Silver Leaf Whale Chapter 3

a kitten

Chapter 3·A kitten

The midday sun poured in with a wave of heat, making the windows hot. The light filtered through the glass and became a little warmer, giving the two people in the little painter’s mounting room a golden edge.

The golden girl sat in front of the table. She frowned, bit her lower lip, and stared at the unfinished picture of a lady playing with a cat in front of her, motionless.

Qi Zhixuan clasped his hands behind his back and tilted his head to study the girl’s painting carefully.

After looking at it for a long time, Qi Zhixuan said in a low voice: “Look, here, don’t focus too much on how long her hands are, right?”

He stretched out two fingers, and his white fingertips slid over the lady’s hand, “It depends on how the entire curvature of her body can reflect her feelings when she is doing this. It doesn’t matter if it is a little exaggerated.”

After a moment of silence, the girl in front of the painting was inspired and started to paint.

Qi Zhixuan continued to hold out his hand to guide: “Well, when the center comes here… there will be a pause…” The wet tip of the pen rose and fell with the fingertips.

The line seemed to have muscles in an instant, going back and forth several times, and finally trembled slightly, leaving only a vague halo at the end of the paper.

“Not bad! This makes him alive!” Qi Zhixuan struck with both palms, and his voice rose a little.

“Thank you, Brother Xuan.” The painting girl also smiled and turned to thank her.

She is Lin Yan, the sister of the owner of the nearby “Puffy Song Bakery”, and is a sophomore in college at Jingmei across the street.

Her brothers Chen Runsong and Qi Zhixuan opened a shop here. They were similar in age, and her sister was an art student. She often came to buy some painting supplies. The two families became familiar with each other, and she would ask Qi Zhixuan for guidance when painting.

“Let’s eat, two painters.” The two of them painted for a while before Chen Runsong’s voice came.

He was leaning against the door frame, with his arms folded across his chest, and there were two little pear dimples with smiles on his face. He didn’t know how long he had been looking at them.

The “OK” and “Come on” markers on the wall coincided with each other, and they reached this point in just one drawing.

“I made delicious food today.” Chen Runsong stood waiting for others to go to his store to eat, and patted the dust on his body.

Qi Zhixuan looked up, and the sunlight filtered through from behind Chen Runsong, illuminating his figure. The apron with the words “Fluffy and Baked” on him made him look very capable instead of looking sloppy.

“Tell me, if Yan’er doesn’t come to your place to paint, you won’t go to my place to eat. Isn’t the food I cook just for tuition?”

After finishing cleaning up here, Chen Runsong put his hands on Qi Zhixuan’s shoulders and pushed him in the direction of his store like a train.

Qi Zhixuan smiled and didn’t say anything. He just said thank you for your hard work and followed the two of them.

In Chen Runsong’s eyes, Qi Zhixuan is undoubtedly excellent. He is good-looking and polite. He also looks very good at painting and is very good at teaching his younger sister.

But it was a bit too polite. Chen Runsong had no choice but to say something. This man, if you give him something, he will definitely try his best to return it. He is afraid that he will owe someone even half a cent. It is too polite!

“What are you cooking today? Brother, I want to eat pork ribs.” Lin Yan walked at the front, eager to rush to the kitchen immediately.

“Is that still possible? It was stewed early in the morning and it’s rotting now.”

While talking, the three of them entered the small kitchen in the back room of “Puffy”.

The larger space in the store is reserved for the sales area and the decorating room. The kitchen is a bit small and can only support a small square table. Fortunately, the three of us are thin, so it doesn’t affect anything.

The dish is a home-cooked dish, a bowl of soft and delicious pork ribs stewed with beans, with vinegar cabbage and cola chicken wings on the side, and a must-have summer dish of big ramen, topped with cucumber shreds and dried tofu shreds, and the oil-splashed chili noodles exude a burnt aroma.

Chen Runsong pushed the dish to the side and said, “Eat more, I didn’t add garlic.”

“Okay, thank you Songsong.” The heat was rising from the dish. Qi Zhixuan smiled and took a chopstick. It tasted very good.

However, some people enjoy the food well, while some people only enjoy the quarrels.

After taking off the protective gear, Pang Jing took a few days to adapt, and he couldn’t wait to join the team. He really couldn’t wait to see what level his hand had recovered to.

