University extra (6)
Huang Xing felt it was not a good day to go out.
Today is the day he, as the Minister of External Relations, is to meet with Xu Jianing from the School of Economics and Management to discuss "sponsorship cooperation for the school sports meet".
The External Relations Department failed to secure any major sponsorships this year, and the college's finance department was slow to approve them. Last semester's football tournament was only made possible by Xu Jianing's "temporary support fund," which earned them an excellent reputation and gave the External Relations Department a taste of the benefits of "surviving through connections."
He hasn't slept well since the day Xu Jianing said he would negotiate terms.
He knew Xu Jianing very well; he usually smiled gently, but in reality, he was a professional negotiation expert.
Before you know it, you'll find yourself following his lead, and by the time you realize it, the contract is signed, the seal is affixed, and you'll have to thank him with gratitude.
He was just an external relations officer at the time, and within ten minutes he was tricked into giving up the budget, agreeing to print brochures, and even having to add the other party's small advertisement to the posters.
"Sponsored by Youth Bookstore".
The game had just ended that day, and the banners on the podium were still up when the Minister of Sports chased after him, demanding, "How could you put up the bookstore's advertisement?"
"Friendly support, mutual promotion..." he stammered.
The Minister of Sports almost laughed in anger: "Reciprocity? What did you reciprocate? The entire venue was covered with banners, posters, balloons, and flyers, all saying 'Sponsored by Xu Jianing of the School of Economics and Management'!"
For a whole week after the football match, Huang Xing would take a long detour whenever he passed by the School of Economics and Management's teaching building.
If the student council hadn't been so broke and all the sponsorships the staff had managed to get were unsuccessful, he really wouldn't have wanted to go to Xu Jianing again for this school sports meet.
To appear more formal, Huang Xing borrowed a suit. The shirt belonged to his roommate, the suit jacket to the dorm next door, and the leather shoes were left over from the props team at last semester's freshman welcome party.
Before leaving, he looked at himself in the mirror for a long time, thinking he looked presentable. But as soon as he stepped into the "Youth Bookstore," his confidence vanished.
Xu Jianing sat on the second floor by the window, next to an old-fashioned wooden-framed window, where the sycamore leaves outside were already turning yellow.
An open book sat before him, a few pages flipped by the wind, which he pressed down with his hand. Beside him was a white porcelain cup, its rim steaming with the aroma of hot tea.
Huang Xing felt that he had already lost before he even started negotiating.
Xu Jianing looked up and saw him, immediately stood up, and greeted him with a smile: "Minister, you've worked hard, you're here so early."
"Oh, not at all." Huang Xing quickly waved his hand. "Oh dear, the last time we met here, I was just a junior member of the Student Union's External Relations Department."
"Yes." Xu Jianing smiled slightly, "It's only been half a year, and you've already been promoted to Minister of External Relations."
"Ugh, don't even mention it, I've got so many responsibilities now."
Xu Jianing hummed in agreement and slowly put down the white porcelain cup: "Then my sponsorship from last semester counts as half the credit, right?"
"Of course," Huang Xing agreed verbally, but his heart was pounding.
He had a strong premonition that he probably couldn't control the situation by himself today, and he would have to immediately call for reinforcements, including the student council president.
Huang Xing touched the pager in his pocket, secretly took it out and looked at it. The screen flashed "Chairman has read".
He secretly breathed a sigh of relief and put the pager back in his pocket.
"Minister, please sit down." Xu Jianing looked up and smiled. "Why do you seem so nervous?"
"Just call me Huang Xing. The title 'Minister' is too formal."
"Hmm. Is the Chairman arriving soon?"
Huang Xing suddenly looked up, wondering if the other person could read minds.
How did you know?
"The way you were touching the pager was so obvious, it was hard not to notice."
The sound of leather shoes walking on the wooden stairs came from downstairs. Soon, a man wearing a white shirt, tie, and a black suit came in.
This time, it was Xu Jianing's turn to be shocked. He raised an eyebrow and asked, "What's going on here? Why are you all dressed so formally?"
"It looks more formal," Lin Xiaozhuo replied calmly, placing the file folder on the table. "Shall we begin now?"
