Ch72 – Competition
Zhou Sheng got up early on the day of the finals of the National College Cycling Invitationals and bought breakfast for Yu Hao, but he didn’t wake Yu Hao up before leaving to take the urine test. It wasn’t until Chen Yekai knocked on the door that Yu Hao got up groggily.
“Let’s go watch thepetition?” Chen Yekai said.
“Crap! Where’s Zhou Sheng? Why did he leave without calling me?” Yu Hao sat up abruptly. His rm hadn’t gone off either, and his heart almost jumped out of his chest in fright.
Chen Yekai, “It’s still early, it only starts in the afternoon. Let’s go.”
Ying City ushered in its hottest day in ten years. Intense heat emanated from the asphalt roads, yet there wererge crowds of people on both sides of the race track. Contestants weren’t allowed to see the track before the race and had to stay in the rest area. Yu Hao wanted to go to the preparation area to say ‘jiayou’ to Zhou Sheng, but he couldn’t find him. He was almost about to be sunburned just looking over the racecourse.
Yu Hao nervously sent messages to Zhou Sheng to ask about his whereabouts, but Zhou Sheng only replied with a grinning emoji.
“Don’t go anywhere, just stand there!” Huang Ting was waiting in front of the race track as he talked to Yu Hao.
Yu Hao said, “It’s so hot today, would they get a heatstroke?!”
The mour that surrounded them was deafening. Chen Yekai handed out whistles, and people from Sports ss 1 began arriving one after another. Thest people to arrive were Fu Liqun and Cen Shan. Chen Shan was wearing a red hat and the crowd roared, “Hello sis-inw!”
“Hello——hi hi everyone.” Cen Shan said, “Yu Haoe over here.”
Fu Liqun said, “Don’t move anymore, both of you stand properly. Gege will shield you guys from the sun.”
Fu Liqun stood behind Yu Hao and Cen Shan, subtly shielding them from the sun.
Yu Hao beganughing. Cen Shan held up a small fan and turned it towards the three of them. Everyone had a whistle in their mouths as they turned around to look at the starting line.
“When Young Master rides overter.” Someone called Xia Lei from Sports ss 1 said, “Then Gege, shift to the back a little.”
Fu Liqun said, “Okay!”
“Why move?” Cen Shan asked, baffled.
“To highlight Yu Hao, so that he can be seen ah.” Fu Liqun answered.
Yu Hao, “???”
Yu Hao couldn’t listen to their idle chat any longer. He looked towards the starting line. The contestants all pushed their bikes out one after another, and they were more than thirty metres away from the starting line. Yu Hao couldn’t tell which one was Zhou Sheng.
The starting pistol fired with a “bang”, the race started!
All of the contestants raced forward on their bicycles. Yu Hao hadn’t snapped out of his daze yet, and not long after, a group of colourful guys on their bikes flew past his eyes. Yu Hao could only recognise Zhou Sheng’s bicycle helmet, yet he couldn’t tell which one was him. When he was looking towards the front, someone who had fallen behind shouted angrily, “Where the hell are you looking at?! Laozi’s here!”
Yu Hao, “!!!”
Zhou Sheng threw a kiss at them, and they all whistled back. This scene shook the heavens and the earth, and Yu Haoughed. He shouted, “Jiayou!”
Zhou Sheng raised his hand again and waved, then disappeared into therge peloton. He had fallen quite far behind.
“Let’s go.” Chen Yekai said, “The next track!”
Everyone immediately moved on to the next track. In response to the 40-degree heat, the organiser distributed paper cups and medicinal concoctions to provide relief from the summer heat. Chen Yekai bought ice water for the whole ss. Everyone walked through the park, and outside of it, a group of athletes swept by them again.
This time, Yu Hao exerted his utmost force to whistle — he saw Zhou Sheng! The distance between the cyclists had opened up; after he passed by, the next contestant only followed a whole 20 secondster.
“Jiayou!” Fu Liqun shouted, “Young Master! Good luck! Let’s eat chicken tonight!”
The crowd roared withughter; they followed the organiser across the road and moved on to the next location to watch the race. A strong wind blew by the river. Yu Hao was the first to notice Zhou Sheng; this time, he was very much ahead! Yu Hao counted as he whistled. Huang Ting said, “14th.”
Everyone shouted “yeah” in unison. As long as he entered the top 10, he would receive a prize!
Chen Yekai shouted at the group of bicycles in the distance, “Jiayou!”
