Chapter 38 You know that, right?

Wen Zhi looked at the two messages that popped up in the chat box, and felt a strange flutter in her heart.

Even if he replies "no," Song Juelan will still do what he did today: first, discuss it with Xiao Tang privately, and then come over without saying a word.

But he couldn't bring himself to say "yes," as if he desperately wanted Song Juelan to come to him.

Wen Zhi unconsciously pursed her pale lips, hesitated for a moment, and slowly typed two words on her phone screen.

Wen Zhi: [Whatever you want]

There was a moment of silence on the other end of the screen, as if they were considering the meaning of his two words. Then, a cartoon puppy emoji surrounded by stars popped up. The puppy was grinning foolishly, its tail wagging happily.

Wen Zhi couldn't help but smile, mistaking the silly little dog for Song Juelan, and poked the dog's head a few times with her fingertip.

The following day, the video of Song Juelan being secretly filmed remained popular online, and even became more popular due to various reposts and discussions.

Wen Zhi took Xiao Tang to her art class. As they passed the swimming pool, they saw a huge crowd blocking the entrance.

He could almost imagine that if Song Juelan really appeared there, he would be surrounded by layers of fanatics, and by the next day, high-definition photos of Song Juelan's muscles from various angles would be all over the internet.

Wen Zhi gazed thoughtfully in the direction of the swimming pool, feeling that she should advise Song Juelan to stay home for a while longer.

He still didn't really want so many people to see Song Juelan's muscle photos.

Unexpectedly, Song Juelan appeared at his doorstep again that very evening.

This time, he used Xiaotang as an excuse again, saying he wanted to take Xiaotang out to play.

They went to a nearby park and, like many ordinary families of three around them, bought Xiaotang a toy bubble machine. They followed behind Xiaotang, watching him chase the bubbles everywhere.

Wen Zhi was also attracted by the bubbles in the sky. She tilted her head slightly, her eyes following the colorful bubbles, and occasionally poked a few with her fingertips.

Suddenly, his hand, which was hanging by his side, was taken up by a warm, large hand, the five fingers closing in and enveloping his hand in a broad palm.

Wen Zhi's fingertips stiffened slightly.

Why again?

Tonight, Song Juelan wasn't as excessive as last night. She didn't hold his hand, but simply gently held his hand in her palm.

Wen Zhi found herself able to accept it calmly.

In the following days, when they couldn't have swimming lessons, Song Juelan would appear at their doorstep almost every night.

Every day after dinner, Xiaotang would softly ask her smartwatch, "Brother Juelan, when are you coming over?"

Whenever this happened, Wen Zhi would quietly prick up her ears to listen to Song Juelan's reply.

Before they knew it, the two of them had gotten used to having Song Juelan in their lives.

That evening, as usual, when saying goodbye at the entrance of the residential area, Song Juelan did not turn around and leave.

In the darkness of the night, those dark eyes seemed to hold starlight as they stared intently at Wen Zhi.

"I have a match tomorrow," Song Juelan said after a moment's hesitation, his voice lower than usual. "Would you like to come watch?"

Wen Zhi was stunned for a moment, and before she could react, she heard Song Juelan quickly add a sentence.

I want you to come.

The summer night air suddenly became a bit hot and dry. Wen Zhi felt her face getting hot and mumbled a reply, "Okay."

A clear smile appeared in Song Juelan's eyes, making Wen Zhi's heart beat even faster, and she quickly looked away.

The next morning, Wen Zhi was woken up by the alarm clock. Her long eyelashes trembled several times before she could barely open them.

I promised Song Juelan last night that I would go watch his game, so I have to get up very early today.

He lingered in bed for a while before getting up, washing up and changing his clothes, then sat down at the dining table with Xiaotang to have breakfast.

I had just taken a sip of milk when my phone, which was on the table, vibrated. I picked it up and saw it was a message from Song Juelan.

