Crybaby

Jiang Nian froze. "You're entering?"

Why?

[Why does Tong Chuhe still want to enter the competition? Can't I change the outcome where she enters?]

[Is the plot really that powerful? But didn't I stop Shen Hui from drinking last time?]

Jiang Nian frowned, frantically turning the plot over in her mind.

Seeing Jiang Nian start overthinking again, Tong Chuhe sighed.

She reached up and gently rubbed Jiang Nian's head to reassure her.

"I just want to see how good everyone else is. There's always something to learn from the people around us. Every competition deserves my respect, and cheerleading tryouts are a competition too. I'm bound to improve somehow."

Jiang Nian pouted, reluctantly accepting that reason. "Fine. If you want to enter, go ahead. I'm sure you'll come first."

She quietly plotted to herself.

If Fu Zhenzhen tried buying buff items to cheat again, she would have the system take them and give them to Tong Chuhe.

For every one Fu Zhenzhen bought, she would give one to Tong Chuhe. She wanted to see whether Fu Zhenzhen could buy them faster than she could steal them.

With a solution in mind, she felt completely unburdened and pulled Tong Chuhe away from the bulletin board covered in flyers.

As soon as she entered the classroom, Jiang Nian's attention was drawn to Tan Xuguang in the middle of the crowd.

Several patches of medical gauze covered his face, and there were small cuts at the corner of his mouth. He was sitting in his seat with his trouser leg raised, exposing his bandaged knee as a group gathered around to stare.

Fu Zhenzhen stood in front of him with a guilty expression, fumbling around as though she wanted to help.

Song Jici and Wen Jincheng watched the utterly miserable Tan Xuguang with amused expressions, while Shen Hui turned his face aside and snickered.

Jiang Nian raised an eyebrow at Tan Xuguang, who was being gawked at like a monkey in a zoo.

"What happened to your leg?"

Seeing Jiang Nian looking at him in confusion, Tan Xuguang pulled a long face. "I accidentally strained a ligament."

A strain?

Jiang Nian was utterly baffled.

"Weren't you perfectly fine when we parted yesterday? How did you strain it overnight?"

Surely he hadn't gone off and gotten into a fight after school?

Shen Hui explained to Jiang Nian with a mocking expression, "He went off to rescue a damsel in distress all by himself last night. A strained ligament was getting off lightly. There was a whole gang of them."

Only then did Fu Zhenzhen speak up beside them, looking close to tears. "It's all my fault. If you hadn't tried to save me, you wouldn't have gotten hurt."

Tan Xuguang awkwardly recounted what had happened the night before.

"On my way home yesterday, I saw a bunch of thugs surrounding Fu Zhenzhen, so I went to help her. Then I wasn't careful and strained something."

After school yesterday, he had been resting in the car when he suddenly spotted someone familiar through the window.

It was Fu Zhenzhen.

He saw Fu Zhenzhen standing all alone by the roadside. Just as he was wondering whether a girl would be safe out so late, a gang of thugs appeared and dragged her into an alley.

Startled, he hurriedly told his driver to stop and call the police, then ran in to save Fu Zhenzhen himself.

There were seven or eight thugs in the alley, armed with clubs and the like, so all he could do was try his best to stall.

Then, during the fight, a moment's carelessness left him with a few minor wounds and a strained ligament.

Fortunately, the police arrived quickly. All the thugs were arrested, and he hadn't suffered any serious injuries.

After hearing Tan Xuguang's account and seeing Fu Zhenzhen's expression-guilty on the surface, secretly delighted underneath-a question mark slowly formed in Jiang Nian's mind.

Did you two have this scene in the original plot?

Why don't I remember it?

Looking at Tan Xuguang's injured leg, Jiang Nian remembered the fast-approaching match and asked hesitantly,

"Then you probably won't be able to play in next week's match, right?"

In the original novel, Tan Xuguang hadn't been injured and had led Pluto straight to victory over Canghai Academy. But with Tan Xuguang injured, the outcome was anyone's guess.