They continued to move. In the park at the foot of the mountain, the viewing tform in front of a cafe was crowded with people. Thedy boss personally came forward and rebuked, “No one else get on! There’s too many people! Spectate from below! What are you guys trying to do?!”
Fu Liqun, “28 cups of coffee frappinos, superrge, and 30 double scoops of sea salt matcha ice cream. We’ll book the entire second floor.”
Lady boss, “Ah okokok, then open up the sunshades in the corner by yourselves okay?”
Chen Yekai, “Liqun you robbed me of my lines......”
It was Fu Liqun’s treat. Everyone held a cup of frappino and an ice cream in their hands. Fu Liqun could eat three portions by himself. Yu Hao was so nervous his stomach hurt; he kept staring at the race track at the point where the contestants were expected to firste into view. They arrived!
“11th.” Huang Ting’s gaze swept over and reported calmly, “Can we get another cup of ice cream?”
Everyone whistled, Yu Hao shouted, “Zhou Sheng! Jiayou——!”
“The next checkpoint!” Chen Yekai said.
Everyone hastened down the stairs. The fifth checkpoint was at Yunding Mountain Nature National Park in Ying City. Zhou Sheng was now in 7th ce!
The sixth checkpoint was outside the amusement park that Yu Hao and Zhou Sheng had worked at before. Yu Hao got distracted and didn’t see Zhou Sheng; his eyes darted around rapidly as he searched for his figure and thought, crap, something couldn’t have happened to him right?
“9th.” Huang Ting said, “Let’s go?”
Yu Hao said, “He passed us already?”
Huang Ting said, “Believe me, there’s no mistake.”
At dusk, thest checkpoint. The organising staff removed the gs and changed the starting line to the finish line. Cen Shan asked, “Which ces get the trip to Australia for two people?”
“Top 3.” Fu Liqun replied.
“That won’t be easy.” Huang Ting said, “There are too many professionals.”
Chen Yekai said, “As long as he gets into top 10, the college will have to give him a prize. Just getting into top 10 would already be considered pretty good.”
“Yu Hao are you alright?” Fu Liqun said, “Don’t get heatstroke.”
Yu Hao waved his hand, “I’m still okay, do I look really nervous?”
“You barely spoke today.” Cen Shanforted, “Don’t worry, Zhou Sheng himself isn’t worried.”
Yu Hao nodded, “He must be tired, he’s been cycling for so long.”
“Go back and massage Young Master tonight.” A guy from the sports ss said, “He still needs to celebrate his birthday tomorrow.”
Everyone burst outughing. Yu Hao thought that it seemed like there would be a course in TCM next year for those studying Psychology; it seemed to be about massage and acupuncture in TCM, and is often joked to be the “Big Health Care Major” by the sports students......he should take that, then maybe he could help massage Zhou Sheng.
The scorching sun that boiled the city finally ended its task for the day, turning into a fireball sunset that sank into the horizon and shone on the track until it turned a bloody red. Yu Hao ced one hand on his forehead, his brows were scrunched up with anxiety. He looked towards the horizon to see a figure appear, backlit by the setting sun!
On both sides of the track, everyone — including Yu Hao and gang — shouted together!
It wasn’t Zhou Sheng, but their cheers had nothing to do with thepetition or contestants — their cheers represented everyone’s praise and respect for the one in first ce.
The first ce cyclist rushed through the finishing line in the midst of everyone’s cheers.
Yu Hao felt like he had returned to the time when his junior high school was reciting the rankings as everyone had to take their papers, and his heart was about to jump out of his chest. He kept trying topose himself. When he closed his eyes and regted his breathing, a whistle that shook the heavens and earth suddenly rang out!
Just ten seconds after first ce rushed by the finishing line, the second ce cyclist darted towards the finish — it was Zhou Sheng!
Yu Hao let out a loud shout and subconsciously reached out. Zhou Sheng wore sports sses and an expressionless face, bent forward on his bike, and swept past like a gale — that appearance of his was so cool that it made everyone on the track shout out together. Before anyone could register it, Zhou Sheng hugged the periphery of the track, stretched his hand out and — with incredible precision — gave Yu Hao’s outstretched hand a high five.
The setting sun pooled around them like liquid gold, leaving behind only their silhouettes against a bright backdrop. Time seemed toe to a standstill at that moment, and Zhou Sheng crossed the finish line like a bolt of lightning!
Only then did Yu Hao react. A loud “AHHH——” sounded. The result waspletely unexpected for all of his ssmates, and they started to shout like they had lost their minds. They all turned around and rushed towards the finish line.
