Chapter 21
I was just pretending to be asleep, and after hearing those words, I couldn't fall asleep anymore.
When the homeroom teacher came over to announce the class rankings, and read out the first place in the class, I had no choice but to stand up and go through a meaningless applause ceremony.
"This time, our class is first, and Sang Yue's ranking in the whole school is also quite impressive, second in the grade. Everyone should learn from her!"
She realized her mistake after she finished speaking. I had been sleeping a lot during the day and was a problem girl who never learned her lesson. She coughed again and said, "Don't learn things you shouldn't learn!"
Someone shouted from below, "Teacher, you're being unfair!"
The homeroom teacher adjusted his glasses, displaying a clear double standard: "I'm biased! If you get second place in the grade, I won't stop you from moving a bed!"
"..."
Is this an implicit acceptance that I can move a bed?
Yay!
The homeroom teacher continued, speaking of Wu Qi: "...Wu Qi is fifth in the class and 120th in the grade. I won't praise him for that. He knows why he ranked 120th."
After saying that, he slammed his hand on the podium, as if trying to improve his memory.
But what was Wu Qi doing?
—Hmm, let's admire the sports meet registration form.
They have absolutely no sense of self-awareness.
Actually, if you think about it carefully, he has made progress. Last time, this person was watching Detective Conan. Looking at it this way, he has made a qualitative leap.
I opened a set of test papers, put on my headphones, and listened to the listening comprehension section.
Wu Qi was still looking at the registration forms.
Sunlight shone on the exam paper, and the sound from my headphones slowly began.
"Listen to the following five dialogues..."
"Each dialogue is followed by a question..."
"From the options A, B, C given in the question..."
...
I peeked through the glass window.
Sports meet.
Are you really that excited?
Then the sports meet came without any rush.
-
"Dear leaders, teachers, and students, on this clear, sunny day, we welcome the 47th Sports Meet of Nancheng No.1 Middle School!"
The announcements came from all directions, and the stands were packed with people. Classes that couldn't fit in the stands brought their own chairs and sat outside, effectively closing off only two entrances to the sports field.
The man with the long, narrow face gave a speech on stage: "Dear guests, dear students..."
"Oh, she's cute."
Meng Xiaoqiong, sitting next to me, stuck out her tongue. "I never realized he found us cute."
Xu Feng said from the side, "It's obviously a script being read. Pay attention to the one o'clock position and the Chinese teacher's smile."
Meng Xiaoqiong glanced at him and asked, "What's wrong with his smile?"
Xu Feng: "Kind and approachable, gratifying and appreciative—this incredibly down-to-earth manuscript was written by him."
Meng Xiaoqiong: "..."
We, the aspiring athletes, were all seated separately, so that it would be easier for us to go on stage. We all huddled together in the first row of the stands.
Wearing standard sports caps and large sunglasses, the teachers stretched and exercised, reminiscing about the vitality of their youth.
I unscrewed the bottle of mineral water and took a sip, only to be met with a look of utter disdain from Meng Xiaoqiong: "Hey, do you live in Changbai Mountain? Or did Nongfu Spring pay you to drink this tasteless stuff for the sports meet?"
This kind of complaint is completely unreasonable. I only picked up the bottle because it was red.
Before I could even refute it, a bottle of Coke was shoved into my arms.
Coca Cola.
It's also a red bottle.
Wu Qimeng, still in his school uniform, was playing on his phone when he casually blurted out, "Drink mine—my A-Yue drinks water based on the color of the bottle, her taste is definitely not the same as yours!"
"..."
That's right.
But I still inexplicably want to refute it.
I don't know, maybe it was because the phrase "my Ah Yue" was too ambiguous, and I, a girl with unrequited love, couldn't stand it.
I was about to unscrew the bottle cap when I noticed that the connection at the bottom of the cap was broken in half and hadn't been completely unscrewed. I guessed that Wu Qi had only managed to unscrew it halfway.
That's unnecessary.
I broke off the remaining connection, click, unscrewed it, and took a big gulp.
Does this guy surnamed Wu think I'm boring? Why don't you challenge me to weightlifting?
