Soughing wind and rain in dreams

  The sky is gray and gloomy, the cold wind is biting, blowing fiercely and ravaging this ancient land of Xiangnan, making people shiver involuntarily. This is a typical early spring weather in the Xiangnan region.

  However, at this time, in Linfeng Town, on the CAO field of Yannan County's S Middle School, it was bustling with excitement and the sound of cheering crowds. Everywhere was filled with the smiles and cheers of young students. The annual Spring Sports Meeting of S Middle School had been underway for two days. As soon as lunch break was over, students from each class rushed to the big CAO field because the last event of this year's school sports meeting was about to take place - the 5000-meter long-distance running competition for boys.

  It's now 2 o'clock in the afternoon, and in a moment, the men's 5000-meter race is about to start. What an exciting moment! Some people couldn't help but scream. At this time, Chen Haonan came down from the teaching building, suddenly heard someone screaming, and he couldn't help but laugh "heh heh".

  It was unclear who the hell had poured some water in the corridor, because it was cold and a thin layer of ice had formed on the ground. Chen Haonan didn't notice and stepped right on it, his feet slipped and he fell over, luckily he grabbed onto the handrail beside him. However, as he rushed to grab the handrail, the box of mineral water in his hands flew out - the cardboard box hit the ground with a "bang", immediately scattering everywhere, and bottles of mineral water rolled out one after another.

  "It's all over!" Chen Haonan muttered to himself, quickly bending down to pick up the water. These waters were for the athletes who would participate in the 5000-meter "Long March", and they were purchased with class fees, so if they were damaged, it would be troublesome.

  "Hao Nan, what's wrong with you?" Suddenly, a voice sounded from behind.

  Chen Haonan turned his head and saw that it was his good brother Li Donglin. He hurriedly smiled and said: "Donglin, you little devil! Come on, come on, I'll pour the mineral water for you, hurry up and help me pick it up!"

  "Is this water for those running guys to drink?" Li Donglin picked up a few bottles of water and asked, with some disdain in his tone.

  He glanced at Li Donglin and smiled, "Isn't this obvious? The class teacher asked me to take care of the logistics, isn't this part of the logistics work?" At this time, he poured the remaining water back into the box and took over the few bottles of water from Li Donglin's hand.

  "You'd better be the Minister of Logistics from now on!" Li Donglin burst out laughing.

  "Stop being poor, let's hurry to the CAO field - the 5000-meter long run is about to start!" Chen Haonan said as he picked up the box. Li Donglin shrugged his shoulders and smiled, following closely behind. Just as they walked out of the teaching building, they saw Sang Qiuyu running towards them.

  Sang Qiuyu is the athletic star of the class, tall and good-looking. However, due to long-term physical training and often being out in the sun and rain, her skin has become somewhat dark. But it's okay, because she's a bit darker, she shows off a special kind of beauty. Because she won the championship in the women's 3000-meter run that morning, Chen Haonan immediately smiled and said: "Sang Qiuyu, congratulations on winning the women's long-distance running championship this morning..."

  However, Sang Qiuyu seemed to have not heard Chen Haonan's words, nor did she mind the beads of sweat on her forehead, and hastily said: "Hurry up to the CAO venue, your class teacher is looking for you boys!"

  "What's going on?" Chen Haonan hastily asked.

  "Hurry up, no time left, your class teacher just asked where you two went......" Sang Qiuyu turned around and ran ahead.

  Seeing Sang Qiuyu's anxious look, Chen Haonan and Li Donglin didn't dare to linger, exchanged a smile, and quickly followed up. Along the way, through her account, they only knew what was going on. It turned out that two athletic students who signed up for the 5000-meter long run in the class had some problems: Cao Gang sprained his foot during the morning competition and has not recovered yet; while Xu Dali suddenly fell and injured his leg. This made Class Teacher Li anxious, he hurriedly looked around to find someone to replace the injured athletes. Seeing Sang Qiuyu and others coming from afar, Teacher Li quickly ran up to them, called Chen Haonan aside, and said urgently: "Haonan, Cao Gang and Xu Dali are both injured and cannot participate in the competition..."

  "Hurry up and find someone to fill in!" Chen Haonan also suggested hastily.

