Chapter 23, The Rival's Story, is a Bit Painful

"good."

Xie Changyu also bent his legs, and the two of them sat there watching the people running lap after lap on the track. After watching for a while, he took out his phone and started playing a game.

A childhood game – Plants vs. Zombies.

He casually tapped the sun on the screen, planting affordable plants one after another. At first, his attention was a little scattered, but he only started playing seriously when he saw that his plants were about to be destroyed by zombies.

While playing, he even told the person next to him, "Can you remind me when Qi Yan finishes running? I'm going to play some mini-games."

"Don't worry." Wen Shu chuckled for some reason. He looked at Xie Changyu, who was staring intently at his phone with his head down, and comforted him, "Have fun, I'll keep an eye on things for you."

Xie Changyu breathed a sigh of relief. "Thanks."

After thanking him, he continued playing the game, becoming completely engrossed. He usually played this game during his free time and rarely played it at other times, but it suited the current situation. Sitting there for several tens of minutes was too boring, so he might as well play a game.

His pale fingers tapped the screen intermittently as he began to block out external noise.

After passing several checkpoints, the person next to him started shaking him, gently touching his body. "He's almost done running."

"So fast?" Xie Changyu was a little confused at first, but after understanding, he quickly got up and grabbed Wen Shu's hand, saying anxiously, "Let's go, let's go, let's go to the finish line and wait for him."

Wen Shu couldn't help but raise an eyebrow as she watched herself being pulled along, then followed the person in front of her with a carefree attitude. The two of them began to squeeze through the crowd, and there were some screams in the middle, which made Xie Changyu cover her ears.

hiss.

He hesitated for a moment, as if he had pulled a moving flashlight, making a buzzing sound in the crowd. Thinking of this, he unconsciously loosened his grip, only to have it gripped again the next second.

"Let's go, Qi Yan is almost at the finish line. If we don't go in soon, it will be hard to find him later."

Both of them were quite tall in the crowd, so Xie Changyu could vaguely see Qi Yan's figure. He pressed his glasses lightly, thankfully he was wearing contact lenses today, otherwise he wouldn't have been able to find him.

I just feel a little uncomfortable.

Xie Changyu had just squeezed to the edge of the track when he saw Qi Yan crossing the finish line with a first-place lead. He grinned and shouted, "Qi Yan, you're amazing! First place!"

The sound wasn't very loud in the bustling crowd, but the figure clearly heard it. After pausing for a moment, it slowly approached. The handsome face gradually became clearer, with sweat on its face and hot breath.

Xie Changyu could even clearly see the other person's eyes glance at where he and Wen Shu were holding hands, and pause for a moment, but he didn't care. He quickly let go of her hand, fumbled for some tissues in his pocket, and handed them over, saying, "You should wipe yourself quickly. You're sweating a lot and look tired."

His eyes were filled with admiration. "You're still number one."

Qi Yan wiped his sweat, took the water and drank a few sips, then asked, "Shall we go check out the first place prize?"

Xie Changyu was already curious, and upon hearing this, he nodded, "I'm really curious about what the prize is."

"The prize for first place is a massage device."

Wen Shu, who was standing next to him, interjected with a smile on his face, as if he were answering a question, "This was chosen by our student council."

"A massage device? The number one item is indeed excellent."

Xie Changyu nodded knowingly, then looked at Qi Yan and said, "Since you've been running around all day, you can go back to your dorm and get a massage."

However, he figured that if Qi Yan was so rich, he wouldn't be short of a massage device given away at the sports meet, and he must have even more expensive and better massage devices at home.

Qi Yan's face was expressionless, perhaps because he was too tired from running. He said calmly, "I'm fine, I don't really need this. Do you want it?"

Xie Changyu also refused, shaking his head, "I don't need this, I have no use for it."

Although he's a homebody, he's very healthy and doesn't feel unwell anywhere, so he doesn't really need this kind of thing.

As they were chatting, Xie Changyu's hand was touched by Wen Shu.

