Chapter 23
Wu Qi's Adam's apple bobbed.
The more silent he was, the more my heart fluttered; the more he avoided me, the more excited I became.
I persisted, committing all sorts of mischief, and followed his eyes, asking in a trembling voice, "Am I not good enough?"
Wu Qi closed his eyes briefly, as if afraid that something might be revealed.
He uttered a single word: "I..."
His voice was too hoarse, so he cleared it.
He repeated, "I would misunderstand—"
"Brother Qi! Sister Yue! What are you two doing?!"
"..."
What the hell is that idiot!
Disturbed by this, I jumped off the sink, angrily walked out of the restroom, and then saw Li Guangheng at the corner.
I nodded.
Okay, idiot number one.
Meng Xiaoqiong followed behind him and first showed off: "400 first place, nothing much to say, just a piece of cake."
Okay, you idiot number two.
Li Guangheng: "Sister Yue, what's with that expression? Does your tooth hurt?"
I gritted my teeth: "...My fists are itching."
"Then," Li Guangheng said innocently, "how about scratching it?"
"..."
Wu Qi caught up from behind, his hands wet. His expression was unnatural, and he asked the two idiots impatiently, "What is it?"
"Oh, is Sister Yue alright?" Li Guangheng asked.
Wu Qi: "It's nothing, just a small scrape."
"That's fine. The teacher asked me to come and ask."
Okay, the homeroom teacher is an idiot number three.
I pulled my pants down and straightened the cuffs. We got up and walked towards the sports field. The surrounding noise grew louder and louder; the sports meet was in full swing.
Wu Qi and I stood on either side, like two door gods at the southern gate when we were kids.
I tilted my head to look at him, but he wasn't looking at me.
Opportunities are for those who are prepared. I don't think I was well prepared to like Wu Qi, so it's understandable that my attempt to test him failed this time.
As long as Wu Qi is still by my side, there is still a chance for me.
As we walked onto the sports field, before we even reached our classrooms, we suddenly heard someone shout, "Someone has fallen!"
The four of us glanced at it, then fell flat on our faces. Hehe, how stupid!
We glanced at it again, and our expressions suddenly changed.
Holy crap, that idiot is Xu Feng!
Li Guangheng cursed, and the four of us ran over together, crossing the playground to Xu Feng's side.
Are you alright?
Where did you fall?
"Can you stand up?"
Xu Feng's face turned pale. He gritted his teeth, rolled over, propped himself up with his elbows, and gestured to us that we didn't need help.
...Why are you still causing trouble when things are like this!
Xu Feng stood up, dragging his limping body, and ran towards the finish line. Li Guangheng tried to grab it but came up empty-handed. We stared blankly at the finish line, watching his retreating figure.
The referee blew his whistle, "Everyone else, leave the field! The 200-meter race is still ongoing!"
I took a step back, only to be pulled back sharply by a hand. The next moment, a competitor flew out from behind me, creating a gust of hot wind.
Standing here was in the way, so Wu Qi didn't let go of my hand. He waited until it was safe before leading me across, like a child crossing the street.
After waiting in the middle of the venue for a while, Li Guangheng tried to ease the atmosphere by chatting, and he responded to almost every sentence, but in fact, none of us were really in the mood.
All eyes were fixed on Xu Feng, who stumbled and limped across the finish line in a rather disheveled manner.
In this move, we could clearly see that he twisted his ankle.
The foot and lower leg form a 90-degree angle.
Are people this crazy these days?
Are you out of your mind?
I felt both angry and heartbroken, and rushed to Xu Feng's side. He actually smiled and said that if you're in the top six, you'll get points, at least 1 point.
"..."
Xu Feng grinned, then almost fainted from the pain, and asked me, "Am I good?"
I looked worried. "Great."
Xu Feng was dissatisfied, "Your tone doesn't sound like you're praising me."
I was at my wits' end, watching the lump slowly swell up on his ankle, and my tone was even a little hateful: "Great! You're fucking amazing! You're the best player of the game today! MVP! Get up and go to the infirmary right now!"
Xu Feng chuckled and waved his hand again.
My face darkened.
Stop messing around, are you trying to cause trouble again?
Xu Feng: "I just need to rest for a while. I still have to run three kilometers later."
I:"……"
Awesome.
How dedicated! Why don't you go participate in a marathon later?
Before I could even utter a curse, Wu Qi cursed for me: "Run my ass."
I quickly followed up: "Run for your life?"
Meng Xiaoqiong turned around and called the homeroom teacher. Li Guangheng didn't say anything and started doing warm-up exercises. "I'll run for you."
“No,” Xu Feng said, “you still have to go jump rope later, that one has a high score, I…”
Wu Qi: "What do you mean, 'what do you mean?' How about this, I'll call 120 first, and they'll carry you to the terminal on a stretcher. It'll be a one-stop service, just fly there."
Xu Feng: "..."
Speaking politely could really kill him.
I quickly stepped aside to block the attack, and in the process, kicked Wu Qi, hoping he would at least pretend to shut up.
Anyway, Xu Feng definitely can't run now, and a bunch of the boys in Class 5 have kidney deficiency, so Li Guangheng can only take his place... or maybe he shouldn't run at all.
Why don't we find someone from another shift to take over?