“The race isn’t over yet!” One of the volunteers for the organisation shouted, “Don’t go there! Don’t crowd around!”
The third ce arrived, followed by the 4th, then the grandiose army hurried over, and the scene started to descend into chaos. Chen Yekai immediately said, “Retreat! The awards will be presentedter!”
Zhou Sheng sat on the grass field behind the race track. His bike was on the ground beside him, and the champion was sitting on the roadside, gasping for breath.
“You’re amazing!” Zhou Sheng said to the champion.
The champion replied, “I had the advantage since it’s my own bike.”
Zhou Sheng, “My bike belongs to the college, let’s go for a one-on-one next time.”
“Okay.” The champion came over and gave Zhou Sheng a high five, then pulled him up.
Following which, a formidable array of people rushed towards Zhou Sheng, lifted him up, and threw him into the air. Zhou Sheng immediately said, “Knock it off! Hold on......I need to go to the toilet!”
Cen Shan was at the side, taking pictures like crazy. The whole ss took turns and it looked as if they were there for a group fight. The champion could only slowly walk away with his bike. Zhou Sheng struggled to break free and looked outside the crowd, and in the end, Yu Hao rushed towards him to give him a bear hug.
“Bring me my basketball pants.” After the sound of running water stopped in the bathroom, Zhou Sheng wore an expression on his face that made it seem like there wasn’t anything worth living for in this world. Yu Haoughed and threw him his basketball pants.
Zhou Sheng put it on over his skintight shorts and took off his skintight top. Yu Hao said, “You still need to ept your prize, don’t take it off!”
So Zhou Sheng could only take half of it off, revealing his beautiful and chiselled abs before lowering his head under the tap’s running water.
“Your neck looks sunburned.” Zhou Sheng nced at Yu Hao, “Your skin will definitely peel off tomorrow,e over and wash it.”
Yu Hao said, “I’ll wash it when I get back ba. Hurry, go and get your prize.”
“Get what prize.....e over to Laozi......”
Zhou Sheng pressed Yu Hao down and rinsed him with water.
Yu Hao kept shouting, and the two of them got water all over themselves outside the bathroom. The organisingmittee had alreadye over to summon Zhou Sheng, so Zhou Sheng threw his helmet and sses to Yu Hao and smiled as he went to collect his prize. In contrast, the champion was alone as he stood quietly. When he bowed to receive the medal, Yu Hao took the lead in whistling, followed by the whistles and apuse of the entire ss.
Zhou Sheng smiled and gave Yu Hao a thumbs up. When it was his turn to go on stage, the crowd erupted in an uproar.
“Woah fuck, those good looks can practically kill the whole crowd in seconds.”
Yu Hao overheard ament made in private.
Late at night, everyone went down the mountain and entered a small stir-fry shop. This shop didn’t have many seats, and it only served a range of stir-fries. Zhou Sheng treated everyone to dinner. Chen Yekai and Huang Ting had an appointment with the intiff’swyer, so they had to take their leave in advance. Zhou Sheng led the bubbling group of locusts that rushed in, and theypletely upied the shop within an instant.
“What does everyone wanna eat? The menu’s on the wall, look for yourselves ba.” The boss nced over and saw that there were so many people who came in, so he hurriedly put on his reading sses and took out a notebook to take orders.
“Fry up this whole wall!” The pack of wolves instantly cheered.
Zhou Sheng roared angrily, “Yes! Fry up this whole wall!”
Yu Hao wasughing really hard. Fu Liqun went to open a bottle, and everyone in the shop began to drink. However, Zhou Sheng had been thrown to one side and sat in a corner. He and Yu Hao looked at each other, and within this lively world, only the two of them remained as they sat opposite each other. Zhou Sheng hunched over slightly as he sat, looking just like a monkey, and only smiled when he looked at Yu Hao.
“Australia.” Zhou Sheng held his phone and showed Yu Hao the content of his chat. The organisingmittee requested that Zhou Sheng fill in the names, and Zhou Sheng filled in his and Yu Hao’s ID information and names.
Yu Hao smiled, “I really didn’t expect that you would get second ce!”
“The first ce’s bike is too good.” Zhou Sheng smiled, “If I rode that bike I would’ve been faster than him, forget it.”
