try

Xu Zhiyi stood at the door of the office, took a deep breath, and then pushed the door open.

In the small office, Gao Xingxing was already sitting at the table looking through documents. When he saw her come in, he just glanced at her coldly.

"Teacher Xu said that the three of us will be responsible for the sports meet together." Xu Zhiyi put down his notebook and tried to make his voice sound calm.

"I know." Gao Xingxing said without looking up, "I've already made a preliminary plan. Please see if there's anything that needs to be modified."

When Song Chengrui pushed the door open, he heard Gao Xingxing say this.

He casually picked up the plan on the table, flipped through it, and whistled: "Wow, group dance? So cliché?"

Gao Xingxing frowned: "This is the safest option."

Xu Zhiyi leaned over to take a look. The program said "Traditional Folk Dance Performance" and there were several photos of previous students dancing next to it.

It's indeed safe, but it's also certainly nothing new.

"I think we can add some small innovations..." Xu Zhiyi suggested carefully.

Gao Xingxing sneered, "Like last year when Class 3 did street dancing and ended up falling all over the place?"

"We can find a compromise." Xu Zhiyi opened his notebook, "For example, combine folk dance with modern dance, or..."

"We don't have time for all this fancy stuff." Gao Xingxing interrupted her, "Teacher Xu wants to avoid mistakes, not innovate."

"Besides, we don't have much time to practice, we still have to study."

The air in the office froze.

Song Chengrui leaned against the window, his eyes moving back and forth between the two of them.

"Vote," he suddenly said. "Choose one of three: folk dance, street dance, or..." He glanced at the cheerleading sketch in Xu Zhiyi's notebook. "Cheerleading."

Gao Xingxing's eyes widened: "This is too casual, no."

"It's a democratic decision." Song Chengrui shrugged. "I choose cheerleading."

Xu Zhiyi bit her lip and said, "I choose cheerleading too."

Gao Xingxing's face turned pale: "You... are simply bullying me!" She was so angry that her face turned pale and she slammed the door and left.

Xu Zhiyi stood there in a daze, the sketches on his notebook rustling in the wind.

"Don't mind her." Song Chengrui reached out to hold down the flying pages. "She's just upset that her proposal was rejected."

"That's not the case..." Xu Zhiyi said softly, "She's also doing it for the honor of the class..."

Song Chengrui suddenly leaned in closer. He smelled of sunshine and a hint of lemon. "Anyway, as long as there's a show, it's fine."

Xu Zhiyi's ears felt hot, and he hurriedly closed his notebook: "We...we need to finalize the list of participants first."

"Speaking of this." Song Chengrui took out a crumpled form from his pocket, "I've already counted it, take a look."

Xu Zhiyi glanced at the form and frowned.

"Everyone else has signed up, so why is there no one for 1500?"

“You can sign up.”

After Song Chengrui finished speaking, Xu Zhiyi immediately refuted him.

"How can I run 1500? I can't run."

Zhang Ningxia had advised her to sign up for a running competition before, but she had actually been hesitant.

"You can do it."

Song Chengrui picked up the pen, turned the tip of the pen, and was about to start writing.

"What are you doing!" She stood up suddenly, the chair scraping against the floor with a harsh sound, and quickly snatched the form from Song Chengrui's hand.

Song Chengrui tilted his head and looked at her, "Don't you want to try?"

Xu Zhiyi's fingers trembled a little. "1500 meters will kill you. It's too tiring."

"No." Song Chengrui laughed heartlessly, "I can train with you."

Xu Zhiyi wanted to tear up the form, but was afraid of being scolded by Teacher Xu.

She looked at the form and didn't answer.

For the next three days, Xu Zhiyi deliberately avoided Song Chengrui.

She was busy revising the cheerleading plan, persuading the girls in the class to participate in rehearsals, and even reached a superficial reconciliation with Gao Xingxing. Gao Xingxing was responsible for the traditional dance part, and she was responsible for the integration of modern elements.

After school on Thursday, Xu Zhiyi stayed alone in the empty classroom to sort out the registration forms, and the pen rustled on the paper.

"Haven't you made up your mind yet?"

Song Chengrui's voice frightened her so much that the tip of her pen trembled, leaving a long line on the paper.

He had leaned against the door frame at some point, his school uniform jacket casually draped over his shoulders.

Xu Zhiyi lowered his head and continued writing: "No."

"1500 meters isn't that scary." Song Chengrui pushed the milk in front of her. "I'll practice with you for an hour every day after school. You'll definitely be able to run the entire distance in a month."

"What if I still can't run down?"

"Then I'll..." Song Chengrui's eyes turned, "Run for you."

Xu Zhiyi chuckled: "Why are you replacing the girls' project?"

"Wear a skirt." Song Chengrui made a gesture of lifting the hem of her skirt.

"That... is a bit too great a sacrifice."

"Hey, who made our teacher Xu so unconfident?"

Xu Zhiyi blushed instantly and whispered, "Don't call me that."

"You agree, then?"

As Song Chengrui said this, he was about to help Xu Zhiyi fill in the name.

Xu Zhiyi hurried to stop him, "Hey, no! Not yet!"

Song Chengrui simply pulled out a form to help her fill it out, "Hurry up, a short pain is worse than a long one!"

"Hello!"

While Xu Zhiyi was hesitating, Song Chengrui flicked his pen and raised his eyebrows. "Ready to sign, huh? Don't you really want to give it a try?"

Xu Zhiyi looked at that serious face, and an impulse suddenly surged in his heart, and he nodded seriously.

"good."