Pang Jing’s coach is Pan Xiuping. When Pang Jing was 9 years old, he was picked out by him when he was participating in a game for the city team. Although his results were not the best at the time, Coach Pan took a liking to him at a glance.

He has good physique, fast speed and strong explosive power. He thought he was a good prospect, so he joined the provincial team at a young age and has been coaching him personally since then until he is 18 years old now.

However, the young man did live up to his hard work and came back with many awards. He even entered the national team for training and was about to win glory for the country.

Unexpectedly, an injury shattered everything, and he had to temporarily stop training to recuperate.

The two of them spent much more time together than Pang Jing spent with his parents. Coach Pan understood him best and knew that he was unwilling to stop training.

Looking at the brat in front of me who just wanted to swim a hundred times in the water, I couldn’t laugh or cry, but I still forced him to do a set of land training first, and the intensity was actually higher than before.

“Coach, are you oppressing me?” Pang Jing finished the last set of training, panting like an ox.

Coach Pan took the good data sheet in his hand and fanned it. The old man was there and said, “Didn’t I think you were lazy in training with one hand at home?”

“Take a rest for a while and let the underwater bubble regain its feeling of being underwater. I’ll check your underwater data in half an hour.”

After explaining, the coach continued to pace and drank tea while fanning the breeze. Soon, Pang Whale began to practice underwater.

After swimming a few times, I felt a little proud of how easy it was at first, but gradually I realized something was wrong, and that feeling came again. Although my movements were no longer restricted, my shoulders still hurt.

His main event is freestyle, in which he is almost the king of the team, and is also very strong in national competitions.

However, the posture of this event is destined to require high-frequency alternation of hands during paddling, which uses a high frequency of shoulder muscles and joints, causing great damage. Now he feels a little strenuous.

Pan Xiuping also sensed something was wrong, and quickly came to the shore to stare. Pang Whale’s land training data was not much different from before, and he almost thought he had returned to his previous level.

But looking at his posture and speed in the water now, it’s clear that his shoulders are still affected.

“How do you feel?” Pan Xiuping squatted by the pool and handed over a towel.

Pang Whale took off his swimming goggles and wiped the water on his face. “It’s okay. Maybe I haven’t gotten used to it yet. I’ll practice again.”

After practicing for a few more times, I rested and started the data test. Sure enough, the data was very poor.

“Coach, I’m fine. It’s been too long since I’ve been in the water. I’ll try again.” Pang Whale said, wanting to come back again.

“You try, you try, your condition is getting worse and worse now. You think I can’t tell. If you try again, it will only get worse.” He frowned and looked at the time. “After a break, change your clothes and follow me to the team doctor’s office. Let’s take a look at the body data captured by the machine. We need to make a training plan.”

Pan Xiuping was a little worried. This result was very bad. He had to think carefully about how to continue.

Finally, according to physical data and test data, although Pang Whale has recovered a lot from his shoulder injury, his daily life will basically not be affected.

But he is an athlete in competitive sports. Athletes must practice, practice, repeat, and repeat.

This is a huge burden on his shoulders. If he continues to use it this way, it will cause irreversible damage. The current advice given by the team doctor is to change swimming styles.

“I don’t!” After hearing this arrangement, Pang Jing was not happy and got into a bad temper in the office.

“No, it’s just a change of swimming style. There’s nothing wrong with you. Freestyle swimming isn’t suitable for you now. I don’t want my shoulders anymore!” Pan Xiuping sat opposite him and tried to persuade him.

“I don’t want to change!” Pang Jing frowned and turned his head, as if his ears were blocked and he couldn’t hear anything.

He has always been top-notch in freestyle, and although everything else is passable, after all, the movements are different, and the training techniques are different. Breaststroke is the only one that uses his shoulders less. If he changes to this, he is not so good at it. He doesn’t know how long it will take to adapt to the competition and win medals again.

“Then what do you want! See for yourself, is it okay to go on like this? You won’t be able to replace your shoulder until it’s worn out!” Pan Xiuping patted the data on the table several times. He was originally a firecracker, but when he saw the gangster starting to get into trouble, he became even more angry.

