NOVEL SIMPLE Chapter 234: Swimming
Chapter 234: Swimming
After two days of the torment of hospitalization, Xia Yuan finally bid farewell to acute gastroenteritis. Of course, this ordeal came with some pleasure, as Mei Fang stayed up all night watching over her. Xia Yuan thought to herself that if she had been in better condition, she might have had the chance to do more intimate things with her Ah Fang.
But these were just thoughts. The time alone with Mei Fang was something Lin Youxi had arranged for her to have. Since she had taken advantage of Lin Youxi, she planned to make it up to her later.
But, letting Youxi sleep with Ah Fang is a bit…
Xia Yuan thought back on the personalities of the three of them.
Ah Fang is a gentleman. Although I like to take advantage of him, he’s still quite well-behaved and doesn’t touch places he shouldn’t. But Youxi…
As the girl who had shared a bed with Lin Youxi the longest, Xia Yuan knew exactly how aggressive the seemingly aloof Lin Youxi could be in bed. Letting her sleep with Mei Fang would inevitably lead to some things that high school students shouldn’t be doing.
So it’s better to think of other ways to make it up to her… At least, I need to be there to supervise.
While other high schools were relentlessly squeezing every minute out of students for studying, Jiangcheng NOHS often made every effort to ensure their students received a well-rounded education.
In recent years, they’ve been implementing the “2+1+1 Program for Sports, Art, and Music,” which requires each student to master two sports skills, one art skill, and one music skill.
One of the sports skills must be swimming, and there will be an assessment at the end of the semester. This might have something to do with the school’s newly built pride and joy: a heated swimming pool.Regarding the swimming course, opinions among students varied.
For most local students in Jiangcheng, they had been exposed to swimming lessons from a young age.
For those from rural areas of Hubei Province who have grown up playing in ponds or rivers, swimming is not a difficult task.
It’s those who live in county towns without easy access to ponds or rivers and limited swimming lessons at swimming pools, who find themselves in the most awkward situation.
The second semester of freshman year focused on swimming in PE class, as there would be a swimming skills assessment at the end of the term, where students could choose from butterfly, breaststroke, backstroke, or freestyle.
Jiangcheng NOHS had a relatively open atmosphere and did not separate boys and girls for swimming classes.
However, compared to the boys’ enthusiasm, very few girls were willing to attend swimming classes. In each class, there were always several girls who would take leave due to shyness or other reasons, but Bingbing was not among them.
Xiang Bingbing was extremely sensitive to heat and would go to the school’s free heated pool whenever she had the chance to cool off.
Despite being 1.9 meters tall, her body was well-proportioned, with enviable measurements. Every time Class 3 had a swimming class, she would attract many boys’ attention, though she didn’t care much about it.
The enthusiastic deskmate eagerly took on the task of teaching the beginner Mei Fang how to swim during PE class, but even the first step was a struggle——
The reborn Mei Fang couldn’t keep up with the class’ progress in PE class, and even practicing holding his breath underwater made him flail around like he was drowning, causing the class to burst into laughter.
“Isn’t this simple? Ah Fang, you’re too weak. I think you’re just too afraid of drowning. You need to overcome that fear first.”
“Easier said than done…”
Mei Fang wiped the water off his face. “I feel like your teaching method is too rough and doesn’t have any system.”
“Swimming doesn’t need a system. Just get in the water more often, and you’ll learn.”
Standing in the pool, Xiang Bingbing clapped her hands at Mei Fang, who was sitting on the edge. “Come on, Ah Fang, try submerging yourself again. This time I’ll hold you down in the pool and won’t let you come up. After swallowing a few gulps of water, I guarantee you’ll learn to swim. That’s how my younger siblings back home learned.”
“I’m not as tough as your younger siblings. Please don’t torture me…”
Mei Fang was struggling to learn how to swim, and it turned out Xia Yuan was too. While the trio were walking home together at night, Mei Fang finally found out why.
“Yuan Yuan, do you usually skip swimming class?”
“Mhm…” Yuan Yuan blushed and nodded. “It’s just… kind of embarrassing, you know what I mean, right, Ah Fang?”
“Yeah, I get it…” Mei Fang replied. “So, what about the end-of-term swimming exam?”
“Actually, I had swimming lessons in elementary school. I think I’ll remember once I’m in the water. It shouldn’t be a problem,” Xia Yuan said with a smile.
“But you still need to get in the water to be sure, right?”
Lin Youxi, rubbing her chin, said, “If you’re too embarrassed practicing how to swim during PE class, how about we practice at the swimming pool over the weekend? Ah Fang said he struggles with swimming, so we can both help him.”
“Sure, the weekend works.”
Xia Yuan thought for a moment, then hesitated. “But… the school’s swimming pool is usually pretty crowded on weekends. I don’t like swimming in crowded places.”
Lin Youxi also became troubled: “But if we go to an outside swimming pool, we’d face the same problem… Maya Beach Water Park is big enough, but it’s not as clean as the school’s pool.”
“Want a place that’s not crowded and clean…” Mei Fang thought for a moment, “How about a gym pool?”
“A gym pool?”
“Yeah, Guo Yun sent me some photos when we chatted a while back. It looks pretty nice. Let me show you…”
As Mei Fang searched for the photos on his phone, Xia Yuan and Lin Youxi quickly grabbed it to look.
“Hey, there’s no need to check the chat history!”
“Didn’t mean to. I just accidentally scrolled up. Sorry.” Lin Youxi apologized, handing the phone back, while Xia Yuan pouted unhappily.
“You even asked Yun Yun, who’s miles away, about swimming tips but didn’t discuss it with us for so long?!”
“Uh… I didn’t want to embarrass myself in front of you,” Mei Fang said, scratching his head. “I wanted to keep a reliable image.”
Xia Yuan patted Mei Fang’s shoulder hard, scolding him, “What’s embarrassing about not being able to swim? Is it more embarrassing than bedwetting or being afraid of heights?”
“You’re never going to let that go, huh? As if you don’t have any dark history!” Mei Fang cleared his throat and started reciting dramatically, “Oh, key that hides the power of darkness, reveal your true form before this girl named Xiaoyuan——”
“You’re dead! Stinky Ah Fang!” Xia Yuan covered Mei Fang’s mouth to stop him from speaking further.
“Why do you always pick on me? Can’t you ever pick on Youxi?”
“Me? Apart from being a messy snot-nosed kid, I don’t have any dark history,” Lin Youxi said, taking on a self-deprecating stance.
Mei Fang, having been released by Xia Yuan, almost blurted out, “And what about that time you drank——” He stopped when he saw Lin Youxi’s calm stare, feeling like he had just narrowly escaped death.
Xia Yuan noticed the tension immediately. She hooked Mei Fang’s arm and playfully swayed it, asking, “Does Youxi have other dark histories? What are they? I’m really curious!”