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Qing Kuang - Chapter 36

Published at 7th of November 2022 01:06:38 PM


Chapter 36

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There were quite a lot of people at high jump, because most people who were forced to sign up for something chose either long jump or high jump. But triple jump was still harder compared to jumping over a bar, so that’s why they all signed up for high jump.

Huo Ran didn’t really care about how many people he had to compete against. He thought this was pretty nice, since he had time to run a lap with Kou Chen due to how long each round took. 

Kou Chen wasn’t running fast, but he wasn’t playing around like earlier either. He maintained a spot in the middle.

Zhou Haichao was in first place, and behind him was a guy that used to be in Huo Ran’s class, a long distance athlete. But he didn’t do 1000 metres specifically, so he might not be able to grasp the rhythm.

If Kou Chen kept it up he might be able to come in second place.

Why only second place? 

Huo Ran glanced at Zhou Haichao, who’s every movement annoyed him. He’s not a long distance runner either, why should he get first place?

“Go Kou Chen!” He yelled at Kou Chen again.

Kou Chen laughed as he ran.

“Stop laughing!” Wei Chaoren yelled too, “You’re gonna laugh all your energy away!”

At the first curve, there wasn’t any change in position. Only Kou Chen took the opportunity to move to the inner lane. At that moment, a group of girls jumped up and cheered in sync: “Go Kou Chen! Go Kou Chen! Get first place! Jiejie loves you!”

“Holy shit!” Xu Chuan stumbled in shock.

“Third year humanities.” Xu Zhifan laughed hysterically, “Holy shit, good for them.”

Kou Chen turned and smiled at them. 

“Go!” The girls jumped and waved, “Jiejie loves you—”

“Stop it!” Huo Ran ran up beside him, “Keep your eyes on the fucking track.”

There were people from every class watching and cheering, and you could hear it from both sides of the track. But Kou Chen was the hope of the whole of humanities, so his cheers were particularly loud.

The other runners didn’t do anything special, they only focused on running. But Huo Ran could feel Zhou Haichao’s annoyance. 

He turned around a couple times to look at Kou Chen.

But this time Kou Chen wasn’t playing around, he was serious. He maintained his place in the middle, so he probably gave him quite a bit of pressure.

Huo Ran glared at the back of his head. Keep looking back, there’s no way you’re getting first place like this!

Near the end of the first lap, the runners slowly spread out. Kou Chen held his spot in fourth place. A lot of them were starting to tire out, but Kou Chen’s pace hadn’t really changed. 

“You don’t need to run this lap.” Xu Zhifan patted him on the shoulder. “You’re gonna get first here and then be disqualified for yours.”

“Impossible.” Huo Ran was confident in his jumping ability. Although he had never signed up for high jump before, he had practiced the Fosbury Flop, and was a lot better than the people who just leaped over the bar. He would have no trouble making it into finals.

Xu Zhifan glanced at him and smiled without saying anything.

He knew why Xu Zhifan was smiling. 

Who could resist the urge to brag a bit after hanging out with someone like Kou Chen for so long?

After the first lap, Huo Ran went back to high jump.

Quite a few people from his class were waiting for him. 

“1.5 metres now.” Hu Yi didn’t sign up for high jump, but he’d get lapped for sure if he ran with them, so he stayed behind to keep an eye on things for him. “Look, there’s someone good in Humanities 3.”

“How good?” Huo Ran asked.

“Just look.” Hu Yi nodded in that direction.

The guy ran forward amidst the cheers. He jumped, and flew over the bar like a diver. 

“Damn, the straddle technique.” Huo Ran smiled and clapped along with everyone else.

1.5 metres wasn’t hard for Huo Ran. His personal goal was at least 1.7 metres, and everything after that would be up to fate.

“What’s the school record?” Hu Yi asked. “Think anyone can break it?”

“1.8 almost 1.9 metres I guess.” Huo Ran said. “Nobody’s been able to break it in years.” 

“You do it.” Hu Yi said.

“Wake up, will you?” Huo Ran laughed.

“Huo Ran!” His name was called.

“Lfgf!” Leb Ejc gjlrfv tlr tjcv. Lf ojmfv atf yjg jcv tbqqfv bc atf rqba yfobgf gecclcu. 

Lf pera gjc j ijq bc atf olfiv jr j kjgweq, jcv cbk tf ofia qgfaas gfijzfv. Lf wjvf la bnfg atf yjg fjrlis jcv ijcvfv bc atf wja jr fnfgsbcf mijqqfv.

“Aera ub ab 1.6 wfagfr.” Vbwfbcf sfiifv, “P yfa sbe mjc vb la.”

Huo Ran looked to Hu Yi, and he gestured with his fingers: “You were this much over the bar, at least ten centimetres.”

“Then I’ll try 1.6.” Huo Ran looked over to the track. He could see Kou Chen was already in third place, and on the heels of second place, while the rest were quite a distance away from the first three runners. 

The bar was raised to 1.6 metres, and Huo Ran didn’t pause for too long. He hopped in place lightly before running.

