"I'm signing up for the 3000-meter endurance race! My class monitor and the top student will be with me; I'm going to walk it if I have to!"
"A highlight moment in my life! Two of the most handsome guys in school were just there for me! Sisters, please record the whole thing on your phones!"
"I'll become the envy of all the girls in school, hahaha!"
After filling out the collection form, Zhang Zitong didn't rush off but continued talking about the sports meet.
"Let's brainstorm ideas for our class's formation presentation." This has become a tradition for each class's formation presentation at every sports meet, with various creative and entertaining elements. "Our class aims to be the most dazzling among the more than seventy classes in the entire school and win first place!"
Xu Youluo raised her hand: "Isn't the Rolls-Royce Phantom dazzling!"
"Goodness, Brother Luo, you've got to take your money." Zhang Zitong felt that the other party was not joking. Given Xu Youluo's wealth, he really could afford to get a Rolls-Royce.
One of the girls suggested, "How about we do a complete reversal? The boys wear women's clothes and the girls wear men's clothes?"
"Don't even think about it! I refuse!" Zhang Boyuan shouted, crossing his arms in the air.
“The gender ratio is too different. Changing costumes in two extremes will definitely not be as effective as having a 50/50 split between men and women.” Jiang Wensong pushed up his black-rimmed glasses and suggested, “The drama club has performed a play about Snow White. They still have all the props. We can lend them out to everyone.”
"That's fine!" Zhang Boyuan sat back down and breathed a sigh of relief.
"A Snow White, seven dwarfs, a hunter, a queen, a magic mirror..." Tang Yue, as the literature and art committee member, counted the number of people. "That's only eleven people. What about the remaining thirty-odd classmates?"
Zhang Zitong said, "Each class will also select ten people to join the Red Hat Volunteer Team. There are also a few girls in our class who are in the protocol team, and the remaining dozen or so people will play the tree. The drama club has enough mascot costumes to dress up the tree."
Xiang Yu: "..." I don't want to participate in anything.
"Who will play the lead role? A boy or a girl?" Yang Shuhuan asked casually.
The girls answered in unison: "Boys!"
As soon as he said that, the boys, including Zhang Zitong on stage, fell silent.
The main characters are a princess and a queen. Who would want to wear women's clothing?
Gu Chen could understand the boy's feelings. Just as he was about to volunteer, his deskmate grabbed his thigh.
Xiang Yu lowered her head and looked at him blankly, opening her mouth but not making a sound, speaking in lip reading.
If you raise your hand, don't talk to me for the next two days of the sports meet.
Gu Chen understood: "..."
That won't do.
The girls were discussing who should go first, and the discussion grew louder and louder, with several even turning around to look.
Jiang Wensong made eye contact with several people, fearing that these people would set their sights on him, and that he was a master at betraying his teammates.
At that time, someone raised their hand and said, "Zhang Boyuan played Snow White, and Zhang Zitong played the Queen."
Zhang Boyuan: "Damn? Song'er, that's immoral! I didn't even report you for acting in the Magic Mirror!"
Jiang Wensong pushed up her black-rimmed glasses, turned to look at him, and said, "Then I don't need to wear a skirt either."
"Let's put the question of who plays whom aside for now." Zhang Zitong stepped down from the podium, gritted his teeth, and walked towards Jiang Wensong. "Come on, Song'er, let's go to the restroom and talk about the script."
Jiang Wensong was being choked by Zhang's classmate, and his glasses were askew. Just then, he heard a few girls who had just turned around say with regret, "Ah, we were thinking of casting Luo Zai as the princess. Luo Zai is so cute."
Jiang Wensong: "..." We've lost Jingzhou due to carelessness.
The decision was finally made: the three of them would take on the three roles they had previously played. The girl would play the dwarf and the hunter, while everyone else, regardless of gender, would play a tree.
It's a pretty good allocation. Xiang Yu heard Gu Chen say that the drama club's doll tree set only has its eyes showing, while the other three small areas, about the size of a one-yuan coin, are used for breathing.
Once you're dressed, nobody recognizes anyone; you just have to grit your teeth and walk around the stadium.
I can accept going to the wrong place.
Before school ended at noon, Zhang Zitong checked several times to make sure there were no changes needed. After confirming there were none, he handed in the form.
