TGDS Chapter 69.1

The Good Dad System (Arc 9) Chapter 69.1: Run, Boy! (9)

The sky over the provincial capital always has a layer of hazy gray, with few blue skies and white clouds. At night, stars are also rare. Only the occasional passing airplane leaves behind dots of light to decorate the night sky.

“What are you doing?” During the voice change period, the boy’s originally clear voice became hoarse and rough. Li Zhengping jumped over and hung on Pei Xiangdong’s shoulder like a tiger pouncing on a sheep. He knew his limits and did not use too much force. A curious smile was on his face.

Pei Xiangdong answered casually, “Looking at the sky.” When he was in County C, he didn’t think it was anything special, but after leaving, even looking at the sky and the flowers, plants and trees on the roadside could remind him of what he saw in his hometown, and of course, he also thought of the person who stayed at home.

“What’s so good about it.” Li Zhengping looked up and complained, “The sky here is not beautiful. When you have time, I will invite you to our house. In the evening, lie on the hillside and stretch your hands up, it will be like all the stars are in your hands.” Even though he said this, he did not leave, but just stood there. The two of them looked up and stared blankly at the deep blue sky where even the moon could not be found.

Pei Xiangdong has been training with the provincial team for over a month. When he was tested to join the team, all his indicators and actual running results were very good. Many of the original team members were cautious and alert, fearing that they would be replaced by him. After all, in Province C, a sports desert, the number of people who can be sent abroad each year can be counted on one hand. If someone comes up, someone else has to go down. Moreover, the provincial team hardly pays any salary for track and field. The main source of income is still the subsidies from participating in competitions and the bonuses after winning awards. Competition is no longer just for dreams, but also for bread.

But Li Zhengping was different. As soon as Pei Xiangdong joined the team, he started to get close to him. Many of his former training partners even said that he was a traitor and had betrayed them. Thinking of this, he just wanted to curl his lips. He came here to train and had no intention of learning those little intrigues from them. Besides, Pei Xiangdong’s results were better than his. In his heart, he still had some pride as an athlete and always wanted to team up with more powerful people and move forward.

Furthermore, Pei Xiangdong was indeed a “strange” child. If Li Zhengping were to ask what was strange about him, he could probably list ten thousand.

“What’s weird about me?”

Hearing Pei Xiangdong’s question, Li Zhengping realized that the words he thought were spinning in his mind had actually come out unconsciously. He shook his head embarrassedly: “A lot of things are quite strange.”

His talkative nature was brought into full play. Whenever he had the chance, he would start chattering: “Look at you, all you do every day is train, train. Yes, training is important, but who doesn’t slack off occasionally? Besides, you train so much, are you afraid of being surpassed by others?” He originally didn’t want to train more, but since the weirdo Pei Xiangdong appeared, the whole team started to train more. It’s like the saying people often say, people who are better than you work harder than you, and if you don’t work harder, you will be left behind.

Pei Xiangdong had long been regarded as child of others by the coaches and a villain in the minds of other team members. He would appear in everyone’s mouths from time to time.

“I did the extra training under the guidance of Coach Wang.” He arrived late and couldn’t keep up with many of the training sessions, so he specifically communicated with Coach Wang, who helped him come up with an extra training plan that wouldn’t harm his body. Of course, Pei Xiangdong was also particularly willing to work hard to catch up.

“Also, you’re such a good runner, why aren’t you proud at all?” Li Zhengping was curious. Young men his age were often a bit arrogant. Before Pei Xiangdong came, he had even called himself the sprint king of Province C! But reality was here. Since his results were only a little bit behind, he could only pretend to be the second best sprinter in Province C.

Pei Xiangdong didn’t answer this question. He just smiled. If Li Zhengping knew him from a month ago, he would probably be even more surprised. Now, in the coach’s words, he has been reborn.

Li Zhengping couldn’t help but reveal a curious look on his face. “Also, who is that person you text every night?” He was quite excited. “Is she your girlfriend? Is she pretty?”