  "But none of the classmates dare to go on stage..."

  Seeing his class teacher's worried face, Chen Haonan lowered his head and thought for a moment before hastily responding: "Teacher, this concerns our class's honor - even if it's just me!"

  "Good, with your words I can rest assured!" A faint smile suddenly appeared on Mr. Li's face. However, in an instant, that little smile immediately disappeared again, and he immediately said: "Now that you're here, there's still one missing..."

  "Li Donglin, let him take one too!" After thinking for a moment, Chen Haonan immediately recommended his good brother. Before the class teacher could speak, he immediately turned around and shouted several times towards the crowd.

  Li Donglin responded loudly and quickly came out, he smiled and asked: "Haonan, what's up?" This guy still thought his old buddy was looking for him with good intentions!

  Because time was too tight, Chen Haonan didn't dare to hesitate and immediately told Li Donglin the truth: "I signed you up for 5000 meters, get ready!"

  "Ah?" Li Donglin's mouth opened wide, "Brother, don't get me killed, 5,000 meters - my god, how can I finish running that far?"

  "Stop talking nonsense and just consider it a sacrifice for the class!" Chen Haonan patted Li Donglin's shoulder twice.

  At this time, Teacher Li hastily stepped forward and instructed: "Time is running out, you two get ready first - I'll go register for you!"

  As soon as the class teacher left, Li Donglin grabbed Chen Haonan's collar and questioned him fiercely: "You little brat, aren't you obviously trying to harm me? This time you've got me in your hands..."

  "Haha, old buddy, calm down, calm down!" Chen Haonan hastily accompanied with a smile.

  Li Donglin sighed and also felt helpless. However, he immediately pointed out the key issue: "We're all dressed like this now, how are we going to run later?"

  "This is terrible, how can we run dressed like this?" Chen Haonan was also anxious for a moment, because he saw that both he and Li Donglin were wrapped in thick clothes, with autumn shirts, autumn pants and woolen sweaters inside!

  At this moment, Cao Gang, who had been silent on the grass behind him, called out to Chen Haonan and hastily instructed: "I have two sets of football uniforms in my bag, you two quickly change into them!" As he spoke, he threw the bag several meters away.

  "Haha, that's great!" Chen Haonan laughed and quickly picked up Cao Gang's bag, repeatedly saying "thank you" to him.

  "Don't thank me yet, now it's up to you!" Cao Gang said with some effort, his hands clenched tightly on his knees, clearly, he was badly hurt!

  Chen Haonan was about to comfort Cao Gang a few words, but was immediately stopped by Li Donglin: "Haonan, don't dawdle, no time, let's hurry up and find a bathroom to change clothes!" He said, snatching Cao Gang's bag and walking away.

  When called by Li Donglin, Chen Haonan hurriedly took a look at his watch and his heart suddenly "thudded" because the 5000-meter race was about to start in less than five minutes. Without thinking much, he immediately shouted loudly to stop Li Donglin. Hearing the voice, Li Donglin hastily turned back, panting and asked: "Haonan, what's wrong?"

  "It's too late to go to the bathroom and change clothes..." Chen Haonan said immediately.

  Li Donglin's eyebrows furrowed tightly: "What can be done about it?"

  "Let's change here!"

  "What's wrong with you!" Li Donglin was suddenly panicked, "There are so many people here, we're changing clothes right here, and others will think we're hooligans?"

  "Stop talking nonsense, I have my own way, and I won't let you show your butt in front of others..." Chen Haonan glanced at Li Donglin and said hastily, a confident smile spreading across his face. Immediately after that, he shouted towards the cheerleading squad's practice area: "All the boys from Class 211 come over and help out!"

  As soon as Chen Haonan spoke, the boys from Class 211 rushed over. Following his orders and instructions, a group of boys immediately formed a human wall. Li Donglin quickly understood what Chen Haonan meant, and he couldn't help but give him a thumbs up with a sly smile, saying: "Good job, you little brat, you even thought of this move!"

  "Stop stalling and change quickly, or we'll be late!" Chen Haonan said as he opened Cao Gang's bag and pulled out a white jersey. Then, he handed the bag to Li Donglin...