After school in the afternoon, the 15-person, 16-foot team still had to spend half an hour at the training field.
Many classes were training on the field, and Class 2 of the Arts Department finally found an open space that was fifty meters long.
The leg bandages were borrowed from the sports equipment room by the dean. It is said that there was only one set left when he went there, and several class sports representatives were arguing over them. When the dean arrived, he immediately started lecturing for ten minutes, and finally the student on duty handed them over with both hands. Class 2 of the Arts Department got one set of bandages.
Gu Chen was positioned on the edge, separated from Xiang Yu by Zhou Yongting.
The boys in Class 2 are generally tall, so the girls they choose are all short.
Zhang Zitong said that this would make it easier to take off, but Xiang Yu didn't know what he meant.
Caught between Gu Chen and Xiang Yu, Zhou Yongting blushed deeply, dared not look up the entire time, and stammered as she spoke.
Gu Chen didn't notice her reaction; his gaze was focused on Xiang Yu's other arm, which wasn't touching him.
Zhou Yongting kept her head down, feeling that Gu Chen was moving closer to her.
Gu Chen's chin brushed lightly against her hair, and Zhou Yongting blushed, her head buzzing. She started thinking about when she washed her hair, what kind of shampoo she used, and whether the class monitor would like it. Her thoughts drifted further and further away.
Before they even flew out of the stadium, they heard Gu Chen's voice coming from behind them.
"Boss Tong, please don't let my deskmate put his hand on that girl's waist. It's really inappropriate for her."
Gu Chen stood on tiptoe and turned to the side, wishing he could split himself up and stand on the other side of the corner.
Everyone's arms are already in the crossed-arm position, and we plan to practice in this position for a while.
“Yu Ge is too tall. If we don’t hold him around the waist while running, the girl will easily fall backward,” Zhang Zitong said. “Stop standing on tiptoe and moving around. You’re going to crush Zhou Yongting’s neck. Can’t Chen Xihan just hold onto Yu Ge’s waist?”
Just as Zhang Zitong was about to ask Xiang Yu to change positions, Gu Chen waved his hand and said, "Never mind, let's leave it like this."
She hasn't even hugged her boyfriend's waist a few times yet.
Zhang Zitong rolled her eyes, ignored Gu Chen, and went to adjust the positions of the boys and girls on the other side.
Zhou Yongting felt quite embarrassed. She told Gu Chen, who was apologizing to her, that it was okay, and stretched her arms to the sides. Then she heard someone say in her ear.
"Zhou Yongting, you don't need to stretch your arms out so wide, I can't touch my deskmate's hand."
Zhou Yongting: "..."
The sound of a "click" shattering the idolized image of their class monitor among the girls in Class 2 was amplified.
The 15 students took a test run together, and it went surprisingly smoothly. While other classes had students fall during their first training session, Class 2 of the Arts Department was remarkably stable.
The boys would agree in advance which foot to step with, and they would move forward in a rhythm of one, two, one, two. After one round, apart from feeling the heaviness in their legs, they didn't feel anything else.
Xiang Yu finally understood what taking off meant. While running, Zhou Yongting, who was sandwiched between him and Gu Chen, couldn't keep up with the boy's fast pace, so she simply gave up walking and lifted her feet off the ground, being carried along with him.
Zhang Zitong helped everyone untie their ankle bindings and encouraged them, "Not bad, that's the effect we wanted. Boys, give it your all! If we train once a day, we'll be set for the sports meet!"
The 15 people dispersed on the spot; some went home, and others stayed in hotels.
The road to the bike shed was lit by broken streetlights, which flickered and created a strangely eerie atmosphere.
"Damn, what's that thing standing over there?" Wang Zehao asked in a trembling voice, pointing at the motionless figure standing in the carport.
“That’s my sister.”
Xu Youluo glanced at him, walked over, and whispered, "Sister."
Xu Youqing looked at him and hummed in response. When he didn't react, she nodded and greeted Xiang Yu and the others who were walking in.
"Good evening."
"Sister Xu, it's been a long time since I've seen you," Wang Zehao greeted. "Are you feeling better? Last time your old brain injury flared up, Luozi said you didn't even take your final exams."
