Salad Days Chapter 1 part2

Jiang Shen initially was clueless on what a warm-up was. Coach Lin pulled up a chair, sat down to face him and beckoned him with a wave, "Over here."

She won over Jiang Shen and he came to her. Coach Lin had him stand up with his back turned, and steadied the boy from behind, taking his calf in one hand, "Keep your other leg straight."

Jiang Shen nodded, and Coach Lin began to lift his lower leg. Jiang Shen was doing well, then Coach Lin told him to straighten the leg he was standing on, and he immediately stiffened. He felt an ache when his leg was raised up to his shoulder and pressed against it. However, being a boy, he was taught from a young age that he mustn't cry, so he gritted his teeth and held his breath in. His tiptoes were above the crown of his head but he kept utterly silent. 

Coach Lin was a little astonished, then she asked Jiang Shen to switch legs, and did the same exercise once more. 

"Was that painful?" Coach Lin couldn't help but ask him once both legs were stretched. 

Jiang Shen thought it through, and answered in earnest, "It was."

Coach Lin snorted a laugh, "If it hurt, then why didn't you say so?"

Jiang Shen scratched his head, "It didn't hurt that bad. I could take it."

Coach Lin looked at him again, then led him by the hand to find Tan LingLing. His mother stood by the door of the dance studio. She'd watched the whole journey from beginning to end, and it was rare for her not to be joking around with her son at this moment.

Jiang Shen didn't know what the coach was saying to his mother, he was still absorbed with watching the girls inside the dance studio practice their turns and supervise each other's. Among them, there was one who spotted him looking and was quite upset, pouting her lips, and in the end, hiding herself in the center of the group. 

Jiang Shen gazed at the girls endlessly jumping until Tan LingLing returned to call him back.

On the road, his mother bought him more candy, and when they got onto the shuttle, she said nothing, as if there was something on her mind. As soon as the vehicle started, Tan LingLing immediately pulled out her account book. Her eyebrows creased together while she began calculating.

Jiang Shen didn't dare to disturb her, his legs swayed back and forth with the bus.

Tan LingLing looked up and turned to him, saying out of the blue, "Do you wanna learn to dance?"

Jiang Shen was still eating the candy and no reply came out except an "ah" noise.

Tan LingLing used her pen to point at a spot in her notebook, "I go to the dance studio every week, did you not see that today?" 

"Will I have to do stretches every week?" Jiang Shen asked tentatively.

"If you learn to dance, it'll be everyday," Tan LingLing said chillingly.

Jiang Shen crunched on the candy, and couldn't help but click his tongue in thought many times.

He didn't tell Tan LingLing whether he wanted to or not, and when he got home, the first thing he did was run to return the Doraemon comic that he'd borrowed, and when his deposit was returned to him he would check it over very thoroughly.

The shopkeeper renting the bookstore was a prematurely old man. He inhaled the smoke from the cigarette in his mouth, his presbyopic glasses were especially worn with age, and the frames that were atop the bridge of his nose seemed like they could slip right off. 

Are you gonna borrow something else?" His bookstore was the only one in the village, and he wasn't familiar with all of the numerous children who came to play. 

Jiang Shen put away the money he'd counted so carefully, "From now on, I won't be borrowing anymore." 

The little old man's eyebrows shot up, "What happened? Did your mom beat you?" 

Jiang Shen shook his head, "No, I'm gonna learn to dance."

The old man choked on smoke, yellow teeth revealed themselves in his snicker, "A boy learning to dance?"

Jiang Shen, "What's wrong with that?"

The old man, "It's for little girls." 

Jiang Shen looked downcast. The old man glanced at him again, then said, "Hold on" all of a sudden.

Jiang Shen caught sight of him painstakingly searching for something. The sounds of rummaging through things went on for a time, then the old man stooped forward with something hidden behind his back. "Here." He stuffed the book into Jiang Shen's hands, "For you."

That very book was in poor condition. The title page had come off completely, and when he opened it up and peered inside, contrarily, the text was not too much or too little, and there were some stick figures drawn of youngsters dancing different forms.

"Didn't you wanna learn?" The old man tapped his cigarette on the desk repeatedly, "Take a look."

Jiang Shen pocketed the candy and money, and when he got home, he discovered the door leading to the courtyard was ajar. Tan Lingling and Jiang Luoshan were discussing something. His father made a rather disagreeable face as he took a drag from his cigarette.

Jiang Shen strained his neck to get a better view, but didn't have the guts to enter, so he turned back and ran off in an instant towards the fields. 

During March and April, the people in the country were all very busy. Over next door, his friend, Gou Mao, had a hoe fastened to his waist. He used an iron shovel to dig holes in the mud and sow the seeds. Unlike the adults, who went straight into sowing the fields with the seeders, the children would try to do things their own way.

"Gou Mao!" Jiang Shen hollered to him, "Where's Qing Linzi?"

Gou Mao stood up straight, because it was cold, he was dressed like a ball, and it took a lot of effort to turn his waist, "What are you eating?!"

Jiang Shen ran over to him, "Candy. Do you want some?"

Gou Mao opened his mouth wide, "Give me the leftovers." 

Jiang Shen gave them to him, which Gou Mao sucked on quite happily, "Did you go to the city?"

Jiang Shen only ever had candy with him if he'd been to the city. 

Jiang Shen nodded, "Where's your little sister?"

Gou Mao, "She also went to the city, learning to draw or something. I don't get her, she could be free just like us, but she insists on doing things a different way."

Jiang Shen was too embarrassed to say that he also wanted to learn to dance in the city, because he didn't want Gou Mao to judge him harshly.

"Waiting for the eggs to be laid?" Gou Mao asked. In addition to the busy farming season, at this time, the wild ducks would be laying their eggs. Packs of wild dogs loved to cause a stir and take advantage of the times. "I even invited Shu Bao and the rest, 'cause after the weekend the gang is heading back to school in the city, and we only have a few days left of freedom."

Jiang Shen, "They're much older though, and the older ones bully me."

Gou Mao squared his shoulders, "You have me this time, so what are you afraid of? It'll be a competition between us and them. If we win, Shu Bao's new cellphone for the school year is gonna be mine."

Chapter end