As a result, she regretted it when she returned home that night.

I shouldn't be so impulsive.

—

The next evening, the playground was deserted.

Xu Zhiyi changed into sportswear and did warm-up exercises nervously.

Song Chengrui got a stopwatch from somewhere and hung it around his neck seriously.

"On the first day, we'll jog four laps to get used to it," he said. "Remember to breathe through your nose, two steps, one inhale, two steps, one exhale."

The first 100 meters were relatively easy, but after the second lap Xu Zhiyi began to lose breath.

Her lungs were on fire and her legs felt like lead.

"Adjust your breathing!" Song Chengrui ran beside her, "Don't stop, you can slow down."

On the third lap, light rain suddenly began to fall from the sky.

Xu Zhiyi's bangs were wet and stuck to her forehead, and it was hard to tell whether it was sweat or rain.

Her vision began to blur, and the only sound in her ears was her own rapid heartbeat.

"The last half lap!" Song Chengrui's voice pierced through the rain. "Imagine that there's your most desired food at the finish line. Just hold on a little longer, and you'll get it!"

Xu Zhiyi wanted to laugh but couldn't breathe.

She took mechanical steps, finally staggered across the finish line, and knelt down on the track.

Song Chengrui quickly supported her: "Don't sit down, walk slowly for a while."

The rain was getting heavier, so they took shelter under the eaves of the stands.

Xu Zhiyi bent over, supported her knees and gasped for breath, raindrops dripping down her hair.

Song Chengrui handed her a towel. When she took it, she touched his fingertips and retracted her hand as if she had been electrocuted.

"I... I ran so badly." Xu Zhiyi said dejectedly.

"It's great that you can finish the race for the first time." Song Chengrui unscrewed the bottle of mineral water and handed it to her. "The first time I ran 1500 meters in the first grade of junior high school, I vomited all over."

Xu Zhiyi looked up at him: "Really?"

"Why would I lie to you?" Song Chengrui sat down against the wall. "At that time, I was as thin as a bamboo pole. I would fall down after running a few steps. When I played ball with others, no one wanted to play with me."

His voice softened amidst the sound of rain. "Later, I practiced extra after school every day. I fell so hard that my knees were all skinned. My mom always suspected I'd gotten into a fight."

Xu Zhiyi found it hard to imagine that this bright and handsome boy in front of her had once been clumsy.

The rain curtain forms a transparent barrier outside the eaves, separating this small world from the outside world.

She asked inexplicably, "Then why are you so persistent? And why did you persevere?"

Song Chengrui was silent for a while, then smiled and said, "Because I want to try everything and stick to doing one thing. In the process of pursuing success, I will gain a sense of accomplishment."

Xu Zhiyi didn't know what to say.

For the first time, she saw the enviable qualities in Song Chengrui. Raindrops splashed on the concrete floor, and she gently touched his arm: "Thank you for training with me and for telling me this."

Song Chengrui turned his head, and raindrops dripped from the ends of his hair and slid across his angular jawline.

"Will you continue next week?" he asked.

Xu Zhiyi nodded, her heart beating faster than when she was running: "Yeah."

When Xu Zhiyi returned to the classroom to get his schoolbag, he met Gao Xingxing in the corridor.

Gao Xingxing glanced at her soaked sportswear and said meaningfully, "I was wondering why Teacher Xu suddenly asked you to take charge of this matter. So this is your purpose."

Xu Zhiyi pretended not to understand her hidden meaning: "I have already completed the cheerleading choreography. I will show it to everyone tomorrow."

Gao Xingxing snorted, "I hope some people won't let love get in the way of their work."

"We are not what you think..." Xu Zhiyi swallowed the words back.

Gao Xingxing sneered, "Of course you won't admit it, I don't bother to pay attention to you."

Xu Zhiyi stood there, feeling extremely bitter.

When Xu Zhiyi returned home, she found a note in the side pocket of her schoolbag.

There was a picture of an ugly little man running on it, and next to it was written: "See you tomorrow, Teacher Xu~"

There is no need to guess who wrote it, Xu Zhiyi knows his handwriting very well.

She put the note into her storage bag, took it out and looked at it before going to bed, then carefully put it back in its place.

Outside the window, the rain stopped at some point, and the moonlight shone through the gaps in the clouds, filling the ground with tenderness.

—

On Sunday, when Xu Zhiyi was dragged into the living room by her aunt's wrist, everyone was concerned about her academic performance.

When Xu Wangping heard that she was not only a top student in the class but also a class leader, his face became particularly happy.

In this situation, he usually has a lot to talk about, and most people follow suit and ask him how he educates his children.

And Xu Zhiyi also became the "other people's child" in the eyes of parents.

"Zhiyi, what are you doing recently?"

"I signed up for the school sports meet." Her voice was soft, but clear enough.

My great aunt's teacup stopped in mid-air.

"Why would a girl run? You'll get tanned!" Great Auntie's spit splashed on her face. "How did your mother teach you?"

The gazes of all the relatives in the room were like searchlights.

Her cousin hid behind the sofa and laughed, as if she was also laughing at her for overestimating her own abilities.

Xu Zhiyi thought of what Song Chengrui had said, and suddenly felt courageous enough to retort.

"Don't worry about how my mother taught me."

The meal ended unpleasantly, but Xu Wangping didn't say anything.

She sent a message to Song Chengrui: "Do you want to practice extra tomorrow?"

Outside the car window, the shadows of the sycamore trees passed by quickly.

She suddenly realized that the harsh accusations could no longer catch up with the speeding bus.