Yu Hao didn’t know why but he was momentarily at a loss for words. He wanted to praise Zhou Sheng for being way too handsome today, so much so that he was even shining, yet he was too embarrassed to say it. Shortly afterwards, the boss served the dishes, and Zhou Sheng encouraged everyone to eat up. The group of people from the sports ss were like wolves and tigers. Yu Hao was suffering from heatstroke and didn’t have much of an appetite. He poured some alcohol for Zhou Sheng, who said, “Drink less and eat more. This boss is my Dad’s Shige, the taste of his dishes is superb.”
Yu Hao was a bit surprised. He wanted to eat more, but firstly he was too excited, and secondly he had stood under the sun the whole day and didn’t have much of an appetite. After awhile, Cen Shan was the first toe over. She was holding a beer and rubbed Zhou Sheng’s head, “You did pretty well today, sis-inw has stuff to do so I have to leave first. Cheers to the both of you.”
Yu Hao quickly held up a ss with Zhou Sheng and drank it. Cen Shan said goodbye to the rest before she left. Fu Liqun sent her out to the car and said to the crowd, “Wait till I get back before you guys start drinking! Open up some white wine!”
After filling up his stomach, Yu Hao once again realised that this group of people could drink as much as bandits; those who drank beer only did so because they were thirsty, and they all began drinking white wine from 7pm onwards. At the start, he thought that they had neglected Zhou Sheng, but it turns out that everyone was just hungry, and once they were sated, they began making Zhou Sheng drink. After they made him drink a few cups, they made Yu Hao drink too. Not only did they make the two of them drink, they were all forcing their own dormitory mates to drink as well. Zhou Sheng asked Yu Hao not to get drunk, and when Yu Hao got any drinks he would take it. Yu Hao didn’t let him drink too much; he was afraid that after today’s high-intensity race, drinking would badly affect his heart.
After a while, Fu Liqun came back and roared angrily, “Gege wasn’t around! And you guys dared to sneak away?! Come? Ai that......Yu Hao take a drink for me, I need to mentally prep myself first.”
“Get lost!”
Fu Liqun began to disy his strength as fresh reinforcements and managed to drink for nearly an hour. In the end, the crowd was so drunk that they copsed everywhere and cheered loudly for Yu Hao to sing. Yu Hao was a bit tipsy, though his mind was still sober, so he asked Zhou Sheng to choose a song.
Zhou Sheng, “Sing one yourself, I’ll choose the next one.”
“Then——let’s go ba, who knows what’s ahead——”
“Then——let’s go ba, the scenery there is the same.” Yu Haoughed as he sang.
Yu Hao started directly from the chorus, and the whole restaurant fell silent once he began to sing. The guests sitting outside all turned around at the same time, and even the boss moved a chair out from the kitchen to sit down and listen. Meanwhile, Zhou Sheng earnestly chose the apaniment from his phone and found《Drown One’s Sorrows》.
Once the apaniment started, along with the dim sunlight in the pub, the revolving green electric fans, the scent of summer grass, the moonlight in the sky, and the slight intoxication from the wine, it seemed even more ethereal, as if everyone had fallen into a dream for a moment.
“Cheers to the morning sun, cheers to the moonlight, wake up my yearning, turn the cold windows gentle.”
When he sang part of the chorus, everyone actually sang along with Yu Hao; half of them sounded deste while the other sounded rueful as they all began singing in unison. It was as if there was an inconceivable depth of indescribable mncholy within these 20-year-olds. Thest moments of their youth was about to end, just like the gentle breeze in this summer night. It silently prated their restless souls, assaulting their senses before brushing past their face.
After the song ended, there was silence.
“Thest song.” Zhou Sheng said in the silence, “After we finish this ss, let’s disperse for the night ba.”
“Good flowers don’t bloom often——beautiful sceneries don’t appear often——” Yu Hao sang again. When he sings, his eyebrows would raise slightly. He grinned as he looked at Zhou Sheng. Fu Liqun then yed an apaniment.
When it ended, the crowd bumped their sses against one another and they all said, “See you next term.”
“See you next term——”
Zhou Sheng’s money was all with Yu Hao, so he motioned for Yu Hao to settle the bill. Yu Hao used his phone to pay: 26 people, 7 tables, including all the alcohol, and the total came up to 920. The boss even rounded it off for Yu Hao and only charged them 900; this was really too cheap.
“See you next term lo!”
Yu Hao was very d to bid farewell to the rest. From now on, Zhou Sheng was his.
Fu Liqun, Yu Hao, and Zhou Sheng walked together, “See you again when school reopens lo.”
Zhou Sheng, “Why are you following us?”
