Chapter 151: The High Jump

When Li Ye stood at the high jump competition venue, he discovered that the high jump event was surprisingly popular.

The number of students participating in the competition was more than three times that of other events like the long jump, javelin, or shot put.

However, Li Ye soon heard a person's name and understood the reason for this.

"Look quickly, he's actually using the Fosbury Flop to clear the bar, exactly the same as Zhu Jianhua!"

"Yeah! I also want to learn the Fosbury Flop, but no matter what, I can't learn it. It's not even as high as using the straddle technique to clear the bar!"

"Forget it, forget it. He's the 'High Jump Prince'; it's not that easy to learn. I'd better just use my Western roll!"

【So it's Zhu Jianhua?】

Li Ye finally heard this name, which is unavoidable in the history of Chinese track and field, but which was almost forgotten by the general public in later generations.

It can be said that the name Zhu Jianhua, in certain respects, should be commented on alongside the two "Asian Flying Men," Liu and Su.

Zhu Jianhua is a high jumper from Shanghai. At this time, he had already cleared a height of 2.30 meters and is the Asian record holder for the men's high jump.

In the near future, he will break the world record three times in a row, win championships in world-class competitions multiple times, and is also the winner of China's first Olympic track and field medal.

Even the Associated Press published an article stating: "Zhu's leap is as if 1 billion Chinese people have leaped over the world's height."

It can be said that in the early 1980s, Zhu Jianhua's world record was seen as a symbol of China's rise, and he himself was the "national hope" for China's first Olympic track and field gold medal.

In an era with an extreme thirst for national self-confidence, Zhu Jianhua's name was naturally widely known and worshipped by a crowd of young people, which even brought about a "high jump craze."

For example, in this sports meet, just in Li Ye's Economics Department, three people signed up. Besides him, there were also Fu Lianbing and Xiang Weiguo.

Both of them had tall and thin builds; Fu Lianbing was a few centimeters taller than Li Ye, and Xiang Weiguo was also 1.78 meters tall, with a body weight estimated at around 110 to 120 jin. Both could be considered athletes quite suited for the high jump event.

"Li Ye, how high can you jump?"

"I don't know! Not quite two meters, I guess!"

"Are you really the 'Number One Brother'? Can't you leave a way for others to survive?"

"Exactly, exactly. Now, among the girls in the class, every three sentences, one is about you, Li Ye."

"If you keep showing off like this, everyone is preparing to expel you from the class registry. Hmph, you'd better watch yourself."

The three of them usually got along well and had all learned of Li Ye's title as "209 Dormitory's Number One Brother" through Sun Xianjin, so they didn't hold back at all when teasing him; contempt and sarcasm were common occurrences.

However, Li Ye really could jump over two meters, and if he didn't hide his clumsiness or keep a low profile, 2.12 meters wasn't impossible.

To go any higher, he would probably need systematic professional training. After all, professional competition and amateur hobbies are two different things.

Li Ye, this "cheater," had the physical conditions, it's true, but to go a step further, it also required technical content.

At this moment, an athlete from another class nearby chuckled and said, "If you can jump two meters, then none of us need to jump. We'll just yield first place to you."

Li Ye looked at the person and laughed, saying, "I said not quite two meters. 1.99 meters is not quite two meters, and 1.25 meters is also not quite two meters, right?"

"..."

"Hahahaha~"

Many students heard Li Ye's words and also started laughing.

The children of this era really had a super low threshold for humor.

Fu Lianbing laughed and said, "Hey, Li Ye, the way you say things, you could even perform crosstalk."

Li Ye nodded: "You're right. If I can't make it in the economics circle in the future, I'll change professions to perform crosstalk. You'll all have to buy tickets to come see me."

"Fine, we'll just treat it as going to the zoo to see the monkeys."

"Hahahaha~"

"..."

Li Ye was speechless; joking with people with high IQs was too easy to get counter-killed.

At this time, Wu Runfu from the same dormitory suddenly squeezed over and made clicking sounds at Li Ye.

"Li Ye, you're not simple. After running 3,000 meters, your legs must be soft, right? You can still come to high jump? Don't ruin your lifelong reputation, okay?"

Li Ye laughed and punched him, asking, "Then what are you here for?"

Wu Runfu said with a strange look on his face, "What a fresh question, I'm here to participate in the high jump competition, of course!"

Now it was Li Ye's turn to be surprised; likewise, Fu Lianbing and Xiang Weiguo were also quite surprised.

Wu Runfu was a little over 1.7 meters tall and weighed at least 160 jin. To be honest, the high jump event really wasn't very suitable for him; he should have chosen a strength-based event instead.

So Li Ye said, "I really didn't know you actually liked high jump?"

Wu Runfu shook his head and said with a serious face, "No, I like Zhu Jianhua."

Alright then! Idol behavior also doesn't distinguish between eras.

"Number 238, Wu Runfu."

"Here!"

The teacher called Wu Runfu's name, and this social butterfly of 209 ran over excitedly.

Approach, takeoff, hitting the bar—he didn't even clear 1.6 meters.