  "Hao Nan, you've really gotten me into trouble this time!" Li Donglin said with a bitter expression as he was about to put on his clothes after changing his pants. "Look at my physique, can I even finish running 5,000 meters?"

  At this time, Chen Haonan had already changed his clothes. He stretched out his hand and patted Li Donglin's big belly, jokingly saying: "Alright, you've got a whole body of fat, consider it a weight loss!" As soon as he spoke, the boys around him burst into loud laughter.

  After changing their clothes, Chen Haonan and Li Donglin hurriedly made some simple pre-race preparations. Of course, they also did not forget to do some joint exercises by jumping up and down. Before long, the broadcast voice rang out, and the male 5000-meter long-distance runners were quickly gathered at the starting point.

  The track at the CAO stadium of Nanjing University is only 400 meters long, which means that the 5,000-meter race requires running twelve and a half laps. However, this long-distance event is the focus of the competition for class points, with two or three people signing up from each class, and there are dozens of classes in the school, so it's estimated that there will be around eighty to ninety participants. As a result, the longer distance and larger number of participants means that more time will be spent on this event. In order to save time, the preliminary round of the 5,000-meter long-distance running event is also the final round.

  The PE teachers quickly arranged the contestants, Chen Haonan was assigned to lane 2 and Li Donglin was assigned to lane 3. Because of his position being a bit ahead, when he crouched down into the starting posture, Li Donglin kept making funny faces at Chen Haonan...

  As the starting gun fired, all participants were like unbridled wild horses, rushing out in an instant. When Chen Haonan was in junior high school, he had received long-distance running training, and his physical education teacher at that time said he had great talent, but later on, due to various reasons, he gave up, which made the teacher feel deeply regretful. However, precisely because of receiving long-distance running training, Chen Haonan knew that long-distance running was a test of endurance, so at first, he didn't rush to get to the front.

  After running a lap, Chen Haonan suddenly heard Li Donglin's voice. It turned out that the guy had caught up. He looked back and immediately slowed down his pace. As soon as his old partner approached, he smiled and asked: "Donglin, how do you feel?"

  "It's fine for now, but I don't know about later!" Li Donglin also chuckled.

  "It's okay, just be careful! ... You have to remember, breathe in through your nose and out through your mouth!" Chen Haonan warned, immediately quickening his pace.

  "What is this guy talking about? I feel a bit uncomfortable when I inhale with both my mouth and nose at the same time, how can I just use my nose to breathe?" Li Donglin muttered softly. However, he still followed Chen Haonan's instructions and started by exhaling strongly through his nose, then slowly exhaling through his mouth. After repeating this several times, he felt that his breathing had indeed become much smoother, and he was overjoyed. He immediately quickened his pace, wanting to catch up with Chen Haonan to learn a few more moves.

  However, Li Donglin chased for a while and didn't see Chen Haonan's figure... After a while, Chen Haonan brushed past him again, and he shouted loudly "Donglin" and said: "Add oil well, buddy!"

  "Alright, this guy has left me in the dust again!" Li Donglin smiled and puffed himself up to charge forward. Who knows where he got his energy from, but suddenly he was sprinting like a 100-meter dash, and slowly but surely he caught up with Chen Haonan. Running alongside his old buddy, he hastily said with a smile: "Good kid, this time our class is counting on you! Go all out and get us into the top three!"

  He glanced at Li Donglin sideways, and Chen Haonan couldn't help but laugh, because Cao Gang's clothes were a bit small on this guy, his entire belly was squeezed out. However, in order to stabilize the frequency of breathing, Chen Haonan didn't dare to laugh too much, he just shouted loudly: "Good! You just watch! Who dares to compete with me, Chen Haonan!" As he spoke, his pace accelerated involuntarily again.

  The competition was proceeding with great enthusiasm, and people on both sides of the track were shouting "Add oil". After five or six laps of chasing, many people's footsteps gradually slowed down: some people ran slowly with heavy legs, like a hedgehog about to hibernate; some people put their hands on their stomachs, panting heavily as they walked on the track; and some even gave up directly, slipping out of the track in a sorry state.