"Of course." Xu Jianing poured two cups of tea for the other person. "These are freshly brewed."
Lin Xiaozhuo took the teacup and smiled politely: "Good tea."
Seeing that there was reinforcements present, Huang Xing was no longer as nervous as before, and nodded in praise: "It is indeed good tea."
Xu Jianing said casually, "The school bought them from the supermarket next to the first canteen. They gave away a teacup if you bought two packs today."
Huang Xing nearly choked on his tea, but Lin Xiaozhuo, unaffected, got straight to the point:
"Xu, we've come here mainly to discuss sponsorship plans for the school sports meet."
"We had a great time working together on the football tournament last semester, and we hope to continue working together this time."
“I told Minister Huang yesterday that I would sponsor him immediately if he agreed to two things unconditionally,” Xu Jianing said slowly, taking a sip of tea.
Upon hearing this, Lin Xiaozhuo sat up even straighter: "Which two things?"
"First, just like last year, the brochure will include 'Friendly Support from the Youth Bookstore,' which was suggested by you yesterday," Xu Jianing said.
Lin Xiaozhuo glanced at Huang Xing without showing any emotion, feeling that he had thrown out his chips too quickly. This glance was a silent condemnation of the other party.
Feeling a little guilty under his gaze, Huang Xing immediately pretended to be diligently taking notes in his notebook.
Xu Jianing saw this, smiled slightly, and continued, "Since this is not a problem, then I will talk about the second thing."
"My bookstore is getting a batch of new books soon, and we'd like to set up a small stall over on the playground while there are lots of people at the school sports meet."
"Set up a stall?" Lin Xiaozhuo repeated, frowning.
“Yes.” Xu Jianing said calmly, “It’s next to the grass on the playground, not far from the podium. It’s the spot where you put down the colorful flags last time. I measured it, and it doesn’t take up much space.”
Huang Xing kept his head down, remaining silent, and desperately pretended to be very interested in the historic wooden table in front of him.
This table is really a table, and the sky is so gray... I knew it wasn't a good day to go out, and now I've been tricked.
Lin Xiaozhu hesitated for a moment: "That location... might need to be reported."
“I understand,” Xu Jianing said considerately. “The books I sell are all genuine. Besides, the school is having a reading month recently, which is perfect for cooperating with your publicity department to promote it.”
Upon hearing this, Lin Xiaozhuo couldn't find a reason to refute it and could only nod.
The two men got up to take their leave when Xu Jianing suddenly called out to them, "Chairman Lin, Minister Huang."
The two stopped in their tracks, turned around stiffly, and looked wary.
Lin Xiaozhuo spoke first: "Are there any additional conditions?"
Xu Jianing paused for a moment, then laughed out loud: "No. I just wanted to ask, roughly where on the playground is the area where the Foreign Languages Institute is located?"
Under his "gentle" gaze, Huang Xing took out the folder he was carrying with him.
Inside were originally the venue layout map, process sheet, sponsor list for the school sports meet... but in his panic, he handed over the whole stack.
Xu Jianing took it, flipped through a few pages, and then handed it back with both hands: "Thank you."
“You’re welcome,” Huang Xing said.
Lin Xiaozhuo coughed lightly without changing his expression: "Then, we won't disturb you any longer."
"Okay, take care." Xu Jianing nodded slightly.
After the two left, he poured out the cold tea, poured himself a fresh cup of hot tea, sat back down, and started reading the novel he hadn't finished.
*
Before we knew it, the autumn sports meet at the Capital University was here.
The sports field was surrounded by student formations from various departments. There were white tents from the medical school, blue tents from the law school, yellow tents from the economics and management school, and so on; cheering slogans played over and over again over the loudspeaker, and the stirring athletes' march blared from the speakers to the left of the podium.
Along the track, referees, dressed in uniform white sportswear, held stopwatches and notebooks; at the check-in area, long lines formed as participants, wearing sportswear of various class colors, warmed up.
The Foreign Languages College team was near the west grandstand. Wen Sheng stood in her classroom, nervously stretching her legs and doing pre-match warm-up exercises.
"Athletes participating in the women's 1500m race, please report to the check-in area."