"Alright, that's enough chatting. Qi Yan, you've finished your run. I'll borrow that person now; I have to go to the competition."

Wen Shu said this to Qi Yan, then looked at Xie Changyu with a questioning gaze, as if asking if it was permissible.

Xie Changyu looked at his hand being held and then remembered that there was still someone else to compete with. Although he was a little tired now, he couldn't go back on his word since he had already agreed. So he simply turned to Qi Yan and said, "Yes, Qi Yan, you should go back and rest first."

Qi Yan gripped the water bottle, looking at Wen Shu with an emotionless gaze. Wen Shu was still smiling, and the two stared at each other for two seconds.

Just as Xie Changyu and Qi Yan thought the other would agree and were about to turn and leave, they heard Qi Yan's deep voice, "No."

Um?

Xie Changyu looked at Qi Yan in confusion. Was this a rejection?

Qi Yan met those clear eyes, his hand tightened slightly, he tilted his head slightly, and explained in a somewhat weak tone, "I pulled a muscle and can't go back to the dorm by myself."

Xie Changyu hissed and leaned closer, asking with concern, "You're injured? Why didn't you say so earlier?"

Qi Yan looked at the dark head in front of him with its head down and lied without changing his expression: "You were too engrossed in running and didn't notice just now."

This is troublesome.

Xie Changyu thought to himself that the person in front of him, who was clearly limping, was genuinely injured.

He hesitated for a moment, but finally decided to stand Wen Shu up. Anyway, he wasn't familiar with Wen Shu, and Qi Yan was no good either. This guy was his key player, so he couldn't ignore him. So he turned to Wen Shu with a fake smile and said, "I'm sorry, Wen Shu, as you can see, Qi Yan is in a bad situation. I probably won't be able to watch your match."

Wen Shu clearly hadn't expected this little incident. He paused for a moment, glanced at the man behind him who had just mentioned a muscle strain, and asked with concern, "Is Qi Yan injured? I remember there's a school doctor waiting outside the playground. Why don't we go there to get him checked out first?"

"Is the school doctor outside?" Xie Changyu wasn't too concerned about these things, but he breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing this news. He looked at Qi Yan and said, "Let's go take a look."

Qi Yan rubbed his leg, his expression calm, and said, "No need, it's just a minor injury. I'll be fine after lying down for a while. It's just a bit of a hassle to get back to the dorm."

"If you want to go see it, go ahead, I'm fine."

His casual remark made Xie Changyu feel guilty. He glanced apologetically at Wen Shu and said, "No, no, I'll go back to the dorm with you."

"Wen Shu, you..."

Wen Shu understood what was going on in that look and tone. He smiled and said, "You take him back to his dorm. I can manage on my own."

Xie Changyu nodded and said, "Next time, next time. I'm sorry about this time." As he spoke, he helped Qi Yan up. Wow, good heavens, how can someone the same height as him be so heavy? He must be all muscle.

He vomited blood.

Looking at the slightly unsteady person being supported, Wen Shu couldn't help but chuckle. A sudden sense of relief washed over her, and she whispered, "Next time, definitely..."

...

After finally getting the person to the dormitory, Xie Changyu breathed a sigh of relief. He sat down on his stool, panting, and asked, "Are you feeling any better?"

He asked this because he thought he would have to support the whole way, and he was already seated and ready. But it turned out that the first half was a bit heavy, and the second half was like he wasn't supporting the other person at all. It was obvious that the other person could walk freely.

He looked at Qi Yan, who was sitting there applying medicine, his pants pulled up all the way, revealing his thighs.

"I'm feeling better now. It was probably just a little painful a moment ago."

As Qi Yan spoke, his tone softened considerably.

"That's good."

Xie Changyu replied with that, then rested his hand on the back of the chair, looking at the message he had just received on his phone and pondering it.

He looked puzzled; what message had Gu Qingjia sent him that she deleted so quickly?

It looks like a picture.

A note from the author:

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What is this picture?

This book will probably cover more than five worlds, or maybe ten?