Bold yet timid
The spring sports meet of Z City No. 1 Middle School officially opened the day before the May Day holiday.
There were no classes that day, and the students sat on the playground in turn with their stools.
Students without competition events formed a team to perform at the opening ceremony. Jiang Jingshu and Su Xiaoyue both had competition events, so they sat quietly in the audience watching the performances of each class.
Zhou Xiao came over and handed them some paper, asking them to write some inspirational words to cheer on the athletes.
Su Xiaoyue quietly nudged Jiang Jingshu's arm, "Jiang Jiang, shall we write our own encouraging messages?"
Jiang Jingshu smiled helplessly. She looked at the figure in the front row, picked up her pen and slowly wrote, "Whether you win a prize or not, you are the best person."
Seeing that Jiang Jingshu had already started writing, Su Xiaoyue stared at Jiang Jingshu's profile, smiled, and then wrote on the paper word by word, "Enjoying the process of running is far more important than pursuing the result. Enjoy the competition. I hope all athletes can experience the charm of running."
After finishing writing, she stared at Jiang Jingshu and couldn't help but laugh.
After the opening ceremony, the competitions began one after another.
At the Z City No. 1 Middle School sports meet, track and field events were held simultaneously, but Jiang Jingshu only signed up for the 800-meter race.
Because the sports meet at No. 1 Middle School usually only lasts one day, there are no preliminary rounds or finals for each event. Instead, the finals are decided in one go.
It can save a lot of time.
Jiang Jingshu leaned on Su Xiaoyue's shoulder, a touch of sadness welling up inside her.
Today might be her last day at this school. After the sports meet, Jiang Yuan will come to pick her up and take all her books home.
She suddenly felt a little reluctant to leave. She glanced at Su Xiaoyue beside her and then looked around at the surroundings.
Su Xiaoyue didn't notice Jiang Jingshu's unusual behavior; she was still trying her best to cheer on the people on the field.
Su Xiaoyue was so passionate, and Jiang Jingshu, seeing her, seemed to be inspired as well, and shouted beside her.
"Now, please proceed to the podium for check-in if you are participating in the women's 1500-meter race."
Su Xiaoyue looked at Jiang Jingshu, "Jiang Jiang, cheer me on!"
Jiang Jingshu nodded heavily.
"This is the last sports meet for the two of us at this school. I will definitely get first place to show you." Su Xiaoyue stretched out her hand, making a fist, and extended it towards Jiang Jingshu.
Jiang Jingshu smiled at her and also extended her fist.
Under the sunlight, the two men's fists met, as if fulfilling some kind of promise.
Jiang Jingshu was watching Su Xiaoyue, who was checking in, intently. The next second, her phone rang in her pocket. She quietly took it out and saw an unexpected name.
"Wen Jinyan?" Jiang Jingshu asked, quite puzzled.
"Jiang Jingshu, could you please secretly take a few photos of Su Xiaoyue?" Wen Jinyan's voice came from inside.
"Huh?" Jiang Jingshu asked, puzzled. "At our school, if someone is found with a cell phone, it will be confiscated."
"I'm sorry, could you please pick me up at the school gate? Xie Zhijin's competition is coming up soon, so I can only ask you for help. I really don't want to miss Su Xiaoyue's sports meet." Wen Jinyan was pacing around the school gate. Because they went to different schools, he couldn't watch Su Xiaoyue run.
"Have you been here before?" Jiang Jingshu wasn't familiar with the school's rules and regulations, but judging from Wen Jinyan's tone, it seemed that she came to the sports meet every year.
"I used to sneak in with Su Xiaoyue, but today the teacher wouldn't let me get permission, so I snuck out halfway through class," Wen Jinyan explained. "Is her competition about to start? Please, brother, take me in."
Jiang Jingshu thought about it carefully, "How about this, you go to the pharmacy around the school and buy a few boxes of glucose, then wait for me at the school gate, and I'll come pick you up."
