Disobedience To Control chapter 26

Mist in the Swimming Pool

Song Siheng picked up his phone, which had fallen beside the sofa, and immediately dialed a number. This time, the call was answered quickly.

“Where did you go?” Song Siheng asked directly.

There was silence on the other end for a moment before the reply came, “We had training class this morning, so I left early. You were sleeping soundly, so I didn’t wake you.”

“Training? Your injuries haven’t healed yet, can you go swimming?”

“Physical training, upper body exercise. The coach called me,” Yang Xiaobei explained.

Song Siheng gripped the phone, feeling an uncontrollable annoyance, “Yang Xiaobei, you really do as you please. Do you think you can come and go freely just because you have money?!”

There was silence on the other end for a few seconds.

“This time it was sudden… the coach called me, bye boss. I’ll talk to you later.” After hastily saying these words in succession, Yang Xiaobei hung up the phone.

Beep beep beep—

Song Siheng looked at the screen where the call ended, and didn’t speak for a while.

Then, he poured himself another glass of water. However, he didn’t drink any of it, just picked up the glass and put it down, not taking a sip.

He sat back on the sofa, flipping through the channels on the remote control, but couldn’t find a movie he wanted to watch.

Soon, he got up, threw the remote control onto the side table, put on his coat, and went out, sitting in the car, and directly started the engine, speeding off towards the main road.

“Why did you come over suddenly? Aren’t you off today?” Li Ke was surprised to see Song Siheng push the door into the office.

“There’s nothing worth taking a day off for.” Song Siheng glanced at the documents on Li Ke’s desk, but couldn’t concentrate on reading a single line, so he put them down again.

He sat in the chair, spinning around, turning it in circles, making Li Ke dizzy.

“What’s wrong, did something happen?”

“What universities are there near Line 2?” Song Siheng suddenly asked.

“Huh?” Li Ke was taken aback by this abrupt question, then quickly opened a search page, “Let me check.”

Two minutes later, he pushed his phone screen in front of Song Siheng, “There are only two universities along Line 2, one is the Binjiang branch of Jiangcheng University, and the other is Jiangcheng Art College. But why are you asking this?”

Jiangcheng University Binjiang branch. Song Siheng silently repeated it. He was familiar with Jiangcheng University, as Song Qin taught there, but he had never been to the Binjiang branch.

“Send me the specific address of the first one,” he told Li Ke.

Five seconds later, Song Siheng’s phone received a string of addresses.

Even though he could have just asked Yang Xiaobei directly, he didn’t speak up. Perhaps it was the pride of some sponsor’s dog, or perhaps he didn’t want Yang Xiaobei to know that he was actually worried about his sudden departure.

…..

Song Siheng didn’t go to look for him that day but waited until Friday.

On Friday afternoon, just after he finished attending an industry conference, he drove past the area along Line 2. Then, he found an inconspicuous spot to park by the roadside.

As the weekend approached, there were many college students coming and going at the school gate. Song Siheng’s car was parked on the east side of the road, with the sun shining directly through the window, making it difficult for him to keep his eyes open.

He waited for almost an hour, and even the steering wheel was getting hot from the sunlight, but he still didn’t see the familiar figure at the school gate.

He picked up his phone from the side, unlocked and locked the screen a couple of times. In the end, he dialed that number.

After a few rings, the call was finally answered.

“Hello?”

Hearing that familiar voice, Song Siheng remained silent for two seconds before speaking, “Where are you?”

“I’m at school.” Yang Xiaobei replied.

“I’m at your school gate.”

“Huh?!” Yang Xiaobei’s voice sounded flustered, but he quickly responded, “How did you know which school I’m at? Wait, I’m coming out right away!”

Five minutes later, a person walked out of the school gate, carrying a backpack, looking around, searching in all directions.

Song Siheng lightly pressed the horn. Beep—

Only then did Yang Xiaobei see Song Siheng’s car and hurriedly ran over.

A week had passed, and the gauze on Yang Xiaobei’s face had been removed, and the scabs on his wounds had mostly fallen off, recovering quite well.

“Damn. Your car is so conspicuous,” Yang Xiaobei said as he opened the passenger door and got in.

“It’s conspicuous, yet you still didn’t notice it?” Song Siheng’s tone unexpectedly carried a hint of reproach. After saying that, he started the engine to get going.

“What made you suddenly come to find me? Didn’t we agree to meet tomorrow night?” Yang Xiaobei fastened his seatbelt, then asked with a smirk, “You couldn’t wait a whole day?”

Song Siheng was caught off guard by the question. After pausing for a few seconds, he looked ahead and replied, “Didn’t you say you wanted to teach me freestyle? There are still a few classes left.”

Yang Xiaobei looked puzzled but didn’t ask further. He glanced at the time and quickly agreed, “Okay. Then let’s go to that swimming pool we went to last time.”

For some reason, when the swimming pool they went to last time was mentioned, Song Siheng felt a bit embarrassed. “Isn’t your school pool open to the public?”

Yang Xiaobei was taken aback, “The pool has been too crowded these days. If you really want to learn, I can take you to the one we went to last time; it’s quieter.”

After some thought, Song Siheng nodded in agreement.

Just as the car moved about three or four meters, Yang Xiaobei turned to look at Song Siheng’s attire: a smart trench coat over a shirt and a cashmere vest. He casually asked, “Did you bring your swimming trunks and goggles?”

Song Siheng abruptly hit the brakes. “I didn’t bring them.”

Yang Xiaobei sighed, “Wait for me, I’ll go back and get them for you.”

Half an hour later, the two arrived at the swimming pool.

Yang Xiaobei looked inside, where there were only two security guards and a lifeguard sitting in the distance.

