Chapter 33
At that moment, the sound of car horns came from afar, breaking the stalemate in the silent night.
Just then, the owner reminded her, "Miss, the barbecue is ready."
Guan Nan quickly got up, stumbled to the stall, picked up the packed bag, and left without looking back. She didn't even say goodbye.
When Guan Nan got home, the door was already open before she could even insert the key.
Zhang Guilian took the keys from her hand and gently placed them on the cabinet. The three rows of keys each had their own unique charm.
"Okay, thank you for your hard work." Zhang Guilian came to take the barbecue again, indicating that she could just put the package on the rack, which was specifically for packages.
Guan Nan lowered her head and shook her head. As she changed her shoes at the door and went inside, her gaze swept over the bell hanging on the cabinet.
The bell on that keychain was always Lin Zhaozhao's signal to come home from school, a joyful and cheerful sound.
But at this moment, it also foreshadows her return.
Therefore, Zhang Guilian is both proactive and compassionate.
After entering the room, Zhang Guilian stood at the door of Lin Zhaozhao's room and called out to Lin Zhaozhao, "Come out quickly, your sister has bought everything and is back."
"I'm not eating." Lin Zhaozhao was in a bad mood.
Zhang Guilian went in and coaxed her, saying, "What's wrong with you now, my dear? Who upset you?"
"No," Zhang Guilian was pushed out the next second, "Get out!"
"You are not allowed to enter my room without my permission!"
"Aren't you annoying all the time?!"
Guan Nan ignored the mother and daughter's coaxing and accusations, closed the door, silently walked around the living room to the balcony, opened the book she had closed when she left, and continued reading and writing.
After a while, Zhang Guilian came out onto the balcony and said politely, "Want to eat something together?"
Guan Nan paused for a moment, then shook her head: "No need, thank you, Auntie."
The next day, Guan Nan returned to the classroom yawning all the way, the aroma of the barbecue from the previous night lingering on the balcony all night.
She didn't sleep well all night last night.
The school sports meet began, and Class 1 had regular classes and did not participate in the opening ceremony.
"What's wrong? Didn't you sleep well?" Yu Shu noticed that Guan Nan had been sleeping on her desk after two consecutive classes, something that would never have happened before.
Upon hearing this, Jiang Li shifted his gaze slightly.
"No," Guan Nan said, then covered her mouth and yawned again, saying listlessly, "It's too hot, I couldn't fall asleep."
Yu said, "It's still hot. The weather has changed. Did you turn the air conditioner on and turn it on to heat?"
Guan Nan shook her head and lay down on her desk.
Seeing this, Yu Shu stopped talking and, unable to stay still, turned around and started chatting with his deskmate again.
In the afternoon, Guan Nan, Jiang Li, and several other participants went downstairs, found their respective spots, and waited for the competition to begin.
Many projects were being carried out on the playground at the same time, with announcements of project schedules and submissions from various classes constantly broadcast over the loudspeaker.
Sit-ups, sprints, and the 3000-meter race are all held on the playground.
The students who hadn't started the project yet all watched tacitly from the sidelines. Guan Nan stood in front of the foam mat, where the high jump was in full swing, and the next leg after that was sit-ups.
Jiang Li, who had just gone downstairs together and then parted ways at the student dormitory, was now standing in the high jump group.
Guan Nan spotted him immediately.
As she looked across, Jiang Li saw her too. He had one hand in his pocket, his eyebrows slightly raised, the corners of his lips curving upwards, and a casual smile on his face.
The next second, he moved his lips, gesturing for him to come over.
There was still a long line of people doing high jumps, so it looked like it wouldn't be their turn for sit-ups anytime soon.
Guan Nan walked over, tilted her head slightly, and asked him, "What's wrong?"
"The long-distance race isn't going to start anytime soon," Jiang Li said calmly, with a faint smile on his face.
Guan Nan nodded: "Mm."
The two made small talk, and Jiang Li glanced at the high jump platform, which was now even higher, and asked casually, "Have you been practicing these past few days?"
"I practiced," Guan Nan answered honestly.
Jiang Li clenched his fists. "Have you found someone to stretch your legs?"
Remembering the suggestion from her classmate who had just asked her, she realized that since they were all girls from different classes and didn't know anyone well, they could put pressure on each other.
Guan Nan said, "We pressure each other."
"Press each other?" Jiang Li was taken aback, his hand, which was about to withdraw, paused, as if he remembered something. "How can you press each other in a simultaneous competition?"
"·····"
"Haven't you thought about it?"
"·····"
She really didn't expect it, nor did she ask.
It seems like they realized it only after the fact.
At this moment, Guan Nan finally understood what it meant to have "bitterness that cannot be expressed".
Immediately, both of them fell silent and did not speak.
Guan Nan hesitated for a long time, fidgeting with the number tag in her hand, before finally managing to utter, "Jiang Li."
"Hmm," Jiang Li replied casually.
Are you free later?
"Not really."