Step, jump, shoulders, waist, legs. All he could hear as he jumped were claps and cheers.

There wasn’t much suspense, and he looked to see that the bar hadn’t moved at all when he landed on the mat.

When it was time for everyone else to jump, he ran back to the track. They were almost on the final stretch and he had to go and cheer for Kou Chen.

The Seven of them didn’t run that lap, except for Xu Zhifan. The rest couldn’t keep up so they all crowed at the curve to wait.

“How is it!” Huo Ran yelled.

“They’re almost here,” Xu Zhifan said. “He’s still in third place right now.” 

Huo Ran looked over, seeing the third year humanities girls yelling louder than ever. It was like they were venting out all of their frustrations from school.

“Kou Chen number one, Jiejie loves you!”

“Kou Chen!” Huo Ran yelled, “Go! Go!”

“He’s running!” Jiang Lei yelled, “Run Kou Chen! Run!” 

Kou Chen looked over and Huo Ran jumped up and down as he yelled: “Sprint for it! Go!”

Kou Chen smiled, and suddenly picked up speed. He passed second place, and was close on Zhou Haichao’s heels.

If it isn’t for last year’s champion, Zhou Haichao still had the skill. When Kou Chen started sprinting, he did too, and he was pretty fast.

Huo Ran and the others ran with them. 

“Go! Go!” Xu Chuan’s voice cracked as he yelled.

At the finish line, Wu Xiaochen and the others were holding their class banner, and he could faintly hear them yell: “Nobody can stop me—”

Kou Chen picked up speed, and was just a few steps behind Zhou Haichao. He could probably feel Kou Chen’s breath on the back of his neck.

There had never been a 1000 metre race where the first and second place were so close before, so everyone was excited. Even the people too lazy to move from the bleachers were looking over with binoculars. 

For Huo Ran, if the person in front wasn’t Zhou Haichao, he wouldn’t have cared so much about whatever place Kou Chen came in. But it was Zhou Haichao. He never liked him from the moment he joined the basketball team in first year, and his dislike only grew with He Hua’s incident. Right now, he only wanted Kou Chen to beat him, and brag about it with a foot on his head.

Zhou Haichao was trying his best too, but Kou Chen obviously still had the energy. Give him another 50 metres and he could pass him.

At the last hundred metres, Kou Chen moved to the side, about to pass him. 

Right as he was about to speed up, Zhou Haichao also swayed to the side. Then he immediately straightened up again, so it looked like he only leaned a bit.

But with that, his right leg very subtly blocked Kou Chen.

Kou Chen almost kicked his leg.

“Fucking hell! Bastard!” Huo Ran cursed, “Go Kou Chen!” 

Xu Zhifan was probably the only one that noticed the little detail, and he cursed as well: “Fuck! What is wrong with him?!”

Because of that, Kou Chen fell back behind Zhou Haichao.

“Go Kou Chen! Get first place!” Huo Ran yelled. “Go! Go! Go!”

Kou Chen sped up again, and Huo Ran used all of his lifetime’s strength to yell: “Get first place! Gege loves you!” 

The others immediately yelled as well, indeed worthy of having spent all their time together: “Get first place! Gege loves you!”

Kou Chen passed Zhou Haichao again, and this time he was faster in case he tried the same thing.

Zhou Haichao had no chance now. He’d messed up his own rhythm earlier by trying to stick out his leg, and now with Kou Chen still having more energy than him, he couldn’t stop him.

Kou Chen was now in first place, and cheers exploded around him. It has been years since the weaklings in the humanities have gotten any notable achievements for long distance running, and now someone has defeated last year’s champion and athlete. 

Kou Chen crossed the finish line four or five metres in front of Zhou Haichao, and he kept going for a distance before stopping and panting with his hands on his knees.

Their classmates immediately piled on top of him.

Huo Ran glanced at the other runners. They were all pretty happy as they gathered with their classmates. Only Zhou Haichao looked upset. 

Their eyes met, and Zhou Haichao glared at him.

Huo Ran cursed at him without hesitation: “Trash.”

“Don’t do anything,” Xu Zhifan held him back and blocked them from each other. “Don’t cause trouble for Old Yuan.”

“I know.” Huo Ran said, heading over to Kou Chen. 

Kou Chen squeezed out, and headed over to them with a bottle of water in hand. He spread his arms out: “Do you love me, gege?”

“Yeah!” Wei Chaoren leaped over and hugged him.

“Love you!” Xu Chuan followed.

After they all hugged him and proclaimed their love, Huo Ran sighed and hugged him, smacking him on the back: “Damn, you’re fucking amazing.” 

“Do you love me? Gege!” Kou Chen asked with a smile.

“Love you.” Huo Ran nodded.

“Come.” Kou Chen said.

Gimme a kiss. 

Huo Ran’s brain could automatically finish the sentence. He grabbed Kou Chen’s face and planted a big kiss on his forehead: “MUA!”

Everyone started cheering again. This time it was all girls with a few whistles from the guys.