“Then I won’t change. I won’t change even after practice. I will just freestyle and nothing else.” Pang Jing stood up and pushed the data report to the coach, not wanting to discuss this matter.

He didn’t expect that just because of a minor injury, he would have to change sports. This was beyond his expectation. Many athletes did not adapt well during the process of changing sports and failed to achieve good results. As they got older, they just spent their time and retired.

Seeing the boy’s stubborn attitude of turning a deaf ear, Pan Xiuping immediately slapped the table and stood up, “Tell me again! Did your ears get stuck with shit? If you don’t listen to the team’s arrangements, what do you want to do? If you lose your arms, do you want to retire?”

Pang Jing was silent and didn’t speak, his back molars clenched tightly. He was also annoyed and felt that he couldn’t bear it any longer. He picked up the backpack beside him and turned around to leave.

“Where are you going, you brat!” Coach Pan’s roar came from behind, and Pang Whale didn’t even look back.

He doesn’t know how to respond, he doesn’t want to change, but what should he do, retire?

It has been fourteen years since I started learning to swim at the age of four. Could it end like this?

*

In the grass, my footsteps were light, my green amber eyes were turning, and I was cautiously approaching the aroma of food…

It is now 8:50 pm. Usually Qi Zhixuan has gone home from get off work at this time, but today he has been hiding in the bushes for half an hour.

The tips of the grass blades of the bush scratched his cheek, itching and stinging, but he did not dare to raise his hand. The black and white plush in front of him was approaching the “trap” he had set.

This kitten has been around for a while. It usually only comes out at night and doesn’t make any fuss, just rummaging through some garbage to get by. However, it seems to have been injured recently and its face is bloody. Qi Zhixuan really can’t stand it anymore and wants to take it to the hospital.

Nervous sweat trickled down his temples, and a dark stain appeared on his collar.

One step… two steps… Plush Rong is getting closer and closer to the flight box where the cat strip is placed, and he is about to go in…

Suddenly there was a sound of footsteps, and Fluffy’s ears stood up.

As the figure moved closer and closer, the hair on the back of its neck exploded with a “swish” sound. It arched its back suddenly, like a ball of fur that had been frightened away. With a kick of its hind legs, it jumped half a meter away and hid in the bushes.

“Tsk.”

Pang Whale watched something flash past and was startled.

He had a quarrel with his coach in the afternoon, and he was in a bad mood. He wandered around the nearby shopping mall for a few times, ate two bowls of fried noodles, a large plate of dumplings and a pistol leg. He felt something in his stomach, and his breath was relieved a little. Now he was preparing to go back to school.

“Ho!” Before he could walk out, Pang Whale took a few steps back…

Just before something could be seen clearly, a bigger one crawled out from the grass on the other side, scaring the faint of heart to death.

Qi Zhixuan was crawling out of the bushes with difficulty, sticking his butt out and putting his hands and feet on the ground. He heard the sound and looked up at the person.

“Is it him?”

The two of them had the same doubt in their hearts.

“What are you doing?” Pang Jing saw that he was sweating profusely, and the top of his head seemed to be emitting steaming heat. There were a few dead leaves in his chestnut hair.

“Huh?..I..I catch the cat..”

Qi Zhixuan stood up and patted the dirt on his body. He was a little embarrassed. He really didn’t know what was going on. He looked so embarrassed every time he saw this person.

It turns out that the shadow just now was a cat.

“Your cat?”

“No, it’s a stray cat. I think it seems to be injured and I want to take it to have a look.”

I knelt down and looked around. It seemed that the cat was still there, but huddled deep in the bushes, fearing that it was frightened.

Pang Jing saw the flight box and cat strip next to him, and thought that he had delayed people’s care for stray animals.

“I’ll help you.”

“Ah? No, no, you have to go back to school. You can go back. I can do it myself.”

Pang Jing wanted to help, but Qi Zhixuan waved his hand quickly for fear of disturbing others.

“It’s okay. If I hadn’t scared it away, you should have caught it. After a while, the two of us will surround it, use branches to chase it away, and catch it when it comes out.”

Pang Whale threw off his backpack and walked deeper into the grass.

Today the kitten walked back and forth in front of the cat strip several times but refused to go in. He seemed very cautious. If he stayed there any longer, he might not come out. He might as well give it a try, otherwise it would be fatal if the wound worsened in such a hot weather.

