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Chapter 480: Chapter 323 Record_2
She wasn’t from Class 8, but upon witnessing the scene, she shouted:
"Jiang Ning, come on, win the game for us!"
At first, everyone was stunned, then Wang Longlong yelled loudly: "Jiang Ning, you’re the only hope for the first year!"
Indeed, up to now, only three competitors were left fighting for the championship in the high jump event: Jiang Ning from the first year, Tao Nian from the second year, and Wu Tianyu from the third year.
Jiang Ning represented the entire first year.
Xu Yan didn’t just cheer on her own; she also got the girls in her class to root for Jiang Ning.
Bai Han from Class 11 felt an indescribable taste, annoyed at his own lack of effort.
Jiang Ning stood at the starting point, still appearing very calm.
Yang Sheng: "Are you still warming up?"
Jiang Ning: "It’s time to get serious."
He moved his legs around and ran towards the bar, and under everyone’s gaze, Jiang Ning’s body leapt up, gliding over the bar.
Wang Longlong immediately shouted: "The Fosbury flop, he’s using the Fosbury flop!"
Cheers erupted.
Yang Sheng praised: "Perfect form!"
"Is it really impressive?" Geng Lu didn’t understand, she just thought it looked cool.
"It is, there’s hope for the championship," said Yang Sheng. She had been half-doubtful before, but now, seeing Jiang Ning’s movements, she was certain he must have trained before.
Tao Nian finally took him seriously. 1.8 meters was impressive, but he aimed for the record.
1.8 meters, 1.85 meters, 1.9 meters.
Until the 1.9-meter mark, Wu Tianyu from the third year was eliminated.
Only Jiang Ning and Tao Nian remained.
The student responsible for adjusting the bar stood on a stool because the bar was too high.
Before the jump, the gym teacher, Gu Wei, raised the megaphone and solemnly announced:
"Next up is 1.95 meters, but our school’s high jump record is 1.95 meters, so this time we will raise it an additional centimeter, to 1.96 meters. Good luck to both contestants."
The school record was at stake.
His words added a sense of mission to the upcoming competition.
This time Tao Nian jumped first.
He took more time than usual to prepare, waited for the right moment, and with the most standard posture, sprinted towards the bar; his leg muscles tensing, he soared into the air.
Cries emerged from the crowd, loud at first, but the bar fell and the exuberant shouts gradually diminished.
Someone said: "Just a bit short!"
And that slight difference became an insurmountable gap; Tao Nian had three tries, and each time he was just a bit short.
"It’s so difficult."
"Yeah, who’s the senior who set the 1.95-meter record before, and how could he jump so high?"
Discussions came from all directions.
People turned their attention back to Jiang Ning.
If he could make the jump, he would set a new record and win the match.
If he couldn’t, the height would be lowered, and he would compete for the championship with Tao Nian.
Among the spectator students, Wang Longlong had gained about a dozen listeners due to explaining the jumps each time, and his explanations were quite good. Amidst the melee, his audience grew.
Wang Longlong shouted: "The high jump event in the athletics meet demonstrates ’higher’ heights, symbolizing the spirit of striving and climbing to the pinnacle..."
Jiang Ning warmed up his hands.
Bai Yuxia in the spectator stands didn’t understand, shouldn’t he be warming up his legs?
Jiang Ning ran to the side of the bar, leaped into the air, his silhouette crossing the horizontal bar in a graceful arc, as if a fish leaping through the water, like a bird soaring in the sky.
The gym teacher exclaimed: "1.96 meters!"
Instantly, the spectator crowd leapt up, the excitement boiled over!
Wang Longlong erupted with a thunderous voice, strong and resounding:
"What we’re witnessing now is Jiang Ning from Class 8 of the first year, who has broken the high jump record held for 20 years. Now, we have all witnessed the birth of a new school high jump record, 1.96 meters!"
Wang Longlong cried out: "We have witnessed a historic moment."
"Twenty years, a whole twenty years, many of the students here may not even have been born yet!"
At the same time, the melody unique to the sports meet played across the campus; all students understood what this song meant—it was played only when a record was broken.
"Congratulations to Jiang Ning from Class 8 of the first year for setting a new Fourth Middle School boys’ high jump record of 1.96 meters!"
The announcer’s voice spread throughout the campus.
...
Building 3.
The entire building was quiet because the students had all run to the playground.
In classroom 8, only Chen Qian remained alone.
This was his time alone.