But he wasn't discouraged at all; he was happy and sincerely focused on participating.

Li Ye and several classmates applauded, giving him encouraging applause.

Xiang Weiguo and Fu Lianbing also participated in the competition one after another, but they were also just barely getting by.

It wasn't until "Number One Brother" Li Ye took the field that the teacher responsible for recording the results suddenly brightened their eyes.

He and the student who used the Fosbury Flop to clear the bar showed a posture of not yielding to each other, alternately raising the height.

1.7 meters, 1.8 meters, 1.9 meters—both of them displayed good physical function as well as impeccable movements, drawing bursts of applause and exclamations of praise.

By the time Li Ye and the student named Ruan Zhisheng were about to reach the height of 1.95 meters, hundreds of people had already gathered at the high jump field. Zhen Rongrong, He Dazhuang, and even the usually calm Wen Leyu had come over.

The two of them had already locked in the first and second places for this year's school sports meet, but everyone was looking forward to seeing if a new "Little Zhu Jianhua" would be born.

But at 1.95 meters, Li Ye very abruptly failed to clear it, while Ruan Zhisheng cleared it in one go, easily.

Ruan Zhisheng was nearly 1.9 meters tall, much taller than the 1.8-meter Li Ye, and his movements were impeccable, displaying strong technique and physical flexibility; he had clearly practiced seriously.

Seeing that Li Ye was slightly discouraged, Zhen Rongrong hesitated for a moment, then ran in front of Li Ye to encourage him: "Li Ye, keep it up, you can definitely do it!"

Li Ye nodded awkwardly and exchanged a look with Wen Leyu.

【Tell me, what's the situation?】

【No situation, really no situation!】

On the second attempt, Li Ye hit the bar and failed again.

"Let him jump one more time."

Several school teachers actually temporarily changed the rules, letting Li Ye try one more time.

Ruan Zhisheng looked at Li Ye and said nothing, and the others were even less likely to be unconvinced. Anyway, no matter how it was changed, Li Ye was still second, and it had nothing to do with them.

And Zhen Rongrong and several other girls were cheering for Li Ye with all their might.

Everyone had seen information about Zhu Jianhua in the newspapers and knew that the world record was over 2.3 meters.

But Li Ye was not a professional athlete. At this moment, his performance was already 20 or 30 centimeters higher than ordinary students. If he underwent professional training, there was always hope.

But Li Ye knew that unless he intended to pursue a sports career in the future, he should stop now.

If it weren't for Wen Leyu, this little girl, watching from the side and quietly waving her two little fists to cheer him on, Li Ye would have voluntarily ended it at 1.85 meters.

Running 3,000 meters in just over ten minutes is a school-level record, but clearing two meters in the high jump touches the threshold of professional sports; you can't avoid training if you want to.

One billion people need you!

But the path of a professional athlete is really not easy to walk—it's even harder than getting into Qingbei.

Everyone only saw Zhu Jianhua's success, but didn't see his efforts and pressure, and even less did they see those second- and third-place athletes who were just running alongside him.

Moreover, Zhu Jianhua being able to achieve world-peak level results was not just his own effort, but also the result of cultivation under the national sports system.

To wear the crown, one must bear its weight!

In his previous life, Li Ye had heard his PE teacher say that Zhu Jianhua's nutritional recipe was almost at the level of a state secret.

In other words, once you walk the path of a professional athlete, you don't even get to decide what you want to eat in the future.

Don't talk about eating sea cucumber; what if you're craving a peach when you're dying for one?

Hehe, please turn into Sun Wukong and go steal one!

You want to take a stroll with your girlfriend and have a kiss?

Forget it! You have to cut off several of your seven emotions and six desires; otherwise, how can you maintain a breath of masculine energy and maintain your peak state?

Even so, Zhu Jianhua was pursued by countless people within a few years, but in the end, because he encountered an accident at the '84 Olympics and didn't win a gold medal but only a bronze, he was ridiculed and scolded by the whole country.

Zhu Jianhua endured it himself. When he returned and was received by the higher-ups, he shed tears of regret, but his performance was actually groundbreaking. All the higher-ups comforted him kindly, recognized his achievements, and gave him confidence and warmth.

But when Zhu Jianhua's mother went out to buy groceries, she was surrounded by a group of Shanghai elderly women who angrily forced her to "return the nutritional supplements the state gave to Zhu Jianhua."

Sigh~~

So Li Ye decided to stop while he was ahead. Being able to live up to Wen Leyu's expectant little eyes was enough. As for the thorny path of a professional athlete, let that introverted and silent child Ruan Zhisheng walk it!

2.10 meters—Ruan Zhisheng just barely cleared it.

"Ah~"

This silent child, after getting up from the mat, finally waved his fist vigorously, venting the frustration in his chest.

Li Ye just now had given him too much pressure.

Every time Li Ye cleared the bar, he would win the applause of all the girls, even if he, Ruan Zhisheng, jumped higher, the applause was just that little bit less.

2.10 meters was his most powerful counterattack.

"That Li Ye, come jump one more time."

But several teachers were still unwilling to give up on Li Ye and insisted on letting Li Ye try several more times.