Thinking of this, Qi Zhixuan had no choice but to follow his footsteps, and the two of them approached the target silently.

Pang Whale walked carefully to the back of the bush and was already looking at the cat. He gestured to Qi Zhixuan, indicating to outflank him.

Qi Zhixuan nodded, but when Pang Jing chased it away, the little guy was so frightened that it ran around. The two chased it for a while, but when it fled up the tree, Pang Jing stretched out his long hand and caught it.

“Oops, your hands…”

Just after putting the kitten into the flight box, Qi Zhixuan found several clear scratches on Pang Whale’s arm, which must have been scratched just now.

“This won’t work. You have to get vaccinated. It’s a stray cat. It’s very dangerous for you.” Qi Zhixuan wanted to drag people to get the injection, but then he thought that the epidemic prevention station was already off work.

“Well, it’s okay. The injection should be given within 24 hours. I’ll go by myself tomorrow.”

Pang Jingti glanced at the kitten in the box. It was very thin and black and white. There was a wound on the nose that had begun to fester. It must be only a few months old. The eye sockets were dark, as if it was wearing a pair of glasses. The little thing was quite angry. At this time, it was shouting at people with bared teeth and claws.

“Well… then you come to my store first and I will disinfect it for you.” Qi Zhixuan was still a little worried about the injury and took him to the store.

Two people and one cat came to the “Little Painter”. Qi Zhixuan asked someone to rinse the wound with water for a while and then asked him to sit down at the cashier and rummaged around for the remaining iodophor from last time.

Pang Whale looked around the store. As soon as he entered, he felt that there was a smell of sawdust, which was the same as the pine wood chopped by firewood at his grandma’s house in winter. It felt very friendly.

The place where he sat was a glass cashier, which was polished brightly. There was a cash register on it and a stack of “Baby Come Home” flyers. There was a locked box underneath, which looked like a cash box. It was quite neat.

He was relatively tall, so it was a bit cramped for him to sit. He moved back and accidentally touched a small square tea table on the right, and reached out to hold it up.

There was a cotton and linen tea mat on the table, which was washed a little white. There was a small bowl on it with a small fish, probably a tea pet, with its head raised and its mouth pouted as if it was blowing bubbles.

“Here, hold out your hand.” Qi Zhixuan came in at some point, holding a cotton swab in his hand.

Pang Whale stretched out his hand, and the brownish-yellow liquid rubbed the coolness on his arm. He raised his eyes and looked at the man in front of him. The chestnut head had a few leaves still on it, but it was still very round, as round as the cat.

His movements were very gentle, and he also blew on it. The cool touch spread with his breath, leaving a little translucent trace.

“Does it hurt?”

He raised his head and their eyes met. Pang Whale’s pupils trembled and he quickly looked to the side.

“No…it doesn’t hurt.”

In fact, he didn’t care about this minor injury at all. It was common for athletes to get injured. He didn’t bother to care about a piece of skin. Such a small scratch was nothing at all.

Qi Zhixuan felt a little upset. He was a good man. He helped him last time and paid for the medicine. This time he helped him again, but he caused others to get hurt. He felt very sorry.

“Well… you can add me on WeChat and I will accompany you to get the injection tomorrow. I… I will be responsible.”

The words sounded familiar. Looking at the QR code stretched out by the person opposite, Pang Jing didn’t think about it and immediately scanned it and added it.

“No need to accompany me, I can go by myself. I have to train tomorrow, which is inconvenient.”

Pang Jing stood up and looked at the clock on the wall. He felt that it was time to leave. He stared at Qi Zhixuan for a while. He couldn’t help but finally took off the dead leaves from his head.

Qi Zhixuan took a step back and looked blankly at the leaves in his hand.

“But if there are any signs of crazy cat disease, I will find you in time. If you want to check your bed, you should leave first.” Pang Jing smiled, raised his phone, and went out.

Pang Whale walked towards the school easily. After such a fuss, he seemed to be in a better mood. Is it because of the cat?Pang Whale glanced at his phone:

“I am Qi Zhixuan.”

“You have added a little painter, the above is a greeting message”

The picture of the red house is his shop. It turns out that his name is Qi Zhixuan.