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Gu Yi knocked on the door first.
The chatter in the room was silent for a few seconds, and then a dull sound of footsteps was heard walking towards the door.
"Come in, it's so slow, the team members upstairs are here." Coach Tan opened the door and held a handful of fragrant old-fashioned popcorn in his other hand.
As soon as the door opened, the abundant warmth rushed into my face, and the tension on my face suddenly disappeared. The team members are basically all here. Most of the girls have finished packing and are wearing cotton home clothes with various cartoon patterns printed on them. Most of the boys are still wearing team uniforms and occupying two single beds in different postures. play cell phone.
Gu Yi pulled back a handful of dazzling hair and asked sharply, "Old Tan, where did you get the popcorn?"
"Popcorn!" Hong Xiqi arched her nose and leaned forward, "It smells so good! Coach Tan, this popcorn is the kind sold on the streets when we were young, right? It's just turned by hand. When it's cooked, it will pop when opened. The kind that has to explode, right? ! She said, swallowing involuntarily, "I haven't seen anyone selling this kind of popcorn in years. Coach Tan, where did you buy it?"
"Here it is, it's here. It's still hot, come on!" Gu Yi had already walked into the room and opened the big bag of popcorn on the table very familiarly. He reached out and grabbed it in his hand, and turned around. Waved to Hong Xiqi.
With just one sentence, she called Hong Xiqi over, not even bothering to wait for Coach Tan to answer her question.
"Little Youyou." After Hong Xiqi finished eating, she did not forget to call Tao You over.
It's just that Tao You couldn't hold anything in his stomach now, so he waved his hand and refused.
Coach Tan stuffed a handful of popcorn into his mouth and said helplessly, "You two are so rude. You act like robbers."
"You, go in and blow-dry your hair." Coach Tan walked up behind Gu Yi, picked up his collar like a chicken, and took him into the bathroom. "I don't know what the weather will be like. Come out without blow-drying your hair. Are you afraid that you won’t catch a cold?”
"Who else is not here?" Coach Tan came out of the bathroom, looked at his watch, and became a little impatient. "I told you all during the day, pay attention to the messages in the group, why is there still someone late?!"
"No wait, let's start first." Coach Tan finished the last bit of popcorn in his hand, clapped his palms, and said to Hong Xiqi beside him, "Stop eating. Aren't you full for dinner?" He took it with some distress. He passed the big bag of popcorn in front of Hong Xiqi, tied a tight knot at the mouth of the bag and put it next to him. He waved his hand and said, "Hurry up and find a place to sit down. In this way, boys will sit on the left and girls will sit on the bed on the right. Come on, hurry up, hurry up, hurry up." Change seats, stop playing games and chatting. It’s getting late, finish talking quickly and go back to bed.”
Under Coach Tan's command, everyone quickly changed positions within two minutes.
Hong Xiqi held full popcorn in her hands and sat next to Tao You.
"Tomorrow's game schedule has come out, as you all saw in the group chat just now. We will gather in the lobby at 8:30 in the morning and go to the competition venue. The opening ceremony will start on time at 9 o'clock, and the first game will start at 10 o'clock." Coach Tan leaned against On the cabinet in front of the TV, he said while picking up the folder at hand, "The first game is the men's team competition."
After Coach Tan browsed through the file, he put the folder under the creaking nest, crossed his hands across his chest and continued, "Those who are participating in the team competition, just put their competition clothes on as soon as they get up, and go directly after the opening ceremony. Warm up on the sidelines, don’t waste time changing clothes.”
"Players who are not playing can sit on the sidelines and rest, or go to the auditorium, but remember to report to Coach Sun and me!"
"Coach Sun and Hong Xiqi will prepare the logistics supplies. If you need it, you can go to them." Coach Tan kicked the two cardboard boxes beside him again. "I will send you supplies in a while. It's almost enough." Already."
"Coach, which uniforms should we wear tomorrow?" a team member raised his hand and asked, while the other hand was still swiping on the phone screen.
Coach Tan patted the back of his neck and rubbed it again before he remembered it, "Yes, yes, yes, um, I will wear this red one tomorrow." He pointed at the guy opposite who was wearing black long sleeves and red stripes.
Team members who serve.
"What uniform will we wear in the opening ceremony?" another team member asked.
Coach Tan raised his chin at the classmate just now and said, "The same color."
This time, the No. 1 Middle School tennis team’s uniforms and competition uniforms were customized into two sets each. One set was black with a red diagonal stripe, and the other was white with a blue diagonal stripe. They were brighter yellow than the previous set, and the quality was not as good. I don’t know how many times better the competition server is.
Coach Tan wanted to say more, but maybe the environment in the room was too comfortable. He had already seen several players starting to yawn, so he simply summed it up, "Don't be nervous about tomorrow's game. Have a good rest tonight and go back to clean up." After cleaning up, you can go to bed. Get enough sleep so that you will be in good spirits for the game tomorrow."
The number of yawning team members gradually increased from two or three to half of them, and Tao You had already followed suit several times, falling asleep listening to Coach Tan's calm and slow voice. Some team members even lay down on the bed and closed their eyes.
The room became quiet for a while, and even Coach Sun, who was sitting at the desk, put his hand in front of his mouth and yawned.
"I will go to bed with Coach Sun later." Coach Tan said, bending down to open a few cardboard boxes on the side, "Ha, come and get the things, go back to the room after taking them." He covered his mouth and yawned. .
