I'll go get it for you," Fang Minzhou said.
"No need, I can go by myself." He said that, but immediately a classmate in charge of collecting money called out, "Class monitor, class monitor!"
"It's okay, I'll go. I just need to go back to the classroom anyway."
"Really? But... are you able to walk?"
"Sure, I just have a minor scrape, it's nothing serious."
Lin Sinian hurriedly thanked him, "Okay, thank you, thank you for your trouble."
"You're welcome."
Fortunately, Lin Sinian didn't ask her why she went back to the classroom. Fang Minzhou planned to get a novel to pass the time.
As Fang Minzhou crossed the playground, she saw that the high jump competition area was packed with people, three laps deep. After all, it was one of the most popular events, and even those who were forced to participate were all tall, either cool and handsome or funny, creating a lively atmosphere filled with exclamations of "wow" and laughter, making it a very entertaining event.
She vaguely heard Zheng Yanhang's voice, shouting, "Go Wang Kan!"
Fang Minzhou quickened her pace, and for some reason, out of a feeling akin to not daring to look, she silently distanced herself from this "place of trouble."
A note from the author:
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