A dense chorus of footsteps sounded behind me; the students who weren't participating in any events were heading to their formations.
These days I've seen them go out to practice a lot during self-study periods. When I look at the playground from inside the building, they're standing in rows, like ants moving house.
It was only at this moment that I felt fortunate that I had signed up.
The stands were almost empty, leaving only a few of us bored.
Wu Qi emerged from his school uniform, holding a number tag, ready to hand it out: "Hey, the teacher told me to give this to Li Hengguang, sort them by student ID."
Li Guangheng: "Fuck your Hengguang, can't I be called Chenguang? I'm going to sell stationery tomorrow!"
Wu Qi: "..."
The parade ground was quickly prepared, and the members of the honor guard slowly entered, as the March of the Volunteers began to play.
Wu Qi clicked his tongue awkwardly: "...I just wanted to give you face because everyone calls you Bald Qiang."
I chuckled.
"If you want to give him face, you might as well call him father."
"..."
Li Guangheng gave me a thumbs up: "Well said, Yue, but I don't have the guts. I might try it in my dreams tonight."
Me: "Coward."
"How dare you call me 'A-Yue'?" Wu Qi craned his neck and urged, "Hurry up and give me your number plate."
Class one by one marched past, and when they reached Class five, they were led by three teachers.
At first glance, I didn't notice anything different, but upon closer inspection, I realized something was wrong—this was a three-legged race.
Oh no, the homeroom teacher was so nervous that he skipped a step.
Not only did I notice it, but others saw it too. These idiots don't care about saving face. Back then, Wu Qi was nobody, yet he still went to support them. There's absolutely no way they could pretend they didn't see it.
Xu Feng immediately yelled, "Teacher! You lifted the wrong leg!"
The way the homeroom teacher looked at Xu Feng at that moment was probably like he was being slowly sliced to death.
The idiots were not to be outdone. Although the comedic effect was off the charts, their momentum was absolutely unmatched. They shouted "One, two, one" like they were about to fight, louder than the background music, as if they were about to rush down and start a fight.
Someone in Class 5 couldn't help but laugh.
"This is too embarrassing, I can't take it anymore." Meng Xiaoqiong hid behind me, pulled out the number plates and handed them out to Li Guangheng, "Hurry up, 0516 Tian Qingqing, 0517 Li Guangheng, 0518 Xu Feng..."
When it was my turn and Wu Qi's turn, Meng Xiaoqiong paused for a moment.
"Holy crap, the number you two have is..."
Wu Qi asked, "How much?"
Meng Xiaoqiong: "Sangyue0520, Wuqi0521".
I:"……"
Wu Qi: "..."
Everyone: "Wow—"
I leaned back, not really wanting to get involved.
The main problem is that my mood is different now, and I'm afraid I'll make a mistake if I say anything more, so I quickly pulled my number tag back.
Wu Qi, however, overreacted, grabbing the number tags and slamming them over the heads of the people who had just exclaimed "Wow!" He yelled, "You guys are such troublemakers! This is what you call a good match, don't you understand?"
Li Guangheng was stunned by the knock, clutching his head, "Sister Yue, you have to do something about this!"
I was really annoyed at first, but after this commotion, it doesn't matter anymore.
"Stop hitting me," I said.
A glint flashed in Li Guangheng's eyes.
Then I personally turned off his light and handed him a bottle of Coke, saying, "Use this to fight, don't try the head-patting trick."
Li Guangheng: "...What a perfect head pat!"
During the conversation, Meng Xiaoqiong and the others had already put on their badges. Xu Feng laughed and stepped in to defuse the situation: "Alright, it's their fault for transferring later. I was even thinking of changing my number to 0588."
Wu Qi: "05 what?"
Xu Feng: "Bye."
"Hey, my good son."
"...?"
The first row erupted into chaos again.
The procession was almost finished when Li Guangheng called out to stop us, telling us to quickly put on our number tags because we would be checking in soon.
“Ah Yue”.
Wu Qi pressed down on the number plate and gestured behind his back, "Help me fasten it."