The hustle and bustle from the campus, along with the cheers, seemed like distant echoes in the wind behind his ears.
Suddenly, it sounded right by his ear, "Congratulations to Class 8 of the first year, Jiang Ning..."
Chen Qian heard it clearly; he paused for a moment, then quickly became indifferent.
Athletics meetings be damned, records be damned; they were all irrelevant to him, for that was not the path he was meant to take.
...
Building 3, first floor, classroom office.
Chemistry teacher Guo Ran was selecting questions, preparing to print them into test papers for students’ homework over the May Day holiday.
Xue Yuantong was sitting in a chair playing on her computer, snacking, and drinking.
Bathed in the cool air conditioning, Xue Yuantong was exceedingly content.
She, too, heard the loudspeaker.
Xue Yuantong’s ears perked up; she pinched her snack and listened again to confirm that it was indeed her number one subordinate, Jiang Ning, who had broken the school record.
She swung her legs: "That’s my Jiang Ning alright!"
Teacher Guo Ran looked up: "He won an award; aren’t you going to have a look?"
Xue Yuantong shook her head and waved her hands: "My sitting here serves to stabilize the troops."
Teacher Guo Ran thought: ’Isn’t that a peculiar angle?’
"1 meter 96, hmm, not bad at all."
Xue Yuantong made an analogy: "I just had an idea, whoa, doesn’t 1 meter 96 signify that Jiang Ning could jump right over my head?"
Xue Yuantong’s eyes widened as if imagining the scene where she was repeatedly leapfrogged by Jiang Ning and felt humiliated!
Teacher Guo Ran glanced at her before his eyes shifted to a pair of tiptoes barely touching the ground.
Teacher Guo Ran spoke cautiously: "Well, actually...you don’t need 1 meter 96 for that."
...
After the noise had subsided.
The high jump competition had finished, and the crowd had dispersed.
The sun had become even more scorching.
Guo Kunnan walked along, talking non-stop: "2 meters 02!"
"Jiang Ning jumped 2 meters 02 at the end!"
He reminisced about the high jump competition that had just taken place.
"Did you hear what the PE teacher said? Men’s Level Athletes jump at 2 meters, and Jiang Ning has already surpassed Level Athletes."
"Level Athletes get direct admission qualifications; Jiang Ning is just in his first year. If he trains well in the next two years, he might even become a sports champion level athlete, potentially getting direct admission into a 985 university!"
"985, man, even among our school’s experimental class, only a small portion can make it in."
There was an ineffable envy in Guo Kunnan’s words: "985 universities, my dream."
Seeing him nearly lost in the thought, Ma Shicheng burst his bubble of fantasy:
"Brother Nan, Jiang Ning can get into a 985 without sports, right?"
Guo Kunnan sobered up immediately.
Yet, he insisted on his point of view: "It’s not just about the 985 issue; if Jiang Ning takes the sports route, he wouldn’t have to attend classes, just train every day. How cool would that be?"
While others attend classes, he’d be playing!
Isn’t that every high school student’s dream?
Ma Shicheng was very lucid and patted Brother Nan on the shoulder: "If you had two choices, one is to train alone, the other is to study with a beautiful girl, which one would you choose?"
Guo Kunnan: "..."
He thought of Jiang Ning’s situation and his own Xu Yan.
Guo Kunnan sighed sadly: "I don’t have a choice."
For some reason, he suddenly remembered the days when he pretended to be Huang Zhongfei and was in a romance with Manman.
At that moment, Guo Kunnan almost succumbed to depression.
Cui Yu accompanied them because he had promised to treat Dan Kaiquan to a plum juice.
The spectacle of the recent competition was still vivid in his mind, the sensation Jiang Ning caused, the accolades, especially when the record soared to 2 meters 05.
Cui Yu longed to be in that position.
Unfortunately, he had faltered at 1 meter 35.
Cui Yu was not content; a mighty ambition suddenly surged within him. He was Cui Yu, meaning ’universe’—vast and limitless; how could he stop here?
He would train, win awards, and shake Jiang Yanan, rock the girls of Fourth Middle School!
Cui Yu followed Ma Shicheng and the others forward.
School was about to let out, and they reached the northeast corner of the sports field.
"Brother Quan, look!" Just as Guo Kunnan was feeling downcast, he suddenly saw a ray of light. He quickly tapped Dan Kaiquan, calling over his good brother to appreciate it together.
It was an extremely beautiful girl.