  At this time, Chen Haonan had just run past the starting point again, and a physical education teacher shouted loudly to remind him that he had already run eight laps and asked him to continue to add oil. Having run so many laps, Chen Haonan's physical strength was somewhat inadequate, and he didn't dare to make another desperate dash forward. He tried his best to stabilize his breathing and started to jog at a steady pace. Fortunately, the very uncomfortable feeling slowly passed, and his breathing gradually stabilized again.

  Suddenly, Li Donglin was seen struggling to run in front, his footsteps were also a bit disordered. Chen Haonan immediately caught up and said: "Donglin, hold on for a moment, don't stop, if you stop, you won't be able to run again!"

  "I'll try my best!" Li Donglin panted heavily and said, "You, you little brat, it's all because of you, once this is over, I won't let you off!"

  "Stop talking, try to steady your breathing, remember to inhale through your nose and exhale through your mouth!" Chen Haonan reminded again, as he spoke, he slowed down his pace once more.

  Another time passing by the cheerleading camp, a burst of cheering suddenly stimulated Chen Haonan's eardrum again, and his footsteps also gradually accelerated. Also, he didn't know how, Chen Haonan suddenly felt someone was catching up, turned back to see that it was actually Sang Qiuyu, he couldn't help but feel surprised. It turned out she was holding a bottle of water and caught up with him, he hurriedly slowed down his pace, and casually took the water from her hand. Then, he loudly shouted: "Sang Qiuyu, can you take a look at how many people are in front of me? Tell me next lap!"

  When doing intense exercise, it's not possible to drink water. Chen Haonan was also aware of this, the lid of the water bottle handed over by Sang Qiuyu had already been opened, he poured a little water into his mouth and spat it all out, just moistening his lips slightly. Immediately afterwards, he picked up the bottle and poured the water on his own head, throwing away the bottle, he wiped away the water on his face with one hand, shaking off his feet, which were still running vigorously.

  Chen Haonan's move suddenly caused a stir in the entire venue, with cheers and screams rising and falling. As he ran past Li Donglin again, he shouted loudly: "Good brother, come on!"

  It's been a long time since Li Donglin ran such a long distance, his body full of fat, and he really couldn't run anymore. But good brother Chen Haonan shouted again to add oil to himself, and he seemed to have gained a lot of motivation. He shouted loudly "Damn it, let's go!", and his footsteps also accelerated immediately.

  This is Chen Haonan's tenth lap. Just now, when he heard Sang Qiuyu say that there were still four people in front of him, he quickly set a goal for himself: to make an effort and definitely enter the top three!

  Having set a goal for himself, Chen Haonan's motivation was even stronger. He wiped the sweat from his forehead and ran with even greater effort. As he passed by Li Donglin again, he said: "Buddy, go for it!"

  Li Donglin ran behind, looking at Chen Haonan's footsteps as light as flying, and he was naturally happy. He thought that this time should be the moment to compete for the top three, his good brother must have a chance. Unexpectedly, at this time, an unexpected situation appeared, a guy suddenly rushed forward and bumped into Chen Haonan. Off balance, Chen Haonan fell down in an instant, fortunately he immediately used both hands to support his entire body, otherwise he would definitely be injured if he fell heavily on the ground. However, the gravel on the road surface pierced through his palms instantly, severe pain quickly rushed through his whole body... The people on both sides of the track suddenly became noisy.

  "Damn it, this son of a bitch is playing dirty!" Chen Haonan got up and cursed loudly. He didn't dare to stop, and immediately ran again - blood slowly seeped out from his palm, and dripped onto the track.

  Li Donglin was running right behind Chen Haonan, and when he saw his good brother being knocked down, he felt very angry. However, seeing Chen Haonan quickly getting up and continuing to run, he felt a little relieved.

  However, Li Donglin was thinking in his heart while running. He had often heard people talk about playing dirty tricks on the field, but he didn't believe it because he hadn't seen it with his own eyes. This time, however, he completely believed it. Because he clearly saw that Chen Haonan was knocked down by Ma Xiaopeng from the neighboring class, nicknamed "Little Pengzi". That guy had only run a few laps and couldn't possibly enter the top three no matter how hard he tried...

  "It seems that this guy is serving as a 'gunman' for Li Liang!" Li Donglin muttered to himself. He was very clear in his mind that he had no chance of being among the "top three" - he decided to serve as a "gunman" for Chen Haonan as well.