Xu Youqing said, "It's alright, thank you for your concern."
The group got on their bikes, planning to have dinner outside before going home. Xiang Yu intended to bring some back for Li Yifan.
Just as he was about to leave, Wang Zehao received a phone call.
Today, Wang's mother was home all day. She called Wang Zehao to tell him to save some food for him to eat at home, and she also mentioned Yang Shuhuan, who is often freeloaded on meals by Wang Zehao.
Wang Zehao was sad. He heard from Brother Chen that they were going to eat at that rice noodle shop in Sanchakou, and he wanted to go too. His mother's cooking was so bland, it was like she didn't put any salt in it.
Just as Wang Zehao was about to take the phone and ask Gu Chen to say a few words on his behalf, Yang Shuhuan turned off the phone and dragged him away.
Yang Shuhuan said, "Let's go, don't let Auntie's good intentions go to waste."
The name "Sanchakou" doesn't actually match the reality. It was originally a three-way intersection, but the other two were later closed off for redevelopment. Shops from the three roads were brought together on one street, making it incredibly lively.
Inside, there are rows and rows of small shops selling all kinds of food.
The rice noodle shop that Gu Chen mentioned was there. It wasn't big; there were only two large tables inside, and both were full. Four people were sitting under a tent set up outside, around a small square table, with their legs barely able to stretch out.
Gu Chen said, "The food at this restaurant is pretty good. I ate here a few times when I was in the first year of high school."
There are many choices, and the prices are reasonable. Most of the people who come to eat here are students from nearby schools and working people.
There was a barbecue stall three or four meters outside the rice noodle shop. Gu Chen knew Xiang Yu's tastes, so he asked Xu Youqing and Xu Youluo what they liked to eat, and he went over to help them pick out a few skewers.
“Let Xiao Luo go with you,” Xu Youqing said, sipping her bottled cola. “He knows what to choose.”
"Okay." Gu Chen stood up with his phone in hand. Seeing that Xu Youluo was still sitting there, he urged, "Luozi, let's go."
“Hmm…” Xu Youluo glanced at his sister, but she only gave him a brief look without any expression.
You can't tell if they're happy, angry, sad, or joyful.
Seeing Gu Chen and Xu Youluo walk to the barbecue stall, Xiang Yu turned her gaze away and asked, "Is there something you want to say to me?"
"Well, I guess so." Xu Youqing pushed the glass bottle aside, not bothering to deny it, and went straight to the point, "What did you say to Xiao Luo last time?"
"Last time?" Xiang Yu recalled that he didn't seem to have had much interaction with Xu Youluo during this period. The system was dormant, and the two of them didn't exchange more than a few words.
“Hmm… the time I had that accident.” Xu Youqing fiddled with the straw floating on the cola. “After that, Xiao Luo seemed like a different person. She started to act arbitrarily and wouldn’t consult me.”
Xiang Yu understood somewhat at this point and said to Xu Youqing, "He just doesn't want to be treated like a child by you."
Upon hearing this, Xu Youqing looked at him, her face expressionless for a long time before she finally curled her lips into a smile, "Treating him like a child... Do you know what he did?"
He shook his head in disappointment.
Xu Youqing trusted Xiang Yu enough to tell him there was nothing to worry about.
"First, while I was hospitalized, he took back the management rights of the shares that belonged to him, and then without saying a word, he personally sponsored a high school freshman at the school..." Too many things have happened recently, and Xu Youqing's brain seems not to have fully recovered. She rubbed her temples because she had a slight migraine.
The system was out of service. Fearing something might happen to her, Xiang Yu asked with concern, "Are you alright?"
Xu Youqing waved her hand, "Let me take a break."
He said he was just taking a break, but he actually just took a sip of his carbonated drink and continued, "These are not the biggest issues. He's an adult and has his own ideas, which is perfectly fine. But the worst thing he could have done was to secretly meet with Li Yue behind my and my mother's back and even give him a sum of money!"
At this point, Xu Youqing's chest heaved with anger. After composing herself, she softened her voice and said, "Our family situation is complicated. There are some problems with Li Yue. My mother has collected some evidence and could have sent him to jail for a few years... Now Xiao Luo has dragged himself into this. I don't know what he's thinking."