Song Juelan: [I'll be waiting for you downstairs]

Song Juelan: [Take your time, no rush]

Wen Zhi blinked slowly and swallowed the milk in her mouth with a "gulp".

Why is Song Juelan here so early?

He dared not dawdle any longer, quickly finished his breakfast, and pulled up Xiaotang, whose cheeks were still bulging and who was chewing with great effort, and ran downstairs as fast as he could.

A black sedan pulled up downstairs. The passenger window rolled down, and Zhu Zhenghao's somewhat haggard face popped out: "Mr. Wen, over here!"

Wen Zhi walked over quickly, opened the back door of the car, and saw Song Juelan sitting in the innermost seat, his lips slightly curved, giving her a faint smile: "Good morning."

"Good morning." He bent down to get into the car, greeted everyone inside, and said somewhat apologetically, "Sorry to keep you waiting."

“We just arrived too,” Song Juelan replied.

Zhu Zhenghao, who was in front, yawned widely and chimed in, "Yes, just arrived."

He got up at dawn this morning, went to find Song Juelan, shamelessly got into Song Juelan's car, and then waited downstairs at Wenzhi Building for more than an hour.

It wasn't until just now that he learned that Song Juelan and Wen Zhi had arranged to meet not an hour ago, but right now.

He silently cursed Song Juelan in his heart, thinking he was out of his mind, but dared not say anything.

After all, he had begged Song Juelan to take him to watch the game, while Wen Zhi was personally invited by Song Juelan.

Once everyone had arrived, the driver stepped on the gas and headed towards the city-level swimming pool where the competition was being held.

"What competition are you participating in today?" Wen Zhi asked Song Juelan beside her with curiosity.

Song Juelan replied calmly, "Youth Championship, the school registered me for it beforehand."

Sitting in the passenger seat, Zhu Zhenghao turned his head and added, "It's a provincial competition!"

Wen Zhi's eyes widened in surprise: "Such an important competition!"

Seeing that Song Juelan mentioned the competition so casually without showing any nervousness, he thought it was just a friendly match.

“Yes, but for Brother Song, it’s a piece of cake,” Zhu Zhenghao said with a smile, seemingly more confident than Song Juelan.

"I see." Wen Zhi turned her gaze back to Song Juelan, her words carrying a pointed meaning. "But shouldn't we still practice a bit before the competition?"

These past few days, Song Juelan has been coming to his house every day. He doesn't seem to be in the mood to practice at all. Is he really that confident in himself?

Song Juelan understood the implication in his words and defended herself, saying, "I have been practicing these past few days."

He paused, then lowered his voice: "Every day after I take you home, I go to the swimming pool."

Upon hearing this, Zhu Zhenghao, who was in front, turned around and looked back with some suspicion.

Wen Zhi's fingertips suddenly felt hot.

He and Song Juelan were just meeting normally every night, but now it's like they're having an affair.

He changed the subject as if trying to cover something up: "By the way, how's the situation at the swimming pool?"

Song Juelan probably waited until the swimming pool closed at night to practice because he couldn't be at the pool during the day.

Speaking of this, Zhu Zhenghao had a headache: "It's not good. Those people block the entrance every day, which affects other customers, but the tickets are selling even better."

He initially approached Song Juelan with the intention of attracting customers, but he didn't want him to become an internet sensation and attract a group of people who would disrupt order.

“But you don’t need to worry. As long as Brother Song doesn’t show up, they’ll leave on their own after a while.” Zhu Zhenghao waved his hand, his tone relaxed. “Just consider them as people who came to give money to the swimming pool.”

Wen Zhi nodded in agreement: "If no new videos appear, the online buzz will quickly die down."

Zhu Zhenghao seemed to suddenly remember something and asked with great interest, "You watched that video too? It was actually pretty good, right?"

Wen Zhi glanced quickly at Song Juelan beside her and mumbled, "Yeah, he's pretty handsome."