Huo Ran wiped his mouth: “Sweaty.”

“You try running two laps without sweating.” Kou Chen wiped his face with a towel. “Is it time for your finals yet?” 

“Almost.” Huo Ran said.

“Come on, let’s go.” Kou Chen said.

“Do you want to rest first?” Xu Chuan said. “That last bit has got to be tiring.”

“I’ll rest over there. I’m fine, not that tired.” Kou Chen glanced at Zhou Haichao. “Even if I’m dying I can’t rest here.” 

“That’s right,” Wei Chaoren nodded. “We’ll show him. Not only are you not tired, you can still walk. Not only can you still walk, you can still run!”

“I really can’t,” Kou Chen hung off Huo Ran’s neck as usual, “Not another metre.”

After that round of high jump, anything above 1.6 metres would be the finals. There were only four more people left, and everyone around them cheered. 

The fun in watching high jump is because of all the funny forms in the beginning, and then the cool forms in the end.

Kou Chen sat down in a chair he got from who knows where, and looked at Huo Ran.

“I’m kinda worried,” He whispered in Xu Zhifan’s ear, “How many laps did he just run? What if he can’t jump anymore?”

“Don’t worry, he just doesn’t have the endurance for long distance running, he still has energy.” Xu Zhifan said. “He’s your captain during basketball, and your leader when hiking.” 

“That’s true.” Kou Chen nodded.

Huo Ran’s current height was 1.67 metres. The guy in front of him had already gone, and everyone was watching him in silence.

He hopped lightly.

A sentence suddenly floated through Kou Chen’s mind. 

He’s handsome and charming.

Huo Ran started running, and Kou Chen’s eyes were glued to him. Everyone already started clapping the moment he jumped.

Huo Ran crossed the bar in a beautiful arc. You could tell that he’d practiced.

1.67 metres, easy. 

Kou Chen felt like it was even over 1.7 metres.

“Look at that curve, holy shit.” Tang Wei said from behind him.

“That body.” Li Yiyi followed.

“That v-line.” Wu Xiaochen was there too. 

Kou Chen turned around, and saw a bunch of girls with their phones raised.

“You took a photo?” He asked.

“Mhm,” Wu Xiaochen showed him her phone. “Aren’t I good at this? I got it right as he crossed the bar.

Kou Chen looked at it. Huo Ran was stretched out in mid-air, and a strip of skin showed from where his shirt rode up. It really was a good photo. 

“Send it to me.” He said.

“Got it.” Wu Xiaochen said. “I have a lot of photos of your Huo Ran, I’ll send them all to you.”

Xu Zhifan laughed out loud from where he was squatting beside him.

The others all started laughing as well. 

“Okay.” Kou Chen nodded evenly.

Huo Ran looked over, and Kou Chen immediately smiled at him.

There weren’t many people left, and the competition was fierce.

The next guy went straight to 1.72 metres. He failed once and succeeded the next time so he tried for 1.74. 

Everyone started clapping for him, and Huo Ran joined in too.

But this time he didn’t make it.

It was Huo Ran’s turn, and Kou Chen suddenly felt nervous. When everyone else was cheering, he kept his eyes on him.

Huo Ran made it over 1.72 metres in one try. 

Now for 1.74.

Kou Chen thought that Huo Ran was pretty magical. Every time he made it over the bar, it would be around five centimetres higher. If it were 1.8 metres, would he jump a 1.85?

“Of course not.” Huo Ran answered him. “Hu Yi said I was ten centimetres over for 1.6 metres, and now it’s only a couple centimetres.” 

“Come.” Kou Chen said.

Huo Ran looked at him.

“Rest a bit.” Kou Chen patted his thighs. “Just go for 1.78 later. You only have one opponent now. He’ll probably try to go for the record, you’ll get second place no matter what.

Huo Ran was indeed a bit tired. The others took up all the floor space nearby and sitting on the ground really wasn’t that comfortable, so Kou Chen’s legs were looking pretty enticing right now. But Kou Chen had just ran 1000 metres, so he hesitated, “Are you tired?” 

Kou Chen shook his head.

Huo Ran sat down.

Comfy.

He leaned back on Kou Chen and stretched his legs out. 

“After you get second place,” Kou Chen put an arm around his waist, “We’ll go to the cafeteria.”

“For what?” Huo Ran turned to him.

“For barbeque,” Jiang Lei whispered, “It’s all at the cafeteria. Kou Chen told the lunch ladies yesterday, and they agreed to heat it up for us.”

“Ah.” At that, Huo Ran suddenly felt hungry, and his stomach growled. 

Good thing it was still noisy around them.

But Kou Chen was smiling at him.

“What are you laughing at?” Huo Ran glared.

“It even vibrated.” Kou Chen tightened his grip on his waist and flicked his stomach. 

“Fuck,” Huo Ran turned around and watched the other guy preparing to jump, “No way it was that loud?”

“Be good, just a little longer,” Kou Chen laughed, “I’ll give you all of my food later.”




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