Chapter 12 "She looks even prettier without glasses."...

Realizing that it was Sheng Yu who was holding her hand, Tang Ci's heart tightened for a moment before she held his hand back.

With a little effort, Sheng Yu pulled her up from the cushion.

Seeing that she had regained her footing, Sheng Yu released her hand and casually pulled away the loose ribbon between their legs.

Tang Ci watched as his well-defined fingers stretched out the dark red ribbon. She put her hands behind her back and quietly wiped them away, removing the lingering touch from her palms.

Sheng Yu held the two ends of the ribbon with both hands and beckoned to her with his fingertips.

"come over."

"oh."

Tang Ci walked to his side, keeping a certain distance between them, with only her calves touching his.

Sheng Yu lowered his eyes and quickly tied a tight knot between their legs.

Even through two layers of pants, Tang Ci could still feel the temperature of his skin.

She exhaled softly and looked around, feigning relaxation.

Her classmates, who were not far away, were also practicing three-legged races. In addition to their legs being tied together, they also held onto each other's arms, practicing with a close and intimate posture while laughing.

"Shall we go?" Sheng Yu's indifferent voice rang out from above.

Tang Ci immediately looked away. "Let's go."

She imitated what her classmate next to her did, quietly chanting "one, two" to steady the rhythm of lifting her foot.

Even so, Tang Ci still couldn't keep up with Sheng Yu's pace, and every step she took was stumbling and faltering.

The more anxious Tang Ci was, the more flustered she became, and in her haste, she stepped directly on the tip of Sheng Yu's shoe.

As if stepping on a needle, she immediately lifted her foot and, upon seeing the clear footprints on his snow-white sneakers, instinctively curled her toes.

She looked up hesitantly, "I didn't mean to."

Seeing her cautious demeanor, Sheng Yu scoffed, "Hold me tight."

Her heart tightened suddenly. Tang Ci licked her lips and asked in a consultative tone, "...How about I grab your sleeve?"

Sheng Yu raised an eyebrow, "If you step on me again, you can go to the competition yourself tomorrow."

Tang Ci immediately reached out and hugged his waist, but didn't dare to press too close, her fingertips gripping the hem of his coat.

During the next practice session, Tang Ci's steps became noticeably more stable.

After completing the 500-meter race, Tang Ci smiled, but did not relax.

She gently tugged at the hem of Sheng Yu's coat and said earnestly, "Let's practice a few more times."

Sheng Yu lowered his eyes and hummed in agreement. Because they were so close, he noticed for the first time the glasses hanging on her nose.

The frames are heavy and old-fashioned black acetate, and the lenses are non-prescription.

Because she was sweating lightly, the frame of her glasses slid down a bit below her nose, but was held up by the slightly upturned tip of her nose.

Tang Ci's eyes, which had been hidden for many years, were now revealed. Her eyelashes were sparse and long, each one distinct and curled up above her clear and bright pupils.

Like the newborn sheep he saw when he traveled to Tibet as a child.

Tang Ci lowered her neck slightly, took out her phone, turned on the timer, and the moment she pressed the stopwatch, she took another step, skillfully pushing up her black-rimmed glasses to cover her eyes again.

After practicing for several rounds, Tang Ci watched the numbers on the stopwatch gradually decrease, and her voice tinged with laughter: "We probably won't be last tomorrow."

Sheng Yu: "You care a lot about rankings?"

Tang Ci nodded, looked up and said seriously, "Since we've participated, let's strive to get a good result."

Sheng Yu shifted his gaze from her glasses, his fingertips brushing away the stray hairs from her forehead. "Is that all for today?"

Tang Ci said, "Okay."

During their brief rest, the two remained pressed together as groups of girls passed by outside the playground, their eyes fixed intently on them.

Realizing they were watching her, Tang Ci immediately released her grip on Sheng Yu's hem and shifted her body slightly away.

Sheng Yu raised his brow, as if he didn't want anyone to see him with her. He bent down to remove the ribbon and strolled leisurely to the audience seats to get a drink of water.

Tang Ci walked over a few steps later, bent down to pick up her bottled water, and stopped a few meters away from the railing, completely avoiding any space for gossip.

As the sunset gradually filled the sky, the streetlights on the playground lit up, stretching their shadows on the ground until they converged.

Tang Ci sipped her water, staring blankly at the point where her shadow met Sheng Yu's. After hesitating for a while, she took out her phone, pretending to look at the content on the screen, but actually quickly turned on the camera and pressed the shutter button.

The old phone had low resolution, and her hands were shaking due to nervousness, resulting in blurry photos.