“No.” Pei Xiangdong resolutely broke his fantasy.

“Really?” Li Zhengping looked at him suspiciously, “Then… what was that notebook you were flipping through when I entered your dormitory last time? Wasn’t it a love letter written to you by your girlfriend?” Pei Xiangdong was different from them. Although they were all affiliated with the No. 1 Middle School in Province C, his grades had always been very good. He usually read as soon as he returned to the dormitory. The only thing that was not right was the extremely formal black leather notebook he always held in his hand, which did not match him at all.

“Well…” Pei Xiangdong dragged out the words, whetting Li Zhengping’s appetite, “It’s a secret.” He blurted out, facing Li Zhengping’s angry eyes, and pulled him into the venue to continue training.

He didn’t lie to Li Zhengping. This was a secret between him and his father.

More than a month ago, Pei Xiangdong returned home with his father. The father and son sat opposite each other for a rare occasion, but they both chose to remain silent. The difference was that Pei Naochun was considering what to say, while Pei Xiangdong didn’t want to say a word.

“Will you regret it?” Pei Naochun asked without thinking.

“No.” He answered firmly.

Pei Naochun just looked at him quietly: “Even if there’s a possibility of no results and even injuries all over the body?”

“Yeah!” he blurted out without hesitation. Perhaps it was his youthful arrogance, but what in this world is risk-free? Even the steady pursuit of studying and finding a job carries the risk of failing to study well or land a good job, doesn’t it? He simply knew with exceptional clarity that he wanted to give it a try!

“Then go ahead.”

When Pei Xiangdong heard this, he opened his mouth involuntarily and looked at his father blankly. He thought that his father had been so decisive before, and no matter how hard he tried, nothing would change. But what about now?

“If you like it, just give it a try. While you’re still young, do whatever you want.” Pei Naochun smiled and stood up, heading into the house. “Besides, son, after seeing you running, I think you can do it too.”

Pei Xiangdong stared at the closed door in a daze. He was not sad about the closing of the door, because his father often wrote papers or read journals. In order not to be distracted, he often closed the door and concentrated on reading carefully. But at this moment, his heart was all focused on that sentence – he said, I can.

That night, he was doing his homework quietly, and the light in his father’s room seemed to be on until very late. Even after he turned off the light in the living room, a gap of light and shadow still appeared through the crack of the door.

After that, he worked around the clock with his coach and father. He had to go to the provincial capital to study, and his academic registration had to be transferred there. Coach Wang helped him run around and found a lot of people, and soon things were put into practice.

County A is big but not big either. If you go around a few more times, you can always find someone you know. Especially since Pei Naochun is a doctor, he always knows a lot of people. The news that Pei Xiangdong is going to train running with a coach from the provincial capital spread quickly. Many relatives and friends came to visit him. Some wanted to use this opportunity to get to know the coach and learn about the policy of adding points for sports; some thought the matter sounded unreliable and wanted to come and persuade him; and some were quite naive, as if they were looking at some rare protected animal, and they would suffer a loss if they didn’t take a closer look.

In the end, there was no choice but for the Pei family to hold a small dinner party at home. Pei Xiangdong followed his father to borrow chairs from the neighbors, and moved other things in the living room around, barely squeezing in four round tables, three large and one small, and called those people who could never make an appointment to meet at a suitable time. After all, they all had some friendship.

Not long after the dinner started, Pei Xiangdong could no longer bear it. The aunts and uncles who were usually there to praise him changed their way today. They used to say that it was not a dream for him to go to Tsinghua University, Peking University, Harvard or MIT after the college entrance examination, and that a monthly salary of one million was within his reach. He used to think that this was exaggerated enough, but now they were saying that he had Yao Ming on his left hand and Liu Qi on his right hand, and that in a few days he would win all the championships in the Olympics, NBA, World Cup, etc., and be on TV every day.