Fu Liqun said, baffled, “To return to the dormitory ah, otherwise where would I stay?”
Zhou Sheng, “Aren’t you gonna get a room with your wife!”
Fu Liqun, “Are you blind?! Didn’t you see her leave long ago, where would I go to get one? I only brought a 1,000 with me when I left, and I spent it all on treating them to coffee and ice cream.”
Yu Hao exploded when he heard this, “The ice cream was that expensive?! Are you crazy?!”
“Let’s go ba let’s go.” Fu Liqun was drunk too. He asked, “Can you walk? Do you guys want Gege to carry you back?”
At 11pm in the evening, the three of them arrived at the foot of their dormitory building. Zhou Sheng and Fu Liqun stood as they sang《A Little Happiness》. As Yu Hao watched, he thought they looked funny but he still earnestly directed them. After they sang for awhile they got scolded by the 7th floor; Zhou Sheng wanted to go up to pick a fight, and Fu Liqun quickly said ‘never mind, never mind’, then rested his arm around Yu Hao and flipped onto the second floor to return to their dormitory.
“Ai! We’re finally back!” Yu Hao’s head was spinning; his tipsiness hadn’t faded yet.
Fu Liqun waved his hand, “Don’t mix drinks next time.”
Zhou Sheng copsed into a chair, “Kaikai and Huang Ting ran away pretty quickly, I wanted to get him drunk today.”
Fu Liqun dry retched a few times but didn’t vomit. He drank some water and gargled, then turned around, “He’s afraid that we wouldn’t be able to drink to our heart’s content if he was around, so he found an excuse to leave first.”
“How could the light of a fireflypete with the light from the sun and moon!” Zhou Shengid on his chair with legs spread, looking just like a huge crab. He kicked away a stool with one leg, “Yu Hao am I right?!”
Yu Hao, “I didn’t understand.” As he spoke, he took a wet towel and folded it before handing it to Zhou Sheng.
“Un?” Zhou Sheng opened his eyes to look at Yu Hao. His eyes were a little red from being drunk.
Yu Hao said, “ce it over your eyes, they’re red.”
Zhou Sheng lifted his hand and pointed at his eyes, thenughed. Yu Hao folded the towel, “Close your eyes.” Then he ced it on his eyes.
Fu Liqun lit up a cigarette. Yu Hao said, “Why did you start smoking too?”
Fu Liqun said, “Just one.”
“Yu Hao, you ah——” Zhou Sheng said slowly with his eyes blindfolded.
“What about me again?” Yu Hao asked.
Fu Liqunughed.
Zhou Sheng stopped talking. Yu Hao asked, “Fell asleep?” He turned around to look at Fu Liqun, then looked at Zhou Sheng again with question marks all over his head. Fu Liqun ced one foot over his other knee and looked down at his watch.
Zhou Sheng suddenly said, “Yu Hao you’re a Sagittarius ba? I remember that.”
Yu Hao, “Yeah.”
“Sagittarius.” Zhou Sheng said, “Un, a womanizer.”
Yu Hao, “Un, not as family-oriented as you Cancers, okay okay.” As he spoke, he patted Zhou Sheng again.
Zhou Sheng said, “I’ll give you the medal~ do you like it?”
Yu Hao, “I like it.”
Zhou Sheng, “Then that’s good.”
It was Yu Hao’s first time seeing Zhou Sheng this drunk, and he was on the verge ofughing himself to death. Fu Liqun teased, “Why don’t I have one? You’re too biased!”
Zhou Sheng said, blindfolded, “Or you can talk it over with Yu Hao? Yu Hao, do you want to give it to him?”
Fu Liqun, “He gets Australia and the medal too! Why?! I won’t ept it!”
Zhou Sheng said, “Then I’ll give you everything next time?”
Fu Liqun immediately said, “Then please do!”
Yu Hao was on the brink of madness fromughing. Zhou Sheng uttered another “un”. Fu Liqun continued, “That’s more like it.” As he spoke, he took out a lighter and motioned to Yu Hao.
Zhou Sheng waited for a while. The electric fan in the dormitory stopped, and he said, “Yu Hao, have you recorded the song for me? Where’s the song?”
No one answered. Within the silence, Zhou Sheng waited for awhile longer, “What’s going on?”
There was still no answer. Zhou Sheng removed the cloth covering his eyes. In the darkness, Fu Liqun held a birthday cake with candles all over it, and stood in front of Zhou Sheng with Yu Hao, the light illuminating their entire dormitory.
—