Jiang Jingshu hung up the phone. She checked the time and realized that Su Xiaoyue's turn was still about 20 minutes away. There was a pharmacy right outside the school gate, so she could rush out in time.
However, students are not allowed to leave the school during class time, so Jiang Jingshu had to go to Zhou Xiao and ask, "Teacher, do you need me to go to the pharmacy to buy some glucose? Athletes must be very tired after running and need to replenish their energy in time."
Zhou Xiao readily agreed, and she told Jiang Jingshu to go directly there and called the security guard.
As Jiang Jingshu walked out of the school gate, she immediately spotted Wen Jinyan carrying a bag of glucose. She quickly walked over to Wen Jinyan and said, "Great! Luckily you finished buying it. Let's go in."
Wen Jinyan stopped Jiang Jingshu, saying, "You just came out, if you go back immediately, the security guards will find out."
After thinking about it carefully, Jiang Jingshu realized that it was true: "Xiaoyue's match is starting in five minutes, and we can't wait any longer."
Upon hearing this, Wen Jinyan also became a little anxious. The two of them disregarded everything else, and Jiang Jingshu took off her coat and threw it to Wen Jinyan, saying, "Take this and pretend the school uniform is yours. I go to and from school every day, and the security guard recognizes me." After saying that, she took the glucose from Wen Jinyan's hand, saying, "You go back first, and I'll go back later."
Wen Jinyan quickly clasped his hands in thanks to Jiang Jingshu, "Thank you!"
Jiang Jingshu waited at the door for about three more minutes, then composed herself and went inside with the glucose.
As soon as she entered the school gate, she started running quickly.
If we don't hurry, we'll miss Su Xiaoyue's competition.
Fortunately, Jiang Jingshu arrived at the playground as soon as the starting gun fired to announce the start of the competition.
She didn't care about anything else and stood on the outside of the playground cheering for Su Xiaoyue.
"1,500 meters, almost four laps," Jiang Jingshu cheered Su Xiaoyue on from the sidelines.
Su Xiaoyue was still looking for Jiang Jingshu. When she saw that Jiang Jingshu was not in her seat, she couldn't help but be curious. In the instant she looked around, she saw Wen Jinyan.
He's here!
Su Xiaoyue immediately understood what was going on, and her fighting spirit was ignited. Already far ahead, she sped up even more.
Jiang Jingshu stared at Su Xiaoyue, who had been far ahead from the first lap, and continued to leave everyone else firmly behind in the second and third laps.
"Jiang Jiang, in our last sports meet, I still won the championship."
And you, you just stood there watching me become the champion.
On my road to success, there will always be someone by my side, and that person is Jiang Jingshu.
As Su Xiaoyue was thinking, she saw Wen Jinyan quietly giving her a thumbs up.
Su Xiaoyue thought again that not only would Jiang Jingshu be by her side, but Wen Jinyan would also be there for her on the road to success.
Su Xiaoyue came in first place.
Before accepting her award on the podium, she specifically sought out Jiang Jingshu.
Jiang Jingshu asked her with a puzzled look, "Shouldn't you be receiving an award right now?"
Su Xiaoyue remained silent and pulled her towards the podium.
“I’ve already spoken to my teacher, and I can stand on that stage with you to win the championship.”
Jiang Jingshu subconsciously shook her head, "This isn't appropriate."
"I want to leave something behind." Su Xiaoyue looked at Jiang Jingshu earnestly. "Promise me, okay, Jiang Jiang?"
Finally, the photo captured the moment when Jiang Jingshu and Su Xiaoyue smiled at each other.
The two returned to their stools and sat down. Jiang Jingshu handed her the glucose she had just bought. Wen Jinyan also appeared behind Su Xiaoyue. He returned the school uniform to Jiang Jingshu and then quietly squatted down in front of Su Xiaoyue. "Miss, I'm here now, can you please stop being angry, okay?"
Su Xiaoyue crossed her arms and pretended to be angry, but the smile on her lips completely betrayed her true feelings.
"Alright then, I forgive you."