"Wen Sheng, you're going to run 1500 meters later. Don't run too fast at the beginning, save some energy," a classmate next to him reminded him.
"I'm nervous..." Wen Sheng said with a long face.
"Don't be nervous, you'll be free after you finish the race!" another classmate comforted her. "We'll be at the finish line to cheer you on."
A group of people followed her to the check-in area at 1500 meters, constantly encouraging her along the way.
"Wen Sheng, remember not to run too fast!"
"Yes, yes, let's sprint in the last two laps, don't try to take first place right from the start."
"Don't listen to her. Wen Sheng, sprint on the last lap."
Unlike her classmates' concerns that she "just needs to finish the race," Wen Sheng was actually quite confident that she could finish.
After all, for the past few weeks, Xu Jianing had practically coaxed and tricked her into doing morning exercises, from jogging and breathing rhythms to leg strength training, with a special grueling physical training plan every day.
At first he said, "Just one lap is enough," but he ended up taking her for one and a half laps.
Back then, she could barely manage one lap, panting and cursing the sports committee member while clutching her knees. Later, she could actually run ten laps behind him without falling behind, something she herself couldn't believe.
Although she doesn't have to worry about not finishing the race, she gets so nervous that she feels like vomiting as soon as she gets on the track and hears the check-in staff call "Ready".
"Attention all athletes, the women's 1500m race is about to begin. Please stand behind the starting line."
Wen Sheng was in lane three. As she walked to the starting line with the other runners, she tried hard to recall the long-distance running tips that Xu Jianing had taught her: maintain a steady pace, don't let others lead you in the first few laps, and push hard in the last two laps.
"On your marks—"
"preparation--"
Bang!
As soon as the starting gun fired, almost everyone rushed out.
Wen Sheng didn't rush to start, but steadily controlled her speed and ran according to the rhythm she had been training.
Soon, the other competitors had already pulled ahead of her, and she became the last one.
By the fifth lap, the stamina of the people in front of her began to wane, and she took advantage of this to accelerate and overtake them one by one from the outside lane.
By the last lap, only one girl remained ahead of her. Wen Sheng felt her stamina waning; her throat was dry and sore, and every breath was an ordeal. Just as she was about to slow down, a sentence from Xu Jianing flashed through her mind.
"When you want to stop, run one more step."
Take one more step.
One more step.
The final step.
"Go Wen Sheng! Go Wen Sheng!" The students from the School of Foreign Languages in the stands shouted wildly.
The students from the School of Foreign Languages in the stands were practically shouting themselves hoarse, waving their school flag and whistling.
Logically, with the athletes' march playing on the field and the loudspeakers repeatedly announcing the list of participants and winners for the next competition, the athletes on the track should hardly hear a single complete cheer amidst the chaotic background noise.
But Wen Sheng heard it.
Because the people in her class were shouting so loudly that it was impossible to ignore them.
With the finish line in sight, Wen Sheng gritted her teeth. Her legs no longer felt like their own; she was running forward on instinct.
The moment she crossed the white line, she was completely stunned, feeling like she couldn't breathe and her throat was dry and sore.
Wen Sheng tried to walk a few steps slowly to catch her breath, but her legs were completely numb. She wanted to sit down on the lawn to rest for a while, but just as she bent down, a hand grabbed her.
"Don't sit." Xu Jianing had appeared beside her without her noticing, supporting her shoulder with one hand and her arm with the other. "Walk a few steps, or you'll get cramps."
They walked slowly along the edge of the track, and only after Wen Sheng had fully recovered did he let go of her hand and hand her a bottle of water: "Do you feel alive again?"
Wen Sheng took the water, unscrewed the cap, and took a few sips, finally suppressing the dryness in her throat.
"After running the 1500 meters, I felt the meaning of life," she sighed, looking up at the sky.
Xu Jianing was amused by her "life is meaningless" expression and whispered, "What is the meaning of life?"
"I won't participate in long-distance running anymore. I want to cherish every minute I sit down," Wen Sheng said.
He smiled, pulled a towel from his pocket, and wiped the sweat from her forehead: "That's quite an insight."
"Of course!" Wen Sheng raised her head and finally showed her first smile of the day.
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