radicalducati Chapter 156
Chapter 156
"I know Beichuan. There's a textile factory there; my aunt used to work there."
Lin Feng glanced at him. Gao Yuan's blanket wasn't folded very well either, the corners weren't aligned, but he didn't care. He threw his pillow on the bed and lay down, the spring mattress creaking.
"What position do you play?" Gao Yuan asked.
"Shooting guard."
How tall?
"1.81 meters tall."
Gao Yuan glanced at him. "A shooting guard who's 1.8 meters tall, a bit short."
Chen Hao glanced at him, said nothing, and took off his black-rimmed glasses, placing them on the bedside table. Without the glasses, his eyes appeared small, squinting into two slits, like a cat's. He rubbed the bridge of his nose, his voice a little softer than when he wore glasses.
"The shooting guards on the provincial youth team are all over 1.85 meters tall. There are a few who are 1.9 meters tall."
Lin Feng sat on his bed, leaning against the wall, with his arms crossed in front of his chest.
"I know."
Chen Hao looked at him, his eyes flashing behind his glasses.
What competitions have you played in?
"From school. I played one half-court 3-on-3 game."
Chen Hao and Gao Yuan exchanged a glance.
A 3-on-3 halftime game? A school match?
Chen Hao's expression remained unchanged, but Gao Yuan burst out laughing. The laughter wasn't malicious, but it carried an undisguised surprise.
"So how did you get in?" Gao Yuan asked, his voice filled with pure curiosity, without any sarcasm.
"Coach Li sent me here."
Gao Yuan simply said "oh" and didn't ask any more questions.
The room was quiet for a while.
In the distance, people were still running on the track and field, their voices muffled, as if muffled by a layer of cotton. A few insects were chirping outside the window, their sounds faint but clearly audible in the quiet night.
Lin Feng picked up the pager and looked at it.
No news.
He lay down, facing the wall.
After a while, Gaoyuan turned off the lights.
The room was plunged into darkness. The curtains weren't fully drawn, and moonlight seeped in through the gaps, cutting a thin white line across the floor, exactly the same as the one in Kitagawa's house.
Lin Feng stared at the white line, unable to sleep.
He was thinking about tomorrow.
Training, competition, assessment.
He's on the provincial youth team, one of the best in the country among his peers. He trained on a concrete court; can he keep up?
he does not know.
But he knew one thing—he could endure hardship more than anyone else.
This is what Sun Jianguo said.
He pulled the blanket up a little higher and closed his eyes.
On the next bed, Gao Yuan turned over, and the bed creaked. Then came Chen Hao's breathing, very light and even.
She slowly fell asleep.
July 6th, 6:30 AM.
Lin Feng was awakened by footsteps in the corridor.
The footsteps were rapid and hurried, like the sound of raindrops hitting a tin roof during a downpour—patter, patter, patter, echoing from one end of the corridor to the other, interspersed with voices, laughter, and someone shouting, "Hurry up, hurry up, we're going to be late!"
He opened his eyes and saw a water stain on the ceiling, shaped like a dried-up lake, with a dark yellow edge and a whitish center.
On the next bed, Gao Yuan was already up. He was wearing a dark blue vest and squatting on the floor tying his shoelaces. The shoelaces were tied very tightly, and at the very end he even tied a knot. Then he stood up and jumped a couple of times to make sure they wouldn't come undone.
Chen Hao was still asleep. He slept in a very proper posture, lying on his back with his hands at his sides, the blanket only covering his chest, and his breathing was very light. His glasses were on the bedside table, the lenses reflecting a faint light in the morning light.
Lin Feng sat up and glanced out the window.