Wen Jinyan smiled and took out a packet of candy from his pocket, handing it to Su Xiaoyue as an apology.
Su Xiaoyue took it, "I also said that if you hadn't come to see me today, you would have been dead."
"How could I miss your match?" Wen Jinyan simply smiled as he looked at Su Xiaoyue.
Looking at the two people in front of her, Jiang Jingshu suddenly felt that it was so beautiful.
Just as I was thinking this, I suddenly felt a cold touch on my face.
Jiang Jingshu looked up, and Xie Zhijin appeared right beside her.
Just when she was feeling happy, someone even more wonderful appeared.
Xie Zhijin asked her, "Will you come and cheer me on?" The boy seemed to have mustered up his courage and spoke to Jiang Jingshu.
Jiang Jingshu nodded.
Soon, Xie Zhijin went to check in.
At 3,000 meters, Jiang Jingshu was a little worried about Xie Zhijin, but then she remembered what Su Xiaoyue had said: just enjoy the process of running.
Gunshots rang out, and figures on the runway began to move.
During the first lap, Xie Zhijin did not feel any discomfort; in fact, he felt he still had a lot of energy.
On the third and fourth laps, Jiang Yuzhou gradually overtook Xie Zhijin. Suddenly, he remembered Jiang Jingshu's smile to him and the hand warmer he bought for her after PE class that day.
A thought popped into his head: a man's intuition told him that Jiang Yuzhou liked Jiang Jingshu.
A strong sense of crisis suddenly welled up inside him, even though he knew Jiang Jingshu didn't like him.
But he didn't want to lose to other people who liked Jiang Jingshu.
He suddenly mustered all his strength and overtook Jiang Yuzhou.
Jiang Jingshu was somewhat surprised, "He's running so fast now, will he still have the energy later?"
Wen Jinyan, however, spoke up slowly from the side, "Jiang Jingshu, why is Xie Zhijin running like this?"
Jiang Jingshu shook her head in confusion.
She felt that Xie Zhijin didn't seem like an impulsive person; he usually had a calm demeanor, and this was the first time she had seen this side of him.
The distance between the two was getting closer and closer. Xie Zhijin seemed to be running a little too fast. Just then, Jiang Yuzhou turned around and smiled at him as he overtook him.
I can't stand it.
In his anxiety, Xie Zhijin twisted his ankle and fell heavily onto the track.
Jiang Jingshu stood up subconsciously, which was particularly noticeable.
Xie Zhijin limped off the track, and Jiang Jingshu ran towards him without thinking much.
What came into view was Xie Zhijin's leg, covered in blood.
In the infirmary, the school doctor cleaned his wounds, and Jiang Jingshu watched Xie Zhijin from the side. After the school doctor finished treating him, Jiang Jingshu went over to him.
"Xie Zhijin, are you alright?"
Xie Zhijin was somewhat dejected, and he shook his head slightly.
Noticing the person's dejected mood, she said, "Xie Zhijin, I'm cheering you on!"
"I'm sorry, I've let you down." Xie Zhijin lowered his head, looking at his injured leg.
"So when I run this afternoon, you have to cheer me on too." Jiang Jingshu completely ignored Xie Zhijin's words; she didn't want to hear any more apologies.
“Actually, in my heart, you’re already number one.” Jiang Jingshu lowered her eyes. “You’re already amazing.”
This sentence has many meanings.
First place is not just the first place in this running race.
She is number one in every aspect in Jiang Jingshu's heart.
So Xie Zhijin, you've already ranked number one in Jiang Jingshu's heart.
This was Jiang Jingshu's boldest moment yet, using the competition as an excuse to say what she had been holding back for a long time but couldn't say out loud.
Upon hearing this, Xie Zhijin looked up at her in surprise, a hint of uncertainty in his eyes, as if wanting to confirm Jiang Jingshu's answer. He said, "Am I already number one in your heart?"
But Jiang Jingshu ultimately succumbed to cowardice, saying, "Yes, in my heart, you are already the champion of this competition."
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