  Li Donglin was deep in thought when Li Liang from the neighboring class suddenly darted past him. "Damn it, you guys are playing dirty, I'll show you some color!" he yelled loudly and quickly rushed forward. Who knows where he got the strength from, but Li Donglin slowly caught up with Li Liang, and again let out a loud "ah" as he violently collided with him.

  Haha, Li Donglin's fat body wasn't grown in vain. With this collision, Li Liang stumbled and fell out of the track, also bumping into several people beside him. Feeling a thrill of excitement, Li Donglin immediately picked up his pace again.

  However, Li Liang was not willing to be hit by someone, and he quickly caught up. Li Donglin had also heard of some of Li Liang's notorious deeds and knew that he was not a kind person, so he ran while paying attention to the back, occasionally looking back. As soon as he saw Li Liang coming fiercely, Li Donglin quickly thought of a countermeasure, waiting for him to rush up, he immediately flashed to one side of the track. Li Liang hit empty air, his body swayed several times, but he quickly stabilized himself. Under the gaze of everyone, he didn't dare do anything to Li Donglin, and could only glare at him fiercely before running again. Li Donglin laughed "heh heh" and followed up in a hurry.

  The 5,000-meter long run was gradually entering the final sprint stage. Seven or eight people who had a chance to break into the top three were all running with all their might, chasing each other and hoping to get a better ranking. The cheering voices of classmates on both sides of the track became more intense, and the cheerleading teams from various classes were shouting loudly at the top of their lungs. When they passed the eleventh lap, Chen Haonan finally broke into the top three, and he was also very close to the two people ahead of him. The most important thing was that he had clearly seen the identities of his two major rivals: one was Dong Hao, and the other was Liu Hongsheng. Although it was not clear which class they were from, he knew that both of them were sports students with special talents, especially Dong Hao, who had broken the school record for the men's 5,000-meter long run at the previous school sports meeting...

  Watching the two great gods running ahead of him, Chen Haonan's heart ignited a lot of fighting spirit, and his footsteps accelerated. However, facing the two long-distance running gods in the sports world, he was always lagging behind them by a small distance despite his efforts to catch up.

  Time was running out, and the game had reached its most critical moment. Chen Haonan ran with all his might, sweat streaming down his arm to his palm, and waves of pain once again surged through his brain nerves. But he didn't notice that much anymore, biting his teeth and sprinting forward with all his strength.

  Perhaps seeing that it was difficult to overtake Dong Hao, Liu Hongsheng also thought of a trick and used all his strength to rush forward. As soon as he caught up with Dong Hao, his shoulder suddenly collided with him. Unexpectedly, the force he used was too great, Dong Hao's body tilted - fell down, and his own body lost its balance, stumbled and fell out of the track, bringing several people down with him. Chen Haonan was running behind them, naturally seeing Liu Hongsheng's trick clearly, and seeing that they both fell down, he took the opportunity to catch up with all his might. He didn't know where he got the strength from, but the more he ran, the braver he became, and the faster he ran, finally becoming the first to rush to the finish line...

  In an instant, the cheers of Class 211's classmates grew louder and louder. Several boys rushed to support Chen Haonan at the finish line, and their class teacher, Li, also came over. But as soon as he stopped running, he felt his whole body go limp, without a single ounce of strength left.

  He was supported by the crowd to sit down, and Chen Haonan's sweat suddenly broke out. A buddy hurriedly handed him a bottle of water, he didn't think twice, twisted open the cap and tilted his head to pour some water into his mouth... Unexpectedly, Sang Qiuyu's voice suddenly rang out: "You just finished running, you can't drink water now!"

  Chen Haonan did not expect Sang Qiuyu to have such a big reaction, he hurriedly spat out the water in his mouth and said: "I didn't drink it, just rinsed my mouth, moistened it a bit!"

  "That's good, otherwise drinking water at this time would be bad for your body!" As she spoke, Sang Qiuyu quickly took the bottle from Chen Haonan's hand. Smiling, she said: "I really didn't expect your endurance to be so good - congratulations, you got first place!"

  "I, I couldn't have... It was just luck!" Chen Haonan said with a silly smile, waving his hand, his mouth still panting heavily.