Unsurprisingly, Li Ye couldn't clear any of them, and his state was getting worse and worse.

Finally, several teachers shook their heads and sighed.

They could see that Li Ye's psychological stress resistance was not good.

An excellent athlete doesn't just need good technique and strength; their mindset is even more critical.

It's just like China's national sport, table tennis. Many excellent players can dominate in team training and repeatedly defeat world champions.

But once they get on the world stage, under tension, they can't even display 50% of their level.

Such players, without exception, become "sparring partners" and become unknown whetstones.

The Swedish team, which once dared to arm-wrestle with China in table tennis, once said with great envy: "If we could have China's sparring team, how good would that be!"

In the end, several teachers still chatted with Li Ye, asking him to adjust his mindset and test again in a few days.

Without competition, there is no progress. If you want to cultivate Ruan Zhisheng, you need high-level sparring partners, right?

"Li Ye, don't be discouraged. The teachers all say you have great potential! Let's come back next year."

"Exactly, that Ruan Zhisheng is half a head taller than you, that doesn't count as skill..."

Zhen Rongrong and the others were slightly disappointed and were all encouraging and comforting Li Ye.

But Li Ye laughed and said, "I'm not disappointed at all. Even if I jump higher, could I compare to Zhu Jianhua?"

The next three years are Zhu Jianhua's highlight moment. Li Ye has no intention of competing with such a heaven-sent talent.

Everyone remembers the names Liu Xiang and Su Bingtian, but may I ask how many remember the other two athletes who walked onto the field with them?

"So, classmate Li Ye, you didn't give it your all just now, right?"

"..."

An abrupt voice suddenly came from not far away, causing Zhen Rongrong and the others around to frown, while Wen Leyu, who had been quiet all along, twitched her eyebrows, and a cold, sharp aura gradually dissipated.

Li Ye turned his head and saw someone he hadn't seen in a long time.

Yue Mengmeng, a reporter from the *Dongshan Education News* Beijing press station.

And standing beside her was a tall boy. Li Ye found his appearance somewhat familiar.

After thinking carefully for a while, he remembered seeing this boy's photo on the school's honor board.

"Great Reporter Yue, you can eat whatever you want, but you can't just say whatever you want. Which eye of yours saw that I didn't give it my all?"

Li Ye expressed his displeasure to Yue Mengmeng. Since the first time they met in Qingshui County, this female reporter had always been presumptuously guessing Li Ye's background, and often guessed correctly, which was unpleasant and unconscious.

Yue Mengmeng looked at Li Ye with a smile and didn't speak, her two eyes rolling around. She didn't know why, but she just liked to investigate Li Ye's background.

However, when she saw Wen Leyu's cold expression, Yue Mengmeng immediately took a few steps back and restrained all her expressions.

And that tall boy smiled and extended his hand to Li Ye.

"Reporter Yue is just joking. Classmate Li Ye, you don't need to mind. I am Zhu Xinping from the Dongshan Hometown Association. We had a Dongshan hometown gathering a few days ago; why didn't you come? This is a bit lacking in hometown sentiment, oh!"

Li Ye shook hands with Zhu Xinping and said, "I have indeed been too busy these past few days and haven't had time to go and recognize the fellow townsmen!"

Zhu Xinping laughed heartily: "Then you've missed a lot of fellow townsmen. Fellow townsmen like us in our senior year are all busy; we can't find people at every turn. It'll be hard to get everyone together again."

Li Ye said in surprise, "Are you already a senior?"

Zhu Xinping said, "Yes! I won't be staying at school fixedly in the future either. You should hurry over this Friday; I'll introduce you to the juniors from our hometown so you can look out for each other in the future."

Li Ye readily agreed: "Okay, okay, I will definitely be there."

Li Ye felt that this Zhu Xinping was very open and very worldly.

Or rather, he was very good at managing connections. He, Li Ye, was just a freshman, incomparable to those who had been on the school's honor board since the '79 class, but the man still made a special trip to come over and chat with him.

The two chatted for a while longer. Zhu Xinping's eyes were clearly friendlier than before, and he also felt the trip was worthwhile. Li Ye, this "provincial number one," was much more mature than he had expected.

By the time the two left, Li Ye noticed that Yue Mengmeng and Zhu Xinping were walking side by side, and the distance between them was less than thirty centimeters.

By the standards of this era, this was a relationship beyond friendship but not yet lovers.

"Heh~"

Li Ye suddenly felt that Yue Mengmeng seemed to have brought Zhu Xinping over to show off.

To show off to him, Li Ye.

And at this time, Wen Leyu silently leaned over and said sarcastically, "She has been coming to the school to interview students from Dongshan for over a month, but she just hasn't interviewed you. Do you know why?"

Li Ye said indifferently, "She thinks I'm not as good as others, I guess!"

Zhu Xinping would soon graduate and start working, and in the popular Chinese Department, he would likely enter a ministry-level unit and start from being a writer.

And he, Li Ye, was still just a seedling that needed four years of development!

"Hmph, she just has self-knowledge."

(End of chapter)