"..." Guan Nan thought he was doing it on purpose, so she pretended not to hear and then continued, "Can you help me?"
Jiang Li asked lazily, "How can I help?"
You know perfectly well why you're asking this!
Guan Nan felt that he did it on purpose.
But since she needed his help at this moment, Guan Nan couldn't say anything. She said politely, "Could you help me stretch my legs when I do sit-ups later?"
“Oh,” Jiang Li said, “why?”
“We,” Guan Nan ignored her burning face, “aren’t we friends?”
"Friend," Jiang Li said hesitantly, then added reluctantly, "Alright then, I'll think about it."
"·····"
Seeing her expressionless face, Jiang Li found it somewhat amusing and said without changing his expression, "What, can't I even think about it?"
Guan Nan said sullenly, "They didn't say no."
For some reason, he smiled again, looking happy and relaxed.
That carefree, nonchalant, and irresponsible attitude has returned.
Suddenly, Guan Nan heard him say, "Okay."
Guan Nan immediately relaxed, let out a soft sigh, and suddenly felt a little happy for no reason.
The high jump record seemed to have been broken, and the spectators around were screaming, whistling, and shouting loudly. Even the students who were still in line to jump had smiles on their faces.
Just then, Jiang Li suddenly called her name: "Guan Nan".
Guan Nan responded reflexively.
Jiang Li looked down, gesturing for her to look down.
He opened his palm, on which lay two braided ropes, one long and one short, round and looped.
The red string is for a bracelet, and the black string is for a necklace.
A coin is hanging from it.
Guan Nan paused for two seconds, controlling her tone, and asked, "What is this?"
"Didn't you say," Jiang Li coughed lightly and said calmly, "that you like red?"
Upon hearing this, Guan Nan subconsciously looked up at him, only to find his gaze fixed on her face.
In the intense light, she couldn't see his face clearly, only remembering that his hair was fluffy.
Guan Nan blinked and nodded vigorously: "Mm."
"Take it."
Taking the red bracelet, Guan Nan noticed its uneven weave, even somewhat clumsy, and crooked overall. As if remembering something, Guan Nan's eyes widened as she stared at the hole in the coin, asking, "Did you make this?"
This statement clearly implies that the question is being asked with the answer already in mind.
Jiang Li hummed in agreement.
He paused for a moment, then said casually, "It doesn't look very appealing. It's okay if you don't like it. It's just something I make for fun."
"Thank you," Guan Nan said, holding the bracelet in her palm, her tone earnest and solemn. "I really like it."
Jiang Li stuffed the necklace into his pocket and said with a smile, "Don't force yourself if you don't like it."
"I didn't force you." As if to prove the truth of her words, Guan Nan lowered her head and put on the red string in front of him.
But the red string needed to be fastened, and she struggled with it for a long time with one hand, unable to get the button on.
Jiang Li withdrew his hand, lowered his head, and reached out to help her put it on, fastening it in no time.
At that moment, Guan Nan noticed several scratches on the web between his fingers.
The marks were fresh, as if they had just been made; they were sharp and uneven, and there was a band-aid on her middle finger. She could see them clearly the moment she put on the bracelet.
"That's enough." Jiang Li let go of her hand lazily.
Guan Nan snapped out of her daze, looked away, and mumbled, "Thank you."
"Why are you thanking me so much?" She was unusually happy, and Jiang Li patted her head casually.
The high jump competition was over, and the referee was whistling to disperse the spectators and have the high jump bars packed up and removed from the site. At the same time, he started calling on the students who were doing sit-ups to take their places.
It started with the men's group, and one of them asked a girl to do leg stretches. The referee saw it but didn't say anything.
Just as Guan Nan was about to go over, she heard him call her name: "Guan Nan".
She instinctively turned around.
"Keep it up," Jiang Li said.
"Hey classmate—" Before Guan Nan could reply, she heard the girl who had just been discussing stretching each other's legs wave to her, and she quickly ran over.
There was another girl standing next to the girl; she wasn't there when we were exchanging names.
Immediately, Guan Nan heard her pull another girl along, saying apologetically, "I'm sorry, classmate, I just asked the teacher, and the teacher said that the girls' group is competing at the same time."
"Hmm." After Jiang Li's reminder, Guan Nan roughly understood the situation.
"So after I found out, I looked for other people," the girl said. "Why don't you go find someone first? The competition is about to start."
Guan Nan shook her head: "No need, thank you."
The girl looked apologetic: "I just found out too, I'm so sorry."
"It's okay, I've already—"
“Look,” the girl said, pointing to the boys’ team who were competing, “why don’t you just ask someone to help you out? It shouldn’t be a problem.”
Guan Nan said, "I found it, thank you."
Upon hearing this, the girl didn't say anything more and was led to the competition area by another girl who was fanning her.
The competition was quick; the referee stopped the clock, and the students stretching their legs counted.
Soon it was the girls' turn to perform.
Everyone is ready.
"Jiang Li".
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