After all, Feng Xing was no pushover either.

At Jiang Nian's question, Tan Xuguang looked even more miserable.

Remembering what the club president had told him that morning, he said dejectedly, "...The doctor told me not to do any strenuous exercise, so the president told me to rest and sit out next week's friendly."

Jiang Nian gave him a sympathetic look. "You poor thing."

Just yesterday, he had been having such an intense game with Feng Xing, and today he was being told he couldn't play in the match.

Tan Xuguang said, "...Sob."

Stop talking. Any more and I'll cry.

Why am I so unlucky! Of all the times to strain something, it had to happen right after I decided to play in the match.

He stole a cautious glance at Jiang Nian and felt even worse.

He had wanted to show off his skills during the match and make Jiang Nian see him in a new light. Now he couldn't even get onto the court.

He wouldn't blame Fu Zhenzhen. After all, he would have stepped in to save anyone in that situation.

He only regretted not being more careful. If only he hadn't hurt his leg.

Thinking about next week's match and the excitement of playing against Feng Xing yesterday, Tan Xuguang still couldn't quite accept it.

"I think I'll try talking the president into it after all. There are still ten days until the match. If I rest properly now, I'm sure I'll be able to play by then."

Seeing that Tan Xuguang had decided to play in the match, Fu Zhenzhen encouraged him happily.

"Really? Then I'll enter the cheerleading tryouts and cheer you on. You can do it!"

After saying that, she even made a cute little fist-pumping gesture, utterly disregarding what it might do to everyone around her.

And so she watched everyone around her take a step back in unison.

Fu Zhenzhen: ...

Did you all seriously just take a step back?

Jiang Nian silently pressed a hand to her forehead. Sure enough, Fu Zhenzhen was still entering the competition too.

Only, in the original novel, she had entered because she wanted to challenge herself. Now she wanted to get in so she could cheer for Tan Xuguang.

Meanwhile, watching Fu Zhenzhen gesticulate in front of him, Tan Xuguang discreetly edged back a few steps as well.

He kept feeling that Fu Zhenzhen had a knack for bringing disaster.

Seriously, the sort where anyone who got close to her suffered bad luck.

For the sake of his upcoming match, he had better keep his distance from Fu Zhenzhen.

Speaking of cheerleading, Tan Xuguang turned to Jiang Nian and asked again, "Are you still not entering the cheerleading tryouts?"

After asking, he seemed a little embarrassed. His ears reddened, and his voice grew quieter.

"Come enter too, so you can cheer me on."

He looked utterly pitiful, like a big golden retriever soaked to the skin.

Seeing Tan Xuguang like this made Jiang Nian hesitate, and she chose to ignore Fu Zhenzhen's hostile gaze entirely.

She wasn't worried about the threat Fu Zhenzhen posed at the moment. She was only afraid the plot would veer so far off course that even its own creator wouldn't recognize it.

After all, she hadn't entered the cheerleading tryouts in the original plot.

If she chose to enter, she had no idea how things would develop afterward.

She glanced again at Tan Xuguang, who was looking at her so pitifully, and let out a heavy sigh.

What else can I do? Of course I'll say yes!

"Fine, I'll enter too."

Tan Xuguang's eyes instantly brightened, and his voice filled with excitement. "Really? You're going to enter the tryouts and cheer me on too?"

Jiang Nian nodded helplessly. "Yes, yes, yes. If I'm lying, I'm a puppy."

"But let me make this clear first: I'm not confident I'll get in. If I don't make the cut, there's nothing I can do."

The competition only selected the top ten, with first place becoming cheerleading captain. She might not make it.

Tan Xuguang said generously, "It's fine, it's fine. It's the thought that counts."

Behind them, Shen Hui kept pursing his lips as he listened.

He sounds so easygoing now, but if Jiang Nian doesn't make the cut, he'll definitely start whining and crying again.

Crybaby.