Chapter 85: Youth Without Regret ①
Li Kai suddenly frowned. His heel seemed to be cramping. Seeing Peng Yu Yang swimming further and further away, he tried his best to catch up, but his heel began to ache stiffly. Because the two were evenly matched, Peng Yu Yang gradually swam ahead, so everyone’s attention was focused on Peng Yu Yang.
When Peng Yu Yang reached the finish line and looked back, everyone turned their gaze to Li Kai, who was struggling and sinking behind. Wang Chao Lei and Nie Qiu were both startled and jumped into the water without thinking, swimming towards Li Kai. Peng Yu Yang also dove into the water, but after all, he had just had an intense competition, so compared to Wang Chao Lei and Nie Qiu, Peng Yu Yang was a bit slower.
When Wang Chao Lei and Nie Qiu reached Li Kai, they didn’t know how to grab him. Perhaps due to fear, Li Kai struggled violently, flailing his hands, one leg kicking, while the other remained stiff. People standing by the swimming pool watched the water tensely. Some girls were so scared they kept calling for help and screaming, while a few boys jumped into the water and swam towards Li Kai.
As Peng Yu Yang was about to swim over, Nie Qiu and Wang Chao Lei exchanged a glance. Their hands simultaneously went under Li Kai’s armpits, and then, together with Nie Qiu, they swam, bringing Li Kai towards the nearest edge of the pool. The people standing by the pool rushed towards them.
Li Kai was still struggling, and Nie Qiu and Wang Chao Lei were very strained. Wang Chao Lei kept comforting him, “A Kai, it’s okay, it’s okay, it will be fine in a moment, don’t move.”
Nie Qiu didn’t speak, her brow furrowed as she swam. Looking at Li Kai, he definitely had a leg cramp! This person looked like he was very good at swimming. Didn’t he know that he needed to do warm-up exercises before swimming? Even with warm-up exercises, cramps can still happen, and while cramps are unavoidable, doing them should help a lot. Looking at Li Kai, he definitely didn’t do his pre-swimming warm-up exercises!
Upon reaching the edge of the pool, Wang Chao Lei, Nie Qiu, and Peng Yu Yang, along with several other boys who had jumped in to help, lifted Li Kai up. Two people standing by the pool put their arms through Li Kai’s armpits and then lifted Li Kai up.
As soon as Li Kai touched the floor, his face turned pale and he began to cough incessantly. After coughing out some water, he awkwardly tried to reach for his leg, but he collapsed in pain, lying on the ground and gasping for breath.
Zhang Haiyang squatted in front of Li Kai. “A Kai, come up quickly, I’ll carry you to the infirmary.”
“Coming, coming, the stretcher is here.” As soon as Zhang Haiyang spoke, several boys arrived. Two of them were carrying a stretcher and placed it beside Li Kai.
Feeling ashamed, Li Kai covered his eyes with the back of his hand and let his classmates move him onto the stretcher. Li Kai and Wang Chao Lei were panting, watching their classmates carry Li Kai away. While rescuing Li Kai, Li Kai had been struggling, so Nie Qiu and Wang Chao Lei were quite tired, as was Peng Yu Yang. Because he had just competed with Li Kai, his muscles were in a state of excitement, and when they relaxed, they ached involuntarily.
Since the third class had already ended, the students went to the changing rooms to change their clothes and returned to their classrooms. Luo Xu heard that Li Kai had drowned and rushed to the infirmary. During the fourth class, everyone was a bit distracted but tried their best to listen attentively. As soon as school ended, everyone rushed to the infirmary to see Li Kai.
Since the infirmary was only so large, it couldn’t accommodate so many students at once. Therefore, by the time Nie Qiu and Huang Yan entered, they were the last two to visit Li Kai.
Nie Qiu and Huang Yan entered the infirmary and sat on the stools placed by the hospital bed. Huang Yan and Nie Qiu exchanged a glance, and Nie Qiu asked, “Li Kai, are you feeling any better?”
Li Kai nodded. “Much better, thank you for visiting me. And… thank you for saving me.” Feeling a bit embarrassed, Li Kai didn’t dare to look at Nie Qiu and Huang Yan’s eyes, speaking only while staring at the ceiling.
Nie Qiu shook her head. “It’s what I should do. There’s no reason not to save someone in danger.”
“Li Kai, don’t worry, I took notes during the fourth class, and I’ll lend them to you later,” Huang Yan comforted Li Kai, smiling. “I believe everyone took notes, so your studies won’t fall behind.”
Li Kai managed a weak smile. “I know, thank you.”
Nie Qiu and Huang Yan chatted with Li Kai for a while longer before taking their leave. However, they didn’t expect that when they arrived at the canteen, it was no longer selling anything. Because after school, everyone had gone to see Li Kai, and Nie Qiu and Huang Yan were the last two, so after a brief conversation, half of their lunch break was gone.
The two stood in the empty canteen and looked at each other. Huang Yan spoke first, “Let’s go to the small store and buy some bread to eat!”
“If we eat bread, even three pieces won’t fill me up, and the bread at the small store is also very expensive, two yuan and fifty cents each,” Nie Qiu said helplessly. “They say you should eat well in the morning, eat your fill at noon, and eat less at night. You must eat your fill at noon.”
“Then… then what? The snacks at the small store, besides bread and biscuits, aren’t filling,” Huang Yan frowned, looking at Nie Qiu.
Nie Qiu smiled and asked, “Huang Yan, is your home far from school?”
Huang Yan nodded. “It takes over thirty minutes to walk. There’s no bus. If there were a bus, my mom would definitely let me eat at home, and she wouldn’t have given me a meal card.”
“There’s a bus on the way to my house. Huang Yan, would you like to come to my place for dinner?” Nie Qiu asked with a smile.
“Okay.” There was no other choice. Taking a bus would only cost them four yuan. If they bought something to eat at the small store, even if they ate bread, two pieces each would cost ten yuan. Plus, eating bread makes you thirsty, so they’d have to buy water, which would be fifteen to twenty yuan. Neither of them is very wealthy, so they understand the importance of saving.
Nie Qiu and Huang Yan left the school and headed straight for the bus stop sign at the school gate. After waiting for a while, the bus arrived. Because it was within the city, there were quite a few buses. Also, because it was noon, there were very few people on the bus. Nie Qiu and Huang Yan found seats and sat down.
Huang Yan looked at the scenery outside the window and asked, “Nie Qiu, I see you walk home from school every day. Why don’t you take the bus when there is one?”
“Morning is the best time for exercise. Besides, if you don’t walk when you’re young, when will you?” Nie Qiu smiled. “Not taking the bus saves money and exercises the body, which is something you can’t buy with money.”
Huang Yan smiled and said, “You really know a lot. My home is only about half an hour away from school, but I get tired of walking every day and don’t even consider it exercise.”