As soon as Coach Tan finished speaking, the silence that had just passed away swept away from the room, as if the water was stirred up by a stick. When everyone saw the box full of snacks, they immediately became energetic and stood up one by one and crowded towards the box.
Coach Tan quickly closed the box and commanded with a frown, "Everyone is here, get in line! Why are you so crowded! Weren't everyone so sleepy just now that they can't open their eyes?! Are you feeling energetic now?"
After the team members were almost lined up, Coach Tan and Coach Sun began to distribute supplies.
"Don't finish all the food in one go. Everyone only has one portion. There won't be any more." Coach Tan reminded him when he only got the supplies when there were team members, so he started to take them apart and eat them.
Hong Xiqi leaned close to Tao You's ear, blinked brightly, and said, "Xiao Youyou, you heard that Coach Tan is bluffing here, but Coach Sun has plenty of supplies."
"Real or false?!" Tao You opened his eyes slightly and confirmed.
Gu Yi, who was at the back, heard Tao You's words and came closer, "What's true or false? What are you talking about?"
Hong Xiqi waved at him again, motioning for him to come closer, and repeated what she just said.
The next second, Gu Yi had the same reaction as Tao You and asked, "Huh?! Is it true or not?!"
Coach Tan in front heard Gu Yi's voice and kept distributing supplies with his hands. He took the time to look over and said, "What is real or fake? Tell me about it too."
When Gu Yi got excited, he would blurt out, "That's right, Hong Xiqi said she..."
"Ahem!" Hong Xiqi coughed a few times and used her eyes to stop Gu Yi from continuing.
Gu Yi shut his mouth in time, waved his hand and said perfunctorily, "Nothing, nothing."
"Is there anything I can't say..." Coach Tan looked confused. For the first time, he felt that there was a generation gap between himself and these little brats.
Coach Sun on the side glanced at Hong Xiqi's guilty look and knew she didn't say anything good. He reacted, patted Coach Tan on the shoulder, and reminded, "Hong Xiqi, don't talk nonsense."
Hong Xiqi hurriedly covered her mouth and nodded.
This aroused the curiosity of others, and they didn't rush to line up to get supplies and go back to their rooms to sleep. They all gathered around Hong Xiqi and asked her what she knew.
Coach Tan had already guessed it from the moment Coach Sun opened his mouth. He shook the biscuit in his hand and said, "Hey, stop asking around, come and get your things and go back to the room, hurry up."
"Why are you so nosy?"
"Close the windows and everything before going to bed, and turn up the air conditioning temperature to avoid catching a cold."
"Go to bed early and get up on time tomorrow morning. After breakfast time, there will be no breakfast in the hotel, and we won't be able to stop for you to buy breakfast on the way to the competition."
「······」
Coach Tan was giving endless instructions while distributing the last supplies, sending all the players away and closing the door.
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The first day of the race was a rare day of good weather. The fog in the morning was still very heavy. Outside the window, everything from the sky to the ground was white, and the air was very humid. The air conditioner was turned on all night in the house, and the temperature difference between indoor and outdoor was too great. There was also a layer of mist on the windows and they were covered with water droplets.
It only took a few minutes for the remaining darkness of night to completely fade away. The halo-filled sun slowly rose from the east, and a clear line of purple light appeared in the middle of the sky. On one side was the orange-red color of the sun, and on the other side was the high moon. High hanging ink blue.
The sun rises higher and higher, and the moon gradually dims and disappears. As the orange-red fades, it also takes over the dark blue, merging into a whole patch of light blue.
The continuous dark green mountains behind the hotel gradually revealed their true colors from behind a white mist. Unknown birds began to chirp, and from time to time a few flew in and parked on the wires outside.
Tao You set the alarm clock and got up on time. Hong Xiqi on the bed next to her was still wrapped in quilt for a date with Duke Zhou. It was still early, so she didn't rush to ask Hong Xiqi to get up.
"Dong-dong-dong, dong-dong-dong."
Tao You half-closed his eyes and just started brushing his teeth when he heard a rhythmic knock on the door.
Hong Xiqi was woken up, frowned and mumbled something in confusion, then changed into a comfortable position in the bed and continued to sleep soundly.
"Who is it?" Tao You asked softly as he walked to the door while brushing his teeth.
"..." He didn't know if the people outside the door didn't hear him. Tao You waited for a long time and no one responded.
She stopped what she was doing, opened the peephole and looked out. ..
--no one?
She turned her head up and down, left and right, trying her best to see all the areas covered by the peephole. There was nothing outside the door, and not even a single person could be seen.
——Did I hear wrongly? Aren't you knocking on our door? Who is in the mood to play a prank so early in the morning? Or is this room too soundproof and the knocking is actually from the room next door?
Tao You finally wondered if he had woken up too early and his mind hadn't fully woken up yet, so he was experiencing auditory hallucinations. She walked back to the bathroom shaking her head.
"Dong-dong-dong, dong-dong-dong."
Less than a minute later, the door was knocked again.
Tao You's brows jumped, and he stopped washing his face. He breathed softly and listened carefully to the sounds outside to make sure it was their door that was being knocked on this time.
"Dong-dong-dong, dong-dong-dong."
This time, the rhythmic knocking on the door didn't stop.