Tang Ci's heart was pounding. Without taking a closer look, she quickly stuffed the phone back into her pants pocket.

As she followed Sheng Yu out of the playground, she saw a group of boys, led by Zhou Yiyang, waiting outside the playground.

Tang Ci lowered her head and deliberately slowed her pace, but she was still spotted by the sharp-eyed Zhou Yiyang.

Zhou Yiyang raised his arm at her, "Tang Ci, want to go eat together?"

Besides the boys they often hung out with, there were also a few girls in their group. Hearing Zhou Yiyang's words, they smiled and invited Tang Ci to join them.

Tang Ci wasn't used to eating with a group of people, and besides, she had just done something wrong and was feeling guilty.

So she lowered her eyes slightly and quickly said to Zhou Yiyang, "You guys go ahead, I have an appointment to go to the cafeteria with someone."

Before he could react, Tang Ci deliberately avoided Sheng Yu and left the playground.

Zhou Yiyang squinted and asked Sheng Yu, "Why is Tang Ci so afraid of you? Did you bully her?"

Sheng Yu put his hands in his pockets, glanced at Tang Ci's flustered figure, and said lazily, "He's feeling guilty."

/

After having dinner at the cafeteria, Tang Ci went to work part-time at the billiards hall. She was busy until late at night before returning home. By the time she took a shower and lay back in bed, it was almost midnight.

She yawned sleepily, took her phone out from under her pillow, set an alarm, and was about to lock the screen when she suddenly remembered something, paused, and opened the photo album.

When she saw the photo that had been secretly taken that evening, her eyes widened immediately, and her drowsiness vanished instantly.

In the blurry image, besides her and Sheng Yu's intertwined shadows, Sheng Yu himself was also in the frame.

The streetlights gave his eyes a starlight glow, and his deep-set eyes, seemingly smiling yet not smiling, were looking at her through the camera lens.

Tang Ci bit her lower lip, her ears burning red as she shoved her locked phone back under her pillow, buried her face in the blanket, and it took a long time for her wildly beating heart to calm down.

The next day, Tang Ci arrived at the playground right on time.

Jiang Chan noticed the faint dark circles under her eyes and asked in surprise, "Did you stay up all night yesterday?"

Tang Ci scratched her earlobe, "...I forgot to check the time while doing my homework last night."

Jiang Chan frowned, her expression serious. "I remember you said you couldn't stay up late."

“Yesterday was an accident.” Tang Ci took her arm. “It won’t happen again.”

Jiang Chan continued to mutter under her breath, "What kind of question made you work so hard..."

Tang Ciyu caught sight of a figure approaching from the end of the class line, hurriedly straightened up, and mumbled, "Just... one big question."

The three-legged race was held in the morning. After registration, Tang Ci and Sheng Yu stood in the preparation area and lined up for the race.

The number of male and female participants in the competition was roughly equal, and many of them were couples. There was a couple standing in front of them who had been whispering to each other since the registration began.

In contrast, Tang Ci and Sheng Yu were like two strangers, always keeping a distance that was neither too close nor too far.

There were girls outside the venue who came specifically to watch Sheng Yu's match. Before they came, they were all speculating whether Sheng Yu was playing with girls because he liked them.

After meeting Tang Ci, most of their doubts disappeared.

Putting aside the fact that Tang Ci is not particularly noticeable, Sheng Yu's cold and aloof demeanor alone suggests that he doesn't seem to like her; they can barely be considered as classmates who are not very familiar with each other.

Tang Ci heard the girls' murmurs but showed no particular reaction, simply keeping her head slightly lowered and waiting for the teacher's instructions.

First, there was being spied on and caught red-handed; now, there's being caught taking photos without consent.

Tang Ci didn't dare to imagine how Sheng Yu would view her; he'd probably think she was a pervert.

She was feeling dejected when the teacher came over and told them to get ready to go on stage immediately.

Tang Ci went to take the ribbon from the teacher's hand, but Sheng Yu took it first.

He still tied a tight knot around their legs, and as he straightened up, he raised his arm and gave Tang Ci a nod.

Tang Ci understood his meaning and carefully wrapped her arms around his waist, but her arms were still not pressed tightly against his.

When Tang Ci grabbed the hem of his windbreaker, she felt a weight on her shoulder. Looking to the side, she saw Sheng Yu's hand on her shoulder.

Tang Ci paused, unable to resist glancing sideways at Sheng Yu. Looking at the sharp jawline so close to her, the tips of her ears gradually turned pink.

As Sheng Yu spoke, his prominent Adam's apple bobbed up and down, and because they were close, his clear and magnetic voice clearly reached Tang Ci's ears.