Zhu Zhenghao paused for a moment, then laughed and said, "I was saying that the swimming pool looks quite impressive in that video, and a lot of people are coming to buy annual passes lately!"

"..." Wen Zhi felt a heat rising to her cheeks and dared not look at Song Juelan's expression beside her.

The car stopped on the side of the road in front of the municipal swimming pool.

As soon as I got out of the car, the first thing that caught my eye was the surging crowd at the entrance of the swimming pool. Parents and athletes filled the square, carrying backpacks with the swimming team's logo, and the electronic screen at the entrance was displaying the words "Province A Youth Championship".

This was the first time Wen Zhi had ever seen such a scene, and she couldn't help but feel nervous.

Looking back, I saw Song Juelan squatting in front of Xiaotang with a natural expression, putting the souvenir badge given by the volunteers on Xiaotang's clothes, without a trace of nervousness on his face.

He remembered that Song Juelan had said that the school had signed him up for the competition, but he himself didn't seem to value it.

Did Song Juelan not intend to win an award?

After strolling around the square, they went through the security checkpoint and entered the swimming pool.

Song Juelan seemed very familiar with the competition process. He first led them to the stands before going to the check-in area to sign in and confirm their lane numbers.

Zhu Zhenghao had watched Song Juelan's matches a few times before. He was explaining the match process to Wen Zhi and Xiao Tang when he saw the person who had just gone to sign in come back.

Zhu Zhenghao immediately became a little nervous: "What's wrong? Did you forget something?"

Generally, after signing in, athletes should go to the locker room to change into their swimsuits and then warm up. I haven't seen any athletes come back.

"No," Song Juelan replied briefly, without stopping.

He walked straight to Wen Zhi's seat, squatted down at his feet, pointed to one of the lanes, but kept his eyes on Wen Zhi, and said in a low voice, "I'm in lane number five."

Wen Zhi looked in the direction Song Juelan pointed and nodded seriously: "Okay, I will keep an eye on it."

Zhu Zhenghao, who was standing next to him, looked at this scene with a question mark on his head.

Once the race starts, won't the big screen display the names of each swimmer in each lane? I didn't see Song Juelan tell him which lane he was in.

After saying those words to Wen Zhi, Song Juelan got up to leave.

A newly arrived contestant saw him, paused for a moment, and then greeted him somewhat awkwardly: "Brother Song, you're here to participate in the competition too?"

Since entering the swimming pool, many swimmers have greeted Song Juelan, but Song Juelan's reaction has remained indifferent.

This time, Song Juelan seemed not to remember who the person was. After simply nodding in acknowledgment, he strode off towards the locker room.

The morning preliminary rounds began quickly, with the first batch of contestants taking the stage one after another.

Wen Zhi kept her eyes glued to lane number five. After a while, she finally saw that familiar tall figure walk up calmly and do some simple warm-up exercises.

The moment the electronic whistle sounded, Song Juelan nimbly jumped into the water and shot out like a water arrow.

Wen Zhi was secretly nervous, but when she saw Song Juelan easily leave the others behind, her heart immediately settled down.

That tall and agile figure swam to the other side first with an absolute advantage. As soon as his long arms touched the pool wall, the results and rankings were immediately displayed on the big screen.

Wen Zhi couldn't understand how good the score was, but seeing that Song Juelan was ranked first made her feel a little excited.

Although the preliminary rounds in the morning were nothing special, the finals in the afternoon were the real focus, but he still couldn't help being happy for Song Juelan.

After the preliminary rounds in the morning, the finalists stayed in the lounge where the swimming pool provided lunch.

Wen Zhi and Xiao Tang followed Zhu Zhenghao out of the swimming pool, found a restaurant nearby to have lunch, and then returned to the swimming pool.

As they walked into the audience area, Zhu Zhenghao suddenly remembered something and said to Wen Zhi beside him, "By the way, during the lunch break, you can go to the rest room to deliver things to the players. Do you want to go see Brother Song?"