I picked up my phone and sent Yu Yuan a WeChat message. I had just said "Emergency at the sports field" without explaining what kind of emergency it was when my phone was snatched away.
Wu Qi's voice trailed off: "Can't you see me, a grown man like me?"
I was stunned for a moment.
"If nothing goes wrong, my legs are still intact," Wu Qi said.
Li Guangheng: "But didn't you just run the 100 meters?"
"hold head high."
"……hold head high?"
"Just, a warm-up." Wu Qi's eyes darted away for a moment.
In that instant, I saw a thousand emotions flash through Li Guangheng's eyes, perhaps even a desire to look up the true meaning of the word "warm-up" in the dictionary.
It doesn't sound that simple, and it really is. Wu Qi's physical abilities are among the best, even in the mortal realm.
A hundred meters... might not even be a warm-up.
The sun beat down on the entire playground, making it truly scorching. We were all sweating, unsure whether it was from anxiety or the heat.
Until Yu Yuan arrived along with the broadcast.
"Athletes participating in the 3000 meters, please assemble on the track—"
Yu Yuan: "What happened—my God, brother, did you stuff a steamed bun up your ankle?"
"..."
Xu Feng was speechless. "Maybe you should just shut up, you top student."
Yu Yuan, having learned of this man's plans, remained relatively calm and said the same thing as Li Guangheng: "I'll run it for you."
Then, Wu Qi patted him on the shoulder and gestured backward, "Go line up."
Yu Yuan: "I can!"
Wu Qi: "Forget it, with your skinny arms and legs, if you're really bored, you can calculate my average speed later."
I was a little confused.
No, is 3,000 meters some kind of hot commodity? Four people are vying for it?
Why don't I go try it? I want to see what this hot commodity tastes like.
I listened to the four of them arguing for a long time, and finally Wu Qi, who was unreasonable but also arrogant, managed to pull me in (actually, we were forced to reach a consensus). Holding Xu Feng's name tag, I walked alone to the check-in area.
The homeroom teacher rushed over to find out what was going on. He was even more anxious than we were. He took out a handkerchief and kept wiping his sweat. In the end, he and Li Guangheng dragged the person away.
Yu Yuan and I caught up with them and saw Yu Yuan tug at Wu Qi.
He probably used the best temper he'd ever had, first giving a stiff laugh, then saying, "Dude, I really can."
Wu Qi looked up at him.
Yu Yuan tried to persuade him: "I have great stamina. I got a perfect score in the physical education exam. Running three kilometers is no problem for me."
Wu Qi chuckled and said, "Have you forgotten which class you're in? Do you really want to become a spy in our class?"
Yu Yuan's face instantly turned three shades red, "...One thing at a time."
Meng Xiaoqiong and Tian Qingqing arrived breathlessly, completely surrounding Wu Qi; anyone who didn't know better would have thought they were hired cheerleaders.
"Brother Qi... Brother Qi." Tian Qingqing had just finished high jumping and almost had to do a quick 100-meter dash, so she was a little unsteady on her feet. "No, no need to run too hard. Your health is important. We don't want to see you get hurt."
Meng Xiaoqiong frowned, her voice losing its usual arrogance, and said in a deep voice, "The sports meet has already been meaningful from the moment you stepped forward. So, there's no need to push yourself."
Wu Qi lowered his eyes slightly.
I don't know what he's thinking.
After a long while, he finally adopted a relaxed demeanor.
"I give up... Sorry, I'm definitely the first one—"
Meng Xiaoqiong interrupted him: "It's fine if you don't come in first."
Wu Qi: "..."
He scratched the back of his neck, and finally couldn't hold it in any longer, lowering his head and laughing sullenly.
The referee called the athletes away to prepare for the race, while shooing away us bystanders.
Wu Qi then went against the flow of people and against the light, pressing his own number 0521 onto my head.
I looked up: "?"
"I told you."
Wu Qi's hair was blown by the wind. "Some people are born to be number one."
The white bib number slipped off my head and landed right in my hand.
I can't remember what Tian Qingqing and Meng Xiaoqiong said next. I looked towards the person on the track in the sunlight.
Wu Qi seems to become lawless once he starts showing off; even the Heavenly King himself can't stop him.
Since he's always so flamboyant, I can only follow him secretly.
Gunshots rang out, and Wu Qi, wearing a different number tag, ran out.
I once thought that there was an unseen chasm between gods and mortals, and that I was the bridge connecting Wu Qi and the human world.
He was demoted because of me, and he went to school because of me. He endured the utter boredom of life with me.
But just now.
Just now, his usually calm eyes seemed to suddenly become a little strange.
like……
He now has things he cares about in the human world.
I was holding his number in a daze, and when I looked up again, Wu Qi had already run the last 200 meters. He was running alongside the sports representative from Class 2, who was very close to him in the lead.
People around me screamed wildly. I saw Wu Qi suddenly sprint. The sports committee member of Class 2 was completely dumbfounded and even cursed.
Wu Qi understands how to kill someone by destroying their spirit.
Crossing the finish line wasn't enough. Standing on the track, I waited a few seconds and then gave a high five to the sports representative of Class 2, who had won second place.
Then he said regretfully, "Tsk, just a tiny bit short."
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