You can't touch him.

The physics competition was held in the lecture hall of the Municipal Experimental High School. Top students from key high schools across the city gathered together, and the air was thick with the silent tension of competition.

As Fang Chi pushed Xing Jiayan's wheelchair into the waiting area, he immediately felt several unfriendly gazes. Xing Jiayan's foot injury had not yet healed, but she insisted on participating in the competition, so the school specially applied for a wheelchair and a special seat for her.

"Hey, Linjiang No. 1 Middle School has no one left? Sending a cripple to participate?" A boy wearing the uniform of the High School Affiliated to Normal University leaned against the door frame, his voice neither too loud nor too soft, just loud enough for students from several surrounding schools to hear.

Several students from the affiliated high school around him chuckled softly.

Fang Chi's brows furrowed instantly, and his fingers tightened around the wheelchair handle. He was about to speak when Xing Jiayan gently patted the back of his hand.

“Li Rui, the ace of the physics group at the affiliated high school.” Xing Jiayan’s voice was calm and even, as if stating an objective fact. “He lost to me by three points in last year’s provincial competition.”

The boy named Li Rui's face immediately darkened. He straightened up, walked to the wheelchair, and looked down at Xing Jiayan:

"Xing Jiayan, I heard you're lame? Are you still smart? Don't embarrass your school by not being able to finish reading the questions."

These words were extremely harsh, and even students from other schools nearby frowned.

Fang Chi felt a surge of anger rush to his head. He took a step forward, about to speak, when Xing Jiayan in the wheelchair suddenly laughed.

The smile was faint, yet it carried a chilling coldness.

“Li Rui,” Xing Jiayan’s voice remained calm, yet it was as if it had been chilled to the bone, “Want some trouble? I’m all for it.”

He paused, his gaze suddenly sharpening like a drawn sword:

“But if you want to touch him,” Xing Jiayan’s gaze swept over Fang Chi, then returned to Li Rui’s face, and he said, word by word, “you can try.”

The entire waiting area fell silent instantly. Everyone held their breath.

Li Rui took a half step back from that look, then became furious and embarrassed: "Xing Jiayan, don't be so arrogant! A cripple like you dares to..."

"A cripple?" Xing Jiayan chuckled lightly, tapping his fingers lightly on the armrest of his wheelchair. "Li Rui, have you forgotten—"

His voice suddenly rose, carrying clearly throughout the entire waiting area:

"Go ask around at the affiliated high school and see if Xing Jiayan from Class 1, Grade 11 at Linjiang No.1 High School has the word 'admit defeat' in his dictionary!"

It was a resounding statement.

At that moment, Xing Jiayan, sitting in his wheelchair, exuded a more powerful aura than anyone standing. His gaze swept over Li Rui's pale face, over the shocked crowd around him, and finally landed on Fang Chi.

Fang Chi stood there, looking at Xing Jiayan in the wheelchair. Sunlight streamed in through the window, outlining a golden halo around him. The usually nonchalant man now resembled a lion guarding its territory.

His heart felt as if it had been struck hard by something.

Li Rui opened his mouth, as if to say something, when the proctor's voice rang out:

"Please enter the examination room according to your examination number!"

Xing Jiayan didn't look at him again. The other person said softly, "Push me in."

Fang Chi took a deep breath and pushed the wheelchair toward the examination room. As he passed Li Rui, he stopped and said in a voice only the two of them could hear:

"The word 'admitting defeat' doesn't exist in his dictionary," Fang Chi said, looking into Li Rui's eyes with a calm yet firm tone. "And it doesn't exist in mine either."

After saying that, he pushed Xing Jiayan and walked into the examination room without looking back.

Li Rui stood there, his face turning pale and then flushed.

Inside the examination room, Fang Chi helped Xing Jiayan adjust his seat and placed his pen and calculator within easy reach.

"Just now..." Fang Chi hesitated before speaking.

"Focus on the exam," Xing Jiayan interrupted him, her voice regaining its usual calm. "Remember our bet."

Looking at his calm profile, Fang Chi suddenly understood something.

Xing Jiayan wasn't putting on a brave face. He was telling everyone in the most direct way—even in a wheelchair, he was still the invincible Xing Jiayan. And what he was protecting wasn't just his own dignity, but also Fang Chi's.

The moment the exam papers were handed out, all other thoughts vanished from my mind.

Fang Chi was immersed in a sea of ​​problems, his pen flying across the paper. His thoughts were clearer than ever before; all the nights he had spent with Xing Jiayan, the difficult problems they had discussed, and the derivations they had to start over, had now become the most solid foundation.

When he got to the last question, he subconsciously looked in Xing Jiayan's direction.

The man was writing furiously with his head down, his profile taut, his fingers gripping the pen steady and strong. Sunlight shone on his slightly curled bangs, dappling with tiny golden rays.

Fang Chi turned his gaze away and looked at the last question.

It was an extremely complex and comprehensive problem, describing a completely new physical model. Conventional solutions were completely ineffective here, requiring a step-by-step approach.

He recalled the sentence Xing Jiayan wrote on the whiteboard last night: "A true strong person is not one who avoids detours, but one who knows how to choose the shortest path when necessary."

I also recalled Xing Jiayan's firm and powerful eyes when she faced provocation this morning.

Fang Chi took a deep breath and the pen tip landed the first symbol on the paper.

He didn't choose the "detour" approach he was best at, nor did he copy Xing Jiayan's "shortcut." He found a completely new path—one that combined the strengths of both of their thinking.

When the last answer was written on the answer sheet, there were still fifteen minutes left in the exam.

He put down his pen and looked at Xing Jiayan.

Almost at the same moment, Xing Jiayan also put down his pen and turned to look at him.

A few rows apart, their eyes met in mid-air.

Without a word, they both knew: they had won this competition. Not by defeating each other, but by defeating their former selves.

After handing in their papers, Fang Chi pushed Xing Jiayan out of the examination room. Li Rui and several students from the affiliated high school stood not far away, their faces grim.

Xing Jiayan didn't even glance at them. Fang Chi said, "Push me to that tree over there."

Fang Chi followed his instructions and pushed him to a sycamore tree. The summer breeze carried heat, rustling the leaves.

"The last question," Xing Jiayan suddenly asked, "what method did you use?"

Fang Chi squatted down in front of him, looking him straight in the eye: "Guess?"

Xing Jiayan looked at him and suddenly smiled. It was a genuine, unreserved smile, like sunlight piercing through the clouds.

“I guess,” he said, “it’s a method that none of us have used before.”

Fang Chi smiled as well: "That's right."

They smiled at each other, and all the competition and rivalry transformed into an unspoken understanding at that moment.

"So," Fang Chi looked at him, "who won our bet?"

Xing Jiayan took out a piece of draft paper from his pocket, which was covered with densely written calculations. He drew a small star mark at the answer to the last question.

Next to that mark, there was another different solution—a solution that he came up with in the last few minutes of the exam, a solution in Fang Chi's style.

“We all won,” Xing Jiayan said.

Fang Chi looked at the star-shaped mark and the familiar line of thought beside it, and suddenly understood.

Unbeknownst to them, they had become each other's best rivals and also the most understanding confidants.

In the distance, He Chen and Tan Si were running towards them, their faces beaming with excitement.

Fang Chi stood up and pushed the wheelchair towards them. Sunlight filtered through the gaps in the sycamore trees, casting dappled shadows on them.

The outcome of this competition is no longer important. What matters is that they both saw a better version of themselves in each other.

And that bet about the "last question" may never have a winner or loser.