A hint of hesitation flashed across Wen Zhi's face.

“Go ahead, I’ll keep an eye on Xiaotang for you.” Zhu Zhenghao pulled a towel out of Song Juelan’s bag and winked at him. “Perfect timing, he forgot his towel. Go over and tell him good luck in the finals.”

Wen Zhi really wanted to say good luck to Song Juelan, so she stopped refusing, took the towel, and hurried towards the lounge.

In the lounge, a group of athletes were nervously preparing for the competition.

Song Juelan sat on an inconspicuous corner bench, glancing up to see off the countless contestants who came up to greet him, before looking down at the competition video on his phone.

Although he was sitting in the corner, many people's eyes were on him, with a mixture of curiosity and inquiry.

Someone lowered their voice and asked the person next to them, their tone full of admiration and envy: "Brother Yu, I heard you and Brother Song went to the same high school? How many hours does he train every day?"

The man called Brother Yu frowned impatiently and said irritably, "How should I know?"

Although Yu Xuan went to the same school as Song Juelan, he didn't idolize Song Juelan like the other contestants did, because for the past three years of high school, Song Juelan had completely overshadowed him. More than idolizing him, Yu Xuan felt resentment and resistance towards Song Juelan.

He had finally made it to graduation, thinking he could finally escape this shadow, but then someone mentioned Song Juelan in front of him, and his disgust and displeasure were undisguised.

Yu Xuan glanced at the tall figure in the corner and sneered inwardly.

That person is just good at swimming, has good grades, and is handsome, but he has a cold personality, is arrogant, and doesn't care about others at all.

It's been so long since the college entrance exam ended, and you probably still haven't even had a boyfriend.

Just then, there was a soft knock on the door of the lounge.

A handsome young man pushed open the door, his beautiful eyes scanning the lounge before tiptoeing in and heading straight to a corner.

The moment he walked in, it was as if the lounge had been muted. Everyone stopped talking for a moment, staring intently, and even the lights in the lounge seemed to brighten a bit.

When a shadow fell, Song Juelan thought it was another contestant coming to talk to him, so he frowned and his aura became somewhat low.

He looked up, but was suddenly stunned.

Wen Zhi, her head slightly lowered and cheeks flushed, looked at him somewhat shyly and handed him a clean, soft towel: "I brought this for you."

Song Juelan stared at him blankly for a few seconds before reaching out to take the towel and saying softly, "Thank you."

"And... good luck in the competition." Wen Zhi's eyes were a little unfocused, and she said softly, "Xiao Tang said she wants to see you win the trophy."

Song Juelan stared into Wen Zhi's eyes, his fingertips unconsciously stroking the towel, his Adam's apple bobbing slightly: "If you were here, I would definitely win."

Wen Zhi felt her heart pounding.

Since Song Juelan hadn't made it clear yet, he pretended not to understand what Song Juelan meant and changed the subject: "How come I didn't know I was so important..."

"You know that, right?" Song Juelan's deep gaze remained fixed on Wen Zhi, his thin lips pursed slightly as he spoke in a deep voice.

"I like you."

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Author's Note: Thanks to yiinnnnff for the two landmines!

Thank you to the little angels who watered the nutrient solution!

55 bottles of Shuxiang; 3500 vocabulary words for the College Entrance Examination in English, 10 bottles of "Drink More Hot Water"; 9 bottles of Camellia Mustard Greens; 6 bottles of Shizuku; 5 bottles of Astragalus and Qi Sili's Little Dog; 2 bottles each of Qing, Reader, Z Jiu, and Simple Point; 1 bottle each of 41501337, Zheng Yu, Don't Want to Go to Work, Wen Weiyan, Start with Fire Divination, Bread Without Sauce, Li Yu, Qing Si, A Salted Fish, A Few Tender Quantities, Su Su, Lydia, and Ji Kang.