Water Boys · chat.title

That afternoon, the second period was P.E. Teacher Kui stood by the edge of the sports ground, clutching a crumpled sign-up sheet, looking overly stern. Zhang Wei had intended to hide. Ducking down in the very back row of the formation, he hunched his shoulders, hoping the six-foot-tall boy in front of him would completely block Teacher Kui's view. But Teacher Kui picked him anyway. "Zhang Wei, over here." As he walked over, his brain was already scrambling for excuses to say no. Cram school? My mom won't let me? Bad knee? He ran through every single reason, but before he could utter a single word, Teacher Kui slapped the paper right against his chest. "At the city meeting, the higher-ups specifically brought it up. Men's synchronized swimming. In the whole school, we're the only ones who signed up." Zhang Wei looked down at the sheet. The words "Men's Synchronized Swimming Team Sign-up Form" were printed neatly across the top. He looked up, only to find Teacher Kui staring at him with a look that said, "Don't you dare think about running, kid." "I don't know how to swim." "As long as you can soak in the water, you're good." "I..." "What 'I'? The team's just one person short. Once we have five, we can start training, and training means skipping self-study periods." That last sentence hit a nerve. Clutching the sheet, Zhang Wei felt as though an invisible hand had nudged him forward. Before he could even wrap his head around how utterly absurd this was, Teacher Kui had already spun around and hollered in another direction: "Qu Xiaodong! You too, get over here!" Qu Xiaodong jogged over from the pull-up bars, a grin plastered across his face like someone who loved watching a good spectacle unfold. Zhang Wei looked down at the sign-up sheet in his hands, then turned to glance at his carefree, grinning deskmate. A sudden premonition washed over him—skipping self-study this summer was probably going to be a lot more trouble than actually sitting through it.