Nancheng No.1 Middle School is quite wealthy; the number plates are new every year, made of white cloth with red numbers printed on them.
Holding the safety pin, torn between killing him or killing him, I chose to secretly touch his shoulder blade.
The boy's shoulder blades protruded slightly, stretching his school uniform and revealing a cleavage in the middle, below which his waist was faintly visible.
He was a bit too thin; his school uniform hung loosely on him, giving off a sense of... an attempt to cover up his true feelings.
"Okay, all done."
I quickly withdrew my finger.
How incredibly innocent! We've barely gotten this far, and my heart is already pounding like it's about to jump out of my chest.
Meng Xiaoqiong had already put the harness on me. The announcement told the athletes to prepare for check-in, and we all stood up in unison, lining up to exit through the narrow platform.
They were all wearing white tracksuits, forming a large and impressive procession.
"Sister Sang Yue," Tian Qingqing called from behind, "would you like to comb your hair?"
I touched my hair.
I cut my hair before I came into this world, and now it has grown to my collarbone, so it's not difficult to tie it up.
Qingqing's words make perfect sense.
Just as I was about to pull out a red string, Tian Qingqing handed me the black one from her wrist. "Take this with you. Luckily, I take two with me when I go out."
I was stunned for a moment.
I used to think there was a deep, bottomless generation gap between me and the world. But now, looking at that hair tie, I suddenly realize that I've already crossed that gap.
The ravines were deep, but the gaps were very narrow.
Looking back, it seems like that time in the Heavenly Realm has passed... a very, very long time.
"What are you standing there for?" Tian Qingqing waved her hand. "Are you going to answer or not?"
I snapped out of my daze and quickly took it, saying, "Thank you."
Tian Qingqing: "Tch—we're already that close. I'll get angry if you say that again!"
yes.
We're very familiar with each other.
The homeroom teacher led the whole class back, and as he passed by us, he patted each of us on the back. "Do your best to bring glory to Class 5! Especially you! Wu Qi! This is a matter of team honor!"
Wu Qi tugged at his clothes: "This time, I'll write about the process."
Class teacher: "You brat... you'll have to write it next time too!"
I don't know how much force I used, but I slapped Wu Qi so hard that he stumbled, and I had to raise my hand to catch him.
"Brother Qi has gotten himself into some personal grudges this time," Xu Feng remarked.
"Personal grudges are still yours, aren't they?" Meng Xiaoqiong said. "Didn't you say he was walking with the same foot forward as someone else? I think he almost slapped you in the face just now."
When we arrived at the check-in area, the student council members told us that people from different programs should stand separately.
The morning events were all individual events. The schedule was written on a sheet. Meng Xiaoqiong's long jump and 400-meter race clashed, so she chose the 400-meter race and left the long jump event to me.
"Alright, farewell. Let's recite a slogan," Li Guangheng said.
"What slogan?" Xu Feng asked.
"Class 5 won first place, you guys are all trash."
I:"……"
What the hell is this?!
Checking so many people, I'm afraid I'll get beaten up.
"Hurry up, hurry up, give me your hand!"
Li Guangheng stretched out one hand.
Tian Qingqing supported her deskmate, placing her hand on top of him despite her disgusted expression. Xu Feng, supporting Meng Xiaoqiong with a smile, pushed each other's hands together, eventually ending up with their hands reluctantly stacked on top of each other.
Only Wu Qi and I were left.
He patted my head: "Humans are so naive."
Me: "You're not much better."
Wu Qi couldn't help but laugh, and said, "However, we still have to respect their damn sense of ritual."
After saying that, he took my hand and stuffed it inside.
I panicked: "Eh..."
If time could freeze at this moment, I would probably have lost control of my facial expressions.
Wu Qi gripped my hand and strode forward, his smile ever-present. He pressed down on my hand and shouted the slogan loudly.
It really is...
That's incredibly stupid.
The surrounding area was in complete chaos, with the sounds of drums, shouts, and yells filling the air.
The antonym of blue sky and white clouds can be a green playground, and so can we—invincible.
This is how I stumbled into their youth.
It was Wu Qi and I who wreaked havoc on the human world.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
