The seats in the stands were arranged in tiers. There were no individual plastic seats—only long wooden benches fixed onto the concrete platforms.
The stands rose higher and higher, and their group was seated in the middle section, with a broad, unobstructed view.
Su Li, who could never sit still, was like the Monkey King just released from beneath the Five Elements Mountain. He kept leaning forward to look around. If Yan Yuan had not pulled him back in time, he might have toppled headfirst onto the people in the row below.
Yan Yuan dragged him back to his side. “Can you sit still for once?”
“I am sitting still,” Su Li said innocently.
Jiang Chengzhou laughed in exasperation. “If you keep fidgeting, I’ll nail you to your seat!”
Su Li shrank his neck and looked around for his parents so he could complain, but Lin Zhilan and Su Lang were focused entirely on the competition and did not look over.
Linlin had noticed, but pretended she had heard nothing.
Yan Yuan lowered his eyes and followed her example.
With no one willing to stand up for him, Su Li finally settled down for real.
The competition was about to begin. When the athletes entered the track, the stands, which had been quiet for a while, erupted into another round of enthusiastic cheers.
Han Mei seemed unable to hear any of it. She was standing at the starting line of Lane Six. After adjusting her starting blocks, she looked around excitedly.
She had taken part in many competitions before, but most of them had been held within the province.
This was her first time competing in a national-level event. She had to admit that, compared with nervousness, she felt far more excitement.
At the starter’s instructions, the athletes immediately crouched down onto their starting blocks, ready for the race.
The other runners on the track also placed both hands on the ground and held their breaths, waiting for the starter’s command.
The starter’s calm, measured voice came over the loudspeaker.
Then came the crack of the starting pistol.
Bang!
The instant the pistol fired, every athlete sprang off the starting blocks.
Han Mei had a good reaction off the line, and her first three accelerating steps were steady and powerful.
But the other runners were no weaker. Two of them matched Han Mei’s speed right from the start, and the difference was impossible to distinguish with the naked eye.
Lin Zhilan clutched Su Lang’s arm, holding her breath for Han Mei.
At that moment, the shouts of the spectators and staff in the stands grew even more intense.
On the track, Han Mei could no longer hear any of the cheering around her. All her attention was focused on the lane ahead. The only sounds she could hear were her own breathing and heartbeat, along with the rapid pounding of footsteps that seemed to be right beside her ears.
Those sounds urged her on.
Faster. Faster still.
Show them all your true speed and form!
Han Mei gave it everything she had. She ran neck and neck with another girl on the track, and together they crossed the finish line.
Lin Zhilan tightened her grip slightly. “Is she first? Did she win?”
No sooner had she asked than the announcement came over the loudspeaker. Through the static, the judge’s steady voice rang out:
“Women’s 100-meter final results: Lane Six, Han Mei, G City Sports College—first place!”
Lin Zhilan could no longer hear the rest of the rankings. She grabbed Su Lang’s arm and screamed, “First! She came in first!”
Su Lang was nearly knocked off balance by her shaking him, but his face was full of smiles. He steadied his wife with both hands to keep her from falling off the stands.
Linlin had wanted to rush over and hug her mother too, but before she could, her father had already claimed the spot beside her.
She pursed her lips and turned to look for her brothers.
As it turned out, Su Li had already climbed onto Jiang Chengzhou like a monkey and was waving down at the track.
Yan Yuan stood beside them with his hands in his pockets and a gentle smile at the corners of his mouth.
Track and field events—especially sprinting, where everything happens at breakneck speed and the suspense is concentrated into a matter of seconds—could send spectators’ hormones surging in an instant. Even while sitting in the stands, their bodies would simulate a stress response close to that of running, stimulating the release of dopamine and testosterone.
The excitement in Linlin’s heart did not fade so easily. She turned around and threw her arms around Yan Yuan, saying excitedly, “Brother Xiao Yuan, Meimei won the championship! She’s amazing!”
Yan Yuan’s entire body stiffened, and the gentle smile vanished from his lips.
The little girl’s arms were wrapped around his waist, her whole body pressed against him. The ends of her hair brushed his chin, and Yan Yuan caught a faint, delicate fragrance.
She was nearly a head shorter than him, her forehead resting right against his collarbone.
Yan Yuan’s Adam’s apple bobbed as he heard his own heartbeat.
Thump!
Thump!
Thump!
A wave of heat shot rapidly from his chest to his ears. The tips of his ears flushed red at a visible speed.
The fingers he had kept in his pockets curled slightly, trembling faintly at the tips. He even forgot to breathe.
At that moment, Yan Yuan was utterly thrown into disarray.
Linlin released him after only a few seconds. Her eyes were bright, and a faint flush colored her cheeks from the excitement.
The announcer had already read out all the results, and laughter and cheers continued to rise around them. Yet Yan Yuan seemed unable to hear any of it clearly. He lowered his eyes, struggling to control his emotions.
Linlin tugged at his clothes. “Brother Xiao Yuan, why aren’t you excited? Meimei won the championship!”
Yan Yuan’s Adam’s apple bobbed once more. Only when he spoke did he realize that his voice had gone slightly hoarse.
“Yes. Congratulations to her.”
Linlin smiled at him, then turned to celebrate with her mother.
Yan Yuan remained where he was, head lowered, slowly exhaling the breath that had been trapped in his chest.
When he looked down and saw the thin layer of sweat on his palm, he despised himself.
That was the little sister you had watched grow up. How could you have feelings like that for her?
What are you—a beast?!
After the competition ended, Lin Zhilan and the others waited outside the stadium entrance.
Before long, the team from G City Sports College emerged through the side door in their matching athletic uniforms.
Su Li spotted Han Mei immediately. He raised his voice like a megaphone and began shouting:
“Han! Mei! Big sis!”
Han Mei was listening to her coach with her head lowered. When she heard the voice, she looked over.
The instant she saw Lin Zhilan, her eyes lit up. After saying a few words to her coach, she hurried over.
Lin Zhilan opened her arms and hugged her, then patted her on the arm, unable to contain her delight.
“Little Mei, how are you so incredible? You’re a national champion!”
Han Mei scratched the back of her head, a little embarrassed. “It was nothing. I was lucky today and performed pretty well.”
“Don’t be modest.” Lin Zhilan shook the camera in her hand. “Auntie took lots of pictures of you, including some of you receiving your medal. I’ll have them developed and mail them to your school later.”
Han Mei smiled and nodded, then greeted the uncle standing behind Lin Zhilan with a nod.
She took the medal from around her neck and handed it to Lin Zhilan. “Auntie, could you take this medal to my mom for me?”
Because Han Mei had not developed a close bond with her parents during childhood, it would only become more difficult as she grew older.
She could not be as intimate with her mother as Linlin was with hers, but she was still grateful to her parents. She wanted Wang Xiuzhi to be proud of her, too.