“The members of the city training team haven’t come. You’re really lucky. We’ve booked the whole place again today.” Yang Xiaobei turned around and smiled.

The two of them went into the locker room as usual and changed into their swimming trunks.

“Are you okay to go in the water now?” Song Siheng walked up behind him and glanced at the scars on his back. Except for a few reddish marks, the rest had turned into faint blue.

“It’s okay, there are no open wounds. It’s fine.” Yang Xiaobei patted his back.

But perhaps it was the lighting in the locker room, Song Siheng felt that Yang Xiaobei seemed to have lost some weight compared to last week.

“You’ve lost weight?” Song Siheng blurted out.

Yang Xiaobei turned to look at him, arms outstretched, “What, do you want to feel it?”

It was that shameless look again. Song Siheng pushed away his hand.

Having not attended classes for a long time, for safety, the two went to the shallow water area first.

“You haven’t forgotten how to kick, right?” Yang Xiaobei followed Song Siheng into the water.

“I haven’t.” Song Siheng learned quickly, and after his body floated up, he kicked off the pool wall, thighs driving the calves, with no deviation in his technique.

After pulling himself into a ball in the water, he stood up straight, “Alright, teach me how to stroke.”

“You should practice standing first.” Yang Xiaobei patted his arms. “Watch me demonstrate first.”

Song Siheng stepped aside to give him space.

Yang Xiaobei raised his arm and looked at Song Siheng, “First, catch the water. Keep the upper arm still, and use the lower arm and palm to exert force, not crossing the body’s midline.”

“Then, push the water back with the lower arm until the arm is straight.”

Song Siheng followed his instructions and quickly got the hang of it.

Yang Xiaobei continued to teach, “Going backward is a bit more difficult. Raise the elbow and turn the shoulder, with the back of the head touching the other side of the upper arm. At this point, the lower arm must be relaxed. Your mouth should be above the water, inhale and exhale in rhythm, then dive into the water, stretching your arms out.”

Song Siheng gestured a couple of times in the air and roughly got the hang of it.

“I’ll protect you, you try it first.” Seeing how eager Song Siheng was, Yang Xiaobei patted his lower back.

Song Siheng immediately plunged into the water, silently reciting the movements Yang Xiaobei had just taught him. Catch the water first, exert force with the lower arm, not crossing the midline, then push the water back, straighten the arm, raise the elbow and turn the shoulder, stretch the arm out.

“Whoosh—” Song Siheng completed a set of movements, although the breathing was not very smooth yet, but he successfully moved forward in the water.

“You’re just starting to learn, you can take it slow with your breathing, make sure you’ve taken enough air before diving in. Otherwise, you might choke.” Yang Xiaobei reminded him.

“I see. I want to try coordinating with kicking.” Song Siheng was full of confidence.

“Let’s go. I’ll follow you.” Yang Xiaobei didn’t completely let go, still following behind him.

Once the hands and legs were coordinated, the speed of movement increased

The two of them practiced back and forth in the shallow water area, and Song Siheng felt that he had already got the hang of it.

“I feel like there’s no problem. Let me swim by myself,” Song Siheng gestured for Yang Xiaobei to step back to the poolside.

“Are you sure?”

“No problem. Worst case, I can swim back in breaststroke,” Song Siheng nodded.

Hearing this, Yang Xiaobei had no choice but to let go of his hands and let him practice on his own.

Song Siheng went over the technical essentials in his mind and quickly dove back into the pool.

Stroking, kicking, and breathing to the side. Repeat.

In an instant, he swam about ten meters out of the shallow water area. Soon, he tried to speed up, increasing the frequency of his kicking and stroking, making his swimming more efficient.

Looking at the water in the pool, Song Siheng felt like a free fish. Water splashes trailed behind him, and he became more and more excited as he swam.

However, the good times didn’t last long. Song Siheng hadn’t fully mastered the breathing rhythm of freestyle swimming. As he raised his elbow to breathe to the side, he suddenly lost focus, the rhythm of his breathing went wrong, and he ended up swallowing a mouthful of water. This caused his strokes to become hasty, and his whole body collapsed like dominoes.

He had reached the deep water area, and he couldn’t touch the bottom. He could only hold his breath, curl up, and try to sink down, attempting to stand up, but his feet couldn’t reach the pool bottom.

Water flooded into his nostrils, and he could only instinctively thrash around, but as he became more nervous, his center of gravity kept sinking, and his body couldn’t surface.

Suddenly, Song Siheng felt a force lifting him up abruptly.

Splash—three seconds later, Song Siheng’s head finally broke the surface of the water. He looked back and saw that Yang Xiaobei’s movements were even faster than those of the lifeguard; he had already reached his side and forcefully lifted him out of the water.

Having just choked on water, Song Siheng couldn’t speak for a moment. He was about to cough out the water himself, but Yang Xiaobei pulled him onto the shore.

Yang Xiaobei pressed two inches above his navel, pressing down forcefully. “Spit it out, quickly.”

His voice trembled uncontrollably until Song Siheng forcefully spit out a mouthful of water, instantly clearing his airway.

Yang Xiaobei finally released his hand, but his palm still trembled, and his pupils seemed to be clouded.

“I’m fine, just choked on some water… Don’t break my ribs.” Song Siheng was not seriously choked, but he was startled by Yang Xiaobei’s reaction. “What’s wrong with you? You’re so scared.”

Yang Xiaobei covered his eyes with his hands, took a deep breath several times, and didn’t lower his hands for a while.

“It’s okay, it’s okay…”

He repeated softly twice, whether to himself or to Song Siheng, it was unclear.

Song Siheng took a towel and wiped the water off his head, looking at Yang Xiaobei, who was acting strange, but hesitated to speak.