"uncomfortable?"

Tang Ci lowered his eyes shyly, raised his hand to rub the tip of his nose, and said in a muffled voice, "I'm a little nervous thinking about the competition."

Sheng Yu looked at her trembling eyelashes, leaned close to her ear and asked in a hoarse voice, "Are you more nervous than when you were secretly taking pictures of me?"

Her breath caught in her throat, and Tang Ci blinked rapidly, trying to come up with an excuse.

Her shoulders tightened suddenly, and Sheng Yu half-embraced and half-pushed her into the competition area, his voice returning to normal, "Go on stage, concentrate."

Tang Ci nodded hurriedly, "I, I will."

She made a solemn promise, but didn't dare to lift her flushed face.

Even in fun competitions, the moment the whistle blows, the students participating are filled with fighting spirit.

Looking at her imposing opponents, Tang Ci put everything else aside and focused entirely on the game.

After yesterday's practice, she and Sheng Yu were able to coordinate their movements skillfully. As their steps gradually became steady, they unknowingly moved up to second place.

The distance between them and the first place was only two meters.

A competitive spirit quietly grew in Tang Ci's heart, and she unconsciously hugged Sheng Yu's waist tighter, taking larger steps.

Sheng Yu chuckled, "Want to win?"

Tang Ci snapped out of the tense competition, nudged her head, and said, "Yes."

The glasses frame slipped down to the tip of her nose due to her sudden movement. She tried to push them back up, but Sheng Yu beat her to it.

His cool fingertips lingered on her nose for a moment before Sheng Yu took her glasses and casually stuffed them into his coat pocket.

"Then focus."

Tang Ci paused for a second, rubbed her cheeks which were burning hot, whether from exercise or Sheng Yu's touch, and whispered, "Okay."

At first, Tang Ci felt quite awkward without her familiar glasses, but listening to Sheng Yu's steady heartbeat, she gradually calmed down and quickly adapted to the unobstructed view.

The footsteps on the plastic track caused her body to resonate, and Tang Ci gradually lost the ability to distinguish her own heartbeat from Sheng Yu's. The hot breath they exhaled from their nasal cavities mingled together, steaming and rushing towards her face.

As she neared the finish line, Tang Ci unconsciously held her breath until the moment her body touched the red rope, at which point she released all her strength and let out a long breath.

They were the last group in the competition. The teacher quickly tallied the scores of all the groups, and the participating students stood in the preparation area waiting for the results.

Tang Ci had not yet recovered from the intense exercise; her chest was heaving as she was jostled around by her classmates, like an inflatable archway at the entrance to the playground.

But she seemed completely oblivious, standing there silently, unaware of the danger.

Sheng Yu grabbed her by the back of her collar and led her to stand under the barbed wire fence to avoid conflict with the crowd.

Tang Ci glanced out of the playground before quickly looking up at him and saying, "Thank you."

After she finished speaking, she quickly lowered her head again, her fingertips digging into the barbed wire, picking at it one by one.

These seemingly meaningless little movements were inexplicably full of vitality, and the inflatable archway came to life right before Sheng Yu's eyes.

A playful glint gradually appeared in his eyes.

The teacher quickly calculated the scores and smiled as she said to Tang Ci and Sheng Yu, "Congratulations! You got first place!"

Tang Ci was stunned by the sudden surprise and stood there in a daze. Her classmates around her had already pushed her and Sheng Yu to stand on the podium together.

Jiang Chan, who arrived after the competition, saw them standing in first place and raised her arms in cheers, attracting nearby students who were watching the game.

Amid the cheers of the crowd, one boy seemed to miss the point. He nudged his fellow boys on the shoulder with interest and said, "Hey—don't you guys think Tang Ci is quite pretty without her glasses?"

"I noticed she was pretty a long time ago, but those glasses are just too silly. She's prettier without them."

The boys were discussing enthusiastically, their admiring gazes frequently falling on Tang Ci on stage.

Compared to the boys' enthusiasm, Tang Ci appeared much calmer.

She stood quietly, her expression unchanged, and held out her fair palm in front of Sheng Yu. "Give me the glasses."

Sheng Yu took his glasses out of his pocket, placed them in her hand, and said abruptly, "Indeed."

Tang Ci paused, then looked up blankly and asked, "What?"

Sheng Yu stood with his hands in his pockets, his gaze lowered, his dark eyes fixed on her as if he were observing his prey.

Tang Ci awkwardly raised her hand to rub her cheek, her gaze darting away as she asked again, "...What?"

Sheng Yu smiled, "You look even prettier without glasses."